Evening, Dorm 510, Building 7 of the men's dorms.
After class, Chu Mingzhe and Xue Tao returned to their dorm.
"Holy shit, Wang Haoran, you're still playing Yuanshen? I saw you start first thing this morning." Xue Tao exclaimed dramatically.
"Eh, I took on a paid grinding job," Wang Haoran said casually.
Since Brother Bai had told him to keep a low profile, he definitely wouldn't go around advertising Su Bai's skills.
"I see. Paid grinding is good, working while studying. Trying out part-time jobs during college is actually great—you get to experience the hardships of society early."
For some reason, Xue Tao put on an air of worldly maturity, as if he truly had a wealth of social experience. "Money's hard to make these days. Those of us at Project 985 universities all think we're God's chosen sons, but after graduation, we realize that even highly educated people don't make that much from working. It's nowhere near as good as income from assets..."
"True. Not as good as your four local apartments," Chu Mingzhe suddenly remarked sarcastically.
"You motherfucker..."
Chu Mingzhe curled his lip. "Actually, when truly high-quality women choose a partner, they don't just consider a man's assets. His own abilities matter too. If he only has family wealth but is otherwise useless, goddesses will still despise him."
"Hehe, well, I'm already taken, unlike someone whose standards are so high," Xue Tao mocked. "Old Chu is talking about girls at school. They're inexperienced but proud. Once you actually enter society, who cares about your work ability? You work hard for promotions and raises, but can you make as much as someone earns from collecting rent on one apartment?"
"On the contrary, the more you enter society, the more girls..."
"..."
Debates like this played out in Dorm 510 almost every day.
Chu Mingzhe versus Xue Tao, their daily love-hate battle.
It was so intense, even more intense than Boruto.
Wang Haoran had long since gotten used to it. He treated it like a crosstalk show while continuing his paid grinding routine without pause.
Seriously, a fully maxed-out character with 6+5 constellations and refinements was just a blast to play.
The two rich bros eventually tired themselves out and stopped arguing for a while. Then they suddenly heard a burst of hearty laughter from Su Bai's direction.
Looking up, they saw Su Bai lazily sprawled on his bed with one leg crossed over the other, staring at his phone and grinning like an idiot.
Xue Tao asked, "What are you watching that's got you so happy?"
"Nothing, just some stupid video on Bilibili."
"Holy shit, wait, Su Bai, when did you change phones?"
The two of them had been so absorbed in their debate that neither had noticed.
Only now did they realize something was off.
Su Bai had originally used a cheap domestic phone, but now he had suddenly switched to an Apple.
Chu Mingzhe leaned over for a look and said in surprise, "It's even the latest Pro Max."
"That must've cost nearly ten thousand yuan. With Su Bai's family circumstances, using such a nice phone is pretty much a stretch, isn't it?" Xue Tao immediately came out with another outrageous remark.
"Yeah, but I made a small fortune recently, so I figured I'd treat myself."
Su Bai gave a casual explanation, then went back to looking at his phone, too lazy to pay them any attention.
Su Bai had long since grown accustomed to Xue Tao's ridiculous remarks. They didn't stir the slightest ripple in his heart.
To put it another way, would you care what a monkey on the side of the road thought of you?
That was why Su Bai didn't care about Xue Tao's opinion either.
Yet Xue Tao kept going on and on, showing off his supposedly profound understanding by saying Apple was inferior to Huawei and that if you had money, a triple-fold phone was what really gave you face.
Meanwhile, Chu Mingzhe was a diehard Apple fan.
The two launched into another round of debate.
They quickly forgot all about Su Bai changing phones.
These days, it was perfectly normal for kids from poor families to save up and buy an Apple.
Switching to an Apple couldn't change the fact that Su Bai was still a poor bastard.
As for Su Bai, he continued chatting with Chen Yusheng.
Chen Yusheng had just shared an interesting video with him on WeChat. After watching it, Su Bai let loose with his urge to complain about it.
The conversation started naturally and soon grew lively.
When two people shared the same interests and hobbies, conversation just flowed that smoothly.
If he had nothing better to do, Su Bai might have joined the "Hu Ye versus locals" battle, played the straight man, and amused himself by egging them on.
But right now, he was busy chatting with Chen Yusheng.
To be honest, Su Bai had always held a very negative view of "chatting with girls."
Driven by that kind of desire, many guys took the initiative to approach girls, catered to their preferences, and talked about topics that interested them.
From dating to blind dates, most situations were like that.
But had they ever considered whether they truly enjoyed interacting with girls in the first place?
The topics, emotions, and rhythm all had to be provided by the guys.
Most of the time, girls stood in the position of judges, scoring the boys' immature and clumsy performances.
If they were experienced girls, they might even let out a disdainful snicker while scoring them.
Look at that clown, he's just like a dog!
Take blind dates, for example.
What did they talk about? Family backgrounds, ex-boyfriends, entertainment industry gossip—the classic three-piece set of blind-date girls.
If they weren't in such a hurry to become simps, what man would care about that stuff...
Couldn't girls take the initiative to talk to guys about graphics cards, games, basketball, web novels, or Mugui Zi Band?
So cold, so shaken, so heartbroken. What had boys ever done wrong? Could this world still get any better?
That was why Su Bai was generally too lazy to chat with girls.
He'd rather shoot the breeze with Wang Haoran.
Even watching "Hu Ye versus locals" was more interesting than flirting with girls.
Chen Yusheng had shattered Su Bai's preconceptions.
The two of them were like old friends who had been separated for years despite never having known each other, rapidly reaching a state of complete spiritual harmony.
This made Su Bai sigh inwardly. In a sense, that idiot Xue Tao hadn't been entirely wrong.
Money was the core gear for modern men.
If he hadn't bound himself to the Indulgent System, Su Bai wouldn't have spent twelve thousand yuan on a monthly companion-for-hire package. He wouldn't have uncovered Chen Yusheng's hidden side, much less formed this subtle bond they now had.
Say thank you to System Brother already!
Su Bai was so immersed in chatting that when he looked up, he realized it was already dark outside.
His stomach growled.
Time to eat!
Chatting wouldn't stop just because he was eating, anyway.
The four people from Dorm 510 headed out to eat together.
Actually, Su Bai had only wanted to ask Wang Haoran along, but Xue Tao and Chu Mingzhe had gotten into the habit of tagging along with the two of them.
Maybe their rich-bro war needed an audience too. Su Bai and Wang Haoran were excellent spectators: poor at a glance, easygoing, and unlikely to get offended. They were top-tier audience members.
At the entrance to the cafeteria, they ran into two lovely figures.
Chen Yusheng and Liu Yuanyuan.
The former was a famous beautiful academic star, while the latter was a delicate little beauty herself.
The two girls walking side by side drew countless stares from passersby.
"Yuanyuan! What a coincidence. You're here to eat too?"
Xue Tao squeezed out what he considered a kind and gentle smile. Wrinkles even appeared at the corners of his eyes. Who knew whether something had gone wrong when his mother gave birth to him, for him to have wrinkles right after becoming an adult? Chu Mingzhe privately called him a "shar-pei mutt."
"Yeah, we just got out of class."
"Yeah, us too, hehe."
Xue Tao scratched his head with a foolish grin.
He always got nervous around girls.
Especially since, besides his girlfriend Liu Yuanyuan, Chen Yusheng was there too.
Xue Tao knew perfectly well that compared to Chen Yusheng, Liu Yuanyuan was nothing.
But this girl's aura was too cold, and she was an exceptionally impressive top student. She usually looked at people as if she were looking at trash—though she didn't actually mean anything by it; she just had a blank expression. Xue Tao felt he had absolutely no chance of winning her over.
Xue Tao couldn't help glancing at Chen Yusheng. She was truly beautiful, like a secluded lotus hidden deep in a valley.
If his family owned eight local apartments instead of four, perhaps Xue Tao would have had the courage to give it a try.
But reality was cold. He could only admire her in secret.
Liu Yuanyuan maintained a reserved smile, but inwardly, she was rolling her eyes so hard they nearly reached the sky.
Of course she had noticed Xue Tao's gaze. He had nervously sneaked a look at Chen Yusheng, as though worshipping a god.
That philandering bastard. Men really weren't good for anything!
Forget it, forget it. She was already a sophomore and still single. If she didn't find a boyfriend soon, it felt like her college life would be wasted.
Xue Tao might not be much as a person, but he was willing to spend money on Liu Yuanyuan. That was something she was quite satisfied with.
But for her to genuinely feel physical attraction toward Xue Tao? Hiss, absolutely impossible!
Speaking of physical attraction...
Liu Yuanyuan couldn't help secretly glancing at Su Bai.
He was so handsome.
If Su Bai had the same family background as Xue Tao, Liu Yuanyuan felt that she probably would have wanted to sleep with him right after military training ended.
Unfortunately, he was a poor bastard. There was no future in dating a poor handsome guy.
But it was still fine to feast her eyes on him occasionally.
While Su Bai was absorbed in looking down at his phone, Liu Yuanyuan took a few more looks at him. His tall, straight figure made her breathing quicken, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks.
Seeing this, Xue Tao's face immediately turned green. He said, "Then we'll go in and eat first."
"Ah, yeah. We're going to eat too."
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