Global Film Emperor

Chapter 14 University Student Simulation Course (Part 3)
I returned to the dorm like a zombie. My three roommates were each playing their own games, no longer playing the same ones.

Walking to his bed, he saw Lu Ze's most satisfying work pasted on the cabinet door: a complete set of hand-drawn design plans for a standard duplex villa of over 600 square meters, at a scale of 1:50. This was the pinnacle of his current skills.

But he suddenly felt that all his long-term efforts had been in vain. His sweat and blood had all been wasted, and the design drawings were ridiculous.

He reached out and tore the design drawing to shreds, threw it into the trash can, and then sat on the stool in a daze.

"Hey boss! Um...hehehe, I heard the department heads are coming to inspect the hygiene. How about I treat you to dinner tonight? I have some Red Bull, wanna get some? You've gotten so tanned!"

"Tsk!"

The fourth brother, grinning mischievously, came over to flatter Lu Ze. He was the least clean and most unreliable person in the whole dorm. But while he was talking to Lu Ze, the second brother came over and gave the fourth brother a hard slap on the back, clicked his tongue, and gave him a look.

The fourth brother then noticed that the eldest brother, who was already quiet and reserved, had become even more silent.
And that set of design drawings that they had hailed as geniuses was now tragically scattered in the trash can.

The fourth brother understood and stopped joking around. The cheerful atmosphere in the dormitory disappeared, and they stopped being lazy. They picked up brooms and mops and started working, giving Lu Ze some private space.

Lu Ze looked out the window, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then continued to stare intently out the window.

"Boss, I have an ashtray here, don't forget to use it, I just swept it up!"

He picked up the ashtray, flicked it twice, and then took several deep drags of his cigarette when his phone suddenly rang.

The three roommates glanced at their phones—they weren't theirs—and then turned their attention to Lu Ze.

Lu Ze then realized that someone had called him. He put his cigarette butt in the ashtray and glanced at the caller ID. It was Li Yumei calling.

He went out onto the balcony, closed the balcony door, curled up in a corner, and answered the phone.

"Hey, Mom."

"Son, have you eaten?"

"Hmm, I just ate. What did you guys have for dinner?"

"Your dad brought back some ribs. He made stewed ribs for tonight, and they're not done yet. We'll be eating soon. I'm fine, but Nan Nan wants to talk to you."

"Hey? Bro!"

Lu Ze forced a smile and asked in a gentle tone, "What's wrong, Nan Nan?"

"Wait a minute, bro! Wait for me!"

There were shouts from his mother on the other end of the phone, as well as the sound of a door closing. It seemed that she had run into the yard. Lu Ze was a little confused. What did his sister want to whisper to him?

"Alright, brother, I want to ask you for a favor. Is that alright?"

"Say it, I'm listening."

"Brother, I want a cell phone. I don't want an expensive one. I went to the cell phone store in town and the cheapest one was only a little over 800 yuan, but I don't have that much money. I was thinking of borrowing 300 yuan from you. I'll pay you back after I finish my expenses next month, okay?"

Lu Weiguo found Lu Nan a job arranging goods in a small shopping mall in town, but because Lu Nan was not yet eighteen years old, the mall was unwilling to hire her.

It was only because Lu Weiguo and the mall's junior manager were elementary school classmates that Lu Nan was allowed to work there, but the salary was very low, only 800 yuan a month, with no bonuses or anything like that.

Because Lu Nan lives at home and her family has an old electric scooter that she can ride home in twenty minutes, her parents have always disagreed with her buying a cell phone.

Moreover, due to some recent family troubles, Lu Weiguo and Li Yumei's income was low, and Lu Nan even had to use part of his salary to supplement the family's living expenses.

It's quite possible. Some of the money Lu Ze spent in the capital was earned by his younger sister, Lu Nan. Lu Nan was, after all, just a child. She envied the smartphones that were recently becoming popular among the girls in town. She wanted one, but she didn't have enough pocket money. She dreamed of having one, so she thought of borrowing some from her brother and paying him back when she got her salary next month.

It hurt so much! The knife stuck in Lu Ze's heart began to shake violently, twisting around and around his chest!
This knife constantly reminds Lu Ze that he has killed his sister's path to success and ruined her life.

And now, this sixteen-year-old girl, who has ruined her life, is pitifully asking you to borrow three hundred yuan! Just three hundred yuan! Three hundred yuan that people in Beijing don't even consider a big deal!
No one understood how much pain Lu Ze was in; no one paid attention to his sadness or how heartbroken he was.

"Okay, I'll go to the bank and transfer the money to you tomorrow. Wait for me to make money."

The words caught in Lu Ze's throat. He choked back sobs, frantically pulling at his hair, tears welling in his eyes like a fish about to suffocate. He spoke in the calmest tone he could muster: "When I make money, I'll get you the best one. This one... you can use this one for now. I'll... I'll make money soon. Okay, phone bills are too expensive. I'm hanging up. Eat well, and use your phone secretly, don't let Mom and Dad see it."

"Okay! I'll hang up now! Bro, you're the best!"

Lu Nan was probably too happy to notice Lu Ze's unusual behavior. After hanging up the phone, she smiled broadly and went home for dinner.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Ze curled up in a corner of the balcony, crying silently. What good was he? He was spending his own sister's money; what good was he?

What's the use of him being over 1.8 meters tall? Useless! A coward! A waste of his height! Utterly useless!

He hated himself so much that he pulled the knife out of his heart, then plunged it back into his heart, pulled it out again, and stabbed it again! Pulled it out again! Stabbed it again! Until his heart was ripped to shreds!

"Fourth brother, today is your birthday, right?"

"No, my birthday was just last month."

"So, third brother, it's your birthday today, right?"

"Yes, it's my birthday today, I'll treat you to drinks."

The third brother was much smarter than the fourth brother. After listening to the second brother's words, he turned off the computer, put his wallet in his pocket, and prepared to go downstairs.

"Wait a minute, the two of us will go too."

The three of them went downstairs and left some space for Lu Ze. This was their last space, all given to the leader who had been cleaning the dormitory for a year, the leader who was always silent, poor, yet excellent.

"Cry all you want, but after you're done crying, you still have to live well tomorrow, don't you?"

That birthday party was quite grand, with cake, wine, and food. The four kids sat in the dormitory, and the other three kids started to gang up on the so-called "eldest," as if the birthday boy was the boss.

Lu Ze didn't have many memories left, only that he drank a lot of alcohol that night, but he couldn't remember exactly how much.

He was a good drinker; Lu Weiguo was a heavy drinker. When Lu Ze was three and a half months old, he would dip chopsticks in beer and give it to Lu Ze to drink.

When he grew up, Lu Ze got drunk by his father, but he was completely unharmed.

That time he drank 1.5 jin of baijiu and six bottles of beer.

This time, however, he got completely drunk and vomited so badly that the entire floor came to watch this ruthless man who almost drank himself to death.

The next morning, Lu Ze slowly woke up with a splitting headache. He sat up in bed and looked around. None of his roommates were in the dorm, but the room was very clean.

There was only a cake on the table in the middle of the room, a cake that hadn't been eaten last night.

But it wasn't the third child's name on it, but...
"Happy birthday, boss."

"."

(End of this chapter)