"Middle-aged women not keeping an eye on their husbands but constantly focusing on their sons, what's the point?" Chen Hansheng muttered as he walked along carrying two gifts.
Earlier, after Liang Meijuan had handed over the gifts, she promptly ushered him out without another word. In the end, Chen Hansheng was forced out of the house.
He first headed to the girls' dormitory at the Finance Institute and called Shen Youchu down. "These are cotton boots from my mom," he said.
Shen Youchu instinctively wanted to decline, but Chen Hansheng emphasized, "These are from my mom, not from me!"
"Th-thank you, Auntie," Shen Youchu said as she awkwardly accepted the boots.
"You should thank me because I'm the one who brought them here," Chen Hansheng said shamelessly.
"Oh, thank you," Shen Youchu responded obediently.
Chen Hansheng sighed, "Such a fool."
When Xiao Rongyu received her gift, she reacted much more naturally. She put on the pearl hair clip and, smiling brightly, asked, "Does it look good?"
Chen Hansheng glanced at her and smirked, "It doesn't look good. It's like the Golden Hoop of the Monkey King. How good could an old lady's taste be?"
"It's clearly very pretty. Aunt Liang even cares about me, and you've never bought me a gift," she retorted.
"Take off that down jacket immediately. I'm going to donate it to Project Hope," Chen Hansheng said, referring to the light pink jacket she was wearing. He reached out as if to pull it off.
Xiao Rongyu stood up and broke free, blushing as she spat, "Scoundrel."
...
On the third day, Chen Zhaojun and Liang Meijuan visited the Presidential Palace and Wu Yi Alley. On the fourth day, they were ready to return to Hong Kong City.
Chen Hansheng, wanting to avoid trouble, decided to send them off alone at the bus station.
Perhaps because of the upcoming farewell, the cold war between mother and son mysteriously ended. Liang Meijuan kept fussing over him on the way, telling Chen Hansheng to take care of himself, remember that entrepreneurship was just a side hustle, and focus on his studies. If he could get into a graduate program, it would be even better, and those two girls should only remain classmates...
Chen Hansheng neither agreed nor denied, only nodding absentmindedly with an occasional "mm-hmm."
Finally, when they were entering the station, Chen Hansheng sighed in relief, but Liang Meijuan still looked reluctant to leave.
"Old Chen, why don't we buy an apartment in Jiangling University Town? The suburbs aren't that expensive, and we could take out a loan or sell the old house," Liang Meijuan suggested.
Chen Zhaojun glanced at her and, seeing she wasn't joking, gently dissuaded her. "Let's not. Hansheng has just gotten a bit of freedom now that he's in college. Let's not smother him."
"But they say raising a son is for support in old age. I only have one son. If I don't follow him in the future, am I supposed to go to a nursing home?" Liang Meijuan retorted.
"Following is fine, but not being overly clingy."
Like all middle-aged couples with grown children, they were watching their son start his own life while they themselves aged.
...
Back at school, the 101 Startup Base already had students coming for part-time job interviews, indicating that the promotional flyers featuring "Duan Yu," "Mu Nianci," and "Miao Renfeng" had worked.
Chen Hansheng was the interviewer and kept his requirements simple. A few questions were enough to pass.
Just as people who sell insurance tend to buy insurance themselves, students working part-time for Shentong Express would also form part of the customer base.
Some of the applicants were freshmen, while others were sophomores. Freshmen were mostly there out of curiosity, while sophomores were more proactive and even asked questions. However, when they heard this startup was run by a freshman, some sophomores felt a bit embarrassed since they'd be working for a junior. Some even made snide comments.
"Is it true that part-timers might get pagers in the future?" one asked.
"You freshmen are ambitious, aren't you? Starting a business backed by the school, no less."
"We've been waiting here so long, and nobody in charge has come to greet us yet," another said mockingly.
Shen Youchu, blushing, took out a notebook and whispered, "Pl-please register your details here."
"What are you saying? Speak up!" the sophomore boy said rudely.
Chen Hansheng looked over, set aside the other interviews, and walked up. "Hello, senior. I'm the person in charge of the 101 Startup Base. We'll ask a few simple questions and record your information."
The sophomore gave him a sideways glance and smirked to his friend. "Freshmen these days are really something, aren't they? Running a business and auditing us sophomores, no less."
The line behind him was still waiting, but this sophomore refused to get to the point. Chen Hansheng, now impatient, said, "Are you here for the interview or not? If yes, let's talk. If not, please leave."
"Wow, this freshman has quite the temper. What department are you in? Maybe I know your advisor," the sophomore sneered.
Chen Hansheng threw down his pen, the muscles in his face twitching dangerously. "Are you here to cause trouble?"
"Who the hell are you calling names? Don't you know how to respect your—"
*Smack*
A loud, crisp slap silenced the noisy 101 room. The sophomore clutched his face in shock. Who would have thought the freshman in front of him would hit him out of nowhere?
"You really think too highly of yourself. The freshman assembly is over; there are no more 'newbies' at the Finance Institute," Chen Hansheng said, rubbing his wrist. Without sparing the sophomore another glance, he returned to his seat. "Zhao Xiao, right? Sorry about the interruption. Let's continue."
The freshman named Zhao Xiao nodded blankly and glanced at the slapped senior, immediately becoming more serious.
The sophomore finally snapped out of it, fuming in humiliation. "You damn brat, do you think I won't call my friends to wreck your place?"
"Go ahead. We'll be right here waiting for you," came a voice—not from Chen Hansheng but from Zhu Chenglong, who had just returned from playing video games with some fellow 'gaming addicts.' They decided to stick around in their class activity center and chat when they saw the commotion.
Zhu Chenglong, who once stood up to drill sergeants and fought in dorm disputes, was not one to shy away. If Chen Hansheng hadn't acted, he probably would have.
Guo Shaoqiang was there too and joked, "Senior, you better bring enough people. There are 27 of us just like him."
There were 27 male students in Public Administration Class 2. Under Chen Hansheng's influence, they had stronger cohesion and a sense of pride than any other class.
The swaggering sophomore, sensing the shift, backed down and left with his friends in embarrassment.
With the flyers continuing to spread, more and more students from the Finance Institute came to interview. They stepped into the 101 room, saw the orderly line, and, surprised, joined it willingly.
...