Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 44 Lao Guo's Information

I went from Xin Mengzhen's home to an internet cafe and stayed up until 12:30, but there was still no news from Wangwang.

In addition, Huo Xiaowen received another order in Guangzhou today, with a profit of 220. Adding the profit of 400 from the previous order, after deducting expenses, he earned 450, of which he received 225.

Chen Xuebing wrote down the new balance of 11887 yuan in his phone book after spending 8 yuan today.

……

The next day, Friday.

I received two inquiries from sellers.

A message arrived in the morning, and Xin Mengzhen replied at noon.

The Vanished Guest.

One of the items arrived in the afternoon. Chen Xuebing chatted with the seller for half an hour. The seller showed a strong desire to buy. After half an hour of intense negotiation, Chen Xuebing sent several photos from various angles. The seller then said, "I haven't seen any buyer reviews from you. Maybe I should look at other sellers."

Chen Xuebing replied with a smile, then went on to say something quite blatant:
"No problem, dear. If you don't plan to buy the official device from the store, you can come back and take a look. The quality of our overseas surplus stock is absolutely top-notch in the market."

These days, you can say "absolutely" or "far ahead".

I really love this barbaric era.

……

Saturday afternoon, after class.

Chen Xuebing stared at an English test paper, his pen flying up and down between his fingers.

He couldn't spin a pen in his previous life, but he was determined to be a cultured person in this life. He learned with great interest from Zhou Shiyu, who was known as the pen-spinning king in the back row, and in just a few days, he surpassed his master's skill of several years, astonishing the eyes of everyone around him.

It has to be said that his cerebellum is really strong. In terms of physical coordination and athletic talent, he can completely rival Chen Xuejin's brain.

"Bro, studying English again? Are you planning to go abroad?"

Gou Hongyi put his arm around Liang Hui's shoulder and leaned closer.

Chen Xuebing rarely looked up and paid him any attention: "Where's Lu Yiwen? Tell him to call Zhang Hang, Yu Yi, and Huang Jin over later. Wait for me at Zhinengda Internet Cafe. I have something to tell you."

Gou Hongyi, Liang Hui, Lu Yiwen, and the other three were his old brothers from his previous life, and he knew their personalities well. Whenever Chen Xuebing had a problem, the first people he thought of were the six of them.

Chen Xuebing hadn't given orders like this in a long time, and for a moment he was reminded of company meetings in his previous life.

A group of brothers were also a bit bored lately, not just the three from Class 16, but also from other classes.

The eldest brother actually started studying seriously, and on the day he dealt with the mad dog in the cafeteria, he even declared that he would stop fighting. They also became much more restrained, but they still played around as usual; it's just that there were fewer fights and misdeeds in their lives.

Chen Xuebing was actually fully aware of all this, but he knew that talking too much was pointless and that being too eager to help others would only drag him down. He planned that if he couldn't even get into a vocational college, he would teach them a lesson one by one after graduation. For now, he could only focus on doing his best.

At this moment, Gou Hongyi's eyes lit up when he heard the leader shout "assemble!"

"Brother, what's up?"

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "Good thing, go on, everyone will be gone soon."

"Hey!" Gou Hongyi and Liang Hui quickly went out. When they reached the door, they exchanged a glance and went to opposite sides.

"Chen Xuebing, what are you doing? Aren't you going to fight?" Yang Qingyue suddenly asked from beside him.

Chen Xuebing turned his head and noticed her nervous expression. He teased her, "Are you going to challenge the kindergarten?"

Yang Qingyue noticed his joking expression and then chuckled: "Is your brother being bullied?"

“My brother…” Chen Xuebing thought of something and said, “Oh, tomorrow at two o’clock, I’ll be waiting for you at that teahouse.”

He and Xin Mengzhen actually arranged to meet the next morning; to be precise, it should be that he and Xin Mengzhen were waiting for Yang Qingyue at the teahouse.

It was certainly not appropriate for Chen Xuejin to meet with Xin Mengzhen and Yang Qingyue at the same time. Otherwise, after so many days of private interaction with Xin Mengzhen, he would easily let it slip. Even if he informed Chen Xuejin in advance, Xin Mengzhen would still feel uncomfortable throughout the meeting.

If his younger brother is to meet with both of them at the same time, he needs to find an opportunity for his brother to meet with Yang Qingyue alone again, so that Yang Qingyue will feel that she met Chen Xuejin first, and she will be happier that way.

Xin Mengzhen would also help her deceive Yang Qingyue.

As Chen Xuebing thought about it, he couldn't help but feel that the relationship between the three of them was actually quite stable and had formed a logical loop.

Of course, I feel a little guilty, but not much.

"We're all doing this for her own good," Chen Xuebing thought.

Yang Qingyue, who knew nothing about this, immediately became happy upon hearing it.

"hold head high!"

As Yang Qingyue nodded, her chest-length hair began to flow, then draped obediently over her white sweater, making her look very cute and giving off a faint fragrance.

Such soft and smooth hair.

Yang Qingyue washed her hair today and didn't tie it up.

Chen Xuebing realized this and felt he had to praise it.

"You look prettier with your hair down," he said, resting his head on his hand and tilting his head slightly in appreciation.

Yang Qingyue stopped putting away the book, touched the ends of her hair, looked down, her full, fair nose wrinkled slightly, and there was some hesitation in her almond-shaped eyes.

"You think...it looks good this way."

Chen Xuebing thought that washing long-haired girls' hair is a time-consuming task, especially for senior high school students, and it would be troublesome to have their hair down when they are studying with their heads down.

"Actually, they all look good, but it's the weekend, so changing up my look every now and then can make me feel better. I'm a senior in high school, so I should maintain a good mindset."

Yang Qingyue was happy again: "Mmm!"

Just then, a ray of warm sunlight shone in. Chen Xuebing rested his head on his hand, while Yang Qingyue hugged her schoolbag, head bowed, and smiled sweetly. They looked just like a cartoon that made people yearn for youth.

The air felt exceptionally fresh.

"Cough! Cough!"

A deliberately loud cough came from the doorway, and Yang Qingyue panicked instantly, packing her books ten times faster. Chen Xuebing also quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be dozing off rather than admiring Yang Qingyue.

"Ahem! Chen Xuebing."

Seeing that Chen Xuebing was not moving with his back to him, Guo Shihai pretended to have a sore throat again. This time, he actually coughed up phlegm, quickly walked into the classroom, opened the balcony door, and spat out the phlegm.

"He~tui!"

Chen Xuebing lowered his arm, squinted his eyes as if he were still sleepy, looked around, and shouted, "Who called me just now?"

Yang Qingyue suppressed a laugh, called out "Teacher Guo" to Guo Shihai who had just come out from the balcony, and then ran away as fast as she could with her schoolbag on her back.

"Hmm." Guo Shihai nodded in Yang Qingyue's direction, too lazy to pay attention to Chen Xuebing's pretentiousness. He walked to his desk, picked up the English test paper on the desk and looked at it. Then he looked up and saw that there were still a few people in the class, so he waved to them.

"Come to my office with me for a moment."

"Oh."

Chen Xuebing got up and obediently followed behind Lao Guo.

But as soon as he entered the office at the end of the corridor, Chen Xuebing closed the door, immediately became casual, went to the water dispenser to pour himself a glass of water, glanced at the time, and urged:

"Uncle Guo, what's up? I have something to do this afternoon and I'm in a hurry."

"Tsk." Old Guo raised his head and glared at you: "I must have something good to tell you! What could be more important than getting into college? Sit down!"

Chen Xuebing then sat down and looked at Lao Guo.

Old Guo picked up a sheet from the table, looked at it, and said, "Your teacher Wu was grading your in-class tests just now, and I happened to see yours. 62 points, that's passing... You didn't cheat, did you?"

"What's so great about copying this? If I were to copy something, I'd copy the college entrance exam." Chen Xuebing said bluntly.

Guo Shihai's bushy beard blossomed, and he smiled like a flower.

"I do hope you can cheat on the college entrance exam, but don't pin your hopes on that. I looked at your recent test scores, and you've improved a lot. Except for math, you're getting closer to passing, which means you've been paying close attention in class. Also, your essay, 'My Youthful Reading,' has a novel idea. Looking back on your high school life from the perspective of a 40-year-old, I was quite moved. Your thoughts are very rich, and you've improved a lot compared to before. So, how about math? Is there any chance of improvement? If you can get 50 or 60, your future looks promising." Chen Xuebing took a breath: "I can try for 40, but 50 or 60... that's too much for me."

There are still three or four easy points in the math multiple-choice questions. With luck involved, it's really about fighting for those 60 points. He dares to say 40 points, which already includes the probability of getting a glance at someone in the 20-point fill-in-the-blank questions.

"Try your best on the big questions. Inequalities, sequences, and probability—if they're on the test, the first question won't be difficult. Focus on these three; you'll find them useful for multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions too."

If you're going to say that anyone who can be a homeroom teacher is a bit multi-talented, then Lao Guo, a Chinese teacher, actually explained the key points of the math exam very thoroughly, and he didn't overestimate Chen Xuebing's abilities at all.

“…I’ll give it a try.” Seeing how much effort Guo was putting into helping him plan, Chen Xuebing could only suppress his aversion to mathematics. He also felt that Guo’s topic today seemed to have a specific meaning, so he said, “Uncle Guo, just say what you want to say.”

"Hmm." Guo Shihai nodded. "I think you have a chance, and I'm going to recommend a university to you, Chongqing Jiaotong University. Have you heard of it?"

Chen Xuebing thought carefully for a moment, then frowned: "Was it Chongqing Jiaotong University?"

He knew there was a difference between "university" and "college".

Chongqing Jiaotong University is a name that many people in Chongqing have heard of; it has a certain reputation locally.

"Huh? You knew?" Old Guo was surprised. "You also knew that this school is going to be upgraded to a university?"

Chen Xuebing realized he had let something slip and coughed, "Uh... I think I've heard someone mention it, but I don't really know much about it."

Old Guo laughed again: "It seems you've already been paying attention to this information. Let me tell you, once the news came out, it was confirmed that this school would be upgraded to a university. It should be in two years. Before, it was a university directly under the Ministry of Transport, jointly established by the Ministry of Transport and the municipal government. It's currently a second-tier university, but it will become a key university in the future. Based on the previous minimum admission scores, it should be only ten or twenty points higher than the second-tier university cutoff. There's no such thing as upgrading a bachelor's degree. Whether you enter with the second-tier cutoff now or with the first-tier cutoff later, the value of the degree is the same. Moreover, it will be a key university before you graduate. What do you think?"

Chen Xuebing was a little confused.

I... still have a chance to become a top university student?
The name Chongqing Jiaotong University was indeed in his mind; that was certainly true. However, he was unaware of the existence of "Chongqing Jiaotong College."

Ministry of Transport…

This was also a word that triggered his nerves.

Back then, university graduates were guaranteed job placement!

Many alumni from universities directly under the Ministry of Education must have gone on to work in related industries, right?

Originally, he just wanted to get a decent bachelor's degree. After all, his plans after the college entrance examination were all about business, and he didn't really intend to spend four years in college. So he hadn't really thought about which school to choose. He just thought he would choose a school first and then a major based on his grades, and try to get as high as possible.

Now it seems that there is such a golden option right here in Chongqing?

It's still a promotion from 2 to 1!

"boom!"

Chen Xuebing hesitated for almost two seconds before slamming his hand on the table and declaring decisively, "This is it! This is the one I'll take the exam for! Thank you, Uncle Guo!"

This left Lao Guo speechless.

He had even prepared some words of encouragement to urge Chen Xuebing to keep going in this direction. How come it's "just this"?
"You, this... don't panic! Keep trying! And, there's something else."

"You say."

Suppressing his excitement at suddenly finding his way, Chen Xuebing slowly sat down.

Old Guo's expression gradually hardened. He said, "Guo Yang, it's been years since you've seen him, hasn't it? He'll be taking the college entrance exam next year. Tsk, this kid, he's becoming more and more introverted, and his grades are just average. I've been thinking, he used to play with you when he was little, and he respected you quite a bit. If he doesn't have the aptitude to get into a top school next year, I'm planning to have him apply to this school. Could you help me out by tutoring him then? Consider it a favor, okay?"

Chen Xuebing recalled a snotty, dirty, yet smiling face and couldn't help but laugh: "You were so cheerful when you were little, how could you be introverted?"

"We parents can't control how our children's personalities are formed; we all just want the best for them." Old Guo didn't want to explain too much, but he looked a little anxious.

"Aren't our expectations for him too high?" Chen Xuebing only guessed once before falling silent, nodding and saying, "Don't worry, as long as we get into the same school, leave this to me. I guarantee you, before he graduates, he'll have a good job and a girlfriend, he won't lack either!"

Old Guo is worried about Guo Yang's introverted personality; these are the two things that are causing him anxiety.

Guo Shihai's beard began to flourish again: "You kid, you're getting more and more insightful. Alright, I just hope you can use this energy of yours to inspire him, and I also hope you have a bright future."

"What's wrong with me turning him into a hooligan?" Chen Xuebing joked with a smile.

Guo Shihai immediately became serious: "Study hard, don't focus on romance! You'll have plenty of opportunities after graduation!"

Chen Xuebing coughed awkwardly, glanced at his watch, and stood up.

"No, no, I really have to go. Goodbye, Uncle Guo!"

Guo Shihai quickly raised his hand: "University brochure! I printed one out for you. Take it and take a good look!"

"Hey, thanks, Teacher Guo!"

……

It was 6 PM.

Smartda Internet Cafe.

A group of people stood behind Chen Xuebing, watching the same computer screen as if they were watching a color TV in the 80s.

"Tomorrow, go to the bank to open an online banking account. Then I'll teach you step by step how to register and how to sell. For every unit you sell through your account, I'll give you at least 20 yuan..."

The moment the Alipay seller backend opened, Zhang Hang, who had sharp eyes, exclaimed "Oh!" and pointed to a spot, saying:

"Brother! You've already made money! 1599!"

Chen Xuebing was also taken aback.

Upon looking at the interface, the payment amount was 1599 yuan.

He has never topped up his Alipay account!
The "Sold Items" option has changed to "1"!

He quickly opened Wangwang and found several new chat boxes with names he had never seen before, but he couldn't see any chat history.

Just then, Chen Xuebing's phone rang. He looked down at it and immediately answered it.

Xin Mengzhen's somewhat anxious voice came through.

"Hey? Why didn't you tell me you were using my account? Log out of Taobao first, I'm chatting right now!"

Chen Xuebing quickly asked, "Did you sell any goods?"

"Mmm! I haven't had a chance to tell you yet. We discussed an order at noon, and the payment was made this afternoon! We're now on the front page of the listings. It should be the new store recommendation you mentioned. A lot of people are asking about it! By the way, about that Nokia 6230 we sold, did the factory equip it with Bluetooth?"

“Yes!” Chen Xuebing recalled the parameters of the 6230 and said, “Stereo MP3, with FM! But the JAVA MIDP 2.0 extension is missing, the version is still 1.0, which is not something that ordinary people would use. Everything else is exactly the same.”

"...He didn't ask about that. You can log off now! I'm chatting with two other people right now!"

Chen Xuebing's face lit up with joy: "Great! If you place another order, call me right away! I'll arrange for it to be shipped immediately!"

"Okay...can I send it tonight too?"

"Sure! SF Express is accepting packages in Huaqiangbei until 11 PM!"

"Okay, got it."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xuebing stood up abruptly.

He opened his contacts and dialed Huo Xiaowen's number. As soon as the call connected, he suppressed his excitement and spoke in a calm tone:

"Hey, shipping out one 6230. I'll send you the address right away."

The person on the other end was incredibly excited: "Holy crap, you accepted the order?"

"Hmm." Chen Xuebing couldn't help but smile. "The machine cost 1260, and we only made about 300 yuan."

Versailles tune.

The person on the other end got incredibly excited: "Holy crap, who did you sell it to?"

Chen Xuebing smiled but remained silent.

Only his back gradually straightened.

(End of this chapter)