Revisiting the Campus

The car pulled up at the university gates without drawing much attention from passing students. After all, Jiangzhou University had no shortage of wealthy students—imported sports cars lined the entrance, any one of them flashier than Huo Xuan's ride.

But when Lin Yue and Huo Xuan stepped out, they instantly commanded a hundred percent head-turning rate. The male students' awestruck gazes clung to them like glue; a few even walked into walls, too dazed to notice until their faces were bruised.

"Sigh. Another flower stuck on a pile of cow dung. Guess we're left fighting over the dandelions," lamented a bespectacled student in the unmistakably melancholic tone of a Chinese Literature major.

"Damn, those proportions are unreal. I'd die happy with a wife like that," muttered a Physics student, swallowing hard—before colliding into a girl and earning a scolding.

"Tsk. How much would it cost to keep a beauty like her? Two million a year, at least," calculated a Math major, admiring yet pragmatic.

Jiangzhou University was a microcosm of complexity: geniuses rubbing shoulders with diploma-mill frauds, top-ranked departments coexisting with laughably mediocre ones. It mirrored Jiangzhou City itself—a mix of excellence and complacency, wealth and struggle.

Strolling across campus, Huo Xuan and Lin Yue soon reached Twin Lakes, two interconnected bodies of water spanning a considerable area.

At a lakeside pavilion, Huo Xuan spotted a familiar figure—Liu Ting, standing quietly in a snow-white down jacket. Sensing his gaze, she turned, her placid expression flickering with surprise.

"You," she said awkwardly.

Huo Xuan nodded. "Liu Ting. Hello."

Lin Yue, recognizing Huo Xuan's ex-girlfriend, assessed her with a chuckle. "Not bad-looking, but hardly a beauty." She made to leave—"Little brother, I'll walk ahead."

Huo Xuan caught her hand. "We'll go together." With a final nod to Liu Ting, they passed by.

A pang struck Liu Ting's heart. Once, he'd held her hand like that by this very lake. Now, they were strangers.

Moments later, Zhou Hong approached. Glancing toward where Huo Xuan had disappeared, he asked, "Was it him?"

Liu Ting nodded. "Just ran into him by chance." Then she asked, "Did you get things settled?"

Zhou Hong frowned. "Your old classmate isn't easy to deal with. If I want his help, I'll probably have to pay up."

He'd been pulling strings for days, hoping to secure a government position, and finally connected with Chen Fusheng. Unfortunately, Chen had recently become obsessed with a freshman girl hailed as the new campus belle.

"What then? You could always take the civil service exam," Liu Ting suggested.

Zhou Hong scoffed. "The exam? It's rigged. Connections are what matter." After a pause, he added, "I'll help him woo that freshman. That should do the trick."

Liu Ting sighed inwardly. "What about Ye Qian?"

Zhou Hong shrugged, unfazed. "She should've known Chen was just toying with her. Let's be real—she's a class beauty, but that freshman's the campus belle. Different leagues altogether."

Meanwhile, Huo Xuan and Lin Yue crossed half the campus to the North Gate. The open plaza outside was crowded with vendors—a gray market the university tacitly permitted.

There, by the eastern gate, Huo Xuan spotted a rickety fortune-telling table manned by a disheveled old man playing the sage.

"What the—?" He rubbed his eyes. It was him—the very same charlatan from the Beijing underpass!

But he's supposed to be dead. Huo Xuan's face paled.

Noticing his shock, Lin Yue tugged his sleeve. "What's wrong?"

"Come on," Huo Xuan muttered. "We're getting a reading."

He slammed 500 yuan onto the table. "Old man. Remember me?"

The fraud's eyes darted to the cash—verifying its authenticity—before landing on Huo Xuan. His lips split into a grin, revealing stained molars. "Well, well! Young friend, fate smiles upon us. Fancy meeting you here."

Huo Xuan's voice turned icy. "Funny. I heard you were dead. Do corpses usually run scams these days?"

The scruffy old man bristled. "Nonsense! Since when do corpses talk?" Despite his indignation, he swiftly swept the 500 yuan into his sleeve with a flick.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "So, young man, what fortune shall we divine today?"

Huo Xuan feigned ignorance. "Who said anything about fortune-telling? I just came to chat. Now hand it back!" He stretched out his palm for the money.

The old man rolled his eyes. "No reading? Then why bother?" With another sleeve flourish, 183 yuan materialized on the table.

Huo Xuan froze—then remembered the 317 yuan the fraud still owed him from last time. The old coot was settling debts now.

With a wry smile, Huo Xuan waved off the 183 yuan. "Fine, keep it as payment. Read her fortune instead." He gestured to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue flushed and elbowed him.

The old man dug a finger into his nostril, extracting a booger to knead between his fingers like putty. After a theatrical pause, he squinted at Lin Yue. "Face-reading costs 200. You're 17 short."

Defeated, Huo Xuan fished out another 17 yuan to complete the sum.

Now satisfied, the old man beamed. "This young lady bears the visage of nobility! A modern Empress Ma in the making!"

Lin Yue burst out laughing. "So he's destined to be emperor?"

The mystic lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Emperor? Pah! Your man will transcend even that—ascend to buddhahood! Empress Ma is an understatement."

Lin Yue, thoroughly unconvinced, tugged Huo Xuan away. "Let's go. He's spouting gibberish."

As they left, Huo Xuan called back, "I'll send customers your way."

The old man's eyes lit up. "Deal! I'll give you 100 per referral!"

After leaving the North Gate, the couple strolled along the campus ring road when a sports car screeched to a halt beside them. The window rolled down to reveal Chen Fusheng's grinning face.

"Huoxuan, Miss Lin," he greeted.

Huo Xuan responded flatly, "Small world."

As the window lowered fully, Huo Xuan spotted a young female passenger—no more than nineteen or twenty, with striking features that, while not quite matching Lin Yue's beauty, came remarkably close. Slender-waisted and curvaceous with luminous skin, her mesmerizing eyes held a magnetism few men could resist.

"My girlfriend, Fang Ziyue," Chen announced proudly.

Huo Xuan nodded. "Master Chen lives up to his reputation as a romantic. Barely ditched the class beauty and already landed the campus belle. Admirable efficiency."

Chen remained unruffled. "Love is about chemistry. When it's gone, you move on." With a wave, he sped off.

Huo Xuan shook his head with a sigh.

Lin Yue pinched his waist. "What, regretting that such a flower got plucked by the wrong hands?"

A chill ran down Huo Xuan's spine. "Of course not! Time flies—it's astonishing how quickly it passes. —we graduated over two years ago already."

As they walked arm-in-arm, Lin Yue mused, "That Chen Fusheng had the sense to reconcile with you immediately. He's shrewd—worth knowing."

No sooner had she spoken than another car pulled up, this one a modest 200,000-yuan sedan. The driver was Ye Qian, her face frantic as she blurted out, ignoring past tensions, "Huoxuan, have you seen Fusheng?"

The plot thickens—a jealous chase? Huo Xuan pointed ahead. "Went that way with some stunning beauty—claimed she was his cousin."

Ye Qian's eyes welled up as she slammed the accelerator in pursuit.

Lin Yue stifled a laugh. "That was evil."

Huo Xuan maintained perfect sincerity. "I'm nothing if not compassionate."

Returning to his car, Huo Xuan's temper ignited at the sight of two leather-jacketed youths lounging across the hood of his new Mercedes. Smoke curled from their cigarettes as they leered at passing students. His smile turned arctic as he approached. "Comfortable?"

The pair radiated street-rat cunning, clearly not Jiangzhou University material. The taller one's predatory gaze slid past Huo Xuan to linger on Lin Yue. "Prime cut!" he whistled through nicotine-stained teeth. His companion ground his cigarette butt against the car's hood, leaving a charred scar, before locking eyes with Huo Xuan in blatant challenge.

Instead of anger, Huo Xuan barked a laugh that echoed across the parking lot. "Brazen enough to pull this shit in Huangming District? You must be Qiao Ba's strays."

The whistler dropped from the hood with feline grace. "Not bad, college boy."

Though Zhang Wu remained Jiangzhou's nominal underground kingpin, his gradual shift toward legitimacy had allowed rivals like Qiao Ba of Huangming, Old Knife of Huidong, and Brother Snake of Xuanwu to carve out fiefdoms. Huo Xuan's frequent chess games with Zhang Wu had schooled him in these power shifts.

The cigarette vandal slid down beside his partner. "Boss likes your ride. We're borrowing it." His grin showed crooked incisors. "Permanently."

"Keep it." Huo Xuan tossed his keys with such nonchalance they fumbled the catch. "Give Qiao Ba a message - Fifth Master sends regards."

The color bled from their faces as if someone had pulled a drain plug. Even three-year-olds in Jiangzhou knew Fifth Master Zhang's reputation. Qiao Ba's expansionist ambitions still paused at the old tiger's shadow.

"Brother, we... we didn't recognize..." The taller youth extended the keys with trembling hands, smile cracking like cheap porcelain.

Huo Xuan left the proffered keys hanging in air. "Tell Qiao Ba to deliver them personally at the Golden Dragon Hotel." He swept Lin Yue away, their stunned silence more satisfying than any apology.