er he went, people spoke politely to him, and now not only was no tea offered but even the chairs weren’t moved for them to sit on. Since they arrived, Tian Feng had been acting indifferent and readin...Volume 2: Heading for a New Journey Chapter 16: Swimming

"But I don't know how to swim," Tang Wu smiled at Su Cen, her lips curling slightly as she teased him.

When Su Cen's gaze returned from the hotel, Tang Wu noticed it and felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

Su Cen saw that look on Tang Wu’s face and knew how anxious she was. It made him feel rather uneasy. After graduating high school during summer break, everyone went their separate ways, and they came to Shanghai in batches with each family's parents accompanying them.

Although they were going to the same place, arriving at this economically developed city and facing an entirely new environment, passing by the plane trees and European-style buildings, various dormitory blocks, and school campuses, both knew that the other was within a similar area. Yet, it made them want to see each other even more.

It's like how in prison, people don't understand why some inmates who only have half a year or three months left before their release would still attempt an escape at this final stage.

Ten years of imprisonment might numb someone. However, during these long years, knowing that one day it will finally end is a torture harder than physical pain when counting down the days.

"You don't know how to swim Then you should learn even more! Don't forget there's me. You can't go through your whole life without ever trying something new. There are things you need to experience and change yourself." Of course, he wanted her to change; Su Cen imagined Tang Wu wearing a bikini and swimming playfully with him. These little romantic scenes were exactly what any man would dream about.

Tang Wu’s face was tinged with shyness. She had swum when she was younger but hadn't touched the sport after middle school. However, Su Cen's words made her reconsider her initial refusal and think back to how they both started from middle school and now were in the same university.

Tang Wu felt that everything before seemed like a dream, with an unrealistic feeling. Moreover, she never imagined previously that one day she would hold hands with a boy in a college campus, swipe her meal card for him to eat or stand up against seniors on behalf of him out of anger.

All these changes were largely due to their willingness to try and change things they initially thought were unchangeable.

"Alright," Tang Wu nodded but hesitantly said, "But I don't have a swimsuit."

Not having a swimsuit was the simplest thing in the world.

Su Cen pulled Tang Wu out of the school gate and hailed a taxi at the entrance, heading to Dongfang Department Store where he directly went to the swimsuit specialty store.

Tang Wu felt slightly embarrassed but also had a tinge of sweetness. During their high school days, they had once looked at an undergarment together in a mall; now they were buying swimsuits again. Seeing the extremely bold and revealing bikinis lining up inside the shop made Tang Wu feel her face burn.

The two of them still wore sports clothes, while there was also a man around twenty-five or six years old who came to buy swimsuits for his girlfriend in the store. A woman with light makeup held his arm and looked quite attractive. When she saw that this young man's eyes were glancing at Tang Wu, she frowned unhappily.

"I do want to buy this one, what do you think" The woman showed a nearly threepiece swimsuit made of thin material to the man, trying to catch his attention.

The man nodded repeatedly. "Good, good, it should fit well." However, when he said that, his gaze was actually on Tang Wu's figure, unsure if this bikini would look better on his girlfriend or on Tang Wu.

Su Cen thought to himself that letting Tang Wu buy a bikini wouldn't be advisable since it might attract too much attention from others. After all, the swimming pool wasn’t reserved just for them; should he rent out the entire place That was quite an extravagant idea—firstly, they didn't know if the hotel would agree to such a request, and even if it did, there wouldn't be only him and Tang Wu in the pool.

There would still need to be staff present.

Thinking about this made Su Cen abandon the idea.

"I'll take this one then." Tang Wu picked up a swimsuit with small floral patterns on the front and back that didn't expose too much skin, which she felt comfortable wearing. She looked at other swimsuits but blushed when she saw them and said, "None of those suit me."

This caused disappointment to show on the man's face, who was then sharply kicked by his girlfriend beside him; he winced in pain without daring to make a sound and gave Su Cen a bitter look.

"The less material there is, the more expensive it gets. That doesn’t align with what we learned about economic value curves. We can buy this one." Su Cen chuckled and paid for the swimsuit before packing it up; then they left the mall to return to school via public transportation.

Just as Su Cen was preparing to hail a taxi passing by, Tang Wu stopped him and pointed at the bus stop. "I only have class at 2:30 PM in the afternoon, so we don’t need a cab to get back; let’s take the bus." Earlier, Su Cen had hailed a cab for them to come here and then bought her a swimsuit worth over one hundred yuan in the mall. Tang Wu wanted to pay but was worried that if she did so, Su Cen might think it inappropriate; now that they were out, she didn't want him to spend more of his living expenses on this trip back.

Although Tang Wu vaguely knew that Su Cen's family was currently at the level of a deputy general manager in a state-owned enterprise in Rongcheng, and his father no longer needed to run around various departments like the bank, land bureau, and planning bureau for loan approvals as he did back when they were in Xiahai, Tang Wu understood that these matters had nothing to do with Su Cen now or with their relationship.

They still relied on their parents' money. She didn't know much about Su Cen's family situation, but she knew everything about her own parents', which was all they had earned through hard work. Tang Wu never thought of tapping into the resources her father or mother could provide, even though she knew it would be easy to do so.

She still hoped that after university, Su Cen and she could build a small world for themselves with their own hands in this vast world.

Perhaps at first they would have a modest apartment or cozy little nest where every morning they'd greet each other with "good morning," share the same cup to brush their teeth, squeeze out one tube of toothpaste between them that lasts two months. When stepping out of their tiny abode, they would both look immaculate and radiant as they set off to work hard for a better future.

Thus, she didn't want Su Cen to recklessly spend his living expenses because of the change in his family's circumstances; there was no need to waste money in places where savings could be made.

Su Cen rode the bus back to school for lunch with Tang Wu at a small eatery outside campus. When it was 1:40 PM, Tang Wu quickly rushed back to her dormitory to change clothes and then went to the Economics Building for her macroeconomics class in the afternoon.

Su Cen, on the other hand, attended the Probability Theory Basics course at Octagonal Tower where he didn't have a class with Tang Wu. This was a required course that just happened to be scheduled differently when they chose their classes; he decided not to make such basic mistakes next semester and ensure coordination of their schedules so they could complement each other in shared courses, which would enhance the efficiency of their learning.

In his previous life, Su Cen attended a third-rate university where even if you skipped every class, you'd still graduate with a degree. He learned very little during college and had always taken a laissez-faire attitude towards it.

Only after graduating did he realize how treacherous the world was outside this ivory tower of academia; others often had to trample on him to achieve their goals.

In his previous life, Su Cen seemed destined to be trampled upon by others as they climbed up the ladder in an organization. His sole value appeared to be proving how brilliant everyone else was.

He didn't measure up to others when it came to work ability or scheming and political maneuvering.

Hence, after Su Cen's life was dramatically altered by some mysterious divine intervention in his third year of junior high school, he clearly outlined a plan for himself.

Firstly, he intended to solidify his foundation using the existing educational resources and learn as much as possible; most of what he learned had to do with behavioral psychology and financial systems.

Since he had the advantage of being reborn, it was unnecessary for him to focus on acquiring resources; instead, he needed to become someone who controlled those resources.

Having a head start from consulting with his predecessors from the future wasn't particularly impressive. Twenty years ago, establishing an empire and maintaining it were relatively easy tasks. Ten years ago, building an empire was still easier than safeguarding one. Now, however, both founding and preserving an empire had become increasingly difficult.

Su Can needed to learn how to optimally allocate resources and manage them systematically, ensuring that every effort was put towards critical areas. He set a goal for himself to familiarize himself with the local commercial laws of America within a year in preparation for Facebook's future rise. After all, when discussing many things with Zuckerberg now, he often couldn't offer insightful suggestions due to his lack of understanding of certain details.

Operating solely based on vague ideas in his mind wasn't ideal without forming a systematic approach.

After having dinner with Tang Wu that evening, they went to the hotel's swimming pool.

The area was already lit up as dusk fell. Around them were buildings from Shanghai in the future that hadn't yet been constructed; some merely had basic frameworks but still hinted at a promising future skyline.

Outside the grand marble entrance of the hotel, Tang Wu unexpectedly encountered acquaintances: Tong Tong and Ruan Siou from their dorm room along with several freshmen. They were carrying bags containing towels and swimwear and happened to be outside the hotel's entrance as well.

Tang Wu was a bit surprised; when she returned to her dorm in the afternoon, no one had been there, and she had simply taken what she needed for swimming before leaving. She hadn't expected to run into everyone here.

Ruan Siou and the others were equally surprised. Tong Tong then laughed and said, "Tang Wu, coincidentally, some classmates were just talking about coming here to swim; we were wondering where you were. We never thought you two could manage a private world like this."

Socialite Cheng Congcong stepped forward and offered Su Can her hand in greeting. She looked at him briefly before smiling and saying, "You're Su Can, right You seemed quite impressive during the orientation for freshmen. I'm Cheng Congcong, Tang Wu's roommate."

"Looking forward to working with you," Su Can nodded.

"Tong Tong, it’s nice to meet you." Tong Tong didn't have a habit of shaking hands with strangers and had a deeper impression of Tang Wu compared to Su Can. She felt that Su Can wasn’t quite on par with Tang Wu but still waved at him as a greeting.

(To be continued)anded on the chessboard map in front of him. This was a map representing the world 1500 years ago. There were countless tales of conquest and dreams, but this young man stubbornly spoke some words tha...