Hu Xin felt bewildered. He had spotted Hu Tao in the car moments before, but since Hu Tao hadn't spoken, Hu Xin hadn't bothered acknowledging him. He didn't get along with Versace, and the feeling was mutual with Hu Tao. Running into both rivals at once left Hu Xin feeling quite gloomy.

Standing before Versace, Hu Tao kept his head extremely low, afraid to look at Zhang Yang.

Several days had passed since the pager incident, but the memory was still too vivid for him. Not only had Zhang Yang bought a cell phone, but he had also thoroughly startled Xia Lan, the elder sister of his girlfriend. Hu Tao had never seen Xia Lan so flustered.

For that matter, he had been thoroughly berated by Xia Lan numerous times as an outlet for her frustration.

Versace hadn't noticed Hu Tao’s expression. He looked at Hu Xin and suddenly became smug again.

“Hu Xin, I hear you’ve been doing pretty well lately, competing with the city team in the inter-university tournament and even snagging an award. How about it, struck it rich? How much prize money did you walk away with?”

Versace chuckled maliciously. Hu Xin’s eyes instantly widened, and he glared at Versace.

While Versace seemed to be praising Hu Xin, everyone understood he was deliberately being sarcastic. Changjing University was considered a well-known local institution, but unfortunately, its basketball team was too weak; they never even made it past the municipal level, at best securing minor achievements in small leagues organized among local universities.

Indeed, they were minor achievements. In the recent league involving over twenty major and secondary vocational schools, their university placed ninth, failing to outperform even some of the vocational colleges.

However, they did manage to secure the 'Most Improved Team' award. The Changjing University basketball team usually hovered around the fifteenth spot, often being challenged by vocational schools that gained a sense of accomplishment by defeating an undergraduate institution.

Hu Tao lowered his head even further.

Versace’s comment made him feel deeply ashamed. He was a member of his department’s basketball team and had tried hard numerous times to make the university team, unlike Versace, whose interest in basketball was purely casual; he never participated seriously, and no one stopped him when he felt like playing.

“Hu Xin, let’s go. If we don’t leave now, we won't have enough time!”

Seeing Hu Xin’s fists clenched tightly, Zhang Yang shook his head helplessly and spoke softly.

Versace had finally found Hu Xin’s weak spot this time. Since the university team’s ranking had significantly improved, the school had greatly encouraged every player, rewarding them with two hundred yuan each.

Two hundred yuan didn't sound like much, but for the Changjing University basketball team, it was substantial. Given their team's past performance, they had never received any prize money before.

This bonus money required pooling resources: part from the school, and part from the Student Union. With Xiao Bin now overseeing the Department of Associations, the president of the Basketball Club personally approached Xiao Bin for assistance, and Xiao Bin directly helped them secure funding.

The Student Union was currently well-funded, and when it came to supporting their own people, they made sure to do so. Zhang Yang wasn't a pedant, and he usually fast-tracked whatever Xiao Bin needed.

“Let’s go eat!”

Hu Xin shot Versace a venomous glare. Zhang Yang sighed inwardly.

Versace’s remark, while intended to mock Hu Xin, had inadvertently implicated himself. If the university team’s performance was poor, wasn't he, as a student of that university, supposed to feel any sting? Not to mention, he was someone who often played basketball too.

Based on this incident alone, Zhang Yang’s impression of Versace dropped sharply. However, in his memory, Zhang Yang’s previous impression of this guy hadn't been good either—he was the type who loved to flaunt everything he had, everywhere he went.

“What, you got your bonus and you’re already planning to treat someone? Flattering our great Student Union leader here?”

Versace continued speaking, glancing dismissively at Zhang Yang before adding, “Being polite to him won't get you anywhere. He’s just an outdated hack. If you want to suck up, go find Old Zhou. What good is he?”

The Old Zhou Versace mentioned was Zhou Yichen. He and Zhou Yichen had a decent relationship; they were kindred spirits.

Versace wasn't part of the Student Union and was unaware of the recent shifts in power. He still operated under the assumption that Zhou Yichen held Zhang Yang tightly suppressed, as was the case previously. Zhou Yichen’s recent downturn had not been widely publicized.

However, he was saying these things purely because he disliked seeing Zhang Yang. Mi Xue was too close to Zhang Yang, and Mi Xue was one of the girls Versace had once desired and wanted to win over.

Zhang Yang’s brow furrowed slightly, but before he could speak, Mi Xue cut in first: “Watch your mouth. Who are you calling an outdated hack? Driving around in that piece of junk car and acting so smug?”

Mi Xue usually possessed a gentle temperament, which only surfaced when dealing with Zhang Yang.

With everyone else, she was still the same. Now that she and Zhang Yang were officially together, she could not allow anyone to slander him in her mind.

A hint of anger flashed across Versace’s face, but it quickly vanished. He then adopted a smile he clearly thought was dashing and said softly, “Mi Xue, don’t let this kid’s sweet talk fool you. He’s nothing—just a boy who only knows how to boast. Once Old Zhou left the Student Union, this guy immediately withered!”

“Who are you calling a boaster? Who are you calling withered?”

Mi Xue’s eyes flashed, and she snapped angrily. Versace had pursued her in the past, only to be rejected. He later managed to woo another pretty girl.

Her general impression of Versace wasn't terrible; at least he hadn't pestered her relentlessly. But she hadn't expected him to speak with such malice. Zhang Yang hadn't provoked him, yet Versace attacked and insulted him so viciously.

He had almost outright called Zhang Yang an inept charlatan who only tricked young girls.

Slandering Zhang Yang was far more intolerable to Mi Xue than being insulted herself, which is why she exploded at that moment.

“Isn’t that true? Hu Tao is also in the Student Union, and I see he’s not doing nearly as well as Hu Tao. Hu Tao even managed to get a pager, and it’s even one with Chinese characters! Hu Tao, show them!”

Versace had called Hu Tao down precisely because he wanted to use him to put the others in their place.

Hu Tao had distanced himself from Zhou Yichen recently and had grown quite close to Versace during this period. In the eyes of some, Hu Tao was now Versace’s subordinate.

If even the subordinate was doing better than them, Versace naturally gained face.

As soon as his words fell, Hu Tao lowered his head even more fiercely. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would have wished to burrow into it instantly.

That pager, after he bought it, was confiscated by Xia Lan. Later, Xia Ting nagged and pleaded until she managed to get it back for him. Because of this, Xia Lan had said many harsh things to him, directly calling him a man who lived off women.

Once he got the pager back, given Hu Tao’s vanity, he would naturally have shown it off—everyone has a need for recognition, and he was no exception.

After all, no one knew how he had acquired the pager.

Unfortunately, two people present knew the situation perfectly, yet Versace was using this very pager to make his point. After Versace spoke, Hu Tao felt his breath catch, as if he might faint.

It would have been better if the pager hadn't been mentioned; bringing it up only made him feel more humiliated.

“Take it out! Let them see it!”

Seeing that Hu Tao remained motionless, Versace called out again, his voice tinged with impatience.

Hu Tao was usually extremely obedient, but what was wrong with him today? He stood there rigidly, head down like a block of wood.

“Brother Fan, do we really have to?”

Hu Tao forced himself to lift his head, squeezing out a smile that looked more painful than a grimace.

Zhang Yang sighed softly inwardly. He understood the situation best and empathized with Hu Tao at that moment, harboring no thought of mockery.

However, to degrade oneself to this extent could only be described as tragic.

“What’s gotten into you today? Take it out!”

Versace looked at him with surprise, then, without hesitation, directly snatched the pager from Hu Tao’s waist. Hu Tao had previously clipped the pager to his belt, but upon seeing Zhang Yang and the others, he had awkwardly pulled his shirt out of his trousers to cover the conspicuous device.

It was a Little Elite pager, a very good model featuring Chinese characters available on the market. Versace triumphantly held it in his hand.

Hu Tao’s face flushed an even deeper red, but he lacked the courage to snatch the item back from Versace, merely standing there in embarrassment.

“It’s just a pager, as if we don’t have one? Zhang Yang, show him yours!”

Mi Xue called out angrily, reaching out and grabbing Zhang Yang’s canvas bag.

The bag was ordinary; Zhang Yang had never bothered changing it. It wasn't due to laziness; the bag looked plain but was very comfortable to use and incredibly spacious.

Besides, Zhang Yang’s current status was still that of a student, so such a bag was appropriate.

Mi Xue opened the bag, and the first thing she pulled out was a thick stack of cash.

It wasn’t a huge amount, only a little over thirty thousand yuan, with thirty thousand having been forcefully given to him by Su Zhantao for shopping expenses while they were in Jiaoyi.

Zhang Yang had initially tried to refuse, but Su Zhantao insisted the money came from the two hundred thousand yuan given to Zhang Yang, leaving him no grounds for refusal.

Zhang Yang had saved Qin Zheng when he suffered a heart attack, and Qin Yong had given Zhang Yang a check for two hundred thousand as thanks. Zhang Yang had handed that money over to Su Zhantao, who used that as leverage, essentially gifting Zhang Yang his own money, making it impossible for him to object further.

Zhang Yang had barely touched this thirty thousand in cash; it remained in the bag along with the change from his previous phone purchase.

Seeing this stack of bills stunned everyone present.

Especially Versace. His family had some money, but he certainly didn't carry tens of thousands in cash around with him. This stack was clearly thicker than a stack of ten thousand.

Mi Xue also paused for a moment. She had just reached into the bag casually and hadn't expected to pull out cash.

Glancing around, Mi Xue put the money back, rummaged inside again, and finally unearthed the Little Elite pager she had gifted him. However, the pager got tangled with Zhang Yang’s cell phone, and when she pulled out the pager, she inadvertently brought out Zhang Yang’s mobile phone as well.

Seeing the black Nokia phone, Hu Xin and the others froze.

They knew Zhang Yang had a pager, but they hadn't known he also had a cell phone. In those days, owning a mobile phone was a completely different concept from owning a pager.

For instance, at Changjing University, many students had pagers—basically, every class had one—but those with cell phones were extremely rare; perhaps not even one per department.

At least in their collective memory, almost no one in the entire Clinical Medicine department carried a cell phone to school.