Tonight’s banquet guests mainly included students, teachers, and company employees. Most employees worked at financial, management, consulting, and auditing companies. Students at the event could chat with them, ask questions, and obtain valuable information.

For Sun Dawei, this kind of banquet was just an ordinary social dinner. If he wanted to find a job at a big company, he would actively participate in such activities. But he didn’t need a job. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, he would return to his country to inherit the family business and take on the burden from his father’s shoulders.

However, Jiang Yubai was one of the behind-the-scenes organizers of the dinner. Out of respect for Jiang Yubai, Sun Dawei had dressed up nicely.

Sun Dawei had stuffed three layers of height-increasing insoles in his shoes, like wearing a pair of high heels. He stood up from his seat, firmly gripping the edge of the table with both hands, and looked up at Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai approached gradually. His impeccable suit and outstanding demeanor made him particularly eye-catching.

Sun Dawei struck up a conversation with him: “Jiang Yubai, let me introduce you. This girl is my girlfriend, Miao Danyi. Her mother is Burmese, her father is Malaysian, she’s a mixed-race girl, and she speaks Chinese very well. You can chat with her in Chinese; she’s quite fluent.”

Tonight, Miao Danyi wore a flowing long black dress, a pearl laurel leaf in her hair, and a diamond bracelet on her wrist. When silent, she had an air of wealthy tranquility about her. She had grown up in Southeast Asia and learned Chinese from an early age. Later, she met Sun Dawei, lived with him off-campus, and Sun Dawei became her Chinese teacher.

Miao Danyi smiled gracefully and said, “Dawei has told me about you. He said you’re amazing, smart, and capable…” She paused, then asked, “May I meet your girlfriend?”

The candlelight on the dinner table flickered brilliantly. Miao Danyi pushed her plate aside and leaned toward Sun Dawei’s ear to ask, “Is his girlfriend Lin Zhixia? Why doesn’t he have any reaction?”

Sun Dawei quickly smoothed things over: “Lin Zhixia is too busy, a doctoral student in a major research group.”

Jiang Yubai explained briefly: “Lin Zhixia is indeed quite busy lately.” He seemed very loyal and subsequently revealed: “Which group’s doctoral students are you looking for? The volunteers just told me that doctoral students from several departments have arrived.”

Sun Dawei walked around to the other side of the long table.

Standing beside Jiang Yubai, he sighed: “So many doctoral students, it’s like a teaching assistant party…” He looked carefully and pointed out, “Look at that table, your girlfriend’s colleagues have arrived.”

The “girlfriend’s colleagues” Sun Dawei referred to were Wen Qi and Yin Xiuen.

Jiang Yubai asked in a low voice: “You know them?”

Sun Dawei nodded slightly: “I’ve looked up all the doctoral students in that department on the computer.”

Jiang Yubai deliberately misunderstood: “You want to pursue a doctorate?”

Sun Dawei hurriedly denied: “No, this is all for my girlfriend. Her average score last semester was fifty; she hasn’t figured out Part I courses yet, but she has to take Part II. Upper-class students said ‘Quantum Computing’ gives high scores, so she wants to select ‘Quantum Computing’ next semester. I’ve checked that there are only five teaching assistants for ‘Quantum Computing’ this year, not many students select the course, and professors of small classes love to give difficult and strange questions…”

Jiang Yubai caught Sun Dawei’s implied meaning.

No matter how they circled, they couldn’t avoid Lin Zhixia.

Both Jiang Yubai and Sun Dawei were certain that Lin Zhixia would become a teaching assistant for ‘Quantum Computing’ next semester—this was practically a done deal.

Lin Zhixia’s research direction was related to quantum computing, and her published papers were of good quality with decent citation counts, just enough to qualify for a teaching assistant position. Plus, she was fluent in various languages and treated students with both gentleness and patience, well-suited for the job requirements of a teaching assistant.

Even though Lin Zhixia was still very young, she already had certain qualifications.

Jiang Yubai remained silent for a moment, then advised: “If you want to improve your girlfriend’s grades, you shouldn’t approach teaching assistants. The school has its rules. If Miao Danyi gets too close to a teaching assistant, others might consider it ‘academic misconduct,’ affecting both of their academic careers. Is that what you want to see?”

Sun Dawei frowned.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Yubai lowered his voice further: “You can find a teacher for your girlfriend, for one-on-one tutoring at your home.”

Sun Dawei weighed Jiang Yubai’s words and asked: “An off-campus teacher?”

Jiang Yubai smiled and said: “Recruit a teacher, sign a contract, have classes at home…”

Sun Dawei patted Jiang Yubai on the back. He had intended to pat Jiang Yubai’s shoulder, but unfortunately, Jiang Yubai’s shoulder was a bit high, so his hand was closer. He nodded to indicate: “I’ve had tutors since I was little. I had forgotten about this option. Thanks, I’ll post a recruitment notice right away.”

Jiang Yubai clinked glasses with him.

Afterward, Jiang Yubai walked to the central area of the hall.

Several students were discussing workplace issues with employees from financial companies, and Jiang Yubai joined them. He was like a young man fresh out of school, unfamiliar with social rules, ignorant about investment trends, with most of his theories coming from textbooks.

Sun Dawei observed Jiang Yubai’s every word and action, puzzled: “Hmm…”

Miao Danyi held her fork: “Huh?”

“Jiang Yubai,” Sun Dawei pointed to the side, “his father and my father are business partners. His father invested in European shipyards, energy, and power plants, and controls several companies with stable annual returns. His grandfather made his first bucket of gold through the electrical appliance and shipbuilding industries…”

At this point, Sun Dawei suddenly stopped. He muttered to himself, “Investment carries even greater risks than gambling. If I misjudge the direction of an investment, it would be worse than getting addicted to gambling in Las Vegas. If I get addicted to gambling, at worst, I lose some pocket money, but if an investment goes wrong, I could lose everything in a minute.”

Miao Danyi had never studied any economic theories.

She was distracted and silently lowered her head to eat.

Sun Dawei continued: “Second-generation rich kids are the easiest to trick into making investments. Their professional teams create all sorts of schemes to extract cash flow from your hands. It’s really hard to do business these days. My grandmother said she’s seen small companies have their loans called by banks…”

Miao Danyi tilted her head back to drink a glass of beverage, her cheeks puffing out completely.

Sun Dawei noticed her impatience.

He quickly stopped talking and said, “Oh, Miaomiao, you can choose whatever courses you want next semester. We won’t try to get close to teaching assistants. If your relationship with a teaching assistant becomes too close and those old men on the academic committee see it, they might consider it ‘academic misconduct.’ Right? Starting this semester, we’ll find a teacher for each of your courses to live at our home, provide room and board, and let the teacher gradually bring up your grades.”

After hearing his words, Miao Danyi was thunderstruck.

*

Tonight, Jiang Yubai planned to taste a glass of red wine.

He was of legal age and should be able to drink alcohol.

With this mindset, Jiang Yubai picked up a wine glass. He slightly tilted the glass, carefully observing the texture of the red wine under the light.

Two of Jiang Yubai’s friends were standing in front of him. The two friends were talking in low voices, occasionally laughing. They said to Jiang Yubai: “This year we’re planning to spend New Year in London and Paris. Are you coming?”

At this moment, a young man happened to pass by Jiang Yubai, breathing rapidly with quick steps. He bumped hard into Jiang Yubai’s shoulder, causing the cold wine to splash out and land on the back of Jiang Yubai’s hand.

Jiang Yubai called out: “Classmate?”

The person suddenly turned around and looked at Jiang Yubai for a moment.

Jiang Yubai said his name: “Wen Qi.”

Jiang Yubai had spent two or three days in Lin Zhixia’s office. When Wen Qi came to discuss group projects with Lin Zhixia, she had introduced Wen Qi to Jiang Yubai. Therefore, Jiang Yubai had a strong impression of Wen Qi.

Wen Qi, of course, also remembered him.

Students from different colleges moved around them, with acquaintances everywhere.

The banquet atmosphere was lively, the lighting slightly dim. Wen Qi wore an expensive suit made of high-quality fabric with exquisite craftsmanship, but his brows were furrowed, his expression poor, and he forced out a sentence: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Jiang Yubai pulled out a napkin, wiped the stains off his hands, and asked him: “Where are you headed?”

He said frankly, “The restroom.”

Jiang Yubai was also planning to go to the restroom to wash his hands.

Although he didn’t want to walk with Wen Qi, they still headed in the same direction.

Along the way, Jiang Yubai didn’t say a word, and Wen Qi remained silent as well. They maintained an awkward yet tacit situation, commonly known as “I won’t acknowledge you and you won’t acknowledge me.”

The only common topic they could find was Lin Zhixia.

However, the mutual silence remained unbroken.

Jiang Yubai stood in front of the sink. He turned on the faucet and concentrated on washing his hands. He had had a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness since childhood; if his hands got dirty, he would wash them at least twice before considering them clean.

The faucet poured water downward, and Wen Qi stood to Jiang Yubai’s right.

Wen Qi cupped a handful of cold water and suddenly splashed it on his hair. Water droplets slid down his hair strands, clinging to his forehead. He took a deep breath and asked Jiang Yubai, “Do you smoke? Do you have a light?”

Forget about smoking.

Jiang Yubai had never even touched a cigarette pack.