Though Wang Qiqi was reading, her mind wasn't on the textbook. She was thinking back to when she first met Jiang Xin during registration. Back then, everyone was new to this unfamiliar environment, slowly getting to know each other. Plus, they all loved reading and spending time in the library, so their relationships naturally blossomed. But after Jiang Xin and Cao Rui started dating, things never returned to how they were; they gradually grew distant. And now, alas...

Bai Ge heard Wang Qiqi’s sigh, and her movement of picking up her book paused. Although Qiqi was maintaining a good façade, she had been affected to some degree. "Everyone has their own path."

Though Bai Ge’s voice was soft, Wang Qiqi heard her and could only agree with a resignation, "Are you going back for the summer break?" It seemed Bai Ge and the others hadn't returned last year.

Bai Ge shook her head. "Not going back. We found work. The food factory also needs hands for auxiliary labor, and my younger siblings are coming over too." This way, they could be reunited, and second, they could earn tuition money. While the wages in Beijing weren't high, back home, they would certainly cover more than half a year's expenses for the family. "I plan to save some money and buy a small apartment in Beijing. Then my siblings won't have to rent when they come." As the summer break approached, Bai Ge and the others also needed to rent a place for two months. They wouldn't have known if they hadn't looked—the rent had climbed so fast. The meticulous Bai Ge specifically inquired about current housing prices and found that property values had also risen. At this point, Bai Ge felt inclined toward buying a place. Hadn't even the worldly-wise Wang Qiqi, who was planning to go abroad, bought property in Beijing? If someone as sharp as her was investing in real estate, it meant she held a very positive view of Beijing properties. Since Bai Ge also planned to stay in Beijing eventually, owning her own place, no matter how small, seemed quite worthwhile.

"Oh. That’s good. Having your own place means you don't have to worry about rent increases." Wang Qiqi hadn't expected that Bai Ge, who seemed the least calculated among them, would harbor such an idea. "Do you have enough money?" Impossible. Did tutoring pay that well now? Even the smallest apartment cost at least a hundred thousand, didn't it? How could Bai Ge have that much saved up?

Bai Ge shook her head. "How could I have that much? I plan to take out a loan." She thought that she would just have to work harder and take on more jobs. "I can rent the place out normally." Actually, Bai Ge had already calculated that if the apartment was rented, the monthly loan repayment wouldn't be too high—it was within a tolerable range for her.

Duan Xiaomin, sitting nearby, was busy with something; Wang Qiqi had seen her hunched over, writing furiously the moment she arrived. By the time Duan Xiaomin was done, she saw Bai Ge and Wang Qiqi whispering together. "What are you two gossiping about?" Surely, it wasn't good news, was it?

Wang Qiqi had assumed Bai Ge was close with Duan Xiaomin and thought Duan Xiaomin already knew about Bai Ge’s plan to buy a house. Just as she was about to say something, Bai Ge preempted her. "I was telling Qiqi about Jiang Xin."

Jiang Xin’s matter? Duan Xiaomin made an "oh" sound. So, they were discussing that. "She certainly picked the wrong person to associate with." After all, Wang Qiqi and Jiang Xin had been friends. Since the topic was already set, she lost interest and turned to chat with the classmates behind her.

Seeing Duan Xiaomin turn away, Bai Ge let out a long sigh. "I haven't told them; you know that." The news about Wang Qiqi buying a house in Beijing last time had already caused quite a stir. If it weren't for Wang Qiqi generally being a decent person and having no explosive rumors attached to her—being rather a homebody—the gossip would have been much uglier. And Bai Ge, a girl from a poor background, would be doing well just to finish her studies if she weren't doing several tutoring jobs. If the news that she was suddenly buying a house got out, the rumors could drown her. She probably wouldn't have mentioned it to Wang Qiqi at all if she hadn't wanted to ask for her opinion on buying property.

Wang Qiqi fell silent. Indeed, the more people who knew about Bai Ge buying a house, the higher the chance of the information leaking. She had only mentioned it once to Jiang Xin, and that girl had immediately betrayed her confidence. "I understand. Come find me when you have time, but I won't be in Beijing during the summer break." Wang Qiqi hoped this girl wouldn't look for her during the holidays. Not many students would remain on campus during the break, minimizing the chances of people seeing her and Bai Ge browsing real estate agencies.

"I won't have time during the summer break either; I picked up an extra job." Bai Ge thought her summer would be non-stop from morning till night, running on fumes. Even if Wang Qiqi had time, she wouldn't. "We’ll be juniors next semester," Bai Ge suddenly remarked with a sigh.

Duan Xiaomin, having just concluded her conversation with the people behind her, turned around and heard Bai Ge’s comment. "Why the sudden lament?" Just as Duan Xiaomin was about to ask if she had been stimulated by something to say that, the professor walked in.

As the professor entered, the classroom, previously as bustling as a marketplace, immediately quieted down. Everyone looked at the instructor with sharp attention. Seeing this, the professor smiled faintly. "If not for the low attendance in previous classes, I would genuinely think you were all model students. It’s just the attendance rate for the final few lectures that is the highest."

Chuckling at the teacher's teasing, everyone laughed. In reality, only an easygoing professor would speak this way; a stricter one would have bluntly said that if it weren't for the need to cover the scope of the final exam and leave a good impression, they might have skipped the final class altogether.

"I know you are all busy—busy with social events, busy dating, busy making money," the old professor sighed. Today's students weren't as diligent as those in the past. Diligent students were only found in the freshman year; starting from the sophomore year, truancy increased significantly. "But I still have to say: your years in university should be for studying."

Most students felt the old professor's lecture was old news. For them, college was merely about obtaining a diploma. As for grades, they believed they could still cram for a few days before the exam and score well, so why bother being so serious now?

Wang Qiqi strongly agreed with the professor’s statement, believing that learning was a lifelong endeavor, requiring continuous advancement to secure one's place in society.

The old professor didn't expect his words to suddenly ignite a passion for serious study among those present. After relaxing for so long, returning to the intense focus of middle or high school was absolutely impossible for them.

The old professor quickly began highlighting key points, and the students below promptly picked up their pens to diligently record what the teacher said. However, some people, likely unaccustomed to writing so quickly after a long time, occasionally protested, "Professor, could you slow down? We can't keep up." In just a short while, about fifty pages had been marked in the book. Never mind taking notes; it was taking quite an effort just to flip through the pages to find the material the teacher was covering. This was particularly tough on students whose books were still pristine.

"Slow down?" The old professor raised an eyebrow. "I only have one review session. If I don't speed up, how can I extract the main points for you?" For the professor, those who attended his classes wouldn't be scrambling like this; they supposedly found the material easily. Hadn't Wang Qiqi effortlessly located the content he was discussing at high speed? "If you require me to speak slower, we can..."

The students caught the implication behind the professor's words and immediately burst out in protest: "Professor, you aren't speaking fast at all."

"Right, right, Professor, I misspoke."

Are you kidding? If the professor didn't outline the key points, how would they handle the exam? What if the professor was meaner and focused the exam questions entirely on the points he hadn't covered yet? How would they pass? Their books were new; even starting now, there wouldn't be enough time to read everything. Besides, if they couldn't find the material now, didn't they still have Wang Qiqi? They could just copy her notes later, and everything would be fine.

A considerable number of students shared this thought. They quieted down and listened, not with the intense focus from before, but they also stopped whispering amongst themselves—that would be too brazen, leaving a bad impression on the professor and delaying Qiqi’s crucial note-taking.

Wang Qiqi was rapidly moving her gaze between her book and her notes. A lot of what the professor said was indeed crucial. However, despite the professor claiming to be highlighting key points, Wang Qiqi felt that while he looked easygoing, almost a nice old man, the man was actually quite cunning. The so-called key points were just too numerous. Wang Qiqi genuinely felt a pang of pity for those who had skipped many classes and were relying solely on memorizing these "highlights" to pass or even get a good score. There were simply too many key points; she wondered how long it would take them to memorize all that material. Even writing out cheat sheets, Wang Qiqi honestly thought, would be exhausting.

In the following few days, everyone existed in this state of darkness before the dawn. Every time a professor finished reviewing what they claimed were the key points and left the classroom, Wang Qiqi could hear a chorus of anguish from the class. "Heavens, there are so many key points."

"The 'highlights' for one course are more than the highlights for the previous three combined."

"We can't memorize it all even pulling an all-nighter; we'll have to resort to special measures."

"Special measures? Cheat sheets? Even then, we’d need to memorize a good chunk. Do you know how to find the answer for a specific question?" one person thought. Such cheat sheets were only suitable for subjects with few key points. For subjects loaded with them, even if they prepared extensive notes, finding the correct answer in the exam hall when faced with a question would still be a hassle.

"That's better than doing nothing," several people cried out at the thought of creating so many cheat sheets. With so few days left until the exam, they couldn't spend all their time transcribing notes; they still needed time to study the material. This made everyone anxious.

[Paper Vain/Qingfeng Lingxin] The fragrance of a beauty, no match for flowers that wither in the wind. The fragrance of ink and paper, spreading ten thousand years, echoing through the ages. She is reborn on the path of death; see how she forges a new life.