Fang Yunbao slumped over the desk, listening to the teacher on the stage lecture about textbook knowledge points.
Finally, when class ended, students rushed out to get hot water.
"Did you guys hear? Our school is getting auditing students."
"Auditing students?" Cheng You and Cao Yanyan looked over with surprise.
Fang Yunbao nodded. "They're actually students who didn't get into university but paid to pull strings and audit classes."
With the college entrance examination just reinstated, the school wasn't fully prepared and was desperately short on money.
It had been agreed that university tuition would be waived, but because the school was so broke, they had to collect tuition from students first and reimburse them later when funds became available.
Monthly subsidies to students couldn't be issued on time, sometimes only every two months.
This showed just how financially strapped the school was.
Later, someone at the school proposed the idea of auditing students.
"I heard one auditing student has to pay this much."
Cao Yanyan blinked. "Two hundred?"
"Bullshit! Two thousand!"
Cao Yanyan exclaimed, "Are there any conditions?"
Two thousand per person, ten people would be twenty thousand.
Fang Yunbao scratched his head. "I think there's a limit to the number, ten per major, and there's an entrance exam."
Cheng You asked, "They shouldn't be assigned to us, right? We'll have our final exams soon, and we'll be in our second year."
Students like them who started in March would also go to university in March of the following year.
If they were assigned to students who started in September, it would be fine.
Fang Yunbao pouted. "I heard they're everywhere, one or two auditing students in each class. They're not here for a proper education, just to hang around. After graduation, they can get a certificate from the Traditional Chinese Medicine University, which is quite impressive."
Cheng You wasn't very interested at first, as the auditing students had nothing to do with her.
But when she saw Su Jinwen walking in with someone, her face couldn't hide her astonishment.
Cao Yanyan noticed her expression wasn't quite right and whispered, "Do you know her?"
Cheng You's face turned cold, and she subtly shook her head.
Cheng Tao, with Zhao Yunlin, was truly well-off to be able to easily pay the two thousand yuan auditing fee.
Su Jinwen asked Cheng Tao to find an empty seat.
Looking around, there was only an empty seat next to Cao Yanyan, where Lin Yutian had been sitting before.
Cheng Tao immediately spotted Cheng You. Indeed, enemies always met.
After so long, Cheng You was still the same as before.
Her skin was fair and radiant, and her appearance was becoming more refined.
Wearing a stylish new dress, it was hard not to notice her.
Cheng Tao gathered her stray thoughts and smiled, "Okay, teacher, I'll sit there."
Zhao Yunlin could make money, and although she wasn't as beautiful as Cheng You, she was living quite well now.
She wore a print dress and small leather shoes, and a snakeskin watch worth several hundred yuan on her wrist.
Looking around the school, how many people could be richer than her?
Everyone watched as she walked down from the podium and sat in front of Cheng You.
Initially, they thought she looked quite good, but compared to Cheng You, she seemed a bit plain.
Everyone indifferently withdrew their gaze. With Cheng You in front, everyone else seemed ordinary.
"Cheng Tao, this is your textbook. You don't need to participate in this semester's exams. The school let you come early to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the environment."
Su Jinwen brought a stack of books.
She didn't have a good impression of students who hadn't officially taken the college entrance exam.
The opportunity to study could be bought with money, but the knowledge in books couldn't be bought with money.
Cheng Tao smiled and thanked her, "Thank you, teacher."
Su Jinwen waved her hand. "Since you're in university, study hard. You've missed a whole academic year of courses, so you need to work harder than others."
Cheng Tao nodded perfunctorily.
She was only here to get a certificate, and having paid two thousand yuan, why should she work hard?
She chose to audit at the Traditional Chinese Medicine University because she knew Cheng You was here.
She wanted to show Cheng You how good her life was now.
Unexpectedly, after she sat down, Cheng You completely ignored her, not intending to initiate any conversation.
Cao Yanyan's mind raced. They both had the surname Cheng.
The surname wasn't common in Yancheng. Could they be related?
"Cheng You, long time no see." Cheng Tao couldn't wait and spoke to Cheng You first.
Cheng You's expression was indifferent, and she glanced at her lazily.
"It's class time. Please be quiet."
Cheng Tao's face stiffened. Seeing the teacher's gaze turn towards them, she shut her mouth awkwardly.
She thought university would be lax, and she could just muddle through.
Only after actually attending classes did she realize how difficult it was.
The atmosphere of attentive listening was comparable to that of students about to take the college entrance exam.
Of course, she couldn't understand how eager these students, who had finally gotten into university, were for knowledge.
After barely making it through a class, Cheng Tao felt impatient.
"Cheng You, can we talk now?"
Fang Yunbao asked softly, "You know each other? You both have the surname Cheng, are you from the same hometown?"
Cheng Tao smiled meaningfully. "Yes."
Cheng You ignored her and started packing her things.
"Going to eat?"
Fang Yunbao immediately forgot about Cheng Tao.
"Yes!"
Nothing was more important than eating.
The three of them always ate together, and Cheng Tao shamelessly followed along.
"I don't know anyone else at school. Can I eat with you? I'll treat you, order whatever you want."
Her "I'm not short on money" demeanor made Fang Yunbao's expression change.
Cheng You smiled and agreed, "Sure, it's best when someone treats."
Cheng Tao was a little surprised, not expecting her to agree.
She wondered if Cheng You had fallen on hard times, to the point of wanting to mooch a meal.
Since someone was treating, Fang Yunbao ate to her heart's content.
She usually had to budget her living expenses and didn't dare to eat much.
For this meal, she only took three meat dishes and no vegetables.
Cao Yanyan still had a balanced meal, two meat dishes, one vegetable, and soup.
Cheng You was more ruthless, taking four meat dishes and two vegetables for one meal.
Cheng Tao's expression changed when she saw this.
"Cheng You, can you eat that much?"
"Sorry, I haven't eaten meat in so long. It's rare that someone's treating me, so of course, I have to eat my fill. If I can't finish, I can pack it to go. Cheng Tao, you won't mind, will you?"
Cheng Tao originally minded, but upon hearing her words, she became convinced that Cheng You was living in hardship.
Otherwise, how could she not even afford meat?
With this realization, Cheng Tao felt a surge of superiority.
"Since that's the case, then eat."
Cheng You chuckled and sat down with her food.
She gave two of the meat dishes to classmates who were in worse financial situations.
They hadn't touched their chopsticks, so it wouldn't make them feel disrespected.
After sitting down, Cheng You sighed.
"Cheng Tao, your circumstances are so much better. You can afford to treat us to meat. Many students at our school don't eat meat even once a month."
Cheng Tao proudly lifted her chin. "It can't be helped. My man is just that good at making money. I have a hundred yuan for food expenses alone each month, and I can't even spend it all."