A Flower of Wealth and Beauty

Gao Qiang's grin froze for a moment. Faced with Xia Hui's piercing gaze, he could only smile awkwardly and say uncertainly, "Sister-in-law, aren't you Tang Yi's girlfriend? Tang Yi's my bro, so..."

"Wait a second." Xia Hui stopped Gao Qiang from going on and asked with a frown, "Who told you I was Tang Yi's girlfriend?"

Though Xia Hui asked Gao Qiang, she turned to look at Tang Yi as she spoke.

In fact, the moment Xia Hui asked the question, Tang Yi had already thought, This is bad. But he still hoped to bluff his way through. Only now, realizing he had nowhere to hide, did he laugh it off.

"Come on, Qiangzi, what are you calling her that for? What I told you back then was my future girlfriend! Isn't it a little too early to call her sister-in-law now?"

Gao Qiang immediately protested, "What do you mean, future girlfriend? What you said back then was..."

Before Gao Qiang could finish, Zhou Yuwen tugged at his sleeve. Gao Qiang finally caught on, and another look at Tang Yi's expression told him everything. He grinned. "Well, well! So you were just showing off, Tang Yi!"

"I knew it! How could a guy like you possibly have such a beautiful girlfriend?"

Tang Yi's face soured at Gao Qiang's words.

But when Xia Hui saw that, she said to him, "Serves you right for bragging! Now that country bumpkin's talked back to you!"

Changzhou dialect was spoken very quickly, so even though Xia Hui used simple words like "country bumpkin" and "serves you right," the others couldn't understand her as long as she deliberately spoke faster.

Being lectured by Xia Hui like that made Tang Yi lose face too. He answered impatiently in Changzhou dialect, "How was I supposed to know he was an idiot with such a fast mouth and no sense at all?!"

The two of them sounded like they were arguing when they spoke their hometown dialect. Later on, though, it seemed Tang Yi couldn't win against Xia Hui, who pointed a finger in his face and scolded him.

Gao Qiang listened for ages without understanding a word. Scratching his head, he said, "Wait, what are you two jabbering about? Can't you speak Mandarin?"

Tang Yi looked up at Gao Qiang and said, "Nothing. She was complimenting you, saying you're tall and handsome."

"?" Gao Qiang was baffled. He had a vague feeling something wasn't right, but at a time like this, he could only grin and say, "Ha, Sister Hui, you've got a good eye! In that case, Sister Hui, how about introducing me to one of your girlfriends?"

Xia Hui was genuinely speechless. In a low voice, she said to Tang Yi in Changzhou dialect, "Look at him. This idiot's climbing right up the pole. I really can't take it."

Tang Yi, however, just found it funny. Grinning, he continued in Changzhou dialect, "He's just a country bumpkin. Why bother arguing with him?"

Seeing that they were still ignoring him and chatting away in dialect, Gao Qiang couldn't help wanting to ask again, but then he heard Tang Yi say, "All right, all right, that's enough."

Tang Yi said it was his fault for not making things clear to them.

Xia Hui wasn't his girlfriend, just a very good friend of his.

"Childhood sweethearts," Tang Yi added.

"Who's your childhood sweetheart? We're just ordinary high school classmates," Xia Hui said coldly.

Hearing that, everyone around them laughed, including the roommate Xia Hui had brought along, who covered her mouth and chuckled.

The girl was a little shorter than Xia Hui, probably around 164 centimeters tall. Her figure was fuller than Xia Hui's, though her waist looked slender.

She wore a black, off-the-shoulder knit top with thin straps. The soft fabric hugged her body without being overly revealing, and the neckline formed a shallow V from her shoulders to her chest.

She stood there quietly, holding a copy of Da Bing's Amitabha, Mwah in her arms. A delicate rose-gold women's watch adorned her slender wrist.

She also wore a thin gold necklace around her swanlike neck.

When sunlight streamed through the cafeteria's large floor-to-ceiling windows, her jewelry would catch the light and sparkle, adding a few touches of fresh, otherworldly grace to her for no particular reason.

She and Chen Rongrong were probably both naturally gifted, but the difference was that, given Chen Rongrong's family circumstances, she couldn't improve herself afterward and would be limited to the great-beauty tier for life.

This girl, on the other hand, clearly had a slimmer waist and dressed with greater care. Her knit top was paired with slightly flared jeans that set off her slender, long legs.

She didn't deliberately show off any logos in her outfit, but the women's belt around her waist was Chanel's latest model.

Tang Yi had noticed the girl beside Xia Hui long ago, but hadn't had a chance to speak. Now, while she was covering her mouth and laughing, he changed the subject, saying to Xia Hui, "All right, all right."

"Let's skip the nonsense. Didn't we say we'd play cards? Shall we start?"

Only after saying that did he ask Xia Hui to introduce the girl beside her.

Xia Hui was in a bad mood now. She had brought a roommate at the top-beauty tier, but then she looked again at the people Tang Yi had brought her.

Zhou Yuwen was decent enough to look at, but as for that Gao Qiang...

Honestly, she was speechless!

"Ruan Yu." So Xia Hui didn't offer much of an introduction.

She simply gave her name, but Ruan Yu smiled politely and said, "Hello, everyone. I'm Ruan Yu, from Xuhuai."

"You're from Xuhuai!?" Tang Yi's eyes lit up.

He said, "Talk about a coincidence! Zhou Yuwen from our dorm is from Xuhuai too!"

As he spoke, Tang Yi pulled Zhou Yuwen over beside him.

Zhou Yuwen smiled at Ruan Yu and said, "Hello."

Ruan Yu studied Zhou Yuwen closely, then nodded slightly and murmured in acknowledgment.

The group then took their seats. Before coming, Tang Yi had bought two decks of cards from the shop downstairs. Once he sat down, he began shuffling them and asked what they should play.

"How do five people play?" Gao Qiang asked.

Tang Yi chuckled. "Isn't that easy? You can just watch from the side, can't you?"

Gao Qiang was a little annoyed. He asked why he should have to.

"Let's just play king of the hill as usual. Whoever's worst at cards sits out."

At that point, Ruan Yu said, "I don't know how to play cards. You guys go ahead; don't mind me."

"How could we do that?"

Hearing that Ruan Yu wasn't playing, both Gao Qiang and Tang Yi were eager to help. Tang Yi shuffled the cards as he said, "Fight the Landlord is actually pretty simple. If you don't know how to play, I can teach you."

"Yeah, you're already here, so come play with us!" Gao Qiang chimed in.

Ruan Yu hurriedly waved her hands, indicating there was no need.

"I was just bored alone in the dorm, so I came to keep Xia Hui company. You guys can play; I'll read my book." As she spoke, Ruan Yu waved the book in her hand.

When Zhou Yuwen saw the gesture, the corners of his mouth curved into a smile. It was a somewhat inscrutable smile.

Ruan Yu noticed his smile and couldn't help feeling that there was something a little unfriendly about it.

Was reading Da Bing's books so funny?

But Zhou Yuwen hadn't said anything, so Ruan Yu couldn't very well say anything either.