Chapter 43 The End of the College Entrance Examination and Jinling University

On May 21st, Storm Technology predictably surged to 327 yuan, though it would still fluctuate slightly over the next few days.

However, Zhou Ziyang did not hesitate and liquidated his entire position.

After deducting the five million yuan or so he had borrowed through margin trading, Zhou Ziyang netted a final profit of 7.779 million yuan.

With less than half a month left before the college entrance examination, even if he cashed out, Zhou Ziyang had no idea how to spend the money, so he simply thought about finding another stock to throw it into.

The year 2015 was squarely in the middle of a bull market, and internet concept stocks were flourishing in a hundred schools of thought.

Storm Technology had been the frontrunner.

LeEco closely followed right behind it.

By now, LeEco had climbed to 150 yuan. Despite some volatility, quite a few investors remained extremely bullish on LeEco.

Old Jia's constant bragging made people feel he might be the second Jack Ma.

Unfortunately, what everyone failed to realize was that the bull market would come to an abrupt halt after June.

Zhou Ziyang did not linger too long on internet stocks; instead, he entered the stock code for Kweichow Moutai.

At this time, Kweichow Moutai's stock was at 290 yuan. Zhou Ziyang kept half a million yuan in hand for unexpected needs and used the rest to buy Kweichow Moutai entirely.

After June, the era of the great bull market drew its curtain. Many people believed that the Shanghai Composite Index breaking 10,000 points that year was merely a matter of time, yet regrettably, it had already crashed and burned by the 6,000-point mark.

Famous stocks like Storm Technology and LeEco became laughingstocks, while the obscure liquor stocks remained standing tall.

In 2015, Kweichow Moutai was barely over two hundred yuan, but three years later it soared past two thousand, hailed as the supreme bull stock of the Shanghai Composite, with everyone convinced that buying it meant guaranteed profit without loss.

Zhou Ziyang did not have much time to play the stock market now, nor did he have the inclination; Kweichow Moutai was simply the best choice.

In just three years, Zhou Ziyang's seven million yuan would turn into sixty million yuan.

And then, right in 2018, he could seamlessly transition into cryptocurrency.

Wait another three years, and he could effortlessly coast to becoming the world's richest man.

Of course, these were merely ideal conditions.

As for what kind of person Zhou Ziyang would become over these six years, no one could tell.

June arrived, and with only a week left before the college entrance examination, the previously tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed.

The teachers, who had maintained a constant sense of urgency, softened their tones.

They no longer impatiently urged the students to finish practice papers, nor did they speak of time running out.

Even Old Chen, who always wore a stern expression, eased his tone.

In the past, he always claimed that the college entrance examination was the only path to success.

Fail to get into university, and you would be relegated to squatting by the curb as a manual laborer.

Yet on this day, he said that even without attending university, life still held infinite possibilities.

Graduation always carries the melancholy unique to youth.

Some girls cried.

Even though Zhou Ziyang couldn't understand why they were crying.

In the past, they had frequently cursed the English teacher as a seductive vixen behind her back.

Yet as graduation approached, they ended up sobbing and hugging the English teacher.

The English teacher was gentle, stroking the students' heads and saying, "Don't be sad, my dears. If you miss your teacher in the future, you can still come back to school to visit."

During his graduation in his past life, Zhou Ziyang hadn't felt much emotion; he had simply remained accustomed to gazing out the window, watching the rolling clouds and the blue skies and grand trees.

In his youth, Zhou Ziyang's grades were not good, but he yearned boundlessly for the outside world.

He naively thought that as long as he left this small city,

it would be like fish leaping into a boundless sea, or birds flying across a vast sky.

Only later did Zhou Ziyang realize that this period of his life should have been his most comfortable state.

At the very least, he didn't have to hustle for a living.

Nor did he have to wake up every morning with fifty yuan for rent automatically deducted from his account.

Living a second life, Zhou Ziyang still didn't feel any overwhelming sentiment about graduation.

They were merely a group of strangers who had spent three years together, turning back into strangers after today.

Unlike his past life, Zhou Ziyang seemed slightly more popular in this lifetime.

When taking the graduation photo, he took two individual pictures with the head teacher.

"Zhou Ziyang, let's take two pictures together too!" A pretty girl in the class took the initiative to ask Zhou Ziyang for a photo.

"Oh."

Zhou Ziyang agreed indifferently, and under the famous big tree on campus, he posed expressionlessly for a photo with the girl.

"Me too, me too!"

Zhou Ziyang ended up taking group photos with several girls.

"Zhou Ziyang, we have to stay in touch!" A girl said to Zhou Ziyang with a smile as bright as spring flowers.

Later, a boy said to Zhou Ziyang with evident envy, "Yang Man probably likes you."

"What do you mean?"

"What she said was a hint."

Zhou Ziyang glanced at Yang Man, who was surrounded by a group of girls.

He noticed Yang Man was also peeking at him, and seeing Zhou Ziyang look over, she purposefully turned her head away.

"Maybe," Zhou Ziyang said in a flat tone.

If it were his past life, Zhou Ziyang might have felt a little pleased.

Unfortunately, the Zhou Ziyang of his past life didn't get that kind of treatment.

In this life, Zhou Ziyang would only think: Does she even deserve it?

"Zhou Ziyang!"

A bespectacled girl in the class pulled Xia Wei over. "You guys should take a picture together too."

Xia Wei's expression seemed a bit reluctant.

Zhou Ziyang thought for a moment. "Alright."

Hearing Zhou Ziyang's response, Xia Wei looked somewhat surprised.

Thus, the two of them took a photo together under the tree.

Zhou Ziyang stood at 183 centimeters, his face bearing that sense of aloofness uniquely his own.

Xia Wei was a head shorter than Zhou Ziyang, yet slender, wearing a white school uniform skirt.

The two of them stood there expressionless and took a photo.

There was no excessive interaction to speak of.

The affections of adolescent boys and girls come and go quickly.

A month had passed since Xu Qing's last visit to school. During this month, Zhou Ziyang had not taken the initiative to provoke Xia Wei, and Xia Wei understood that Zhou Ziyang didn't like her; he was merely seeking revenge on her mother.

She didn't hate Zhou Ziyang.

This was fine as it was.

On the last day of the college entrance examination, the students threw all the practice papers they had completed over the year out from the second floor.

A torrential rain of test papers poured down beneath the North Teaching Building.

Some boys ran over to the girls' classrooms to confess their feelings.

Even more boys and girls embraced publicly in front of everyone.

Then, all the students in the class burst into cheers.

The entire school was immersed in this joyful release following prolonged suppression.

Yet, this lively atmosphere belonged to them.

Zhou Ziyang had nothing.

The college entrance examination the next day unfolded quietly. Outside the gates were students who had forgotten their admission tickets, as well as candidates who were already fifteen minutes late, standing alone outside the examination hall and weeping bitterly.

There were also numerous mother squads wearing cheongsams.

Wielding umbrellas in the scorching summer heat, they waited with yearning eyes for their children.

The invigilators had sharp eyes like hunting wolves, staring down student after student hunched over their desks writing furiously.

The contents of the exam papers were identical to his past life. The very second Zhou Ziyang received the test paper, his memories from his previous life automatically reconnected.

All the problems he used to know how to solve, Zhou Ziyang solved completely.

The problems he used to struggle with, Zhou Ziyang had also figured out seven or eight out of ten through the past few months of study.

This year's college entrance examination essay topic was centered around "Wisdom."

Zhou Ziyang picked up his pen and wrote an essay titled, "Supreme Virtue is Like Water; Great Wisdom Resembles Folly."

For everyone else, the college entrance examination was a matter of utmost importance.

Yet for Zhou Ziyang, it was merely walking through the motions.

He lacked the intense anxiety of three years of hard work, and naturally, he felt no explosive release after the exam concluded.

To his slight regret, Zhou Ziyang didn't place within the top ranks of the city, but he still successfully gained admission to the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University with stellar scores.

Once the results came out, Zhou Guowei was beaming with radiant joy, lugging bags of gifts over to celebrate with Zhou Ziyang.

Yet before he even crossed the threshold, he was swept right back out the door by Zhou Ziyang's mother wielding a broom.

Zhou Guowei pleaded bitterly, saying, "Lijuan, our issues shouldn't be dragged into matters concerning the child."

Yang Lijuan retorted, "Look at how ugly you are, and yet you dare to dream so high! When the child was nothing special, you didn't bother to acknowledge him? Now that he's gotten into a university, you have the shameless gall to come crawl back and claim him?!"

Zhou Guowei grew extremely irritated and argued, "Lijuan, be reasonable, will you? How could I not want to acknowledge him? It's you who wouldn't let me!"

Because of this incident, Zhou Guowei and Yang Lijuan bickered for three days.

Eventually, Zhou Guowei agreed to buy Zhou Ziyang an apartment in Nanjing as the price to secure three days of paternal rights over Zhou Ziyang.

This time, Zhou Guowei spared no expense in coming to acknowledge his son.

The bags he brought were packed with the latest Apple 6s, the newest iPad, and a MacBook.

Zhou Guowei grabbed Zhou Ziyang's hand happily, declaring, "Son! You've brought honor to our Zhou family!"

"I don't understand any of this tech stuff, but since you young people like it, I bought the whole set for you."

Yang Lijuan stood right beside them, sneering at the remark: "You haven't bought much less for that little woman of yours, have you?"

This comment certainly put Zhou Guowei in an awkward spot.

Indeed, Xia Wei had also been admitted to Nanjing University.

Xu Qing had taken care of Zhou Guowei for three years, and would undoubtedly continue to do so in the future.

At the very least, in these matters, he had to treat them equally.

Even Xia Wei's celebration banquet for entering university had to be organized by Zhou Guowei.

At this point, Zhou Guowei could be considered triumphant in life. Both his biological son Zhou Ziyang and Xia Wei, whom he had watched grow up, had been admitted to key provincial universities.

In middle age, what could possibly bring greater joy than this?

Zhou Ziyang had two university entrance banquet celebrations—one hosted by his mother's side, and the other by his father's.

His mother's banquet took place first.

His father waited until his mother's event concluded to hold his own jointly with Xia Wei.

His father's banquet was on a grander scale since it covered two people, booking the largest hotel in the county and inviting all the relatives and friends of the Zhou family.

At this celebration banquet, Xia Wei had been dressed up like a little princess by Xu Qing.

Upon seeing the elders of the Zhou family, Xu Qing eagerly pulled Xia Wei forward to greet them warmly, acting very much like the lady of the house.

However, these elders of the Zhou family did not afford Xu Qing any pleasant expressions.

Even some elderly women who had come for the banquet gathered in a circle, whispering and pointing covertly at Xu Qing and Xia Wei.

Unlike Xia Wei, Zhou Ziyang was treated like the moon surrounded by a multitude of stars on his side.

They remarked that Ziyang had truly made something of himself now.

"Brother, you're going to live a life of ease from now on!"

Everyone flattered Zhou Guowei.

Beaming with radiance after having a few too many drinks, Zhou Guowei patted Zhou Ziyang's shoulder and spoke modestly to the crowd, "It's just a case of the student surpassing the master!"

While Xu Qing desperately tried to wedge herself into that social circle, Zhou Ziyang, despite being right in the middle of it, had zero interest in entertaining them and spent virtually the entire time playing with his brand-new Apple 6s. Li Dongfeng sent him a message:

"Brother! Does our factory still need people?"

"Several of my brothers just finished the college entrance exam, and knowing the wages are high over here, they all want to come."