I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Upon entering the hotel, the first thing to do was naturally to check in.

Shen Kang and his group walked towards the lobby counter. From a distance, they could see that the counter was very busy, with several groups of people handling their business there, forming an irregular queue.

"Looks like there'll be a queue," Ye Jintong said after glancing over there.

Then she saw Shen Kang look at her with a smile on his face.

This immediately put her on alert: "Boss, what do you mean?"

Shen Kang smiled gently: "It doesn't mean anything. I just think it's a bit messy to have a bunch of people queuing up. You can go and queue up by yourself."

Ye Jintong angrily asked, "Why should I be the one to queue up?"

Shen Kang replied, "Then why don't you have Dean Qian go and queue up?"

Qian Mingen pretended not to hear and was looking around at the scenery.

"Why can't it be you, not the boss, who goes to queue up?"

"To put it broadly, I'm the boss, and you're the employee. To put it more simply, I'm the team leader, and you're the team member. Do you think it's appropriate for me to queue up for you?"

After arguing for a while, Ma Liang took the initiative to speak up: "Never mind, I'll go join the queue." This finally ended the dispute.

As Ma Liang passed by, the group from Pingxi Academy also arrived and stood next to Shen Kang and the others.

After glancing at the situation at the counter, they discussed it and decided to send one student to queue up, while the rest of them waited where they were.

While waiting, the teacher leading the team from Pingxi College looked around and their eyes met Qian Ming'en's.

You can tell from the personnel configuration that everyone is a participating team.

The teacher leading the team from Pingxi College smiled and greeted Qian Ming'en, "You're here to participate in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition too, right?"

Qian Ming'en: "Yes. You guys too?"

"Yes, we are from Pingxi Academy."

"Oh, we're from Yangko University of Science and Technology. I've been to Pingxi College before. I remember you have a professor named Cao Xiaoguang there, right?"

"Yes, Professor Cao is the vice dean of our School of Economics and Management..."

The two teachers then started chatting about it.

Seeing that the teachers were chatting, Yao Shubin took the initiative to approach Shen Kang, the only male student remaining in the Yangke University team. "Hello, my name is Yao Shubin, and I am the captain of our team."

Shen Kang smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Shen Kang. What a coincidence, I'm also the captain of our team."

"Is your team participating in a challenge match or a real competition?"

"Challenge Match."...

After the two team leaders met, the other students also got to know each other, but overall, everyone was a bit reserved and didn't talk much.

Soon, apart from the two teachers who were leading the group chatting casually, the students had returned to their own small groups. Students from Pingxi College were talking to students from Pingxi College, and students from Yang University of Science and Technology were talking to students from Yang University of Science and Technology.

They were supposed to be talking to students from Yang University of Science and Technology, but Ma Liang went to queue up, and Ye Jintong was staring nervously at the main entrance. Actually, it was Shen Kang and He Qiuzhu talking.

"Why are you constantly touching your eyes?" Shen Kang asked He Qiuzhu.

He Qiuzhu removed her hand from her face, somewhat puzzled: "Shen Kang, my eyelids have been twitching ever since I woke up."

"Left eye, right eye?"

He Qiuzhu thought for a moment and said, "The left eye."

Shen Kang then said, "A twitching left eye means good fortune."

He Qiuzhu thought for a moment and said, "No, it seems to be the right eye."

Shen Kang said, "If your right eyelid twitches, it's just an intermittent involuntary spasm and tremor of the orbicularis oculi muscle and facial nerve controlled by your brain. It's a perfectly normal physiological phenomenon."

He Qiuzhu blinked, then changed her mind: "It doesn't seem to be the right eye either. I don't remember, Shen Kang, can you take a look for me?"

As she spoke, she leaned closer to Shen Kang, her beautiful eyes blinking as she stared intently at him, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

Shen Kang looked at the face so close to his own and his breathing faltered slightly. He thought to himself, "You're pretty good, kid."

Fortunately, Ye Jintong also turned her gaze away from the hotel's main entrance at that moment and happened to see this scene. She subconsciously said, "Holy crap! You two aren't planning to kiss here, are you?"

Shen Kang quickly pulled his head back, cleared his throat, and said, "Ye Jintong, can't you think of anything other than books? She got dust in her eyes; let me take a look."

Then he reached out with his right hand, pressed it against He Qiuzhu's forehead, and gently pushed it. "Alright, see clearly, it's the left eye that's twitching, it means good fortune."

He Qiuzhu said "Oh," and her little head was obediently pushed back into place.

Ye Jintong seized on the crux of Shen Kang's words, "Boss, weren't you checking for the dust in her eyes? How come it's now about her eyelid twitching?"

"I've always been watching which of her eyelids twitches. What do you mean, 'gray'? You misheard me."

Shen Kang didn't give Ye Jintong a chance to continue the topic, "Weren't you just watching the gate? Why didn't you watch your gate? What are you doing here causing trouble?"

Ye Jintong was indeed transferred.

She immediately dropped the question of whether to look at the dust or the twitching of eyelids, and revealed her discovery: "Boss, I've been watching for a while now, and I've noticed that it's only when we came in that these people at the door bowed. When others came in, they just stood there without moving."

Shen Kang followed up on her question, "So?"

Ye Jintong looked at Shen Kang, "So, is it because of you again, boss? This hotel knew you were coming, so they specially arranged for these people to wait at the door and even bow to us?"

The main reason is that the hotel staff at the Haobo Hotel in Huawan District did something strange last time, which left an impression on Ye Jintong, and she immediately reacted.

Before Shen Kang could speak, Yao Shubin, who was standing nearby, chuckled and thought to himself, "These students from Yangke University really know how to think." He then spoke up, "Student Ye, these greeters aren't actually here for us. Did you see the banner they had hanging at the hotel entrance earlier? There's a business conference being held here, and the hotel arranged these greeters for them."

Then, they repeated what they had heard before.

Ye Jintong then realized that she had misunderstood.

As for why these people only bowed to Shen Kang and his group, Yao Shubin offered his guess: "I reckon they must have arranged it beforehand, bowing at specific times. For example, they would bow once for every 10 groups of guests who passed by. You probably just happened to be there at that exact moment."

This reason seemed far-fetched, and Ye Jintong was skeptical: "Is that so?"

Yao Shubin knew it was a bit far-fetched, but he couldn't think of a more reasonable explanation. "It should be like this." Then he immediately changed the subject: "By the way, you are all local college students from Yangcheng. Is there anything fun around here? The competition isn't until tomorrow, so you can all go out and have some fun this afternoon."

Ye Jintong stopped dwelling on the matter and became quite enthusiastic: "Speaking of which, you've come to the right person. I've done some research; there's a Zhuangyuan Street nearby, we can go check it out."

"Zhuangyuan Street?" Yao Shubin asked. "Which Zhuangyuan?"

Ye Jintong tried hard to recall, "I did see the name at the time, but I don't remember it very well. I think it was Zhao... Zhao something."

Yao Shubin asked, "Is it Zhao Yijiong?"

"That seems to be the name. How did you know?" Ye Jintong asked, somewhat surprised.

Yao Shubin puffed out his chest. "Just a little bit of historical knowledge. Zhao Yijiong was the first top scholar in the history of Qianlin Province..."

Yao Shubin launched into a long, eloquent speech, showcasing his extensive knowledge, with the main purpose of attracting the attention of He Qiuzhu.

at the same time

A woman hurriedly walked in from outside the hotel. After entering the lobby, she glanced around and then quickly walked to Shen Kang and his group, next to a stylish and beautiful woman.

This stylish and beautiful woman was the same woman who had followed Shen Kang and the others into the hotel earlier.

There was a hotel staff member in front of her helping to push the luggage cart, but that staff member is now gone.

The woman walked up to her, somewhat puzzled: "Why aren't you checking in?"

The stylish and attractive woman gestured with her chin towards the counter. "There's a queue. The waiter who was there earlier is in line. Call us when it's our turn."

The woman glanced ahead again and, sure enough, saw the waiter who had helped them with their luggage earlier standing in line.

"I didn't expect it, the service quality is actually pretty good."

The woman gave a thumbs-up.

The woman's name is Mao Manyi, and she's from Taiwan. The stylish and beautiful woman next to her is her college classmate and friend, named Xu Wenjie.

Both of them come from well-off families. After graduating last year, they didn't really have regular jobs. They would go to work intermittently, and most of the time they would be traveling around.

During this period, the two of them planned to travel around the southwest region of mainland China, and Yangcheng was their first stop.

After praising it, Mao Manyi chattered in a low voice, "I thought this place would be very backward, with all those muddy thatched houses and people who all looked rustic. The girls would all have sallow complexions and wear two thick braids, but it's not like that at all! Although it's not a bustling place, and some houses look very rustic, there are also high-end hotels like this. And the girls are wearing makeup..."

Previously, they had only learned about mainland China from Taiwanese media. In those media reports, mainland China was exactly as Mao Manyi had imagined it to be.

When they arrived, they discovered that although the place wasn't super prosperous, it wasn't as backward as they had imagined.

As Mao Manyi was speaking, she inadvertently noticed a girl next to her and was instantly stunned by her beauty, causing her chattering to pause.

After a pause, she continued, "Wenjie, look at that girl next to you, she's so beautiful! Absolutely stunning. I never imagined there would be such a beautiful girl in a place like this, even more beautiful than a celebrity..."

Upon hearing Mao Manyi's words, Xu Wenjie simply said, "She is beautiful."

Xu Wenjie is a beautiful woman, and she has always been considered outstanding in terms of looks within her social circle.

But facing the beautiful woman beside her, Xu Wenjie couldn't admit that she was inferior to her. The only consolation she could offer was that people from small towns were at least not as well-off as her.

After whispering their amazement at the beautiful woman, Mao Manyi got down to business: where they should go for the next few days.

Both of them were from Taiwan and knew nothing about Yangcheng. They had done some research before coming, but their impressions were all very general and superficial.

Just then, they overheard Yao Shubin talking at length about the tourist attractions, so the two of them joined in the conversation.

At this point, Yao Shubin also mentioned the specific details of the first top scholar in the history of Qianlin Province.

"...Speaking of Zhao Yijiong, we must mention his relationship with the Three Sus. Zhao Yijiong can be described as a fervent fan of the Three Sus. He once wrote a line that reads, 'We should strive to emulate the virtues of the Three Sus, and not presume to say that the ancients are superior to the later ones,' expressing his ambition to take the Three Sus as his role models..."

Yao Shubin really has a good grasp of history; he can recall many details off the top of his head.

Yao Shubin himself was quite pleased with this, and while speaking, he glanced in the direction of He Qiuzhu's classmate.

To his disappointment, He Qiuzhu didn't even look in his direction; instead, she stared at Shen Kang.

Shen Kang was whispering to Ye Jintong.

Ye Jintong muttered to herself, "Boss, who are the Three Sus? I really can't remember right now. Do you?"

Shen Kang muttered under his breath, "Useless, he can't even remember this. The Three Sus are Su Chang, Su Ya, and Su Yutang."

"?"

Ye Jintong asked in confusion, "Are these the three names? They all sound like women's names. And even if I don't remember, I know that Su Dongpo is one of the Three Sus. You don't even have Su Dongpo in your list."

Shen Kang remained calm: "Then I don't know, but the Three Sus I remember are these Three Sus."

He Qiuzhu, who was listening nearby, whispered and asked, "Shen Kang, are there two 'Three Sus'? What historical figures are these 'Three Sus' you're talking about?"

Yip Kam-tung chimed in, "Yes, yes, tell me about it."

She actually liked the "Three Sus" that Shen Kang mentioned, which sounded a bit strange.

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang immediately covered He Qiuzhu's ears, then grinned at Ye Jintong, "This is not suitable for children, so she shouldn't listen. If you want to know, I can tell you."

Ye Jintong spat, "Look at the way you're talking, as if I'm some kind of lewd or violent person."

"So you don't want to hear it? Never mind then."

"That's not true, tell me about it." Ye Jintong became even more interested when she heard that the Three Sus were not suitable for children.

He Qiuzhu tried to pry open Shen Kang's hands that were covering her ears, but she couldn't. She could only grumble and sulk.

While we were chatting here...

In the distance, a pair of eyes drifted by, seemingly unnoticed.

The owner of those eyes was that tall, thin middle-aged man.

He is Chen Kexu.

Chen Kexu never expected that he would run into Shen Kang here today, just a few days after learning about him from Zong Shijie.

He was only attending this business conference at the invitation of Niu Haisheng.

Then they saw Shen Kang and his group come in.

Chen Kexu naturally took in the scene of the greeters at the entrance suddenly bowing to Shen Kang and his group.

It's quite possible that Niu Haisheng was able to get this hotel to arrange such a grand ceremony because of Shen Kang; perhaps Shen Kang was using Niu Haisheng's connections to curry favor.

Chen Kexu thought to himself silently.

After thinking for a while, Chen Kexu glanced again in the direction of Shen Kang in the distance.

Chen Kexu wanted to get to know the other person.

But just walking up to them and saying that I am Zong Shijie's uncle, thanking them for taking care of Zong Shijie, and asking them to get to know each other... that doesn't seem right, and it won't leave a deep impression. They might even forget about me as soon as they turn around.

Getting to know someone also requires skill.

Chen Kexu fell into deep thought.

The old scholar next to Chen Kexu was named Xiang Lingdong.

Seeing that Chen Kexu hadn't moved for a while, Xiang Lingdong looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Old Chen, what are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing..."

Chen Kexu casually agreed, his gaze drifting over the counter, when suddenly an idea struck him.

Then, he put his mouth close to Ling Dong's ear and began to speak carefully.

Xiang Lingdong's expression remained calm at first, but after listening to a couple of sentences, he was startled and subconsciously looked around. Finally, with Chen Kexu's guidance, his gaze locked onto a certain direction and he saw someone.

"Is it him?"

He asked Ling Dong in a low voice.

Chen Kexu nodded and continued to whisper in Ling Dong's ear.

Xiang Lingdong listened, his expression constantly changing.

……

This one

Mao Manyi and Xu Wenjie treated Yao Shubin as their tour guide, listening in on the explanations of the attractions for a while, and felt that Zhuangyuan Street was indeed worth a visit.

At the same time, they also noticed Shen Kang covering He Qiuzhu's ears.

"Looks like this is her boyfriend," Mao Manyi whispered.

After eavesdropping for a while, the two of them realized that the people around them were all university students from mainland China, who seemed to be there to participate in some kind of competition. The hotel had sponsored them, which was why they looked like they were going to stay there.

Xu Wenjie hummed in response but didn't say anything else.

She couldn't deny that she had been quite jealous of the beautiful mainland girl next to her. But now, she didn't seem so jealous anymore.

If this girl from mainland China had been born in Taiwan, with her beauty, she would likely have been discovered by a talent scout and entered the entertainment industry, perhaps becoming a big star with a brilliant future.

Even if she doesn't enter the entertainment industry, with her beauty, she would definitely have many wealthy young men pursuing her in Taiwan. She could very well become a rich family's young mistress and have a glorious life.

Unfortunately, she was born in this place, and she already has a boyfriend, and they seem to be in a good relationship.

Her boyfriend, aside from being a bit handsome, seemed quite ordinary. Her future life would most likely consist of graduating peacefully, working a regular job, marrying her boyfriend, having children, and living a quiet, uneventful life in this city.

She may never leave this city in her entire life, and she will never know what the bustling world outside is like...

Thinking about all this, Xu Wenjie felt a little sorry for the girl and regained her sense of superiority.