One hundred, two hundred... Qin Guan counted the bills by spitting on his fingers. My fingers are too dry, I might as well wet them with my spit...Six thousand nine hundred, seven thousand... Seven thousand? Why seven thousand? One hundred, two hundred... It was seven thousand! Qin Guan counted the bills again.

　　It should have been 10,000 yuan. Why did I only get 7,000? He suddenly recalled Sister Xue's expression when she had handed him the envelope. She had looked satisfied to him. Right, she must have felt great about taking 3,000 yuan for handling fees!

　　Several days ago, Qin Guan had generously given Sister Xue 600 yuan. At the time, he had said that it was handling money, but Sister Xue had said it was charity.

　　So 600 yuan was charity, yet 3,000 yuan was not? That exploiting Sister Xue! Crying, Qin Guan fell on his bed. 3,000 yuan were gone! His fate was decided. Forget it. I'll just cry myself to sleep.

　　The new term began in autumn. Cheris.h.i.+ng their dreams, young boys and girls stepped onto the campus of the colleges they wanted to attend. The bustling crowd and the parents coming in in great numbers had no influence on Qin Guan, who had been defrauded by his roommates.

　　The day after the compet.i.tion, his roommates had returned to college, fighting with each other. As an honorable cadre of the Students Union, Ye Dong's priority was looking after his roommates.

　　What should the Students Union do to strengthen the brilliant image of our university and provide freshmen with better services? Please shout with me! Serve the people!

　　At the end of the summer, amid intense heat, Qin Guan was forced by Ye Dong to pick up freshmen from the railway station. It was an honorable, but tedious task.

　　If he had been a.s.signed to guide freshmen around the campus or serve at the reception, Qin Guan wouldn't have complained. Sending him to the Capital Railway Station to pick up freshmen was senior oppression though. Their ulterior motive was to prevent Qin Guan from attracting all the junior female students with his charm. As a result, he was a.s.signed the most time-consuming, painstaking task.

　　Three days before the new term began, there had to be staff at the reception of the railway station 24 hours a day. Several groups of students and tutors were on duty on eight-hour s.h.i.+fts.

　　Qin Guan was in charge of the morning s.h.i.+ft, when the workload was the heaviest. He and w.a.n.g Lei were in the same group. His eldest brother was fascinated by paperwork.

　　They wore their student uniforms to impress the parents and promote the image of the college, as well as the beauty of the city. This creative idea had been the princ.i.p.al's, who had remembered that a batch of school uniforms had been made. He had asked Secretary Liu to find the uniforms and use them to promote the image of the university.

　　Following the princ.i.p.al's directions, Secretary Liu along with Grandpa Zhang, the inventory keeper, had taken the stock out. The students of the Public Relations Department had almost collapsed under the weight of the uniforms.

　　The fas.h.i.+onable royal blue khaki pants, white long-sleeved s.h.i.+rts and warrior shoes gave off an honorable 1960s vibe.

　　They also wore red scarves on their chests. We love our hometown.

　 As Qin Guan and w.a.n.g Lei left their dormitory in their uniforms, Liu Xiaoyang was laughing so hard that he fell on the floor. The two of them reminded him of Xiao Ming and Xiao Hua [1]. Surrounded by the students of the whole dormitory, the two fellow martyrs got on a shuttle bus headed for the Capital Railway Station.

　　Several shuttle buses were carrying freshmen between the college and the railway station. Qin Guan and w.a.n.g Lei had been a.s.signed to help the tutors.

　　When they arrived at the reception, the students there were busy with work. The students in charge of guidance were running around sweating, and those holding the poster of the university felt like they would suffer from varicose veins. They let out a relieved sigh when they saw the a.s.sistants arrive. We are exhausted from work!

The seniors, who were carrying luggage for younger girls on campus were smiling to themselves. Don't make the same mistake we did. As soph.o.m.ores, we were exploited by seniors, so now we're playing the same trick on soph.o.m.ores ourselves. You might think yourself a prince, but we have our own way of defeating you. We'll make you lose points before lovely girls and make a bad first impression. We sure love the princ.i.p.al. That uniform does indeed harm one's appearance!

　　That's what the seniors were thinking, but they were bound to lose all hope when they saw Qin Guan. Reality was cruel, and Qin Guan's appearance was still unbeatable.

Anyone wearing loose pants and a shabby s.h.i.+rt would have been reduced from an eight to a six. However, Qin Guan had upgraded the uniform to an eight. With his long legs and slim waist, Qin Guan was confident about his style. The uniform looked casual on his body.

　　Qin Guan and w.a.n.g Lei carried a small table to the square to set up a simple reception desk by the entrance. Some people who had been squatting there stood up and walked over.

　 "Hey, young man. Do you know the rules here?" their leader asked Qin Guan.

　 "What rules?" Qin Guan had no idea what he meant. Is there a new policy in the railway station? Or is there a regulation for picking up freshmen?

　　"All small hotels have their own turf. Understand?"

　　"They seem like green hands. Who sent you here without making sure you knew the rules first?"

　　"You were about to set up a table here. Weren't you afraid you'd be caught by the administrative staff?"

　　"That's it! Go squat over there and learn something useful first..."

　 They had mistaken Qin Guan and w.a.n.g Lei for compet.i.tion. Their uniforms made them look like hotel idlers looking for customers. Qin Guan had failed to notice that about his appearance. Actually, if they had been at the railway station looking for customers, they would have dressed neatly.

　　It was nonsense that beautiful people looked beautiful even in trash bags. People had to pay attention to their looks. The men were trying to persuade them kind-heartedly, when w.a.n.g Lei silently took out a large plate with the college's name on it and set it on the table.

Notes

[1] Two fictional characters often appearing in middle school textbooks.