Chapter 50: The Drama in the Freshman Group Chat

Ever since learning that his physique had been enhanced, Zhou Ziyang had maintained a consistent and proper fitness routine. Now, a mere two months later, his body had taken shape rapidly. From his initial appearance as an ordinary high school student, he had developed a set of six-pack abs. His build was tall without being bulky, sculpted into an athletic proportion—the kind of physique where he looked muscular when undressed yet slender in clothes.

Waking up at eight o'clock the next morning, he first spent forty minutes swimming in the hotel's pool.

After returning to his room for a shower, he changed into the short-sleeved shirt and knee-length shorts he had bought yesterday at Deji Plaza, paired with white sneakers.

A thirty-year-old man no longer cared for clothes plastered with large logos; he felt that comfort was paramount.

Naturally, he didn't forget to strap the Jaeger-LeCoultre wristwatch he had just purchased yesterday onto his wrist.

Glancing in the mirror for a moment, Zhou Ziyang candidly admitted that he was feeling a bit narcissistic at that moment, thinking to himself that clothes truly make the man. For an ordinary boy like himself, wearing a watch worth over a hundred thousand yuan actually made him look rather handsome.

On his way to the 4S dealership to pick up his car, Zhou Ziyang had some leisure time and casually browsed through his messaging app groups, seeing what the freshmen were chatting about in their orientation group.

To be honest, these freshmen who had yet to meet in person certainly knew how to chat.

Over the past few days, whenever Zhou Ziyang was bored, he would scroll through to take a look.

Basically, if he looked away for just a little while, the freshman chat group would instantly accumulate over 99+ messages.

The Architectural Planning Department freshman group currently had around two hundred members.

Although the membership wasn't small, the ones chatting back and forth were actually just those few familiar faces.

Take the person who had previously asked if the university accepted Euros, whose group nickname was Architectural Planning 15-1 Qi Tao; he showed his face in the group practically every day, so everyone had a basic understanding of him.

He was from Beijing, came from a moderately well-off family, and had spent some time traveling in Europe during the summer vacation.

He had just returned to the country recently.

Every day, he would ask some interesting questions—for instance, yesterday it was about Euros, and today it was whether there was a Starbucks near the campus.

Because he needed to drink an iced Americano upon waking up in the morning, and without it, he might feel a bit out of sorts.

Aside from him, there were also two regular senior student NPCs in the group who occasionally answered questions for the freshmen.

Then there was that "fake-cute voice" girl, Architectural Planning 15-1 Wang Na, who would "accidentally" post two heavily edited photos of herself when she had nothing better to do, followed by a voice message saying, "Aigoo, I'm really so clumsy I could cry!"

Whenever a newcomer joined the group, this Wang Na was always the first to stir up trouble, immediately chiming in with, "Newcomer, post your photos!"

At that point, the newcomer would inevitably retort, "Then why don't you post yours?"

Wang Na would reply that she had already posted hers!

"Just scroll up and look for yourself!"

There was truly plenty of entertainment in the freshman group, with a new show every day, especially courtesy of Qi Tao and Wang Na.

After a few days of not paying attention, it felt like the two of them had developed a subtle romantic tension, and they probably chatted quite a bit in private.

Later on, when Wang Na got cross, she would drop cute little emoticons in the group.

Qi Tao would tag her in the chat and say, "Be a good girl."

"I won't be good."

"You're not even anyone special to me, why should I be good (humph)!"

Looking at one message after another in the group, Zhou Ziyang could only remark that youth was truly wonderful.

Naturally, out of the two hundred people in the group, there were also those who occasionally couldn't stand them.

Take last night around one in the morning, for example.

Someone whose avatar was a photo of a long-haired girl in a slip dress taken at the beach suddenly sent a voice message, openly mocking Qi Tao and Wang Na in the group chat.

Her voice was extremely pleasant to the ear, completely free of pretense. First, she took a jab at the so-called Qi Tao, acting as if going to Europe meant he had to let the entire world know.

Was going to Europe really such a big deal?

"I went abroad when I was barely a teenager, and I didn't go around showing off like you. And what's her name again, Wang Na, right? Can you manage to untie your tongue when you speak?"

The girl hadn't changed her group nickname, but she spoke with refreshing directness. First, she imitated Wang Na's affected voice for a moment, then said: "And she even claims, 'I was born with this voice~'

"Let me tell you, back in our village, people with underdeveloped cerebellums all talk like that, hahaha, hon hon hon—"

By the end, the girl was laughing so hard she sounded like a cackling goose.

As soon as she finished speaking, a dozen or so lurking freshmen in the group instantly popped out to fan the flames.

Because she hadn't changed her group nickname, and her online handle was Binchotan, everyone simply called her Sister Bei.

That night, a dozen freshmen were all chanting in the chat: Sister Bei is mighty!

Sister Bei is peerless.

Just like that, Qi Tao and Wang Na, who had previously been chatting up a storm in the group, were instantly silenced.

Zhou Ziyang also found this Binchotan rather interesting.

He clicked on her avatar to take a look, only to find that her personal space was closed to strangers.

There was only a barebones online handle and the avatar of a pretty girl.

That night marked Sister Bei's debut in the group, and she frequently popped up afterward, though her targets were almost always the hypocritical show-offs, especially anyone she found grating, most notably Wang Na.

Consequently, whenever Sister Bei appeared, Wang Na would immediately vanish.

Whenever Sister Bei showed up, Qi Tao would go into hiding for a long stretch.

Until eventually, another person named Zhang Dapeng appeared.

Zhang Dapeng's avatar was still the classic Tencent profile picture of the man wearing sunglasses.

His very first question upon entering the group was when they had to report to campus.

An upperclassman answered that it was September 12th.

"Alright, thank you, Senior."

Afterward, Zhang Dapeng's appearances mostly happened around ten o'clock.

"Sigh, finally done and back at the dorm."

"Another exhausting day."

With that, he posted a few photos taken inside a dormitory.

Someone asked him where he was.

He replied that he was working at a factory.

"Aren't you a college student? Why are you still working in a factory?" Seeing this, Qi Tao took the initiative to ask.

Zhang Dapeng didn't hide it either, explaining that he had to earn his tuition.

The wages here in Nanjing were much higher than back in his hometown.

"Back in our hometown, they only pay thirteen yuan an hour, but here in Nanjing it's better, they can pay fifteen." Zhang Dapeng sent a voice message, and his Mandarin was not entirely standard.

Upon hearing this, Qi Tao expressed envy.

He remarked that being able to temper oneself out in the world at such a young age made him feel like a useless person who had achieved nothing.

Zhang Dapeng continued via voice message: "No worries, brother. Once we get to school, I can bring you along to make some money."

Qi Tao instantly fell silent.

From then on, every night around nine or ten, Zhang Dapeng would pop up to chat in the group for a bit.

He mentioned that there were so many people from Xuhuai in the factory.

"Damn it, those Xuhuai people are such wimps! As soon as it's mealtime, they rush over and hog all the seats. If I arrive even a little late, there's no food left!" Zhang Dapeng complained.

From what Zhang Dapeng implied, the people from Xuhuai tended to clique up and liked to bully others.

Especially the one leading them, who looked exceptionally burly and was recruiting lackeys in the factory.

"If you want to talk about people, just talk about people. Regional discrimination is pointless, you well-cover thief."

Zhang Dapeng was simple-minded and didn't realize he had touched a raw nerve. Soon, people in the group began pushing back against him, and the number of participants in the argument snowballed. It wasn't until the group admin stepped in with mutes that this regional war was finally quelled.

In any case, the topics in the freshman group endlessly revolved around those few things: flexing, seeking romance, and regional warfare.

After browsing for a little while, Zhou Ziyang arrived at the 4S dealership.

The sales representative assigned to him was a young woman who remained thoroughly professional and dedicated. Noticing how young Zhou Ziyang was, she even reminded him to drive carefully and not rush.

Zhou Ziyang acknowledged her with an absent-minded agreement. Then, stepping into the driver's seat, he pressed down on the accelerator, executed a graceful turn, and sped away.