Chapter Fifteen: Splendor

Xu Hao went out to make a phone call, but he hadn’t gone far; Kang Ge and Yan Xue, sitting inside the small private room, could still faintly hear his voice. He seemed to be following the plan he had muttered about earlier—not a word about the police being present, and certainly not about anything related to Xu Wenrui.

Yan Xue and Kang Ge exchanged a glance, both inwardly speculating about what kind of person this Xu Hao really was.

Soon, the call was finished. Xu Hao returned to the small room, dropped into his seat, and tossed his phone casually onto the table. “Alright, I’ve made the call. You’re not in a hurry, are you? He said he still has some things to finish up, he’s in a professor’s office in our department, so he may be a little late. Told me to wait a bit.”

“No problem, we’re not in a hurry,” Kang Ge replied, unconcerned. “It’s the weekend, this late and he’s still busy? Aren’t you all seniors now? Almost graduating, yet still so swamped with work?”

“The coursework isn’t busy, really. Zhuang Fukai’s busy with applying for postgraduate recommendation. He’s good at studying, unlike me—I’m just a slacker, so I have plenty of free time.” Xu Hao laughed.

“Wow, postgraduate recommendation? He must be quite outstanding!” Kang Ge sincerely praised Zhuang Fukai, whom he had yet to meet.

“Well, more or less. I think the preliminary review’s passed, now he’s preparing for the final interview or something.” Xu Hao clearly wasn’t too invested in these matters, so his answer was vague. “I think he’s got it in the bag, since he’s always been steady academically. Our professors have even mentioned they’d like to supervise him, so I’d say he’s safe!

But he’s a cautious guy—overly so. Always worrying he’ll mess up the interview or that the competition’s too fierce, afraid that after all his hard work, he’ll end up with nothing.

You wouldn’t believe it—after he submitted his application, he was totally out of sorts, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, as if he was about to ascend to heaven. I told him then, if he keeps stressing like that, he might not even survive to the interview! Luckily, once he passed the first round, he calmed down a bit.

Lately, as the interview approaches, he’s getting twitchy again, anxious that he won’t pass. I figure, only when the final results are officially announced will he really be able to relax!”

“What about Xu Wenrui? He’s so talented—is he aiming for a recommended spot, or is he looking for a job?” Yan Xue asked.

“Him? Postgraduate recommendation?” Xu Hao burst out laughing. “Come on, sister, are you joking? His grades are about as good as mine—just enough to pass, sometimes barely scraping by. Not terrible, but never in line for scholarships. At that level, who’s going to give him a recommendation?

Oh wait, I almost forgot something important! Xu Wenrui failed a course! After the exam, he knew he’d messed up, figured he’d flunk, so he went to plead with the professor. But that professor’s infamous for being immovable, wouldn’t budge. Xu Wenrui begged for ages, but the professor never relented, and sure enough, he failed.

I think he didn’t even pass the retake, or something like that. In the end, he had to retake the course, or else he wouldn’t have enough credits. He borrowed the retake fee from all over, even from our dorm. Guess his social circle wasn’t great, so he didn’t dare ask his family for money—borrowing was tougher for him than for most!”

“How do you know all the details about him begging the professor? You have a spy in the professor’s office?” Kang Ge teased.

Xu Hao didn’t shy away, chuckling a little sheepishly. “Honestly, I didn’t do well on that exam either—I went to plead with the professor too. But at the office door, I heard Xu Wenrui inside, getting rejected so miserably, I knew there was no hope. So I turned around and left without going in.”

“So did you have to retake or do a supplementary exam?”

“Nope! Lucky guy that I am, I scraped a sixty-two and passed! How’s that for impressive?”

These accounts were starkly different from what Xu Wenrui’s relatives had told them. According to family, Xu Wenrui was exemplary in both character and academics, popular, and sought after by professors for postgraduate studies. Yet Xu Hao painted a picture at the opposite extreme.

“Didn’t you say Xu Wenrui was exceptionally talented in other areas? Could he get recommended because of his special skills?”

“Special skills recommendation?” Xu Hao paused. “I honestly don’t know about that! My schooling was always my parents dragging me along by the ears, and I managed to get into a decent university, so I made up my mind from the start to just coast until graduation and find a job. I never wanted to study or take exams again!

So I never paid attention to these things—postgraduate recommendation, exams, none of it concerns me. I don’t even know if special skills could get you recommended.

If it could... well, Xu Wenrui does have some talents, but if those could get you a spot, it’d be really unfair—none of it has anything to do with our major! Why should that count?”

“Are you talking about the campus singer contest, or his street dancing and guitar playing?”

“Yeah, those. He’s decent at all of them.” Xu Hao picked up his phone, fiddling with it as he spoke. “He’s a bit better than pure amateurs, but way below professionals. And he does all this, not for any artistic path, but just to show off and attract girls!”

“Xu Wenrui must have pretty good luck with girls, right?” Kang Ge asked.

Though it was phrased as a question, Kang Ge and Yan Xue weren’t surprised by the answer. They’d seen Xu Wenrui’s photos—tall, fair-skinned, handsome, well-dressed, basically the type most girls favored these days.

As expected, Xu Hao’s answer was close to what they anticipated, but with a slight twist: “Yeah, thanks to his singing, dancing, and looks, he does have a bunch of fangirls. But conquering the crowd is easy, keeping their loyalty is hard! Xu Wenrui can attract admirers, but the day they get to know him, is the day they stop being fans.”

“What do you mean by that? Does he have habits girls dislike?”

“Well, aside from singing, dancing, and his face, there’s nothing about him for girls to really like!

Girls want a guy who’s not just handsome, but sweet-talking, good at comforting them, or maybe generous—willing to buy gifts, or at least caring and considerate. You’ve got to have at least one of those traits.

Xu Wenrui’s looks are good, I’ll give him that—girls do fall for his appearance. But the rest? Not a chance. He’s extremely vain! Especially with his tricks to attract girls and a bunch of fangirls fawning over him, he thinks he’s something special. So expecting him to be sweet or comforting is impossible.

Generous? He’s the stingiest! Even an iron rooster loses a bit of rust, but he’s stainless steel—don’t expect anything from him! He’s always scheming to take advantage of others, never giving anything in return.”

“You seem not to like him much, yet you know all these details—even about him not being good at comforting girls. How’s that?” Yan Xue deliberately gave Xu Hao a look of disbelief.

“What’s so strange about that? He’s not just bad at comforting girls—I know he doesn’t even care for his girlfriend. On the contrary, he always tries to brainwash her into treating him like some grand lord!”

Xu Hao looked disdainful, curling his lip. “He used to sneak his girlfriend into the dorm. Both Zhuang Fukai and I caught her in their room, washing Xu Wenrui’s clothes and cleaning his shoes!

Bringing his girlfriend to the dorm to do his laundry and clean his shoes, while he sat there drinking water, playing on his phone, gaming away—you’d think she was his maid, not his girlfriend!”

“Well, that’s a bit like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai—if the people involved don’t mind, outsiders can’t judge.”

“That’s true, but they broke up in the end, so you can interpret that as you wish!”

“So you mean his girlfriend left him because she couldn’t stand his ways?”

“Most likely! It’s not something you can really ask about, though—feels like prying into someone’s private life, and I don’t care to do that.” Xu Hao waved dismissively. “I don’t know the girl, so I really can’t comment.”

The three kept chatting, mostly with Kang Ge steering the conversation toward campus life, displaying curiosity and enthusiasm about K University. Guided by Xu Hao, Yan Xue found K University’s website and began browsing news about student activities, along with photos and videos.

Kang Ge was talkative—sometimes overly so—and Xu Hao was clearly outgoing as well. The two chatted animatedly, never running out of topics, and seemed almost to regret not having met sooner—at least, Xu Hao gave that impression.

Time slipped by quietly as their conversation drifted from topic to topic. While Xu Hao was still immersed in lively discussion, the door to the small room was pushed open and a boy entered, similar in build to Xu Hao but much darker-skinned.