When Su Bai ordered, Chen Yusheng was still shrinking into herself out of social anxiety.
It was not until several plates of obviously expensive seafood were brought to the table that Chen Yusheng realized this hotpot was an entirely different concept from the hotpot she had imagined.
"There's no need to be so extravagant."
"How is this extravagant? Besides, I want to eat it. You're just eating with me, so why are you trying to tell me what I can eat? Know your place, Student Chen!"
"..."
Looking at Su Bai's deliberately stern expression, Chen Yusheng knew he did not want her to dwell on the price.
She could only swallow and eat with Su Bai.
Soon, the soup base arrived. The orange-red sour broth looked particularly vivid beneath the warm lighting.
Once it heated up, the sour, spicy aroma tinged with ginger gradually drifted into their noses.
Now she really was about to drool.
Seeing that Chen Yusheng was eager to dig in but still holding herself back, Su Bai picked up a plate of snacks and placed it in front of her.
"Have some first."
"You should eat too."
"I had this kind of seafood at lunch. I don't really need it right now. Just eat."
"Oh."
Chen Yusheng lowered her head to look. The elegant blue-and-white porcelain tableware was beautifully arranged. The plate was large, but there was not much on it—a small pile of golden fried food.
"Is it seafood?"
"Yeah. It's king crab leg, made tempura-style."
"I thought it was crispy pork."
She tried a piece, and her eyes lit up as her little mouth kept moving.
Su Bai watched her with a beaming smile. Even after Chen Yusheng realized how unrestrained she was being and grew embarrassed, the boy still wore that gentle smile.
"Don't pretend to be some refined lady around me, okay? Eat if you want to eat. You need to fill up so you'll have the energy to keep me company."
"Mmm... thank you."
As more meat and vegetables went into the pot, Chen Yusheng gradually loosened up. She was also feeling a little like she might as well give up pretending. After all, she had already finished Su Bai's entire box of snacks; her foodie nature had long since been exposed.
There was no need to keep up the act anymore.
Besides, she and Su Bai shared those niche hobbies they rarely showed anyone else. Letting him treat her to hotpot did not seem that hard to accept.
After all, he was really rich. Taking a little advantage of him actually made Chen Yusheng feel less guilty.
Girls really were creatures with a strong sense of morality. They were extremely unwilling to live with guilt in their hearts. Even when they could not repay someone's kindness, they would often find an excuse they could accept psychologically and use it to numb themselves.
This was not criticism. Human nature was simply like that.
The meal lasted an hour and a half. After filling their stomachs, the two launched into an intense discussion about a recently published niche detective manga.
When the waiter brought over dishes and heard the handsome guy and beautiful girl discussing things like "crime scene," "hiding bodies," and "going on the run," his face filled with solemn respect as he silently retreated farther away.
Good lord.
He had thought they were just a wealthy student couple. Who would have guessed they were a top-tier enforcer and some underworld princess? How disrespectful of him.
"I'll take you back to school."
After the meal, Su Bai led Chen Yusheng to the Mercedes-Benz GLE before suggesting that he drive her back.
Without waiting for her answer, he got straight into the driver's seat and gestured for her to get in.
Chen Yusheng bit her lip and agreed.
That meal had satisfied her so thoroughly that her belly was full and she was starting to feel sleepy. At the thought of squeezing onto the subway and then walking back to school, intense laziness filled her entire body.
And at a time like this, there was a spacious, comfortable, luxurious Mercedes-Benz in front of her, along with Su Bai, whose gentle smile gave her an overwhelming sense of security.
It did not take much inner struggle for the scales in her mind to tip.
"Tomorrow's Friday, right? I have quite a few classes to check into during the day, so I'll probably play games at night again," Su Bai said.
"Okay, then I'll come over at night." Chen Yusheng nodded.
"What do you want for a late-night snack? No rush. Send me a WeChat message once you've decided, and I'll reserve it in advance."
"...Mm."
Looking on the bright side, by Su Bai's definition, this late-night snack counted as a work meal.
Ugh, this job is way too good. Chen Yusheng silently marveled.
The computers in the couple booths at the internet cafe had pretty high-end specs. Their graphics cards were 4070 Supers, far better than the 3060 in Chen Yusheng's own laptop.
Not to mention the outrageously high-end late-night snacks.
She had seen the bill. The meal, plus the service charge, had cost more than eight thousand yuan.
That was fucking ridiculous!
Of course, considering the private room alone had a minimum spend of 3,800 yuan, it did not seem all that unreasonable. Given Su Bai's spending habits, there was no way he would spend right at the minimum.
Come to think of it, Su Bai's spending habits were truly mysterious. He wore shoes that cost a little over a hundred yuan, yet ate hotpot that cost over eight thousand. He gave off a very carefree feeling, like he did whatever the hell he wanted.
That carefree attitude had infected Chen Yusheng to some extent, making her feel very relaxed around Su Bai.
It had been a rare stretch of genuinely enjoyable time for her lately.
Su Bai drove to a small west-side gate of Jiangcheng University.
There were few people around here, making it reasonable to drop socially anxious Chen Yusheng off there. The small gate was not far from the girls' dormitories either.
When she left, Chen Yusheng looked a little reluctant to part with him and turned back for one last glance.
The car was still parked there. It did not start up and leave until her figure had completely disappeared into the school.
A rare smile curled onto the girl's lips.
At that moment, on the rubberized pedestrian path near Little West Gate, a boy in sportswear stared at the departing Mercedes-Benz GLE with a horrified expression.
He rubbed his eyes hard.
If he had not seen wrong, was the girl he had just seen getting out of the car Chen Yusheng from Goddess Dormitory?
That could not be right. It was so late at night.
The boy immediately imagined all sorts of juicy gossip topics that onlookers would love.
But only imagined them.
He did not spread anything on any public platform.
There was nothing worth spreading anyway. In Goddess Dormitory, aside from that average-looking Liu... what was her name again? The boy had forgotten. In any case, all three of the other goddesses were the subject of all kinds of vicious rumors.
After all, plenty of girls were jealous of them. Whenever everyone saw such rumors, they automatically scrutinized every detail and concluded they were fake.
Besides, even if some rich guy had won over the goddesses, it was not something impossible to accept. That was just how the world was.
At most, people would howl a few times and vent their feelings.
What the boy truly cared about was that one of his high school classmates also attended Jiangcheng University, and that classmate was utterly obsessed with Chen Yusheng.
So the boy found his classmate on WeChat.
Bro, I'm out running right now. I just saw Chen Yusheng get out of a luxury car. She seemed pretty happy.
?
Holy shit, how did you reply instantly? That was fast.
Haha, didn't expect that, did you? I installed a plugin on my phone. As long as a message I receive involves Chen Yusheng, it plays a special notification sound.
Is this the power of the Computer Science Department? Terrifying!
The boy was stunned.
Then his classmate quickly replied:
You saw wrong. You definitely saw wrong. How could Chen Yusheng possibly return to school this late? At this hour, she must be working part-time in the lab.
No, bro, I really didn't see wrong.
Did you take a photo?
...I didn't have time.
No picture, no proof! I'm going to study. Don't you dare slander my goddess again!
Seeing this, the boy gave a helpless smile and shook his head.
"Ugh, a simp. Hopeless!"
Before you continue