Age of Legends

Chapter 373 Check-in
On August 22, 2001, Shen Nuoyi and her family boarded a plane to the Capital Airport. It takes about 24 hours to travel from Fuzhou to the capital by train, but only two and a half hours by plane. This time, the whole family was traveling together, so Shen Mingbo, who had just introduced investment and was preparing to establish a new factory, also took the time to accompany the mother and daughter north.

Relatives in the capital picked them up at the airport and took them sightseeing for two days. The reporting period for Tsinghua University is from the 25th to September 1st. Shen Mingbo will return early, while Ning Wenjing has taken leave and will wait for Shen Nuoyi to start school before returning to Fuzhou.

Once everything was in place, on the day of registration, Shen Nuoyi and her family went to the East Gate of Tsinghua University. The heavy gray stone pillars of the East Gate reflected white light in the sunlight, making them even more solemn than they had imagined.

The Tsinghua campus was filled with parents and new students, dragging woven bags, cardboard boxes, and old-fashioned suitcases. Many of them were traveling far from home for the first time, and the new students' faces were full of nervousness and excitement.

The red banner at the school gate reads "Warmly welcome the new students of the Class of 2001".

"Strive for self-improvement and cultivate virtue—your Tsinghua life begins today!"

At the Zijing Playground, where most of the new students gather, many volunteers wearing T-shirts that read "Tsinghua XX College Welcome Volunteers" set up tables and chairs to guide new students in submitting photos, paying fees, completing medical examination forms, and collecting meal cards. At the main gate of Tsinghua University, a long line of parents of new students were taking photos together, creating a bustling scene.

Surprisingly, the courtyard's loudspeaker was playing "True Hero," mixed with the noise of the horn and the news broadcast.

Shen Nuoyi found the freshman orientation office of the School of Information Science and Technology. All the freshman orientation volunteers in the school were immediately impressed. Undoubtedly, in Tsinghua University, where girls are extremely scarce and beauties are even more rare, a freshman like Shen Nuoyi would stand out from the crowd. So much so that from the moment she entered the school gate to the moment she registered, she attracted countless eyes along the way.

However, according to the actual reports, Shen Nuoyi did not feel a sense of freedom and pride in her status just because she stepped into Tsinghua University; in fact, she felt a little inferior.

Her entrance exam score of 671 was already among the top five at Yude High School, but it was still not enough for Tsinghua University.

She chose information technology as her major, but she actually longed for economics and management more. Economics and management is a top-tier major at Tsinghua University, and in Sichuan Province, you need at least 690 points to get in.

So she secretly made up her mind to make the transition during her freshman year, and strive to apply for a minor in economics and management through Tsinghua University's minor-major transfer system after her freshman year.

Because she always remembered Zhang Chen's words about developing Wanxiang Network, and her mission to lead the capital branch of Wanxiang Network in the future. To achieve this, both theoretical knowledge and skills are indispensable.

The Zijing dormitory building had just been built. It was a four-person room with bunk beds, individual desks and ceiling fans. However, each dormitory did not have a private bathroom. The public bathroom and shower room were at the end of the floor, but the conditions were already very good at the time.

Shen Mingbo has returned to Fuzhou. Ning Wenjing, who was helping Shen Nuoyi set up her dormitory, was about to make her bed with red eyes, but Shen Nuoyi stopped her by holding her hand and not letting her mother do it. She made her own bed, arranged the bedding, set up the table, and then pulled Ning Wenjing to the cafeteria for dinner.

The advertisement outside the North Gate that reads "Tsinghua Tongfang - Technology Creates the Future" is particularly eye-catching, while many advertising walls at Tsinghua University are covered with various notices printed on A4 paper.

"Our team has a startup plan and needs a C++ expert to develop a new BBS system together."

"Startup team is hiring web designers and Java programmers, specializing in navigation web platforms."

"I have the funds, do you have the code?"

"IELTS tips, study abroad consultation, please note: XXXXXX"

Some of the stickers had already curled up from the rain and were then pressed down by new ones.

The School of Information Technology went even further, hanging up an artistic handwritten banner that read: "To change the world, first change the internet."

There was a crowd gathered in one spot. Shen Nuoyi pulled Ning Wenjing over and heard student council members who had posted notices announcing the event to those around them. They could faintly hear exclamations of surprise: "Entrepreneurship competition, prize money of 20,000 yuan!"

On the bulletin board of another teaching building, there was a new notice: "The Tsinghua University Computer Science Department Student Union, in conjunction with Peking University Guanghua School of Management, will soon host the 'Internet Era and Youth Entrepreneurship' forum. Guests: Zhang Chaoyang, CEO of Sohu, and Wang Yan, Vice President of Sina..."

Finally, the two arrived at the cafeteria with a long queue. Popular dishes included noodles with soybean paste, Kung Pao chicken, and sweet and sour pork, with prices generally ranging from 3 to 4 yuan.

The two people, carrying their food, found a table and sat down. They overheard the students next to them chatting as they ate, some discussing strange and unusual things on SMTH BBS, which was the most popular university forum in the country at that time.

Some people were also talking about their future majors, creating a lively atmosphere.

This is Tsinghua University in late August and early September, where countless young dreams converge from all over the country, and the era displays its vibrant energy.

Shen Nuoyi felt a surge of modern energy here, even stronger than in Rongcheng, which excited and invigorated her, yet also filled her with some confusion and fear. But overall, it was a spirit of exhilaration and vitality. She shared all this information with Zhang Chen, and the two, separated by vast distances, connected through text messages—a nascent form of information age—to share their observations and thoughts.

After spending a day or two with Shen Nuo at Tsinghua University, Ning Wenjing left Tsinghua Garden and returned to Rongcheng after all the matters were settled.

Throughout the entire process of arriving at Tsinghua University and settling in, Shen Nuoyi was actually in a somewhat bad mood. However, being used to remaining calm in the face of adversity, she didn't show it on her face.

That is, they spent little time together during the summer vacation, and on the last day, when they were walking along the riverbank, they were unable to hold hands because Qin Tangxi and her classmates were present.

Following this is the academic life of being separated by distance, and after the freshmen registration is over, the two-week freshmen military training will begin.

……

"Two weeks, we'll be in two weeks too." Zhang Chen answered Shen Nuoyi's call; he had already registered at Sichuan University by then.

At that time, Sichuan University only had the Wangjiang Campus, which was located in the city center and very close to his home at Nanguang Company. It was no different from Shangyude Campus.

Zhang Chen had even planned that he wouldn't shower at the school's makeshift public bathhouse; he could just go home whenever he wanted to shower.

This university is just as comfortable as being at home.

Zhang Chen was also a freshman, registering, paying tuition, getting his dorm key, and settling into his dorm. The undergraduate dorms were eight-person rooms with four bunk beds, one or two long tables pushed together to form a large desk, and each person had a metal or wooden cabinet for storage. There was a large ceiling fan. At this time, there was no air conditioning, so it was usually unbearably hot and humid in the summer.

The West Campus is much better, with 6-person and 4-person dormitories. The Universiade just started, and the newly built dormitories in the West Campus are now for athletes and international students. They are equipped with air conditioning, which makes passersby very envious.

When Zhang Chen came in, there were already four people inside.

"You're the newest one in our dorm, right?" a crisp voice rang out. Liu Chen, standing by the bed tidying up his books, smiled and extended his hand: "My name is Liu Chen, welcome!"

The man next to him, introduced as Gao Lei, turned around and greeted him. He had just been playing Diablo on his computer with a mouse in hand: "Did you bring your computer? Want to play games together?"

Computers nowadays have bulky cases and monitors, but people like Gao Lei moved in from the beginning.

"Is there internet?" Zhang Chen asked him.

"No, they said it would be available in the second semester of freshman year."

Zhang Chen nodded. Another, more shy one, Zhou Hao, was tuning a guitar beside him.

The fourth one, Chen Liang, was lively and enthusiastic. He helped Zhang Chen hand over his suitcase, told him some things to note, and mentioned that he had just met a senior member of the club and they would participate in club activities together.

Zhang Chen was the fifth to arrive, followed by Wang Zihao, the tall and strong Zhao Yu, and Sun Ming, who brought a suitcase full of novels.

The eight-person room gradually filled with people from all over the country, speaking with accents from Mianyang, Inner Mongolia, Guangzhou, Northeast China, and some with southern accents.

Through observing everyone, Zhang Chen managed to assess their personalities. Some were good at games, some were sociable, and some were humorous and quirky, like Wang Zihao. Some were anime fans, like Zhao Yu, who had two figurines on his desk. Of course, there were also artsy types like Sun Ming.

Meanwhile, social butterfly Chen Liang gossiped: "Do you know what our department is called? People call it the 'Brothel-Hungry Department.' Less than one-fifth of the students in a class are girls. And they're all ugly. But the journalism department next door is full of girls, and beauties abound. But today is different. I heard the computer science counselor is ecstatic. A stunning beauty has joined our department, and she's poised to surpass all the freshmen in the journalism department! Everyone's calling her the Freshman Queen!"

"It's said that the professors in the department smiled and said to her the first time they saw her, 'Have you come to the wrong place? We're not here to select models.'"

"That damn guy had the advantage of being close to the water source; a bunch of boys helped her move her luggage and delivered it to Dormitory 8, which is right across from us!"

(End of this chapter)