she really strike gold when she went into business"Chen Lingshan shook her head; the halfhearted gesture of Zeng Ke reaching out to pat her head left a faint sense of loss in her heart.Fully updated...Chapter 115: Gathering

Cain and Tang Mu took their last clean walk through the campus of No.27 High School, reminiscent of their aimless strolls during their final days before graduation in Xiahai. Back then, Tang Wu did not know that she would be entangled with Su Can's life over the following three years in such a unique way.

They emerged from the scene of the Justice photo shoot and walked along the familiar paths of No.27 High School—small alleys, forests, playgrounds, running tracks, teaching buildings, and art buildings that echoed eerily, each place evoking memories.

Many people who saw them simply nodded in greeting; even those who usually rushed up to talk to Su Can chose to go elsewhere, knowing that now was not the time for disturbances.

In Dragon Ball, when the seven dragon balls are gathered, a wish is granted and then they scatter across the world. But right now, these students couldn't take their wishes with them as they left.

Many couples were stubbornly sitting under trees, discussing how they would spend their summer holidays together, how often to call each other when back at their respective schools—embracing passionately and reluctantly letting go, causing Tang Mu's cheeks to heat up as she walked past, wondering if Su Can expected her to allow public embraces like this.

"Will Lin Luoran be going tonight I can make it but will need to head home at five."

“Alright. Then I’ll take you home at ten.”

Su Can reached out and held her hand; Tang Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Holding hands in public was one thing, hugging was quite another. She could handle people's screams and teasing when it came to holding hands but hadn't trained herself to the point where she felt comfortable with more overt displays like those around her.

Undoubtedly, wherever these two walked together, they would still be a standout couple in this school—two iconic figures.

The fact that they were sure to attend the same university was even more enviable. Watching their backs as they walked away, many wished that time could move slower now instead of being eager for it to speed up back then during classes.

Those young men in white shirts with ties standing under the sun, those faces full of vitality, had all become a part of this school's past as光陰迅速推移.

When leaving the campus gate, Su Can saw the yellow sign for "Pineapple Media" hanging outside an adjacent building.

Lin Guangdong and Jiang Ming’s exchange program in America went smoothly. They returned to Rongcheng a few days ago and were beginning to revamp the magazine. Lin brought back fresh ideas and also hired someone called Daniel, whose Chinese name was Li Yang.

Before graduation, he had completed his master's degree in "Media Management" at the University of Missouri. His parents had immigrated to America when he was thirteen, but now that he had finished school, he felt a special connection to China and planned to return for work.

In addition, as both his parents were Chinese, Daniel’s Chinese was fluent, and he hit it off with Lin Guangdong during the press conference. Pineapple Media hired him; though his salary was naturally lower than abroad, Li Yang felt that this presented a challenge, and compared to an enjoyable work environment and opportunities, money wasn't so important for someone like him.

Even so, Pineapple Media offered him an annual salary of 150,000 yuan, which was the highest at the company.

All seemed to be progressing healthily and orderly. Now, with the Dunhuang Mall, Shushan Stationery Factory, and Bolo Media combined, Su Cen's fixed assets had reached the multimillion level.

The most striking point about this is that he is currently only seventeen years old. Based on Su Cen’s linear growth record, in the three years after his rebirth, he earned his first million yuan, and now, his true identity is still just a high school graduate.

On graduation day, people from different circles began to separate clearly, forming their own groups to arrange evening activities, occasionally intersecting with each other.

In the afternoon, Su Cen had a simple meal of crossing-the-bridge rice noodles with Tang Wu. In the shop, he saw many people lingering outside in ice cream shops and bubble tea stores, strolling around on the streets, passing by familiar neighborhoods as well as alleys they've never visited before.

Year after year, it has been three years already.

The twilight sky gradually darkened. Large clouds hung high above the city.

Su Cen and Tang Wu were joined by many others, including Wang Weiwei, Lin Zhouwu, who was chatting with others like Lin Luoran, as well as some named and unnamed individuals. They gathered together. Perhaps they still held egg roll ice creams bought from roadside stores or cans of cola in their hands, while those preparing to stay up all night held cans of coffee. Yet, it was unclear where these people came from; perhaps they just met at a corner or under an elevated road bridge, which wasn't unusual, as this was the night for graduates.

The crowd gathered together on city streets below towering buildings, heading towards their predetermined destinations.

Suddenly, Su Cen thought of a certain science fiction fairy tale. Facing the tall buildings in the city, everyone proceeded like adventurers; behind these steel and concrete fortresses lay desires, sins, darkness, isolating many unseen shadows and struggles for survival beneath the dazzling lights and nightlife.

The students before him were also like this: they fought for their future while at school, but after leaving the sheltered environment of the campus, they would fight within these skyscrapers and cityscapes to gain status and value in life.

In ten years, when Su Cen saw his classmates again, those who had become small officials or made small fortunes were always the most triumphant among them. Officials envied those with small fortunes for their leisurely lives, while the wealthy envied the officials for their minor authority. They would discuss which person of note the former school beauties married and where legendary individuals went, what they are doing now, when will they return, analyzing whether they could tap into potential resources through classmate relationships.

But those future days had yet to arrive, and time’s pointer was reversed back to this day of high school graduation, a time when everyone was young and full of vigor, prone to indulgence and revelry.

It was said that Zhang Feifei's father hosted a dinner at a hotpot restaurant for her class teachers and classmates today. The evening activities were also fully sponsored by the Zhang family, but Su Cen and Wang Weiwei clearly did not participate in this grand event, merely agreeing to attend the gathering later.

Zhang Feifei still seemed somewhat gloomy at dinner. Although she had agreed with her father to organize such a graduation feast, it ended up making many boys who found her interesting in school hesitate due to its lavishness. Perhaps because hearing about Zhang Feifei's family wealth in school didn't give them an intuitive understanding of how wealthy they were until they saw the Audis parked outside and the half of the grand hall that was reserved for the event, which immediately made many people feel a sense of distance.

Despite her fancy clothes that even well-off students would envy at school, Zhang Feifei was still a generous girl whom some classmates liked to borrow money from for cigarettes. Even though they knew she came from a wealthy family, it didn't change how she acted in everyday life, and apart from these minor differences, she remained just an honest girl who sometimes said things that could be hard to bear.

But now that they have graduated, it seems like everyone has become distant.

Zhang Feifei could see some of the boys who had liked her or pursued her secretly while in school becoming less active. They would even avoid looking at her directly.

In response, Zhang Feifei also toned down a bit. Even when buying drinks for their class teachers, she behaved more ladylike, though inwardly cursing about how she still had plenty of eligible bachelors to choose from.

After eating dinner, she decided not to let her parents interfere anymore, even if they might just want to do something nice for the whole class. It was no longer necessary.

They invited everyone to the Brilliant Stars KTV. This is one of the better places nearby, and Phebe often frequented it with her close friends on weekends. She had previously invited Mo Can as well, but he politely declined. Today, however, was a celebration for everyone, including Su Can and Tang Wu, which made people even more excited.

Upon arriving at the KTV, they found that all from luxury suites to small rooms were full today. Luckily, they had reserved two large ones beforehand. The nearby cinema suddenly saw an influx of people; many chose to watch movies through the night. For those wanting to party in bars until morning, Nine-eye Bridge was a suitable spot. Everyone's phones were busy as some rushed between venues. When Su Can and his group arrived at the KTV, they found that high school students had come here in droves to spend.

Of course, Chengdu is still a major city with over eight million people, so their graduation was just a small part of it.

The majority inside were local students who didn't know each other; some even glared at them suspiciously. Wang Weiwei ignored them all because he had grown beyond such petty confrontations. Lin Zhonwu relied on his physical presence and looked at the others with an indifferent gaze, adding a touch of arrogance to it. Su Can chuckled as he dragged him into the elevator.

The majority were exuberant graduates. His own graduation along with Tang Wu's couldn't be ruined by these people's unrestrained behavior.

Upon entering their private room, most people were already there: Wu Shimiao, Guo Xiaozhong, Jiang Mingjun, and others whose faces they recognized from school. Xiao Yunyun was singing Wang Fei’s "A Love Letter to Myself."

Their entry caused a stir among the two dozen or so people in the suite.

After finishing her song, Xiao Yunyun walked over with a glass of alcohol, her face flushed red. She smiled at Su Can and said, "We've graduated now; I'm one of your oldest friends. From Xiahai to Chengdu, this kind of friendship is rare. I hope you'll remember me as written in the yearbook, and given our history, we should have a drink together!"

Su Can nodded, acknowledging how her presence had been intertwined with his life's turning points; it was impossible not to think about it fondly. He drank a glass of alcohol with her.

The crowd began to clamor, exclaiming that Su Can was being unfair and demanding he drink with them regardless of whether they were usually well-behaved students or not.

People from other suites rushed over as well. Young people nearby who had a keen sense for such things also came running. The general phone conversation went something like this: "What Su Can is at the main branch of Brilliant Stars KTV with Zhang Feifei and Zhuo Zhiyu, right Okay, okay, we're seven here; let's immediately call two taxis! We've got to make Sun Man drink three glasses just for him!"

"Alright, I'll drink for Su Can. If he can't handle it anymore, don't force me to drink instead; we're all reaching our limits," Lin Zouwu and Wang Weiwei, who had received a nod from Su Can, quickly declined the offer, as Su Can would otherwise be forced to drink himself to death.

Actually, before this, Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwu had already helped Su Can fend off dozens of drinks. Now all three were visibly unstable, indicating how intense this drinking contest was. The masterminds behind these relentless attacks—students who usually kept silent but eagerly plotted in the background to see their targets get drunk—were orchestrating fierce waves of challenges from both male and female participants.

Especially Zhuang Zhiyu and Zhang Xian, along with his sister Zhang Feifei, were among those secretly manipulating things. They seemed to only want to watch Su Can make a fool of himself.

Tang Wu, who never drank before, picked up one of the empty glasses that had belonged to Su Can and said calmly to the crowd, "He can't drink any more. If you insist on drinking, let me take over."

The others were stunned for a moment but then started cheering; this graduation party was reaching its climax as Tang Wu stepped up to defend Su Can.

"My brother and Wang Weiwei are quite heavyweights. You wouldn’t be planning to leave them with just me, would you" Lin Luoran glanced at Zhang Feifei and the rest fell silent, intimidated by what Miss Lin had said.

Immediately after, Lin Luoran turned to another group of eager drinkers, "They can't take any more. How about I drink half a cup for every full one of yours"

The others ignorantly agreed and thought a woman wouldn’t be much of an obstacle; however, they were soon laid out flat by Lin Luoran’s swift actions. Despite only drinking half-cups each time, Lin Luoran's red face and formidable posture made everyone reluctant to challenge her further.

It seemed the night would continue until dawn.

Tang Wu’s phone rang twice; she needed to head home. Su Can got up to see them off, with Wang Weiwei and Lin Luoran also following along for fresh air.

Walking down the street together, Lin Zouwu suddenly shouted loudly, "Graduation!"

"Earlier we agreed not to tell each other our college preferences before the exam. Now that it's over, I'm going to China Youth University of Political Science and Law; where are you two applying" asked Wang Weiwei.

After a brief hesitation, Lin Zouwu replied, "I’m going to Chengdu University."

Lin Luoran was taken aback but then said, "I’ve applied for Shanghai International Studies University."

"So we’re truly parting ways," Wang Weiwei said sadly before smiling again. “But there are plenty of opportunities to meet up in college.”

"That’s right, a little parting like this doesn’t matter; let's find another coffee shop or internet cafe and keep celebrating!" Lin Zouwu clapped his friends on the back while looking at Su Can and said, "Hey, once you’ve seen Tang Wu off, come over quickly! Or else I’ll look down on you!"cle Gong will travel far just to come and support you!”Tang Wu smiled indifferently without making any comment.This middle-aged Mr. Gong also smiled and continued, "I will keep driving you back"Tang W...