Few Are True Brothers

The next day, at noon.

The massage chair ordered earlier had arrived. Shen Nian watched the technician help with the installation, which took quite a bit of effort to finally set up.

It was installed on the second floor next to the coffee table, against the wall. After confirming everything was fine, the installation technician left. Shen Nian immediately sat on it to try it out. It was quite comfortable.

It was much more comfortable than the ones placed in shopping malls. For something that cost over five thousand yuan even after national subsidies, Shen Nian would have cursed if it wasn't comfortable.

Just as he was enjoying the massage, Xia Yanchun, who had come over at some unknown point, poked her little head out from the top of the stairs. "What was that car for just now?"

"Delivery. A newly bought massage chair." Shen Nian replied lazily, not wanting to move at all. This thing was incredibly comfortable. He wasn't even tired; if Shen Shi came back after a long day of work and lay on it, he would definitely groan in comfort.

"Wow, it looks like the ones in the mall." Xia Yanchun hopped in like a little rabbit, circling the massage chair to inspect it. "How much was it?"

"Five thousand."

"How much? Five thousand!"

"Yep, absolutely."

"You guy, you start spending recklessly as soon as you make some money." Xia Yanchun poked Shen Nian's forehead.

"Please don't be so possessive of my money, okay?" Shen Nian didn't want to pay attention to her.

"Let me sit in it."

"I haven't finished enjoying it yet."

"Then you sit for a bit first."

Xia Yanchun just stood by and watched him enjoy it, crossing her arms and staring at him.

Shen Nian's expression of comfort was exactly as expected.

Xia Yanchun hummed, keeping track of the time. Once Shen Nian had enjoyed his five minutes, she started urging him to get up.

As everyone knows, what belongs to the younger brother belongs to the older sister, so the younger brother's massage chair is the older sister's massage chair. What's wrong with sitting in it?

"People who don't know would think you paid for it, little fairy." Shen Nian sweatdropped, but he still gave up his seat for her.

Xia Yanchun didn't mind his teasing. She happily hopped into the massage chair, placing her arms and legs in the designated spots. Once it started, the mechanical structures inside began to massage her.

From her forearms to her upper arms, from her calves to her thighs, her shoulders, back, waist, and even her neck and ankles were all comfortably kneaded rhythmically.

"Comfortable, right?"

"Not bad at all." Xia Yanchun pouted slightly. "I've ordered my computer too."

"Nice, nice. But I'm guessing you'll only use your computer to watch TV."

"Hehe, I don't play games, and school hasn't started yet. I don't even know what I bought a computer for."

"Then just use it to watch TV and listen to music for now. Weren't you going to start an account? It'd be great for live streaming too."

"Oh, right!"

"I'll drive traffic to you when the time comes, Airborne Enemy Madam Xia."

"It's Chef Xia!"

"No difference, it's just a nickname. It's decided then, Madam Xia."

"If there's no difference, then why must it be Madam Xia? Just call it Chef Xia."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say."

Shen Nian pinched her cheek and left her alone, letting her enjoy sitting in the massage chair.

A little past twelve in the afternoon, both Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun received calls from the admissions office of Nanjiang University.

They probably noticed that the addresses of the two top scorers were in the same town, so they called to confirm. The admissions office of Nanjiang University first confirmed that Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun knew each other before coming over for a visit.

Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun watched from the first floor as a black Mercedes-Benz parked in front of the house.

Three people arrived. The leader was a woman around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, wearing glasses and giving off the vibe of a strong female executive. The other two were young, likely juniors brought along to learn how to poach students.

"Hello, you two must be Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun. I am Huang Wenyan, the Admissions Director of Nanjiang University's admissions office. You can call me Teacher Huang or Director Huang. These two are leaders and teachers from our admissions office."

"Hello, Director Huang," Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun said in unison.

Shen Nian invited them inside to sit. Director Huang quietly observed the house's decorations and asked softly, "Are the parents of Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun not at home?"

"None of them are here," Shen Nian said calmly.

"Alright."

Usually, she spoke with students and their parents together. This was her first time having a one-on-two conversation solely with the students.

Talking to two top scorers at once was quite a beautiful thing.

Two top scorers with the same score, from the same school, in the same town, who also knew each other—it was truly unprecedented.

"Do you two have any understanding of our Nanjiang University?"

Xia Yanchun: "I've heard a little bit. Could you introduce it to us?"

"Of course. Our Nanjiang University is not only highly renowned domestically but also possesses the most research funding and the top teaching faculty in the country. With over two thousand professors and a total of more than four thousand teachers, we have won first place in numerous international competitions, such as blah blah blah..."

Director Huang rattled off a long speech, while her two assistants used tablets to display some of the university's awards, research achievements, and notable alumni.

As one of the C9 League universities, Nanjiang University was a top-tier prestigious school with undeniable strength, though there were two even more heavyweight universities pressing down from above.

Introducing the school was secondary; the most important part was the conditions for enrolling at Nanjiang University.

Or rather, the recruitment conditions. If the conditions offered weren't good enough, what if these two big shots turned around and applied to Tsinghua or Peking University instead?

"Do you two have any requirements for your dormitories? Nanjiang University has standard four-person and two-person dorms, or single rooms in special apartments. We can arrange any of them."

"Can you let us live off..."

Just as Shen Nian was about to speak, Xia Yanchun tugged at his collar, signaling him not to say anything, and spoke up herself.

"Can you arrange two single rooms in the special apartments for us?"

Xia Yanchun knew about the special apartments. The international student dorms that had caused a heated debate online recently belonged to that category. Some postdoctoral researchers and competition gold medalists also lived in these special apartments, which were private single rooms. From the videos she saw online, they looked just like those hotels that cost hundreds of yuan a night.

"Yes, we can."

"But we want to live off-campus..." Xia Yanchun added.

Director Huang was stunned. Good heavens, so you want to live off-campus while simultaneously keeping a single apartment room?

You guys are taking advantage of all the good things.

Director Huang really wanted to complain, but the two people in front of her were top scorers. She couldn't afford to offend them. The university highly valued these talents. For top scorers and competition gold medalists, the goal was to grab as many as possible. As long as the demands weren't extremely excessive, she would agree first and figure it out later.

Moreover, the two seemed to have a very good relationship, meaning she either had to please both or risk losing both. It was just that she had never encountered such a condition before.

"That's also fine!" she agreed straightforwardly. It was nothing more than freeing up two single rooms.

"That's great!"

"There's nothing we can't negotiate. Have you thought about your majors?"

"Not yet..." Xia Yanchun shook her head.

"Haha, that's okay. Nanjiang University has many ace majors. If you have any ideas, you can contact me directly, or you can think it over carefully and fill it in when you submit your college applications."

...

They chatted on and on about many things. As for conditions, basically, as soon as they were mentioned, they were agreed to.

Living off-campus but keeping two single dorm rooms, and getting full tuition waivers were just the basics. Seamless bachelor's-to-master's programs, study abroad exchanges... these were also on the table. If Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun wanted them in the future, they could easily be arranged.

Shen Nian felt like he had lost out a bit. It was like haggling with a shopkeeper, only for the boss to happily agree to the price—meaning he hadn't bargained hard enough.

But for the moment, he couldn't think of any other demands to make.

"By the way, Director Huang, I have a friend who scored 637 on the college entrance exam and also wants to attend Nanjiang University. If he applies..." Shen Nian rubbed his chin and asked curiously, intentionally leaving the sentence unfinished.

Director Huang understood immediately. He smiled and said, "If he lists our school as his choice, admitting him is doable. That score is already right on our university's threshold anyway."

Retaining a top provincial scorer was far more important than admitting a borderline student. Applying to Nanjiang University with that score was risky, but not entirely hopeless. In fact, it was something they could easily accommodate.

However, the student would definitely be excluded from the university's top-tier, highly competitive majors.

"That works. Though I don't even know if he'll actually apply to Nanjiang University."

"If you have any questions, feel free to call me!"

...

The admissions office staff chatted with them for quite a while, and Shen Nian found the whole experience quite pleasant.

He got the VIP treatment reserved for top scorers, and Nanjiang University secured two top scorers. Everyone had a bright future ahead of them. A world where zero people got hurt had successfully been achieved.

Watching the admissions staff drive away, Xia Yanchun curiously poked Shen Nian's arm.

"Was the friend you mentioned Ma Mingfan?"

"Yeah. His score is right on the borderline for Nanjiang University, and I'm guessing it's his first choice too."

"It's rare to have a few true brothers♫"

"Hold your fire, please don't sing."

Xia Yanchun instantly puffed up her cheeks in annoyance and headbutted right into Shen Nian's chest.