America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

On the first day of the new semester, Chen Yuan drove his Corolla to the USC School of Life Sciences.

While many American universities, like those in China, require students to live on campus, USC does not have such a mandatory requirement.

In addition, the south campus of the school is not far away, so Chen Yuan can still drive home every day.

He parked his car in the student-only parking lot and turned around to find that many small stalls had been set up in the nearby open space.

Most of them are second-hand items, such as used mobile phones, game consoles, and even mini projectors.

Of course, the largest quantity consists of various books and textbooks.

Most of these vendors are senior students in their third or fourth year of university.

Although USC students generally come from well-off families, some will always try to earn some pocket money through various means.

Chen Yuan is financially well-off now, so he doesn't have that need.

But just as he was about to leave, he spotted a familiar figure.

It was Su Nian!

Su Nian was standing in front of a secondhand book stall set up by an older student, arguing seriously with a white girl about something.

"We don't want these books anymore, let's give her our money back!"

The white girl sitting in the folding chair opposite rolled her eyes, looking displeased.

"She's already asked the price and paid, and now you're saying you don't want it? Are you trying to cause trouble?"

Su Nian shook her head, bluntly exposing the other party's trick on the spot:

"The access codes for these books of yours have all expired. Even if they're half price, it won't be of any use to her."

As is well known, the tuition at USC, a private university, is quite expensive, approaching $10 a year.

In addition to tuition fees, the mandatory purchase of new textbooks each semester is also a huge expense.

In particular, the textbooks for the School of Journalism and Communication are of many different types. If you buy all the new books, it will cost at least $1000 per semester!

So every new semester, many upperclassmen set up stalls on campus, advertising "low-priced second-hand books" to attract international freshmen who are short on cash and want to save on living expenses.

But this hides a huge scam.

The textbooks used by USC all have a "unique access code" attached to the back cover, which allows students to practice questions online to earn credits.

Students must enter their access code when submitting coursework in order to earn credits.

In other words, if you buy old textbooks whose access codes have already been used, it's like wasting your money.

Su Nian was naturally aware of the intricacies involved, but the petite girl beside her seemed unaware of them.

Seeing the aggressive look on the girl's face, Su Nian's friend stood there, pale and somewhat panicked.

Su Nian's expression also stiffened, but she still argued her case forcefully:

"The old textbooks don't have access codes, so they're no different from printed reference materials for students, yet you're selling them for $200 each."

The older girls, seeing their scam exposed, weren't embarrassed at all; instead, they arrogantly declared:

"The textbooks in my bookstall are clearly priced at $200, and there's no guarantee the access code will work. She paid without even asking, what's it to you?"

As she spoke, the girl raised her chin and asked fiercely:

"Are you first-year international students in the School of Journalism and Communication? Since you're here at USC, you should follow the rules!"

As soon as the girl finished speaking, another calm voice came from beside him:

"Tell me, what are the rules at USC?"

The girl turned her head in surprise, only to find another Chinese student with black hair and black eyes, wearing a casual suit. She immediately showed a look of disgust.

"And who are you, international student? Don't interfere!"

Chen Yuan didn't immediately respond to the other party's provocation. He merely glanced at the top of her head and immediately saw the red information panel:

[Target: Angela, 21 years old, junior at USC's School of Journalism and Communication]

[Recent criminal acts: During the start of the semester, dozens of textbooks with invalid access codes were sold at the school's secondhand market. In disputes over transactions, the perpetrators used the pretext of "no refunds or exchanges for secondhand books" to verbally threaten new students who demanded refunds, illegally profiting several thousand US dollars in total.]

He glanced down at the small sign in front of the secondhand stall, which read: "Half-price textbooks, including access code."

Clearly, the petite girl next to Su Nian had done her homework and knew to buy textbooks with access codes.

However, this junior female student named Angela did not indicate that the access code had already been used and was no longer valid.

Playing these word games is undoubtedly pure fraud.

It is those international students who, fearing trouble and ostracization at school, choose to swallow their anger.

However, Chen Yuan had no such concerns and said directly:

"All the access codes for these textbooks you sold are probably invalid now, right?"

The girl named Angela's expression grew increasingly grim, and she immediately raised her voice:

"I didn't guarantee that the access code inside would work! That's how it is with secondhand books. You newbies don't understand USC's rules, so you should go back to your hometown and not interfere with our business."

Su Nian, who was standing to the side, had initially breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing Chen Yuan arrive, but seeing the girl start to act unreasonably, she couldn't help but say:

"Since your code doesn't work, just refund the money. We don't want your old books either."

Angela finally managed to trick a sucker, so how could she willingly spit out the meat she had already eaten?

His face darkened, and he said fiercely:

"If you international students continue to act so unreasonably, I will notify the academic affairs office."

Su Nian's friend's face turned pale again, clearly wanting to back out.

However, Chen Yuan looked at the other person and calmly smiled:

"Great, that's exactly what I was planning to report to the academic affairs office. From yesterday to today, you've sold 20 old textbooks with invalid access codes, and all the victims were first-year international students from this university. Am I right, Angela Pattinson?"

Seeing the other person's eyes widen instantly, Chen Yuan continued to deliver the finishing blow with ease:

"If the administrative office finds out what you've done, it could very well damage the school's international reputation. Guess what they'll do then?"

Seeing Chen Yuan's ambiguous smile, Angela couldn't help but shiver.

Selling outdated textbooks with invalid code is a matter that can be serious or minor. Even if caught, schools usually just settle things privately and turn a blind eye.

But if a dozen or so victims collectively cause trouble, or even if the incident is posted on social media...

Angela will definitely face sanctions from the school.

Moreover, due to the argument between the group, many students around them had already noticed them.

Angela swallowed hard and gritted her teeth, saying:

"Fine! I guess I'm just unlucky!"

As she spoke, she took out two hundred dollars from her wallet and stuffed it into the petite girl's hand. Then she began to pack up her bookstall, clearly not intending to stay any longer.

[Ding! Detected that the host successfully used private information to intimidate a part-time female college student. Villain points reward: 10.]

Seeing that the other party had admitted defeat, Chen Yuan didn't bother to get involved in her deceiving other international students. He turned to Su Nian and asked:

"Is this your classmate?"

Su Nian nodded, then pointed to the petite girl beside her:

"This is Wang Xiaoying from China; she's in the same major as me."

Seeing that Chen Yuan also spoke Mandarin, Wang Xiaoying assumed he was an upperclassman international student and quickly said:

"Thank you so much, senior! I wasn't planning on buying the used textbooks, but the price she quoted was so cheap, so I asked. I never expected this..."

Chen Yuan waved his hand dismissively: "There are quite a few international students like you who get scammed by seasoned veterans every year. You can discuss anything with Su Nian. Although she doesn't talk much, she's very thoughtful."

Hearing this praise, Wang Xiaoying looked at Su Nian with envy, then suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"Xiao Su, is this your boyfriend? He's really amazing; he scared that conman away with just a few words."

Su Nian blushed and was about to explain when suddenly another voice sounded in her ear:

"If you need old textbooks, I do have some connections."

The three turned their heads to look, only to see that the speaker was also a boy with black hair and black eyes, wearing black-rimmed glasses.

Although his Mandarin is not very standard, he speaks slowly and his pronunciation is very clear.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and said:

"Adrian Lyne? You have secondhand textbooks?"

The boy pushed up his glasses, nodded, and smiled:

"And it's the kind of access code that hasn't been used before, but it's a little more expensive than regular second-hand textbooks."