His demeanor changed when he found out that Jin Donghai had been arrested, and he completely collapsed once he learned Liu Cheng too was under arrest.Currently, Liu Cheng is being detained in another...Chapter Thirty-Two: Disgraceful Conduct

In a close-quarters debate that felt like grappling, the most formidable opponent was Ling Luolan, an extraordinary friend who came to this world when time reversed for Su Cen. She is a proud girl both in appearance and heart.

After the debate ended, what made Su Cen feel awkward was Ling Luolan's conversation afterward where she didn't hide her usual pride by saying that if one day they were on opposite sides, she would use her own failure to make way for Su Cen’s success.

Su Cen felt like a Chen Shimei (a historical figure known for his betrayal), which made him very anxious. People around them looked at this girl who left a deep impression in the debate with astonishment, wondering if there was some hidden agenda between the two of them.

At that moment when Su Cen felt a slight sweat on his back, Ling Luolan suddenly laughed like her usual cunning and disdainful self. “I'm just joking with you; don’t take it seriously.”

Su Cen was still shaken, for women are indeed unpredictable creatures, especially in Ling Luoran’s case where this is particularly evident over the past three years of their interaction. Su Cen realized he had never truly understood her true nature, which also indicates that one's inner world can be extremely complex.

"Alright," said Ling Luolan as she patted Su Cen on the shoulder once. "Since you won the match, you have to treat me now. I heard there are some famous snacks at your university; I've been craving them for a while. Meet me later."

Ling Luoran turned around and left, giving time to those who wanted to talk to her.

As the main debater from Fudan University this round, Dong Xiaojia—who was last year’s runner-up in the Shanghai college debate—shouldn’t have had much trouble winning against a student union team. She would show off the prowess of an excellent debater; however, Su Cen managed to win Best Debater through sheer disturbance and sophistry.

Dong Xiaojia isn't someone who can't handle losing a match. The issue was that she didn’t expect such a miserable defeat, which indeed relied on some tricks by Su Cen—strictly speaking, it involved dodging the main issues and causing confusion.

The faces of the Fudan University students behind Dong Xiaojia were not pleasant as their school had lost, affecting everyone’s mood negatively.

Approaching Su Cen with her arms crossed, Dong Xiaojia adopted a defensive stance. “As a debater, I admire your earlier argument that 'higher-level freedom replaces lower-level freedom, which means greater freedom.' This was indeed impressive and solidified your team's offense. I believe the extra two points given by the judges were due to this layering theory you presented.”

"Thank you," Su Cen replied ambiguously. What did this mean Was this a compliment from Fudan’s famous debater, Dong Xiaojia, or was she setting up for something worse

“But… unfortunately, I had expected an exciting match, only to be disappointed by your Nanjing University debaters’ poor conduct. This has left me with a very bad impression of Nanjing University.

You know in last year’s Shanghai Eight Schools Debate Contest, your Nanjing University main debater Zhang Ye opposed the statement that ‘if there is an issue with tools used by people, it's the tool's problem.’ In 1999, Nanjing University also proposed a thesis that if 'public interest' was considered as an interest in public welfare, the discussion would be meaningless. Today, however, your university sticks rigidly to the proposition that ‘mental wealth is indeed wealth,’ which makes me wonder: does Nanjing University have a habit of recycling its past arguments like reclaiming used wash water”

Dong Xiaojia's words were sharp and provoked even more dissatisfaction among Fudan’s students, who couldn’t accept their defeat.

On the other hand, some of Nanjing University's debaters felt Dong Xiaojia was just sulking and talking about conduct while she had lost. Both sides engaged in minor arguments.

Su Cen thought that Dong Xiaojia was indeed difficult to handle; did Nanjing University ever have such a similar debate stance Even if they did, he didn’t know about it because this was his second life. As the previous Su Cen, he hadn't reached the level of debating competitions yet. Being thrust onto the stage without reason, he relied on his experience and skills from both lives to win through pure instinct, leaving no time for studying Nanjing University's debate history in the past.

Seeing Su Cen silent, Dong Xiao Jia became even more unreasonable, thinking that Su Cen was reflecting and feeling guilty. Thus, she persisted without giving up: "Didn't your mentor tell you that in debates, the person sitting opposite is our friend. Debates should be based on a genuine understanding of each other's viewpoints. Pushing arguments to extremes or fringes is an extremely despicable debating tactic. This isn’t called skill; it’s not even technique. At most, it can be considered some second and third-rate methods that are unworthy of participating in formal debates."

Su Cen was also displeased inside. After all, this was in front of everyone, and Dong Xiao Jia really thought she was something special, unwilling to admit defeat but still hurling insults afterward for her frustration. She wanted to let off some steam after losing. Su Cen couldn't afford to lose his momentum either. He said: "Even if these are tactics rather than skills, Mr. Shi Guomin already gave a critique earlier, saying that we didn’t delve into the deeper implications of the topic. You mentioned that level theory was a highlight, but unfortunately, you didn’t clearly counter us by explaining what constitutes higher-level freedom and lower-level freedom. Is obtaining something definitely better than losing it Does enjoying a hamburger today necessarily make my experience less elevated compared to having a seafood feast Not addressing this point means your skills aren't any more sophisticated than my tactics; in fact, they might be worse. Besides, not accepting defeat and sharply criticizing others shows you lack the grace to match mine."

"I'm sharp-tongued!" For Dong Xiao Jia, who came from a well-off background influenced by famous Chinese painters and received orthodox education since childhood, the term "sharp-tongued" was far too rich in meaning, equivalent to all her impressions of old women in Shanghai. This made her furious almost to madness.

Su Cen ignored Dong Xiao Jia's serene white face turning slightly red with anger, proceeding as usual: "Philosophically speaking, freedom is understanding necessity and transforming the objective world. It can be furthered by saying that fewer restrictions when wanting to do something equals more freedom. How much restriction does wealth accumulation have I believe you could argue from this angle to refute our viewpoint. So your failure matches what the judges said—failing to deepen the debate to a philosophical level due to insufficient preparation and skill, yet attributing it to the opponent's grace and tactics. Isn't that too humiliating"

Su Cen didn’t emphasize this last sentence because looking at her, if he added: "This is truly lacking in grace, talking nonsense!" She might really bite him out of frustration.

Dong Xiao Jia stared angrily at Su Cen. Though she was ordinary-looking, her white, serene face with hateful expressions and her water-filled peach eyes made it hard to distinguish whether she was angry or pouting.

"Remember what I said today," Dong Xiao Jia left with such an outrageous sentence, turning around immediately without staying a second longer in the Nan University campus.

With her departure, her followers quickly followed suit. Some people remained, including Lin Luoran who was chatting nearby and looked at Su Cen curiously when this unexpected scene occurred.

Su Cen returned their puzzlement with a bitter smile.

This, however, was quite celebratory for Nan University; it was worth rejoicing that the opponent had walked away in anger. Clearly, they could use this as ammunition to provoke others.

Thus, jeering sounds rose and fell. Today, Nan University finally triumphed on the honor side. As the losing party in the debate, Dong Xiao Jia looked dejected, with strange expressions listening to the noise from the multifunctional auditorium while boarding a bus back to the campus after some refreshing coolness due to reduced ground heat.

...

"Hey, student, can I take a photo with you A friend of mine wants to."

"Su Cen, are you Su Cen That name sounds familiar. Have we met before Are you from the same hometown as me"

"Are you that first-year Su Cen who did so well in today’s debate Keep up the good work!" Someone patted him on the shoulder.

“Su Cen, right You’re a junior. Nice to meet you. If there's anything in the future, I can help you,” said another person as Su Cen, who was the best debater, was surrounded by everyone from the multifunctional hall with enthusiasm he couldn't handle.

Seizing the moment before anyone had time to react and when the crowd was still noisy, Su Cen slipped out of the multifunctional hall.

Outside, he ran into Ruan Sige, Tong Tong, Cheng Congcong, and Tang Wu.

Ruan Sige smiled: "Hey, best debater. To celebrate your achievement today, you should treat us to a meal. You can’t let us think you’re trying to avoid the bill. Otherwise, we might turn on Tang Wu." A banquet at Chun Hui Restaurant in South Nan University couldn't be avoided.

The food here was slightly more expensive than the canteen but of better quality. Since it was a student restaurant, office workers accustomed to gourmet dishes wouldn’t have high expectations anyway.

At the table were Su Cen's roommates and Tang Wu’s roommates.

The group looked at Lin Luoran as if she were a rare animal, watching Su Cen's opponent from Overseas Chinese University.

Regarding Su Cen’s roommates, they couldn’t believe that Lin Luoran actually knew him and seemed to have a close relationship with him. This made Li Han admire Su Cen even more while Xiao Xu felt that Su Cen was like a deep well, where you never knew what lay at the bottom.

Zhang Xiaqiao had seen many Nan Da’s past beauties since he was young and wasn’t particularly interested in them. However, he appreciated Lin Luoran's talent. What made him feel uneasy was that Tang Wu and Lin Luoran were both outstanding girls who seemed to have a very good relationship with Su Cen, which put Zhang Xiaqiao in a bad mood.

"Hmph," Li Han opened another bottle of beer, placed it on the table, and said to Su Cen, "I think that Dong Xiao Jia just couldn’t take losing. She was so talked about before that I really thought Nan Da would be in danger today. But she’s not such a great debater… I don't think whether a debater is strong or not represents the outcome of a competition, as even the strongest person isn't invincible. The key lies in their mindset after losing; there are problems with her attitude, so she can only win temporarily and never permanently."

Su Cen nodded, "Yeah… Boss, you did well today despite being an amateur player who came on at the last moment. However, some of your arguments need to be adjusted for them not to be perfect, such as in your opening statement about human wealth creation history; it should have been more detailed."

Xiao Xu lifted his glasses and displayed his knowledge, naturally attracting the attention of several girls from Tang Wu’s dorm.

Throughout this process, Tang Wu listened quietly while Lin Luoran smiled occasionally, nodding to give Xiao Xu a sense of honor. He grew even more talkative until Li Han couldn't stand it anymore and got him so drunk that he fell asleep, stopping his self-praise.

Tong Tong and Ruan Sige drank freely; Li Han was good at livening up the atmosphere, making them all very happy to drink together. They soon realized how deep these two women were when it came to drinking: people say that men from Shandong can outdrink men from Shaanxi, but the women in front of Li Han now had many tricks in their arsenal, pouring drinks for him cup by cup while he struggled and they showed no signs of stopping. If this continued, there would be trouble.

"Dong Xiao Jia is a very famous debater at our university; she’s also well-known around campus with lots of supporters in both the TV station and debate team debates. She's one of our university's talented women. Given how you provoked her today, it's no wonder she was so furious. After today, your reputation will surely spread throughout the university," Lin Luoran smiled at Su Cen.

"Should I be glad to have become famous in your school or tell you that this doesn’t interest me" asked Su Cen as he put a piece of curry chicken in Tang Wu’s bowl. She had barely eaten anything and was bound to get hungry later, but the action made Ruan Sige and Tong Tong 'heh' out while they stared at them affectionately.

Tang Wu ate happily, her heart sweetened by Su Cen's care; however, she felt uncomfortable with his boldness in front of everyone and could only say, "I’ll do it myself."

"When someone is talking about you next to me, should I pretend not to know you or go along with them and criticize you" Lin Luoran glanced at him, then said with a smile.

"Let me think… given your style of being Miss Lin, you would likely temporarily compromise by going along with the crowd's criticism of me to gain their trust before supporting me indirectly," Su Cen replied. "When will you ever stop having such dreams" asked Lin Luoran as she chuckled and looked at Tang Wu.

"It’s hard for Tang Fu; it must be tough dealing with someone like you who has such delusions in the same school, but I got out of this world early and now have a relaxed life."

How can such days end Su Cen thought as he wondered how to sustain this kind of life without an end. This made him recall Lin Luoran’s words after the debate and feel that there were things he hadn't told her yet.

Lin Luoran picked up a bottle of Suntory, poured it into a glass, and said to Su Cen, "Here you go. I’ll just leave Nan Da in three days, so I won’t return to the school bus today."

"Three days Where will you stay" Su Cen asked.

“Right… where do I stay” she replied, “I could sleep on a street corner with a backpack… silly me, there are plenty of rentals in your university; it won't be an issue. Don’t worry about this; I have more friends at Nan Da than just you.”

Saying that, Lin Luoran raised her glass and took a sip while giving Su Cen a glance.

“I thought I had a good friend,” said Su Cen in silence. Lin Luoran was this kind of person who could make people speechless; if one wasn’t prepared for her slow pace, it would be difficult to deal with her.

"Also, during these three days at Nan Da, I need to see my friends and won't have time for you guys. Everyone take care of yourselves!" Just waking up from a nap, Xiao Xu’s head spun again when he heard this and fell back asleep instantly.

…After Li Han carried Xiao Xu back to the dormitory and put him on his bed, he turned to Su Cen and試探著問道，"That girl Lin Luoran was really something today. How did you two meet This girl has a strong personality; her performance in the debate showed that."

“High school classmates,” Su Cen replied.

The truth was that even though Lin Luoran didn't want to be arranged, she still chose an apartment on campus with a landlord who was an elderly lady. The single room was very neat and tidy, had hot water and its own bathroom, TV, and Vnetbsp;.

Lin Luoran wasn’t the kind of rich girl who would often stay in a five-star hotel costing several hundred dollars a day outside campus.

"Why don't I have such a close friend" Li Han thought to himself. "Boss, although she has a wild heart and you can't control her, judging by today's talk, she’s well-connected and will be cherished wherever she goes—why would she care about you Judging from telling you not to bother her for three days, it’s likely because she fears your interference with her social activities… sometimes, don’t think of other pots while eating the one in front of you. A girl like Tang Wu has already been attracted to you, and it's enough to infuriate others."

"Why are you talking so ominously" Su Cen said angrily. "You're drunk; I have a pure relationship with her, and naturally, my relationship with Tang Wu is also pure… well, couple-like. Get your ass in bed before you say anything stupid when drunk."

Li Han laughed as he went to wash up while Zhang Xiaqiao didn’t comment on the matter.

Su Cen sent text messages to both Tang Wu and Lin Luoran from his bed.

Sending to Tang Wu: "Just laid down, are you still **"

To Lin Luoran: "Asleep Do you feel fine there Really don’t want to switch hotels"

Tang Wu quickly replied with a text message: "Yeah, I’m still **. Chatting with them." In reality, Tang Wu’s dormitory was filled with chatter; they were merely inquiring about who the mysterious Lin Luoran was. Cheng Congcong felt increasing pressure; while she could tolerate another person not inferior to her appearing alongside Tang Wu, the equally talented and beautiful Lin Luoran, who had recently gained fame for her performance in the debate tournament as "the genius from Shanghai Foreign Language University," made Cheng feel threatened.

What infuriated Cheng even more was that despite planning to make Su Can pay dearly, the final venue turned out to be a student cafeteria where the entire meal and drinks cost no more than two hundred yuan. Seeing Su Can's indifferent demeanor, Cheng Congcong felt she had lost big time; she hadn’t managed to extract any form of revenge on Tang Wu’s boyfriend.

After waiting for a while, Su Can received Lin Luoran’s text message: "Please, many people have asked me the same question already. Could you ask something more substantial"

This young lady truly was hard to please; it was interesting how her temper had become even more capricious in college. After some thought, Su Can decided that getting angry or not getting angry wasn't the right approach—so he simply replied with a text message: "Oh, good night."

"Night."

Lin Luoran was straightforward and to the point.

In the subsequent three days, Tang Wu inquired about Lin Luoran’s situation from Su Can. However, since she had already mentioned that they should not disturb her for those three days as she needed time for herself, Su Can didn’t feel compelled to do anything.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that calling at this moment wouldn't lead to her venting her frustrations on him or someone else. It would be better to mind their own business, as she had suggested.

Three days later, Su Can’s phone vibrated with a text message.

In the twilight glow filtering through gaps in the trees, he opened his phone to see that the message was from Lin Luoran:

"Little Can, where have you been for these three days I’ve had nothing but boredom at your Nan University. Considering that you haven’t taken me on a tour of the campus, sent any text messages to comfort me, introduced me to friends, or invited me out for ice cream or snow cones—behaviors which are outright shameful—I hereby announce that I am heartbroken and will be leaving."

Her message was as convoluted and bossy as usual.

Note: Currently hospitalized, typing intermittently from **. Fortunately, managed to complete this chapter. Chapter two is now a single section, entrusted to the editor for updates today.

Waiting until after discharge tomorrow.

Struggling to accumulate drafts.

No longer living like this.he same class as Sun Man witnessed a boy crying as he entered the classroom only to be comforted by her with a pat on his back telling him “It’s over between us, don't act like this anymore. Be good!”...