I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Shen Kang and his classmates lived in the same large dormitory, which was full of students from E-commerce Class 2. The two people watching TV in the living room were also from there: one was Liu Songping, and the other was Duan Hao.

Watching the class monitor and the other two pinned to the wooden sofa, struggling but unable to break free, looking like three tormented girls, they found it quite amusing.

At the same time, I was also a little confused, wondering what they were doing.

Just then, sound came from the television.

On the television, the channel had been switched to Yangcheng Channel 2, and a program called "People's Focus" had just started.

The host is speaking.

"...Secondhand transactions are something most people are familiar with. Many of us have unused secondhand items at home and have probably sold them off at low prices. But this kind of secondhand transaction is something most people have never heard of."

"Recently, a secondhand transaction took place in Yangcheng: a car was sold for one yuan..."

On the television, the host's broadcast drew Liu Songping and Duan Hao's attention.

Both of them turned their heads and saw a male host sitting in the studio on the screen of the large-screen TV.

As the male host announced the news, a picture of a car was displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.

Liu Songping immediately remembered something.

"Shen Kang, selling a car for one yuan? Didn't something like that happen on your dating show 'If You Are the One'? What a coincidence."

"If You Are the One" has aired several episodes now, thanks to both official promotion from the Beiming Community and spontaneous publicity from students who have watched it, and its reach is becoming increasingly wider.

As members of the same dormitory as Shen Kang, and since Feng Moquan and Wang Pan had also participated, Liu Songping and the others naturally knew about it.

Duan Hao, however, was thinking more deeply. "Shen Kang, you're not referring to what happened on 'If You Are the One,' are you?"

"What a coincidence, it really is."

Shen Kang forcefully pressed Feng Moquan and Jin Chao onto the wooden sofa, pressing his entire body against them. He took a moment to reply, "The TV station came to interview us before, and they were interviewing about this very matter."

Feng Moquan and the others had a premonition, and now that they heard it, they basically understood what was going on, and they struggled even more fiercely.

As Feng Moquan struggled, he shouted, "Old Shen, the grievances have their source, the debts have their debtors! It was Wang Pan who wanted to compete with you, it has nothing to do with us!"

Jin Chao also advised, "Yes, Lao Shen, identify the culprit and don't harm the innocent!"

Shen Kang chuckled coldly and pressed down on the two of them even harder. "You're saying I'm petty? I just wanted to share some happiness with you."

The wooden sofa was forced back by the people on it, its wooden legs creaking as they rubbed against the floor tiles.

While the group was fooling around, the TV program was still playing.

"...What exactly happened? Let's follow the reporter's lens to find out."

As the host announced the news, the scene switched to an outdoor shot.

……

At roughly the same time, under the night sky, in a villa area far from the North Lu University City in the south of the North Lu District, the lights were on in Villa No. 16.

This is a five-story villa, with two underground floors and three floors above ground.

There is a large living room on the first floor that extends upwards to the third floor, reaching a height of over ten meters. A large pagoda-shaped chandelier hangs down from above, currently lit up with countless LED lights inside, making the entire pagoda-shaped chandelier shine brightly and dazzlingly.

This thing might seem a bit vulgar in later generations, but in this era, it still looks very elegant and luxurious.

Next to the living room is a large open kitchen.

Zang Xuejiao stood by the central island in the kitchen, picked up a slice of watermelon from a tray in front of her, and ate it in small, elegant bites.

His eyes were lowered, glancing over himself once more, giving him another thorough check.

As you can see, she's wearing a blue dress today, somewhat like an evening gown, which accentuates her beautiful figure. She's also wearing a very thin platinum necklace.

No problem. Zang Xuejiao told herself this in her heart.

Then, she looked up and gazed toward the living room: there were many people sitting or standing there, men and women, all young people, around twenty years old.

The girls were all very beautiful, and two of them were quite tall, like models. They were also dressed very stylishly.

Of these people, Zang Xuejiao currently only knows one: Zong Shijie.

That's right, Zang Xuejiao is the girl on "If You Are the One" who kept her light on for Zong Shijie until the very end and bought the Honda Fit for one yuan.

Because of that dinner, and because of the subsequent involvement of the TV station which needed to shoot some footage, she and Zong Shijie had a lot more interaction.

Before the TV station came to film, the two met up several times to discuss how they should speak on camera. As they discussed these things, they often ended up eating together around mealtimes.

Through these interactions, Zang Xuejiao and Zong Shijie became friends.

A few days ago, Zong Shijie said he planned to invite some friends over for a party on the day the show aired, and asked Zang Xuejiao if she wanted to come along.

Zang Xuejiao readily agreed.

And so, she appeared here.

Zong Shijie was a second-generation rich kid, and so were his friends. This party was definitely a high-end gathering that she would never see again in her life, so Zang Xuejiao gritted her teeth and bought a very expensive dress and a necklace to match the party.

It cost her a total of 5,600 yuan—luckily, even though she donated her Honda Fit, she still secretly received another 20,000 yuan from it; otherwise, Hua probably wouldn't have been able to afford that amount.

"Five thousand six..."

Zang Xuejiao felt a pang of heartache when she thought of that number—her tuition for a year was about that much.

However, upon seeing the attendees at the gathering, I realized it was worth it: it was clearly a very high-end circle.

If spending 5,600 yuan can get you into this circle, then it's not a loss, it's definitely not a loss! ...

In the living room, Tong Enkang was chatting with Zong Shijie next to a sofa. Zong Shijie's friend, Zhao Ruyuan, was also standing there, holding Zong Shijie's arm, looking very sweet.

"...Is that the girl who bought your car?"

Tong Enkang gestured with his chin toward Zang Xuejiao in the kitchen and asked this question.

Zong Shijie glanced over, nodded, and said, "Mm."

"She's someone you brought along, and you just left her there all alone?" Tong Enkang said, glancing at Zhao Ruyuan and laughing, "Or is it that Yuanyuan is keeping too much control over you?"

Zong Shijie shook his head. "It has nothing to do with that. The main thing is, she's not my type."

The implication is that if the other person is his type, he will start pursuing her immediately, without caring about Zhao Ruyuan or anything like that.

Zhao Ruyuan also noticed this and her expression turned somewhat unpleasant. She felt that Zong Shijie was being disrespectful to her, so she subconsciously pulled her hand away from Zong Shijie's arm and stopped holding his arm.

Zong Shijie glanced at her, but didn't coax her; he just said, "Hmm?"

Zhao Ruyuan struggled internally for a moment, but ultimately didn't dare to lose her temper and obediently took Zong Shijie's arm again.

Tong Enkang thought to himself, "Old Zong is really disrespectful. Is he training a dog?"

So he chuckled and said, "You're the one who organized today's gathering. Since you, as the host, aren't taking care of everyone, it seems I'll have to do it for you."

Zong Shijie spat, "I'm not a master of any kind. I borrowed this villa from you."

Tong Enkang laughed, ignoring him, and got up from the sofa to go to the kitchen.

Zong Shijie spoke up again, somewhat puzzled: "Didn't you used to only like women who looked like vixens? The more they looked like vixens, the more you liked them. This one doesn't look like a vixen at all."

He wasn't making this up; everyone in this circle knows that Tong Enkang likes women who look like vixens—literally.

Especially the eyes; the more fox-like the eyes, the more Tong Enkang liked them. I don't know what kind of fetish he had.

"What do you mean you like vixens? I'll sue you for defamation!" Tong Enkang spat, not bothering to explain further to Zong Shijie, and headed back to the kitchen.

But it was too late.

As you can see from here, someone has already arrived at Zang Xuejiao's side.

However, that person wasn't a boy, but a girl.

At first glance, the girl seemed pretty, but if you looked closely at her face, you would find that she was just plain pretty. But it was probably due to her clothes, makeup, and other factors that made her look beautiful overall.

The girl started talking to Zang Xuejiao.

Tong Enkang then paused his past actions.

Zong Shijie glanced in that direction as well, lowering his voice slightly, "Do you know this Lan Qin before?"

The "Lan Qin" he mentioned was the girl who spoke to Zang Xuejiao.

"You're the host of today's gathering. You don't know him, so why are you asking me?" Tong Enkang retorted.

Zong Shijie sighed helplessly, "The person was brought here by Meng Chengjiao; I've never seen him before."

Tong Enkang stopped teasing him and said, "I don't know much else, I only know that it seems to be someone Meng Chengjiao recently met, but I don't know anything else. Why don't we call Meng Chengjiao over and ask him?"

As he spoke, he waved to Meng Chengjiao, who was talking to a tall, beautiful woman on the other side: "Chengjiao, Chengjiao!..."

After calling out twice, Meng Chengjiao came over, but the tall, beautiful woman didn't follow.

When Meng Chengjiao arrived, Tong Enkang gestured towards the kitchen and asked, "Who is this Lan Qin?"

Meng Chengjiao had just drunk a little, and his face was slightly flushed.

Upon hearing this, he glanced at Lan Qin in the kitchen from afar and said, "Oh, I met her a few days ago. Her family runs a building materials business in eastern Guangdong. They're quite powerful."

Tong Enkang asked, "Did you come to Yangcheng to study?"

Meng Chengjiao shook his head. "No. She said she came here for a vacation."

Tong Enkang said, "Goodness, judging from her appearance, she's probably in college, right? At this hour, she's skipping classes and running around playing."

Meng Chengjiao laughed heartily, "You say it's like you're always in class. Who was it that skipped a month of classes and went on a trip to Europe the other day?"...

While the group chatted here, Lan Qin was already talking to Zang Xuejiao in the kitchen.

"...Really? You bought a car for just one dollar?" Lan Qin looked somewhat surprised.

Zang Xuejiao said, "Yes. I couldn't believe it at first, but after we met, they actually gave me the car."

When Zang Xuejiao first arrived, she originally planned to stay with Zong Shijie the whole time.

When they arrived, they found that Zong Shijie had already arrived, and there was a pretty girl named Zhao Ruyuan next to him.

Zong Shijie had never mentioned it before, and Zang Xuejiao only realized this now that Zong Shijie had a girlfriend.

This left Zang Xuejiao feeling a little disappointed: over this period of time, she had developed quite good feelings for Zong Shijie. She also naturally wondered if the two of them could naturally develop a romantic relationship.

Unexpectedly, he already had a girlfriend, who was much prettier than him.

Now that Zong Shijie has a girlfriend, and she's quite clingy, always sticking to him wherever they go, Zang Xuejiao can't stay with him the whole time and is left alone.

She was initially quite reserved and uncomfortable, but thankfully, Lan Qin came over and struck up a conversation with her.

This made Zang Xuejiao feel like she had been saved, and she didn't want the other person to leave, so she started talking more.

After talking about buying a car for one yuan, he went on to say more, "but what I didn't expect was that the story didn't end there."

Lan Qin seemed to be doing better. "Oh? It's not over yet?"

Zang Xuejiao continued, "Yes. People from the TV station are coming over later..."

When she mentioned the interview, Lan Qin indeed seemed very surprised.

"That's great, I've never been on TV before."

Hearing Lan Qin's envy made Zang Xuejiao feel quite pleased.

After chatting for a while, she realized that Lan Qin was different from many of the girls present.

Zang Xuejiao's intuition is quite sharp.

She could sense that many of the girls in the room, even those who were beautiful, had great figures, and wore luxury brands, were just like her—children from ordinary families.

But this Lanqin is different.

From Lan Qin's appearance and way of speaking, Zang Xuejiao vaguely sensed that Lan Qin, like Zong Shijie and the others, was also a second-generation rich kid.

Now, even Lan Qin expressed envy towards her, which made her feel comfortable, as if she was beginning to be accepted by this circle.

This made Zang Xuejiao talk more.

As they talked, they even touched on the "mastermind" behind the car-selling incident.

"...I heard from Zong Shijie that the TV station didn't interview us much; they interviewed Shen Kang more. By the way, the online program that Zong Shijie and I participated in is called 'If You Are the One,' and Shen Kang is the owner of the website and also my classmate."

Lan Qin seemed quite interested in this: "An alumnus? He's also from Yangon University of Science and Technology?"

"Yes. He's not only from Yangko University of Science and Technology, but he's also a freshman who just entered the school this year." Zang Xuejiao said with some pride, giving off a feeling of "he's my friend."

Lan Qin expressed her surprise again, "Only a freshman? That's impressive."

Zang Xuejiao continued, satisfied: "He's really impressive. He not only created this website, but he also owns several popular shops on campus. Especially one of them, a milk tea shop called 'Smoke and Rain Tea Princess.' I bet you've never had milk tea like that anywhere else..."

Zang Xuejiao already loved Yanyu Chaji's milk tea, and in front of this new friend, she praised Yanyu Chaji's milk tea to the skies, saying it was the best thing in the world.

Food is indeed a great topic of conversation among girls.

Lan Qin was indeed very interested in this, and Zang Xuejiao said that when Lan Qin went to Yang University of Science and Technology next time, she would treat her to this special milk tea that could not be found anywhere else.

As they chatted, Lan Qin seemed to grow closer to her and even joked, "You seem to have a thing for that Shen Kang?"

Zang Xuejiao just smiled.

She had met Shen Kang twice before. Each time she met Shen Kang, it was for official interviews, and Zong Shijie was also present.

In Zang Xuejiao's view, Zong Shijie was just a rich second-generation, but when facing Shen Kang, Zong Shijie seemed to be subtly flattering Shen Kang.

Furthermore, given that Shen Kang is a freshman who has caused so much trouble, it's not hard to guess that Shen Kang is also a rich second-generation, and even more sophisticated than Zong Shijie.

As for looks, Shen Kang was handsome, so Zang Xuejiao naturally had a good impression of him. In her mind, if she were to rank them, Shen Kang would definitely be above Zong Shijie.

It's a pity that Shen Kang seems too busy, and we don't have much contact with him. In comparison, Zong Shijie is more realistic.

What's even more regrettable is that Zong Shijie has a girlfriend.

Although Zang Xuejiao only smiled and didn't answer, Lan Qin already knew the answer. She then looked around and asked, "Did Shen Kang come today? I told you I was all ready."

Zang Xuejiao shook her head, "I heard from Zong Shijie that he hasn't been here recently, so he didn't come."

"That's a pity."

After the two chatted for a while, sounds came from the speakers around the living room.

"Everyone, today's important moment has arrived, come over here!"

Turning my head, I saw Tong Enkang holding a microphone, standing in the center of the living room, and the voice was coming from him.

Including Zang Xuejiao and the others, the people scattered around also gathered around.

There were only so many seats on the sofa in the living room, so some people were already sitting down while the others were standing.

Then, without Tong Enkang's further explanation, everyone knows what the key moment of today is.

On the large television in the living room, a news program from Yangcheng Channel 2 was playing.

After the host said, "Let's follow the reporter's lens to find out," the scene shifted to the exterior.

The screen shows the campus of Yangko University of Science and Technology.

Zong Shijie was walking alone in front of a teaching building. His profile was filmed, accompanied by a voice-over.

"This is Zong, a student from Yangcheng Business School, who was the original owner of the car that was sold for one dollar."

Then, the scene cuts to a straightforward upper-body shot.

In the picture, Zong Shijie and his five companions are standing there in a formal manner.

A reporter outside the frame held a microphone up to Zong Shijie, his voice also coming from outside the frame: "Mr. Zong, why did you make the decision to sell a car for one dollar?"

Zong Shijie spoke earnestly in front of the camera: "Speaking of which, I have to mention a friend of mine. He created a website and then made a show on it that combined secondhand trading with dating. In the beginning, he didn't have enough participants, so he came to me for help, asking if I could participate. After asking him carefully, I learned that he made this show to promote environmental protection and conserve social resources, which I thought was very meaningful..."

Wei Minglun was also present. Watching Zong Shijie's serious-sounding nonsense, he felt a little envious, then laughed it off, "Hahaha, Lao Zong, I find the way you seriously talk nonsense is actually quite funny..."

The group of them already knew in advance that Zong Shijie was going to be on television.

However, there were still quite a few people present who were unaware of this beforehand.

Everyone was quite surprised to see Zong Shijie on TV, and they all asked, "Zong Shijie, what are you doing on TV?" "Wow, you really sold a car for a dollar? That's amazing!" "Goodness, I've never been on TV before. By the way, what's it like being on TV? Were you nervous?"...

In an instant, Zong Shijie became the focus of the entire event.

This made Zong Shijie very happy; he thought to himself, "That money was totally worth it. If there's another chance like this, I'll do it again!"

In response to everyone's inquiries, he tried his best to answer: "It's nothing, I just did some simple charity work and then I was on TV. I didn't expect it, it was quite unexpected."

"I originally wanted to give that car away for free because it's for charity, but then I thought it wouldn't be right, it doesn't fit the theme of secondhand trading, so I'll just sell it for one dollar."

"It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous, but I found that, hey, my mind actually works better when I'm nervous. Maybe that's what they call a player who thrives under pressure?"...

As the group of people in the living room chatted animatedly, the television program continued, moving on to the part where they interviewed Zang Xuejiao.

Upon seeing that the person involved was also present, some people shifted their attention to Zang Xuejiao and started talking to her.

This made Zang Xuejiao feel comfortable, and she responded cautiously, sensing that she was gradually integrating into the circle, which made her very satisfied.

In my heart, I also felt grateful to my past self for not caring about what others might think and for bravely leaving the light on until the very end.

However, neither Zong Shijie nor Zang Xuejiao occupied a large proportion of the program today.

The two of them are more like a gimmick, a starting point.

As the interviews with the two of them were conducted, an artistic approach was used to build up suspense, creating a question in the minds of the audience: what about the program they kept mentioning, and what's the deal with Shen Kang?

Apart from Wei Minglun and a few others, most of the men and women in the living room did not recognize Shen Kang.

Seeing this now, they also developed a liking for the legendary Shen Kang.

After whetting the audience's appetite, the production team proceeded to interview Shen Kang.