Chapter 88 Impotence

s.Among these female employees, some were former clothing business owners who had suffered losses, while others had experience working at supermarkets and retail stores. There were also young people f...Chapter 88: Helplessness

The start of the academic year at Nan University brought a series of events, such as course selection and arranging class schedules. Additionally, dorm room bonding activities took place, with hotels and guesthouses around the area, including daily rental rooms, being fully booked. It seems that regardless of the era, parents accompany their children to see them off.

University is indeed a pivotal turning point in one's life, as well as the last ivory tower where one can rest before facing the world. Only after returning to this corner of Nan University did Su Can feel the hustle and bustle of Rongcheng fade into the background.

The shock waves from Great Southwest Group and Dafeng Construction, coupled with the game of chess played when Central Inspection Team’s Zhou Guotiao visited, have left a series of aftereffects. These are subtle yet significant.

During the summer incident at the snow mountain hot springs resort, Yi Lihuan suffered an unseen defeat but tried his best to minimize its impact afterwards. However, his powerful father used numerous connections and methods in response. Yet as they extended their influence beyond Yu City into the provincial capital city, Wang Bo’s strong suppression kept them from causing much trouble, significantly weakening their influence. Many individuals that Yi family could mobilize were aware of Wang Bo's ironclad authority as the Secretary of Rongcheng Municipal Committee; under his firm hold, many people couldn't stir and couldn’t even speak up.

Furthermore, with Gu Jiangtiao, the largest patron of the Yi Family within Sichuan province, having fallen into political compromises after the Central Inspection Team's visit, despite the Yi Group showing considerable agitation due to this incident, they still could not harm Su Can’s family.

However, as a result of offending such a formidable entity like the Yi Family, if Su Can were to go to Yu City in the future, he would likely need to be accompanied by a group of highly capable bodyguards. Otherwise, he might easily fall victim to any opportunity and suffer retaliation from Yi Lihuan.

Fortunately, Su Can had returned headlong to Shanghai, where even if the Yi Family dared not act presumptuously due to their connections, it would be because they couldn't afford to make a move. Along with Su Can's departure from Rongcheng came the temporary shift of conflict focus; after all, there were likely many people hating him intensely in that region.

Following the summer issue of state-owned share reduction, Wang Bo’s surroundings frequently featured Su Can’s influence, indicating that many people might have already been studying him privately. Those who suffered losses due to his actions would probably not view him favorably.

When leaving Rongcheng, Su Can heard Wei Wei and Lin Luoran say that some people were spreading rumors calling him a "troublesome young rascal" close to Wang Bo. Age was disregarded in this evaluation, while they praised his sophistication and resourcefulness.

Su Cen found himself at a loss for words when he heard such terms as "Too Fu" and "sly old hand" being used to describe him, imagining the twisted faces of those who were envious of his success.

It was now nighttime after one week of formal classes, with rain falling in sheets. The light from between the dormitory buildings created streaks of rain in this three-dimensional world.

The fresh scent filled the air as Su Cen stood on the sixth-floor balcony with a cup of coffee in his hand. Behind him were four computer screens glowing brightly in Room 602, creating a warm scene under the soft yellow lighting.

This time around, all residents of Room 602 had undergone a collective upgrade: initially, only Su Cen and Zhang Xiaqiao possessed laptops. Zhang's was a Sony graphics machine VAI_IXS from two years ago, with a 400 Hz frequency and a Pentium II processor. The model came with an internal camera that could take pictures at any time for digital image processing, which was irresistible to Zhang, who loved sketching.

Su Cen's laptop was the ThinkPad X30 from IBM released before he enrolled in school. In his previous life, Su Cen couldn't afford a computer when starting university and had only considered an economical configuration. It wasn't until his third year that he managed to buy a second-hand desktop from an upperclassman, as laptops were still seen as luxuries at the time.

Of course, this was based on Su Cen's previous university experience; at prestigious universities in economic centers like Nankai University, it wasn't uncommon to see students with laptops. However, they remained valuable personal items. Zhang Xiaqiao, from a modest background, treated his Sony graphics machine as a prized possession and meticulously cleaned the keyboard after each use by Li Han or Xiao Xu.

Reborn in this life, Su Cen naturally bought himself a comfortable-to-use laptop with a 1200 Hz frequency and standard 256 MB of RAM (supporting up to 1 GB), which many people regarded as miraculous at the time.

After restarting his life from scratch and using computers for so long, Su Cen finally had one that approached the standards of future devices, allowing him a glimpse of hope for the dawn of a new era in modern computing.

This semester, Su Cen brought two laptops over on Facebook Chinese, both identical to his. As resources were limited on Facebook Chinese, he didn't want these extra notebooks to go to waste and lent them to Li Han and Xiao Xu for their use during university, with the agreement that they would return them after graduation.

This left other dorm residents in awe. Everyone knew Su Cen's offer was essentially a gift, leaving Li Han and Xiao Xu practically ecstatic.

In addition, Room 602 underwent some renovations. A few days ago, when they went out to Xuhui for shopping with Tang Wu's dormitory, Su Cun brought back a German Braun coffee machine that he had seen in a boutique store. He also set up a small refrigerator by his desk; considering the weather was still warm, it would be convenient for the three of them to cool off on the balcony at night and drink beer without worrying about being unable to buy alcohol after the dormitory building closes late at night.

The building where Su Cun and others were located had only been constructed for one or two years. Nan Da University erected a cluster of dormitory buildings in this park area, demonstrating their financial strength.

However, there was a difference in the facilities provided to ordinary undergraduate dormitories compared to graduate student dormitories. Undergraduate dormitories accommodated four people and cost 1000 yuan per year for rent, whereas each room in the graduate building housed two students with a separate hot water heater, washbasin, and shower room, costing only 1200 yuan per year. This was once quite enviable.

After all, everyone hoped to have the luxury of taking a nice warm bath after sweating it out on the playground during winter. If one sweated heavily from exercise in the cold winter and didn't opt for a cold shower upon returning to their dormitory, they would have to carry a basin to take a shower at the communal bathroom located several buildings away.

This time, Su Cun directly installed a hot water heater in his dorm. Initially, the dorm management strictly prohibited such independent actions by students. However, when Su Yi, the counselor, stepped in and mediated, once the special approval from the department arrived, everything went smoothly.

Su Cun even set up one each for his own room and Tang Wu's room, earning him quite a reputation among the girls in Building 13. Even many years after they left this place, people would come to admire it out of curiosity.

Another significant event within Su Cun’s normal experience occurred in 2002 when Blizzard Entertainment released and launched "Warcraft III" which quickly gained widespread popularity, sweeping through internet cafes across the country.

Apart from Nan Da University where he studied, Tong Ji University, and even universities such as Shangdian (Shanghai International Studies University) and Shanghai University, located in different districts of Shanghai, were all swept up in its craze.

Based on the information Su Cun had about Lin Guangdong, Warcraft III was launched around July. With the foundations laid by "Diablo" and "Starcraft," along with early leaked versions of the original "Warcraft III," Blizzard's WarCraft series had high expectations and a strong reputation. Each delay only increased player anticipation and then the hype escalated sharply when more details were released.

Even Lin Luoran, in a phone call to Su Cun, sounded quite pleased as she said, “Su Cun, Wang Weiwei and Lin Zhoudan have asked me to set up a match for you. They're one in Beijing and the other in Henan Province; both are training hard. They've reached a point where fighting with beginners is boring. They want to know when they can challenge you. The Blizzard WarCraft was just released, so everyone's on an even playing field now. I have to defeat you and toy with you... Well, we need to organize this soon because who knows what tricks you'll come up with if we delay it.”

Perhaps it's because Su Cen is usually too composed and confident, giving people the impression that they'd feel satisfied only after tormenting him a bit.

At least Lin Luoran, the eldest Miss Lin, seems to be one of them. Occasionally being able to get the upper hand over Su Cen and make him suffer small losses feels very meaningful for her, as someone who is always focused on what she truly cares about without being bothered by trivial matters.

The more this happens, the stronger Su Cen's sense becomes that when he performs in front of Miss Lin with the mentality from the "World of Warcraft," would this woman extend her fair and slender hands to strangle him

On a rainy night, holding a cup of coffee while standing on the balcony, listening to the excited sounds behind him as three people were engrossed in playing games. Occasionally, damp air would hit his face, mixed with the rich aroma of coffee that refreshed one's mind.

In Su Cen’s memory, it seemed that Blizzard Entertainment was going to release a new World of Warcraft expansion called "The Frozen Throne" next year, which quickly became popular upon its release. Following this顛覆歐美正統奇幻的單機遊戲之後推出的《魔獸世界》網絡遊戲不負眾望地書寫了“暴雪出品，必屬精品”的傳奇，一舉奪得世界第一網絡遊戲桂冠，成為無數宅男宅女乃至機關白領們樂此不疲的消遣對象。

WarCraft would become a competitive event in future world electronic sports, and World of Warcraft would become the most profitable online game worldwide. This could be seen from NetEase's revenue after acquiring the rights to operate WarCraft, nearly reaching one billion yuan per month.

This huge cash cow hasn't emerged yet; if possible, Su Cen really wants to gather a group of people to create it. However, this is even less feasible than his rebirth. Creating an online game like World of Warcraft is akin to China building its first aircraft carrier to enter the blue ocean, requiring massive resources and efforts.

The enterprises under Su Cen's control are scattered; they haven't grown into a conglomerate scale yet, let alone having such a system that could form a source of human resources and technology. The high-tech knowledge he possesses came from thinning out Facebook in the U.S.

It’s very weak and limited. Now every bit of these technical resources is being used precisely, allocated to maintain the three major projects攻關之中。蘇燦第一次感覺到手頭上產業的無力感。

The performance of Dunhuang Mall and Shushan Chain can sustain Su Cen's not-so-robust cash flow, but they are gradually showing their limitations. Therefore, it seems that preparations for the next stage must be initiated.moment, Wang Weiwei turned around, put the phone on speaker mode, cutting off the music. There was a brief silence as everyone collectively looked at him with disdain, "We all think you're superficial...