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

Li Jianguo stubbed out his cigarette and stared intently at the bright-eyed, unassuming young man before him. He suddenly realized that his earlier worries were completely unnecessary.

"Fine! Since you have this ambition and this foolproof plan, then I'll wait and see how you stir up trouble in this new sea!"

He stood up, walked over to Li Xiao, and patted his son's now broad and muscular shoulders forcefully, his tone full of pride. "Go for it! This Jiangyang County pond really can't hold a dragon crossing the river like you!"

Just a few days after this heart-to-heart talk, Jiangyang County at the end of July was like a furnace, scorching everyone walking on the streets equally.

Another hurdle for these eighteen-year-olds was finally overcome with the arrival of several EMS express mail packages.

Li Xiao's admission notice was the first one to arrive.

The red envelope with gold lettering contained an admission notice from a private, third-tier university in the province called Huaqing Business School.

In fact, given the Li family's current wealth and status, Li Jianguo was confident he could get Li Xiao into any school in the province. Even if Li Xiao wanted to go to a prestigious university abroad to enhance his resume, it would just be a matter of spending money to pave the way. But he insisted on going against everyone's advice and chose a place that others considered purely for getting a diploma.

The reason is simple: the president and major shareholder of this private university has a close relationship with the Li family.

Back when Mr. Li was working in the province, the current president of Huaqing Business School, Lao Han, was his confidential secretary, whom he had personally promoted.

Later, Lao Han retired from the system and founded this private university with the connections and resources he had accumulated over the years. Over the years, he has always been grateful to the Li family and would personally visit them to offer his greetings during holidays.

As soon as Li Xiao's college entrance examination results came out, Lao Han called Li Jianguo's mobile phone, offering to reserve a spot for Li Xiao and personally arrange the student registration and procedures.

Li Xiao chose this place not to learn those theoretical exercises, but because he valued the absolute freedom that came with this close relationship.

Here, he wouldn't have to deal with strict room checks and tedious attendance checks; the old principal would naturally give him the green light. What he needed was a free space, a place where he could escape at any time.

Unsurprisingly, Zheng Hao also received an admission notice from the same school.

Originally, given Zheng Hao's consistently poor grades, which consistently ranked at the bottom of his class and made it difficult for him to even get into a decent junior college, he was basically destined to never have a bachelor's degree. His father, Zheng Guodong, had already planned to spend some money to send him to a junior college to get a diploma, and after graduation, he would go straight back to the building materials market in Jiangyang County to carry cement.

But what can he do when he has a good brother named Li Xiao?

Principal Han is an extremely shrewd person who has spent half his life navigating the complexities of human relationships.

When Lao Han called Li Jianguo to finalize Li Xiao's enrollment, he only asked a few questions about Li Xiao's interpersonal relationships. He learned that Zheng Hao and Li Xiao were practically inseparable, and that Zheng Hao had been at the forefront of Li Xiao's fight against Wang Jianhui. Without hesitation, Lao Han decided to reserve a place for Zheng Hao as well.

Of course, Zheng Hao's score was far too low, so going through the normal college entrance examination channel would definitely not work. Old Han used a special internal method.

He used the privileges of the school board to give Zheng Hao a special opportunity, granting him both a high-level athletic talent program and a targeted training sponsorship.

Anyway, Zheng Hao is tall and strong with a muscular build, so it's not too surprising to put the title of "sports talent" on him.

Zhou Yanhuai lived up to expectations and successfully received an admission notice from Beijing University of Electronic Science and Technology. As a direct route to the county government compound, the name of this school may not be as well-known as Tsinghua or Peking University to ordinary people, but in the eyes of those who really know their stuff within the system, it is an absolute gold standard.

This university, with its highly confidential nature and targeted training program, almost always sends its graduates directly to key departments of national ministries, provincial departments, and core government agencies for information security.

Zhou Yanhuai's father and grandfather were originally from special physical backgrounds, and now that their son has entered this top-tier special academy, no one dares to say how high Zhou Yanhuai will eventually climb.

On the day the notification was delivered to the old family compound of the county party committee, Zhou Shuli, unusually, did not go to the activity center for retired cadres to play chess. This old man, who had spent most of his life in the system, sat upright in his study for the entire morning.

The admission notice, with its red background and gold lettering, prominently displayed the words "Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute" at the top, below which was the familiar red official seal. He had dealt with the school's affiliated units many times during his time working at the provincial party committee, and knew the weight of that seal.

"Grandpa, it's just a notice, why are you making such a fuss like you're receiving an imperial edict?"

Zhou Yanhuai stood behind him, speaking lightly, but the tips of his ears were slightly red. He had specially changed into a clean white shirt today, with the collar buttoned up neatly, clearly not as calm as he claimed.

That evening, the three of them got together again.

The location is the same as always, but it's not Jinzuan KTV. There may be many places to eat in Jiangyang County, but if you're talking about the most luxurious, it has to be Guilan from the Li family.

In the waterside pavilion at the end of the winding corridor, the bamboo curtain was half-rolled up, and the old bronze bell on the eaves tinkled in the night wind. The imperial kiln bricks underfoot gleamed with a low-key matte luster under the lamplight.

The surface of the koi pond was gilded with a layer of shattered silver by the moonlight, and occasionally a fish would flick its tail, the splashing sound of which was particularly crisp in the quiet night.

The round table wasn't set with any fancy delicacies; instead, it featured a few authentic home-style dishes, accompanied by two bottles of aged, specially supplied Moutai.

Zheng Hao skillfully unscrewed the bottle of aged, specially supplied Moutai. The rich aroma of the sauce instantly filled the waterside pavilion. He held the bottle and filled the decanters for the three people one by one. The pale yellow liquid clung to the crystal glass wall, exuding an alluring amber luster.

"Come on! There are no outsiders today, just the three of us brothers!" Zheng Hao raised his glass, his face flushed with excitement, and his voice was louder than usual. "To Brother Xiao's huge profits, to Yan Huai's meteoric rise, and to this auspicious smoke rising from the ancestral graves of my Zheng family—cheers!"

Zhou Yanhuai was unusually generous today. Instead of taking a sip as usual, he tilted his head back and drank the strong liquor in one gulp.

The spicy liquor rolled down his throat, choking him and instantly flushing his fair cheeks. But his eyes, hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses, shone with an astonishing brightness under the moonlight and the effects of the alcohol.