Chapter 187
Downstairs of the girls' dormitory, the heat waves rolled, and the cicadas chirped so loudly it made people feel restless.
Gu Ran opened the trunk of the Audi A6L and, much like Doraemon reaching into his magic pocket, first pulled out two shopping bags before lifting out the young girl's silver RIMOWA suitcase.
This bag has Ferrero Rocher chocolates, some nuts, and a few Starbucks tumblers.
He handed the bag to Ye Zhenzhen, slipping right into a nagging dad mode. When you get to your dorm, share these with your roommates first. As the saying goes, people are less likely to make things difficult for you after accepting your gifts. If you establish a good first impression, it will be much easier to skip class... ahem, to cover for each other in the future.
Ye Zhenzhen took the heavy bags with both hands, her body swaying slightly under the weight, and her small mouth could not help but pout. You are so nagging. I am the older sister here, do I really need you to teach me?
This is the voice of experience. Listen to good advice and you will have an easier life.
Gu Ran reached out to tidy up her slightly messy bangs, his gaze gentle yet serious.
College is a miniature society, and a girls' dorm is practically a battlefield. Even though we do not go looking for trouble, we cannot let people think you are a pushover. With me around, I will hold up the sky if it falls, but for the everyday little things, you still need to be smart and alert.
I know, I know. The young girl playfully stuck out her tongue, her eyes full of unconcealed joy and reliance.
She stood on tiptoe and, taking advantage of the fact that no one around was paying attention, quickly planted a loud smooch on Gu Ran's cheek.
Then, carrying all her bags and dragging her suitcase, she dashed into the dormitory building like a happy little deer.
Gu Ran touched the lingering sensation on his cheek and watched her retreating figure, the corners of his mouth turning upward.
This girl is getting better and better at flirting.
...
Room 302.
Pushing the door open, a complex scent mixing air freshener and a faint mustiness rushed to greet her.
It was a standard four-person dorm room with bunk beds that had desks underneath.
Three girls had already arrived and were sitting together chatting.
Hello everyone, I am Ye Zhenzhen, from County A of Qinglin City.
Ye Zhenzhen put on a standard polite smile and placed the bags she was carrying onto a desk. This is a little meeting gift I brought for everyone. Please, have some, do not be shy.
The three girls, who had been chatting, were first stunned by the young girl's breathtakingly beautiful face, and then their eyes locked onto the clearly expensive snacks on the desk.
Wow! Ferrero Rocher! And this brand of nuts is super expensive!
A round-faced girl with short hair, who looked naturally outgoing, jumped up first, her eyes sparkling as she took the bag. Thank you, thank you! Let me hug the rich lady! I am Zhao Xiaoxiao, a local!
Another quiet-looking girl wearing black-rimmed glasses also smiled shyly. Thank you for spending so much. I am Chen Jing.
Only the girl sitting by the window, wearing a breezy slip dress and touching up her makeup in the mirror, simply cast a cold glance through her compact and did not even shift her weight.
She looked the young girl up and down, her eyes carrying a bit of pickiness and scrutiny.
Thanks, but I am on a diet. I do not eat high-calorie things like this.
The girl turned her head back and continued drawing her eyebrows. Her tone was lukewarm and oozed a sense of superiority. I am Lin Yu.
Ye Zhenzhen did not mind. She smiled and nodded, then turned to start organizing her own desk.
With a click, her suitcase opened, and the previously harmonious atmosphere in the dorm suddenly turned into an eerie silence.
First, a brand new MacBook Pro was placed on the desk, followed by an iPad 2, and finally, the white iPhone 4 she held in her hand.
In 2011, this Apple ecosystem was simply synonymous with being wealthy, delivering a massive visual impact.
But that was not all.
The young girl then began pulling various bottles and jars out of her suitcase, stuffing them into her desk drawers.
A green bottle with a gold cap—La Mer moisturizing cream.
A red bottle—SK-II Facial Treatment Essence.
The half-eaten chocolate in Zhao Xiaoxiao's mouth suddenly lost its flavor.
She looked at the cheap lotion on her own desk, then at the pile of literal money sitting on Ye Zhenzhen's desk, her mouth dropping open into an O shape.
Lin Yu, who was drawing her eyebrows, felt her hand tremble, and her eyebrow pencil slipped, ruining the line.
She whipped around, staring fixedly at the items on the young girl's desk, the jealousy in her eyes practically overflowing.
Oh my, Student Ye, does your family own a mine?
Lin Yu sounded envious, but her words were laced with sarcasm, her voice a bit shrill. This whole set must cost tens of thousands, right? How could us regular students afford to use this?
The dorm room suddenly fell dead silent.
Both Zhao Xiaoxiao and Chen Jing heard the thorns in her words, awkwardly shrinking their necks back and not daring to chime in.
Seeing that no one spoke up, Lin Yu grew even bolder. She crossed her arms and looked at Ye Zhenzhen with a fake smile. Student Ye, do not blame me for talking too much, but we cannot take shortcuts just because we are young and pretty. Some men out there in society might have money, but that money burns the hands when you take it...
She did not finish her sentence, but her meaning was glaringly obvious.
She was just short of plastering the words sugar baby right onto the young girl's face.
Ye Zhenzhen was speechless.
This level of petty, mean-girl behavior was not even close to Pei Susu's.
Also, what was wrong with this person?
Seeing someone use expensive things automatically meant they were being kept by a sugar daddy?
Sure enough, to a dirty mind, everything looks dirty.
Ye Zhenzhen paused her unpacking.
She turned around, looking at Lin Yu's somewhat mean face, and suddenly recalled the image of Gu Ran spouting absolute nonsense with a straight face at the electronics store.
Since you want to put on an act, this lady will play along with you.
So, she took a deep breath and put on a serious, highly professional expression.
Classmate, you have misunderstood.
The young girl pointed to the Apple products on her desk, her tone as earnest as if she were giving a quarterly business report.
These are not my personal belongings; they are fixed company assets. I am a software testing specialist for GR Technology, and these devices are used for iOS system compatibility testing. I signed an agreement when I was hired. If I quit or if they get damaged, I have to compensate the company for their full value.
Huh? Lin Yu froze, wearing a look that said, are you freaking kidding me?
As for these skincare products...
Ye Zhenzhen picked up the jar of cream worth thousands of dollars and sighed, putting on a look of utter helplessness at the hardships of life.
These are company benefits, falling under the reimbursement category of corporate image maintenance funds.
The boss says that testing specialists often have to stay up late to test for bugs, and to prevent this from affecting the company's external image, we are strictly required to use high-end skincare products for maintenance.
Honestly, I find it quite annoying too. Smearing this and that on my face every day is exhausting, but what can you do? You take their money, you do their bidding.
Listen to that—was that even human language?
You could hear a pin drop in the dorm room.
The chocolate in Zhao Xiaoxiao's hand slipped and fell to the floor.
Chen Jing pushed up her glasses, her eyes filled with awe toward high-end corporate jobs in the big city.
Lin Yu's jaw dropped wide open, and for a long time, she simply could not close it.
She wanted to retort, wanted to scoff, but looking into Ye Zhenzhen's big, crystal-clear, innocent eyes, and seeing her earnest expression that screamed "I'm just a lowly corporate drone," all the words caught in her throat.
The excuse sounded incredibly absurd, yet somehow, coming from her mouth, it felt completely genuine?!
Did a dream company like this actually exist?
Are they still hiring?!
...
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
