Chapter 6: Debts of Passion

Just as Su Ziceng had gained high head-turn rates when he entered the door, the owner of the yellow Ferrari had barely set foot inside before attracting the gaze of all the female clerks in the store. In their eyes was admiration, but also envy; the admiration was for the smartly dressed Hang Yishao, while the envy was all directed toward the garishly dressed little starlet, several years his senior, hanging on his arm. Last month, Hang Yishao had already secured a guaranteed admission to Daoquan University with straight A’s. Founded over a decade ago by the Mo City government and financed by several emergent families, Daoquan University is a comprehensive university. It represents a heavy brushstroke in the twenty-year plan Mo City crafted to surpass Bianjing City as the cultural center of Country Z. By investing huge sums to attract talent and students, Daoquan University has also for many years sent scholars abroad for further study and sponsored students’ overseas education. After over a decade of diligent management, it has finally made its mark on the national list of top-tier institutions of higher education. Last year, it even rose to be one of the top ten emerging international institutions, prompting students in Country Z to take pride in gaining admission to Daoquan University. While the Hang Family, called one of "Mo City’s four major upstarts," could have used their clout to send Hang Yishao to Daojing University in grand style, he instead relied on his own efforts, earning his place fair and square. For the culturally nouveau riche "Hang tycoons," this achievement was no small honor. Hang Yishao was a veritable prince among men, born with the proverbial golden spoon of the Hang family, blessed with intelligence and good looks. Even the zit on his forehead, a remnant of his unchanneled youthful energy, only added a dash of endearing youthfulness. Tall, with natural curls, clear skin, and chiseled features, his face bore the signs of being spoiled rotten, and the corners of his mouth were always curled into an arrogant smile. He was indeed a carefree young man—loved excessively by his parents and adored by teachers and friends—like a fly without a head emerging from a honey jar, lost without direction. Thus, he used every trick in the book to pour the love he deemed exquisite upon the women around him. His affections extended to women of all kinds, including the curvy starlet of adult films beside him and even his family’s maids, but they never once brushed against Su Ziceng. With just a word, Hang Yishao could be as sweet as honey. As for the pre-rebirth Su Ziceng, he had his own explanations; his favorite went, "A suit tailor-made thirty-five years ago, no matter how exquisite, is outdated." The Su and Hang families rose to prominence around the same time, and their elders shared a deep friendship. By coincidence, both mothers became pregnant at the same time, and the ancestors arranged a betrothal for him and Su Ziceng while still in the womb. Logically speaking, two children conceived in the same month should be born around the same time, but Hang Yishao’s mother prematurely gave birth to him a month and a half early. Contrary to that, Su Ziceng patiently stayed an entire ten months in Qiao Chu’s belly. What should have been two peers became an older brother and a younger sister. Then came the clichéd version of events, with the younger "green plum" sister sticking to the "bamboo horse" brother like glue. Since their full-month celebration, their nannies would push them ’together’ out in the sun, and later they went ’together’ down the slide in kindergarten, ’together’ they did their duty as class prefects in elementary school, and ’together’ they did homework in middle school. These endless ’togethers’ carried on until high school, when Hang Yishao finally took control and decided to attend a public high school far away from home in Bianjing City, putting an end to the incessant ’togetherness.’ Having seen the colorful life of Bianjing City, Hang Yishao was no longer satisfied with the increasingly unlikeable Su Ziceng trailing behind him. So, when his mother cautiously informed him that Su Ziceng, too, had used the Su family’s connections to enroll at Daoquan University, that very night a pimple he dubbed the "Su Ziceng zit" popped up on his forehead. Immediately afterward, he drove out in his birthday-present car, taking a young starlet along to vent his frustration. Su Ziceng, Su Ziceng, he muttered in his mind. How can she compare to the eye-pleasing starlet beside him? Women should have curvaceous figures and soft and coquettish voices that make one’s ears melt. "Yishao, are you really letting me choose?" The starlet hanging on his arm had suddenly gained a rich and considerate new boyfriend and was momentarily unable to react. He shrugged nonchalantly, showing a bit of grown-up sophistication. After turning eighteen last month, he had several gold cards added to his name. The starlet eyed the display cabinet with her exaggeratedly large eyes, then glanced at her indifferent young boyfriend. A top appraiser was summoned for no reason, taking out several diamond rings, none of which were meager in style or carat count. "Ah, I’ll take this one," the starlet said eagerly, her eyes quickly fixating on the largest carat diamond ring. A hint of displeasure surfaced between Hang Yishao’s brows. "Yet another Su Ziceng type of woman. Even as far back as kindergarten, Su Ziceng always had to pick the biggest apple." He subtly removed his hand and took out a gold card, as he has never refused a woman’s request. Hidden in the appraisal room, Su Ziceng wanted to go out and slap that starlet, but remembering the suspicious red ribbon from earlier, she held back. It turned out that Hang Yishao had such habits back then. She had only been apart from him for three years, and he had already turned into this. Indeed, it was a wise decision to cling to Su Qing and embarrass him by dragging him to Daoquan University to plead for a spot. Outsiders thought that Daoquan University thrived on the funds of a few big families, and securing a spot in the institution would be easy, but in reality, ever since the university gained international fame, it has tried to dissociate itself from its former patrons, akin to a courtesan who, upon becoming a top-rated attraction, would immediately turn her back on her original patrons, striving to present herself as a chaste and fierce woman. As for a nouveau-riche girl like Su Ziceng, who never studied with her brains, after entering Daoquan University, she was symbolically shelved into the City College, specifically set up for the Nth-generation rich and privileged. "Once enrolled in Daoquan University, I must keep a close watch on Hang Yishao," thought Su Ziceng. In her past life, her college was somewhat distant from Hang Yishao’s. From the moment she enrolled, she spent a hefty price to get his class schedule, nearly loitering every day outside the classrooms where he studied, sneering and mocking any opposite sex that went a bit too close. At that time, everyone at Daoquan University called her... "What a busty but brainless woman," the appraiser, once again used for trivial matters, thought. He was very displeased. After entering the appraisal room, he shook his head and muttered to himself, lamenting.