It turned out we had all misunderstood Zhang Tianxing.
No matter how much we insulted him, Zhang Tianxing didn't hold it against us.
While I don't know about other departments, in their materials science department, a significant portion of students still believed Zhang Tianxing had his reasons, even though he was at the center of the storm.
Now the truth has come out; Zhang Tianxing wouldn't attack without cause.
Many people who had previously spoken ill of Zhang Tianxing lowered their heads.
Why had they been so impulsive? When Zhang Tianxing didn't retort, they had assumed he knew he was in the wrong and dared not speak.
After all this, he simply disdained to explain.
Teacher Zhang Ruofang couldn't help but smile as she saw the students chattering below.
Her goal was to clear Zhang Tianxing's name and the name of Zhonghai University.
With the photos here, Zhang Tianxing couldn't escape, nor could Zhonghai University.
Only by washing away the stain on Zhang Tianxing could Zhonghai University be free of blemish.
Fortunately, Zhang Tianxing's character was excellent. After their investigation, the school leadership breathed a sigh of relief.
They had already included Zhang Tianxing on the list of outstanding students.
If anything had gone wrong with Zhang Tianxing, the reputation of Zhonghai University would have been hit.
This was something the school leaders did not want to see.
Tan Honghong looked up at Zhang Tianxing, a smile in her eyes. This Zhang Tianxing had indeed not disappointed her.
The roommates in the dorm exchanged glances. It seemed they had all wronged their third brother.
The class representative was still the same as before, not changed at all.
"I knew it. How could people change? Next time something like this happens, I'll definitely stand by your side."
Seeing the enthusiastic smiles of his classmates, Zhang Tianxing felt a little unaccustomed.
"Stop it. We're all familiar with each other now. Don't look at me like that, or I'll get shy."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's teasing remark, the classmates burst into laughter. Zhang Tianxing was as witty as ever.
News spread quickly. Guo Jiajia and Yan Ruyu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it.
They both patted their ample chests in unison. "Zhang Tianxing, this guy, why didn't he even tell us when something happened?"
Was this the last stubbornness of a man?
However, thinking about Zhang Tianxing's actions, Yan Ruyu was quite satisfied.
Since she didn't have to break up with Zhang Tianxing, she could focus on running the restaurant well.
Now that there were no competitors, their daily profit had increased more than tenfold compared to before. It seemed the restaurant had a bright future.
As the two were talking, they saw Zhang Tianxing approaching them with a sunny disposition.
Yan Ruyu's heart fluttered as she recalled the harsh words she had spoken to him on the phone.
"Happy New Year!" Zhang Tianxing first offered them belated New Year greetings. "By the way, Sister Yu, you said on the phone you had something to tell me. What was it?"
Yan Ruyu's face instantly turned red. "Ah, it's like this. Our restaurant is making a fortune now. I calculated that we're making tens of thousands of profit per day. We'll recoup our investment in less than four months. What should we do next?"
Yan Ruyu was no longer satisfied with the current four outlets. In her vision, they could definitely expand further.
Zhang Tianxing pondered for a moment. Opening more stores and expanding seemed too slow. Why not find franchisees and collect franchise fees?
Or perhaps he could take their crayfish hot pot public, raise capital, and make a killing in the stock market.
Zhang Tianxing blurted out, "Let's not rush to open new stores. Let's sort out our charter and other talent development matters. I'm thinking, can we take the crayfish hot pot public?"
Hearing the goal of taking crayfish hot pot public, Yan Ruyu and Guo Jiajia were stunned.
This Zhang Tianxing truly dared to dream. He was pursuing something that most thirty-year-olds wouldn't even dare to think about, and he was less than twenty.
Was the world changing too fast, or had they two been out of touch for too long and couldn't keep up with the trend?
Guo Jiajia gave a wry smile. Zhang Tianxing was never one to shy away from shocking statements.
"Boss Zhang, I'm very curious. How did you come up with such a goal? Is it even possible? We're just a restaurant, and you want to go public. You must be crazy, or I am."
Guo Jiajia covered her heart, as if afraid Zhang Tianxing's words would kill her.
As a professional investor, her judgment was never wrong. This was merely the catering industry, and he wanted to go public? He was dreaming.
Out of respect for Zhang Tianxing being her boss, Guo Jiajia refrained from using profanity.
Yan Ruyu was also filled with surprise. In her opinion, managing these few branches well was sufficient. As for going public and raising capital, she didn't even dare to think about it.
Seeing their expressions, Zhang Tianxing immediately understood that they considered him a lunatic.
However, it didn't matter. He had been mistaken for a lunatic before.
Just like when he decided to buy the copyright of that flop movie.
"How about this, Sister Yu? You continue to manage these few stores. For the future development, I plan to operate it like a public company. If you're not satisfied, you can raise your concerns, and we'll see how I can compensate you." Zhang Tianxing had decided to make the crayfish hot pot brand a publicly listed entity.
Seeing Zhang Tianxing's solemn expression, Yan Ruyu remained silent for a long time.
Everything she had achieved was hard-won. Yan Ruyu didn't want to gamble, nor did she dare to. She was just a weak woman, a weak woman forced to become a strong one.
However, Zhang Tianxing had presented her with a choice: would she go crazy with him, or would she be rational and take her money and leave?
But she remembered how Wu Jiuping had harassed her before the New Year, and it was Zhang Tianxing who had resolved it for her.
Since that was the case, the idea of opening a restaurant had also come from Zhang Tianxing, and he was also the president of the China Crayfish Association.
So, she, a small woman, would accompany this college student, Zhang Tianxing, and see how far they could promote crayfish.
Undeniably, crayfish could make money, but how much money could be made through crayfish, Yan Ruyu was unsure.
However, she clearly knew that the young man beside her seemed to own a hundred acres of shrimp ponds in his hometown, all dedicated to artificial crayfish farming.
In China, Zhang Tianxing was the first to attempt artificial farming; it had never been heard of before.
This young man, starting with a hundred acres, what if he lost it all?
Yan Ruyu's heart was in turmoil. On one hand, she wanted to venture out with Zhang Tianxing and see the unknown world.
On the other hand, she told herself not to overreach, lest she stretch too thin.
After much thought, she couldn't come up with a perfect plan.
"Zhang Tianxing, I'm feeling very confused right now. Can't we just continue opening more branches? Anyway, our model is already mature." Yan Ruyu asked, puzzled. She wanted to know why they weren't opening more branches but were instead looking for franchisees and heading towards a public listing.