Chapter 507: On the Eve of Summer Vacation

After the birthday banquet, everyone was quite tipsy, Professor Yan’s eyes were already a blur. Whether drunk or not, he certainly enjoyed himself.

Favorite hotpot, dear students, and the big villa, though it’s made of blocks, it’s still exhilarating. Worth coming back for.

Meanwhile, the girls had already shifted their gathering spot, cracking sunflower seeds while watching TV.

Feng Nanshu’s hand was tightly held by Jiang Qin. She almost wet her pants before, with a pouty face, she said she needed the restroom.

Only when the night began to darken did everyone gradually start to leave. Professor Yan, clutching his not-for-kids-under-three toy blocks, got into the car with a beaming smile, chauffeured home by Ye Ziqing.

After walking the little rich girl back to the dorm, Jiang Qin headed back to room 302 and browsed Tonight’s Headlines in bed.

“5x optical zoom 14 million pixels DC, Samsung ST70 only for 1279 yuan.”

“Powerful domestic product, ZTE U880 Android phone launched.”

“HTC’s new model hits the market, overtaking Nokia with a 197% year-on-year increase.”

Recently, Android smartphones have been frequently hitting the market, speeding up their update iterations and continuously eating into the market for feature phones. Jiang Qin’s few pre-installed subsidy brands are among them, with new releases often concentrated in the second half of the year.

That means, soon enough, the effects of the pre-installed software will start to show.

Mobile bundling might not have much volume because mobile payment conditions are too restrictive, but Tonight’s Headlines’ user numbers should surge tremendously.

After all, data traffic prices haven’t yet dropped, and text remains the best entertainment.

The version carrying algorithm 1.0 will start an internal test after summer vacation, enabling Tonight’s Headlines to push notifications to users who selected specific keywords based on their title keywords. That’s likely to cause another fierce traffic surge.

Jiang Qin was silently plotting the timeline for the next phase when suddenly the lights out signal blared. Young master Cao rolled over, and with a snap, turned off the light.

At this moment, room 302 was plunged into darkness, only Chao’s bedside still showed a glow from his phone. It felt like the whole world had quieted down, leaving only the moonlight and the rustling of leaves outside the window.

“Brothers, once school starts again, it’ll be our senior year. The last year of college…”

Ren Ziqiang, while swaying a group-buy fan, lazily mumbled.

Cao Guangyu yawned, “Damn, that’s too quick. It feels like freshman year was just yesterday.”

“Cao bro, what’s the most unforgettable thing from your freshman year?”

“Being teased by Old Jiang.”

“Which time?”

“Every time…”

Jiang Qin couldn’t help but laugh, “Teasing is more joyful. Look at you now, aren’t you getting more cheerful?”

Cao Guangyu bared his teeth and barked at him, “Cheerful, my ass! This is me not stooping to your level. Otherwise, I’d have fought with you long ago.”

“So, Jiang bro, what’s your most unforgettable moment?”

“Teasing Old Cao, every time.”

“Screw off!”

Jiang Qin leaned back on his bed, resting his legs on the rail, “Honestly, I think my most unforgettable would be the first dinner with Feng Nanshu’s dorm.”

Ren Ziqiang showed a face full of curiosity, “Why?”

“Gao Wenhui told me she missed me.”

“Gao Wenhui missed you? Damn, that’s explosive. Isn’t she Feng Nanshu’s bestie?”

Jiang Qin was too lazy to explain and turned to ask, “So Old Ren, was your most unforgettable moment seeing Pan Xiu messing around with a senior and her clothes getting torn?”

Cao Guangyu laughed out loud, “Definitely that time!”

“Screw off, all of you!”

“Wang Linlin probably still doesn’t know about Qiangzi’s bootlicker history. We should enlighten her sometime!”

Ren Ziqiang shook the bed angrily, “Jiang bro, you’re going to end up friendless acting like this!”

Jiang Qin stretched his neck out, “If you’re brothers, come chop me.”

Ren Ziqiang’s eyes rolled slyly, suddenly smirking, “You tattle, don’t think I can’t too. I’ll tell Feng Nanshu you’ve been calling her name in your sleep!”

Jiang Qin was stunned, “Nonsense, how come I’ve never heard it?”

“That’s because you were asleep! How could you hear!”

“Impossible, whatever I shout during sleep surely means I’m unbeatable in business, understand? It means I always win, I’m a business brain!”

Ren Ziqiang chuckled, “But you shouted ‘little rich girl.’”

Jiang Qin’s face darkened, though it was invisible in the night, “Next time I do it, record it. Otherwise, I won’t believe you.”

“Believe it or not, think I’m lying if you want.”

“Damn, so did I really shout or not?”

Cao Guangyu interrupted Jiang Qin and asked Ren Ziqiang, “What about me? Have I ever called out Ding Xue’s name?”

Ren Ziqiang thought for a moment, “You haven’t called Ding Xue’s name, but you have shouted ‘no, it hurts.’”

“…”

It wasn’t surprising that Ren Ziqiang, the best at staying up late in 302, knew many secrets. But Old Cao shouting “no, it hurts” was quite telling.

Jiang Qin turned to Cao Guangyu, “Old Cao, are you and Ding Xue into something as exciting as playing with steel wool?”

Cao Guangyu spit fiercely, “Don’t listen to his nonsense. Absolutely not.”

Ren Ziqiang waved the fan, “Believe it or not.”

Jiang Qin reined in his smile, “Actually, whether they’re good or bad, when some things become memories, they seem incredibly precious.”

Zhou Chao couldn’t help but put down his phone, “Why don’t I have such beautiful memories? My mind is full of crappy web novels.”

“You have a web novel brain. But how’s it going with that junior girl who added you on QQ? Have you met yet?”

“Not yet. The strategy you taught, Jiang bro, didn’t work at all. Couldn’t get her out.”

Jiang Qin thought for a bit, “Maybe she’s not very confident. Power through this summer break, fiercely level up.”

Zhou Chao pondered after hearing this, “We’re from the same school, why does this feel like an online romance?”

Cao Guangyu yawned, “What time are you guys leaving tomorrow?”

“I’ll probably head out in the morning, spend a couple of days in the neighboring city with Linlin, then I have to take her home.”

“And Old Jiang?”

Jiang Qin raised an eyebrow, “I’ll leave whenever I feel like it. I have a car.”

Cao Guangyu held his breath, “Are you freaking teasing me again?”

“I really do have a car. Your heart’s too frail, damn. I also have a Patek Philippe, a company, and a face more handsome than Daniel Wu.”

“Ahhh, kill me, kill me now!”

Jiang Qin lay flat, then tugged the blanket up, “Time to sleep, pups. I’ll get some big things done over the summer break, buy some nice stuff, and share it with you guys the moment I’m back.”

Ren Ziqiang instantly perked up, “Share nice stuff?”

“No, share good news.”

Cao Guangyu couldn’t take it anymore and roared wildly in his bed, but Boss Jiang wasn’t bothered by the noise at all and blissfully drifted into sleep.

The next morning, sunlight streamed in through the window as temperatures started to rise again. The corridor was already buzzing with the sound of wheels—a prelude to the returning homecomers.

Ren Ziqiang also got up early to pack his bags and bid farewell to everyone before leaving the dorm.

Jiang Qin wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Since Linchuan was just a two-hour drive from Jizhou, after getting up, he first visited the group-buying headquarters and inspected the work progress of various departments before leaving.

The sixth batch of strategic cooperation brands for Linchuan Business Group was finalized, all from other provinces, and mostly newly established brands.

They had already signed the cooperation agreement last week officially entering the national promotion plan while the Golden Phoebe Foundation had a large influx of individual investors joining, strengthening their power yet again.

These two institutions exist independently—one a government organization, the other a private equity fund—with no direct relation, but in practice, one is the launchpad and the other the booster, propelling all brands nationwide.

Tonight’s Headlines’ traffic was steadily increasing with occasional spikes, and its comment section was now activated, receiving fairly positive feedback.

As for Zhihu, it was once again hosting the next round of campus beauties and campus heartthrobs contest.

After the last campus beauty and heartthrob contest ended, the top campus beauties and heartthrobs were reorganized by province and re-entered into the voting list, eventually selecting the top three to advance to the subsequent national contest.

This event felt akin to a mix of Super Girl and Happy Boy, and the subsequent contests weren’t just about photos; talent videos could also serve as bonus points.

This kept the platform’s daily active users at a relatively high level. Even an entertainment company had called, asking if they could cooperate and sign their final beauty contest winner.

Jiang Qin sat in the conference room, listening to Wei Lanlan, Lu Feiyu, and Dong Wenhao complete their reports, and nodded.

“Good work, everyone. In the coming days, we can gradually arrange travel and team-building activities for various departments. One batch in July, another in August, anywhere nationwide, all expenses paid for a week.”

“Really, boss?”

“Being cooped up in the office all day doesn’t really boost work efficiency. Go out and have some fun, while your boss still has some spare cash.”

Jiang Qin sat sideways in the boss’s chair, tapping on the table, exuding a bold aura.

He felt the employees were on summer break but a bunch of them were stuck in cramped offices, perhaps not even having time to visit a park. This made him sympathetic, prompting the decision for a travel team-building.

At the end of the day, he easily empathized with wage slaves, hardly resembling a people’s entrepreneur.

News of the company trip soon spread to all departments, and Jiang Qin could hear cheers through the conference room door. He initially thought he might regret the expense, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but rise.

Wei Lanlan soon returned, “Boss, are you coming with us?”

“Can’t say for sure. I plan to go home to unwind, then I’ll head to Shanghai on business, swing by Hangcheng, and finally, visit Kyoto to check out the market.”