Shen Yu looked a bit surprised when she heard the news and glanced at Zhou Yuwen for confirmation.
But Zhou Yuwen just smiled and said, “Don’t listen to him. I made so money from the campus card business earlier, so I thought I’d try sothing else. It just so happened that the campus express station was up for sale, so I bought it.”
“That must have cost a lot, right?”
“Nah, only eight thousand yuan.”
“Hey, beautiful! My Brother Zhou bought ten of them! From now on, all the express stations in this area answer to my Brother Zhou!” Liu Shuo added, exaggerating a bit.
Zhou Yuwen rolled his eyes and gave Liu Shuo a symbolic kick. “Could you keep it down for once?”
Liu Shuo grinned sheepishly, “Alright, Brother Zhou, I’ll let you get to work. I’m gonna go hang out with Gao Yang and the others.”
Watching Liu Shuo stumble off, Shen Yu covered her mouth, chuckling.
Zhou Yuwen asked what package she was picking up.
“Oh, just so clothes I ordered online.”
Zhou Yuwen accompanied Shen Yu to the express station. Generally, the express station transfer would be handled by a student who’d hire a couple of friends or other students part-ti, typically earning three or four thousand yuan a month—considered decent inco among students.
With ten express stations under Zhou Yuwen’s na, he could manage them this way to generate more inco. However, managing ten stations would require more ti and effort, which Zhou Yuwen couldn’t afford. He was a reborn individual with a forward-looking perspective, aware that there wasn’t much profit to be made in this field. There was no point in overextending himself.
His primary motivation in buying the express stations was simple: as long as he held the ownership, he wouldn’t lose money over the next three years. Plus, it gave him a way to provide work-study positions for the group of hardworking, financially challenged students who followed Liu Shuo.
As for Liu Shuo’s vision of making the express station an official Xu Zhou Association enterprise, Zhou Yuwen didn’t give a clear response; he would let it depend on Liu Shuo’s abilities.
Currently, two sophomore girls were working part-ti at the station. They’d heard that Zhou Yuwen had beco the new boss, and their gazes toward him had changed subtly.
Zhou Yuwen helped Shen Yu pick up her package, chatting with her casually. “Why’d you co by yourself to get it? Classes over?”
“Yes. Yanyan and the others went to rehearse at the auditorium. I’m picking up my package before joining them,” said Shen Yu, looking graceful and gentle in her simple, elegant dress.
Zhou Yuwen nodded, “Seems like everyone’s taking this evening show pretty seriously.”
“Well, yeah, it’s our first university performance! Aren’t you rehearsing?”
“I told the teacher that for a big chorus like this, not everyone needs to be involved. Cutting a few voices might actually improve the balance.”
“You sing really well; it’s a sha to cut you out,” Shen Yu comnted.
Zhou Yuwen shrugged, “Actually, in a big choir, it’s best to remove the best and worst voices and keep the middle-range ones to maintain cohesion.”
They walked together for a bit, and Shen Yu raised an eyebrow, teasing, “Confident, aren’t you?”
Zhou Yuwen shrugged again, and they both laughed.
The topic shifted to Zheng Yanyan not returning to the dorm last night. Zhou Yuwen remained vague, as he didn’t intend to discuss such personal matters, and Shen Yu, sensing his reluctance, sighed and said, “Su Qing didn’t seem in a good mood.”
Zhou Yuwen simply responded with a nod.
After chatting for a bit, he accompanied Shen Yu for about ten ters beyond the express station before stopping.
Shen Yu asked, “So you’re the owner now?”
“Yeah. If you don’t mind the low wages, you’re welco to co work here.”
Before they knew it, it was already 4:30, the end of the school day, and students began crowding around the express station, with many familiar faces nodding in greeting or calling out to Zhou Yuwen.
“Zhou Yuwen!” a voice called out, and Zhou Yuwen turned to see Liu Yue with a guy he didn’t recognize.
Liu Yue held hands with the guy, clearly close, though her expression showed a hint of embarrassnt as she held his arm tighter and tried to act casual. “Hey, Zhou Yuwen, this is my boyfriend!”
Xu Bowen, wearing glasses and looking rather scholarly, had spotted Shen Yu from afar and had considered keeping his distance, but Liu Yue had called out to Zhou Yuwen, leaving him with no choice but to say hello. “Hi, long ti no see, Shen Yu.”
“Hi,” Shen Yu replied with a slight nod. She didn’t know Xu Bowen well, having only exchanged a few words in the student council. Xu Bowen had tried to flirt with her before, talking about freedom and self-expression in a way that sounded artsy but, to her, felt empty.
She had seen him act flirtatiously with other girls in the student council and, upon seeing him with Liu Yue now, felt even less impressed. After a brief greeting, Shen Yu turned to Zhou Yuwen and said she was heading to the auditorium.
“Don’t forget to co to the performance tonight.”
“Of course, my girlfriend’s performing,” Zhou Yuwen replied with a smile, though Shen Yu felt a slight twinge of disappointnt.
Once Shen Yu left, Liu Yue grinned, “Hah, Zhou Yuwen, I caught you picking up packages with another girl behind your girlfriend’s back!”
“What? She’s my girlfriend’s roommate. We just happened to bump into each other and were chatting,” Zhou Yuwen explained.
“Yeah, right. You know, once you have a girlfriend, you really shouldn’t be spending so much ti with other girls. My boyfriend is a great example for that!” Liu Yue boasted, holding Xu Bowen’s arm closer.
Xu Bowen awkwardly pushed up his glasses and mumbled, “Let’s just get our package?”
“What’s the rush? I haven’t introduced you properly yet.”
Liu Yue felt that since she had once pursued Zhou Yuwen and been rejected, this was her chance to flaunt her boyfriend and show that she wasn’t lacking in admirers. In her mind, it was her way of saying, “You didn’t want ? Well, soone better does.”
She proudly introduced Xu Bowen as her boyfriend, a student in the dia departnt and vice president of the Photography Club, who was also active in the student council.
Zhou Yuwen nodded at Xu Bowen, though he could tell from Xu Bowen’s expression that he didn’t seem too eager for the introduction. After a quick greeting, Zhou Yuwen excused himself to help Liu Shuo at the station.
Liu Yue was a bit put out, muttering, “He left before I was even done talking.”
Xu Bowen, slightly annoyed, whispered, “Is it really necessary to tell everyone I’m your boyfriend?”
“Of course! My boyfriend’s amazing, way better than him!” Liu Yue said, hugging his arm with a bright smile.
Xu Bowen, though calm on the surface, could sense sothing distinct about Zhou Yuwen—a certain pride or perhaps a sense that he was beyond the need to acknowledge others. This unsettled him a bit, and he absentmindedly comnted, “Your friend seems pretty close to that other girl.”
“Not sure, but he does have a lot of female friends,” Liu Yue replied.
They continued to chat while waiting in line.
Back when school started, Liu Yue had actually had so interactions with Zhou Yuwen. At the ti, he was managing the campus card distribution.
“He’s the one?” Xu Bowen asked, mildly surprised.
“Yes, he asked
to be a secondary distributor. We chatted quite a bit, though eventually, I felt he was a bit of a flirt, so I stopped talking to him.”
“He was texting you?”
“Yep,” Liu Yue said with a laugh, “What, jealous?”
Xu Bowen just smiled awkwardly, saying nothing further.
The campus express station generally only required three or four staff for receiving and managing packages, along with a delivery driver, which the express company usually provided. With ten express stations now under his control, Zhou Yuwen could potentially bring delivery jobs in-house. But that would an taking on the driver salaries himself.
Liu Shuo had pulled Zhou Yuwen aside to ask, “Brother Zhou, now that these ten stations are all ours, should we put our Xu Zhou Association logo on them?”
“I’ve been reading this novel online about soone buying up all the express stations on campus and making millions!”
The novel Zhou Yuwen had written was slowly gaining traction, even ranking in the top ten of the site’s urban category. But the story was set in 2002; by 2013, the peak opportunities in the field had passed.
“You could still do it if you wanted to. Just place a small logo sowhere beneath the existing company’s brand, or put employees in uniforms with our own logo. That’s doable,” Zhou Yuwen said.
“Great! Leave that to !” Liu Shuo grinned, though Zhou Yuwen reminded him not to call it “Xu Zhou Association.” The term was too localized.
Instead, he suggested using “Xianlin University City Student Assistance Organization.” If needed, he could register it officially as a group focused on helping students with part-ti jobs, making the whole thing sound legit.
With the plan settled, Zhou Yuwen assigned Liu Shuo to
manage the stations in other schools, keeping the main campus station under his own supervision. One room would serve as the express station, and the adjacent room as a lounge, complete with a computer and a bed to turn it into a small office.
By the ti Zhou Yuwen checked his phone again, it was nearly five o’clock. He left the station in Gao Yang’s hands and went with Liu Shuo to visit the next station.
anwhile, Gao Yang ran into Xu Bowen while returning to the station. They recognized each other as fellow sophomores, and Gao Yang greeted him, noticing Liu Yue holding Xu Bowen’s arm. He gave a knowing smile, “Another girlfriend, huh?”
Xu Bowen forced a laugh, quickly changing the subject so Liu Yue wouldn’t pick up on it. “So, what brings you here?”
“Oh, I’m checking out the express station for my boss. He’s just bought it and put
in charge. Need help with your package?”
“Your boss?” Xu Bowen echoed, surprised.
“Yep, Zhou Yuwen. He’s pretty impressive, actually.”
Gao Yang couldn’t help but admire Zhou Yuwen, though his first impression had been admiration for Liu Shuo.
Zhou Yuwen and Liu Shuo rode together to check out a couple more stations. The university city had a total of nineteen colleges, ten of which now had express stations under Zhou Yuwen’s control. The remaining nine were either under contracts with others or had already been pre-leased.
Liu Shuo sighed, “If we could control all nineteen, just imagine…”
“Relax,” Zhou Yuwen replied. “Focus on managing what we have well. We’ll need to buy more pushcarts and order the T-shirts you wanted with the custom logo, but we’re running tight on funds for now. Let’s wait until November.”
“No problem, Brother Zhou. I’ve still got so cash left. If necessary, I could even ask my dad for a bit.”
“There’s no need for that,” Zhou Yuwen reassured.
Liu Shuo sighed, “You’re too generous, Brother Zhou. You’re giving everyone an 80% profit share. I heard the other station owners pay student workers only a few hundred a month, yet here we are, sharing most of our profits.”
“That’s different,” Zhou Yuwen explained. “Those owners are just in it for the money.”
“Look, if you’re trying to make Xu Zhou Association stand for sothing, it can’t just run on empty slogans. You can’t call everyone your ‘brother’ but treat them like laborers. This express station was supposed to provide benefits for your brothers, so just run it as we planned.”
Liu Shuo let out a long sigh, “Brother Zhou, you really are too good.”
“There are plenty of ways to make money, and it doesn’t always have to be off students. With half of the express stations in the university city under our control and the upcoming Singles’ Day sales rush, we could negotiate new contracts with the courier companies,” Zhou Yuwen explained.
“?”
Every year during Singles’ Day, courier services beca overburdened, often outsourcing their delivery operations. Third-party contractors usually earned 22-25 yuan per hour, while student part-tirs often received only 9-17 yuan per hour. Labor companies profited significantly from these contracts.
Now, as a student and backed by ample student labor, Zhou Yuwen thought they could negotiate a direct contract with a courier company. He instructed Liu Shuo to post in various student groups, offering part-ti jobs for 20 yuan an hour, with no limit on the number of hires.
They spent the rest of the journey discussing ways to streamline express station operations. Liu Shuo proposed requiring all workers to wear Xu Zhou Association uniforms, along with branded T-shirts, and ensuring that delivery trucks bore the logo. Zhou Yuwen left the details to Liu Shuo, emphasizing that they just needed enough workers ready by Singles’ Day.
Liu Shuo promised to get it done.
By now, it was nearly six o’clock, ti for the freshman welco performance. Zhou Yuwen hopped out at the campus gate to head to the auditorium, while Liu Shuo continued on to handle express station matters.
anwhile, Zhou Yuwen noticed he had several missed ssages from Zheng Yanyan:
“Are you here yet?”
“Here yet?!”
“Are you even coming?”
“Hubby~ your wife’s calling you to co watch the show~”
“Ahhh, I miss you so much!”
“Hubby’s ignoring
now.”
Seeing her flood of ssages, Zhou Yuwen couldn’t help but chuckle, especially with the string of animated stickers she sent at the end. He replied with a row of ellipses.
Zheng Yanyan imdiately ssaged back, “What were you doing? Why didn’t you reply?”
“I was out with a friend; I’m back now.”
“Oh, hurry up then, the show’s about to start.”
“【Picture】”
“See?”
She sent him a photo of herself in costu, with makeup on for the performance. This ti, her outfit was a pink, school-girl-style uniform, paired with white knee-high socks that accentuated her long legs. It was the first ti she had dressed like this, and feeling quite pleased with herself, she had snapped a picture for Zhou Yuwen.
Zhou Yuwen replied, “I think it’s fine, but Lu Lin’s always in pants—will she wear sothing this cutesy?”
“Hehe, here, see for yourself 【Picture】.”
Without another word, she sent him a photo of Lu Lin standing off to the side. Sure enough, Lu Lin was dressed in a blue school-girl-style uniform with sheer black thigh-high stockings, which suited her tall, slender fra.
“Hubby, tell , who looks better— or her?!”
“You look better!”
“Hehe, I knew you’d say that. I’m going to rub it in Lu Lin’s face. I’ll tell her you think she doesn’t look as good.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Zhou Yuwen replied, thinking she was just joking.
But Zheng Yanyan was serious. She spotted Lu Lin sitting on the backstage steps, legs crossed, looking distracted as she waited for the show to start. Marching over, Zheng Yanyan wrapped her arm around Lu Lin’s shoulders. “Guess what, Lu Lin? My boyfriend says I look better than you do.”
Lu Lin gave her a bored look. “He’s your boyfriend, not mine, of course he’d say that. What’s there to brag about?”
“Aww, don’t be mad! I’m just kidding; we both look great,” Zheng Yanyan said, clinging to Lu Lin’s shoulder.
Lu Lin, however, didn’t seem in the mood to respond. She wasn’t sure why she felt so out of sorts today.
From the beginning, Lu Lin had understood that her relationship with Zhou Yuwen was discreet and casual, with no promises involved. Even though Zhou Yuwen sotis teased her, joking about making her his girlfriend, she’d always brushed it off, saying things like, “As if! What good would that do ?”
But now that she knew Zhou Yuwen and Zheng Yanyan were truly involved, a strange feeling crept into her heart—a sense of unease, or maybe a hint of disappointnt. She felt as if her own position was threatened.
Previously, Zhou Yuwen’s interest in her had been physical. Now that he had Zheng Yanyan, would he still want her?
The entire day, Lu Lin had been in a funk, unable to explain why. And Zheng Yanyan, oblivious to Lu Lin’s feelings, was in high spirits. She had spent the afternoon proudly parading around the campus, basking in the attention. After centing her relationship with Zhou Yuwen, she strode confidently into the classroom like a victorious general, clad in a red crop top and light blue wide-legged jeans, the afternoon sun casting her in a radiant glow.
She boldly walked to Lu Lin’s side, plopped down, and leaned over, “Hey, babe, miss ?”
So of the girls in the class couldn’t hide their irritation. Among them was Su Qing, who looked on with disdain. Zheng Yanyan’s absence from the dorm last night had already annoyed her, and were it not for the agreent she’d made with Zhou Yuwen, she’d have had words with Zheng Yanyan by now.
Trying to calm herself, Su Qing thought, This is just temporary. Zhou Yuwen likes ; he’ll co back to
if I focus on my studies and beco a successful designer.
For now, you can keep my boyfriend company! Su Qing imagined the satisfaction of handing Zheng Yanyan a few thousand yuan, just to say, Thanks for keeping him entertained.
The thought alone made her feel a little better.
Lu Lin, however, was just as out of sorts. She wasn’t sure why she felt this way, but every ti she looked at Zheng Yanyan’s smug smile, she felt a pang of irritation.
“What’s there to miss? It’s not like you’re ever gone.”
“Hehe, soon, I might not be coming back at all!” Zheng Yanyan teased, winking.
Lu Lin rolled her eyes, too tired to respond.
Zheng Yanyan, however, was too excited to be put off. She had so much she wanted to tell Lu Lin.
“Oh, Lu Lin, you were so wrong! You said the pain would go away quickly, but it was awful!”
“You have no idea what I went through last night…”
“For a full hour! I ended up lying there like a dead fish.”
“I felt like I’d cried myself dry…”
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