43. The wealthy are truly simple at heart.

After handing in her paper and leaving the assembly room, Wang Lan, still in a daze, was called up to the rooftop by Chen Ruowen, who insisted they were going to “have lunch.”

But wasn’t lunch supposed to be in the first-floor cafeteria? Why the rooftop?

Yet when Wang Lan saw a small plane, more than a meter long, hovering serenely in front of her on the rooftop, she was utterly dumbstruck.

She watched as Chen Ruowen calmly unloaded a set of folding table and chairs from the little aircraft, setting them up on the rooftop with measured ease, then, as if performing a magic trick, began to produce dishes from the plane.

“What are you standing there for? Come help me!” Chen Ruowen called.

Wang Lan snapped back to her senses and hurried over to help Chen Ruowen with the plates.

A few minutes later, the drone was parked to one side of the rooftop while Chen Ruowen and Wang Lan sat not far off—one smiling serenely as she picked up her food with her chopsticks, the other staring blankly at her own, not quite knowing what to do.

Yesterday, Chen Ruowen had said she’d treat Wang Lan to lunch and told her to order anything she liked. Wang Lan had assumed she was joking and made a grand order. And now… most of those dishes were actually laid out before her?

“What are you staring at? Aren’t you going to eat?”

Wang Lan raised her chopsticks, then set them down, a trace of unease in her manner.

“These dishes…”

“Oh, I know. You ordered lobster, but it’s not the season for good lobster here, so I had them airfreight some in from Australia. It should arrive tonight.”

Australia… Airfreight… Is this really how rich people do things?

“Are you… just loaded?”

Chen Ruowen burst out laughing. “Not at all.”

“Then how do you explain all this…?” Wang Lan pointed, bewildered, at the drone behind them, then to the lavish spread before her.

Chen Ruowen took the last sip of her wine and set down her chopsticks. “I’m simply well-off, that’s all.”

Simply… well-off… that’s all.

The simplicity of the wealthy is truly enviable…

I wish I could be so “simple” too!

…

After lunch, the afternoon wasn’t spent cooped up in the classroom for more exams. Instead, everyone was called out to gather on the open square at the activity center.

“Hello, students. I’m Ding Dun from the Sports College of Nanda. My task is to lead you through this afternoon’s team-building exercises. Now, listen for my commands!”

“At ease—!”

“Attention—!”

“Right face—align!”

“Quickly adjust your formation!”

“Now, starting from the far right of the first row, count off!”

While everyone counted off, Teacher Ding picked up a basket from the ground, filled with small, round number tags, each boldly marked with a number in black font.

He handed the basket to the first student. “Take your number tag in order as you count off.”

The basket was passed down the rows, and Chen Ruowen, following the count, took her own tag.

Number 88.

She liked that number.

“These tags identify you in the winter camp. If you drop in the rankings and are eliminated during the subsequent exams, you’ll need to return your tag to that round’s chief examiner. Lost tags will not be replaced, so take care of them.”

Ding Dun patiently explained all the details about the tags before finally, eagerly moving on to the main event.

“Next, everyone will be divided into eight teams of twelve, in numerical order. Team one is numbers 1 through 12, team two is 13 through 24, and so on. Gather by your team numbers on the field! I’ll count down from ten—ten, nine…”

The call to assemble came without warning—typical of a PE teacher, so full of energy.

Yet, driven by the forceful countdown, Chen Ruowen was surprised to see everyone’s spirits, dulled by endless test papers, suddenly revive.

After dividing into teams, Teacher Ding had each group elect a captain. All activities would now be team-based, and the events themselves were as flashy as could be—balancing a pole with just one finger per person, climbing over a two- or three-meter prop wall using only the team's strategy and no outside help…

Even someone as generally unsparing as Chen Ruowen found it hard to step on the backs and hands of her male teammates as the girls climbed the wall. Yet somehow, her attitude toward her teammates softened.

The most intense was the classic trust exercise.

Each member had to have their hands tied and eyes covered, then fall backward off a high platform, relying on their teammates below to catch them.

Had it not been for the earlier wall-climbing, there was no way Chen Ruowen would have taken part in such an activity—even if it meant losing points or being resented by her team.

But, under the anxious, sweat-drenched remote gaze of Chen Liwan via drone, she completed the challenge.

Afterward, she found she’d actually developed a fondness for the sensation of falling from a height.

That evening, the teams gathered for dinner. The night passed dreamlessly, and the next day brought the most dreaded moment: the announcement of the rankings.

“There were ninety-six students in this round. The highest score is 213, the lowest is 131.”

It was not Teacher Tong, the proctor of the second round, who announced the results, but the winter camp’s chief supervisor, Professor Qiao Yusen.

He wore a perfectly pressed indigo suit, not a wrinkle in sight, with immaculate white socks showing just above his trousers. His hair was combed meticulously, and he exuded an air of ascetic elegance.

“Sister Wen, don’t you think Professor Qiao looks even more handsome than last time? It’s like he dressed up just for today,” whispered Mo Xiaoxin, a teammate and notorious admirer of handsome men, sitting in front of Chen Ruowen. The team-building had brought everyone closer, and most now sat with their groups.

“Handsome?” Chen Ruowen pondered the gossipy comment seriously for a moment before deciding to drop the subject. “He’s devious and holds grudges. I’d advise you not to speak ill of him.”

Who’s really speaking ill of whom here…?

Qiao Yusen held the thick stack of test papers with effortless grace. His gaze swept the room through clear lenses, and he offered a smile that, to Chen Ruowen, looked positively devilish.

“As before, the ten students with the lowest scores are eliminated.”