Chapter 45: The Show-Offs

Page (1/3)

At this point, all Li Yan needed was a packet of sunflower seeds.

Sitting in front of his computer, he watched with great amusement. He had to admit, freshmen at every university were a remarkable bunch.

The latest message in the group came from a male student in the Class of 2023 Advertising Department.

**Advertising Department, Class of 2023:** “Are students allowed to park on campus? My family just rewarded me with a car, but I’m not sure whether the school allows us to park here.”

**[Image]**

Li Yan opened the picture and took a look.

Oh—a Mercedes-Benz C-Class. He had no idea which specific model it was.

After all, during that period, he had mostly been looking at supercars and the like. He knew very little about the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

Whether one wanted to say it or not, this student was clearly showing off. Still, his family was undeniably quite wealthy.

To buy their freshman son a car worth two or three hundred thousand yuan, the family would almost certainly have assets worth several million at the very least.

As the saying went, although the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was considered worthless on TikTok, in real life it was still a car that more than ninety percent of people could never hope to afford.

People were still joining the group at all hours. As for messages showing off cars, there was always a small chorus of people eager to play along.

“Holy crap! Rich bro!”

“A Mercedes C-Class?”

“That car’s only around three hundred thousand, right?”

“The school definitely allows parking, but you’ll probably have to apply for it.”

“...”

**Advertising Department, Class of 2023:** “Yeah, it came to about that much after all fees.”

Liu Ziyao had begged his father for more than two months before finally getting the car. It was a Mercedes-Benz C200 that had cost just under two hundred and seventy thousand yuan after all charges.

He had obtained his driver’s license early. His phone contained more than two hundred photographs of himself sitting in the driver’s seat, one hand on the steering wheel, deliberately exposing the three-pointed star emblem.

There were also photographs of him wearing sunglasses and sitting on the hood, the emblem visible between his legs.

There were even photographs of him standing beside the car, once again making sure the emblem was prominently displayed.

In any case, his social-media feed now contained six consecutive nine-photo posts.

Every single one consisted of a selfie or a photograph taken by someone else, with the car emblem clearly visible.

As for whether it was embarrassing?

Liu Ziyao did not feel embarrassed in the slightest.

At the very least, the girl he had pursued unsuccessfully during his senior year of high school had actually taken the initiative to message him after seeing the photographs on his feed.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

Liu Ziyao naturally knew that if he posted this car on TikTok or RedNote, all he would receive were comments calling it a piece of junk.

But posting it on his real-life social-media feed was an entirely different matter. It was incredibly effective.

As for the freshman group chat he had just joined at Sichuan University, he had already noticed that it contained quite a few exceptionally attractive female freshmen.

He could make a fairly accurate guess just by looking at their profile pictures.

Every now and then, some of them would post photographs to their personal pages as well, and Liu Ziyao practically drooled over them.

He hurriedly selected a picture of himself sitting in the car with one hand on the steering wheel and posted it in the group, casually asking whether students were allowed to park on campus.

Of course they were.

They merely had to complete a few procedures.

Liu Ziyao had already found out all of this long ago. So why ask again in the group?

If he did not ask, how could he post the photograph?

Liu Ziyao was no fool. He knew perfectly well how to show off without making himself look too desperate.

As for the people who had asked about American dollars and iPhones earlier, all he could say was that they were still far too amateurish.

How could their level compare with his?

At that moment, Li Yan was happily watching the innocent messages posted by the group’s various attention-seekers. He found it thoroughly entertaining.

Of course, after an entire afternoon of monetary promotion and attracting new members, the group had already grown to more than seven hundred people.

Qingning was busier than ever.

From time to time, she opened Li Yan’s social-media feed on her phone and looked through the photographs he had posted. There were no captions at all—only pictures from his travels.

There were also tiny icons representing luxury goods, so discreet that one had to search carefully to find them.

Wang Wen looked at the only selfie on Li Yan’s feed. He had taken it while sitting at what appeared to be a small tavern.

“He looks pretty handsome and clean-cut,” she murmured.

Qingning—whose real name was Wang Wen—was a local of Chengdu, the sort of Sichuan girl Li Yan often found himself missing.

She had fair skin and, in terms of appearance, could be considered a petite beauty.

The reason Li Yan had not paid her any particular attention before was simply that he had treated their interactions as strictly businesslike. It was only after seeing the photographs on her social-media feed that his attitude had changed.

Of course, life was not made up solely of romantic relationships. People could have friends as well.

Besides, Wang Wen was also in the Advertising Department, making her Li Yan’s classmate. On top of that, he had many plans he intended to put into action later. Naturally, he needed to recruit a group of junior helpers.

Wang Wen could be counted as one of them—though she would still need to be evaluated further.

As for the next candidate, Li Yan was looking at a friend request on QQ.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

“Great group owner, I’m a freshman in the Class of 2023 Advertising Department. I’m not a native of Chengdu, but I’m from Chongqing and often visit Chengdu, so I’m very familiar with the city!”

Not bad. This was none other than Liu Ziyao, who had just attracted the attention of a few people in the group.

Liu Ziyao felt that this freshman-group owner named Li Yan was probably somewhat wealthy.

After all, Li Yan had already sent seven or eight red packets worth one hundred yuan each in the group, something Liu Ziyao himself would never have been willing to do.

As for why he wanted to apply to become an administrator?

Naturally, it was for the female freshmen.

A Mercedes-Benz C200 had to be put to good use at university.

Li Yan’s requirements for administrators were not especially demanding. They simply had to be obedient.

He did not need people with minds of their own. That would make it inconvenient to carry out his plans later.

As for this applicant named Liu Ziyao, Li Yan approved his request.

Whether he liked showing off his wealth was not something Li Yan needed to consider. For the moment, he only wanted to find out whether the man could actually do any work.

As for whether he would remain obedient afterward, that was a matter for later.

Li Yan asked him a few basic questions and explained some of the administrator’s responsibilities. At first, he thought this freshman named Liu Ziyao would probably pass.

Unfortunately, he soon realized that Liu Ziyao’s intentions were much the same as his own.

He too intended to use the freshman group to hunt for targets.

The only pity was that, whether in terms of resources, social skills, or preparation, Liu Ziyao was still several levels below what Li Yan had already put together.

In the end, Li Yan rejected him.

It was not because Li Yan was stingy or feared that Liu Ziyao, having similar intentions, would steal his spotlight.

Rather, Li Yan had invested considerable thought into creating this freshman group, and it would be useful for some of his future plans.

Naturally, he could not allow a boy with designs on seducing women to become an administrator.

What if he started harassing the female freshmen?

Once word got out, the entire freshman group would be ruined, and Li Yan would suffer for it as well.

Li Yan stroked his chin and thought carefully for a moment.

It seemed that his original idea—that boys and girls were equally suitable as long as they could work—had been mistaken.

When a boy flirted with a girl, it was harassment.

But when a girl flirted with a boy?

The boy would probably be thinking: “Come on, come on! Slurp, slurp!”

It seemed he would have to continue recruiting female administrators.

Page (3/3)