Atlas of Heaven and Earth-Chapter 24: Mutual Aid Society

On the first day of August, Chen Chuan arrived early at Wuyi University[-], pushing his bicycle through the school gate.

As before, he entered through the side gate, while outside, cars occasionally drove in, heading straight along the main gate avenue to the steps in front of the auditorium.

Stepping into the campus again, the flow of people on the road was more than what he had seen that day, after all, the day of the school application was just one batch, and they were all locals.

In fact, every year, hundreds of thousands of local and out-of-town eligible students apply to this university, many of whom are admitted to Wuyi through the application points set up by the school in various counties and towns, accounting for at least more than half of the enrolled students, and this proportion seems to be expanding every year.

Following the signs hanging by the roadside, Chen Chuan, along with many students, arrived in front of the old application building from that day.

This time, under the guidance of the senior students standing in front of the building, he went directly to the original training ground, where he registered and filled out forms. After the forms were submitted, he quickly received a reddish-brown student ID.

He opened it to see the photo he had submitted last time, with his temporary student number on the ID. With this student ID, he could confidently claim to be a student of Wuda[-] to the outside world.

Even though he hadn't passed the re-examination yet, just having this proof in his hand made him feel quite good. At this moment, he heard a cheer, turned around, and saw a student who had just received the ID excitedly shouting, to which he responded with understanding.

Because having this student ID means one foot is on the upward step, it's hard to say exactly how far one can go, but at least, there is already a path underfoot.

According to the booklet provided by the school earlier, he knew that with this student ID, he could apply for a dormitory from the school. However, this dormitory is only temporary, currently provided for some out-of-town students who have no place to stay, and after the re-examination, there will be another adjustment based on the re-examination scores.

Originally, because he had agreed with Nian Fuli, he planned to move out directly, but now that the family wasn't urging him, considering that he might still need to receive training from Yu Gang in the coming month, if he moved into a dormitory far away and also had to accept school management, it would be inconvenient, so he decided to wait, at least until after this month's re-examination.

Now, what he needed to figure out was the specific situation regarding the re-examination.

After walking out of the registration office, he saw a sign on the side wall of the cement staircase, which read "Re-examination Guidance for Admission'. The students coming out were all heading upstairs, and he followed them to the second floor.Upon reaching the top, he saw that the original training ground was divided into sections by partition boards. At that moment, a student who had just received his items was leaving his seat, so he walked over and sat down. Opposite him sat a gentle-looking senior wearing glasses, who said to him, "Classmate, please show your student ID."

Chen Chuan handed over the student ID he had just received. After confirming it, the senior opposite asked, "Chen, may I ask if you have any difficulty paying the tuition?"

Chen Chuan looked at him and asked, "Why do you ask?"

The senior explained, "It's like this, every year, many students at Wuyi can't afford the tuition due to poor family conditions, leading to long-term arrears, or they have to borrow money or fight in underground arenas. In view of this, the student union has organized a mutual aid society."

He smiled, "As long as both parties sign an agreement, the mutual aid society will provide funding. The students' owed fees can be repaid after graduation. This way, it helps the students and allows them to study with peace of mind."

Chen Chuan understood. This was actually a funding organization, which was a characteristic of the Dashun Republic. By providing financial or other assistance to promising individuals or groups, they could gain certain returns.

Although it sounded good on the surface, in most cases, the funded party would only become a tool for the funder to exploit for profit. Therefore, such things should be avoided if possible. Moreover, as long as he passed the re-examination, tuition would not be a problem.

He politely replied, "Thank you, senior, I don't need it for now."

The senior smiled and didn't bring it up again. Instead, he looked down, flipped through some papers, and pulled out a kraft paper envelope from a stack, pushing it in front of him, saying, "Classmate, this is the information about the senior students you might encounter in this re-examination. You can take a look."

Chen Chuan thanked him and opened the envelope, pulling out five mimeographed sheets, each corresponding to a senior student, with an overview of their specialties and skills.

But at this moment, he felt something was off. He looked up and asked, "Five people?"

The student he would ultimately face in the competition would only be one, but now he was given information on five people. It was impossible for candidates to study all five people in the past, even if they were willing to do so, there wouldn't be enough time for targeted training. Moreover, the information here was too general, with hardly any useful details.

The senior nodded and said, "Indeed, five. The university does not directly provide the real opponent to the candidates. Here, candidates need to judge for themselves, but..."He smiled slightly, "If the candidates accept the funding from the mutual aid society, then the society will help analyze which senior student you are most likely to face. Although we can't guarantee 100% accuracy, the seniors in the mutual aid society are experienced, and the accuracy rate has always been high."

Seeing that Chen Chuan didn't speak, he continued with a very sincere tone, "Classmate, I understand that you are afraid to accept funding, fearing that you might have to give more. But after accepting the funding, the agreement's constraints on you are not that strict, and it won't force you to do anything. Moreover, the mutual aid society provides not only financial assistance but also various learning suggestions and conveniences. You'll realize the benefits once you join."

At this point, he smiled again, "However, the re-examination is to select truly capable students. If you have the confidence and think you can pass without relying on the mutual aid society, of course, you can choose not to accept it."

Chen Chuan said, "I need to think about it."

The senior nodded in agreement, "That's right, you should think it over carefully. If you have any thoughts, you can come to me again. This is my contact information."

As he spoke, he took out a prepared note and pushed it in front of him, then added, "Oh, by the way, there's also this receipt. Please sign it."

Chen Chuan glanced at the receipt, picked up a pen to sign it, pushed it back, and then took the note with the contact information, stuffing it into the kraft paper envelope along with the five mimeographed sheets. After tidying up, he stood up, nodded to the senior, turned around, and left, heading downstairs.

At the same time, on the side of the auditorium, Shan Xiong, Liu Cai, and several other second-year students were standing in a row, each waiting beside a black-shelled punch card machine that was half a person tall.

Not long after, they saw a group of well-dressed young men and women walking up the steps in front of the auditorium, coming in from the bright doorway, and heading towards them.

One of the students came to Liu Cai and handed him a finely crafted hard card, smiling as he said, "Sorry to trouble you, senior."

Unlike the student ID cards for exam admissions, the student ID cards for recommended admissions exist in the form of name cards, and the students received them long before entering the school.

Liu Cai hurriedly said, "You're too polite, junior. It's no trouble at all."

After taking it, he placed the name card into the slot of the punch card machine, compared the color intensity on the card to punch out a series of numbers, then turned the handle, and a smooth, stiff sheet of paper slid out from the slot below.This document detailed the specific profile of a senior student, including height, weight, speed, blood type, heart rate, punching and kicking power, movement habits, limb dimensions, and body proportions, among other meticulous information.

Liu Cai picked up the paper, placed it into a pre-prepared official envelope printed with the school's name, and handed it over to the student opposite him along with the metal card, using both hands.

"Thanks, senior," the young student smiled as he took it, waved at him, and then walked down the aisle into the building.

With Liu Cai finished, Shan Xiong, who was a bit distracted today, was moving slower with his hands, which immediately displeased the student opposite him, who said to him, "Why are you so slow? Can you even do this?"

Shan Xiong cursed in his heart but couldn't act out. These students, admitted through recommendation, had powerful figures behind them. Even though they had just entered the school, they were not people he could afford to offend.

His facial muscles twitching, he took out the paper and card, quickly packed them, and handed them over. The student opposite still looked at him dissatisfied, grabbed the items, and quickly walked inside.

Liu Cai glanced at Shan Xiong and reminded him in a low voice, "Keep your temper in check. These powerful students are not to be trifled with. There are only a few dozen of them; just endure it and it'll be over."

Shan Xiong snorted. Had he known that participating in the entrance exam would land him here, he would never have gone on stage. But speaking of which, his brothers outside said they had found that kid and promised to give him an explanation yesterday, telling him to wait. How come there's been no news all day? Could it be they didn't catch that kid? Or was it delayed by something else?

On the other side, after walking out of the old building, Chen Chuan walked out of Wuyi Academy and came to a phone booth across the square. There was a student making a call, seemingly asking for money from home. He waited for quite a while before the student came out, looking dejected as if he hadn't gotten the money.

After the person left, he walked in, picked up the receiver, took out a dozen coins from his satchel, and inserted them one after another, dialing a number. A sweet female voice quickly came from the other end: "This is the Mi Law Firm. Do you need any consultation?"

Chen Chuan said, "I'm looking for Assistant Lawyer Gao Ming. Yes, no appointment. I'm his cousin."

"Please hold."

After a while, a lazy voice came from the other end of the phone: "Cousin Chen Chuan? What made you think of calling me?""Gao Ming, it's me." Chen Chuan said: "I passed the entrance exam for Wuyi University[-] two months ago, and the re-examination is next month."

The person on the other end paused for a moment upon hearing this news, but obviously knew he wasn't calling to boast, and his voice became much more serious: "Cousin, go ahead, I'm listening."

Chen Chuan slightly shifted his position and said: "There's a student Mutual Aid Society at Wuyi University[-] that provides funding to students, and it seems they can also offer advice and screening for the re-examination content. I thought maybe I could get some information about the Mutual Aid Society from you."

The voice on the other end laughed and said: "Mi Law Firm is one of Wuyi's partners, and I can indeed check the files here. As an assistant lawyer, the consultation fee is ten yuan per minute. Cousin, are you sure?"

Chen Chuan said with utmost certainty: "Sure."

There was a "tick" sound from the other end, and the voice came again: "Billing starts now. According to the firm's files, the Yangzhi City Wuyi University[-] Mutual Aid Society was formed by the student union inside the school, led by some influential students.

The Mutual Aid Society provides assistance to funded students for the re-examination and subsequent studies. For outstanding talents, the Mutual Aid Society uses agreements to recruit them, making them serve the influential students and their teams or even forces after graduation.

For those who perform very mediocrely, some students unwilling to comply, they transfer the agreements to various companies and high-level law firms through assignees, who then take over the handling."

Chen Chuan listened quietly with the receiver, he didn't ask how they handle it, as individuals can hardly fight against these companies and firms. After thinking, he asked again: "What about Wuyi University[-]'s attitude?"

The other end succinctly said: "Unless the student is particularly valuable, it's worth the attention of the university's upper echelons."

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Chen Chuan nodded and asked again: "I remember Wuda[-] also has funding for students?"

There was a sound of flipping pages from the other end, and after a while, he said: "Yes, but it requires prior application, submitted by the school affairs office, and approved by at least three school council members. The review may take a long time, and very few people can apply for it. Anyway, I don't see it in the materials here, so that fund only theoretically exists."

Chen Chuan said: "Understood, that's all my questions."

There was another "tick" sound from the other end, and then the voice said: "Consultation ends, the total time is ninety-two seconds, counted as two minutes, the firm charges twenty yuan for consultation, but since this is my first consultation business, I can give you a fifty percent discount, cousin."Chen Chuan said, "Gao Ming, thank you." He knew that such information couldn't be easily obtained for just a little money.

The voice laughed and said, "Cousin, you didn't mention entering Wuda[-] in advance? Next time I return to Yangzhi City, you have to treat me."

Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Next time for sure. By the way, there's one more thing I'd like you to look into. We'll talk about it when we meet next time. I won't disturb your work anymore, I'll hang up now." After saying goodbye to each other, he hung up the receiver.

Walking out of the phone booth, he put his hands in his pockets and stood in the open square, facing the entrance of Wuyi Academy.

At this moment, many people were coming and going there.

It was clear that the funding provided by the Mutual Aid Society required sufficient returns. If he didn't want to be controlled by the Mutual Aid Society, then he would need to rely on his own strength to pass the re-examination.

……

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