Junior Student, Want to Start a Company?

Professor Qiu's lectures today, as well as those from two weeks ago, were short and straight to the point, sticking to the former's self-proclaimed doctrine that any lecture beyond ten minutes was worthless of attention or merit. The class quickly adjourned after a short earful on how not to write a graduate-level thesis in an undergraduate course, and as the students began filing one-by-one out of the door gesturing towards a modern, civilized society, Xi Chen stood and approached the lectern where the dignified woman stood piling her sheets into a presentable stack of paper.

"Yes, Student Xi. What have you to present today?"

Qiu Yueqi rubbed the rim of her nose in disinterest and directed a baleful glance towards the nonplussed student. The professor had just begun her act of clearing her throat to usher the student towards his next class when the latter reached into the front pocket of his briefcase, and withdrew a card holder attached to a necklace to place onto the table.

"What is this identification card you are showing… ah, that wager from two weeks ago?" Professor Qiu snorted in disdain, and pressed a delicate finger against the plastic case.

"Good, let's see what you have managed to acquire. Financial Consultant Xi Chen, Tianming Incorporated, administered by the People's Bank, and approved by the Ministry of Commerce. The stamps seem…"

When her gaze flitted over the demarcated stamps embossed in gold, Qiu Yueqi's pupils shrank and her voice stilled. The professor carefully inspected the silent youth with a scrutinizing glare as she pored over the respective stamps multiple times over and compared them to the images seared into her memory. The lack of any difference caused her eyelashes to flicker, and her heart churned with a splendid mixture of nine parts suspicion and one-part doubt.

Forging a counterfeit seal of the Ministry of Commerce or that of the People's Bank was a hefty felony, and could net a respectable citizen no less than a decade in federal prison simply for being in possession of a fraudulent identification. Nonetheless, given the university's stringent requirements on internships and that of future careers, many students – especially those from no-so-favorable backgrounds – resorted to counterfeit business and employee identification just to pass their final semesters and graduate, despite knowing the risks.

All four of Jiangbei's prestigious universities were prone to such misdeeds, and the third university that she taught now was not spared. Thus, Xi Chen who originated from a village with nobody to vouch for his name save for a near-permanent bed-ridden single mother had to be presenting a counterfeit just to win a silly wager…

"Student Xi, a simple identification card can be forged by a capable professional in less than an hour," the professor gently smiled in contempt.

"Do you have anything else to present to prove your claims? Normally, I wouldn't care so much about a botched attempt that didn't yield any results, but since this is a wager, I will have to file a report…"

Xi Chen curled his lip and nodded as the professor's words practically met all of his expectations. The youth rummaged through his briefcase once more and retrieved an opened envelope, which was casually tossed into Professor Qiu's hands without any of the respect from a student to their teacher. Qiu Yueqi snorted in dissatisfaction as she retrieved the folded sheet of paper from within the envelope, and when the contents graced her eyes, the single portion of doubt vanished to provide a pure, homogeneous mixture of ten parts suspicion swirling in her heart.

"A student can get an admission letter from the chairperson himself? Preposterous!"

What kind of sane individual would write an admission letter with formal language then pepper each individual sentence with a diverse arrangement of emoticons and text smileys!? Did she, Qiu Yueqi, seem so gullible and easy to sway with such a half-assed attempt to fraud their way through university?

"Student Xi, perhaps I might have believed your identification card to be verifiable. However, this… abomination – do you truly believe us professors are old and can't recognize a foolish student attempting to play around with counterfeiting documents?"

Professor Qiu had thrown all caution to the wind and raised her voice as she eagerly berated Xi Chen. Her straight back and domineering posture caused a many number of students to turn their gazes around to peer at the fresh piece of gossip, and some had resorted to pulling out their phones and creating a video post to upload onto Weibo.

"How dare you lack respect and dignity as a student of this university! You, a damned villager child, think you can con your way through, and we old and daft professors surely won't notice?" Qiu Yueqi sneered, and slapped the admission letter with a feisty hand.

"How can it be possible that a villager's boy from some rural area of the country can enroll in a city hundreds of kilometers away from his home and declare that he has somehow become an employee at Tianming Corporation, the jeweler's king of Suzhou!? Do you think you're some manhua or novel protagonist with an overinflated ego, receiving gift after gift from the heavens? And to receive the position of financial consultant without a single academic degree to your name – the world must run on savages and stones in your mind, ah? Respond, Student Xi Chen!"

The students hadn't received much information to digest, but the collaboration of the words "Tianming Corporation" and "villager's boy" caused a great many of their enlightened minds to flash with comprehension. Their gaze towards Xi Chen's innocent profile gradually morphed into those of disdain and contempt, as well as schadenfreude. The youth heaved an inward sigh, and couldn't help but shake a disappointed finger towards the old man.

The elderly Mu Yun had become corrupted at heart in his efforts to learn the modern language of communication to avoid being ostracized by his granddaughter. Hence, all messages from the elderly esteemed mind was enforced by an unbreachable tsunami of cute smileys and emoticons.

Company documents, approval of financial statements, and board of directors meetings were not spared.

"Professor Qiu, perhaps you're not convinced? But regrettably, there's nothing else I can personally do."

Xi Chen retrieved the identification card and admission letter from the prideful Qiu Yueqi, and grabbed his briefcase as he turned to leave. His hand had just placed itself on the sliding door handle, when a cold voice interrupted his attention.

"Student Xi Chen, do you dare believe that I will expel you on the spot if you leave this classroom?"

Twenty minutes later, the students directed mixed gazes towards the youth's back as he calmly strode out of the small classroom and through the hallway. The majority retained their initial conceit and disdain, but a small yet considerable amount held awe in their pupils as they gaped at the angered professor's silhouette remaining in the classroom.

They had never seen a student with the courage and stubbornness necessary to anger Professor Qiu of all faculty within the university.

"…Student Xi Chen?"

As Xi Chen pondered on a few presiding matters, his right elbow was gently tugged. The youth turned around to face the curious expression of a beautiful female student with dark hazel hair, and mellow eyes. It took three seconds for him to register that his name was being called by a young and budding campus belle, but Xi Chen managed to deliver a calm response.

"What might you need from me?"

"Ah? Er… I… I just wanted to ask – are you really an employed at Tianming?"

The young girl asked with a quivering voice. Her fingers played with one another at the hem of her shirt, and caused nearby onlookers to flash a gaze of hateful jealousy towards Xi Chen's neck.

"You heard about the commotion back there?"

Xi Chen briefly frowned and threw a questioning glance towards the nervous student. He began the customary motion to reject when his gaze landed on the emblem pinned on the right side of her jacket, and her beautiful countenance and figure. The youth handed the identification card over to the young girl with a disinterested expression plastered on his countenance, but his heart began brewing with a small, harmless scheme.

Mechanical engineering department, as well as a campus belle… that was indeed good marketing material for a startup…

And as such, he tossed the live grenade over her unexpecting head, and achieved great meritorious results.

"If I recall correctly, there was a mandatory engineering competition across the various departments a week ago. How did the results go?"

"Huh?"

The female student paused mid-inspection over the card sheltered within the plastic cover. Her heart was already on the throes of bursting from the shock and excitement coursing through her veins, and when Xi Chen tossed the bombshell towards her way, her mind completely blanked from all train of thought.

Professor Qiu might not have realized from her pride and lofty position, but she and her community of jewelry-addicted girls of the younger generation clearly recognized the little symbol imprinted on the lower right side of the card. The leaf-and-eagle symbol formed by forty overlapping layers of color was the trademark of Tianming Incorporated and was present on every authentic article of jewelry produced by the corporation. How could they, as addicted fangirls and shoppers who had studied every public detail presented regarding the jewelry king of Suzhou, fail to differentiate between a fake and real object?

Certainly, there had been attempts by second-hand companies attempting to make counterfeits to copy the symbol, but the forty layers of color were designed by a unique pattern that nobody had managed to replicate so far…

Therefore, this senior student Xi Chen could only be an authentic employee, or an incredibly skilled person at the art of deception – the latter of which was nearly impossible!

"…engineering competition? Er… Senior Student Xi Chen, I… I didn't perform so well."

The young campus belle lowered her head in shame, and refused to comment further. It took several attempts before Xi Chen could finally coax the information that she had managed to pass the preliminary and semi-final inspection rounds, but had ultimately failed to ascend to the final stage.

Her submission had a simple but fatal design flaw – it overachieved in appearance and market appeal, but lacked the technological practicality…

"Junior Student, how about starting a company? I'll provide the initial funding."

"Huh – creating a startup?" the young girl was flabbergasted, and quickly waved her hands in denial.

"Senior Student Xi Chen, you have to be joking – Zhao Ru is only a mere student who has to study hard, and isn't qualified to be start a company –"

"–Five hundred thousand RMB–"

"–I'll do it!"