45 Chapter 45

What is your dream?

As usual, Zhan Xinyue arrived early in the morning, going to the classroom alone before the morning classes to begin studying. At this time of day, the campus was half-awake, quiet all around, which always helped to calm the mind, making studying much more efficient than during the day.

She wondered if Xu Shen felt the same way, but several times as she stepped into the stairwell, she vaguely heard his voice, sometimes reciting classical Chinese texts, sometimes humming leisurely. She didn't linger and went straight into the classroom.

In truth, there's one thing that has never changed about Xu Shen: from his youth, he's been extremely hardworking, determined to achieve whatever he sets his mind to. This applies to his studies, his business dealings, and even his pursuit of her. From this perspective, she and Xu Shen have always been quite different.

Perhaps because her family has always spoiled her, doing everything they could to satisfy her material and emotional needs, she has become extremely easygoing and detached. She has little material desire, few obsessions, and no dreams she absolutely must achieve. She is serious about her studies, but she doesn't push herself too hard, believing that doing her best is enough.

In her past life, she initially wanted to attend a media school, but it wasn't her only option. Later, for Xu Shen's sake, she applied to a university in her home province, and she didn't think much of it.

But this life is different. She has found a goal she wants to achieve and a reason why she must work hard for it.

She wants to study business at University A.

The thought suddenly popped into my head.

That night, she was doing practice problems in her room. During a break, she got up and walked around the room.

Her bedroom was decorated very cozyly, with all sorts of small dolls placed around the bed, and even a lot on her desk. Some of these dolls were bought for her by her parents, but most were won at claw machines when the family went out to play.

Pang Yun regularly bathes her beloved dolls. She remembers when she was in college, she only went home on weekends. Once, she was so busy with school that she didn't have time to go home for several weeks. Her parents didn't say anything, but when she returned home, she saw the little pig placed in the middle of its crib, resting on a pillow and covered with a blanket. At that moment, she thought that her mother probably missed her.

She checked each of the toys one by one, then looked at her desk. The wall in front of her desk was covered with all sorts of colorful sticky notes, which were actually quite interesting to read. Some were her study assignments for the day, some were random sentences she had copied from somewhere, and there were even a few cartoon figures she had drawn herself. The most eye-catching was the sticky note at the top, with the name of the media university she had initially wanted to attend written in bold, colorful lettering.

Looking back now, it's almost laughable. When people talk about her relationship with Xu Shen, they often envy her good fortune to have someone love her so devotedly. But in this relationship, didn't she and her family also give him their all?

That year, Xu Shen failed his college entrance exam and was so heartbroken that he stayed home for a while, while Zhan Xinyue performed normally, her score easily exceeding the cutoff for her ideal university. But when she later went to see Xu Shen and saw the sadness in his eyes, her heart softened and she told a little lie: "I didn't do very well this time either, but coincidentally, it seems we're both good enough for the same university." Seeing the sudden sparkle in the boy's eyes, she smiled and made a promise with him: "How about we stay in the province together and study at C University?"

During their sophomore year, Xu Shen went on exchange to a university in another province. Zhan Xinyue would spend countless weekends taking the bus to see him after class on Fridays, rushing back before Sunday night. She accumulated a thick stack of bus tickets. Later, he took over his father's shop, which initially faced many difficulties. One night, holding her hand, he said, "Xinyue, what should I do? I really want to do well." She was usually a free spirit, but at that time, for his dream, she began to diligently learn to do things she wasn't interested in, accompanying him to various social events, and constantly seeking advice and strategies from his father…

She asked herself if she had done anything right regarding Xu Shen and this relationship.

Since her rebirth, those complicated and trivial past events have always filled her mind, eventually turning into a question that has become almost an obsession: Why?

Perhaps that saying is true: wealth can inflate one's desires infinitely. In those years, his father poured all his energy into helping him in his business, not only personally mentoring him but also using all the connections he had built over the years to pave the way for him. Actually, Xu Shen didn't have much of a talent for business. When he first took over, his father gave him the best shop, but that year the shop almost went bankrupt. But his father never said anything, visiting the shop every day to oversee every detail, until he finally turned the business around before letting go.

That year, Xu Shen's business finally ushered in a major turning point, and he finally relaxed from the anxiety of not being able to find a solution for a long time. At the annual meeting that year, his father specially asked him to give a speech on stage.

Seeing Xu Shen's smug expression on stage, she felt overjoyed. But when she turned to look at Zhan Wei, she saw a hint of disappointment on his face, a sense of indescribable loss. Confused, she heard Zhan Wei sigh softly, turning to Pang Yun and lamenting, "If it were Yueyue..." He didn't finish his sentence.

“That’s fine too,” Mom said calmly. “Business is too tough. As long as Yueyue lives her life the way she likes, that’s fine.”

Zhan Xinyue seemed to understand but not quite, and followed Pang Yun's words, saying, "Yeah, I'm not interested in these things."

Back then, she didn't understand her father's disappointment, but now she suddenly does. She always thought her parents didn't ask much of her, as long as she was happy, but actually, her father still had some expectations for her, he just never said it out loud.

She raised her hand and solemnly crossed out the name of the Communication University from the sticky note, replacing it with the name of A University's Business School.

In her past life, she failed to shoulder the responsibilities that should have been hers, which allowed Xu Shen to acquire wealth that was not rightfully his and gave him the opportunity to betray and deceive her. In this life, she will hold onto everything he has taken from her and from her parents.

However, these goals are too ambitious and too far away. What she can do now is to focus on doing well on the physics exam paper in front of her.

She had been working on this test paper for two days. Although she stumbled along the way, she had almost finished it. But when she got to the last question, she got stuck. She thought for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Her eyes couldn't help but drift to Shi Ziqian beside her.

Ever since she started getting up early to go to school, Shi Ziqian has always been the second student to arrive at the classroom.

At this moment, Ziqian was also doing exercises, or more accurately, practicing. Several exercise books were spread out on his desk, but he didn't do every single one. His eyes quickly scanned the questions, some he would cross off directly, and others he would do a quick calculation and fill in the answer. She guessed that the crossed-out questions were ones he had already mastered and didn't want to waste time doing them again.

She observed quietly for a while, and thought to herself: Even Shi Ziqian, who is always the top student in his grade, is so diligent, how can she not work hard?

Shi Ziqian seemed to sense her movement, stopped writing, and looked over: "What's wrong?"

Zhan Xinyue then said, "I have a question I wanted to ask you, but I don't know if you have time."

"I'll take a look when I have time."

Zhan Xinyue handed her the test paper. He glanced at it and quickly gave her a solution. Unlike his own jumpy approach when solving problems, he explained things very meticulously when explaining them to others. As he handed the test paper back, he suddenly asked her, "Why have you been studying so diligently lately?"

It seems her recent changes are quite noticeable, even Shi Ziqian has noticed. However, she has actually been wanting to ask him this question, so instead of answering, she asked, "And you, how come you study so hard? You're already first in the grade and you're still so diligent."

Actually, she didn't quite understand why Shi Ziqian was so diligent in his studies. Although the national college entrance examination in China is incredibly competitive, he didn't seem to have any particular reason to try and squeeze onto that single-plank bridge.

Shi Ziqian seemed not to have thought about the question before, and after thinking for a while, he said, "To pass the time."

It's truly... a simple and unpretentious reason that makes it hard not to comment on Versailles.

Zhan Xinyue paused for a moment: "Okay, it's hard to empathize with the world of academic geniuses. I thought you had some goal you really wanted to achieve."

Shi Ziqian: "I guess you could say that too."

"Um?"

Shi Ziqian pondered, "I want to leave."

Zhan Xinyue was startled by his answer. He seemed to realize that his words were rather ambiguous and explained, "I want to have the ability to live well on my own when I leave home."

Zhan Xinyue was quite surprised by this answer. She knew a little about Shi Ziqian's family situation, which was indeed somewhat complicated, but she didn't expect him to seem to have no feelings for his family at all, and to be planning to escape. She remembered that in her previous life, everyone initially guessed that he would join the group early after graduation and eventually inherit the family business, but he went abroad right after finishing high school and settled there ever since, rarely having any contact with this place.

But she didn't want to pry into other people's family affairs, so Zhan Xinyue just nodded and silently sighed in her heart that every family has its own problems.

After Shi Ziqian finished answering, he asked her, "And you, have you recently come up with a goal you want to achieve?"

He was surprisingly perceptive when it came to language, and Zhan Xinyue honestly replied, "Yes..."

She rested her chin on her hand, looking ahead, "The road ahead is long and arduous; I must work hard."

Shi Ziqian looked at her for a few seconds: "Can I ask what the target is?"

Zhan Xinyue didn't rush to answer: "I've been thinking about a question lately, and now I suddenly feel that you might be able to answer it for me."

Shi Ziqian tilted his head slightly, as if signaling her to continue.

His action seemed strangely obedient, and Zhan Xinyue choked for a moment, almost forgetting what she was going to say, but thankfully she quickly regained her composure: "Do you think money or wealth can change a person?"

Although the question was a bit old-fashioned, she felt it shouldn't be difficult to answer, since he probably knew quite a few corroborating cases, and a little analysis would allow him to draw a conclusion. However, Shi Ziqian thought for a very long time, seemingly lost in thought, and finally said, "I don't know, maybe."

Zhan Xinyue nodded thoughtfully.

Shi Ziqian continued, "It's not just wealth, but also power, fame, and many other dazzling things that can amplify people's desires infinitely, making them dissatisfied with what they already have and greedily wanting to acquire more."

“Alright,” Zhan Xinyue said softly, “but I just don’t believe in superstition.”

She turned her head away from Shi Ziqian: "The question you just asked me... my current goal is to become a successful entrepreneur."

Shi Ziqian was visibly taken aback upon hearing this. Zhan Xinyue laughed: "What, does that sound like a wild idea?"

“No, it’s just that it doesn’t seem like a goal you would have. I thought you would be more interested in…” Shi Ziqian thought for a moment, “but this sounds good too.”

Zhan Xinyue said, "It sounds pretty good, and it sounds quite challenging. I'd like to give it a try."

She wanted to stand at the pinnacle of wealth herself, to see for herself and prove that not everyone with power and wealth would easily waver in their original aspirations.

Shi Ziqian gazed at her quietly. Zhan Xinyue sat beside him, resting her chin on her hand and looking ahead, a bright light flickering in her eyes.

He spoke, his tone resolute: "I believe it can be achieved."