Chapter 389

September in the golden autumn.

The sky is a clear blue.

The logo of Tsinghua and Peking University, with its golden patterns and sapphire background, shines brightly under the sun.

Unlike Enhua University, whose main gate is usually closed, the main gate of Tsinghua and Peking University is wide open, revealing a broad path lined with lush trees.

Standing at the entrance, there is an overwhelming sense of grandeur.

Very excited.

Xiao Qi looks up at the four characters "Tsinghua and Peking University," and her hands and feet are trembling slightly.

This is probably the dream place for all students.

Very distant.

But now it's right in front of her.

Zaizai stands beside Xiao Qi, not as excited. Coming from a wealthy family, his aspiration for this top university is more of an added bonus, not a necessity. But for Xiao Qi, who comes from a humble background, Tsinghua and Peking University represent the highest path for children from poor families.

Regardless of your background, you have the opportunity to come here, it's very fair.

But it's actually unfair. Coming from a humble background means having fewer channels for acquiring knowledge and requiring more effort to succeed here.

Xiao Qi used to feel that this place was unreachable, but now she stands at the gate of Tsinghua and Peking University.

Although she has the boost from the system, Xiao Qi indeed feels that she has put in effort to study.

There is a difference between studying diligently and not. Xiao Qi can feel it herself.

Before, she was just half-hearted, studying hard on the surface, especially in the period before the college entrance examination. Sometimes, she would wake up at three or four in the morning just to do exercises.

But the efficiency was very low; she wasn't absorbing the knowledge, just going through the motions, pretending for herself.

To truly study well, one must be down-to-earth and conscientious, learn little by little, and also understand the importance of balancing work and rest, exercising and studying are both important.

Studying to death or reading dead books is useless.

Now she studies even harder than in her senior year of high school, but she doesn't feel as tired as she did back then. She exercises every day, schedules her study time well, learns multiple subjects, and still feels at ease.

Standing at the gate of Tsinghua and Peking University, there is a sense of pride in fulfilling one's wish.

Unable to suppress her smile, she smiles foolishly.

Today is the first day of school, and many freshmen are registering, with people coming and going constantly.

Xiao Qi and Zaizai didn't stay at the gate for too long; the two of them went in with their suitcases.

Not far from the school gate, there is a beautiful Mercedes-Benz parked, with several young people inside, their eyes showing signs of staying up late last night.

Today, Chen Zhouzhou has once again dragged everyone to see this year's new female students at Tsinghua and Peking University.

They didn't want to come, but they couldn't resist Chen Zhouzhou's insistence. It's not interesting to play with ordinary girls; they want to play with the smart ones.

Most of these people are second-generation rich, with power and influence, and they were persuaded to come over laughing and jokingly to see the new dinosaurs entering the park.

Those who can get into Tsinghua and Peking University are either nerdy or plain-looking, hardly any good-looking ones, except for Chen Zhouzhou, whose taste is peculiar, and he's not picky at all.

Parking is not allowed at the school gate, so they parked on the side and looked around boredly.

Sure enough, most of them are dinosaurs.

A few who look decent are still very rural.

They were about to leave, but unexpectedly, there are actually some good-looking ones.

There was a young girl, dressed in a blue-trimmed white sports suit with sport pants, her hair tied up in a small bun, dragging a suitcase beside her. There was a young boy by her side, handing her water, and they looked very close.

"Bet eight LV bags, they must be a couple," someone remarked.

But despite her ordinary appearance, the young girl was actually quite charming.

Especially after seeing so many girls with glasses or somewhat unattractive, the young girl seemed refreshingly elegant and dazzling. She stood silly at the school gate, smiling foolishly at the sign of Tsinghua and Peking University.

That smile was like a cool spring in the hot summer, trickling into their hearts.

Even Li Rui, who usually looked down on others, was now earnestly watching the girl.

Li Rui was the most reliable among the group, sort of their leader, and he was unexpectedly dragged here today.

She was very pretty, very neat, and seemed very intelligent. Her mannerisms, her way of speaking, everything resembled the image of his girlfriend, as if his girlfriend looked exactly like her, giving him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Chen Zhouzhou even spoke directly, saying, "It's her, I didn't come here in vain today."

"Guys, watch me win her over."

"The beautiful flower might already have an owner, that young boy looks good, he should be her boyfriend," Li Rui said casually.

Xiao Qi and Zaizai entered the school together, registered, and signed up for the dormitory.

The conditions of the graduate dormitory were better, with double rooms. Xiao Qi's roommate was a girl from Tianjin, whose family was very close to the capital, knowing that Xiao Qi was from Jingnan Province. Looking at Xiao Qi's plain clothes and lack of obvious brand logos on her belongings, her sense of superiority was evident on her face, after all, compared to Jingnan Province, it really seemed like a small city in the countryside.

Xiao Qi had experienced this kind of hierarchy back in high school, so she was quite used to it.

It was a bit regrettable that, why at Tsinghua and Peking University, she couldn't get along with her roommate like En Hua did, getting along very well with her roommate from the start.

But Xiao Qi was much more open-minded now. She came here to study, not to stay in the dormitory all the time. It was nice to have a good roommate, but if they didn't get along well, she could live outside. Tsinghua and Peking University was relatively lenient with graduate student management, after all, graduate students were generally adults.

Normally, Xiao Qi would help Zaizai tidy up the dormitory, but the situation was reversed.

Xiao Qi's roommate became even more displeased, not only was she from the countryside, but she also brought her boyfriend over.

Zaizai helped Xiao Qi tidy up the dormitory, doing it neatly and efficiently. Xiao Qi felt quite embarrassed. Although her family's financial situation was not good when she was young, she actually hadn't done much work. Her hands and feet were not as diligent and efficient as Zaizai's.

Zaizai came from a very good family, but Li Qianmen and Gao Cuihua would not spoil their children. When Zaizai wanted pocket money as a child, he had to earn it himself, like wiping a window for five hundred...

Xiao Qi felt that much of her confidence was cultivated by Zaizai. Since being with him, she had become more confident and her personality had become much brighter.

She tended to think of things in a negative way when encountering problems, but Zaizai was the opposite. He always thought in a positive direction, as if there was nothing difficult.

Even though they both took the postgraduate entrance exam together, Zaizai's interview didn't go well, which worried Xiao Qi a lot. Sometimes she worried about the long-distance relationship, and sometimes she thought about breaking up. Despite appearing as a study genius to outsiders, Xiao Qi wasn't emotionally strong; she was still growing slowly. After all, she was just an 18-year-old girl.

But Zaizai remained composed, facing problems and solving them.

Money wasn't the issue here. Xiao Qi was actually quite wealthy now. Her app market valuation kept increasing, and even though it hadn't gone public yet, it basically represented her net worth. She could be considered rich. But mentally, she still couldn't shake off the mindset of being poor. It would take a long time to adapt to this change.

Tsinghua and Peking University was indeed like the dream university they imagined.

The academic atmosphere was excellent.

Whether on the road, by the river, in the cafeteria, or in the library, you could see people studying everywhere.

For Xiao Qi, being here was like falling into an ocean of knowledge, just like a kid who loves candy falling into a candy jar, utterly content.

In the first week, both of them adapted quite well, except for some discord with their roommates.

Xiao Qi's roommate was always reserved, while Zaizai's roommate was too enthusiastic, which made him uncomfortable.

Xiao Qi enjoyed this kind of academic atmosphere, and Zaizai now also found studying to be enjoyable. Solving unknown problems with knowledge was actually a pleasant thing. Unlike his elder brother who always wore a frown and had several bad days every month, Zaizai felt that doing research and studying was better. Dealing with different people every day like his elder brother was too troublesome.

He only needed to interact with Xiao Qi and take care of her.

As for others, Zaizai remained as aloof as before, not very good at understanding others' feelings. Such a personality might inevitably offend people in business or politics, but in academia, it posed no problem. Scholars were naturally single-minded. What they did was what they did. This straightforward personality was actually quite suitable.

Plus, Zaizai was exceptionally handsome.

He became quite popular at Tsinghua and Peking University, being both a top student and good-looking. Many people actively pursued him.

Xiao Qi also encountered the same problem, with many suitors.

Both of them basically used each other to reject others.

A few second-generation rich kids had their eyes on someone, went to check the freshman register, but couldn't find the person they were looking for. They watched people enter, but the person they were looking for didn't exist.

Chen Zhouzhou was persistent and went around Tsinghua and Peking University several times.

Finally, after a month, he bumped into that girl.

He said to himself, "She must be in the school; I just don't know why she's not listed in the freshman register."

Chen Zhouzhou told his buddies that he found the person and couldn't let her slip away this time.

He suppressed his excitement and walked towards the girl.

But he saw her entering the teaching building with a few other people.

At least he finally found her.

Chen Zhouzhou asked around this time and found out that the girl was already a graduate student, not a freshman this year. He found Xiao Qi's roommate and learned about Xiao Qi's news.

She came from Jingnan Province and got into Tsinghua and Peking University from a very poor-quality school. She was especially hardworking.

Every night, she would go to the large playground by Qingbei Lake for a run.

Comparatively frugal, with average looks, Xiao Qi's parents spoke with a rural accent over the phone, indicating their modest background. She had a somewhat handsome boyfriend, also a graduate student, whom she got admitted to the same program with.

Chen Zhouzhou was meticulous; he only made his move after gathering information.

He even staked out for a few days, finding that this young girl's appearance matched his preferences, which made him somewhat serious.

One day, when Xiao Qi was heading to her lab class, her roommate asked her to wait for her at the Tang Song Experiment Building. Xiao Qi found it a bit strange since her roommate had always been distant. Nevertheless, she didn't dwell on it and waited at the entrance.

Unexpectedly, her roommate didn't show up, and a guy came looking for her instead.

"Hello, Xiao Qi. Let me introduce myself. I'm Chen Zhouzhou from Capital City University of Science."

As he spoke, he handed her a business card with not only his student identity but also several titles, including ownership of three companies, one of which was an entertainment company.

Capital City University of Science was considered a decent university from an outsider's perspective, but it wasn't prestigious within the capital; it was the kind of school where one could get by.

Xiao Qi took the card, unsure of his intentions.

Recently, there had been many confessions, so Xiao Qi felt it might be another tactic.

"Are you willing to be in a relationship with me?" Chen Zhouzhou asked straightforwardly.

He was quite handsome, well-off, and had just alighted from his Mercedes-Benz, conveniently parking at the entrance of the Tang Song Experiment Building.

That car alone cost over two million.

At their university, driving such a car, extending a hand, and offering to drop off any girl on the way was hard to refuse.

"Sorry, I already have a boyfriend," Xiao Qi said promptly.

"I know. Is it the classmate you entered grad school with? What's the use of a classmate? Even if they graduate from a top university, they still need to find a job. A million-yuan annual salary is nothing compared to my monthly pocket money. You're excellent, beautiful, and you deserve better," Chen Zhouzhou said earnestly.

He could be considered promising; although he relied on his parents, he had achieved quite a lot by leveraging his advantages. The combined market value of his companies was close to a hundred million.

He genuinely liked the girl in front of him; she had good looks, seemed clean, and was intelligent. It's just that her family background was too ordinary. However, that didn't matter; who said dating had to lead to marriage? You could splurge during your prime youth.

Xiao Qi had been reading, feeling uncomfortable with her head down. Now, as she relaxed her neck and looked up, she saw the golden characters of the Tang Song Experiment Building's signboard, and couldn't help but smile.

Zaizai had no classes in the afternoon, so he came to accompany Xiao Qi to her lab.

When he saw Xiao Qi at the entrance with a stranger, he frowned a bit.

But after glancing at the stranger, he concluded that the guy wasn't as good-looking as himself, so he let it go.

Seeing Zaizai approaching, Xiao Qi's face lit up with a smile, feeling extremely joyful.

Seeing her smile, Chen Zhouzhou was momentarily captivated, thinking she was smiling at him. She looked really beautiful when she smiled, and his heart fluttered.

However, when he saw the approaching guy, Chen Zhouzhou's face darkened.

"It's almost time for class, why don't you go in?" Zaizai stepped forward, habitually ruffling Xiao Qi's hair, making it even messier and cuter, completely ignoring Chen Zhouzhou. He grabbed Xiao Qi's hand and pulled her towards the laboratory building.

Chen Zhouzhou reluctantly followed but was stopped by Li Weijin.

"Classmate, it's time for class, you should leave."

"Is this building yours? I'll go in if I want." Chen Zhouzhou scoffed. She hadn't expected this young boy to be so handsome, but looks weren't everything. She knew that being good-looking wouldn't get you far in the real world; that's why she was so confident.

Xiao Qi's expression turned strange: ...this building really was his family's.

The two entered the classroom together.

A familiar mechanical voice sounded in Xiao Qi's ear: "Host performance excellent, inspiring others' initiative, reward: +1 agility for the host."

As soon as they entered the classroom, a classmate accidentally knocked a chip off the table. Seeing the chip, which the teacher said cost tens of thousands, about to make intimate contact with the ground, Xiao Qi gently rotated her body and reached out, catching the chip in one smooth motion, seamlessly placing it back on the table.

Standing up straight, she reached out and held Zaizai's hand.

Zaizai gently rubbed her hand. "Will it hurt? Be careful not to scrape your hand."

Xiao Qi shook her head. "It doesn't hurt."

The teacher and students: ...

Xiao Qi and Zaizai found a seat and earnestly began to listen to the lesson and take notes.

Both of them were studying diligently.

What happened at the entrance of the laboratory building just now had no effect on Xiao Qi. She was now actively learning, improving herself, and at the same time, helping more people in need, becoming a truly useful member of society.

The brush in her hand swiftly brushed across the notebook, occasionally lifting her head to look at the slides on the platform. Time flew by.