The indignation on Xia Xiaolan’s face was unmistakable.

“You should be more open-minded. Geniuses are different from people like us…”

To think that Xia Xiaolan had previously believed Ji Jiangyuan to have high emotional intelligence – just listen to what he was saying!

“Ji, I need to go back and study. You can continue walking around the field by yourself!”

Xia Xiaolan left decisively, while an amused expression appeared on Ji Jiangyuan’s face. How interesting – was she angry about being categorized as an “ordinary person”? Ah, Miss Xia Xiaolan didn’t understand his good intentions. What was so great about being a genius? Being ordinary was much happier!

Geniuses couldn’t fail.

Geniuses had no time to talk about love!

If tonight’s provocation from Ning Xue was going to drive Xia Xiaolan to strive toward becoming a genius, that would be too boring.

Ji Jiangyuan walked back to the dormitory, sighing repeatedly.

He had thought Xia Xiaolan would follow Ning Xue’s example, abandoning the influence of empty titles to compete with Ning Xue in their professional field.

The next day, to Ji Jiangyuan’s surprise, he heard the news of Xia Xiaolan representing the Architecture Department, openly competing with other candidates for the Outstanding Military Training Graduate award… Ji Jiangyuan was stunned for a while before breaking into laughter.

Had Ning Xue’s words produced the opposite effect?

Well, Ning Xue was someone with very firm convictions.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t seem easy to fool either; she wouldn’t simply change her mind because of someone else’s few words.

Ji Jiangyuan’s deepest impression since returning to China was that domestic students were more driven than American ones, possibly because material scarcity made Chinese students more focused on their studies. A teenage American student would surely be enjoying campus life, with only a tiny minority planning their future. Meanwhile, their Chinese peers understood that the college entrance exam could change their fate, that getting into university could free them from agricultural household registration and secure an “iron rice bowl.”

Being looked down upon by a genius had indeed affected Xia Xiaolan.

But this impact wasn’t enough to make her have an “epiphany” overnight.

She knew she wasn’t a genius, and her path would be different from Ning Xue’s.

Heaven’s favored daughter Ning Xue could focus solely on advancing in her professional field without considering anything else.

But Xia Xiaolan couldn’t do that. She didn’t have a grandfather named “Ning Yanfan.” The security that money provided was more important to her than what the architecture profession could offer. Even those matters that Ning Xue considered empty titles – Xia Xiaolan couldn’t refuse them. Ning Xue viewed them as hollow because she already possessed more substantial recognition and could be independent without worrying about others’ feelings. People would automatically beautify Ning Xue’s independence.

What about Xia Xiaolan?

She needed these “empty titles” to prove herself and rescue her from messy rumors.

She also wanted to live freely at Huaqing University, without worrying about others’ opinions, eating what she wanted, wearing what she liked, without lowering her standards!

But not now.

That was her goal, and greater freedom would come after she proved herself. She needed to first prove she was an excellent person, not just through “college entrance exam scores” – that couldn’t be a lifetime pass.

While Ning Xue withdrew from the evaluation, Xia Xiaolan actively participated.

She actively engaged with department teachers, who were naturally very friendly toward her. When teachers asked her to prepare speeches, Xia Xiaolan didn’t spare her pride, repeatedly confirming the speech content with department teachers. After competing with candidates from other departments, she won the title of “Outstanding Military Training Graduate”!

There was a certificate and trophy, but no prize money.

By then, a week had passed.

During this week, besides attending classes, Xia Xiaolan had been busy with this single matter.

“You must treat us! You have to treat us!”

“Let’s eat at the cafeteria!”

Xia Xiaolan scorned her roommate – there was no prize money, which meant she’d have to pay from her own pocket.

Su Jing shouted, “Xia Xiaolan, you’re becoming more and more stingy!”

“I call this staying connected with the masses!”

“I’ll treat everyone on behalf of Xiaolan. My student aid money just came through.”

Yang Yonghong, their senior roommate, said with a smile.

She was always cheerful, and rarely seen in low spirits. Huaqing’s student subsidies were divided into several levels, from a minimum of 5 yuan to a maximum of 22 yuan. Coming from a difficult family background, Yang Yonghong successfully applied for the second-highest level of student aid, receiving 20 yuan monthly. The first payment had already been given to Yang Yonghong, and she felt she could afford to treat her dormitory mates to a meal.

This monthly student aid was available for all students to apply for.

However, it would only be approved for students whose families struggled to support their living expenses at school.

City residents like Su Jing and Lu Yan, whose families weren’t struggling, would consciously not apply.

In Dormitory 307, only Yang Yonghong and Huang Weiwei had applied and were approved after verifying their family conditions.

Xia Xiaolan had rural household registration. If she pretended to be poor when entering school, she could certainly have gotten student aid… but she found this idea disgusting. She didn’t need this money; this wasn’t a scholarship but state subsidies for poor students. Taking advantage of this wouldn’t make her rich but would affect others’ applications.

“Senior, I’ve never heard of treating others on someone else’s behalf. Su Jing’s scheme has succeeded – I agree to treat everyone.”

Yang Yonghong was too honest, so Xia Xiaolan had no choice but to jump into the “trap” herself.

What should they eat?

The maple leaves at Xiangshan were red that weekend, and Su Jing suggested Dormitory 307 go on an autumn outing.

She even prepared an autumn outing plan, which stated “Transportation by bicycle; departure at 7 AM, breakfast to be handled individually at the cafeteria; lunch generously sponsored by Xia Xiaolan (standard no less than two meat buns per person); return from Xiangshan at 4 PM…”

“Adding one point – everyone brings drawing materials. The purpose of this autumn outing is to complete a Xiangshan sketch!”

Xia Xiaolan’s suggestion received unanimous approval.

Sketching was everyone’s homework due Monday, and doing it at Xiangshan would be ideal.

“Little Six, you didn’t win that Outstanding Military Training Graduate title for nothing – your ideological consciousness has improved.”

Su Jing shook her head and pulled out a letter from under the books on the desk: “I saw this at the message center today and brought it back for you. Who’s this letter from?”

The letter Su Jing held was from Zhou Cheng.

Xia Xiaolan snatched it and hid it behind her back. “Do you need to ask? Whose braised chicken did you eat?”

Xia Xiaolan had carefully considered whether to reveal Zhou Cheng’s identity.

If she hadn’t won the Outstanding Military Training Graduate award, she might have said it. Now that she’d fought for this recognition, revealing it seemed somehow strange, even though she knew Zhou Cheng hadn’t helped.

But others wouldn’t know that.

This was exactly why Xia Xiaolan wanted to compete for these “empty titles” – she needed to use each recognition to forge herself a suit of armor impervious to swords and spears!

The source of the braised chicken remained a mystery in Dormitory 307. Despite various “severe interrogations,” Xia Xiaolan firmly refused to reveal her boyfriend’s identity. Zhou Cheng’s letters to Xia Xiaolan were signed with “Z” on the envelope, and Dormitory 307 called him the mysterious and romantic “Mr. Z.”

In his letter, Zhou Cheng told Xia Xiaolan not to rush to return his twenty thousand yuan, as he had decided to end his cigarette business partnership with Kang Wei. He would now have a large sum of money on hand and asked if Xia Xiaolan still wanted to use it all to buy a house.

Romantic Mr. Z?

More like the show-off Mr. Z!

Buying a house – she needed to secure a property in Beijing as soon as possible. It seemed she needed to find Director Wu again to discuss buying government bonds to support national construction!