At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

"Holy crap, Xiao-ge! This is outrageous! I feel like the personal items I brought aren't even fit in this bathroom!"

Zheng Hao excitedly tossed his Rimowa suitcase into the entryway and plopped down on the leather sofa that smelled of high-quality leather, rolling around comfortably several times.

In contrast, Li Xiao's reaction was much calmer. He casually parked his suitcase in the entryway, put one hand in his pocket, and strolled to the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Alright, stop acting like you've never seen anything like this before. Hurry up and get up, pick a room, and pack your things." Li Xiao looked at Zheng Hao, who was wriggling on the sofa like a maggot, and shook his head with amusement.

"Alright!" Zheng Hao sprang up with a bang and excitedly dragged his suitcase into the second bedroom.

A short while later, the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets could be heard from the second bedroom.

Zheng Hao brought all his savings to the provincial capital for his studies this time. He brought more than a dozen pairs of limited-edition sneakers. In addition, he also packed his latest PS5 and a complete VR set in a shockproof box.

In his own words, a university dormitory without a game console would be soulless for four years.

Li Xiao carried his suitcase into the master bedroom. Compared to Zheng Hao's extravagant entourage, Li Xiao's luggage was so simple it was almost unbelievable for a student coming to study in another city. A few changes of clothes, a thin black laptop with an unidentifiable brand, and a few hardcover original business books—that was all his belongings.

After hanging his clothes in the walk-in closet with its automatic dehumidifier, Li Xiao walked to the balcony overlooking the master bedroom and stretched. The early autumn sun shone on him, carrying a lazy warmth.

Without the endless engineering reports from Jiangyang County, and without the scheming and backstabbing with those old foxes, this long-lost, pure campus life finally allowed his nerves, which had been tense for months, to relax for a moment.

"Xiao-ge! Are you done packing? I'm starving!" Half an hour later, Zheng Hao, dressed in a flashy designer outfit, shouted in the living room, "I just asked around in the freshman group, and there's a restaurant called Zijingyuan not far downstairs in our S building. It's supposedly one of the highest-class canteens on campus. Let's go check it out!"

Li Xiao changed into a loose black casual shirt and came out of the bedroom: "Let's go and see what the meals of the provincial capital's elites are like."

The two strolled out of the apartment. At a little past five in the afternoon, the sunlight on campus had softened. After walking for less than ten minutes along the tree-lined avenue, a pure white building with an exterior resembling the Sydney Opera House came into view.

If it weren't for the sign for Zijingyuan at the entrance, Zheng Hao would have thought he had walked into a Michelin Black Pearl restaurant.

Pushing open the heavy glass revolving door, a tantalizing aroma of buttered steak and freshly ground coffee wafts out. The "cafeteria" here is nothing like the traditional university cafeteria with its metal trays and long queues for food.

The entire first floor was divided into several huge open-air food stalls. In the Japanese food area, chefs were cutting bluefin tuna to order, while in the Western food area, tomahawk steaks were sizzling and rolling in the oven. There was even a dedicated Cantonese dim sum area, steaming with hot food.

The dining tables around the room were all custom-made from solid wood, and there was a grand piano in the corner that was automatically playing soothing light music.

"My goodness, this tuition was totally worth it!" Zheng Hao's eyes lit up as he looked at the dazzling array of food. He carried the tray like a locust swarm, and soon came back with two tomahawk steaks piled up like small mountains, several arm-length Boston lobsters, and a large plate of sashimi.

Li Xiao simply grabbed a plate of pasta, a vegetable salad, and an iced Americano, and sat down by the window.

"Brother Xiao, you're eating cat food already? Eat more, it's on your meal card anyway!" Zheng Hao mumbled indistinctly while gnawing on a lobster claw.

"I don't have as good an appetite as you." Li Xiao took a sip of coffee and calmly surveyed his surroundings.

It was lunchtime, and the restaurant gradually became lively. However, this liveliness was not noisy; the students who came in twos and threes were mostly dressed smartly, and their conversations were kept within a reasonable range.

Sitting at the next table were several upperclassmen, either sophomores or juniors. They weren't talking about games or gossip, but rather discussing the summer vacation that had just passed.

"...My dad insisted I go to Wall Street. I spent a month in an investment banking division at Citibank, and it was incredibly boring. Those quantitative traders stared at screens all day like robots," a guy wearing frameless glasses complained casually as he cut his steak.

"You should be content. I went to Monaco to watch F1, but the yacht's engine broke down halfway there, and I drifted at sea for more than four hours. I'm still not as tanned as I was when I got back." The long-haired girl sitting opposite him replied with a smile, a Patek Philippe watch with diamonds on her wrist sparkling under the chandelier.

Zheng Hao rolled his eyes as he listened, and complained to Li Xiao in a low voice, "Brother Xiao, these people don't even bother to think before they start showing off. Citibank, watching F1 in Monaco... I went to Happy Valley in our county during the summer vacation and it was pretty hot."

Li Xiao smiled slightly but didn't reply. He knew that the people at the next table weren't deliberately showing off; that was simply their real life. In this school, never judge everything around you by ordinary standards.

After dinner, night gradually fell.

The nights at Huaqing Business School have a more romantic and lively atmosphere than during the day. Warm yellow ground lights illuminate the campus square, and the fountain ripples to the music. Along the main road, many student organizations have already set up recruitment booths.

However, the clubs here also reek of money. "Golf Elite Club," "Deep Blue Sailing Association," "Supercar and Mechanical Power Research Society"... behind each name lies an extremely expensive entry threshold.

"Brother Xiao, how about we join a club? I think that sailing association looks pretty interesting, and the president is a long-legged beauty!" Zheng Hao rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Don't rush to take sides." Li Xiao walked casually in the cool evening breeze, his hands in his pockets. "It's the beginning of the semester, let's enjoy the scenery first and figure out how many big fish are in this water before we talk about anything else."

The two walked slowly back to Apartment Building S along the greenway by the lake. The chirping of insects rose and fell in the grass, and the hands of the clock tower in the distance pointed to eight o'clock in the evening.

Back in his spacious dorm room, after taking a hot shower, Li Xiao changed into a comfortable silk nightgown and took a glass of ice water to the balcony.

The night view of Zijin Mountain is beautiful, with thousands of lights forming a dazzling galaxy at the foot of the distant mountain.

Zheng Hao had already put on VR glasses in the living room and started dominating the virtual world, with bursts of cheerful shouts and cheers coming from time to time.

Li Xiao leaned against the railing, feeling the night breeze blowing in his face, and took a sip of ice water. This kind of university life, where there was no need to calculate gains and losses or consider the harvest of capital, truly made him feel a long-lost sense of relaxation and tranquility.