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Relying on the map of memories etched deep in his mind, Chen Yan made his way through the familiar pathways of campus until he reached the dormitory building. Stepping inside the dorm room, he found that two of his new roommates had already arrived.
One of them, a stocky young man towering around 1.75 meters tall, had slightly wavy hair and a broad frame that tipped the scales at around 180 pounds. Upon seeing Chen Yan enter, he immediately stood up, face lighting up with an easygoing smile.
“Hey, you must be our roommate! I’m Li Wenxin, from Qilu.”
Chen Yan nodded, offering a polite smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Chen Yan, from Yongcheng.”
Li Wenxin grinned and gestured toward the other occupant in the room—a lanky young man with glasses and long bangs that nearly obscured his eyes. His smile carried a hint of mischief, giving him an air of someone who always had a joke ready.
“This is Zhang Feifan,” Li Wenxin introduced.
The three quickly exchanged WeChat contacts and soon found themselves engrossed in conversation.
For Chen Yan, this wasn’t truly a first meeting. In his past life, even after they had all graduated, they had remained in touch through their group chat, sharing stories of their careers and personal lives. He knew these men better than they could possibly imagine. He even knew where their futures would lead—what jobs they would take, what triumphs and hardships lay ahead.
Except now, things were different.
Now, he had been given a second chance.
What is more, his presence in their lives would change their destinies in ways none of them could foresee, like the gentle flap of a butterfly’s wings setting off a storm.
It wasn’t until nearly noon that the last member of Room 303 finally arrived.
A broad-shouldered, dark-skinned young man appeared at the doorway, his stance exuding the confidence of someone accustomed to physical activity. With a grin that revealed a row of gleaming white teeth, he stepped inside and greeted them in a booming voice:
“Well, looks like I’m the last one in! Good afternoon, brothers! Name’s Wang Risheng.”
At Ziweige Canteen, on the third floor of Jiangnan Institute of Technology’s bustling dining hall, the four members of Room 303 shared their first official meal at one table.
Li Wenxin, the oldest among them, was also the only one from the north. Wang Risheng followed closely behind him in age, while Chen Yan landed third in the lineup. The youngest of the group, Zhang Feifan, seemed to relish his role as the dorm’s little brother.
“To the years of brotherhood ahead of us—cheers!” Li Wenxin raised his glass, his enthusiasm contagious.
“Cheers!” The others echoed in unison, their voices blending into the lively hum of the cafeteria.
Following lunch, the four of them squeezed around a small wooden table in the dorm, shuffling a worn deck of poker cards between them.
This was before Honor of Kings and PUBG had taken the gaming world by storm. Back then, nothing built camaraderie between college guys quite like an old-school, cutthroat game of Egg Accumulation—a battle of wits, bluffing, and just a little bit of luck.
Laughter and groans filled the dorm as the cards fell, the bonds of Room 303 beginning to take shape, one hand at a time.
Knock, knock.
A crisp knocking sound interrupted the heated poker game in Room 303.
The four of them looked up to find a petite figure standing at the doorway. She was around 1.6 meters tall, her shoulder-length bob neatly framing her face. A pair of black-framed glasses rested on her nose, giving her a sharp yet bookish air.
Chen Yan recognized her immediately—Tang Ling, a third-year senior from the School of Economics and Management. More importantly, she was their ban zhu—the teaching assistant assigned to help guide their freshman class.
“All of you need to be in the lecture hall at precisely 4 p.m. for the class meeting. No excuses for arriving late,” she announced in a flat, no-nonsense tone.
With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared down the hallway to notify the next dorm, leaving a moment of stunned silence in her wake.
Soon after, as if someone had flipped a switch, Room 303 erupted into excited chatter.
“That’s our ban zhu? She’s kind of cute, don’t you think? Plus, did you see those little tiger teeth when she spoke? Definitely my type,” Zhang Feifan mused, dramatically running a hand through his bangs, striking what he clearly believed to be a suave pose.
“Mhm, she’s alright,” Wang Risheng admitted with a casual shrug. Afterward, with an air of smug superiority, he added, “But she’s got nothing on my girlfriend.”
Wang Risheng was the only one in Room 303 who had a girlfriend—though, as the others liked to joke, he was still very much a rookie in the game of love.
Chen Yan vaguely remembered from his past life that he had been the first in Room 303 to officially become a “man.” He had spent an entire semester boasting about it, reveling in his dorm mates’ admiration.
“She’s alright, I guess. Nothing too special,” Li Wenxin remarked with a casual wave of his hand. Soon after, as if remembering something far more interesting, his eyes lit up. “But I heard, there’s a real campus beauty among this year’s freshmen—apparently, she’s in our very own School of Economics and Management.”
At the mention of a legendary beauty, the energy in the room shifted in an instant. A group of restless young men suddenly found their focus.
“Old Li, don’t keep us in suspense! Who is she? Which class?” Zhang Feifan leaned in, his curiosity barely contained.
“Heh, don’t ask me for details. I just saw a post about her on the freshman forum. But don’t worry, we’ll definitely be crossing paths with her sooner or later,” Li Wenxin said, smirking like a storyteller keeping his best secrets.
Chen Yan listened to their chatter, shaking his head with amusement. The way these guys got excited over a single rumor was truly entertaining.
Stretching lazily, he stood up. “Alright, gentlemen. Time to head to the class meeting.”
The large lecture hall of the School of Economics and Management was already filling up by the time they arrived.
At the front of the room, Liu Chang, their class advisor stood on the podium. His deep-set eyes swept over the students with a quiet intensity. The overhead lights reflected off his balding head—a stark “Mediterranean” ring of hair surrounding a gleaming expanse of scalp. His posture was rigid, his expression stern, making it clear that he was not the type to tolerate nonsense.
The room fell silent as he prepared to speak, his sharp gaze commanding attention.
It was the first class meeting and the room was filled with a quiet, almost electric anticipation. Teenage boys and girls, stepping into the unknown world of university, feigned nonchalance as their expressions were carefully composed. Yet, beneath the surface, curiosity bubbled. Their eyes darted around, stealing glances at their new classmates—sizing up faces, measuring smiles, and perhaps, making silent judgments about who was attractive and who wasn’t.
As the last few students slipped into their seats, Liu Chang stepped forward. His presence commanded immediate attention. With a composed expression and an air of authority, he begun to speak.
“Students, I am Liu Chang, your class advisor. First and foremost, congratulations! You’ve emerged victorious from the fierce competition of college entrance exams and have secured your place at Polytechnic University. You should all be proud!”
His voice carried a formal warmth, the kind that welcomed but also warned.
“As your class advisor, I am honored to have cross paths with you in this vast sea of people. However, university is not like high school. Unlike your previous teachers, I won’t be constantly overseeing you. In fact, there may even be entire semesters where we don’t meet at all.”
A murmur of excitement rippled through the class at this revelation. The newfound freedom of college life was beginning to sink in.
“For any concerns or issues, you can turn to your counselor, Teacher Jiang,” Liu Chang continued. “Though, unfortunately, she’s currently on leave.”
Teacher Jiang?
The moment that name left Liu Chang’s lips, Chen Yan felt his thoughts spiral away from the present. His mind drifted to a memory—one that had been buried deep yet resurfaced with startling clarity.
He had only ever seen Teacher Jiang once.
It was the first day after military training, and when she walked into the classroom, time itself seemed to pause. The moment she stepped through the door, the entire class was rendered speechless.
She wasn’t just beautiful—she was breathtaking in a way that felt almost unreal. Her presence had the power to make everything else fade into the background, as if the world itself had been painted solely to complement her existence.
Chen Yan had never believed in love at first sight. Until that day, standing among his awestruck classmates, he had begun to wonder if such a thing truly existed.
“In the north, there lives a beauty—peerless, standing alone. A single glance topples a city; another glance brings down a nation.”
The words of an ancient poem echoed in Chen Yan’s mind as he recalled the woman who had once stunned the entire university.
But beauty, it seemed, was often accompanied by misfortune.
Barely a few days into the semester, the woman hailed as the most beautiful counselor in Polytechnic University’s century-long history had abruptly resigned.
Rumors swirled like autumn leaves in the wind. Some claimed an enraged woman had stormed onto campus, accusing Teacher Jiang of seducing her husband and tarnishing the institution’s moral standards. The scandal spread like wildfire, and under the suffocating weight of gossip, Teacher Jiang was forced to leave.
Chen Yan scoffed at the absurdity of it all. He would’ve believed Kun Kun had suddenly become an elite basketball player, sooner than buying into such a ridiculous tale.
Following the class meeting, Li Wenxin, ever the socialite, suggested celebrating their new beginnings with a feast off-campus.
“Thanks for the offer but you guys go ahead and have fun,” Chen Yan waved them off with a casual smile. “I’ve got something to take care of.”
What he had in mind wasn’t just a casual errand—he needed to scout for opportunities. He had been granted a second chance at life, a restart with the wisdom of experience. He wasn’t about to waste the next four years idling away like before.
Because while he might not remember lottery numbers or World Cup scores, he knew exactly which industries were about to explode.
In the grand scheme of business, 2013 was the perfect time to be reborn.
WeChat had just been launched. The likes of Douyu and other live-streaming platforms wouldn’t emerge until next year. Kuaishou was barely known, and TikTok? That wouldn’t appear until 2016.
Even if he did absolutely nothing—if he simply bought and hoarded some Bitcoin—he’d be financially free in a decade.
Except, it would be too risky. If one person held too much Bitcoin, the big players might never allow it to skyrocket in value the way history had recorded.
With hands in his pockets, Chen Yan wandered aimlessly through the bustling commercial street near campus.
The cityscape had changed. Some buildings that were once familiar, had vanished into history. Shops that had thrived in his past life were now replaced by unfamiliar names. Walking through these streets again felt strangely unreal, as if he were a ghost visiting echoes of a life already lived.
“Given my current resources and status, there’s no way I can create a nationwide app. My best bet is to start small—find the cracks where opportunity seeps through.”
His gaze landed on a sign outside a fruit shop:
[Hiring Part-Time Workers – 100 RMB per day.]
A simple ad, yet it set his mind spinning with potential ideas.
Lost in thought, Chen Yan hadn’t even realized he had wandered to the entrance of a quiet bar. Its name, glowing in the dim evening light, read:
Dark Night Enchantment.
A compact smile played on his lips.
“I could use a drink.”
With that thought, Chen Yan stepped into the softly lit bar, a place that exuded a quiet sophistication.
The atmosphere was subdued, the patrons sparse—small clusters of people engaged in hushed conversations, their voices blending with the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar playing through the speakers.
He made his way to the bar, intending to order a Long Island Iced Tea, when his gaze was suddenly ensnared by a vision of breathtaking elegance.
Seated alone at a nearby table was a woman draped in a silk, violet dress that shimmered under the dim lights. A pair of silver heels adorned her feet, accentuating the grace of her long legs. Around her delicate, porcelain wrist rested a jade bracelet, an ethereal contrast against her fair skin, adding a touch of refined allure.
Chen Yan had seen countless internet celebrities in his past life—women with millions of followers, their beauty meticulously curated and filtered to perfection.
Yet standing across from her, he realized none of them could hold a candle to the woman before him.
Even after all these years, he recognized her instantly—Jiang Zhixin.
The woman who had once been their counselor. The woman who had stunned an entire lecture hall into silence, only to disappear the very next day.
Perhaps it was the quiet authority she carried, a presence that commanded attention yet remained untouchable.
Or perhaps it was simply the late hour—the bar, half-empty, its usual liveliness replaced by an air of quiet solitude.
For whatever reason, no one dared to approach the mesmerizing woman who sat alone, sipping her drink, lost in her own world.
Chen Yan exhaled sharply.
“Damn it. She was only our counselor for one day. What do I have to be afraid of?”
With a reckless surge of courage, he straightened his spine and strode toward her.