Chapter 137: A Scheme Copied

“My car can only fit five, I suggest Ding Xue leave Old Cao behind.”

“I wholeheartedly agree!”

“Me too!”

After leaving the park, Jiang Qin’s remark prompted Zhou Chao to raise his hand in agreement. Ren Ziqiang nodded vigorously like a puppy, as if tormented by the sight of their friends’ romances.

“You’re just sour grapes!”

Cao Guangyu waved his arm grandly, hailing a taxi. He pulled Ding Xue inside.

“True friends stick together like clothes, girlfriends like limbs. How shameless, I can’t stand people like that!”

Jiang Qin spat, then waved the others into his car, driving off into the night towards campus.

When they reached the female dorms, the little rich girl suddenly wanted to buy snacks for Gao Wenhui, so she asked Jiang Qin to take her to the supermarket.

Jiang Qin didn’t know if it was for Gao Wenhui and didn’t want Feng Nanshu eating too many snacks, so he firmly refused.

“Eating snacks at night will make you gain weight. I’ll take you shopping tomorrow.”

“Big brother, buy them.”

“…”

“Sorry, I must be impartial.”

Zhou Chao and Ren Ziqiang nodded vigorously behind him, thinking Jiang was indeed different from that dog Cao, upright and fearless. Little did they expect Jiang to turn and impartially order them to walk back to the dorms.

“What difference is there between you two dogs? Old Zhou, note down today’s details. When we find girls, let’s treat them exactly the same way.”

Zhou Chao looked at him in surprise: “Exactly the same?”

“Yes, an eye for an eye!” Ren Ziqiang said through gritted teeth.

“Do you have an Audi?”

Ren Ziqiang froze: “I don’t…”

Zhou Chao coughed: “Forget the Audi, too unrealistic. But could you afford to spend two thousand at a high-class club?”

“Scoundrel, stop!”

Ren Ziqiang covered Zhou Chao’s mouth and they scuffled all the way back to the dorms. Zhou Chao felt fine, but Ren Ziqiang felt starved, like he’d been force-fed.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin pulled back the curtain, taking Feng Nanshu into the bright campus supermarket.

After the influx from the college queen contest, the supermarket’s customer flow had halved as more people gathered at the front plaza.

Jiang Qin’s first impression was that it wasn’t as crowded as before.

Last time he brought the little rich girl, they could barely move after buying some cotton candy.

But as Feng Nanshu started shopping, Jiang Qin was drawn to a milk tea cup at the tea bar.

Written on it were four words: “Study Star.”

“?”

Jiang Qin picked one up and examined it closely.

The design was minimalist with just simple decorative elements, looking quite upscale.

But he wasn’t attracted by the high-end design or the words “Study Star,” but rather the fact that the cup’s size and style was exactly the same as those used by Xitian in their activities, the only difference being that Xitian’s had contestants’ names while the supermarket’s had titles.

Besides “Study Star” there were also “Model Student” and “Study Pacesetter.”

“Interesting…”

Jiang Qin put the cup down, pondering for a while before paying for Feng Nanshu’s items.

Back in the dorm, he found the atmosphere in 302 unusually quiet, though each person’s silence was different.

Cao Guangyu was lying on his bed chatting with Ding Xue, grinning cheerfully.

Zhou Chao sat shirtless against the wall, engrossed in a pirated online novel.

Ren Ziqiang sat on his bed, back against the wall, one leg outstretched and the other bent, left hand on his knee, eyes deep in thought.

His expression reminded Jiang Qin of the scene in The God of Cookery when Stephen Chow grasped the subtleties of his martial art – quite imposing.

“I’ve decided to give up on Pan Xiu!”

After a while, Ren Ziqiang suddenly blurted out, then looked like he might cry.

After becoming sworn siblings with Pan Xiu, he’d felt quite content because she called him “brother” and they had minor physical contact sometimes.

But after seeing how Jiang Qin and Feng Nanshu, as well as Cao Guangyu and Ding Xue interacted, he realized love wasn’t about taking advantage of a title, but about the other person having you in their heart.

“This time I mean it, I’ll tell Pan Xiu never to contact me again,” Ren Ziqiang said resolutely.

Jiang Qin couldn’t help but cough: “Old Ren, let me tell you something, listen or not is up to you.”

Ren Ziqiang put down his phone: “What is it?”

“True departure is never with fanfare, but in silence.”

“Jiang-ge, you mean I should just leave without telling her?”

Jiang Qin gave him a thumbs up: “With that discernment, how could you not find a girlfriend like me?”

Ren Ziqiang’s mouth twitched: “Are you speaking human? You’ve practically ridden my face all night!”

“Never mind that, if you can go three days without contacting Pan Xiu, Old Cao might have his girlfriend introduce you to someone.”

Cao Guangyu suddenly sat up: “Actually, Ding Xue does have some single sisters in her dorm.”

Ren Ziqiang’s eyes lit up: “Really? Then it’s settled.”

“As long as you can do it, nothing’s impossible.”

“Great, I’ll take a cold shower to celebrate my new life!”

Jiang Qin watched Ren Ziqiang cheerfully leave. He didn’t care if this guy could stick to it or not, he’d just thrown out a casual suggestion. He had bigger things to deal with. Whether his roommates’ feelings worked out or not was up to fate – those who wanted to wake up would eventually wake up, no amount of shouting could rouse the unwilling.

He jumped onto his bed, set an alarm and secretly slipped it under Zhou Chao’s pillow before covering himself to sleep.

But the next day, Zhou Chao wasn’t woken by Jiang Qin’s alarm, but by a sudden phone call.

Jiang Qin had been sleeping soundly when he sleepily slapped Zhou Chao: “Old Zhou, your phone’s ringing, so noisy!”

“Shit, this is clearly your phone!”

“?”

Jiang Qin finally opened his eyes, apologized, and took the call.

“Boss, hurry to the campus supermarket! Someone’s copying our contests and combo moves!”

“?”

Half an hour later, Jiang Qin arrived at Academy Road. Some employees from Room 208 had gathered at the roadside, including Su Nai, Wei Lanlan, Tan Qing, Wen Jinrui, Lu Xuemei… over a dozen people staring intently across the street, whispering amongst themselves.

As Jiang Qin approached, he followed their gaze.

The two trees that had previously displayed the college queen contest banners were now bound with wires holding up a new banner that read “Study Star Contest.”

Next, a large PVC board had been erected at the supermarket entrance displaying a “Study Star Ranking” sponsored by the Linchuan Campus Forum with the campus supermarket as the title sponsor.

Finally, he saw that Tonghang Driving School was a friendly sponsor, offering the top twenty contestants a 50% discount on lessons.

Additionally, it claimed this was Linchuan University’s first independently established award, sounding quite impressive.

Damn, the sense of déjà vu from this knockoff was so strong!

Jiang Qin recalled the milk tea cups he’d seen at the supermarket the previous night and suddenly had suspicions, but never imagined they’d become reality overnight.

“Boss, isn’t this just like our college queen contest? Total plagiarism!”

Seeing Jiang Qin approach, Su Nai felt reassured and immediately started complaining.

“Boss, my master designed that ranking board. Other than using their own logo, they copied everything directly.”

Lu Xuemei also looked outraged, her eyes fierce like she wanted to bite someone.

“Stay calm, let’s check it out across the street first.”

Jiang Qin waved his hand, leading everyone to the supermarket entrance to examine the contest rules under the ranking board.

As expected, the “Study Star” contest rules were identical to the college queen contest – voting to elect winners who would become the permanent packaging for the supermarket’s milk tea cups.

Additionally, the supermarket had rolled out limited edition “Study Star,” “Model Student,” and “Study Pacesetter” milk tea cups, just like Xitian.

“Well damn, you couldn’t get a clearer reflection!”

As Jiang Qin muttered, two people suddenly emerged from the supermarket.

One was Niu Shangtian, the manager of Tonghang Driving School, who had previously approached Jiang Qin about hosting a college prince contest but was rejected, only to sponsor this “Study Star” contest instead.

The other was a woman in her thirties wearing a blue suit and clicking high heels.

The two were chatting and laughing as they exited, falling silent when they noticed Jiang Qin and the Room 208 team.

“Long time no see, Jiang-zong!”

Niu Shangtian recovered first, greeting him smoothly.

“Indeed, Niu-zong, I thought you’d ascended to heaven.”

Jiang Qin grinned broadly, like seeing an old friend.

“Haha, Jiang-zong is as humorous as ever, truly one-of-a-kind. Let me introduce you, this is the campus supermarket’s owner, Jiang Zhihua, Manager Jiang.”

Jiang Zhihua glanced at Jiang Qin contemptuously: “So you’re Jiang Qin. Quite impressive, revitalizing the front plaza in just a month, almost shut me down.”

Jiang Qin looked humble: “Auntie, you flatter me. I’m not sure why I’m so outstanding.”

“…”

The word “auntie” instantly changed Jiang Zhihua’s expression.

What woman could accept being called that?

She opened her mouth to berate him but Niu Shangtian pulled her back: “He’s only eighteen this year, calling you auntie isn’t that bad.”

Jiang Zhihua then realized the reports said this kid was a freshman.

Forcibly revitalizing a campus commercial district in one month at eighteen?

That’s just absurd, right?

Manager Jiang found it hard to believe, but she’d been in business for years and could control her emotions. She soon replaced it with a smile: “Jiang Qin, you’re the events master, right? Take a look at our little event.”

“Not bad.”

“I think it’s great. This is a university, studying is the priority, far more important than some college queen or prince title.”

Jiang Zhihua’s words essentially translated to: See, if you can do it, I can do it too, and even more high-end. But you definitely can’t do what I’m doing, and I just love seeing that frustrated look on your face.

The two then left, chatting and laughing loudly, as if deliberately for their benefit.

Jiang Qin fell silent for three full minutes.

Seeing this, Su Nai and the others held their breath, thinking the boss would surely blow up. Should they stop him from storming the supermarket and wrecking the place, or help him?

But to their surprise, the boss’s next words made their mouths twitch.

“That’s it?”

“Damn, I thought they were going to pour boiling water on my cash tree! You scared me!”

Jiang Qin took out his phone and opened the school’s official forum: “Study Star sounds great, I’m going to enter and win one!”