I suggest you investigate; this person doesn't seem to be a first-time reborn individual.

A few minutes later, he seemed to be fully awake. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then tried to sit up by supporting himself on his elbows.

My arms were shaking, and I couldn't hold on at all.

Wang Anlin and Cao Feng then realized what was happening and quickly stepped forward to help him up, one on each side, and shakily helped him back to his chair.

Niu Liangyou was pale, and his forehead and neck were covered in sweat, as if he had just finished running a marathon.

The waiter heard the commotion and came in, only to be stunned by what he saw.

"It's nothing," Li Jinhui waved to her, "I just tripped and fell. Could you please get me a hot towel?"

The waiter returned quickly with a hot towel.

Niu Liang slowly wiped his face, his hands still trembling, his head down, not looking at anyone.

The private room was deathly silent. The dishes were still steaming, but no one touched their chopsticks.

Chen Lei's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Li Jinhui, wanting to ease the tension, said, "How about..."

"I..." Niu Liangyou said at the same time, his eyes filled with unbearable pain, "I'll go back and rest first."

"Hey, you, Soy Sauce guy." Lin Ran's voice suddenly rang out.

"You're smoking with quite a rhythm, aren't you?"

The group stared wide-eyed at Lin Ran in disbelief.

Li Jinhui frowned slightly, feeling that Lin Ran had gone a bit too far in joking about such a thing.

"Brother Ran... what does 'soy sauce' mean?" Ding Caifa asked Lin Ran in a low voice, looking bewildered.

"Oh," Lin Ran mimicked Niu Liangyou's twitching motion, his hand holding the chopsticks trembling slightly. He smiled, his tone full of ease and teasing:

"Because he smokes a lot."

The air froze again.

Li Jinhui frowned slightly, feeling that Lin Ran had gone a bit too far in joking about such a thing.

Niu Liangyou raised his head.

He looked into Lin Ran's eyes, and there was no sympathy, no caution, and certainly no "care" that he had long since grown tired of.

It's all about equality and banter, just like all the nicknames boys give each other.

Then, Niu Liangyou smiled.

It wasn't a polite smile, nor a wry smile, but a wide grin that revealed a set of white teeth.

"Get lost, you're the one who's a jerk!" He pointed at the glass in front of Lin Ran. "Punish yourself with a drink!"

Lin Ran scoffed, picked up the wine glass that had been knocked over in front of Niu Liangyou, and poured him a full glass.

"Nonsense, you'll have a drink with me!"

The two cups clinked together, making a crisp sound.

The two were like old friends who had known each other for many years.

He drank it all in one gulp.

The tense atmosphere on the table seemed to melt away instantly with the downing of that glass of wine.

Ding Facai was the first to react, slamming his hand on the table: "Soy Sauce! That's a good nickname! Niu Liangyou, Niu Liangyou... from now on, I'll call you Soy Sauce!"

"Brother Soy Sauce," Chen Lei also came to his senses, "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to."

"It's nothing." Niu Liangyou waved his hand, looking nonchalant. "Even I don't know when I started having this attack. Eat your vegetables, or they'll get cold."

As Li Jinhui watched this scene, his brows gradually relaxed.

He picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and lingered on Lin Ran for a few more seconds.

This kid is interesting.

-----------------

It seems that the boys get along particularly quickly. The group of guys who met for the first time today were already walking back arm in arm after just one meal.

Li Jinhui slowed his pace, waiting for Lin Ran to walk to his side, and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Lin Ran, want to chat for a bit?"

Lin Ran understood and glanced at Ding Facai and Zhao Feiyu, who were arguing about "why butts are whiter than faces".

He retorted, "You'll see when you put your underwear on your face."

He then walked aside with Li Jinhui.

"Lin Ran, have you ever considered becoming the class monitor?"

Lin Ran shook his head decisively without the slightest hesitation: "No interest."

The refusal was swift and decisive, without even asking why.

Li Jinhui was somewhat surprised. The position of class monitor was quite attractive to most freshmen.

He had expected Lin Ran to consider it and ask questions, but he never expected Lin Ran to refuse so decisively.

"Why?" Li Jinhui asked, "Too much trouble?"

"Yes," Lin Ran admitted frankly.

"Brother Hui, let's be frank. The things the class monitor does, like collecting forms, organizing class meetings, relaying notices... a whole bunch of mundane tasks."

"I have limited time; I have more important things to do."

"More important things?" Li Jinhui raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Making money." Lin Ran exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone calm. "Of course, and studying too. I love studying."

Li Jinhui was taken aback by Lin Ran's bluntness, then chuckled, "You really are..."

He was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Have you heard of the National College Student Entrepreneurship Competition?"

Lin Ran nodded, wondering how the topic had suddenly shifted to this, and waited for Li Jinhui to continue.

"This competition is hosted by our school, and our school has always been among the top in terms of performance in previous years."

"Winners not only receive prize money, but also have direct access to venture capital firms and incubators outside the university."

He looked at Lin Ran: "If you want to start a business, you shouldn't be uninterested in this competition, right?"

Lin Ran's eyes lit up. He wasn't interested in the entrepreneurship competition; he was just thinking about something else.

He lacks a startup team.

This competition is an excellent opportunity to screen and observe potential partners.

"Sounds pretty good." Lin Ran nodded slightly. "What stage are we at now?"

"The on-campus defense is this week." Li Jinhui shook his head. "Unfortunately, if you want to participate now, it's too late; the registration period has long since passed."

"Can I sit in on the defense?" Lin Ran asked casually, "Just to learn something."

Li Jinhui pondered for a moment, then shook his head at Lin Ran again.

"I'm afraid that won't work. Besides the participants, only the teachers in charge of the competition from each college can attend the defense, unless you can get a teacher to take you."

He paused, then added, "The teacher in charge of our college is Wang Lijun, who is also the vice dean of the School of Economics. He's very busy, and it's usually difficult to get an appointment with him."

Lin Ran pondered for a long time, thinking about how he could get in touch with this teacher.

"However," Li Jinhui changed the subject, his words clearly carrying a persuasive tone, "if you become the class monitor, then it will be a different story."

"How so?"

"In addition to overseeing the college's entrepreneurship competition, Dean Wang is also responsible for the college's 'industry-university cooperation platform'."

"If you, as the class monitor, represent the entire class to participate in the company visit and learning, that is a perfectly legitimate reason, and Dean Wang, as the leader in charge, has an obligation to support you."

"As for how to get him to take you to sit in on the entrepreneurship competition defense after you've made contact, that's up to you."

Lin Ran fell silent again, his mind racing with calculations.

Being a class monitor means a lot of time investment and being bogged down in trivial matters, which seems to conflict with his plans.

However, attending an entrepreneurship competition is indeed an excellent opportunity to find partners.

Moreover, a figure like Wang Lijun has access to a great deal of school resources. If one could take this opportunity to make contact with him, one might be able to obtain a lot of school policies.

Seeing that Lin Ran was very eager to attend the meeting, Li Jinhui didn't urge him, and said calmly:

"It is said that the level of the teams in the school this year is very high, and there are also many venture capital teams from outside the school among the judges."

"The entrepreneurship competition is held only once a year. If you miss it this time, you'll have to wait until next year."