"Dad, I'll work hard."
Chen Yang quickly responded to his father, but he was busy with his business, so college was secondary.
What Chen Yang cared about wasn't the degree, but the classmates and professors he could interact with at school. These were all excellent networking resources.
Especially those few classmates and professors, their future prospects were incredibly bright. As far as Chen Yang knew, several of them had already secured top positions among the thirteen influential families in Shanghai by the time he was reborn.
There were also several individuals who held top leadership positions in major state-owned enterprises. These were people with immense power, and even for Chen Yang, getting acquainted with them required a considerable effort and they wouldn't necessarily be overly enthusiastic. Su Dan Novel Network.
If he could build good relationships with them during his student days in this life, he would have some goodwill regardless of how they progressed in their careers.
This was the true purpose of Chen Yang wanting to attend college. As for prestigious universities like Tsinghua or Peking University, he couldn't get in and didn't particularly covet them. Even if there were many brilliant people there, he wouldn't know who would succeed in the future.
What if they decided to invest heavily and then fly to America to study abroad, and then get a green card to work for Wall Street? That would be a waste.
If nothing else, in his previous life, Chen Yang's company had hired many such "high-achieving overseas returnees."
Although East China College of Finance and Economics wasn't a top-tier university, as the predecessor of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, it was a leader in the finance and economics field. Shanghai Cai was later recognized as a Project 211 university.
After years of development, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics could be considered the premier university in finance and economics in China.
It was the preferred alma mater for all state-owned banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and foreign trade companies.
It was also highly valued by government departments and large enterprises, making it extremely popular in the financial sector, with job prospects and compensation comparable to Tsinghua and Peking University.
Precisely because of this, many of Chen Yang's classmates, seniors, professors, and teachers from his years at East China College of Finance and Economics were promoted and highly valued after joining central and state-owned enterprises.
After the 1990s, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and even capital injections for listing, many general managers of state-owned and central enterprises controlled assets far exceeding hundreds of billions.
Many of these individuals were only at the department level, while some in higher positions were deputy ministers. However, even provincial leaders had to show them respect and curry favor.
It was unavoidable. They controlled economic power, and even a small investment project of theirs could involve billions or tens of billions, which for many officials was a significant achievement.
This was why those distinguished alumni had achieved increasing success, and some had even moved from enterprises to local government positions as key leaders.
Controlling economic power meant controlling influence. Those who were good at economics had an easier path to promotion. Since the reform and opening up, this had become a crucial quantitative factor in the promotion and appointment of cadres in China's political arena.
This was why Chen Yang still wanted to attend university in this life. Such resources couldn't be acquired solely through making money.
After all, China was not like the neighboring kimchi country; it lacked the soil for the formation of chaebols, nor was it a place where simply having money guaranteed a good reception from these powerful leaders.
From the ancient social hierarchy of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, the merchant class was always at the bottom. Of course, in this era, the wealthy were still considered unattainable by ordinary people.
After all, the extravagance of some rich young masters was unimaginable. They could afford presidential suites at Atlantis for 100,000 yuan a night.
For a friend's birthday, they could casually gift a sports car worth millions. In the eyes of ordinary people, a gift casually given by others was wealth they couldn't earn in a lifetime.
Not to mention other things.
But even these rich scions were not in the highest circles. The people in the highest circles might not have as much money in their accounts as the second-generation rich.
However, they could get whatever they wanted without spending money. A phone call, and someone would deliver it immediately. That was true status.
Chen Yang couldn't be as formidable as these people, but what he intended to do now was to rely on his foresight to connect with their fathers and build relationships in advance.
This was also a significant characteristic of doing business in China. Without some backing, achieving modest success was possible, but significant wealth was not.
Even in his previous life, Chen Yang had benefited from his brother-in-law, younger sister, and brother-in-law, as they were all professors at prestigious universities.
Some of their former classmates and students who entered politics had helped Chen Yang greatly. Without their protection, he wouldn't have had the qualification to secure a foothold in Shenzhen, a city filled with influential figures.
However, these individuals were a generation older than Chen Yang's classmates and professors, and it was uncertain whether their status would reach the same height as them in another decade.
In this life, with the opportunity to be a "young peer," Chen Yang naturally did not want to miss it.
He also decided that after finishing his business in Jinling, he would hand over all subsequent business matters to Zhang Weiyang, who was naturally gifted in business.
Some experiences could only be gained through venturing out on his own. Chen Yang would at most guide him in the general direction. As long as the general direction was correct, he would let Zhang Weiyang handle the minor issues.
If Zhang Weiyang performed well, he would also give him more company shares in the future.
As the saying goes, modest success depends on luck, but great success still requires support from influential people. He would provide the funding, connections, and future plans, and Zhang Weiyang would be responsible for implementation.
He would take care of the foresight into future business opportunities, the backing, and the capital. Zhang Weiyang would be specifically responsible for expanding the business. This was incomparably easier than his previous life of starting from scratch.
Of course, in his previous life, Zhang Weiyang must have had his own opportunities and certainly had support, but his development would never have been as smooth as following Chen Yang.
The hardships he suffered in his previous life would have been much more.
Most importantly, with Chen Yang's help, Zhang Weiyang had saved his biological father's life, a regret that he could not make up for even with his previous life's fortune of hundreds of billions.
"Don't just focus on business; you can't earn all the money in the world. If you can get into university, our family will have some prestige."
"Your elder brother didn't have the chance to attend university back then, but now you can. If you get in, you'll be the first university student in our Chen family. Your uncle and I will both be happy."
Chen Liming did not have a preference for sons over daughters, but living in this era, he still had the limitations of the times.
Chen Yu's admission to university made him happy and proud as a father, but if Chen Yang could get into university, the entire Chen family would be proud and honored, and there would still be some difference.
"Dad, I know. After I finish this, I'll go back and work hard to catch up on my studies. For prestigious universities, we know our own capabilities. Ordinary universities, I'll try my best to get in."
Chen Yang solemnly responded to his father's words, knowing that this was a father's earnest hope for his son.