im to take care of his own drink. This was something that Su Cen admired about Lin Jiangdong; he was efficient and decisive without being either servile or arrogant, making their interactions comforta...Chapter 23 The Class President

Su Cen had always been curious about Tang Wu's father's assets and the strength of Tang Corporation.

In her conversations with Su Cen, Li Lan mentioned that Tang Corporation recently took over a well-known company in Shanghai. This company was heavily indebted to the tune of nearly 20 million yuan, which was covered by Tang’s father, who then incorporated it into the Tang Group.

Based on what Li Lan said, Su Cen estimated that Tang's father must have at least a hundred million yuan in assets, putting him among the members of the "billionaire club." At this level, ordinary people could only look up to such individuals with admiration.

Su Cen currently had several interconnected business chains, but he didn’t possess the audacity or courage to stand alone like Tang's father did, personally overseeing and handling creditors. Tang’s father was willing to pour nearly 20 million yuan into plugging financial holes caused by these debts. Li Lan must have considered this experience as quite remarkable, which is why she got excited when talking about it with Su Cen.

It could be imagined that in the world of business opportunities, there were many underhanded tactics and unpredictable circumstances. What looked like a win-win situation could quickly turn into an endless abyss, easily defeating millionaires or even billionaires.

Discovering nearly 20 million yuan in debts after acquiring a company is a nightmare for any professional manager. Such debt could put a corporation at risk of financial chain breaks and collapses without proper anti-risk measures.

Facing hundreds of creditors, dealing with such huge debts, if taken to court, it would take five or six years just to settle all the lawsuits. If Tang Corporation were to get entangled in this long-term legal battle, even an elephant could be dragged down.

Su Cen had seen a local tycoon who was once extremely confident but suffered from a funding crisis after poor investments. In just one week, his company was sealed up, accounts frozen, and he almost went crazy, falling off a five-story building and only barely surviving with paralysis as the result.

Therefore, it could be understood that Tang's father had tremendous courage to settle all these bad debts within such a short time. No wonder Li Lan praised him endlessly, and everyone in the Tang Group admired him immensely.

Although Tang’s father’s assets might not reach the starting line of 500 million yuan for mainland China's top hundred richest people as listed by Forbes in 2001, it was likely close to that mark. In Shanghai’s financial hub, he wasn’t an unknown figure and had considerable influence within the Sichuan business circle. Currently, Shanghai has proposed twenty influential Sichuan businessmen, with Tang’s father definitely being one of them.

Su Cen felt that compared to the capital and resources Tang's father possessed, there was still a significant gap between him and Tang’s father.

Currently, Shushan Stationery had expanded in Shanghai. Su Cen’s designed pen patterns could already be seen gaining popularity in some bustling areas of the city. Fourteen provincial distributors were established, allowing stationery marked with "Shushan" to reach most provinces and cities across mainland China within just a week.

Such rapid market expansion came at a cost. Ren Ying from the mall and Lin Guangdong who worked in magazines often complained about financial constraints. Before Su Cen started studying in Shanghai, his current strategy was first to expand Shushan Stationery's industrial base.

To rapidly break into the market and increase market share, two key support objectives were crucial: sufficient working capital and a substantial inventory of goods for quick shipment upon production to various markets across China.

Both these support objectives revolved around one word:

Money. Money could sustain the world’s most powerful military armament warehouses, destroy the tightest organization or military group, even an entire country. Similarly, to make Su Cen's beautifully designed stationery items popular among campus girls and on campuses across China, a lot of money was required.

Zhao Mingnong from Shushan Stationery confidently told Su Cen that obtaining the national market depended entirely on timely investment in raw material procurement lines running at full capacity to ensure constant production without interruption.

Market expansion was also a cautious decision. Without considering one's own strength and blindly expanding, competitors could easily drive you out of the market if your products hadn’t truly taken root. Therefore, this was an all-out process.

Hence, at present, all funds were transferred to Zhao Mingnong to support his expansion plan, leaving Ren Ying from Dunhuang Mall and Lin Guangdong from Pineapple Media constantly complaining about financial tightness due to the money being allocated to Shushan Stationery. Their respective plans also faced delays to varying degrees, making it difficult for them to proceed smoothly.

Lin Guangdun was desperately seeking sponsors and new advertising strategic partners for the fashion magazine. Ren Ying, who served as the general manager of Dunhuang Mall, had to postpone her expansion plans again.

The only thing that could ease Su Cen's mind a bit was the continuous good news from Shushan Stationery across various cities.

In major cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, second-tier district distributors were already experiencing stockouts. Provincial distributors were requesting increased supplies from the headquarters in Chengdu, and Zhao Mingnong proudly stated that "our brand is still very popular."

When he woke up early in the morning, Su Cen couldn't help but wonder if he could now be considered a millionaire preparing to break into the fifty-million yuan club

Dunhuang Mall's profit target for its Chengdu store this year was eight million yuan, while Lin Guangdun’s fashion magazine wasn’t even planning on entering profitability yet and would require substantial time to develop the market.

In truth, magazines couldn't make much money from their cover price; in fact, some were losing money due to high paper costs. Therefore, they usually relied on advertising revenue.

Lin Guangdun’s ability to leverage the influence of 'Fashion Culture' magazine was a potential for tremendous profits. Su Cen eagerly anticipated Lin Guangdun's achievements and how exhilarating it would be when those efforts bore fruit.

Su Cen then began his formal class schedule in university, checking today's timetable before washing up, and heading out to the campus under the still dim sky. As dawn approached, more people were seen on campus—seniors typically slept until natural awakening while most freshmen started their day early.

Along the roadside greenery path to the track field, Tang Wu arrived punctually as usual, her athletic figure moving gracefully. They ran two rounds around the track and then Su Cen handed over Tang Wu's attendance ticket at the sign-in point.

Only after this did they separate for their respective dormitories before heading off to teaching buildings where classes were scheduled.

Su Cen muttered in his heart, "This damned course selection system."

Nanjing University implemented a credit-based educational system, requiring both major subjects and non-mandatory electives. Students needed to accumulate 160 credits to graduate smoothly within four years.

The university offered over 4500 courses annually for students’ selection from various disciplines such as science, engineering, history, humanities, arts, philosophy, politics, economics, biology and more. The autonomy given with the course selection system was akin to unlocking a vast treasure trove of learning opportunities.

Each semester’s course selection required careful planning and was quite complex; even professional guidance sometimes led students astray.

To find courses beneficial and interesting from among these varied disciplines could be an agonizing task.

The tight schedule and high difficulty level of the courses over four years prompted the school to host lectures on effective course selection techniques.

A college entrance exam top scorer from Henan Province ambitiously declared plans to complete a major in two years, earn a bachelor's degree, then apply for an extended study period to pursue another one. Thus, while others spent four years pursuing their undergraduate degrees, he aimed at earning double bachelor’s degrees.

Such ambitious plans were met with skepticism from someone familiar with the system like Zhang Xiaqiao, who pointed out that "this is virtually impossible. My father has told me not to underestimate the intelligence of the university and not to overestimate my own abilities. Nanjing University's course requirements are already quite high; it’s not just about favoring local Shanghainese students. The courses’ difficulty after enrollment is specifically designed for high-scoring non-local students. Not only tight but also tough, every year in my dad’s college, there are cases where students from a single class have to delay their graduation due to failing certain subjects. Six applications for extended study periods out of thirty odd students per class is not uncommon. Two years to earn a bachelor's Even if he were the national exam top scorer, it would be extremely difficult. People with such ideas are too naive. Also, enrolling in three premium courses each semester will definitely get rejected by professors; what makes him think that he can master these special courses within one semester"

Su Cen was speechless because Zhang Xiaqiao had indirectly criticized his own thoughts on intensive learning over a short period.

After thinking it over, he decided to proceed cautiously. He had always steadily progressed to this point in his life. Following the advice of Zhang Xiaqiao, the "expert," Su Can and the others, under the guidance of their advisor, roughly formulated a self-improvement plan suitable for themselves. However, his plan was more complex.

Su Can decided to acquire economic knowledge at university but would continue broadening his horizons in various fields. In his previous life, he had passed through college without going to the自習室 (self-study room), library, or professional classes, and left school feeling that he had wasted those years.

Now, with the advantage of foresight at his disposal, Su Can still needed more preparation.

In the face of an inexhaustible amount of content, especially under a systematized educational framework, it was more beneficial for him to choose areas that he found interesting and useful to expand upon.

To be a dazzling person—at least on the surface.

Outside of the three mandatory public courses—politics, computer science, and sports—he chose German as his elective course along with other subjects like humanities history classics, philosophy wisdom, experimental classes, critical thinking in philosophy, fine arts, military theory, and a famous elective at Nankai University "China and the World," which involved humanistic social sciences, aesthetics, and art.

The basic professional courses and required electives were obvious choices and need not be mentioned.

In fact, if someone had sharp eyesight and carefully examined Su Can's course selection list, they would discover that these subjects are among the most popular in Nankai University for its female students.

Su Can didn't consult Tang Wu about his class selections, but it was reasonable to assume that she would also be interested in these courses.

"Boss, our freshman year credits are already quite high. Xiao Xue has the highest with 29 credits; I have 25 and Zhang Xiaqiao has 23... Damn, you've taken a whopping 32 credits! Boss, this is too much, don't you think You're leaving no room for our classmates who like to boast around," Li Han was momentarily stunned when he saw Su Can's course load.

Su Can's life suddenly became busier.

The thousands of freshmen at Nankai University were evenly distributed among the freshman classes.

Class 4 in the first year, where Su Can was a student, had over 140 students. After some time adapting to their studies, the freshman class meeting in Building Four's teaching area took place on schedule.

The advisor Su Yiyi walked into the classroom holding a large pile of materials, which he placed on the table. He then instructed his two assistants to distribute them to each student present.

"Su Yiyi will graduate with a first prize in the National College Students' Extracurricular Science and Technology Innovation Competition 'Challenge Cup,' and a silver medal in the Challenge Cup national college students entrepreneurship competition. Since he has been teaching here, he's also managed to secure two patents and published several international academic papers. Last year, he compiled a set of 'Self-Help Guide for Freshmen' that has become mandatory reading for his students." Zhang Xiaqiao provided insights into Su Yiyi’s accomplishments.

Standing beside him were Su Can, Li Han, and the bookish Xiao Xue who looked up to Su Can as a role model.

As they whispered among themselves, several girls on the left side of them shot disapproving looks. Clearly, since their admission to university, they had caused quite a stir among freshmen, but there were also many people who found their arrogance unwarranted and didn't appreciate it. Zhang Xiaqiao ignored those glares: "Actually, he wasn't always this dull. It's said that when he served as an assistant counselor, his performance was top-notch. However, he never participated in any academic improvements, apparently offending a certain director who later transferred away, allowing him to gradually get opportunities. My dad once told me that Su Yiyi is too ambitious for academia. But in recent years, he's become less restless. His promotion this time might be due to his maturity."

Su Can knew Zhang Xiaqiao was implicitly treating them as insiders and starting to accept and recognize the people from Room 602.

The materials they received were indeed titled 'Self-Help Guide for Freshmen,' with Su Yiyi's name prominently displayed as author.

"You've all been here long enough now, getting familiar with each other. Every group needs to establish a core and a backbone; just like how we need a spine to support us. The purpose of today’s class meeting is exactly this: establishing a management committee in the class and setting up class officials."

Hearing that they would be electing class officers, everyone's interest was piqued.

Next, Su Yiyi wrote various positions such as班長 (class president),文藝委員 (cultural affairs officer),生活委員 (life affairs officer),組織委員 (organizing committee member),體育委員 (sports committee member),紀律委員 (disciplinary committee member), and宿舍長 (dormitory leader) on the blackboard. Turning around, he slapped his hand on the board, stirring up a cloud of chalk dust: "We'll adopt an autonomous competition method; those who give a three-minute speech will be voted on by everyone raising their hands. Those approved will take office."

The moment these words were spoken, everyone became eager to participate.

The election began with someone delivering a long speech, which prompted the audience to occasionally echo in agreement or applaud. Some girls discreetly sized up several individuals who eloquently articulated their reasons for candidacy.

Li Han confidently stepped forward and gave a speech for his campaign as the Sports Committee member, but it ended up provoking jeers from many people, especially those on the left side of the room who seemed particularly unhappy. This group had just sent someone to make a speech, only for Li Han, an opponent, to follow immediately.

When Li Han was speaking, his nervousness led him to falter several times, causing the more fashionably dressed girls to collectively exhale audibly in disdain. The male students were quite vocal, and their jeers were particularly biting.

The subsequent vote resulted in Li Han's defeat, which only further delighted his opponents.

These individuals seemed intent on monopolizing the class leadership positions; several people kept coming forward to compete for roles such as Organizational Committee member, Sports Committee member, and Discipline Committee member. A few girls showed remarkable talent and confidence during their speeches, delivering them eloquently and vividly, earning enthusiastic applause each time. Even Su Yi was impressed.

After competing for the position of Cultural Affairs Officer, a girl who had just finished her speech and won thunderous applause approached her group of friends, slapped palms with one in celebration, and said, "What's difficult about this We made bets that we'd easily take over these positions because our genes are simply better."

"But let’s get something clear: whoever doesn’t make it into a position today will have to pay for everyone else at E8-CLUB. If Qin Lu becomes class president, he’ll be treated to a hefty tab by us," she added.

This group certainly had an air of aggression that ordinary freshmen lacked.

As such, in the entire class, the only focal points were the six roommates from dorm 602 and this clique, forming a psychological opposition between them.

Xiao Xu adjusted his glasses and said "I will" before stepping up to deliver a speech for the position of Discipline Committee member. His confident demeanor earned him quite a few rounds of applause.

Immediately after Xiao Xu's speech, someone from the opposing clique came forward with a rebuttal, skillfully criticizing Xiao Xu’s words without directly attacking him, making jokes laced with sarcasm that made everyone laugh heartily while leaving Xiao Xu flushed and frustrated.

Su Ci clearly hadn't expected such an intense and entertaining debate. He frowned slightly at the sight of it, thinking how other classes lacked this kind of fervor among their freshmen. He wished to see how the rest of the school would react when they saw just how impressive his class's students were.

Xiao Xu ultimately didn't win enough votes in the election and missed out on becoming Discipline Committee member.

Not holding a position was fine, but with Li Han and Xiao Xu both failing to secure spots, others might see them as weaklings. Xiao Xu felt disheartened by this and believed he'd be able to defeat that guy if given another chance.

The race for class president then commenced. A person named Qin Lu from the opposing group scanned everyone before stepping up and bowing respectfully. He began his speech with "I have a dream" and continued with motivational rhetoric, but never mentioned wanting to be the class president specifically. He concluded with an inspiring note: "Before that, let’s start with this step."

The applause was thunderous.

After Zhang Xiaobridge and others prodded him into standing up, Su Ci made his way to the podium. The other group watched warily; after all, when Su Ci stood, it indicated that he might be a figure with mixed opinions in the class currently.

Su Ci wrote “Su Ci” on the blackboard without having prepared anything or done any mental rehearsal beforehand. He simply wanted to live up to his friends’ expectations.

“This is my name,” he said, turning back to face everyone and continuing: "Many of you may not know me, but I hope we can gradually get to know each other better and become friends."

Su Ci then bowed respectfully before stepping down from the stage.

Was that it Just one short sentence The group around Qin Lu showed approval, discreetly giving him a thumbs-up. But Qin Lu himself remained stoic, his expression unchanged.disoriented.It seemed like none of it was real except the sensation of touching the mahogany table on this aircraft, which felt so real."This plane is absolutely fantastic," Mark Zuckerberg couldn't h...