Chapter 378: Just Another Day

Jiang Qin carefully removed his watch and placed it on the desk’s stand, adjusting the dial to face Cao Guangyu. Then he changed the bedsheets, opened the window to air out the room, and wiped the dust from the desk.

After bustling around, even though it was still cold before spring, Jiang Qin couldn’t help but break into a thin sweat.

“Old Cao, can you check the time for me? I’m washing clothes and can’t grab my phone.”

“Thirteen fifty-one.”

“That can’t be right. Is your phone slow? Check my watch.”

“…”

After hearing this, Cao Guangyu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grimaced, looking like he wanted to jump down and bite someone.

He was a famous second-generation rich blogger who had written many popular posts, such as the “Never-ending saga with my ex-school beauty” series, “Fairy-like girls seeking me out” series, and “Two school beauties fighting over me in the street” series.

His most famous series was “Does wearing Patek Philippe affect my driving a Rolls-Royce?”

While writing the first three series, Jiang Qin often said others were copying his life, but the “Does wearing Patek Philippe affect my driving a Rolls-Royce?” was genuinely his original work, totally unrelated to Jiang Qin’s life.

Yet, in less than half a year, Old Jiang had donned a Patek Philippe, and his wife got a new Rolls-Royce, which was quite hurtful.

Could the grandest scene I imagined just be his mundane daily life?

“Checked it yet? What time is it?”

“Thirteen fifty-two!”

“Told you, your phone is slow by a minute.”

Cao Guangyu angrily retorted, “It just passed a minute, okay?”

Facing the sunlight outside the window, Jiang Qin smiled brilliantly, thinking that every holiday he wanted to return to tease me, but each time he ended up being the one unable to get up. Yet Old Cao kept getting stronger and was quite admirable.

With such a roommate, how could you not strive to compete?

Then he dried his hands, put his watch back on, and walked over to Cao Guangyu’s bed, giving it a couple of pats: “Brother Cao, how about treating me to a meal?”

“Why should I?”

“You got a new phone, shouldn’t we celebrate?”

Cao Guangyu made a dog-like warning sound, “You also got a Patek Philippe, costing hundreds of thousands. Shouldn’t you be the one treating?”

“No, I didn’t buy the Patek Philippe.”

Jiang Qin lifted his wrist and looked at it casually, “It was a gift.”

“…”

After a long while, Jiang Qin left the dorm with a pleased expression, heading to Room 208 to handle some business.

Right after he left, Zhou Chao and Ren Ziqiang came back. Upon entering, they saw Cao Guangyu lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling in despair.

Ren Ziqiang turned to Zhou Chao: “What’s up with Brother Cao? He seems upset.”

“Must be from buying some expensive stuff over the New Year, came back wanting to show off to Jiang, but got schooled instead, now he’s questioning his life,” Zhou Chao explained.

“How do you know?”

“Old habit. Every new term begins like this. I’ve often been the first to arrive and got used to it. He’ll be fine; no one can keep Cao down, not even Jiang.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin hummed a tune as he arrived at the entrepreneurship base, arranged for cleaning, opened the windows, and after everything was tidy, he called Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing, planning to have a simple meal off campus.

The year-end dinner last year was conducted separately, with each person responsible for a department, but Room 208 didn’t have one, so this was a makeup.

As it was just the start of school, Academy Road was bustling with returning students dragging their luggage. The orderly procession of over twenty people drew a lot of attention.

“That’s Jiang Qin. It’s my first time seeing him in person.”

“Yeah, there’s also the forum’s chief administrator Dong Wenhao, and that’s the chief of the tech department, Su Nai.”

“Wow, the woman carrying the Chanel bag, how much does that cost?”

“Probably tens of thousands, but that’s nothing for them. I hear their annual salaries are already in the hundreds of thousands.”

“The one with the Chanel is Wei Lanlan. I read about her in the school paper. She used to be Jiang Qin’s personal secretary, now she drives a BMW.”

Despite not knowing exactly what was being discussed, the surrounding chatter still made everyone feel quite prestigious, involuntarily puffing up their chests.

After the New Year, they were all dressed in various high-end brands, looking even more glamorous than Jiang Qin, the boss.

They indeed had reason to be proud, not just for their vision and experience but even just their salary levels, which were unattainable for many working adults.

People like Wei Lanlan, Tan Qing, and Shi Miaomiao, who came from humble backgrounds, now appeared like second-generation rich to their classmates.

Ma Yubao from a single-parent family even voluntarily gave up his scholarship last year, claiming the boss told him to leave the opportunity for those who needed it more, stirring quite the buzz among university students.

According to Lu Feiyu, now mentioning you’re a member of Room 208 is enough to find a partner, ugly or not, some even daring to find two.

Jiang Qin asked him how he knew, and he hesitated, saying a friend told him.

As their fame grew, many wanted to join Room 208, eager to earn big alongside them.

Previously seen as a university student startup, Room 208 had indeed joined the work-study ranks to obtain some resource support, and being located on campus, its nature might be somewhat ambiguous.

This led some university students to believe, “I’m a student, I can do it too!”

Su Nai had a senior who specifically came over last year, thinking she was better than Su Nai in maturity and experience, and behaved very professionally, as if working in Room 208 was a privilege.

Jiang Qin politely rejected her, but she persisted, even somewhat belittling Su Nai by saying she wasn’t that professional.

Eventually, Jiang Qin pulled out a wad of cash from a drawer and slapped it in front of her, saying it was half of NaNako’s monthly pay, telling her to take it if she felt worthy.

The senior was stunned, hesitated several times, and ultimately didn’t dare to take the money because it was just too much. She couldn’t imagine what she had to do to earn such an amount.

Situations like this became more frequent, especially after Jiang Qin appeared in the news.

Boss Jiang later got a bit annoyed and posted a year’s worth of work photos on Zhihu.

Photos included Wei Lanlan meeting cordially with Linchuan leaders, Dong Wenhao and Lu Feiyu chatting warmly with the head of Linchuan News, and Tan Qing leading over 300 employees to Shanghai for work, Room 208 invited to tour the Global Financial Center in Shanghai.

From that day on, the number of university students seeking part-time work there noticeably decreased.

The smart ones finally realized that while Room 208 still held the title of a university student startup, its actual social status was already far beyond that.

Meeting with city leaders and chatting with news organization directors was far beyond most students’ concept of a “part-time job”.

Aren’t part-time jobs usually about running errands, serving tea, moving stuff, or keeping an eye on things? What kind of part-time job reaches this level?

Especially those claiming they were fourth-year students with extensive experience in the student council, when they saw these photos, even they wouldn’t have the confidence to take on these roles because they knew they couldn’t handle such situations.

After a while, the group arrived at the front square, a bustling on-campus commercial area, attracting even more onlookers as they walked with heads held high, Lu Feiyu feeling a slight pain in the center of his chest.

“We’re so famous now, shouldn’t we eat something good? Boss, let’s not go to Nanshan Restaurant, head to Juxian Building instead.”

“Lu Feiyu, are you getting carried away?”

Lu Feiyu pouted, “It’s not me getting carried away; it’s you giving too much.”

Jiang Qin fell silent for a moment, “Let’s drive back, head to Juxian Building. Nanshan Restaurant really doesn’t match our status anymore.”

Dong Wenhao was surprised, tapping Lu Feiyu on the head, “When did you get so savvy?”

“I’m not, I’m just speaking the truth.”