Divine Being

Evening.

Li Xingya returned to her dormitory at the Normal University.

Overall, the conditions at the Normal University were actually quite decent. Although the school's prestige seemed a bit low, at least in Li Xingya's eyes, it was sufficient for pursuing an education.

However, when it came to finding a job, many good positions did strictly filter candidates based on their educational background. To say that undergraduates from top-tier universities were vastly superior to those from ordinary ones wasn't necessarily reflected in the actual work. After all, the content of many jobs wasn't actually that difficult. The problem was simply that there were too many graduates nowadays; since employers had choices, they naturally selected the most competitive candidates.

"Oh, Xiaoya is back!"

In the six-person dorm room, there were only two roommates present at the moment. One of them, who was doing her nails, just looked up and glanced at Li Xingya when she returned. She didn't even say hello, and the corners of her mouth curled into a faint, mocking smile.

This Miss Manicure usually didn't have a good relationship with her, so Li Xingya wasn't surprised.

Miss Manicure was always mocking her for studying hard... Don't laugh; in certain small circles, people really do like to mock and dig at those who work hard.

Logically speaking, no matter the environment, trying hard to do your job well is never wrong. However, some people really do have bizarre logic. For example, Miss Manicure was always saying that Li Xingya was being fake and pretentious. Li Xingya had no idea how she was being pretentious. Whether she was taking extra elective courses or going off-campus for competitions and internships, she had never shown off about them at all!

She just wanted to earn more money, that was all.

Fortunately, her other roommate, Guo Xiaoyan, who was nestled in bed playing a mobile game, got along quite well with her.

She was a lively, cute, generally friendly girl without any hidden agendas.

At this moment, Guo Xiaoyan, holding her phone, asked absentmindedly, "Did your internship go smoothly, Xiaoya? The seniors over at Jiang University didn't give you a hard time, did they?"

"No, everyone in the lab is pretty busy. Basically, no one paid much attention to me..."

These words weren't just to save face; it was actually the truth.

Some students at the Normal University always felt that the proud geniuses at Jiang University would discriminate against them. In reality, it wasn't that exaggerated. Perhaps a small minority truly had a superiority complex about their degrees, but the attitude of the vast majority was completely indifferent to such things.

They couldn't even finish their own coursework, so where would they find the free time to maliciously judge others?

Most people actually didn't have that many bad intentions.

"Oh, oh, that's good. It's best if you can adapt. If you can achieve something, Xiaoya, maybe you really will be able to test into Jiang University for grad school in the future."

"I hope so. Sigh, that's still a long time from now." Li Xingya didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

There was still over a year until the postgraduate entrance exams. She wasn't afraid of the exam itself; the problem was whether she could adapt to the lab work. In fact, even now, Li Xingya still felt a bit unsure.

Mainly because Chen Yusheng treated her so well. He was a completely responsible and reliable teacher. If she still couldn't do a good job, she really wouldn't be able to find any excuses.

"Impressive, you're already thinking about grad school. As expected, Xiaoya is the most ambitious one in our dorm."

At this time, Miss Manicure predictably started her mockery.

Li Xingya twitched her lips, too lazy to pay her any mind.

But Miss Manicure continued, "Sigh, I heard that a few girls from the math department next door went to participate in a competition at Jiang University. One of them hooked up with a local rich kid. He even drives a Cayenne and his family has four apartments... Hey, Xiaoya, didn't you take the opportunity to hook up with one? I think there are a lot of handsome guys at Jiang University. Anyway, they're way better than the boys at our school."

Daily roasting of the boys at their own school was one of the "pleasures" of the girls at the Normal University.

Normal universities already had more girls than boys to begin with. Furthermore, it was standard practice for female teachers to look down on male teachers of the same tier.

For example, during blind dates, female teachers all felt like they were God's favored daughters with excellent conditions, but when it came to male teachers from the same school, they were suddenly viewed as worthless men. What was up with that?

Li Xingya was quite speechless about this phenomenon.

"What hooking up? That was a programming competition. I just went to compete seriously..."

"Yes, yes, yes, only you are serious. Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We slackers aren't good at studying, so we can only think of other ways... Sigh, I just saw what my friend from the math department posted. I think it's really working out. Although that local guy is a bit ugly, he's really generous. On their first date, she didn't even let him take advantage of her at all, and he treated her to American BBQ. I've been craving that internet-famous restaurant for so long, I'm speechless..."

When chatting about gossip, Miss Manicure really chattered endlessly.

Did such a thing actually happen?

Li Xingya had absolutely no idea.

The programming competition her roommate mentioned should be the same one she participated in. To think there was actually a "blind date" segment to it... She had been completely immersed in writing code. After it was over, she was recommended by Su Bai to study under Chen Yusheng. She hadn't heard a single thing about any of this juicy gossip.

"Let me see, let me see. Do you have a picture?"

Guo Xiaoyan curiously craned her neck from her bed and leaned toward Miss Manicure.

This girl was the "group pet" type; she had a good relationship with every girl in the dorm.

After taking a look, she immediately revealed an expression as if she was struggling to hold back a grimace.

"This guy does look a bit... uh..."

"Sigh, there's no helping it. Would those real tall, rich, and handsome guys even look our way? It's good enough to find a sucker. Boys nowadays aren't as easy to fool as they used to be."

"...That's true!"

"Look at the boys in our school. Few of them even have their own cars to drive, let alone a Cayenne. A Porsche! Although it doesn't seem that expensive, just a few hundred thousand, I'll be able to afford it after working and saving up for a few years. By then, I definitely won't settle for a man who drives a Cayenne; he'd have to drive a Ferrari at the very least. But it's okay to date one for now, as long as he's generous... Sigh, if I had known, I would have participated in the programming competition too. Maybe I could have gotten some free meals. I thought I'd only run into those dull, poor STEM nerds back then, so I didn't sign up. Sigh."

Miss Manicure went on a crazy sighing spree.

Xu Xiaoyan and Li Xingya exchanged a glance, seeing deep helplessness in each other's eyes.

What a piece of work!

Perhaps every dorm had its own designated piece of work. Even by the standards of the Normal University, Miss Manicure was an incredibly outrageous existence.

How should one put it? Everyone has the right to pursue happiness, but for a normal university undergrad to take out a mental loan on a future where she can easily buy a Cayenne... isn't that being a bit too optimistic?

Li Xingya had gradually come to understand recently why she sometimes felt so out of place among her female classmates.

Because she had done quite a bit of part-time work and internships, she truly understood the current reality of society.

Most of her female classmates, however, were still in a fantasy stage, feeling that once they entered society, they would earn hundreds of thousands a year in no time, and that buying luxury cars and large luxury apartments would be a piece of cake.

They must have watched too many short videos...

As for how expensive a car she could afford in the future? That was something Li Xingya absolutely dared not imagine. Let alone buying a car, even for the most ordinary sedan, the maintenance costs were genuinely quite high.