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Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: College, Here I Come!

Filling out forms, waiting for the property deed, going through the procedures, viewing properties, negotiating prices, signing contracts...

The tasks were not yet finished, and his sick leave was about to expire.

With no other options, Han Lie had no choice but to call his counselor.

The counselor was very anxious, repeatedly confirming, "Are you thinking about repeating the year and not planning to come anymore?"

Without hesitation, Han Lie launched into his Level 3 ruse, "I truly haven't recovered. You'll see how serious it was when you look at my medical records later. As soon as I'm better, I'll report in immediately!"

As long as he was willing to come, everything else was negotiable.

Thus, Han Lie secured another half month's leave.

In reality, he didn't even use all of it.

On the 22nd, the loan was officially approved; on the 23rd, he made the payment and signed the contract. Although the property deed wouldn't be in his hands until the next month, he could already rent it out.

In the meantime, the 60-square-meter two-bedroom apartment was successfully rented out for thirty-six thousand a year.

The second property was a 40-square-meter small two-bedroom. Han Lie set the annual rent at twenty-four thousand, over two thousand cheaper than the market price.

The second day after it was listed with the agency, a student's parents came to look.

As expected, it was another case of parents renting to accompany their children in their studies.

The love of parents knows no bounds...

But thanks to that very love, Han Lie's two apartments easily covered the monthly mortgage payments, and he could finally return to his studies with peace of mind.

He didn't even wait for the property deeds, leaving it to the agency to handle.

He was eager to return.

Okay, mainly because he couldn't wait to show off again in the place where he had previously failed.

Not returning home when wealthy feels like there's something missing inside, incomplete.

While Han Lie couldn't be considered rich, he had essentially transformed himself. So why not let those arrogant people who looked down on others have a good look and open their eyes?

Getting off the plane at Hongqiao Airport, taking subway Line 10 to transfer to Line 3 or Line 8 would get him to the university.

That's why Han Lie took a taxi instead.

Anyone who has stayed in the Magic Capital knows how expensive taxis can be.

This year, the base fare for 3 kilometers is 14 yuan. After 3 kilometers, it is 2.5 yuan per kilometer, and after 10 kilometers, it rises to 3.6 yuan per kilometer. Not to mention, the meter keeps running at red lights and in traffic jams...

Today, Han Lie's luck wasn't great; Zhongshan North Road was as jammed as a severe intestinal blockage.

Han Lie sat in the passenger seat, leisurely watching the numbers on the meter rise, not in the least bit anxious—in fact, he felt slightly elated.

It's not easy! Finally, I, Han Lie, have the luxury of riding in a metered taxi!

The taxi driver glanced at him several times, wondering to himself, Is this kid a bit off? Clueless...

He didn't dare strike up a conversation with Han Lie until he got out of the cab.

Standing at the entrance of Shanghai International Studies University's School of Humanities, Han Lie quietly regarded the school name and then smiled to himself.

Special feelings? Indeed, there were some, but they were not to be shared with outsiders. Standing again at the crossroads I once walked, that blissful feeling—how could others understand? It was something I had to savor, digest, and cherish all on my own.

Dragging his suitcase, Han Lie headed straight for the administration building.

The School of Humanities of Shanghai International Studies University is located in Hongkou District, adjacent to the main SISU campus. It shares resources such as the gymnasium, cafeteria, and library, with 70% of its faculty also provided by the main campus.

From this perspective, it should be a good school.

However, in reality, the School of Humanities campus was so small that it only had four and a half substantial buildings: the academic building, the comprehensive building, the administrative office building, and apartment blocks A and B.

The campus area was too small, so the buildings had to be constructed taller. That's why, during peak hours, whether in the dorms or the academic buildings, the elevators could allegedly squish males into females, and then turn females pregnant.

For meals, you either went to the SISU cafeteria next door or found something yourself at the nearby snack street.

Ordering food delivery was out of the question. Even though Ele.me had started operating in the campus area, no delivery person was willing to go to the humanities apartments.

The elevator waits were unbearable; an entire lunch break wasn't enough to go through the hassle of fetching two meals.

The accommodations, on the other hand, were acceptable: six-person dorm rooms with bunk beds, air conditioning, and en-suite bathrooms.

The environment was generally like this, nothing much to elaborate on.

The truly interesting part concerned the people. Regarding the people, there were three main points—

Firstly, local students from the Magic Capital who applied to the School of Humanities were admitted under the second-tier university category.

Students from other regions, however, were admitted under the third-tier category.

Then there was the neighboring, purely first-tier key university...

That settled it! A complete mix.

Three groups of people squeezed together, sharing cafeterias, gymnasiums, libraries, and even the swimming pool...

Heh, what a lively scene that was!

Secondly, the School of Humanities' key department was the School of International Studies, featuring small-class teaching, annual tuition fees starting from 40,000 yuan, two-person dorm rooms, and all instruction in English.

All the important positions in the student union were basically filled by students from the School of International Studies.

However, the school administration's favoritism didn't necessarily mean these students were genuinely capable.

They were definitely rich, though. If the campus wasn't so small, students from the School of International Studies could have held their own luxury car shows.

Wealthy, influential, and even teachers had to humor them...

Draw your own conclusions from that.

Thirdly, the adjacent SISU Hongkou campus was a base for graduate students, international students, and trainees.

Leaving aside the second-year graduate students, who were generally excellent.

The state of international students and trainees—everyone understands that, right?

Just four words summed them up: strange and eccentric characters.

This was the "humanities" environment of the School of Humanities.

In his past life, Han Lie's university life had been incredibly unpleasant, stifled at every turn by this bizarre environment, to say the least.

Later, another incident occurred that made him seriously consider dropping out.

In the end, the department head persuaded him to stay and, as a form of appeasement, placed him in the literary arts department as a deputy director.

In his previous life, Han Lie hadn't understood and actually thought it wasn't too bad.

It was only later that he realized: What can an ordinary student achieve in the literary arts department? Even if there are plenty of beauties, what does that have to do with you? You do tons of work with no perks whatsoever—what's the point?!

Unfortunately, this realization came too late; by then, he had already been ridiculed as an idiot for a long time.

Just thinking about it makes my face turn red.

So, overall, Han Lie had stumbled into many pitfalls during university, practically making every mistake a young person could.

You might think Brother Lie had his awakening from then on, right? No. Even after entering society, Brother Lie continued to fall into traps, all the way into his mid-to-late twenties. That "Old Sour Foot Noodles" brand should have hired him as a spokesperson; he fit their product positioning so damn well.

It's great to be young.

But the life of the young isn't always great.

Contemplating all sorts of things, Han Lie effortlessly found the administrative office of the Business School.

The door was open. Han Lie knocked gently before confidently walking in.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Teacher Liu? I'm Han Lie from the Business School's finance class."

A short, plump man inside looked up at his words and then came over enthusiastically.

"Han Lie? Ah, come in, come take a seat! I'm Liu Hong, your student advisor. How are you? Feeling all better now?"

Han Lie knew Liu Hong all too well.

Smiling Tiger, a devious old fox, and someone who never did anything decent—those were all descriptions that fit him.

If I ever get the chance, I'll definitely teach this guy a lesson.

However, now wasn't the time to become hostile, so Han Lie acted very respectfully.

"Teacher Liu, sorry for the trouble! I'm basically recovered, just still suffering a bit from post-concussion symptoms... Oh, and here is my hospital report."

Liu Hong took the document, glanced at it casually, and then frowned in surprise.

Wow! The injuries are quite serious!

He had initially thought Han Lie wanted to skip military training, but after seeing the hospital report from Jinling People's Hospital, he no longer thought so.

Medical records are easy to fake, but a hospital stay must be real.

"You've had quite the misfortune... Alright, it's good that you're okay now. Let's go, I'll take you to handle the procedures. Freshmen have evening self-study, so you should settle into your dorm this afternoon and then meet your classmates in the evening."

"Okay, I'll follow your arrangements!"

Liu Hong smiled in satisfaction.

When one schemer met another, in the first round, Han Lie gained a small victory.

Just as he was about to pay the fees, Han Lie suddenly asked, "Teacher Liu, what's the dorm environment like for our class? I'm suffering from severe neurasthenia at the moment and can't handle too much noise."

The main thing is, I can't stand those idiots from my original dorm. Out of thirty guys in the finance class, the top five idiots all somehow ended up in the same room. The daily chaos there was something outsiders couldn't even dream of.

"The dorm you've been assigned to is indeed a bit noisy..."

Liu Hong frowned, originally intending to persuade Han Lie to endure it.

But seeing Han Lie clutching his bank card tightly, seemingly ready to withhold payment if his living conditions weren't satisfactory, Liu Hong didn't dare press the issue.

This is the last student. I need to make sure he's settled... I have to handle this carefully... What should I do?

After fretting for a moment, he suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up.

"If you're not short on money, I can apply for a four-person room for you, though the fee will be a bit higher..."

"That would be great! A bit more expensive is fine; the most important thing is quiet."

Han Lie was overjoyed.

Four-person and two-person rooms were usually reserved for the School of International Studies; students from other schools couldn't get in even if they had the money.

For dorm rooms of the same size, the difference between four beds and six beds was enormous.

Normally, Liu Hong wouldn't have the authority to arrange this.

Han Lie hadn't even dared to dream of such good fortune; he had merely wanted to switch to any other dorm. Who would have thought there'd be such an unexpected bonus?

Seeing Han Lie pleased, Liu Hong also felt quite smug.

Every year, a few beds in the four-person rooms would be left vacant. These weren't typically allocated to regular students, as they were reserved for exchange and transfer students.

But Han Lie's situation was indeed special, and his reasons were valid; the application would surely be approved.

This is a perfect opportunity to impress the dean again.

"Alright, I'll write you an approval slip right away. You can go pay the fees."

In the second round of their confrontation, Brother Lie snagged another half-victory.

After paying the full year's tuition, miscellaneous fees, and accommodation costs, Brother Lie only had forty thousand yuan left.

But his experience points had recovered to just over 150,000.

Oh, and earlier, appearance-obsessed Han Lie (Yan Dog Lie) had sunk another 600,000 experience points into his "skin," now making him a 75-point attractive young man.

He was just a bit too thin.

At 179.1 centimeters tall, he still weighed only 120 pounds, making him truly angular.

Han Lie had a premonition—

If I can just find a way to bulk up, my attractiveness score could increase naturally. 79 points... now that would make me a genuinely handsome guy!

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