Chapter 632: Nine Hundred Million Girl’s Dream

The next morning was gloomy with a sudden thunderstorm soaking the campus, clearing the air of summer’s mugginess.

Chao must have been reading web novels all night again as he was still snoring loudly at nine in the morning, with one leg sticking out from under the towel blanket.

Ren Ziqiang had disappeared, probably gone to have breakfast with Wang Linlin.

Young Master Cao was in bed, browsing his phone and savoring the sudden coolness the cloudy day brought.

The whole dormitory was quiet, except for the distinct sound of rain outside the window.

Jiang Qin got up early to do some abdominal exercises, and then washed up while checking the front-line market reports.

Hungry No More is sinking into the market now, continuously expanding as they still had funds plus the successful merger with Praise Delivery made the process smooth, smoother than Dove chocolate.

Several local food ordering websites they acquired were slowly beginning to bounce back after being disrupted by Jiang Qin.

In such a small market, Hungry No More almost had no competition.

In this phase of unilaterally capturing the market, Zhang Xuhao felt he was back on track, a real business genius.

Damn, another stand-off with Group-Buy and I might not lose.

He felt like he didn’t argue well at the time, regretted it more the more he thought about it, thinking if only he had done this or that differently.

“Check if Hungry No More’s business scope includes the cities we’ve chosen for our supply chain.”

“If yes, follow them!”

Jiang Qin called Tan Qing, planning to show Hungry No More what it means to have a ‘dog at their back.’

Next was Baidu Delivery.

With no more fierce competition from Hungry No More, Baidu Delivery’s operations finally stabilized, but the nearly collapsed company was like a patient with multiple organ failure, hard to recover.

By mid-June, they had already planned to gradually lay off long-contracted delivery riders to shrink operations to ensure normal functioning.

It was a pity; Baidu still had talented people.

But even the strongest armies struggle without the support of their empire.

Jiang Qin finished washing up, rinsed the soap off his hands, and then went out with an umbrella to visit Zhang Boqing’s office.

It had been busy recently; he hadn’t visited Principal Zhang for a while. It was nearing graduation, and not showing up wouldn’t be good—the old man better not forget about refunding my tuition.

Jiang Qin climbed the steps doggedly and headed to the administrative office.

At that moment, Zhang Boqing was wearing presbyopic glasses, sipping tea while reading the newspaper.

He used to enjoy literary papers and was quite the cultured man, but in recent years, he switched to business newspapers.

Oddly enough, these somewhat dry business reports now seemed thrilling, like thrilling web novels.

Today, Group-Buy thrashed a major sect again, which dismissively activated their protective array saying he’d never return alive!

Then the protective array collapsed, the entire mountaintop shattered, the leading disciple roared and began to escape, the sect members who were sneering seconds before were now begging on their knees.

It’s good that Chao wasn’t here; he would’ve definitely called it professional.

“Principal Zhang.”

“Mr. Jiang, you’re here? I thought you got too caught up playing in the national market and forgot this old man.”

Jiang Qin waved his hand, “As long as the tuition isn’t refunded, Principal Zhang will always be in my heart.”

“Tsk, not a single nice word!” Zhang Boqing spat at him, then sized him up carefully, “Four years, just four years, and I never thought you would actually become Linchuan’s pride.”

“Just a part-time gig.”

“These days, amateurs are beating professionals,” Zhang Boqing laughed heartily then said, “Have you met your graduate advisor?”

Jiang Qin smacked his forehead, “Shoot, I was too busy showing off and totally forgot.”

“Go meet him later, and maybe take a photo or something for the enrollment materials.”

Zhang Boqing picked up his teacup, found it empty, and went to grab the teapot, not realizing Jiang Qin had already picked it up.

But as he went to pour the tea, a hand covered the cup.

“You’re too important now, shining bright, pouring tea for me feels a bit daunting.”

“I never saw you as just a school leader, but as an elder. It’s normal for a junior to pour tea for an elder, nothing daunting about it.”

Principal Zhang hesitated for a moment, then moved his hand away, showing a kindly smile.

Jiang Qin, this guy, didn’t consider himself an outsider even when he was poor, boldly asking for things from the school.

Yet even after achieving success, he still didn’t see himself as an outsider—that was part of Jiang Qin’s rare charm.

“How will Group-Buy develop moving forward?”

“Stabilize, expand the supply chain, continue the support farmers program, make a little billion, then catch the 4G wave.”

“Same as always, let the school know if you need any support.”

Leaving Principal Zhang’s, Jiang Qin went to the School of Finance to meet Professor Jin, who helped him research employee stock ownership.

In fact, Professor Jin hardly taught anymore, mostly assigning teaching duties to students.

If it weren’t for these past years with Jiang Qin around, he really wouldn’t bother coming here; Professor Jin’s face was flushed with a sense of achievement.

“Mr. Jiang, now I am officially your graduate advisor. Please advise.”

“I dare not claim so.”

“You’re being modest.”

Both stood in the office, bowing lower than each other, a scene too beautiful to behold.

After making rounds, Jiang Qin left the School of Finance building, took his umbrella, and walked into the rain toward the Entrepreneurial Base to visit Professor Yan.

The sky had darkened further; low rumbles of thunder echoed.

However, upon meeting Professor Yan, Jiang Qin unexpectedly ran into an old friend, Cao Xinyue.

Senior Sister Cao used to be the student director at the Entrepreneurial Base; rooms 208 and 207 were both applied by her help. They were neighbors there for over a year.

After she went to Kyoto for her graduate studies, they hadn’t seen each other, so Jiang Qin was quite surprised to see her.

“Senior Sister Cao, how come you’re back?”

“My graduate studies are almost over. I came to Linchuan with my tutor and took the chance to visit Professor Yan. Hello, Director Jiang, long time no see.”

Cao Xinyue looked at him, feeling a surge of emotion.

When she left the school, Group-Buy had just started and hadn’t expanded beyond Linchuan. She hadn’t expected that in just over two years, he would have changed the consumer habits of the entire country.

Thinking back to their first meeting, his remark, “Don’t even talk about dating dogs,” was still vivid, but their statuses were now worlds apart.

“Where’s Professor Yan?”

“He’s got a cold recently. I pushed him to go to the clinic to get some medicine.”

While waiting for Professor Yan to return, Jiang Qin and Cao Xinyue sat at the Entrepreneurial Base’s main office coffee table and chatted.

Honestly, Cao Xinyue initially felt a bit estranged when facing Jiang Qin, but after a few words, she found he was still the same ‘dog’ and felt less awkward.

“Senior sister, how are things with your boyfriend?”

“We broke up a while ago.”

“?”

Jiang Qin widened his eyes, looking surprised.

Back when they shared an office at the Entrepreneurial Base, Cao Xinyue would flaunt her love daily, sweeter than even his friendship with Feng Nanshu—it was as if she wanted the whole world to know.

Her boyfriend even joined Group-Buy part-time just to buy her a phone for her birthday. He had no idea how things had changed over the years.

“Why did you break up?”

“He was working, I was studying—we were in different cities. Naturally, the feelings faded. Then he got a new girlfriend and didn’t tell me. It was quite a surprise. I even had our anniversary gift ready, ended up congratulating them with it…”

Jiang Qin opened his mouth, thinking to himself that this was the first time he heard about cheating described in such a fresh, refined way.

Cao Xinyue gave a slight smile, a bit bitter, “I only realized later how severe my love-blindness was. Luckily, I didn’t give up my studies because of him. Junior, you were right, not even dating dogs.”

“Senior sister, understanding this now isn’t too late. We singles are truly the kings!”

“You and Feng Nanshu haven’t dated?”

Jiang Qin looked up, thinking, “Although we haven’t dated, I sometimes feel almost deceived by her.”

Cao Xinyue chuckled, “How are things with Hong Yan? Have you seen her?”

“We rarely meet, especially since she left the Entrepreneurial Base and 208 moved off-campus. I seldom come here, and our schools aren’t even on the same street. There’s hardly a chance to meet.”

“I have a dinner with her tonight. Do you want to join?”

Jiang Qin nodded, “I’ve been quite free recently. Yes, I can make it.”

Cao Xinyue looked at him, “Isn’t your Xitian launching four new confession milk teas?”

“You’re well-informed, senior sister.”

“They’re available at our school too, selling well. But Hong Yan asked me to buy a ‘regret’ milk tea for you.”

Jiang Qin turned to her, “I’ll consider it drunk.”

Cao Xinyue looked into his eyes, “She liked you, you know that, right?”

“I knew a little.”

Cao Xinyue sighed upon hearing his answer, “It’s a pity. Hong Yan is too rational, analyzing everything clearly. She figures if there’s no hope, better to pull back early. It’s good and bad.”

Jiang Qin tapped the table, “I’ve had a really special experience that sometimes makes me zone out and feel like the current me isn’t the real me. So, it’s tough for me to like someone with this identity. There are always emotional barriers that make it seem fake.”

Cao Xinyue paused, “I don’t get it.”

“I’ve been confessed to three times recently, but they like a person that’s not the real me.”

“Do you think Hong Yan is the same?”

Jiang Qin thought for a moment and nodded, “That was an exaggerated version of me, call it a dog or greedy, it’s like a shell. The real me is just a melancholy, profound, handsome man.”

Cao Xinyue pursed her lips, “Junior, are you stressed from business, feeling a bit split?”

“Pretty much…”

“Is the one Feng Nanshu likes that melancholy, profound, handsome…man inside?”

Jiang Qin curved the corners of his mouth, “Maybe. That’s why I like her.”

Cao Xinyue squinted her eyes, “You’ve finally admitted you like her.”

“Honestly, everyone knew. I’ve liked her for a long time.”

“I still don’t quite understand the difference.”

“Senior sister, you can think of it like this: you’re glamorous and successful, but you always feel like the ordinary you was also worth liking. But no one liked him. Why not?”

Jiang Qin looked out at the drizzling rain, “When you’re as wealthy as I am, you really don’t have many needs in a relationship. But if I’m to like someone, I truly, truly have to like her.”