Some time earlier, in the school cafeteria.
"Senior, over here!"
Liu Yuanyuan, who had claimed a seat in advance, waved to greet Zhou Jialu.
Her graceful, lovely figure drew countless gazes as she approached.
Liu Yuanyuan could not help feeling envious. Sigh, if only I were as pretty as Zhou Jialu. Then there'd definitely be tons of high-quality guys at school lining up around me.
She could take her time and choose calmly, finding her ideal husband before graduation.
Unlike now—she had met so many guys during her freshman year, yet they were all crooked melons and cracked dates. Either their families were too poor, or their looks were simply hard to stomach.
Well, Xue Tao was not exactly easy on the eyes either.
But if she pinched her nose, she could make do with him for now.
Mainly because there were no better options at the moment.
Liu Yuanyuan believed that a girl's youth was fleeting. She had to seize the time to enjoy herself while keeping an eye out for something better—that was the optimal solution.
Xue Tao was the temporary stepping stone she had chosen.
Yet Senior Zhou seemed not to need even a stepping stone.
She said that, from beginning to end, she had never met anyone she truly liked.
Sigh, beautiful women really did have high standards.
Just as Liu Yuanyuan was sighing to herself, Zhou Jialu gradually drew near.
Only then did Liu Yuanyuan notice the handbag slung over her shoulder.
It was colorful, bright without being gaudy, and carried a distinctive artistic flair.
It matched Zhou Jialu's lively, warm temperament perfectly.
"Wow, Senior, is that a new bag? It's so pretty!"
"Mhm." Zhou Jialu grew shy at the question. "My boyfriend gave it to me."
Liu Yuanyuan's eyes went wide, and she was completely stunned.
Wait, seriously, girl?
She had just been talking about how Zhou Jialu did not date, and now she was being told that her senior had gotten a boyfriend?
Sure enough, the elders in her family had been right. River City had something downright strange about it.
"No way, really? Senior, when did you get a boyfriend? This feels so sudden."
"Ah, I think it's pretty sudden too... Sit down first. We can talk while we eat. I'll go get my food."
"Mm-hmm, okay! I'll wait for Senior to report back!"
Liu Yuanyuan obediently nodded and sat down, her face full of gossip-hungry anticipation.
What kind of outstanding man had managed to catch Senior Zhou's eye and progress to being her boyfriend so quickly?
Soon, Senior Zhou returned carrying a plate of vegetables.
She had not even bought any rice.
She had eaten too much seafood with Su Bai at lunch, so she would just have something light for dinner. Otherwise, she would gain weight.
Although she took pride in her curvy figure, she could not let herself become bloated. The places that needed to be slim had to stay slim.
"Senior, let me ask first—your boyfriend must be really rich, right?"
The first question Liu Yuanyuan asked fit her personality perfectly.
When she and Zhou Jialu had stayed up talking in their dorm room before, she had mentioned more than once that she would definitely find a rich boyfriend in the future.
In her view, financial strength was a man's core value. As long as he had enough money, she could tolerate anything—looks, personality, education.
"Mm..." Zhou Jialu nodded shyly. Admitting it like this made her seem a little materialistic, but since she had returned carrying this Takashi Murakami collaboration handbag, she had actually wanted to show it off a little.
"I knew it. Your bag is LV, right? And it doesn't look cheap. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before. Wait, let me look it up..."
Liu Yuanyuan worked her phone frantically.
Then she suddenly shuddered all over and let out a shriek, covering her mouth.
"Oh my god, Senior, isn't this that— that insanely expensive collaboration? It's already discontinued, and it sells for over 150,000 yuan on the secondary market... Oh my god, this is my first time seeing such an expensive bag in real life!"
"Yuanyuan, you're getting way too excited. Don't scare the students walking by."
Wearing an expression that said this was nothing special, Zhou Jialu secretly enjoyed showing off as she said casually, "His financial means are indeed pretty substantial. We made things official today, and then he said he wanted to buy me something. I actually didn't want it, but he said that carrying this bag would naturally scare off my other pursuers... Hehe."
"Hiss, that actually makes sense!"
As someone who dreamed of marrying rich, Liu Yuanyuan quickly understood Zhou Jialu's meaning.
A bag at this price point was nowhere near worth that much in terms of practical use. It was purely a rich person's toy.
But Zhou Jialu had always spent like an ordinary girl. If she suddenly started carrying a 160,000-yuan bag, people would definitely assume she had found an incredibly wealthy boyfriend.
"Ah, but Senior, if you're so open about it, won't some ill-intentioned people say nasty things about you? Like saying you found some old rich guy..."
Liu Yuanyuan's concern was actually quite in line with what ordinary people thought.
In today's society, it was getting harder and harder for young people to make something of themselves.
There were second-generation rich people, but there were only so many of them.
And they generally were not that extravagant with their spending.
In most people's minds, the ones who sponsored female college students were more often bald, potbellied middle-aged or even elderly nouveau riche businessmen.
Zhou Jialu smiled with ease. "I'm not afraid. Hehe, let them be jealous. I'll just enjoy my own life."
Liu Yuanyuan immediately seemed to understand, growing even more excited. "Senior, from the way you're saying it, your boyfriend must have pretty good qualifications in other areas too, right?"
"Mm. He... well, he's quite handsome."
Zhou Jialu put it modestly.
She was afraid she would shock Liu Yuanyuan into having a heart attack right there in the cafeteria.
Just kidding—Yuanyuan was her only close friend at school. If Liu Yuanyuan had a heart attack, Zhou Jialu would be devastated.
After Liu Yuanyuan's emotions had settled somewhat, Zhou Jialu continued, "And he's younger than me."
"!!!"
This time, Liu Yuanyuan truly could not stay calm.
After finding out the bag's price, she had already assumed that Senior's boyfriend had to be at least in his late twenties, almost thirty—a working adult.
More likely, he was in his thirties or forties.
Spending 160,000 yuan in one go meant he must have had at least several hundred thousand yuan in monthly spending money.
Liu Yuanyuan guessed he was probably the boss of a fairly impressive company.
The kind whose family also had connections.
Yet Senior's answer left her completely dumbfounded!
He was actually younger than Senior?!
Did that not mean he was still a college student?
No, this was getting a little absurd...
Liu Yuanyuan had a good idea of how much monthly allowance the second-generation rich students at school received, as well as what level of family wealth those amounts represented.
She had discussed it with some seniors studying finance and researched related information on Little Red Book.
For high-net-worth families, monthly living expenses exceeding 10,000 yuan were quite common.
But if it went any higher, parents would not simply hand it over freely. They generally asked what the money was for, or simply let their children use credit cards under their parents' names, so every expense was clearly tracked.
Perhaps the amount of freely disposable money could rise to 50,000 yuan, or even 100,000 yuan.
The family's income would naturally have to be even higher.
But asking some second-generation rich guy to spend 160,000 yuan on a bag for his girlfriend?
Give her a break. Even his mother might not be willing to use such an expensive bag!
Being able to afford it was one thing; being willing to spend that extravagantly was another.
And this was just one gift.
Taking everything into account, Senior's boyfriend had to receive at least one million yuan in monthly allowance.
Once Liu Yuanyuan sorted out her thoughts, she had an epiphany.
No wonder Zhou Jialu had been wearing such a sweet smile ever since they met.
Life really was about to get sweet for her!
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