Chapter 55 Only a fool would go

"What should we do? Should we call Sun Hao and Han Xu back?" Ma Xiaoshuai asked in a deep voice.

Wu Di shook his head. "It's too late."

"Besides, the two of them are too honest. Even if they come, they might not be of much help."

"Let's go down and see what these people actually want."

"Let's go."

Before stepping out the door, Luo Wenjie quietly grabbed a beer bottle from the balcony and stuffed it inside his clothes.

Downstairs at the dormitory building.

When Chen Fan and the other three stepped outside, they happened to run into the group from the barbecue stall chatting with Tian Yuan.

They actually knew each other?

Chen Fan frowned, wondering if Tian Yuan had deliberately called these people over.

"Oh? Wu Gang, the people you're looking for wouldn't happen to be them, would they?" Tian Yuan, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, asked with a cheerful smile when he caught sight of Chen Fan.

The person called Wu Gang was the guy in the Adidas tracksuit who had deliberately picked a fight at the barbecue stall that night.

"You know them?"

"I do. Just some freshies from our department."

Wu Gang turned his head. "Tian Yuan, you wouldn't be thinking of standing up for them, would you?"

Tian Yuan quickly waved his hand. "Rest assured. My relationship with them isn't nearly that good."

"I'm purely just passing by today. I'm only here to watch the show, not meddle."

Only then did Wu Gang nod, casting his gaze upon Chen Fan and the other three.

"Hah, wouldn't you know, they actually had the guts to come down."

Wu Di spoke first, "I didn't expect you to actually come looking for us either."

Luo Wenjie sneered, "You only dared to show up now—what took you so long? Were you getting your stomach pumped at the hospital all night?"

The remark hit Wu Gang right where it hurt, and his old face instantly darkened with embarrassment.

"You little punk, feeling pretty arrogant, aren't you?"

The group of buddies behind him also began to sneer coldly.

"Tsk tsk, young people these days are something else. Just made it to freshman year and already trying to turn the world upside down."

"Looks like it's necessary to teach them a lesson and let these fellows know the rules."

Seeing the two sides standing on the verge of a fierce conflict, ready to throw punches at any moment:

"Stop right there!"

A furious roar suddenly echoed from afar.

Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.

"Damn it, it's campus security."

Wu Gang glared in their direction with a livid expression.

"Kid, consider yourself lucky."

"If you really have any guts, tonight at the Little Snowflake Skating Rink, let's settle our scores once and for all."

With that, he spoke in a low voice to his companions, "Let's go."

Taking advantage of the fact that the security guards hadn't arrived yet, the group slipped away stealthily.

Tian Yuan was left standing in place with a look of deep regret.

Why didn't they fight?

He had been waiting for the two sides to brawl so that he could directly dock Chen Fan's grade points, and if he reported it upwards, he might even be able to slap the kid with a major disciplinary record.

At that moment, two security guards rushed over, sweeping their gazes across the crowd.

"What are you all doing here? No gathering to cause trouble!"

Wu Di smiled and shrugged, "We're just newly enrolled freshmen, how could we possibly cause trouble?"

One of the security guards pointed at the empty beer bottle in Luo Wenjie's hand. "What are you holding that for?"

"Just finished drinking it at noon. Bringing it back doesn't violate school rules, does it?" Luo Wenjie flashed a cheeky grin.

"All of you, behave yourselves and stay out of trouble."

Finding no concrete evidence, the two security guards could only drop a warning and turn away.

Tian Yuan glanced at Chen Fan with a mocking smile. Without a word, he turned and left.

Right then, Sun Hao and Han Xu came running over, completely out of breath. Han Xu was even clutching a brick he must have wrenched out of some flowerbed.

"Where are they? Did they leave?"

"A fight didn't break out, did it?"

Ma Xiaoshuai shook his head. "Security happened to patrol by, and those punks ran off."

Luo Wenjie walked over and threw an arm around Han Xu's shoulder. "Good buddy, you're a real one."

"How did you guys know?"

"Damn, don't even ask. We had just gotten in line at the barbershop when Sun Hao stepped outside to smoke and spotted that bastard from last night at a glance."

"Seeing them head this way, we figured they were coming to cause trouble, so we rushed right back."

Wu Di gave the two of them a thumbs-up. "True brothers."

Ma Xiaoshuai then asked, "That skating rink the guy mentioned—are we going tonight?"

"Why would we go?" Luo Wenjie retorted. "Just because he says so? We're not idiots, why should we listen to him?"

Ma Xiaoshuai looked worried. "But if we don't go, won't it look like we chickened out?"

"Let it look like we chickened out. That's still better than walking right into their ambush."

Wu Di lowered his voice to remind them, "Over the next few days, everyone try not to go out alone."

"I refuse to believe these people dare to cause trouble on campus."

Chen Fan had no intention of keeping the appointment either. Why should he show up just because someone else barked out an address? That wasn't bravery; that was mental illness.

In the afternoon, major-specific classes officially began.

Sitting in the back row of the classroom, Chen Fan showed little interest in the lecturer's material. In fact, he cared very little for any of the university courses.

At the moment, he was holding pen and paper, sketching and scribbling out his future business plans.

In his past life, Chen Fan had built his business empire primarily through manufacturing and physical industries. But in this lifetime, Chen Fan harbored a much bolder vision.

He would operate on two fronts simultaneously—the internet and physical industries, advancing hand in hand to create a true commercial myth.

Since the domain name website had not yet welcomed any genuine buyers, Chen Fan could not afford to drag his feet and waste time indefinitely. Therefore, he was considering switching to a more lucrative venture next.

He only had a little over fifty thousand yuan on hand at the moment, leaving very little room for maneuver. Hence, his very first business venture had to be meticulously considered.

After afternoon classes ended, Chen Fan didn't go to the cafeteria with his roommates, announcing instead that he needed to make a trip to the internet cafe.

"I'm coming too," Ma Xiaoshuai suddenly volunteered to tag along.

Chen Fan figured the kid must be worried he would be in danger if he went alone, which warmed his heart somewhat.

Through the incident at noon, the friendship among the six roommates had been put to the test and clearly deepened once again.

Inside the internet cafe, Ma Xiaoshuai finished a game, turned his head, and discovered to his surprise that Chen Fan was actually writing code.

"You... you know how to do this stuff?"

Chen Fan smiled. "I took a computer learning class over the summer and picked up the basics."

Ma Xiaoshuai stared curiously at Chen Fan's screen. "What are you doing?"

Chen Fan didn't hide it from him. "I built my own website, and I usually need to log on to do some maintenance."

Ma Xiaoshuai suddenly understood. "No wonder you're always running off to the internet cafe. I thought you were just a gaming addict; turns out you're here doing this."

Watching Chen Fan write code for a moment, Ma Xiaoshuai felt his head spinning. "Always running to the internet cafe isn't a long-term solution though. Why don't you just buy a computer?"

Without lifting his head, Chen Fan replied, "Do you know how much a computer costs? Is that something an ordinary person can afford?"

Ma Xiaoshuai muttered, "A few thousand yuan, I suppose. If you're short on cash, I can spot you some."

"Oh right, my family has a computer, but it runs a bit slow. If you don't mind, I'll haul it back to the dorm in a couple of days when I go home."

Seeing Chen Fan didn't respond, Ma Xiaoshuai stretched lazily and swept his gaze across the hall. Suddenly, he let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

"How much do you think it would cost to open an internet cafe like this?"

Chen Fan kept his eyes fixed on the computer screen and chuckled good-naturedly. "What? Are you planning to open an internet cafe?"

Ma Xiaoshuai shook his head. "I have no interest in that. I just heard the owner here is looking to transfer the shop to someone else, so I was curious."

"Huh?"

Chen Fan froze, looking up. "The owner here is selling the internet cafe?"