Chapter 7: Friday Group Meeting

After Zhou Yun and the others left, only three people remained in the conference room.

“What do you think?”

“The other four are fine, but this Zhou Yun seems quite impressive.”

“Hmm, his fundamentals are solid, and he has good ideas. I’m just not sure about his coding skills yet — it’s hard to tell for now. As for the other four, Chang Chengxuan and Shao Shi are pretty decent, but the other two are lacking in basics. For now, it’s just Zhou Yun, Chang Chengxuan, and Shao Shi. If we really can’t fill the group, then so be it. Send a message to these three and add them to the group—that counts as joining the team.” Deng Yonghua made the decision quickly.

Perhaps influenced by Zhou Yun, his standards had risen a bit. Originally, two others should have joined, but in the end, not a single one made it in.

After discussing the new students, Deng Yonghua turned to the two juniors: “You two need to put in more effort. You couldn’t even come up with questions earlier. It would be embarrassing if the new juniors outperform you.”

The two smiled awkwardly and said nothing.

They didn’t have any senior pride to protect; in fact, they hoped the new juniors would be better. That way, they could rely on their seniors above and lean on their juniors below, graduating smoothly in the end. What could be better?

Seeing their carefree attitude, Deng Yonghua waved his hand irritably. “Let’s go. Just looking at you two annoys me.”

Just as Zhou Yun reached the school gate, he received a friend request from Qiu Yan and accepted it immediately.

Soon after, he was added to a group chat—the group for teachers and students in their team.

A flurry of welcomes from senior students followed.

Zhou Yun politely replied.

Before long, he was added to another chat group. The group’s name already hinted at its casual nature—“Don’t want to have group meetings.”

The only difference between this group and the previous one was that there were no teachers, so the atmosphere was livelier.

He greeted everyone briefly but didn’t engage much—after all, they didn’t know each other well yet. No worries; after a few meetings, they’d become familiar.

Exiting the chat, Zhou Yun called his family.

“Hello? Son, what’s up? Why the sudden call?”

“Nothing much. Just wanted to tell you I passed the graduate school entrance exam—Qiantang University.”

“What? What did you say you got into?”

Since Zhou Yun hadn’t told his family about taking the graduate exam, they had thought he had already started working.

He hadn’t told them for any complicated reason; mainly, the graduate exam was his own business. If his parents found out, even if they didn’t say much, they’d act—maybe give him more living expenses or check in on him now and then. If he failed, that would add some pressure.

Better not to say anything. If he didn’t pass, he’d just work and pretend he never took the exam. If he passed, he’d tell them later.

“Graduate school, Qiantang University, in Hangcheng.”

“Oh, Hangcheng. When did this happen? Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“No point if I don’t pass.”

“You kid…” The laughter through the phone showed his mother was delighted. “Alright, that’s good. When will you come home? We’ll have your dad cook something delicious.”

“Probably tomorrow. I’ll come back after I finish up things at school. I’ll hang up now.”

“Okay, okay. Let us know before you come back; we’ll pick you up.”

“Got it.”

After hanging up, a faint smile involuntarily appeared on Zhou Yun’s face.

Though passing the graduate exam wasn’t a big deal for him, it was definitely something his parents could rejoice over.

He grabbed a quick meal somewhere and hurried to catch the high-speed train.

At 7 p.m., in Ningcheng, a weary Zhou Yun returned to his undergraduate dormitory.

“Zhou Yun, how did it go?”

“Not bad, I should have passed,” he said, smiling and greeting his roommates.

“Congratulations.”

Zhou Yun’s undergraduate life was likely different from most people’s, but he didn’t see anything wrong with it. Many might imagine university roommates to be very close, like family.

But in reality, the way Zhou Yun and his roommates got along could be described, somewhat inappropriately, as “respectful and distant.”

Mainly because Zhou Yun wasn’t one to settle for the status quo—otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to take the exam across disciplines. His three roommates, well, they weren’t slackers exactly, just typical lazy college students.

Their personalities were different, so naturally, they weren’t very close. Their interactions were limited to sharing meals or playing games together.

“I’m planning to head back soon. There’s nothing much to do here, and I’ll come back later for the graduation ceremony.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow.”

“That soon?” The roommates were only mildly surprised before returning to their videos.

“Yeah.” Zhou Yun nodded, rested a bit, then started packing.

Though it seemed like he didn’t have much, when he really organized, there were piles of bags. However, he didn’t plan to take most of it with him.

Eventually, he sorted out two suitcases; the rest he prepared to throw away.

The next afternoon, after a farewell meal, Zhou Yun went home.

---

Qucheng, high-speed train station.

Just outside the station, he spotted a red Volkswagen parked nearby. He waved and headed over, dragging his luggage.

“Son, you’ve lost a lot of weight!” A middle-aged woman stepped out of the car and lightly pinched his cheek. It was Zhou Yun’s mother, Deng Yarong.

He sighed helplessly. “Not really. And isn’t it better to be a bit thinner?”

“Son’s back?” Zhou Yun’s father soon appeared. Unlike Deng Yarong, he didn’t pinch his son’s face, but the smile in his eyes was unmistakable.

“Yeah, I’m back.”

After loading the luggage into the car, they headed home.

“Son, how long will you stay this time?”

“If nothing unexpected comes up, I’ll stay until school starts. But you never know.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Zhou Yun glanced at his mother. “If I stay too long, you won’t be happy.”

There was precedent—every summer break, the first few days were joyful: “Son’s home, great!” But within a week, it turned into: “Son, why aren’t you back at school yet?”

It seemed this motherly affection shifted quite quickly.

“No, no,” she promised.

Zhou Yun shook his head; he didn’t believe it.

Back home, just after showering and about to rest, his phone rang.

It was a message from the teacher-student group chat.

It read: “All new students, please prepare for this Friday’s group meeting.”

Then followed a long list of papers—about a dozen or so.

He felt overwhelmed.

He wasn’t afraid of the work; it was just that nobody liked group meetings except the teachers. Zhou Yun would rather communicate one-on-one with the teacher than waste time in group meetings.

Joining the group early meant extending graduation by half a year—there was some reason to that.