CS

Chen Zhi stared at Li Zhiyi's face.

"Y-yes, I asked for her myself," Li Zhiyi stammered, feeling creeped out by his stare. She didn't even have the courage to look Chen Zhi in the eye.

Chen Zhi laughed out of sheer frustration.

"Li Zhiyi, you've really grown some nerve," Chen Zhi let go of her hand, his tone carrying a hint of exasperation at her lack of self-preservation. "For New Year's, you took out half a year's worth of saved living expenses just to buy me a phone. Normally, you won't even let me pay for a cup of milk tea. You act like a punching bag in this relationship, never daring to make a single request of me."

Chen Zhi reached out a finger and gently flicked Li Zhiyi's smooth forehead.

"And yet, the very first time you ask me for a favor today, it's actually for someone else?"

"Speak," Chen Zhi's tone grew heavier. "Did she bully you? Or did she use something to force you to come here?"

Li Zhiyi covered her forehead, completely panicking.

She hurriedly reached out to grab Chen Zhi's sleeve, so anxious that her eyes turned red.

"N-no, it's not like that! No one bullied me, and no one forced me." Li Zhiyi shook her head repeatedly, terrified that Chen Zhi would misunderstand. "I really wanted to help her myself."

Chen Zhi remained unmoved.

Deep Space Technology's current valuation was spreading like crazy in the industry circles, but the confidentiality of Chen Zhi's personal information was handled exceptionally well. Aside from a few core executives in the company, the outside world couldn't dig up his background at all.

"Then who told you that Deep Space Technology is my company?" Chen Zhi asked the most crucial question.

Li Zhiyi shrank her neck and answered in a small voice, "She told me."

"Who?"

"Our class monitor, Jiang Ke." Afraid that Chen Zhi wouldn't remember, Li Zhiyi added, "You saw her last time too, right at the east gate of our school."

Chen Zhi's mind spun, and he quickly dug out this person from a corner of his memory.

That freshman girl from the law school, wearing a khaki trench coat and exquisite light makeup.

Last time at the gate of Renmin University, Jiang Ke was accompanied by a pretentious guy wearing a luxury watch, spouting nonsense about social classes, whom Chen Zhi had immediately cursed out as a simp on the spot.

Chen Zhi felt back then that this Jiang Ke was not simple. She knew how to use the resources around her and how to judge the situation.

But he didn't expect this woman's reach to be so long.

How did a mere college freshman connect Peking University student Chen Zhi with the behind-the-scenes boss of Deep Space Technology?

Chen Zhi sneered.

This woman probably saw that Li Zhiyi had a soft, easily manipulated personality, and deliberately played the victim in front of her, using Li Zhiyi as a stepping stone to get close to him.

"You can't even bear to trouble me yourself, so why do you want to help her so much?" Chen Zhi looked at Li Zhiyi, waiting for her explanation.

"She works very hard," Li Zhiyi hurriedly spoke up for Jiang Ke. "Every day after class, she goes off-campus to work part-time to make money, and at night she stays up late reading. She also actively campaigned for class cadre and vice minister of the student union, just to enrich her resume so she can be more competitive after graduation."

After hearing this, Chen Zhi felt absolutely no ripples in his heart.

As a capitalist holding tens of billions of dollars in financing, the last thing he lacked was listening to people's struggle stories.

"So what?" Chen Zhi's tone was very light, revealing an unreasonable coldness. "Those Tsinghua and Peking University PhDs in our company's technical department all work overtime until two or three in the morning, losing hair by the handfuls. Are they worse than her? There are plenty of hardworking people; Deep Space Technology is not a charity."

Li Zhiyi choked slightly at Chen Zhi's capitalist speech.

"She is actually quite pitiful too," Li Zhiyi's voice grew even smaller, filled with deep sympathy. "She earns all her living expenses herself. Her family doesn't give her any money at all; they even ask her for money."

"So what?" Chen Zhi remained ruthless. "Renmin University has a comprehensive financial aid system. She should go to her counselor to apply for poverty subsidies and grants, instead of having you come to me to go through the back door."

Chen Zhi had absolutely no good feelings toward this kind of woman who might be tricking his girlfriend.

Li Zhiyi grew anxious, raised her head, and said quickly, "A few days ago, the college distributed the national scholarship. Her dad somehow heard the news and came straight to the school to ask her for money."

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow.

"Jiang Ke wouldn't give it, so her dad beat her downstairs at the dorm and cursed at her horribly." A hint of pity flashed in Li Zhiyi's eyes. "To prevent her dad from making a huge scene at school, Jiang Ke had no choice but to give all the scholarship money to him. Then she could barely afford to eat, so she ran off-campus to take on two more part-time jobs."

Chen Zhi fell silent.

This kind of messy situation with a bloodsucking original family was indeed quite miserable.

But having lived two lives, he had seen too many tricks. Jiang Ke's misery might be real, but her unreserved display of these tragic circumstances to Li Zhiyi definitely had impure motives.

However, looking at Li Zhiyi's eager, pleading appearance, Chen Zhi couldn't bring himself to keep nitpicking.

If he really made this silly girl cry, he would be the one who had to rack his brains to coax her in the end.

"Alright, alright, stop explaining for her." Chen Zhi pulled Li Zhiyi's hand over and forcefully held it in his palm.

Li Zhiyi looked up, gazing at him with full expectation.

"Find some time tonight," Chen Zhi spoke unhurriedly. "Bring her out to have a meal with me."

Li Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, and then a massive surprise bloomed on her face.

"Really? You agreed?" Li Zhiyi backhandedly gripped Chen Zhi's hand tightly. "Thank you, Chen Zhi! I knew you were the best!"

Looking at the girl's happy smile, Chen Zhi sighed in his heart.

Silly girl, I'm going there to gatekeep and clear the mines for you.

Chen Zhi planned to personally meet this Jiang Ke tonight. If this woman purely wanted to find a good job, Chen Zhi wouldn't mind arranging a marginal errand-running position for her at Deep Space Technology.

But if this woman was too scheming and wanted to use Li Zhiyi to pull some stunt, Chen Zhi had a hundred ways to make it impossible for her to survive in Beijing.

"I'll decide the location for tonight and send you a WeChat message later." Chen Zhi stood up and put his coat back on properly. "I'll take you back to school first."

...

After putting Li Zhiyi on a taxi back to Renmin University, Chen Zhi strolled back to Building 36 of Yuanpei College at Peking University.

Just as he walked outside the door of Dorm 404, Chen Zhi heard fierce arguing coming from inside.

"Holy shit, was that fairy downstairs just now really Lao Chen's girlfriend? Is there any fucking justice in this world!" This was Guo Yang's voice, mixed with grief and indignation.

"Something's wrong, something is twelve out of ten times wrong." Li Zicong's voice carried the certainty of a master detective. "Do you guys remember that before school started, Lao Chen stayed out all night for several nights?"

Zhang Tianyang weakly interjected, "Brother Chen said he was out pulling an all-nighter at an internet cafe playing games..."

"Bullshit! Have you ever seen anyone pull an all-nighter gaming while smelling of high-end perfume?" Li Zicong slammed the table. "And did you forget? That rich woman driving a Rolls-Royce Phantom with a Beijing A license plate! That iceberg beauty from the Guanghua School of Management named Pei Ningxue!"

The dorm room instantly went quiet for two seconds.

Following that, an even more violent wave of condemnation erupted.

"Fuck!" Guo Yang's voice cracked. "Then what about Pei Ningxue from Guanghua? Is Lao Chen, that son of a bitch, two-timing?"

"Drop the 'is'. He definitely is." Li Zicong sneered, his tone full of bitter resentment. "It's bad enough he's dating two girls, but why do they both have to be so gorgeous? One is a rich, beautiful girl from Guanghua, and the other is the pure campus belle of Renmin University. What the hell did this bastard do to deserve this?"

"Damn him!" Zhang Tianyang howled in agreement.

Outside the door, Chen Zhi rubbed his nose.

He had miscalculated.

He was so focused on showing off and marking his territory in front of his roommates just now that he forgot Pei Ningxue had also left a few clues before.

The investigative skills of these single dogs were usually so poor they would struggle to find a takeout delivery, but when it came to gossip, they were sharper than seasoned detectives.

Chen Zhi cleared his throat and pushed the dorm room door open.

"What are you guys talking about? Sounds lively." Chen Zhi swaggered in, casually pulled out his chair, and sat down.

His three roommates turned their heads in unison.

Six eyes fixed intensely on Chen Zhi, as if they were looking at a heinous sinner condemned for all eternity.

Guo Yang was the first to rush over. Planting both hands on Chen Zhi's desk, he asked through gritted teeth, "Lao Chen, leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist. Who exactly is that girl downstairs to you?"

"My girlfriend," Chen Zhi answered confidently, even picking up his water cup from the desk to take a sip.

"Then what about Pei Ningxue!" Li Zicong chimed in with a sharp glare. "Don't tell us she's just a regular classmate."

Chen Zhi put down his cup and sighed.

He felt it was time to give these sheltered roommates a little shock.

"Of course Pei Ningxue isn't a regular classmate." Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, Chen Zhi slowly dropped a bombshell. "She's also my girlfriend."

A dead silence fell over the dorm room.

Guo Yang's jaw dropped, Li Zicong's eyes widened into saucers, and the towel in Zhang Tianyang's hand slipped straight to the floor.

"You... you actually have the fucking nerve to admit it!" Guo Yang's finger trembled as he pointed at Chen Zhi. "Two-timing like this, aren't you afraid your boat will capsize and drown you?"

"So what?"

The three of them were left speechless for a moment. After a minute passed, they looked at each other and then shouted in unison,

"You animal!!!!"