It's truly a network that is both vast and thriving.

Then again, in this crappy job market, it seems like you really do need a master's degree to find a decent job, especially in the tech industry. Undergraduates are treated worse than dogs.

From this perspective, Xue Tao's choice didn't seem to be a problem. He did need to work hard to improve himself. After all, there's never anything wrong with striving for self-improvement.

The only problem was whether he actually had the ability to handle projects... According to Su Bai's usual observations, the guy had zero talent for coding. To put it a bit extremely, he barely had any talent for using a computer.

After chatting with Su Bai, Xue Tao felt a renewed sense of confidence.

How should one put it? He had somewhat found his direction.

Although he had failed this time's exam, failure was only temporary, and he had found a new direction to strive for.

Su Bai didn't take it to heart. He chatted in his class group and the anime club group for a while, played some games, went to sleep, and woke up early to exercise—all in one smooth routine.

Speaking of which, the reduction in his sleep time made Su Bai feel as if his life had been elongated. This feeling was similar to a college student who had been slacking off and staying up late for a long time, suddenly switching to an elderly person's routine of going to bed at ten and waking up at five. He instantly felt that the usable time in his day had skyrocketed.

After all, if you go to sleep at two or three in the morning, you'll be groggy when you wake up at noon, and you likely won't have time in the afternoon either. Then the time you actually have the mental energy to do anything productive only really starts from the evening...

No wonder some internet companies only start becoming efficient when the sun is about to set.

However, apart from the essential hour or so of sleep he needed every day, Su Bai was full of energy for the rest of the time. Even after deducting the time he spent wandering around the campus, he still had plenty of time and energy.

On a whim, he glanced at the time. It was 3:30 AM. He might as well just go to the bar.

That OUT12 or whatever... I think it would actually get more traffic if they just named it OUT24.

When Su Bai walked in, he was surprisingly recognized by the waiter at the door.

In top-tier entertainment venues in the city like this one, the service staff were mostly trained to recognize key figures.

So I guess I'm considered a key figure now too.

Hello, Young Master Su. Do you need me to arrange a private room for you?

Yeah, a smaller, standard room is fine. I'm just here to have a few drinks by myself.

According to the waiter, the SSVIP room from last time wasn't open, as those wealthy guys and girls who were close to the boss hadn't shown up.

Su Bai could have gone there if he wanted to, but there was no need.

Of course, the waiter actually still led him to a top-tier private room. It was slightly smaller, but in all other aspects, it was just as good.

A beautifully made-up woman came in and asked Su Bai what he wanted to drink and eat.

She didn't try to push any new drinks on him. Instead, she first made a list of the alcohol Su Bai had stored from his previous visit.

At least so far, Su Bai felt there was nothing wrong with the service attitude at this bar.

For regular customers with status and position, there was no need to be as eager for quick success as salespeople in most other industries. As long as they were served well and provided with enough emotional value, the big bills would naturally follow.

Besides, this bar didn't rely purely on this handful of top-tier customers for profit. They served more of a driving role; the ones who truly provided a broad market were the middle-class patrons.

It could be compared to celebrities and influencers on Little Red Book promoting products, which many trend-chasing middle-class youths would then go and buy.

Su Bai ordered the red wine he had saved here last time and also got some sweet white wine. As for food, he went with the seafood platter again.

In a nightclub environment like this, the food probably wouldn't taste that great anyway, so some sashimi would do just fine.

By four o'clock, it was already the second half of the night. There weren't many people left on the dance floor. A singer who seemed to be a folk artist was crooning a soothing melody.

Listening to music and drinking wine was quite a leisurely experience.

He sat there until dawn, then called a designated driver and headed back to the university.

At this hour, it was still too early to take Wang Haoran to look at office spaces, so Su Bai decided to continue his hunt for food.

The seafood platter hadn't solved his hunger. That stuff was actually very low in calories; it was just for a fresh taste.

According to the information Su Bai had seen on the university's official account, a cafeteria located quite close to the teaching buildings had recently introduced a new pork rib clay pot porridge, available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It was worth a try.

In fact, the cafeterias at Jiangcheng University would occasionally launch some solid new dishes, often better crafted than those at many large restaurants nearby. The only downside was that sometimes when all the students wanted to try the new items, there would be a queue.

Breakfast probably wouldn't require queuing. After all, it was only a little past six, and most cafeterias only opened at six-thirty.

But when he got there, he was shocked to find that, holy crap, there was actually a line!

With November coming to an end, the early mornings in Jiangcheng had a noticeable chill. It didn't bother someone like Su Bai much, but some of the girls in line were already wearing overcoats.

There was even someone live-streaming in the queue, which was a bit ridiculous.

Had the pork rib clay pot porridge become the latest internet sensation at Jiangcheng University?

Talk about being a viral internet trend.

Su Bai had absolutely no interest in internet celebrity trends and the like. Of course, occasionally wandering into an internet-famous store by mistake was perfectly normal.

Excuse me, is this clay pot porridge really popular right now? Su Bai randomly picked a female passerby to ask.

Eh... I guess so. I saw on Little Red Book that...

OK, that explains it.

What she said next was no longer important. It was like doing an English reading comprehension test: once you've quickly skimmed and grasped the key information needed for the multiple-choice question, there's absolutely no need to care about the rest of the details.

Mystery solved in an instant!

Moreover, the girl's speech was a bit mumbled, and her voice grew softer and softer. With a hint of shyness and surprise in her eyes, she carefully looked Su Bai up and down a few times.

Are you that... internet celebrity... from the Computer Science department...

Where is this internet celebrity you speak of, I wonder?

Um...

I'm just an ordinary student. Please don't put me on a pedestal.

Su Bai thought to himself, am I really a big star now? How am I getting recognized just trying to eat some clay pot porridge in the cafeteria?

It seemed that seeking out Xu Xinran for a media collaboration was the right move. Plus, Reporter Xu could even help Su Bai find legal counsel. Do you know what that meant?

It meant that even if some morally bankrupt girls tried to pull the currently trendy scams or false accusations on him, Su Bai wouldn't have to sweat it.

Being a star, he needed to have some solid backing.

The girl didn't really dare to talk to Su Bai anymore. She just stole a few glances at him while queuing, her eyes sparkling, a shy blush floating on her cheeks.

Not gonna lie, it felt pretty good.

In the past, Su Bai was only moderately handsome and never got this kind of treatment.

Furthermore, a poor handsome guy and a tall, rich, handsome guy were two completely different things. Girls nowadays were very realistic.

After waiting for a while, a few somewhat familiar figures suddenly stepped out of the front of the line and came over to Su Bai, waving at him, looking very happy.

Junior, are you here to eat this too? Why didn't you let us know in the group chat? We could have saved a spot for you.

Huh? Ah... Su Bai scratched his head. Sorry, who are you again?

...