Chapter 144

Open-air dining tables, a blonde woman playing the guitar, the rich aroma of coffee.

Xiao Qi and her friends had their fill of food and drink and were about to take the bus when they passed through a student street and saw this shop.

There were books inside, music, steaks and coffee, but what was most eye-catching was the bunch of foreigners. At first glance it looked as if they had arrived in a foreign country.

There were just so many foreigners here, this was the first time Xiao Qi had seen so many with her own eyes.

These were probably all the foreign teachers from Enhua University. There were even a few children inside.

One was even in a baby carriage with golden blond hair, so beautiful.

Enhua University didn't recruit international students, but it was famous for having a lot of foreign teachers.

This scene in front of her made Xiao Qi feel it was very special. She even started looking forward to her upcoming classes.

After all, studying English yourself and learning from foreign teachers must feel completely different.

The bus stop wasn't far. After a short walk they arrived. Buses came every 5 minutes, just going back and forth between the new and old campuses. There were quite a lot of people, all young faces.

Enhua University was very prosperous.

The bus route went along the mountain, with the mountain on one side and the campus walls on the other, circling the school districts.

The speed wasn't fast. It felt like even the bus ride would take over 10 minutes.

Just from the student street of the new district to the student street of the old district, one yuan per person, you could directly tap your student ID card to pay.

The student card was usable almost everywhere on campus.

Back at the old district, there was still a stretch to walk from the student street back to the dorms. It still felt quite tiring.

When they arrived at the entrance to the dorm area, Chen Mier had them wait. She stood in front of a few big advertising boards, looking at the various messages posted there.

They were all campus notices:

"Student Union begins recruiting this weekend."

"Clubs recruiting new students!!"

"Campus Top 10 Singers competition sign-ups begin."

"New English corner added at Nanguan Building, welcome everyone to actively participate." It looked a bit like the bulletin board in a village.

It seemed rather official. The Student Union's notice even had the Student Union's seal stamped on the bottom.

Chen Mier read very carefully. Gossip collectors were really quite different. She was more sensitive to all kinds of information.

Xiao Qi felt this was something worth learning from. In high school, she had just focused on studying. She didn't participate in any activities and her relationships with classmates were just average. But focusing on studying hadn't meant she studied well.

Seeing others intimate with each other made her feel inferior. But in reality, you have to take the initiative in many matters. You can't expect others to pay attention to you and accommodate you as if you're the main character.

She had heard universities have student unions. Supposedly the student union at Enhua University was especially powerful. They had a whole building that was the student union building. Xiao Qi was quite curious. It was like a governing body between the students and teachers.

Comparatively, the school's teachers didn't manage anything. They just taught classes.

Things like lectures, parties, and other trivial matters were all supposedly organized by the student union.

And there were all kinds of clubs, she saw photography clubs, painting clubs, there was even golf, and horse riding...those seemed a bit distant. From young till now, she hadn't even seen a live horse before. There were cows and donkeys in her hometown, just no horses.

As for golf, she had only seen it on TV. It was too distant from real life.

The recruitment photo for the horse riding club was so beautiful, a pretty girl riding a horse, bold and unrestrained.

While the golf club recruitment showed a neat and tidy young man swinging a golf club.

Just like a celebrity.

Xiao Qi reined in her heart and looked elsewhere.

Then there was the campus Top 10 Singers competition. Xiao Qi saw the champion's prize money was 20,000 yuan...She had worked so hard training swimming, and when she finally competed and won the Jingnan Province 200m freestyle championship, the prize money was only 15,000 yuan. Yet the prize money for just a casual singing competition on campus was 20,000 yuan. Xiao Qi felt this was simply...

Really rich.

She had always been very proactive towards things like this where you could openly and justly earn money.

She looked more closely at the content. This competition was open to all teachers and students on campus. It was hosted by the voice club and co-organized by the Student Union. Any teachers or students on campus could sign up. Registration deadline: September 7th.

Xiao Qi read carefully. If you were selected for the Top 10, each person could get 3,000 yuan. First place got 20,000, second place 10,000, and third place 8,000.

She felt that even the smallest mosquito bite was still meat. Forget the champion, getting into the Top 10 shouldn't be a problem. 3,000 yuan could be used for a long time. She decided to sign up for this competition.

She then read the details about the English corner more closely, checking the specific times and locations.

The English corners in different classroom buildings had different schedules. The newly added one at the Nanguan Building was every Tuesday and Thursday. There would be at least two foreign teachers each time.

There were also pictures, looking a bit like in foreign TV shows, everyone sitting in a circle, each person would speak for a bit, then there could also be questions.

It looked rather interesting, free practice with foreign teachers. Quite rare--in Lvshan City if you wanted to find a foreigner to help you practice English, who knows how much it would cost.

At this time, Xiao Qi felt Enhua University wasn't bad. Although the tuition was expensive, it seemed there were also a lot of opportunities on campus. No wonder people highly evaluated Enhua University's high employment rate. If you spend four years at this kind of proactive school, finding a job later shouldn't be hard.

Also, your vision would change and your outlook would change. You would see opportunities everywhere. Students had high tolerance. There could be many chances to try and make mistakes. They didn't dare make mistakes now, it'd be even harder after entering society.

"Classmate, you should sign up for that Top 10 Singers," Chen Mier said. "When the time comes there will definitely be prize money. We can make you treat us to a meal with the prize money."

Wei Cheng also spoke quietly: "Xiao Qi, I think you can do it. Your singing voice is really nice."

Gu Yunshu didn't comment. She wasn't interested in money or going on stage in front of a crowd.

Xiao Qi nodded. "Sounds good. When I get the prize money, I'll treat you to hot pot."

Xiao Qi took a photo of the Top 10 Singer sign-up form, then carefully looked at the notice board again, wanting to see if there was anything about getting a driver's license. Sure enough she spotted one in the corner, an ad for a driving school. She also snapped a photo.

It really covered everything--introducing vegetable markets, imported cosmetics sellers, all were in the student street. Supposedly most of the businesses in the student street were being run by university students renting the spaces.

It was quite incredible.

There were ads for Japanese language classes, and not just Japanese. There was also French, Spanish. The addresses were all in the new district, probably because more foreigners lived in the new district.

Xiao Qi also photographed those. Although French and Spanish sounded advanced, it's bad to bite off more than you can chew. Focus on getting English and Japanese down first.

There was also some information relevant to their majors, like computer training. It really seemed there was nothing that wasn't covered. It touched on every possible aspect.

Xiao Qi photographed everything she was interested in, planning to make a schedule later on.

Back at the dorms, Gu Yunshu went to shower again. She loved being clean.

Chen Mier went off wandering other dorms. The only ones left in the dorm were Wei Cheng and Xiao Qi.

When Xiao Qi got back she began practicing her writing as usual. Practicing writing was the easiest way for her to settle her heart.

Wei Cheng felt somewhat distressed on the other hand. She saw how hardworking and proactive her roommate Xiao Qi was, yet when she herself got back and opened her books she didn't know what to read. She was also worried about living expenses. Her family was prepared to apply for a student loan, but when they asked about it during enrollment the teacher registering them said to first pay the money, then apply for the loan. It would be approved afterwards. Applying for student loans wasn't complicated and would be easily approved.

So she had to consider her own living expenses. Her siblings were also in school and with her high tuition, she definitely couldn't ask for more money at home for living expenses. But with the same amount, it seemed like it wouldn't be nearly enough to spend at this school.

Should she get a part-time job and wash dishes herself?

Wei Cheng didn't want to lose face. She felt it would be awkward if she met classmates while working. She had also seen the recruitment info when she looked at the bulletin board earlier.

Some were posted by individuals, some by the Student Union, some by clubs.

For example, cleaning the school's screening room also paid well, fifty yuan each time. That was a Student Union job, but supposedly there were many applicants and work wouldn't always be available.

There were many quantified jobs listed that clearly stated the pay, but Wei Cheng was still conflicted.

They had all been admitted to university and were the pride of heaven, so why did she have to worry about these things... She was very envious of her roommates, who seemed not to have any financial concerns.

When she arrived at the dormitory, she unconsciously felt that the backbone of the dormitory seemed to be Su Xiaoqi, and she also felt that Xiaoqi seemed to be the one most able to empathize with her, probably because Xiaoqi said her family was also from the village.

She saw Xiaoqi put down her writing brush and stand up to stretch lazily, and quickly asked, "Xiaoqi, what can I do if I want to work to support my studies?"

Xiaoqi was taken aback when she heard Wei Cheng ask her this question. She had actually thought about working to support her studies before too, but had only thought about it and hadn’t done anything. As students, they cared a lot about face, and as for herself now, she felt that she could use more time to study. At this age, they shouldn’t be busy making money, their brains were at their best at this age and studying was the way to maximize benefits. But each person’s situation was different.

"I just looked at the bulletin board for the work-study program, the jobs are quite time-consuming and the income is low. It would be quite difficult if you did it. Think about what special skills you have and we can start from there. I've decided to participate in the Top Ten Singers competition, I think this can also be considered a type of work-study program, the prize money is much higher than doing odd jobs."