Because his old man thought he was looking for another excuse to scam for money again...
Fortunately, after Wang Qiaobin confirmed with his former counselor in person, his old man put his worries to rest.
Wang Qiaobin’s dad was even more excited than him, throwing him two hundred thousand on the spot, instructing him to make a high-profile donation to the school at that time.
So today, Wang Qiaobin dressed up deliberately. He had discreetly searched before and found out that whenever an alumnus of Cai University donated, even if it was just a hundred thousand, they would get featured on the official website. After today, his own photo would probably show up there, so he had to dress up a bit!
"Wang Qiaobin?"
Looking around with no clue about how to blend into this tea party, the inexperienced Wang Qiaobin suddenly heard a surprised voice next to him.
"Lu Chen?"
Wang Qiaobin turned his head and saw the person calling him, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.
Although it would eventually fade with time, every class year in university would always have a few renowned figures whose names even reached the freshmen. They lived on in many people’s memories.
At this moment, the person greeting Wang Qiaobin, Lu Chen, was such a figure.
Not only was he academically outstanding, winning scholarships multiple times while at school, he wasn’t a traditional bookworm either. He was also a national second-level athlete, one of the main players on the school basketball team. During his university days branded as "B brother," Lu Chen’s School of Economics, led by him, and the School of Law, led by B brother, were long-standing rivals on the court.
In addition, Lu Chen had held numerous positions like vice-chairman of the student council.
Adding his good looks and well-off family, he was arguably one of the best boys in Wang Qiaobin’s class.
But Wang Qiaobin hated him.
There were many reasons for his dislike: hypocrisy, arrogance, a penchant for bullying others... But what left the deepest impression on Wang Qiaobin was the incident when Zhou Wang got into a fight with a student from the Economics and Management Department.
No one knew why the fight started except for those involved, but the end result was Zhou Wang being reprimanded while the Economics and Management student merely wrote a self-criticism.
Wang Qiaobin knew Zhou Wang, he wasn’t the kind to get into fights without reason. No matter the circumstances, the result was simply unfair to Zhou Wang.
Afterwards, Lu Chen often boasted about the incident, saying he had protected the student from the Economics and Management Department. Since they had clashed during games several times, he already disliked Zhou Wang and so on...
Even though Lu Chen was just showing off, Wang Qiaobin, well-versed in certain rules, knew that what Lu Chen said could very well be true.
Except for murder and arson, few student acts were severe enough to merit punishment. Often, teachers in charge of disciplinary actions would just treat the situation according to their biases.
With Lu Chen’s connections in the student council, saying a few good words could be quite effective.
Regardless of what actually happened behind the scenes, after that incident, Zhou Wang, whom Wang Qiaobin once admired, fell into complete depression and rarely appeared on the court again.
Despite not being able to help Zhou Wang much at the time, it didn’t stop Wang Qiaobin from feeling infuriated at Lu Chen. Always adhering to a "make friends widely" principle, his relationship with Lu Chen only worsened, and he never expected to encounter him here again.
"Oh wow, Wang Qiaobin, you got an invitation too?"
Lu Chen appeared extremely surprised at finding Wang Qiaobin at the networking event, and he didn’t hide it.
What did he mean by "wow"?
Wang Qiaobin’s expression turned more sour. Damn it, they had graduated for a year, yet the guy was still as detestable as ever...
"Hah, Lu Chen, if even you can come, then it’s not weird for me to be here too, right?"
Wang Qiaobin retorted tit for tat. Though his words were somewhat weak, his aura wasn’t lacking.
Lu Chen simply smiled, seemingly unbothered by Wang Qiaobin’s words. Instead, he walked over and companionably put his arm around Wang Qiaobin’s shoulders.
"You’re new to these kinds of events, right? I’ve been to one before, so come on, why are you standing there foolishly? Let’s head in together..."
Lu Chen didn’t give him a chance to refuse and led Wang Qiaobin inside. Since it was unseemly to resist, he went along and entered the garden with him.
This kind of loosely structured tea party was set up with a few long tables in the garden’s open space, arranged with some tea and snacks, with members of the student council serving nearby, and a small podium set up at the front.
The general process involved alumni introducing themselves one by one, and if underclassmen were interested, they could approach for discussions on study and work experiences.
When Lu Chen brought him, there were already a dozen or so "outstanding alumni" in the garden, with about fifty or sixty students from Cai University surrounding them.
At this time, a girl who had just taken the stage was passionately speaking into the microphone:
"Hello, everyone, my name is Zhang Xiu’e. I’m a graduate of Cai University’s College of Literature, class of ’22, currently pursuing a Master’s in Literature at Beidou University. During my time at Cai University, I received two national scholarships, was recognized as a provincial-level excellent student, and won numerous national awards like the ’Youth Literature Award’... I welcome you all to come and talk to me."
Actually, when this girl named Zhang Xiu’e was introducing herself, B brother didn’t realize anything amiss until after she spoke. It was then that Lu Chen gave him a meaningful glance before heading onto the stage.