Chapter 145 Back to School

oment, Su Cen had just ended or buried a chapter of his life that belonged to Xi Hai City, coming to the provincial capital with anxious steps. In this huge, precise concrete jungle city full of gears...Chapter 145: Returning to School

When Su Cen's mother received Tang Wu's call, he could already guess what was happening. He wouldn't be able to relax at home since his relationship with Tang Wu had always been a major concern for his mother.

During the first half of the semester at Nan University, when answering calls from home, Su Cen had heard many reminders about taking good care of the girl in question.

"By the way, how did you guys come over" Su Cen looked at the official car. After transferring flights from San Francisco to Shanghai and then returning to Chengdu, seeing Tang Wu pick him up made his mood light-hearted. This feeling was very pleasant, but upon careful thought, something seemed off. No wonder he felt a commanding presence when he first saw Tang Wu. The young lady standing next to the official car had her mother's demeanor. And who were the man with sharp eyes behind his glasses and the official car

"School is starting soon. Today my family hosted a banquet, and in the middle of it, I left early and told Uncle Yang to pick me up, so he sent this car."

So that was how it was. Thinking about Tang Wu leaving the farewell dinner before him to come to the airport, Su Cen's heart warmed, but then he thought, "School is starting..."

"Yes, indeed." As the car drove through traffic, the half-light and darkness accentuated Tang Wu’s bright eyes and prominent nose. "Was there anything memorable about your trip"

There were plenty of memorable things. Su Cen recounted the funny stories he had with Zack in California—the Gulfstream jet pick-up, invitations to the most luxurious upper-class parties in San Francisco, yacht dinners on the South Coast, and more. Listening to these tales made Tang Wu fixate intently, amazed by Su Cen's experience in America while also deeply impressed by how he managed his relationships there and returned so calmly.

Anyone would be speechless knowing that Su Cen’s company received nearly 10 million dollars of investment for the shares he held. This was true whether it was at Su Cen’s home, her own place, or even in front of those relatives who looked down on others.

Tang Wu knew that if Su Cen drove a Bentley into view during the Shanghai banquet, people might see him as an nouveau riche or a brash young man. Additionally, conflicts with Zhang Chaoyang, her uncle's best friend and someone closely related to their family, only reinforced this perception of his rashness. However, if they knew about Su Cen’s actions in America, would they immediately change their view of him Would he transform from being seen as a nouveau riche or second-generation rich kid into a prodigy Because among the people around them and those they had met, no one of Su Cen's age could achieve such accomplishments solely through their own efforts.

Everything happened too quickly, but since Su Cen's performance at the Tang family dinner had told her how he founded a magazine and earned enough money through advertisements to buy a Bentley, Tang Wu now faced this news with shock but not total unpreparedness.

In her New Year card she wrote to Su Cen in her first year of high school, she quoted Hegel's famous saying: "The greatest genius, even if he lies day after day on the green grassland and lets the breeze blow over him while gazing at the sky, will never be visited by tender inspiration."

Perhaps Su Cen reaching this point was never an accident; he always had clear goals and steadily worked towards what he wanted to do. It's hard for others to notice the efforts behind each step he took, yet he continued forward.

No matter it was that afternoon before entering high school, or during those days when she lost all contact with him after going to Rongcheng, or their life together in a foreign country as freshmen in American high schools.

The reason why the exchange students on their study abroad program were quite impressed by Su Cen back then was that while everyone else struggled to adapt to American life, he actively took action and let American youth accept him and become an influential figure. The facts proved that Su Cen's vision went far beyond this; he had already laid out a path for his dreams long ago. "Tang Wu, have you ever heard of Song Zhen" After talking with Tang Wu at length, Su Cen couldn't help but recall the morning when he met Song Zhen near Stanford University in Palo Alto.

Tang Wu shook her head: "What's wrong"

He replied, "A Chinese-American girl I met in America. If we don't know each other, it's quite normal." Tang Wu also didn't know about this; perhaps she was overthinking things. Song Zhen might not be the sister of Song Pengcheng after all. Besides, since graduating high school, she had been studying abroad and wasn't like Ye Huishang who became a famous model.

As for her hearing about herself, Tang Wu didn’t know from which channel this news came. She might have become a renowned figure too, just like No. 1. Su Cen thought so with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

Afterwards, he no longer paid much attention to it; even though the girl who came to thank him in America was beautiful, had an impressive background and experiences, and wasn't someone you'd easily forget, she was merely a passerby.

They didn't even exchange contact information with each other. They couldn't become friends either; just like talking about one's most secretive confidences to a stranger in an unfamiliar place during a certain period of life, this girl wanted nothing more than to find someone to talk to. They were strangers who crossed paths on the land of California and then hurriedly went their separate ways, never meeting again.

As Su Cen had predicted, upon returning home he was faced with relentless questioning from his mother, Zeng He. She asked about how life in America was, what he did there, and the progress of his friends' business ventures. His friends in Xiahai who were now in Rongcheng had all called him, and Tang Wu had also made a call, this girl being quite polite; she asked how their relationship was developing, whether things were going well at Nan University, and if he hadn't been bullying her or anything.

Su Cen couldn’t avoid the questions and could only grit his teeth and answer Zeng He's relentless inquiries. His father, Su Licheng, didn’t become an ally for him in this moment; instead, he said, "It’s rare to have a winter break, yet you went to America without even celebrating the Spring Festival. You should talk more with your mom." Implicitly, he too wanted to hear about what Su Cen had been up to in America and how things were going with Tang Wu. After all, their parents' concern for Tang Wu wasn’t something that started just a day or two ago.

Su Cen was kept up quite late before he could finally go wash and sleep. In the bathroom, he immersed himself in the bathtub where warm water enveloped his body; only then did he find peace to calm down. He recalled how Tang Wu had hugged him when they parted at their community gate earlier, her exquisite figure making his body burn hot now. This little demon was becoming more bewitching and irresistible.

The moment Su Cen saw Tang Wu after getting off the plane naturally excited him; it’s said that sometimes men are like children, and he wasn’t as composed as he appeared either. At that moment, he truly wanted to tell Tang Wu all about his experiences in America, every bit of hardship and reflection, sharing stories that amazed and invigorated his American team.

But ultimately, considering that Tang Wu was only nineteen years old, despite her excellence and wisdom beyond her years, there were still things she found hard to accept. So Su Cen tried his best to calmly explain what he had been doing in America during this period to her.

Even so, Tang Wu was deeply moved by it all.

This was only natural; it was an exciting endeavor indeed. Every day in America caused Su Cen's hormones to surge continuously; every day he felt exhilarated and invigorated.

This American journey had truly taken place and would profoundly influence his future, even Tang Wu’s life. He couldn’t help but feel restless now.

It was said that in 2002 China's single largest export commodity was Yao Ming, who would have a net worth of one billion dollars. But Su Cen felt the history needed to be rewritten; it should be attributed to Ren Sanbi and half his share belonged to him, Su Cen, as upon arriving in America someone offered fifteen billion dollars to buy out his and Zack's company. This amount clearly indicated the value of what he had accomplished.

Su Cen paid attention to domestic media reports but found that so far no magazines or journals, excluding some professional ones, had covered the winter stirrings in California and Silicon Valley regarding Facebook. This was normal, as domestic media always lagged behind a bit. The explosive coverage of Facebook's financing in California didn’t necessarily mean it would be equally sensationalized in China; there wasn't any reason for the country to chase after something currently unrelated to its people.

Certainly, Su Cen was also aware that Song, as a representative figure of the Internet era, had become a major news item domestically.

However, after getting used to being adored in California for a period of time, suddenly returning home where everything seemed calm and peaceful made Su Cen somewhat uncomfortable.

Such tranquility couldn't help but make one think about the serenity before a storm.

The other issue that Su Cen had to take seriously was Zhange Hua, an important figure in Shanghai’s financial circle who represented the domestic capital sector. After failing to compete with himself in America and returning empty-handed, Su Cen could no longer understand him through others or news reports as he did before.

This matter in America had completely alienated them.

In fact, according to reason, Su Cen was standing on the side of righteousness. However, in business dealings, there was never truly pure morality; the tendency towards profit is a distinct characteristic of capital.

Despite confidently mobilizing even Sean Parker, Zhange Hua unexpectedly failed and returned home in silence. For someone as confident as Zhenge Hua, this could be seen as a humiliation.

Though it was unlikely that he would face direct retaliation from Zhenge Hua right away, if there were opportunities to strike back at him, Zhenge Hua wouldn't necessarily refrain from doing so.

Faced with such a formidable adversary, Su Cen naturally had to prepare carefully and cautiously, trying his best to avoid any interactions or impacts that Zhenge Hua might have in Shanghai.

Su Cen's Spring Festival of 2002 was busy yet fulfilling. While Facebook was beginning its explosive growth across the ocean in America, Su Cen spent this holiday enjoying a rare period of leisure and comfort back home in Chengdu.realization.One relative commented, "That military district chief of staff, but apparently he's retired now. The current one should be Ai Longsheng." Speaking this person came from Liao Jun’s side and...