15. Youth Gala

Wet snow, that's compounding interest; a long slope, that's time.

Wet snow combined with a long slope can grow into a huge snowball, and that's the power of compounding interest.

—— "The Snowball: Buffett and the Business of Life"

"Lao Deng did indeed get it right," Lu Jincheng reminisced about the biography of Lao Deng he had read in his past life and couldn't help but sigh.

Even the smallest increase would yield a sizeable return over time.

As time stretched into late September, the third week of military training.

The new students who had been complaining of exhaustion gradually got used to the military training routine, rising early under the scorching sun for drills, singing military songs against the evening glow, and finally swarming to the cafeteria, ferociously gobbling down their meals.

During this time, the new students all made significant gains.

The boys on the playground gained healthy bodies and tanned skin, while the girls got watermelons, milk tea, and special meals from Cafeteria Three.

As for Mr. Lu, he harvested his first pot of gold as a freshman.

Everyone had a bright future ahead.

For half a month, his stock account had started at 767,000 and sprinted in small quick steps through repeated iterations, and even with periods of stagnation and downward fluctuations, it maintained an overall upward trend.

The power of time and compounding interest was so formidable that Lu Jincheng didn't need to remember the specific moments when stocks rose or the name of that dreamlike stock that hit the daily trading limit for 24 days straight.

All he needed was patience to wait and follow the trend; his assets would naturally swell like a snowball.

Under the slight momentum of leveraged 'snowballing,' his account reached an astonishing 1.6 million.

"I'm light without debts!"

"My new life starts now!"

That afternoon at three o'clock, Lu Jincheng stylishly cleared his stock index futures account, dividing it into two parts: one million to continue buying into leading stocks for stable T+1 trading.

The other 600,000 was withdrawn to his bank card.

"Initiate repayment!"

The process of loan repayment was indeed much simpler than borrowing.

When borrowing, one had to go through complex verification, wave around IDs, student cards, and various other documents for photos, and some loans even had dress code requirements.

When repaying, all that was needed was to select a bank card and input the correct password, ding!

With one fell swoop, Lu Jincheng's bank card repaid a loan of 520,000, along with a hodgepodge of fees and interest, leaving just over 90,000.

"Make do with spending this for now. Since I've been reborn, I might as well find an interesting project to dabble in."

After all, people need things to do.

Reviewing the old friends of Boss Lu from his past life, many became overnight rich through digital currency, their lives like a sprint to the finish line without even having to catch their breath.

Their daily routine was nothing but revelry and debauchery, waking up each day to the same old drama.

Honestly, it's pretty boring.

Take having a female companion for example, it's not a big deal to pick a weekend to spend time with her, but if life is just about bank balances and women, it really is missing something.

To live once again is naturally about embracing new, all-round experiences.

If a reborn person also reaches the finish line through such means, then they would truly be wasting their rebirth ticket.

"What kind of track would be fun, and not interfere with my womanizing?"

He took out a Yellow Crane Tower 1916 cigarette he had just bought downstairs, snapped it alight, and took a deep drag.

As long as he had sufficient pocket money, Mr. Lu would never let himself suffer for even a second.

Before he even finished his cigarette, he had a rough framework in mind.

He decided to start with an area he was familiar with and earn his second pot of gold in this life.

"This track isn't bad; back in '14, it seemed like there were no serious competitors yet."

"And the speed of making money is quite impressive."

"This is the one."

Mr. Lu flicked his middle finger, sending the cigarette butt flying in an arc into the trash can.

...

"Hurry up and eat, quick!"

"Damn, don't you guys rush, I need to blow-dry my hair."

"What's the rush for?"

In the second cafeteria of Nanhu University, the brothers from room 603 were eating significantly faster than usual.

Although Lu Jincheng didn't participate in military training, that didn't stop him from joining them adamantly for a meal.

"There's a welcome party for new students at the sports field tonight, and I heard that a senior sister will be dancing!"

Liu Yisheng, always well-informed, explained.

"Lao Lu, are you going? There will be loads of girls."

"Of course, I'll go!"

"Hurry up, let's head out together after dinner!"

As darkness fell, people naturally formed into little groups on the sports field according to the positions of their formations.

Performances for new students on the sports field are a routine prelude before the "battle of a hundred societies" at Nanhu University.

Among them, the music and dance societies were the most popular.

There was no helping it; singing well and dancing sexily were two talents related to the visual and auditory arts, easily triggering emotional resonance in people, thus earning one a priority choice for a partner on campus.

"~~~"

In the not-too-distant girls' group, the tallest, Zhong Ruixi, was sitting in the front row, waving cheerfully towards Lu Jincheng and the others.

"Look! Zhong Ruixi is waving to me!"

Qiang Zhihao's eyes lit up, immediately standing up and grinning as he responded to the girls on the other side.

"Rui Rui, has your high school classmate arrived yet? Is it that big gibbon?"

Xu Ya pointed at the bouncing Qiang Zhihao and turned to ask with a smile.

"Hahaha, no, that seems to be his roommate..."

Zhong Ruixi joined in the laughter and leaned in to whisper in Xu Ya's ear.

More and more people arrived, and after the instructors of the various college formations had checked attendance, the evening party officially began.

"Hello, everyone, I'm from the Music and Dance College, and I'll bring you the song 'Dancing Without An Effort'..."

"I'm from the School of Economics..."

"Instructor, give us one, give us one~"

The gathering of freshmen was always filled with youthful energy. No sooner had the instructor announced the start of the event than someone volunteered to step into the center of the circle, as social butterflies began showcasing their talents.

Even the instructors couldn't resist the students' heckling and came up to sing a few songs.

After a few performances, the atmosphere and cheers grew louder, and Xu Ya, who shared a dorm with Zhong Ruixi, stood up and introduced herself boldly.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Xu Ya from the Management College formation, and I'm going to perform a dance for you."

The moonlight, like water, poured over Xu Ya as she raised her arms in preparation to begin her dance.

The accompaniment for Jolin Tsai's 'Dancing Queen' started, and it was as if she had become a different person; her body moved like a supple snake, each turn brimming with allure.

"Wow! Look at Xu Ya's waist, isn't that a bit too much?"

"It's over for me, I think I'm in love!"

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

Although Xu Ya's looks couldn't compare to the top-tier beauties, her confident and charming smile in the summer night was still captivating.

The surrounding cheers were indiscriminate of gender, as everyone was there to support and scream for her.

"Awesome, women who can dance are just too awesome."

Liu Yisheng watched Xu Ya intently, his gaze traveling from her waist to her hips, then from her hips back to her waist.

"If she were my girlfriend, I reckon I'd have a sore back and aching waist every day... I can't even think about it."

"Lao Lu, what do you think?"

The three bachelors from dorm 603 first screamed, then began to rate and discuss.

"Hmm, not bad, there's room for improvement."

Mr. Lu, worldly and experienced, nodded, his expression unchanged.

As someone who had been the top patron in many live streaming rooms in a past life, he was used to seeing professional dance streamers, so he was completely unfazed.

Once a person's threshold is raised, it never goes back.

"You call that 'not bad'? Lao Lu, you sure know how to act cool!"

Qiang Zhihao scornfully flipped him off.

Having dabbled in dance both seriously and casually as a child, he believed that Xu Ya's jazz level had at least two to three years of experience.

The night's revelry hadn't ended yet; it was time for the student leaders to showcase their talents for club recruitment.

The instructor handed over the hosting role to the various societies, and soon the sports field was equipped with professional sound systems, massive floodlights, and all sorts of necessary equipment.

By then, more and more upperclassmen appeared on the sports field; a small portion came to support their societies, while the majority were there for the campus celebrities, hoping to catch a glimpse of their beauty.

"Next, let's welcome the captain of Nanhu University's Jinlang Dance Troupe, Mou Keyan!"

The next second, the sports field erupted with cheering that rose and fell in waves.