Because fundamentally, the SFIS students never made it to the big stage.
Students from those 985 elite universities rarely show off their wealth, but their campuses teem with the offspring of top-tier tycoons and children of high-level officials.
What about the School of International Cultural Exchange? Read full story at novelꜰire.net
Tuition starts at 40,000 a year and can go up to more than 60,000. At first glance, it seems rather terrifying, as if all the students are incredibly wealthy. But this doesn’t hold up under closer scrutiny.
Han Lie knew exactly what kind of students SFIS really attracted.
Nothing more than nouveau riche, second-generation demolition beneficiaries, local upstarts, and new money families that had just recently come into wealth.
Net assets ranged between several million to tens of millions—a few exceptions aside.
The reason was simple—truly capable families had paved the way for their children long before high school.
Those good at studying would find a way to get extra points and then take the college entrance exams.
Those with mediocre grades would go through recommendations and independent admissions.
Those wanting to study abroad would attend private international high schools, directly applying to world-renowned universities upon graduation.
And if their grades were really poor, at the very least getting admitted to a well-known mediocre foreign institution shouldn’t be a problem.
Using a third-rate local university as a stepping stone and taking the route of joint programs is honestly the worst and dumbest strategy.
Limited options, exorbitant tuition fees, a lousy circle of acquaintances, bad atmosphere...
Capable families wouldn’t play this game.
At this very moment, Zhang Qingchun was already in America, taking part in an exchange program while actively pursuing Big Dongzi. Look at her strategy, why don’t you?
She went straight to NUI from junior high school. For her niche art and sports project, she chose the less common rhythmic gymnastics. In her first year of high school, she secured a national-level athlete title. Feeling it still wasn’t enough, she then engineered the "Milk Tea Sister" hype to become an internet celebrity. This made her the school’s poster child for external promotion, and she finally secured a guaranteed admission to Tsinghua University.
However, Milk Tea’s father was just a small factory owner who also ran a small business with an office space of less than 300 square meters. His actual wealth was no match for Huang Wei’s or Ding Ding’s family wealth.
But her father, he was the real deal—an early postgraduate who’d fought his way out of the countryside on pure merit. He was deeply entrenched in Jinling’s aeronautical industry, meticulously cultivating connections in local political, academic, and business circles.
He was the kind of person who really understood the rules of the game.
Under her father’s guidance and example, Milk Tea was even more daring and resourceful, maximizing her EQ to its fullest.
What is capability? This is it.
There are indeed students like Pan Ge, whose families are incredibly powerful, yet they settle for a mediocre local university near home. Such students exist, but they are rare and sparsely distributed.
It’s a stroke of extreme luck to meet one.
Moreover, these students are usually incredibly low-profile. It might not be until they get married that their classmates realize: Gosh, his family owned so many mines...
Pan Ge had the capability to attend Magic Capital University but just didn’t bother to go.
Dan Zihao was definitely not such an exceptional case.
Getting noticed by someone like him, honestly, isn’t really a big deal.
Han Lie smiled easily. "Okay, thanks for the heads-up. So what does he want?"
The two brothers shook their heads again.
Ding Ding hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Well, I feel like it’s probably because of Pan Ge..."
"Of course. Could it be because of Huang Wei?"
Han Lie laughed it off and quickly brushed the matter aside.
"Let’s drop it. At most, he’ll just try to cause some trouble for me behind my back. Let him be."
Xiao Dongbei looked conflicted. After a moment of internal struggle, he finally offered a warning, "Brother Han, Dan Zihao seems to know quite a few people from ’society.’ I’ve seen them when they were out playing cards..."
Actually, this was something Xiao Dongbei could have kept to himself. The main reason he spoke up was that he didn’t want it to result in a fatality.
Brother Han was too impulsive; no one knew when or what might trigger that hammer of his. If Dan Zihao was defiant and insisted on testing his limits... Xiao Dongbei feared getting splattered with blood.
Still, Han Lie wasn’t particularly concerned and just wondered, "Are there still ’people from society’ in Magic Capital nowadays?"
"How could there not be?"
This perked Xiao Dongbei up.
"Think about it. Those bathing centers, each with dozens upon dozens of ’specialized oil drilling equipment repairmen’—someone’s got to manage them and watch over the place, right? Then there’s loan sharking, illegal gambling, and those who produce and sell pirated DVDs on an assembly line... Public security might be good, but with so many gray industries, how could there not be ’people from society’ involved? At most, there are no gangs committing heinous crimes anymore! But, if you’re willing to pay up, calling a few thugs to intimidate someone is definitely no problem!"
Han Lie gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. "Young Bei, you’re badass! No one knows the ways of the wicked better than you!"
Xiao Dongbei scratched the back of his head bashfully.
"Anyway, just be careful, Brother Han. If anything really happens, don’t act too rashly..."
"Got it, I’m aware of the situation." Han Lie was genuinely touched and patted both of his younger bros’ shoulders.
"You guys can come back to sleep in the dorm from now on. My hammer never swings at friends!"
If Han Lie hadn’t brought it up, it would have been fine. But his words made the two of them shiver intensely again.
Big bro, we’re sleeping just fine out here...
After finishing their serious discussion, Xiao Dongbei and Ding Ding left to enjoy themselves, visibly relieved.
Heaven only knows how much pressure those two poor kids had been under. Probably, just the thought of Dan Zihao fighting Han Lie gave them a splitting headache.
But actually, it was highly unlikely that a fight would ever happen.
In the short term, Han Lie had no intention of getting involved with Pan Ge; besides, he didn’t have the spare energy for it right now.
If anyone has the skills to win Pan Ge over first, well, good on them.
But honestly, knowing the usual tendencies of the guys at SFIS, it was a long shot any of them could win over Xi Luting.
As soon as Xiao Dongbei and Ding Ding left, Han Lie went back to his intense typing.