Chapter 111: Speech?
Chapter 111: Speech?
Zeng Jian was sleeping groggily when his phone’s ringtone rudely pulled him out from under the covers.
He had been worked to the bone recently, his editor-in-chief driving him like a slave. Finally back at university for his internship and preparing for graduation, he felt he deserved to sleep in properly.
“Who could be so inconsiderate, calling me this early? Hello, who is it?” Zeng Jian grabbed his phone without even looking at the screen and spoke listlessly.
“Zeng Jian!”
“Hey, who are you cursing at?”
“Have you lost your mind from sleep? I’m calling you.” A slightly breathless voice came from the other end of the line. “Are you a student at Binhai University?”
“Editor-in-chief?” Seeing the caller ID, Zeng Jian instantly woke up. “Editor-in-chief, I am a student at Binhai University. What’s up?”
“I heard that Chen Mo, the Chairman of Legion Ant Company, is a graduate from your year, and he returned to your university today. I want you to follow up on a report about him immediately, see if there’s any big news. Come back, and I’ll get you a full-time position.”
“Legion Ant Company? Chairman? Graduate?”
After hanging up, Zeng Jian just sat on his bed, completely bewildered. Once it sank in, he opened his phone. Shortly after, he scrambled out of bed, washed up quickly, grabbed his camera, and ran out of the dorm.
This wasn’t an isolated case. Reporters who got the news kept heading towards Binhai University from all directions.
Legion Ant Company had grown way too fast and crazily. Recently, any news related to Legion Ant Company was hot.
Now, the sudden revelation that the Chairman of Legion Ant Company was just a recent graduate? The information contained in this news was absolutely explosive.
Just how much of a genius must someone be to build a company into a giant in such a short time?
As the person involved, Chen Mo was currently touring the campus with the university president. This was his first time receiving such an honor. Even though he knew the campus well, he had no choice but to tough it out and accompany him.
“Student Chen Mo, I have a favor to ask here,” Qiu Guofeng rubbed his hands together and spoke after a moment’s thought.
“President, please go ahead,” Chen Mo said.
“The university has prepared a donation ceremony in the auditorium tomorrow. We will organize students to come and watch. Could you go on stage and give a speech, set an example for your juniors?” Qiu Guofeng asked.
Chen Mo was now a giant figure. It was usually hard to get someone like him to do anything. This was such a great opportunity; he absolutely couldn’t miss it.
“I really don’t know how to refuse this,” Chen Mo thought for a bit and finally nodded.
“Then I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll have someone arrange it later.”
Qiu Guofeng’s face was full of smiles. Having such an outstanding alumnus from Binhai University was a blessing for their institution. He couldn’t help but be happy.
“For the student representative at the graduation ceremony, do you have time?”
“President, I’d rather not go up for the graduation ceremony. Please leave the opportunity for other students,” Chen Mo said with a laugh.
“Alright then,” Qiu Guofeng nodded.
They walked and chatted, touring the entire campus and seeing everything there was to see. Only then did Chen Mo, along with Xiaoyu, bid farewell to the president and the teachers and leave.
“You’re a celebrity at the university now.”
Xiaoyu put her phone in front of Chen Mo. On it were various posts from the university forum, many of which were about Chen Mo.
Besides that, there were also many news articles online about Chen Mo’s identity. It was already hot news. If the news was confirmed to be true, this would be the strongest graduate, a new generation legend.
“Look at this one.” Xiaoyu laughingly placed a forum post in front of Chen Mo.
“Chen Mo’s Romantic Escapades”
Seeing this post, Chen Mo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It’s true: fame invites trouble, like a fattened pig attracts butchers. He had only been back for half a day, and already there were legends like this at the university. If he hadn’t seen these stories, he wouldn’t even know he had done so many things.
What’s more troublesome was that pictures of the president welcoming him were also up there. Now, without a doubt, people at the university knew about him.
“Many reporters have come to the university now. Lots of people already know about you. You have to give a speech tomorrow. It seems starting from today, you can’t keep a low profile anymore,” Xiaoyu said gleefully.
“What can I do?” Chen Mo said helplessly. “But my identity being exposed was just a matter of time. Let’s not talk about that. Do you need to go back to your dorm now?”
“Ruoxi and Tongtong are waiting for me. I need to go back for a bit. You should go back and prepare your speech for tomorrow’s donation ceremony,” Xiaoyu said.
After seeing Xiaoyu back to her dorm building, Chen Mo walked alone towards his own dorm.
He had been away for so long. Although he and his dorm mates weren’t exactly ‘iron brothers’, they were still good friends. Now that he was back, it wouldn’t be right not to visit.
It was class time, so there weren’t many people around, and no one paid him any attention.
In the dorm, the five roommates had no interest in playing games anymore. They were all discussing Chen Mo.
Chen Mo had shared a dorm with them since they started university. They had lived together all this time. Yet, while they spent their years playing around in university, Chen Mo had transformed into a tall, rich, and handsome success during that same period.
Without comparison, there’s no sense of injury. Now they didn’t even feel like playing games.
“I didn’t expect Chen Mo to hide it so deeply,” Fatty was the first to speak. “When he comes back, we must fleece the rich tycoon.”
“I second that,” Liu De said.
“I second that,” added the strong guy Niu Lei, who was holding dumbbells next to him.
“I think it’d be nice if we all ordered some chicken together,” said Puyuan beside them, clasping his hands together.
His look earned him a bunch of eye-rolls.
“You go find your ‘female benefactors’.”
“Who’s looking for female benefactors?” A voice sounded as Chen Mo walked in through the door.
Seeing Chen Mo, they froze, then looked him over carefully, trying to see what was different about him. They had just been talking about Chen Mo, and now he was here. They didn’t know what to say.
The stares from the five of them made Chen Mo feel a bit uneasy. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Are you really the Chairman of Legion Ant Company?” Fatty asked.
“You guessed right,” Chen Mo said with a laugh.
So it was true! The five dorm mates looked at each other. They had only been guessing about Chen Mo’s identity. After all, with the same name and his girlfriend being the assistant to the President of Legion Ant Company, it wasn’t hard to figure out with a little thought.
“Rich tycoon, treat us to a meal,” Liu De said.
“Sure,” Chen Mo nodded immediately. “Anywhere you want to eat is fine.”
“We agreed to be losers together, but you quietly transformed from a loser into a male god. How are we supposed to deal with that?” Zhu Gang’s words expressed what everyone was thinking.
“Wait, let me take a photo with the billionaire first, post it on Moments to show off a bit. From now on, my roommate is a billionaire. I can brag about that for days.”
Puyuan, the shortest one, immediately took out his phone, ran next to Chen Mo, and made a peace sign.
“Me too,” Fatty also pulled out his phone. “Let’s get a group one too.”
They messed around in the dorm for a while. Soon after posting on Moments, a few students from the neighboring dorm also came over to take photos with Chen Mo. The Chairman of Legion Ant Company, a potential future legend. If they didn’t take a photo with him now, they might not get such a good chance again.
In the evening, Chen Mo took them all out for a meal.
They didn’t treat him differently because of his status. They laughed and talked all evening, sharing funny stories from their university life and talking about their future plans. With graduation approaching, their paths would soon diverge.
During their time at university, they had occasional conflicts, but they were quickly resolved. Their relationship wasn’t ‘iron brother’ level, but they were good friends.
After drinking and saying goodbye to everyone, Chen Mo finally headed back to his own villa.