Chapter 222: The Common Person's Windfall
Things went very smoothly, with only minor ripples, though Zhou You couldn't help but notice he'd grown quieter than usual.
He had originally wanted to chat a bit more with Huang Zhenkai.
But Huang Zhenkai's final remark completely broke Zhou You's composure.
"Teacher, actually, I don't want to join a company or a government unit. I've already found my path—I'm planning to sell houses."
Zhou You was utterly floored.
It turned out that during his college years, there were two senior female students who, after failing a course, retook it alongside him. They often attended class together. After graduating as seniors, due to poor grades and other reasons, they couldn't find suitable jobs.
After college, they had no choice but to sell houses.
And then they hit the biggest windfall for ordinary people over the next decade or so: real estate.
Right after graduation, they still chatted frequently—after all, they were senior学姐 (older female schoolmates).
Back then, they even urged Zhou You to buy a house as soon as possible, but he didn't take it seriously. Once, he even joked, "With housing prices like this, they've peaked. Who among ordinary people can afford them? Where else can they rise? Might as well hit 10,000 per square meter, so nobody can buy—perfect."
Let's just say, different paths lead to different conversations.
Their contact gradually dwindled.
But later, Zhou You often missed the days when housing prices were under 10,000.
Through other channels, he learned that those senior学姐, thanks to the convenience of their industry, had already bought five apartments.
In terms of pure wealth, even the best-off classmates in their cohort couldn't match that net worth.
It was a twist of fate.
An ordinary person, by entering the right industry, could turn their life around.
Enter the wrong one, and they'd sink forever.
Now Huang Zhenkai was about to sell houses too—was he really a child of destiny?
By some unseen force, he was stepping into the future's windfall.
After issuing his internship certificate, Zhou You sent him on his way.
If someone's already riding the wave of the future, why bother persuading them?
Though the fourth floor had an office prepared for all of them, they rarely came back—either constantly running around various swimming pools, training in kickboxing, or handling matters between the old and new venues.
By default, the fourth floor became Zhou You's private office, where they only came when he called them.
Looking at the young students below, Zhou You couldn't help but sigh—time was truly fair.
It wouldn't speed up because he was idle and unaccomplished.
Nor would it slow down because he had achieved fame and success.
In the blink of an eye, the college students of 2013 had arrived.
"Classmates, let me introduce myself..." The same opening line, the same words, but spoken at a different age, the feeling was different.
The students below, with equally youthful faces, started teasing, "We know—you're Zhou You. The senior学长学姐 have told us all about your exploits."
Zhou You was slightly surprised. Each generation was more impressive than the last. Back in his day, even if they knew a lot, they wouldn't say it out loud.
But he quickly let it go. These were all post-95s.
The generation hailed as capable of changing society and shaking up the workplace—everyone had high hopes for them back then.
What a pity.
Each generation has its own struggles. Relying on those who come after is unrealistic.
Zhou You smiled. "Did your学长 tell you that I love taking roll call the most?"
The room burst into laughter.
"Teacher, we can take roll call ourselves."
"Don't trouble yourself—we've already arranged it."
"First the class officers, then boys and girls separately."
Zhou You's tricks had long been figured out and passed down as amusing anecdotes.
But how could Zhou You let them take away his greatest joy in teaching? Everything needed updating!
From the podium, he pulled out several sheets of A4 paper. Based on the seating arrangement below, he appointed the first student in each row as the row leader, and each student signed their name on the paper.
The students all knew that Teacher Zhou You had many ways to take roll call.
This wasn't just variety—it was a deliberate effort to mess with them.
No choice. One by one, they wrote, then passed the papers from back to front.
The row leaders then introduced each group member in turn, while Zhou You checked the list, thoroughly entertained.
But the students cooperated well, knowing Zhou You's legendary deeds. He had many nicknames coined by senior学长:
"Zhou the No-Fail" "Kickboxing King" "Zhou the Tycoon" "Lu Thigh King"
Many, mostly good-natured.
With all his wealth, he still came to teach and set up scholarships for students in his major. How many students from other majors envied them? It was a point of pride. In college, meeting a teacher like this was nothing short of luck.
In their eyes, this was what a university teacher should be.
Knowledgeable—able to talk circles around anyone.
Physically strong—able to fend off troublemakers.
Immensely wealthy—living a life of leisure and ease.
Zhou You fit it all. A university teacher should be like this—only such a person could nurture better students.
They wished there were more like him.
Unfortunately, such teachers were rare, appearing only occasionally at top-tier universities.
Without exaggeration, Lu University had just one.
And he was now trending toward becoming the university's first teacher-influencer.
After the roll call phase came the chatty phase, the students' favorite part, and also Zhou You's favorite. Looking at those clear, innocent eyes below, he truly wished the world could stay this beautiful forever.
After the semester started, Zhou You made a special trip to Jiangcheng University.
In the blink of an eye, he was in his second year of doctoral studies and needed to start preparing his dissertation. Originally, Shi Zhongshan had offered to find someone to ghostwrite it, but Zhou You decided to write it himself. He had ideas, and with a humanities dissertation, it was easier to pad.
Some directions and data could be outsourced with enough money.
Mainly, Zhou You genuinely wanted to write something, combining it with future events to make it substantive.
But he hadn't fully settled on a direction yet. Going to Jiangcheng University was to discuss it with Professor Shi. Despite earning super-VIP treatment through his own efforts, Zhou You still harbored a scholarly heart, even if he'd rarely attended formal classes.
A humanities doctorate didn't require experiments, but making it innovative was tough—sometimes harder to graduate than in the sciences.
Zhou You didn't aim to write something as impactful as *Mid-Level Cadres* or, like the author of *The Scholarly Material*, dissect himself so thoroughly, analyzing countless rural-born scholars with razor-sharp insight.
*Mid-Level Cadres*—no need to elaborate. Those who can read it, should. It's all blunt truths—how can you say it?
Better to talk about *The Scholarly Material*.
Zhou You happened to be observing his class, seeing if his students fit these traits.
Rural college students typically had these characteristics:
Most were "well-behaved," which, while integrating them into the family unit, also boxed them into family roles and limited their emotional expression.
Their every word and action often lacked a certain ease, prone to awkwardness, tension, and confusion.
Through clothing, skin tone, and casual chats during breaks, Zhou You could basically identify the rural students. They pretended to be mature and natural, unaware that it was obvious to outsiders, coming off as rigid and dogmatic.
In truth, Zhou You didn't need to look at others—he could just look at himself.
Wasn't he the same? Rejecting others' affections, all because of inner inferiority.
But for someone like Zhou You, self-respect was his only anchor!
Wishing all readers a happy National Day.