Chapter 23
The school’s recruitment activities soon ended. Neither Jiang Huaisheng nor Gu Tang participated in the school’s welcome party performance.
Gu Tang didn’t like this kind of stage, and Jiang Huaisheng wasn’t interested. Compared to performing on stage and being watched like a monkey, he preferred to be the organizer behind the scenes.
The only one who performed from their three-person dorm was Ling Fengli. The red-haired young man, dressed in a military uniform, performed a nunchaku routine, earning cheers and applause. With his shining face under the lights and his unruly, flame-like red hair, he ended up on B University’s confession wall the next day.
Ling Fengli proudly showed off that day: “How was it? Wasn’t my nunchaku performance awesome?”
He didn’t ask Jiang Huaisheng, because Jiang Huaisheng definitely didn’t watch it.
But Gu Tang said indifferently: “I didn’t watch it.”
“Weren’t all freshmen required to attend? How could you not have watched it?!”
It was a welcome party, so all freshmen were required to watch the performances in the auditorium. Only a small number of talented student representatives could perform at the welcome party.
He had practiced for a whole month for today’s performance!
Gu Tang said: “I was looking for part-time jobs, I was looking at my phone the whole time.”
He wasn’t deliberately targeting Ling Fengli, he actually didn’t watch most of the performances.
Mainly because, according to his plan, four years of university was just a transition period. He majored in psychology, and other alumni wouldn’t be of much help to him.
Gu Tang was very willing to make friends when he was young, but as he grew older, he became more and more silent and less willing to spend energy on social interactions.
Friends would eventually part ways, and even the strongest friendships would fade. Moreover, he had to learn too many things during his studies. To learn them well, he had to put in effort for each one. Even though he was energetic, learning so many things was enough to occupy all his time.
Ling Fengli couldn’t stand him: “The college entrance exam is over, isn’t your philosophy department’s schedule very relaxed? You don’t have many classes, even more relaxed than our department.”
He entered as a sports special student, majoring in basketball. In track and field, he wasn’t as talented as Gu Tang, but with Gu Tang’s hard work and excellent academic performance, he didn’t need to rely on being a sports special student to get into B University.
Ling Fengli being able to arrange to live in the same dormitory with the two of them was, of course, because he had inquired about Gu Tang’s class schedule.
Moreover, it was just the beginning of the school year. Military training would start after the welcome party, and there was still some time before classes officially began. Gu Tang was being too anxious.
“Do you think everyone is as free as you?”
The other person typing on the computer was Jiang Huaisheng. He was dressed formally in a light gray business shirt and black suit pants, looking very much like a businessman.
Although Jiang Huaisheng was only eighteen years old, he had many companies under his name. When he was in high school, he didn’t have much time to focus on the companies, and much of the work had to be handled by professional managers.
He was now starting to rectify all the accumulated problems. He didn’t even attend the welcome party, having held an online meeting at the Siheyuan earlier.
He only came here to continue working because of the freshman registration and dormitory checks tonight.
For convenience, there was a desktop computer at Jiang Huaisheng’s desk, so he didn’t have to carry his heavy laptop back and forth.
Gu Tang wasn’t as wealthy as Jiang Huaisheng and didn’t have any businesses under his name, but he was also very busy.
He had many certificates to obtain in university, such as the National Computer Rank Examination Level 2 certificate, and various English and minor language certificates.
He had the skills, but in this era, having a certificate was more useful than demonstrating your skills every time.
Many certificates were previously unavailable to him because he was underage. He had to catch up on many things in a short period of time. Even if he didn’t need to spend too much effort studying the content of the exams, he still needed to understand the scope.
It was mainly to ensure success and avoid wasting time and money retaking them.
Now that he was in university, the philosophy department’s schedule was relaxed, but this didn’t mean Gu Tang could completely relax.
He was very busy and had also planned to audit many classes. After all, B University was full of talented people, and almost none of the professors were incompetent. Gu Tang wanted to attend many classes that interested him.
Ling Fengli complained, feeling the pain of being both excluded and pressured: “Alright, alright, busy, you’re busy, you’re all busy. Let’s see if you still have the energy to be busy after military training.”
“It’s just me, not ‘us’.” Gu Tang corrected, “Jiang Huaisheng doesn’t have to participate in military training.”
Many special cases were exempt from military training, such as having a broken leg, heart disease, or other special illnesses.
Although Jiang Huaisheng didn’t have heart disease, his blood disease was also troublesome. Firstly, his physical fitness couldn’t keep up with the average person’s level, and secondly, if he was injured during training, his wounds would be difficult to heal.
Considering Jiang Huaisheng’s health, and for the sake of the instructors, it was better for Young Master Jiang not to participate in military training.
Ling Fengli’s expression became even more complicated. Based on his understanding of Jiang Huaisheng, the other party would definitely appear during their military training, perhaps even mocking him smugly.
However, it turned out that Ling Fengli was overthinking. He kept looking around, earning a reprimand from the instructor: “What are you looking at? Step out, 20 push-ups.”
He didn’t see Jiang Huaisheng at all, let alone his mocking face.
The young master did come to the military training ground, deliberately passing by while wearing a thin sun-protective jacket, a mask, and sunglasses, and holding a parasol.
He had investigated the location of the Philosophy Department beforehand and accurately spotted Gu Tang in the crowd.
Gu Tang’s military posture was very upright. In this university dominated by northerners, his height of over 1.9 meters wasn’t the tallest, but Jiang Huaisheng felt that Gu Tang was the most handsome.
Some people were over two meters tall, but their build was too large, like giants. Some were close to two meters, but thin and lanky like bamboo poles. Unlike Gu Tang, whose figure was perfectly proportioned.
The school’s custom-made camouflage uniforms were a bit loose, but on Gu Tang, they didn’t look like a child stealing an adult’s clothes. The military training instructors always stood very straight, full of vigor, but Gu Tang was no less impressive.
As it turned out, the instructors weren’t blind either. Gu Tang was appointed as a temporary squad leader, demonstrating in the front row as a model for military training.
Jiang Huaisheng’s eyesight wasn’t worse than Gu Tang’s. He scanned the people training with Gu Tang and saw many girls, and even boys, giving Gu Tang heart eyes.
Of course, the boys were mostly envious and jealous. After all, being chosen as a model to demonstrate in the front, wearing a camouflage uniform and having such a handsome face, gave him priority in choosing a partner in university.
Jiang Huaisheng hadn’t taken these gazes seriously before. Outstanding people had many admirers, and he also had many pursuers. But now, seeing them made him particularly uncomfortable.
During his school years, Gu Tang was a model student, the kind who respected teachers, obeyed school rules and discipline, had strong athletic ability, good academic performance, and was excellent in all aspects.
So, at first, when he received love letters, Gu Tang would directly hand them over to the class teacher without even looking at them. After that, no one dared to write him love letters.
Actually, there were still some who did. After all, some students didn’t care about academic performance and enjoyed the challenge of conquering a tall and handsome student like Gu Tang.
But Jiang Huaisheng dealt with these people behind the scenes. His initial intention wasn’t to provide Gu Tang with a good learning environment, but simply because he couldn’t stand Gu Tang having the kind of life he yearned for.
Running freely on the playground, having a rebellious, youthful relationship, or being saved. He couldn’t have these things, so Gu Tang couldn’t either.
In some ways, Jiang Huaisheng regarded Gu Tang as his other half, they were two opposite sides of black and white.
He knew that even if he didn’t deal with those love letters, Gu Tang would never indulge himself during his studies. He was stubbornly adherent to the rules.
But now Gu Tang had graduated. Dating in university wasn’t considered puppy love, and the fact that he could propose such an absurd contract at the age of eighteen showed that Gu Tang was crazier than he thought.
Jiang Huaisheng knew that the more rigid and rule-abiding a person was, once they crossed that line, they might be crazier than anyone else.
Although he was standing under the sun, his heart felt like it was soaked in dark, thick, and sticky venom. Gu Tang’s contract stipulated not to expose their relationship, did he want to keep his options open and have a normal relationship in private?
He rationally knew that Gu Tang wasn’t that kind of person, but jealousy was irrational. He was a psycho, what did morals and ethics matter? When Gu Tang went crazy, he didn’t even care about his life, so what was face?
The two were actually quite far apart, but Jiang Huaisheng’s cold and oppressive gaze was too intense. Gu Tang glanced over and saw the young master’s face.
Although the other party was fully armed, his beautiful face completely covered by a sun hat, mask, and sunglasses, he could still tell it was Jiang Huaisheng at a glance.
Young Master Jiang, what was he up to again? Military training wasn’t comfortable. The first day was spent standing under the scorching sun, practicing standing at attention, at ease, or doing horse stance and goose-stepping. It didn’t actually teach anything useful, it was pure suffering.
“Gu Tang, demonstrate.”
Gu Tang retracted his gaze and performed an extremely standard goose-step.
After he finished demonstrating, he looked back at the original spot, but Jiang Huaisheng was gone.
Forget it, he didn’t want to guess what the young master was up to.
When Gu Tang returned to the dormitory after the day’s training, he was stared at by a pair of gloomy eyes.
“Where did you go after military training?”
Gu Tang wiped his sweat, he was in a hurry to take a shower: “The instructor asked us to stay for extra training, saying that we would be performing in the formation later.”
At the end of military training, there would be an inspection of the students’ training results, and there would be a parade.
“You really like showing off.” Jiang Huaisheng said sourly, “There will probably be many beautiful girls who like you then, are you thinking of dating one?”
Gu Tang was speechless: “What kind of person do you think I am? It’s you, our contract states that you can’t have anyone else, at least not during these four years.”
Although Jiang Huaisheng’s parents had a messy relationship, Gu Tang couldn’t accept the promiscuity of the upper class. Considering that Young Master Jiang was a member of the Jiang family, he had stipulated this in the contract.
“The contract only restricts me, not you.”
“Then we can add a clause.” Gu Tang said, “I’m not interested in that kind of thing.”
Jiang Huaisheng curled his lip: “Not even with boys.”
“I won’t be looking for anyone.” Gu Tang knew very well that he wasn’t mentally healthy. Even after separating from Jiang Huaisheng, he wouldn’t get married and have children like ordinary boys.
He didn’t seem to like men, but he wouldn’t enter into any romantic relationship with a woman just to have a seemingly happy family in the eyes of others.
As for children, because of his mother, Gu Tang couldn’t trust marriage or love.
There must be beautiful love in this world, but he wasn’t so lucky, destined not to receive that kind of pure love.
Gu Tang liked children, but he didn’t think he could be a good father. Perhaps one day, when he was ready, he would adopt a child from an orphanage.
Moreover, when he chose to be with Jiang Huaisheng, he felt that his body and mind were tainted. Crawling out of the abyss, he had stepped into another swamp. Someone covered in filth shouldn’t taint anyone else.
Gu Tang didn’t express his thoughts, but Jiang Huaisheng could see what he was thinking. He curled his lips sarcastically: “Hypocrite.”
“Whatever you say, can you move aside? I need to take a shower.”
He was covered in sweat, and Jiang Huaisheng not only didn’t mind, but also felt uncomfortable.
“Put this on.”
Jiang Huaisheng handed him a bracelet, the kind that could be used as a hair tie, a red string with two cute golden rabbits on it.
Usually, only girls wore this kind of bracelet. Gu Tang wasn’t an art student and didn’t have long hair, so he didn’t need this kind of thing.
“What is this?”
Jiang Huaisheng said with a blank expression: “Something to imply that you’re taken. Don’t worry, I won’t wear it, I won’t let the Jiang family misunderstand our relationship.”
Boys who wore small rubber bands on their wrists indicated they were taken. He wanted to use this to tie Gu Tang down, to declare his ownership.
