Chapter 1: The Impoverished Student of Modu

Parallel world, Water Blue Star.

Year 2015, Dragon Nation, Modu.

Lin Yi was a junior student majoring in mechanical automation at Modu University of Engineering.

However, although the name Modu University of Engineering sounded impressive, it was in reality merely a second-tier institution.

It was neither a 985 university nor a 211 university.

It was simply a public science and engineering university, abbreviated as "Engineering Big."

Of course, as the economic dragon head of the Flower Nation—Modu,

Engineering Big's engineering majors (such as mechanics, electrical engineering, automation, vehicle engineering, etc.) ranked second only to Jiaoda and Tongji in terms of employment prospects.

And Lin Yi was just a very ordinary junior student at this university.

Standing 175 cm tall and weighing 65 kg, everything about him seemed utterly average.

Even his appearance was merely ordinary; while he could not be called ugly, he certainly could not be called handsome either.

He belonged to the category of the utterly unremarkable, one among the masses, completely failing to attract anyone's attention.

Moreover, born in a poverty-stricken mountain village in Guizhou Province, even his tuition for the first semester of his freshman year had been scraped together by his parents begging everyone they knew.

Naturally, such a life offered no advantage whatsoever when it came to choosing a spouse.

However, Lin Yi did not give up because of this, nor did he feel inferior to others.

Indeed, when he first arrived in Modu, the economic dragon head of the Dragon Nation,

seeing the rows of skyscrapers, the endless flow of traffic,

and the fashionable, beautiful women full of allure,

he, who came from the mountains of Guizhou Province and had previously not even known what lay beyond those mountains, felt deeply drawn to it all.

At that time, he silently swore an oath.

He must make something of himself in this metropolis and establish a firm foothold here.

His name contained the character 'Yi,' meaning perseverance.

Perhaps because of this character, during his three years of university, he pursued his studies while running a business.

After the first half of his freshman year, he had not asked his family for a single penny,

and instead, at times, Lin Yi would use the money he earned to subsidize household expenses.

Of course, living in a big city was not simple.

When he first arrived, he had been looked down upon by many for his rustic clothing.

He had also been mocked for his way of speaking.

He had even been despised by others for doing business.

However, Lin Yi did not care about any of this.

He always kept one sentence in mind.

"Only by enduring the hardest hardships can one rise above others; the sharp edge of a sword comes from grinding, the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold."

Therefore, over these three years of university, while most people still lived in an ivory tower indulging in a life of drunken stupor,

Lin Yi had actually long since entered the university of society.

"Selling tea eggs, 1.5 yuan each, 5 yuan for four... Also, we have sunflower seeds, instant noodles, ham sausages...."

Carrying a thermos pot he had modified himself on his back, Lin Yi began hawking his wares in the male dormitory building at exactly 9 PM.

The reason he chose this time

was that the school's convenience stores were all closed by then.

And many students were only just beginning their nightlife.

"Give me 5 yuan worth of tea eggs... and a bucket of instant noodles!"

A sophomore male student immediately ran out of his dorm room.

"That's 13 yuan in total, just scan this!!"

Lin Yi took out the WeChat and Alipay QR codes hanging around his neck.

Immediately, a 'ding' sound was heard.

"Your Alipay has received 13 yuan!"

"Get me 5 yuan worth of tea eggs too, and a corn sausage!"

"Your Alipay has received 8 yuan!"

Before long, Lin Yi was surrounded by many people.

The tea eggs in the thermos pot and the items in the backpack on his back were visibly decreasing.

Generally, he made two pots of tea eggs every day, totaling around 100.

At 1.5 yuan each, according to his cost calculations, it was 0.3 yuan per egg plus electricity and material fees.

Each tea egg cost no more than 0.4 yuan.

When he sold them, most people chose to buy four,

and even if they couldn't finish them, sharing them among a dorm room would leave none leftover.

Although this meant the actual price per tea egg was only 1.25 yuan,

even so, he still maintained a profit margin of around 80%.

For 100 eggs, that was 80 yuan.

Adding in the various wholesale sausages, sunflower seeds, and so on,

every night he could earn 150 yuan.

And generally, he only came to sell goods from 9 PM to 10:30 PM each night,

In an hour and a half, he made a quick profit of 150 yuan.

Judging by the time cost alone, he already rivaled some urban white-collar workers in Magic City.

Of course, since the number of students at the school was limited,

and even in Magic City, few people were willing to spend more than ten yuan a day.

All in all, a daily profit of slightly over 100 but under 200 yuan was the absolute ceiling.

Expanding revenue was simply impossible.

However, even with this small business,

Not only did Lin Yi no longer need his family to cover his tuition and living expenses, but over the past two-plus years, he had also saved sixty thousand yuan.

After finishing a day of study and work,

Lin Yi returned to his Dormitory 312 carrying an empty backpack.

Inside the room, someone was lying on a bed, chatting with great excitement.

Another was playing "League of Legends" on his computer, muttering as he played:

"Blind Monk, run! He has vision on you, and he still has Flash!"

Another roommate, controlling Master Yi, replied:

"Run where? The Blind Monk is right in the middle of the mid-lane; even with W and Flash, he can't reach the tower. And even if he did, Blitzcrank would just Flash-pull him back—he'd die anyway!"

Only then did the roommates notice Lin Yi's return.

The one with a stout build and a smile resembling the Maitreya Buddha was named Wang Kai.

A native of Suzhou, his family owned five or six hardware stores, making him the wealthiest in the dormitory.

One could tell just by looking at the Alienware laptop worth ten to twenty thousand yuan that he was diligently working on.

Being the oldest, he was the dormitory's eldest brother.

The other playing alongside him was Duan Yun, the dormitory's second brother, nicknamed "Little Magic City."

Since he was a local from Magic City, he always spoke with phrases like "Nong" this and "Ala" that.

However, although Little Magic City was a local, his family lived in an old, dilapidated, tiny apartment in Jing'an District,

where three generations shared a house of only twenty or thirty square meters.

This environment had shaped Duan Yun into a rather shrewd character, though fortunately, while shrewd, he was not worldly or mercenary.

Although initially, fueled by the pride of a local phoenix man from Magic City, he had looked down on country folk like Lin Yi,

after spending time together, Lin Yi found the guy to be decent enough.

The last one, lying on the bed chatting on WeChat,

was named Ye Yu, a native of Anhui Province.

This guy was the dormitory's visual representative, possessing a somewhat handsome appearance.

He was considered a prominent figure among the Class of 2012 in the School of Engineering.

Relying on his slight good looks, he had dated no fewer than ten girlfriends over his three years of university.

The entire Dormitory 312 unanimously dubbed him the "Love Saint."

Most importantly, these girls often bought him various clothes and other items.

According to Ye Yu:

"I was born to live off women; I simply don't want to strive. I'll just find a rich older woman in the future. Since they're all women, does it matter whose money I eat?"

The entire dormitory held such shameless words in utter contempt.

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