Until evening, Xia Qianyue hadn't appeared on Sifang Gate Street.
Zhang Wei was surprised that Xia Qianyue had become a no-show.
Although this girl was a bit violent and simple-minded, she was supposed to join the Martial Association, and punctuality had always been her style.
"Right, I have her mobile number, I can add her on WeChat to ask!"
Zhang Wei slapped his forehead, now with a smartphone in hand instead of that old feature phone, he could finally use messaging tools.
He skillfully typed in the number, and the option to send a friend request on WeChat appeared.
[Request to add "Great Heroine Qianyue" as a friend?]
Tap add.
"Great Heroine, truly fits the name of a simple-minded person," Zhang Wei chuckled to himself when he saw the name.
Then, he thought of Luo Xiaobu, as he also had his number.
[Request to add "Flirting Handsome Guy" as a friend?]
Seeing this ID, Zhang Wei couldn't help but laugh out loud.
[Ding, Flirting Handsome Guy has accepted your request, you are now friends and can chat with each other.]
Luo Xiaobu accepted the request quickly, as if he had been waiting just for him.
Zhang Wei hurriedly edited the ID to Luo Xiaobu, and Luo Xiaobu also sent a message.
Luo Xiaobu: Zhang Wei, you switched to a smartphone?
Zhang Wei: Yeah.
Luo Xiaobu: I thought so, but isn't your ID just "Zhang Wei" a bit too simple?
Zhang Wei: Simplicity is reality, I'm not used to the kind of ID you have.
Luo Xiaobu: Alright... Anyway, the school seems to be looking for you, remember to check your email.
Zhang Wei: The school is looking for me?
Luo Xiaobu: I'm not sure, but I saw the guidance office asking about you, seems like you haven't responded to an email...
Zhang Wei: Got it!
Zhang Wei quickly replied and then ended the chat.
It was only then that he remembered, since moving houses, there was no internet connection in his new place, and naturally his computer couldn't receive email notifications.
"Looks like I need to get internet for the house!" Zhang Wei thought, and headed straight to the service center.
But 5 minutes later, he came out, feeling helpless.
Setting up internet wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't available for Lin Family Mansion.
"That building is too old, considered a historical construction, there's no fiber-optic cable underground, and setting up internet really isn't easy," the customer service lady had said, and Zhang Wei left with a sense of helplessness.
With no way to set up internet, Zhang Wei had only one option left, to mooch off the neighboring Zhao Family's Wi-Fi.
Zhang Wei soon found Zhao Qingyan, and explained his predicament.
"I thought it was something serious. You just want to use the internet, right? Here, take this, free internet, unlimited data, the password and setup are as simple as the router. But be careful, it's a trial product from my company, it's only for your personal use!"
Unexpectedly, Zhao Qingyan handed Zhang Wei something resembling a charger, telling him to just plug it in and use it.
Looking at the compact device in his hand, Zhang Wei was surprised, this thing was definitely high-tech!
But since Zhao Qingyan gave it to him, he didn't hesitate to take it back to Lin Mansion.
After plugging the device into a power source, he set it up using his laptop, indeed as simple as Zhao, the Blacksmith had said.
The internet was soon up and running, and he started connecting.
When he saw that the computer could once again log onto the internet, and he could search on Baidu, Zhang Wei felt a mix of surprise and delight.
Was this considered freeloading?
He didn't know if it was freeloading or not, all he knew was that Zhao Qingyan always had some strange high-tech gadgets.
"It's good to know a technician, an acquaintance with a software engineer has its perks!" he thought with satisfaction, but then shook his head thinking of Zhao Qingyan's hairstyle, realizing that mastery of technology came with a price.
Now that he had recovered internet access, Zhang Wei quickly opened his email, and sure enough, there was an email from the university sent a week ago.
The content of the email was a request from the university asking him to undergo a psychological assessment before and after the law exam.
Because the original owner couldn't bear the pressure and had done some dangerous things, the university needed to know if Zhang Wei's current mental state was suitable for work in the law field.
Despite how normal Zhang Wei had seemed when seeking revenge on Jia Meili,
the ability to handle stress was critical for a lawyer, especially for newcomers, and was definitely worth testing.
The university was worried that Zhang Wei might continue to show signs of losing control, so they sent an email notification, reminding him to seek out a licensed psychologist for a full psychological evaluation and ideally to submit a report.
If the assessment was failed, even if he passed the law exam, his bar license might be delayed.
Zhang Wei was speechless, his ability to handle stress had already been tested through thick and thin.
```
Unmoved in the face of Mount Tai's collapse, unfazed by the deer's glee, that's me indeed.
"Fine, after the law exam is over, I'll have an internship period, so I'll just remember to make a trip there."
Zhang Wei noted this down in his notebook, then continued his review.
Late at night, Xia Qianyue accepted Zhang Wei's friend request.
Xia Qianyue: Zhang Wei, did you change your phone (surprised)?
Zhang Wei: Geez, you and Luo Xiaobu both asked the same thing, huh?
Xia Qianyue: By the way, Zhang Wei, it seems the school wants to talk to you about something. They even asked me about it?
Zhang Wei: I've already replied to the email. I didn't see the notification because I had just moved and didn't have internet access.
Xia Qianyue: That's good then, it's nothing serious, right (confused)?
Zhang Wei: Nothing serious. They want me to do a psychological assessment, no problem for me, but what about you? Weren't you supposed to come this weekend?
Xia Qianyue: Oh, I wanted to, but my mom happens to be looking for me this weekend. How about next time? I'll definitely come next time, if I'm lying I'm a little dog (sticking out tongue).
Zhang Wei: Mhm, okay, no problem (OK).
Looking at Xia Qianyue, who had the innocence of a child, Zhang Wei smiled faintly.
This girl, truly adorably silly...
But soon, he heard light footsteps coming from the front door of the Lin Mansion.
The rebellious girl Zhao Xiaoxiao had returned!
"You're back, huh? Have you eaten yet? There's food in the kitchen!"
Although somewhat helpless, Zhang Wei still asked out of concern.
After all, Zhao Qingyan had helped him quite a bit, so showing concern for his daughter was the least he could do.
"Oh!"
A light and seemingly impatient reply came from Zhao Xiaoxiao.
"By the way, it's getting colder, remember to steam the food on the stove before eating, or it could upset your stomach!" Zhang Wei didn't forget to add a reminder.
"I know already, you're more long-winded than my grandma."
Zhao Xiaoxiao shot back, and immediately sounds of pots and pans could be heard from the kitchen.
"This kid!" Zhang Wei shook his head, feeling somewhat speechless inside.
He had thought that renting a place would give him some peace and quiet alone for a while, but unexpectedly, he ended up with an uninvited roommate.
Moreover, this "roommate" was the daughter of next-door Zhao Qingyan.
...
Early the next morning, Zhang Wei was awoken by a knock on the door.
He hadn't expected someone to come knocking at his door at 5:30 in the morning.
"Coming, coming!" When Zhang Wei opened the door, he found himself face to face with Zhao Qingyan.
The latter, brimming with excitement, said to Zhang Wei, "Xiao Zhang, your idea was really great. That person was sent back, and the documents weren't lost either. You've been a great help!"
"That's great, Uncle Zhao, but I just made a suggestion. You didn't need to come over so early to celebrate, did you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't consider that you young people get up later, my mistake." Zhao Qingyan apologized with a smile, then leaned in closer and said, "Xiao Zhang, what's your bank card number? The company has approved a special reward and asked me to transfer it to you."
"This..."
Zhang Wei was dumbfounded, having made only a casual suggestion. Now there was money to be earned?
"Xiao Zhang, don't be shy. It's what you deserve. Don't think it was just a few words; those were a big help to our company, saving us potentially hundreds of millions in expenses. The boss can't stop singing your praises now!"
"Well alright then..."
Seeing that Zhao Qingyan didn't seem to be leaving, Zhang Wei had no choice but to accept his generosity.
"Alright then, I have to go to work now, you go back to sleep!"
After getting Zhang Wei's bank card number, Zhao Qingyan waved goodbye and left in a hurry.
He really seemed to be in a rush to get to work.
"Do programmers not only have to stay up late but also get up this early?" Zhang Wei muttered as he watched the other man leave.
A few minutes later, the transfer notification arrived.
[Your account has received a deposit of 500,000.00 on *date* at 5:37 AM.]
"500,000?!"
Even for Zhang Wei, that sum was somewhat surprising.
It wasn't that the money was a lot; in his former life, he had received transactions amounting to millions and billions, so a mere 500,000 was unlikely to astonish him.
What did surprise him was that Blacksmith Technology directly paid him 500,000 for those few pointers he had provided earlier.
But then he considered the scale of the other company and let it go.
"Forget it, the company is valued at hundreds of billions, so giving a small fry like me 500,000 isn't a big deal!"
```
Zhang Wei didn't take these matters to heart and continued to study in his room.
Another week passed, and the date of the law exam finally arrived.
In Dragon Country, the law exam is held once a year, and the date is always fixed.
The exam is divided into two phases, objective and subjective questions, and both require advance online registration.
At the beginning of September, it's time for the objective questions exam.
Once the results of the objective questions are published, candidates can register for the subjective questions exam, which takes place a month later.
The exam venue also needs arrangement, and this time the law exam location is at the Financial and Economic College near Xiuyelou on East University campus.
Not holding the exam at the Law School is also to prevent local students from cheating using certain methods, hence the choice of a different school for the venue.
On the day of the exam, early in the morning.
Zhang Wei arrived early at the examination hall and saw Luo Xiaobu dozing off amidst the crowd.
"Radish, I'm here!" he called out loudly.
Startled awake, Luo Xiaobu quickly became alert.
"Zhang Wei!"
He responded and immediately ran over to meet Zhang Wei.
As he drew closer, Zhang Wei noticed Luo Xiaobu had dark circles under his eyes, looking listless.
Zhang Wei curled his lips, tentatively asking, "Looking at you, you must have reviewed, right…?"
"Re... reviewed…" Luo Xiaobu's reply was somewhat guilty.
Zhang Wei narrowed his eyes, knowing what the other had been up to recently.
He guessed that Luo Xiaobu had utterly abandoned himself after moving out and had been immersed in the virtual world of internet female broadcasters, unable to extricate himself.
When the law exam was nearly upon him, that's when he remembered he hadn't reviewed.
Enduring late-night studies and last-minute cramming, he had ended up with such dark circles.
And to be honest, Luo Xiaobu was already plump and fair-skinned, now with dark circles under his eyes, he really did resemble a fat panda.
"I can't take it, after the morning paper one, I must find a place to nap!" Luo Xiaobu yawned as he complained.
"Just be careful not to oversleep, tell me where you are and I'll come to wake you up!"
"Alright, thanks, Zhang Wei!" Hearing his good friend say this, Luo Xiaobu was spirited again, gratitude pouring from him.
The objective part of the law exam is computer-based, consisting of two papers, with paper one in the morning and paper two in the afternoon, each test lasting three hours.
Paper one is from 8:30 am to 11:30 am, and paper two is from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
The subjective questions exam usually takes place in mid-October.
After completing both the objective and subjective exams, all that remains is to wait for the exam results to be announced in November.
Once they pass the exam, law students can then intern at law firms or handle some simple defense lawsuits at legal aid organizations - this is considered the first step into the legal profession.
After a few months or a year of internship, once the practice license is issued, that's when the truly hard days begin.
After waiting outside for a while, candidates began to enter the examination hall.
Paper one began, and after Luo Xiaobu and Zhang Wei confirmed their information, they followed the instructions on their admission ticket to enter the examination hall.
Paper one was all multiple-choice questions on the computer, which for Zhang Wei presented no difficulty.
Throughout the morning, he used only half the allotted time to complete the questions and even reviewed them once.
After triple-checking that there were no issues with the questions, Zhang Wei began to wait, bored.
Looking around at the other examinees with their pained expressions, scratching their heads in distress looking constipated, he felt like laughing.
That'll teach you not to study properly and just play games all day!
When the last 60 minutes to hand in the paper arrived, he submitted his answers and quickly left the examination hall.
"There's another one in the afternoon, truly a torment for me!"
Zhang Wei was full of confidence; the difficulty of the exam wasn't high, and for someone who had prepared thoroughly like him, it was a piece of cake.
Luo Xiaobu might be in some danger, but if he himself won't make an effort, there's nothing Zhang Wei could do about it.
"Since I'm near East University, might as well take a trip there!"
Zhang Wei glanced towards East University Law School, a sharp glint in his eyes.
He needed to settle the last issue left behind by his predecessor at East University.
East University Law School, the administrative building.
Professor Zheng Qian's office.
Professor Zheng Qian was playing with a piece of porcelain in his office, a gift from a former student, reportedly worth hundreds of thousands.
Knock, knock, knock!
Suddenly, a knocking sound interrupted the silence.
"Who is it!" He hastily put down the object in his hand, asking with annoyance.
"It's me, Zhang Wei!"
Hearing the response outside the door, he was surprised.
"That's right, today is the day of the legal exam, and the test site is at the adjacent Financial and Economic College!"
Professor Zheng quickly remembered that Zhang Wei had probably finished the legal exam before returning to the Law School.
Just thinking of Zhang Wei made his old face somewhat displeased.
This kid had not given him any face in front of so many people and had even smashed the expensive tea set given by Yuan Dong, which was worth over three hundred thousand.
If it had been any other student, he would have let it go with a smile despite feeling bad inside.
But he did not intend to spare face for Zhang Wei, so at the time Zhang Wei mentioned compensation, he purposefully kept silent, tacitly agreeing to the matter.
Thinking of the tens of thousands that this student still owed him added to his irritation.
How was a poor student going to repay that money?
Zhang Wei pushed the door and entered the office, his gaze lingered on a piece of porcelain near Professor Zheng's hand.
"Kid, what are you here for?"
Zhang Wei got straight to the point, "Professor Zheng, sorry to disturb you after so long. I'm here concerning the tea set."
This made Professor Zheng pause, somewhat puzzled, "What, you have money now and are ready to compensate?"
"Indeed, I intend to compensate for the tea set, but I have a question. Do you still have the tea set here?"
"That thing was damaged, I threw it away long ago. But your money can't be short, that tea set was worth more than three hundred thousand. If you want to settle it, I'll take three hundred thousand, not a penny less!"
When it came to the tea set, Professor Zheng was like a shrewd merchant, revealing a greedy expression.
"Fine, give me a bank card number and I'll transfer the money to you!"
"You actually have the money, kiddo? This money better not have come from a bad place," he inquired with slight surprise but still gave a card number.
Zhang Wei took out his phone and upon a few taps, the three hundred thousand was transferred.
"Professor Zheng, this three hundred thousand means we're even now, but I won't forget what you've done!"
Hearing Zhang Wei's stern words, Professor Zheng was rather amused.
"Hmph, what are you getting cocky about? You are just a student. Even if you've passed this legal exam, you have a long way to climb. Come talk to me when you reach my status!"
Contempt, arrogance, disdain.
That was Professor Zheng's attitude towards Zhang Wei.
He was a professor at the Law School, while Zhang Wei was just a nearly graduated poor student—the difference in their status was like heaven and earth.
"Professor Zheng, I wonder if you've heard the saying, 'Thirty years in Dongfang, thirty years in the west; do not bully the young and poor!'"
"Hmph, don't try to intimidate me with that saying. If you're going to leave, then leave quickly. I can't stand the sight of you!"
"Alright, farewell then, Professor Zheng!"
Watching Zhang Wei leave, Professor Zheng snorted coldly and wore an angry expression.
But when he saw the transfer record, his face showed surprise.
"What's with this kid, suddenly having hundreds of thousands? Could he have gotten involved with some rich woman?"
The thought of Zhang Wei paying off his debt and seeming so smug made him unable to contain his anger.
He was a professor at the Law School; when had he ever been challenged by a student to his face?
"No, I can't let this kid get away with this easily. Even though I can't interfere with the legal exam, I heard the administration recently asked him to do a psychological assessment. Let's see if I can prevent that from happening!"
After all, Professor Zheng was a professor at East University and had some connections throughout Dongfang Capital.
If he decided to make life difficult for Zhang Wei, he certainly could.
And Zhang Wei had no idea that he had just become a target of Professor Zheng's spite.
Upon leaving Professor Zheng's office, he too wore a puzzled look.
"Is Professor Zheng not the least bit discerning, putting so many counterfeits in his office?"
In his previous life, he had been a great lawyer who could earn millions, even tens of millions in fees per case and thus had come across numerous antiques.
He had even defended companies that made forgeries and counterfeits, so he had inadvertently learned quite a few skills in identifying authentic items.
At a glance, he could tell that many of the antiques in Professor Zheng's office were fakes.
But he was unsure whether the professor was unaware of their real value, or if he knew that displaying real antiques would be taken poorly and had deliberately bought fakes for appearances.
Zhang Wei, however, took note of this, suspecting that these fake antiques might have been gifts to Professor Zheng.
"Hold on, I remember Yuan Dong's family runs an antique company."
Zhang Wei shook his head, momentarily dispelling these thoughts; now was not the time to dwell on such matters.
He soon went to the administration office and paid off his student loans.
Though he was nearly a hundred thousand less well-off, Zhang Wei felt much lighter.
A life without debt was truly the most wonderful thing.