room to interview Su Cen, even bringing in a bouquet of fresh flowers. What was initially a violent incident caused by student brawls at City No.1 High School suddenly shifted its focus to promoting...Chapter 4: Roommates

Casan and Tangmei's families came to the school for registration two days before the official admission date. Although Nan University clearly stated the designated arrival day for new students, it was acceptable to arrive early; this method just wasn't promoted widely.

So Su Can and Tang Wu both registered on that day, avoiding the peak hours.

The two fathers happened to meet each other by chance. They had a casual lunch together in the afternoon before parting ways to take care of their own matters.

On that same day, when Su Can placed his luggage into the allocated four-person dorm room on the east campus building, the room was still messy and empty, indicating that it had just been vacated by the previous occupants.

After placing his luggage in the dormitory, Su Can and his father cleaned up the room thoroughly. Then they left to check into a hotel.

The main campus on Handan Road and Guoding Road has hotels like Home Inn and Motel 168, but currently all of them are fully booked; thus, these places have become the preferred accommodation spots for parents dropping off their children for registration.

Su Licheng reserved a standard room with a double bed at Jin Jiang Inn on Siping Road. He was lucky to get this simple room in advance since most nearby chain hotels were already full and only had rooms left if you paid extra for air conditioning. When they arrived, other parents and students were haggling with the hotel staff.

Initially, Su Can wanted his father to stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel across from the school, but Su Licheng was quite thrifty and said it would be too expensive to stay there; he preferred a budget option.

The next day was Nan University's official registration date. As early as 8 am, private cars were lined up on Guoding Road, and those entering the school from Guobin Road had been stuck in traffic jams for hours due to the dense crowd of people extending into the campus. The underground garage under the College of Journalism and Communication was already overwhelmed.

During peak hours, the Guanghua Avenue was filled with students dragging suitcases, carrying oversized luggage bags, pushing trolleys loaded with items, and some even brought their grandparents along for a grand entrance to university life.

Su Can and his father planned to tour the new school while also handling registration procedures according to the school handbook.

To attend classes according to their major, choose courses based on understanding and interaction with the counselor teacher, and deal with various matters such as course selection, registration, taking photos, attending orientation ceremonies, undergoing entrance exams, and collecting books over the next week.

Su Can saw while walking in the dormitory area that there was much buzz among freshmen about the mixed-gender living quarters of Building 17 for the School of Journalism.

Standing downstairs was a female student holding an umbrella, with luggage boxes piled up beside her as if she were moving house.

The girl's name was Cheng Congcong. What made her stand out wasn't the expensive car parked in the School of Journalism’s garage belonging to her family but rather the hotel staff accompanying her and pushing her luggage trolley, all of whom were at least 1.78 meters tall.

These attendants pushed the trolleys ahead as Cheng Congcong and her father walked behind them under an umbrella, dressed in a round-necked skirt with puffed sleeves. Students like Cheng Congcong weren't unique; it was quite common for freshmen to be met with such treatment during enrollment.

"Just wait here for a moment. I’ll have the attendants bring your belongings upstairs and you can watch over them." Her father, who was a member of the Crowne Plaza hotel’s club, easily obtained two attendants' services by tipping them and instructed his daughter accordingly.

Cheng Congcong calmly accepted everything that was arranged for her. Blowing on a chewing gum she bought from Watsons, she looked around through dark glasses at the endless stream of male students enrolling. Dressed in a slightly sensual outfit that made her seem to have left high school behind, she scanned the crowd.

When she saw Su Can, she subconsciously remembered seeing this guy somewhere before. In fact, their family's car had previously passed by Jinjiang Inn near Si Ping Street, and they had seen Su Can entering with his father. However, in Cheng Congcong’s eyes, hotels like the Jinjiang Inn, which advertised low prices and quality goods, were synonymous with cheapness, making it normal that she couldn’t recall him.

Little did she know that this seemingly ordinary boy would become a leading figure at NanDa University over the next few days, renowned for his actions.

The day of enrollment at NanDa saw various incidents. There had been instances where parents fought in dormitories to get good beds, and accompanying parents who carried their children's luggage from the railway station reception point in Shanghai were a common sight, embodying the attitude of attending university on someone else’s behalf.

It was said that when an institute dean witnessed this scene during enrollment, he deeply sighed: "Well, they should be sent to military service. After enduring such torment, independence can indeed be cultivated." The professor's expression while saying this resembled a wild beast.

In reality, the one who made this remark was the Dean of the Life Sciences College, also the chairman of Shanghai Dingxing Pharmaceutical Company and an influential figure in the biotech industry. It was rumored that he had eighteen nannies at home (of course, not all at once), and his son Zhang Xiaqiao was starting university on the same day as Su Can.

Certainly, nowadays, getting into one of the top five universities in China generally requires a score above 600 on the高考 (Gaokao). Zhang Xiaqiao's score of around 400 originally gave him no chance at all to enter this prestigious university.

However, theoretically speaking, for Zhang Xiaqiao, whose father holds considerable influence in this university, enrolling here was never an issue he needed to worry about from birth.

Zhang Xiaqiao decided to experience the enrollment process at Nan University as a normal person without any special accompaniment. He found that no matter how many times he queued up for his campus card, he still ended up waiting behind hundreds of people. Moreover, the university parking lots were packed with private cars, and even the open spaces in front of each dormitory building and various enrollment locations were overcrowded.

After queuing up for a long time and still finding himself behind over a hundred people, Zhang Xiaqiao angrily shouted, "There are too many Chinese people!" Then he added, "There are too many private cars in Shanghai!"

Fuming with indignation, he turned on his heel and left.

That night, he shared his frustrations with his father who was the Dean of the college. After much thought, his father had a lengthy discussion with the university president.

The next day, Nan University made temporary adjustments to their enrollment procedures: all private cars were not allowed on campus, and some areas restricted traffic routes for vehicles entering from Guoding Road. In certain places, security personnel strictly monitored and enforced these rules.

As a result, no more luxurious private cars could be seen at the student enrollment points or dormitory entrances; only crowds of people filled the spaces.

The next day, after Zhang Xiaqiao handled all basic enrollment procedures through backdoor connections, he suddenly started to appreciate power. He then discovered that his preferred top bunk in a well-located room was already taken. This position had a view directly opposite the girls' dormitory building number 14, and as someone who grew up on campus, Zhang Xiaqiao knew how advantageous this spot was for viewing.

He could only sulkily choose another location, which is why he looked glum even when smiling at Su Can and his father.

This is Su Can's roommate from the side bed, Zhang Xiaoqiao. He majors in Art Design, and when he introduced himself, there was a noticeable coldness.

The same goes for his friend who sleeps behind him; his name is Xiao Xuelai, majoring in Philosophy.

He has a skinny build and is slightly younger than Su Can. He's always seen with a book, and whenever he sees a pretty girl pass by, he pretends to be deep in thought. Since registration, he has transformed from a state of idleness into one of being deep in thought several times. Now, in the dormitory, he still carries that dull demeanor, showing no expression towards Su Can and Zhang Xiaoqiao, adding to the somber atmosphere in the room.

If Su Can's friendly greeting with his father, Su Licheng, didn't change anything between the bookworms and stylish young men in the dormitory who kept to themselves, then the appearance of their last roommate really surprised them all.

When the door was kicked open, everyone thought they were being robbed. A tall male student around 186 centimeters tall entered with a basketball under one arm and wearing a white sleeveless shirt that had been infested by insects and exposed his flesh, which fortunately was all muscle.

The other hand held an iron basin, which made the bookworm Xiao Xuelai's eyes pop out. The basin contained two hot water bottles full of boiling water.

Between the two hot water bottles was a desk lamp. What was even more exaggerated was that he had wrapped a thick woolen blanket and tightly rolled up cotton quilts on his back, resembling an Eskimo migrating with all their belongings.

The image of this person at the dormitory door prompted everyone to think of one fitting word: "madman."

"I'm Li Han from Shaanxi. Pleased to meet you! From now on, let's play basketball together, share cigarettes and drinks, and go after girls together!" When entering the room, Li Han patted Xiao Xuelai on the shoulder so hard that Su Can could see his legs trembling.

Although this guy may be a bit big-headed and lacking in common sense, he indeed brought liveliness to the dormitory. This made both bookworm Xiao Xuelai and Zhang Qiao more active, at least making them somewhat familiar with each other.

However, deep down, Zhang Qiao felt distant from these three students from outside his hometown, which Su Can could easily tell was due to him being new to living in a dormitory and having some initial resistance. This wasn't surprising.s...Su Richen immediately noticed Tang Senior's hesitation and understood from a parent’s perspective. Unlike his own son, Suyan, a girl in an unfamiliar environment inevitably causes worry.At that mo...