At this moment, everyone started calling each other by their online names, which felt more familiar to them. The person asking the question was usually closer to the frequently online Henry Cooper, so he didn’t ask Ethan Brooks.

Henry Cooper was taken aback for a moment, then hesitantly replied, “From the business school over there…”

It wasn’t surprising that his voice was a bit softer. Although their business school used to be part of Qingda, it had already been split off. Compared to Qingda, a C10 super university ranked in the national top ten, it was indeed several tiers lower.

Qingda was the best university in Qingshan City, famous nationwide. Next to it, at best, was Qingshan University of Technology, ranked in the national top fifty. Their Qingshan University Business School was ranked 138th in the country. There was a running joke in this university town that their Qingda Business School was just “wearing a tall hat”—the hat being the “Qingshan University” prefix. Without that hat, it was nothing.

Most of the current team members were from various departments of Qingshan University, with some from Qingshan University of Technology, but only the two of them were from Qingshan Business School.

There was still a hierarchy of disdain in universities—not just based on academic qualifications, but also between schools. National rankings and levels were clear. This hierarchy was reflected in the entrance scores, the level of companies recruiting graduates, starting salaries, career prospects, and which school’s name was more recognized by society… Social recognition and recruitment discrimination were all laid bare.

Within the business school, they could look down on this or that, dislike Qingda’s arrogance, or think the tech university was full of bookish nerds, but when actually surrounded by people from a higher-status university, and realizing everyone around was from there, it was natural for their voices to become softer.

The person asking the question didn’t realize this. Even within Qingda, many people called a department an “institute.” He decided, “Business Administration Department? Oh, I have a few friends over there…” and then started rambling about his friends.

Ethan Brooks glanced at Henry Cooper, who didn’t clarify, and said nothing more.

Suddenly, a discordant voice came from the crowd: “Ethan Brooks… There’s a huge rumor going around about you at the West Campus Qingshan Business School. They say you tried to cheat by buying answers, got reported to the whole school, and then jumped into the Fucheng River after a breakup. Is it true? Henry Cooper, you’re his roommate—shouldn’t you be looking out for him more? How do you even have time to play in competitions!”

Henry Cooper’s face instantly turned pale. The East and West Campus distinction came from the split between the two schools at some point. Qingshan University was on the east side of the university town, while their Qingda Business School was on the west. To avoid confusion for out-of-towners, taxi drivers would always ask if you meant Qingda on the east side or the business school on the west, since both had “Qingda” in their names.

Now, this voice had directly called out their background, and even more bluntly exposed Ethan Brooks’s past.

Everyone present looked at Ethan Brooks in shock and uncertainty, even those who weren’t part of the team but were just hanging around, drawn by the clear, if not loud, voice.

Words like “West Campus,” “cheating,” “school-wide report,” and “breakup, jumped into the river” made people look at him with a kind of “wow, what a life” expression.

Sophia Dean also stopped talking and looked over at him.

Henry Cooper was both furious and immediately worried as he looked at Ethan Brooks, but what reassured everyone was that his expression didn’t change dramatically—he remained as calm as ever.

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Chapter 6 Mascot

In the rustling crowd.

Ethan Brooks looked at the person who spoke. His name was Kevin Miller, from the main Qingda campus. Those who knew him were aware that he loved to show off. Whenever he encountered something new, went somewhere fun during the holidays, bought a new gadget, or wore limited-edition sneakers, you could be sure he’d find a way to “blind you with his brilliance.”

Take the game “Hot War,” for example. It launched eight months ago, and as soon as it started gaining popularity, he registered an account and played for a while. Afterwards, he’d act like a veteran in front of everyone, constantly criticizing others’ playstyles as if his own was the only right way. To be fair, his skills weren’t top-notch, but his air of superiority was innate.

Henry Cooper joined the Super Shadow team first, and at that time, Kevin Miller was considered a senior. Although Henry Cooper thought he was a bit pretentious, he was still polite. But the more polite he was, the more Kevin Miller took advantage. Later, it became clear that Kevin Miller looked down on Henry Cooper for being from the West Campus business school and joining their Qingda team, so he always put on airs and acted superior.

When Henry Cooper wanted to bring Ethan Brooks in, Kevin Miller pretended to be all official, saying things like, “Our team’s selection process is very strict,” “Not just anyone can join,” “I’ll ask Sophie for you, but it’s really difficult,” and so on.

In the end, Henry Cooper ignored him and went straight to Andrew Miller, who immediately agreed and added Ethan Brooks to the team group.

After that, Ethan Brooks and Henry Cooper wanted to invite Andrew Miller out for a meal at the school, but Andrew Miller ended up paying for them instead, and coolly said, “After all, I’m your senior!”