At this moment, Fang Bai was queuing to pay his fees.
After waiting for about ten minutes, it was finally his turn. He handed over his documents and paid the fees according to the procedure.
The staff member informed him that he had to buy meal tickets himself at the cafeteria.
"Okay, thank you."
Fang Bai finished the procedures and was about to leave when a black-faced male student, about 1.6 meters tall, from a nearby queue, tearfully complained to the staff member, "Teacher, my money was stolen. If I can't pay the fees, can I still attend school?"
At these words, the surrounding students and staff members all looked at him.
How unlucky!
Most students cast sympathetic glances, and the staff member also looked troubled.
"Student, how was your money stolen?"
"Before I got on the train, my mom sewed the money into the interlining of my jacket with a needle and thread. When I got off the train, I found the interlining had been cut open, and over three hundred yuan was all gone. It was probably stolen by a pickpocket while I was sleeping." The black-faced student gritted his teeth, holding back tears. That money was borrowed by his parents from various sources to support his university education.
He hated himself for being so careless while sleeping. After a thirty-hour train ride, he couldn't bear it anymore and just dozed off for a while.
He started to feel a bit disoriented, then fell into a deep sleep, waking up with a fuzzy head.
After leaving the train station, he went to report it to the police, but the police couldn't do anything, saying that petty theft on trains was very common and impossible to investigate. They suggested he might have been drugged and advised him to report the situation to the school upon arrival, hoping the school would consider the difficulty of getting into university and help him resolve it.
The staff member was also very troubled: "Student, I sympathize with your situation. I suggest you report it to your department's teacher. We are just accounting staff and cannot help you."
"This... I just told the senior at the registration desk, and he told me to come here and ask first."
"You need to ask the leaders of your department. It's best to find your counselor first and explain the situation."
"Oh, what should I do?" The black-faced student's headache now was not just about the tuition and miscellaneous fees, but also the food expenses. He had only a few yuan left. By the time he finished dealing with these matters, he would probably starve to death.
Many students around heard him and felt sympathy, but no one proactively offered help. After all, most people were poor and didn't know him, while a few students who wanted to help felt embarrassed.
Fang Bai, standing aside, did not leave. He saw the black-faced student's face full of despair, but his thoughts were still clear, knowing that anxiety was useless.
Upon closer inspection of his clothes, they were patched up, but he seemed to have long been accustomed to the strange looks from the surrounding students. After all, students like him were too common in this era.
No matter how poor, they still possessed a diligent and resilient heart.
Thinking about it, it was true. Children from such ordinary families, if their character wasn't resilient, simply couldn't get into Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Fang Bai pondered for a moment, knowing that the school might be able to resolve this matter and help him through the difficult time. However, for a student who hadn't yet entered society, going to the counselor, then the department leaders, and then the school to plead his case, the process would likely be lengthy, possibly taking several days to sort out.
Therefore, the staff member's words were unlikely to solve the black-faced student's immediate needs, but they were one of the few available methods.
Ultimately, it was about three hundred yuan, but for this student, it was hope.
Seeing him, Fang Bai remembered his own appearance after working, which was also a bitter sight, but he was very helpless and could only endure strongly.
He sighed inwardly, took out four hundred-yuan bills from his backpack, and handed them to him: "Student, take this to pay your tuition and miscellaneous fees. Consider it a loan from me, without interest."
"This..."
The black-faced student's face grew darker and darker, then suddenly saw four hundred-yuan bills in front of him, looking astonished.
He looked up, carefully observing Fang Bai's appearance—a warm, sunny smile, with no hint of looking down on him, no sense of charity at all.
Fang Bai's action shocked him, and it also shocked the surrounding students.
Fang Bai saw his eyes welling up, patted his shoulder, and then placed the money in his hand: "Go on. A few hundred yuan is a small matter to me. We're all schoolmates. I just happened to see it, so I'll help if I can."
As soon as he finished speaking, perhaps Fang Bai's words touched the surrounding students, and everyone applauded.
A few other students also offered help: "Student, if it's not enough, I can lend you thirty yuan here."
"This handsome guy is very generous. Four hundred-yuan bills, I've never even touched them. He must be someone who isn't short on money. If it's not enough, I can contribute twenty yuan."
"Thank you all very much, four hundred yuan is more than enough. My name is Wang Qiang, please wait a moment." Wang Qiang was a bit choked up, not knowing how to thank Fang Bai. He simply bowed slightly to him, and then to the surrounding students.
He truly needed these few hundred yuan now; it could be said to be his fate's money.
To raise his high school tuition, his mother encountered many difficulties while borrowing money; hardly anyone was willing to lend money to his parents.
No reason, because his mother had no ability to repay, so not lending was reasonable, and he couldn't blame others.
His father passed away early, and it was already very difficult for his mother to raise him.
When he got into a key university, it became much easier for his mother to borrow money again.
Whether it was because they saw his future or not, he felt that people were helping out of kindness, and he would have to repay the favor in the future. Being so poor and down-and-out, he simply had no right to refuse others' kindness.
If he wanted to repay others, he had to work hard himself.
From a young age, he knew that in this world, people who were willing to lend you money must be those who trusted you especially.
If someone actively lent you money, they were definitely a friend worth having; you wouldn't have many such friends in a lifetime.
Fang Bai watched Wang Qiang run off to pay the fees, noticed the gazes of the surrounding students on him, and then calmly turned and left.
He hadn't considered whether Wang Qiang could repay the money. If he upheld his integrity, Fang Bai wouldn't mind helping him again.
It was rare to meet an honest person.
He had only walked a few dozen steps when Wang Qiang, out of breath, caught up to him: "Student, please wait."
While Wang Qiang was paying the fees, he was also observing Fang Bai. Seeing him walk away, he quickly chased after him after finishing his payment.
"Hello, my name is Wang Qiang, Electrical Engineering and Automation. May I ask your name and major, so I can repay you when I earn money in the future? I'll write an IOU now."
Fang Bai stopped and smiled: "Fang Bai, Mechanical Engineering. Let's skip the IOU.
As for the money, let's talk about it when you're better off in the future. I'm not in a hurry."
"Okay, I'm so grateful. I know even I don't believe it when I say I'll earn money, but I'll remember this kindness. Thank you."
"Hmm, it's good to have confidence. If you're defeated by a little setback, or if you're too overconfident, it's really not a good thing."
Only then did Fang Bai extend his hand, and Wang Qiang quickly clasped it with both hands, saying gratefully, "I really don't know how to thank you. Just tell me if you need anything in the future."
After speaking, he wrote down his home address and dormitory number and handed them to Fang Bai.
"Alright, let's keep in touch when you have time." Fang Bai took the note, put it into his backpack, and then left.
Wang Qiang no longer followed this time; he just quietly watched Fang Bai's departing back, while also thinking about part-time jobs to earn money.
No matter the era, university students working part-time was nothing new. "Part-time work" also became a fashionable term in the early 1990s, and the school encouraged poor students to work-study and earn money.
In an era where campus businesses like express delivery proxies and class proxies had not yet flourished, students' methods of generating income were quite simple: tutoring, selling noodles, distributing flyers, contracting washing machines, knocking on dormitory doors one by one to sell bestsellers...
After leaving the plaza, Fang Bai planned to stroll around first, then find his dormitory and meet his roommates later.
He hadn't entered the campus the last time he came to buy a house.
Today was his first time entering the Jiao Tong University campus, aimlessly wandering wherever he ended up.
Walking north, he first reached Xin Shangyuan, then the old site of Tiemu Factory, and after that, he wasn't sure. He passed ancient buildings such as the Grand Auditorium, the Science Hall, and Xin Zhongyuan.
At this time, there were no mobile phones or online games in universities. Some students had a lot of time and didn't know how to pass it. Besides classes, they wanted to have a shy romance, eager to quickly escape the bitter sea of "early love is a sin."
University students of this era gently probed the edges of ambiguity. Couples on campus simply walked together quietly, too embarrassed to hold hands in public.
In the corner of a small garden, a boy putting his arm around a girl's shoulder was considered very intimate.
Of course, there were also bold couples who hugged and even kissed in public.
However, after wandering around the Jiao Tong University campus for a long time, Fang Bai didn't see any kissing. Perhaps it was because Jiao Tong University didn't have lakes or secluded groves.
Fang Bai wasn't envious; after all, he was a married man and had already transformed.
Therefore, he didn't understand the melancholy of the vulnerable single dogs on campus, or the way they stared wistfully at couples walking together.
He had never experienced the pain of being a single dog in his previous life or this one. On the path of relationships, he was very fortunate, having gone much further than too many students, possessing a faint sense of superiority.
For all university students, if there isn't a passionate romance in university, they feel that university is imperfect and very regrettable.
Love in university is still purer, untainted by the trivialities and complexities of real life, allowing for more focused experience and feeling.
Of course, being single also has its benefits, offering more freedom and time to focus on one's studies and personal development, laying a solid foundation for one's future.
However, there are also good things that achieve both emotional and academic success.
Setting aside university romance, Fang Bai felt the strong humanistic atmosphere of Jiao Tong University. He saw many students reading books on campus.
Jiao Tong University never lacked diligent students. These students didn't go home for the holidays but stayed at school to continue studying, and many were already preparing for overseas study.
Some people say, UNIVERSITY, isn't it just "you play for four years"?
But in fact, university life in this era was not like that.
Regardless of whether it was a key university or a vocational college, as long as one could get into university, their learning ability was very strong.
Hovering above their heads were two Swords of Damocles—"not getting caught for make-up exams" and "English CET-4 and CET-6."
The English CET-4 and CET-6 exams had been implemented since 1987 and were particularly emphasized at Jiao Tong University; overseas study and scientific research all required them.
Failing too many courses might allow one to get a graduation certificate, but perhaps not a degree certificate.
After all, in the 1990s, diplomas were still hard currency, and jobs were assigned upon graduation.