Chapter 190
"Brother Gu, you have no idea. My family is super strict, and they're incredibly stingy with my living expenses."
Zhang Qi sighed, poking at the rice on his plate.
"I'm planning to check out the tutoring centers around the school tomorrow to see if I can find a job handing out flyers or tutoring. I have to at least earn enough for internet and cigarettes."
Li Ming chimed in, "I've made up my mind too. I'm going to ask at the school computer lab or the internet cafes outside to see if they need a network admin. The night shift might be a bit tiring, but at least I can surf the web for free."
This was 2011, and these were the most basic thoughts of most college freshmen.
Selling cheap labor in exchange for meager pay.
Gu Ran's fingers gently rubbed the side of his cola bottle. Hearing this, he frowned slightly and put down his chopsticks.
"Handing out flyers? Working as an internet cafe admin?"
"You guys got into Qinghai University just to do the kind of work anyone with hands can do?"
Zhang Qi was taken aback. "Then... what else can we do? We're just freshmen, we don't know how to do anything."
"The core of making money isn't about how much physical effort you put in, but how many resources you can integrate."
Gu Ran leaned back against his chair, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.
"Handing out flyers pays ten yuan an hour. You're exposed to the wind and sun, and the efficiency is extremely low."
"Have you ever thought about why businesses want to hand out flyers? It's because they lack customers and traffic."
He picked up the cola bottle and drew a circle in the middle of the table.
"There are five thousand freshmen at Qinghai University. That's a massive traffic pool. As students of this school, you naturally have their trust as an endorsement."
"Instead of being cheap labor for businesses, why not integrate the needs of these five thousand people?"
He paused, then continued.
"Driving schools need to recruit students, grad school prep centers need enrollees, and takeout restaurants need orders. You go talk to the merchants and tell them you're the general campus agent for Qinghai University."
"Tell them how many dorm buildings you can cover and how many students you can precisely reach. What you want isn't an hourly wage, but a commission."
The young man's fingers unconsciously drew circles on the table.
"You could even create a 'Freshman Service Group' chat and pull everyone in."
"Normally, you just send out school announcements, and occasionally push some merchant coupons. This is called 'channel is king' and 'private domain traffic'."
"And working at an internet cafe?"
Gu Ran glanced at Li Ming.
"Do you know how to fix computers? Do you know how to reinstall operating systems?"
Li Ming nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.
"I do! I'm good at that!"
"Then don't go to an internet cafe to inhale secondhand smoke."
He tapped the table.
"Print a few hundred business cards and slip one under the door of every dorm room: 'On-site computer repair and OS reinstallation. Thirty yuan per visit, half price for girls.' Doesn't that pay way more than being an internet cafe admin? Plus..."
He paused, adding meaningfully,
"This way, you can also build a network of connections, especially in the girls' dorms."
Holy crap?!
Zhang Qi and Li Ming's jaws dropped, staring blankly at Gu Ran.
These terms—traffic pool, channels, private domain, general agent—were practically alien concepts to college freshmen.
Although they didn't fully understand, they were deeply shaken.
Originally, they only thought of exchanging physical labor for money, but Gu Ran told them they could use their brains and resources to "snatch" money.
At this moment, Gu Ran's image in their eyes completely changed.
If before they only thought he was "rich" and "handsome,"
Now, they felt an absolute intellectual crushing.
This wasn't a roommate; this was clearly a max-level player coming back to the beginner village to stomp on noobs!
"Brother... Brother Gu."
Zhang Qi swallowed hard, his eyes burning with fanaticism.
"Take me under your wing! You've completely opened my eyes! Tell me what to do, I'm following you from now on!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm an expert at fixing computers!"
Li Ming was also thrilled.
Gu Ran smiled and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth.
"No rush. Let's get through military training first. There will be plenty of opportunities later."
Ye Zhenzhen sat to the side, resting her chin in her hands. Watching her boyfriend speak with such commanding presence, a proud smile curled the corners of her lips.
Way to go, Ye Zhenzhen. As expected of you, you've got a great eye for guys!
Even though she only half-understood those terms herself, she knew that at this moment, Gu Ran was shining brightly.
...
After lunch, Gu Ran first walked the young girl back to the girls' dormitory.
Then, he took his two roommates—who had been thoroughly "brainwashed" into fanboys—back to Dorm 404.
Pushing the door open, the sour smell of cold noodles mixed with a faint scent of sweat hit their faces.
Qin Zhaoyang was sitting at his desk, wolfing down a bowl of cold noodles that had already clumped together.
He was sweating profusely, obviously having run to a street stall outside the campus to grab takeout just to avoid Gu Ran at the cafeteria.
Hearing the door open, he paused and looked up.
Seeing the three walking in laughing and talking, especially with Zhang Qi and Li Ming crowding around Gu Ran,
that posture of stars revolving around the moon made the anger in his heart instantly flare up.
He was the one who drove a BMW!
He was the one who should be sucked up to!
Qin Zhaoyang slammed his chopsticks on the table, haphazardly wiped his mouth, and stood up.
He pulled a thick stack of bright red hundred-yuan bills from his pocket.
He slapped his pack of Marlboros onto the table and said loudly, feigning generosity:
"Yo, you guys are back? The cafeteria food sucked, right?"
He looked at Gu Ran with a provocative gaze.
"I'm treating tonight! Let's go to the 'Golden Splendor' bathhouse behind the school for a scrub and relax a bit!"
Qin Zhaoyang sneered internally and continued,
"I'm a local here in Qinglin. Whether a joint is legit or not, whether the service is good... heh, who would know better than me? After that, we can book a night at the internet cafe. All expenses paid by yours truly, Young Master Qin!"
In the eyes of boys this age, taking a bath, surfing the net, and having someone else foot the bill was simply an irresistible temptation.
He figured a pretentious rich kid like Gu Ran would never lower himself to do these things with his roommates.
As long as he threw some money around, these poor students would definitely switch sides.
However, the air suddenly went quiet for a few seconds.
There was no expected cheering.
Li Ming glanced at the money in Qin Zhaoyang's hand, but what echoed in his mind was Gu Ran's talk of "on-site computer repair" and "connections in the girls' dorms."
A bath? Surfing the net?
Vulgar! Too vulgar!
Following Brother Gu meant doing big business. Who the hell wanted to go to an internet cafe with you to inhale secondhand smoke?
"Um... Brother Qin, sorry about this."
Li Ming scratched his head, looking completely righteous.
"I just remembered I need to stay in the dorm and study computer system maintenance techniques, so I won't be going tonight."
Zhang Qi was even more direct. His head was currently full of "general campus agent" and "traffic pool." He looked at Qin Zhaoyang like he was looking at an uncivilized rural landlord.
"Thanks, but I can't go either."
He waved his hand and pulled an English textbook out of his backpack.
"Brother Gu just gave me a few pointers, and I feel like I benefited a lot from them. I plan to stay in the dorm, prep for my classes, and map out my college career."
"..."
Qin Zhaoyang's hand holding the bills froze in midair.
He looked at Li Ming and Zhang Qi, who both wore expressions of "I want to better myself."
He then looked at Gu Ran, who was sitting calmly in his chair, flipping through a business magazine.
An unprecedented sense of absurdity welled up in his heart.
Is this really a fucking college freshman dorm?
Are these guys out of their minds?
"Fine, you guys are so high and mighty! You're so amazing!"
Qin Zhaoyang angrily stuffed the money back into his pocket, shot Gu Ran a vicious glare, grabbed his washbasin, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Gu Ran turned a page of his magazine without even lifting his head, a faint, mocking smirk playing on his lips.
Trying to throw money around?
In this dorm room, whether it came to hard power or soft skills, you would only end up getting completely outclassed on every level.
Outside the door, out in the hallway.
Holding his washbasin, Qin Zhaoyang listened to the renewed laughter and cheerful voices coming from inside the dorm. His expression was so dark and gloomy it looked like a brewing storm.
"Gu Ran, is it... fine, just you wait."
He narrowed his eyes, remembering the upcoming class meeting and the class committee elections.
"So what if you have money? When it's time to run for class monitor, I'll show you what real grassroots support looks like!"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
