mijobooks Chapter 68 To attain the right position, one must act righteously.
Chapter 68 To attain the right position, one must act righteously.
Around 5:30, the first day of military training finally ended. Everyone was exhausted and rushed to the canteen in groups to replenish their energy.
Zeng Cheng didn't have lunch with Yu Baiwei; instead, he ate with his roommates—which made the beautiful Yu a little upset, so she came over specifically to ask him for lunch.
But not eating with my roommates makes me seem like an outsider.
So Zeng Cheng compromised at dinner by inviting Shangyu Baiwei to sit at the same table with her roommates.
At the dinner table, Yu Baiwei would occasionally pick up food from Zeng Cheng's plate and eat it, and sometimes she would stuff the dishes she thought were delicious into Zeng Cheng's mouth.
Why wasn't she embarrassed in front of everyone?
Because a certain sect's holy maiden had a self-consistent logic—the search engine had clearly told her that good friends should share food with each other.
Wang Zicong, He Shuhuan, and Chen Yuliang were definitely dumbfounded, and felt another huge wave of disparity.
Zeng Laoliu is also toxic. Nobody forced you to eat with us. Wouldn't it have been better if the two of you had a separate table?
The cafeteria chef must be toxic, otherwise why would the food taste like dog food when I eat it?
There's another point that the three brothers don't understand.
These two are clearly so lovey-dovey, practically drooling over each other, yet they act like they're best friends, saying weird things like we're talking about friendship.
When Zeng Cheng returned to his dormitory, he was surrounded by Wang Zicong, He Shuhuan, and Chen Yuliang.
Wang Zicong: "Zeng Laoliu, you've clearly been in a relationship for a long time, but you're saying you've never been in one in your life?"
Chen Yuliang: "As the only one in our 606 who's found a partner, you have to treat us to a meal!"
He Shuhuan: "I really want to learn how to flirt with girls, Lao Liu, let's hurry up and publish a book!"
Zeng Cheng replied to each of them.
"Wang Laowu, are you deaf or blind? Didn't I make it very clear at dinner that Yu Baiwei and I are just good friends? Even if the King of Heaven himself came, we'd still be good friends. Does talking about friendship equate to being in a romantic relationship?"
"Chen Laosan, for the same reason, asked me to treat him to a meal or something—I can only say, anything is possible in dreams."
"Old He, handsome, I need to tell you so many times, I really don't know how to flirt with girls! You've seen it all these past few days, haven't you? It's all the girls flirting with me!"
Wang Zicong, He Shuhuan, and Chen Yuliang: "..."
The three brothers thought that Zeng Laoliu simply didn't want to treat them and took the opportunity to show off, but they had no evidence.
It's so annoying.
The next two weeks will be a monotonous, long, and arduous military training.
After about ten days, most people were tanned to a dark, muddy appearance.
I must briefly mention the weather over the past two weeks.
The sun shone twice in the past two weeks, once for seven days and once for seven days.
It's easy to imagine how badly the freshmen were exposed to the sun.
Zeng Cheng, who naturally has fair skin and is not easily tanned, has also become much darker.
Needless to say, Wang Zicong, He Shuhuan, and Chen Yuliang are all so dark-skinned they're practically unrecognizable, even to their own mothers.
The girls are slightly better off, as they take sun protection measures, but they are still much darker than when they entered the school.
The only exception is Yu Baiwei.
It's not that Yu Meiren didn't get tanned at all, but she really only got a little bit tanned, and you can't even tell unless you look closely.
Everyone else was darker than before, which made her look even fairer in comparison.
She's prettier than other girls, fine, but also fairer—who the hell can she complain to?
It's easy to imagine how ashamed the female students in the School of Economics must have felt in front of Yu Meiren over the past two weeks.
The senior students who were dogs didn't come to bring water again.
One reason is that the instructors also disliked them and kicked them out twice.
Secondly, after the first day of military training, everyone learned their lesson and knew to bring water, so even if someone carelessly forgot, they didn't have to worry about having water to drink.
In order to secure the position of class monitor, Qi Jiahao continued to go to great lengths, buying cold drinks for his classmates every day, and sometimes even ice cream.
Not to be outdone, Chen Yuliang borrowed 500 yuan from Wang Zicong when he didn't have enough for his own living expenses. When Qi Jiahao brought him cold drinks, he bought fruit; when Qi Jiahao treated him to ice cream, he bought fans for everyone.
The competition between the two was fierce from the very beginning, and it was brought out into the open.
Although the classmates enjoyed the benefits of the competition between the two, they still had their own grumblings in their hearts.
After all, no one truly likes someone who is overly ambitious.
They also won't genuinely appreciate those who flatter with overtly obvious ulterior motives.
When Qi Jiahao and Chen Yuliang tried various ways to please their classmates, they would always grab Zeng Cheng to help them.
These two were just delivering things, as if they were completing a task.
Zeng Cheng is different.
While delivering the supplies, he would chat with each person for a few minutes, asking if they had experienced any physical discomfort during military training, and emphasizing that they must tell the instructor if they felt unwell and not try to tough it out...
As a result, Zeng Cheng's classmates liked him far more than Qi Jiahao and Chen Yuliang.
However, Qi Jiahao and Chen Yuliang did not discover these things.
Firstly, Zeng Cheng's playing style was too subtle.
Secondly, they only have eyes for each other.
Time flew by and it was already the afternoon of the last day of military training.
The sun was still blazing hot.
After the two training sessions in the morning, the instructors asked everyone to perform a show, which served as a way of bringing this military training to a close.
This is when those multi-talented children have a stage to perform on.
For example, He Shuhuan picked up a guitar and sang Chen Chusheng's "Has Anyone Ever Told You," which attracted the attention of many girls.
Wang Zicong felt a pang of sadness.
[Damn, it's one thing to be no match for Zeng Laoliu, but He Laosi is starting to rise up too. When will it be my turn to show off properly?]
Suddenly, a cheer erupted.
Zeng Cheng looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was Mi Lai performing a dance.
Even after being bombarded by the stunning beauty of a certain supermodel, many boys are still staunch supporters of Mi Lai.
After all, that angelic girl from the Economics Department next door is too unattainable. Someone like Mi Lai, who is pretty but not super pretty, is a goal that can be reached with a little effort.
Mi Lai has some dance background; the way she swayed her waist made it seem as if she was creating ripples in the water.
Zeng Cheng glanced at it twice and then stopped looking.
To be honest, no matter how flirtatious Mi Lai is, she can't be as flirtatious as those borderline streamers of later generations.
Brother Cheng has seen it all, so he has a certain threshold for this.
Unlike Wang Zicong beside him, who looked like a lecherous man and was practically drooling.
After finishing her dance, Mi Lai specifically came to ask Zeng Cheng if she had danced poorly.
Zeng Cheng brushed her off, saying, "It's great, high and far!"
This is far too perfunctory.
Mi Lai said angrily, "Zeng, you've gone too far! I was doing ballet, not high jump or long jump!"
Zeng Cheng shrugged. "Mi Lai, what have I ever seen in ballet? All I know is Barrett, and CrossFire, you know? It's super popular lately!"
"..."
Mi Lai knew, of course, that Zeng Cheng was saying that on purpose.
She stomped her foot in anger and returned to the girls' area with a resentful look on her face.
In the ensuing talent show, each student displayed their unique abilities.
Zeng Cheng has also witnessed the diversity of human species.
Some can do the splits, some can do somersaults, and some can even spray water from their noses, reaching three meters high.
A skinny boy from the next class performed a catwalk routine. His posture was more than just flamboyant; his eyes were simply alluring. It was like a classic Sichuan opera performance from many years in advance.
So Lu Xun was right—when men get flirtatious, women have nothing to do with it.
Zeng Cheng did not perform.
But I also felt a bit emotional.
This is probably what they mean by "just like young students, full of vigor and vitality".
After the military training officially ended, Zeng Cheng went to the library.
Yang Xiuer was already waiting for him.
Zeng Cheng was startled.
"Senior Xiuer, you've probably been indulging in wine and women for the past two weeks, haven't you? How come you look so haggard?"
"Junior, I don't drink."
"That means you were hurt by lust... cough, I can understand. You're already amazing to be alive after looking at dozens of gigabytes of pictures!"
"Junior, how dare you say that? This counts as a work injury, doesn't it?"
"Yes, definitely! I'll give you 500 yuan for nutrition later, let's make up for it properly!"
After a few lighthearted banter, the two got down to business.
Zhongzhong.com's main framework is a copy of Renren.com, but Yang Xiuer made many differentiated designs according to Zeng Cheng's requirements.
The first step is registration.
Renren.com's real-name registration system for campus social networking is both a unique feature and a constraint.
Zhongzhong.com abandoned this approach.
Real-name registration may seem like a gimmick in the short term, but it will become a constraint in the long run.
In addition, interest tags and dynamic topics were added to the Renren.com template.
In 2009, algorithmic recommendation systems were still immature, but they could be simplified to push relevant content based on user interest tags.
After all, Zhang Yiming will be able to create Toutiao in two years.
In other words, even in 2009, there was no technological barrier to big data push, it was just not that accurate—this could be gradually optimized and improved as the technology was continuously iterated.
Yang Xiuer also made a simplification of Renren.com's terrible UI design according to Zeng Cheng's requirements.
At the same time, it also emphasized the forum aspect—a point that clearly drew inspiration from Zhihu, a later platform.
As for Xiaohongshu's community-driven product recommendations and UGC content, Weibo's real-time trending topics and celebrity influence, and Toutiao's content aggregation...
We will definitely add more gradually in the future.
But there's no need for that now.
Too much to chew.
Based on these optimizations and improvements, in a fair competition environment, Zhongzhong.com would be able to crush Renren.com.
Chen Yizhou is currently planning Renren.com's IPO with great ambition.
He certainly never imagined that he had long been targeted by a young, cunning old fox who was preparing to dismantle Renren.com's core business and crush him on the beach.
"Junior, when will our Zhongzhong.com be in closed beta?"
Perhaps because Zeng Cheng is generous and doesn't give bad advice, Yang Xiuer has now developed a sense of belonging to Zhongzhong.com, which is why she said "us".
"It's already available for closed beta testing?"
"There aren't any major technical issues."
"Awesome!"
Zeng Cheng gave a thumbs up.
He doesn't understand technology, but he respects it.
They made so many demands on Yang Xiuer, and the time was very tight.
Yang Xiuer, with her team of only ten people, was able to accomplish a great job.
It's impossible to meet the requirements 100%, but it's always possible to achieve 70% or 80%.
Where she couldn't reach the destination, she also took full advantage of her initiative to provide alternative solutions.
Before coming, Zeng Cheng had planned to thoroughly manipulate Yang Xiuer.
After seeing the results, he changed his mind and started showering Yang Xiuer with compliments.
Such an SSR programmer must be won over!
Yang Xiuer was actually somewhat intimidated by Zeng Cheng.
How wild is this kid's style?
How could someone who dares to spend millions to start a website while only a freshman, and who constantly pushes the boundaries of legality and criminal activity, be a pushover?
At this moment, Zeng Cheng acknowledged her efforts and showered her with compliments, finally putting Yang Xiuer's mind at ease.
"Junior, after we get back, I'll lead everyone in doing load testing and security testing before the internal beta... It'll probably take... three days?"
"I'll give you five days. I also need to get the server sorted out."
On the afternoon of the same day that military training ended, under the organization and arrangement of counselor Yan Guodong and class assistant Zhong Lingyu, Class 1 of Finance found a lecture hall to hold class officer elections.
The most valuable class officer is undoubtedly the class monitor, who is essentially the executive vice counselor, and the election is the first step.
"Classmates, after spending this time together, I believe you've all gotten to know each other quite well. You all have a sense of which classmates are dedicated, which have a strong sense of teamwork, and which are happy to serve others. You all have your own judgment on these things..."
After saying a few platitudes, Yan Guodong waved his hand, signaling students who wanted to run for class monitor to come up on stage and give speeches.
Many eyes were on Qi Jiahao and Chen Yuliang.
It was an open secret that these two wanted to be class monitor.
They certainly have the ability.
Even if other students had the desire, they felt they were not capable of competing with these two.
Amidst many gazes, Qi Jiahao straightened his chest, looking confident of victory.
Chen Yuliang snorted coldly.
Compared to Qi Jiahao, who came from a family with a strong academic background, he was ultimately lacking and couldn't really compete with him.
But now that we've come this far, we can't afford to lose our spirit, no matter what.
Chen Yuliang was the first to go on stage.
He delivered a long and impassioned speech, feeling he had exceeded his usual standard, but unfortunately the applause from the audience was not enthusiastic.
His expression turned listless, and he stepped off the stage looking quite dejected.
"You think you can compete with me with this?"
Qi Jiahao sneered inwardly, but his expression remained gentle as he slowly walked onto the stage and began his speech.
His speech was clearly more sophisticated than Chen Yuliang's.
It provides a macro-level explanation.
If he becomes the class monitor, he will do his best to serve everyone, be the counselor's little helper, and the students' little servant, leading the Finance Class 1 towards a bright future.
And it has also been put into practice.
He said he had already prepared a course selection guide in advance, and he would distribute it to everyone later, regardless of whether he could become the class monitor.
As Zhong Lingyu listened, she thought to herself that this student named Qi Jiahao was indeed very outstanding, and it was likely that he would become the class monitor of Finance Class 1.
Yan Guodong also showed a rather satisfied expression, clearly liking Qi Jiahao, this student who was particularly good at getting things done.
At this moment, Zhong Lingyu glanced at Zeng Cheng.
Judging from Zeng Cheng's ulterior motives in his remarks at the freshman orientation meeting, he clearly also had his eye on the class monitor position, but Zeng Cheng did nothing during this period.
If he neither tries to please his classmates nor tries to gain Yan Guodong's attention, how can he compete with Qi Jiahao?
Thinking about all this, Zhong Lingyu couldn't help but frown.
Zeng Cheng doesn't seem like someone who lacks initiative.
To Zhong Lingyu's surprise, Qi Jiahao's excellent speech did not receive much applause.
Yan Guodong didn't think that much about it.
He was in charge of six classes, and his understanding of the Finance Class 1 was far less than that of Zhong Lingyu, the class assistant.
In his opinion, both Qi Jiahao and Chen Yuliang were good at getting things done, and either of them would be suitable to be the class monitor.
Yan Guodong then waved his hand and directly announced that a vote should be taken by raising hands.
The result was very unexpected.
Of the more than fifty students in the Finance Class, only twelve chose Chen Yuliang, and Qi Jiahao had a slightly higher number, but still no more than twenty.
"What happened?"
Yan Guodong was somewhat bewildered.
This situation has never occurred in other classes.
However, I'm too lazy to investigate further—it's better to avoid trouble.
Just as they were about to announce Qi Jiahao's election, Zhong Lingyu spoke up: "Teacher Yan, should we ask the other students if they have any ideas?"
Yan Guodong choked for a moment.
【Xiao Zhong, aren't you deliberately causing me trouble?】
However, he didn't dare say that.
Little Zhong's uncle is someone important; how could he possibly afford to offend him?
"Well, Xiao Zhong, what you said makes sense. Does anyone else have any ideas?"
Why did Zhong Lingyu add this extra comment here?
Because she noticed that Zeng Cheng was subtly winking at her.
So why didn't Zeng Cheng just jump out and choose?
First, you must eat properly!
He and Qi Jiahao were high school classmates, and he was also roommates with Chen Yuliang.
Since we see each other all the time, we should give each other a way out.
Second, one must be in the right position!
Throughout history, which usurper hasn't gone through the ritual of three refusals and three offers of power upon ascending to the throne?
I didn't want to be the class monitor myself; it was only because my classmates all wanted me to be the class monitor that I reluctantly took on the responsibility. In that situation, I, Niu Gulu, could even recite poetry.