Envious Liu Yuanyuan, the Adorably Nerdy Scholar Who Misses Su Bai

Soon, the dishes began arriving.

An enormous sashimi platter made a stunning visual impact.

Fresh sea urchins were neatly arranged alongside caviar, looking utterly appetizing.

As for the expensive whelks, they were sliced and prepared using the "crossing the bridge" method.

The chef wheeled a pot into the private dining room, brought the broth to a boil, and sliced the whelk on the spot. The thin slices needed only a few seconds in the hot broth to reach perfect doneness, preserving their natural sweetness.

The emptied whelk shell—as large as a basketball—was placed on a plate with dry ice beneath it, creating an ethereal, misty effect.

Zhou Jialu couldn’t stop taking pictures.

Scenes like this were rare for her.

Su Bai couldn’t be bothered with photos and simply sipped his matsutake mushroom soup, served in an elegant little teapot. A squeeze of lemon brightened the flavor, making it refreshing and palate-cleansing.

At a Japanese buffet, cutting through richness was essential—especially since Su Bai’s main interest lay in the seafood sashimi and high-quality grilled beef and lamb.

For Zhou Jialu, though, the food itself wasn’t the highlight. She was far more invested in editing photos for her social media feed.

"Senior, do you always put this much effort into your posts?"

"Of course! Who doesn’t want to show their best side online?" Zhou Jialu sighed. "For most people, a lavish spread like this is a rare treat. But for you, it’s just another casual meal."

"Not really. Eating like this every day would send my cholesterol through the roof."

"Relax, we’re still young. Just exercise more. Want me to help you burn off those extra calories?"

Zhou Jialu batted her eyelashes.

Su Bai gave her a deadpan look. "Senior, seems like you’ve already forgotten what happened in the car earlier. Need another tickling lesson?"

He pretended to reach for her leg, making her yelp.

"No, no, no! Not during dinner—it’ll ruin my digestion!"

After much playful bickering, Zhou Jialu finally finished editing her photos.

She posted a standard nine-grid collage, and comments poured in almost instantly.

"Whoa, that whelk is huge! Must’ve cost a fortune!"

"Is that the Japanese place at IKC Plaza? So jealous—fancy lunch on a weekday!"

"Me, crying into my cafeteria steamed bun, drooling with envy..."

"Why get the priciest set? Total waste of money."

"Another client dinner? Sales life suits you, Senior—living the high life!"

Zhou Jialu replied to each, ignoring the obvious trolls or clapping back with a passive-aggressive smiley face.

Negative comments and crude remarks were nothing new—she’d dealt with them since high school.

Back then, her curves had already drawn attention.

But she refused to shrink away. Instead, she dressed to impress.

Let them talk. No matter how much they trash me, there’ll always be men lining up.

Then her roommate Liu Yuanyuan commented:

"Living the dream, Jialu! Big commission today?"

Zhou Jialu smirked and switched to a private chat instead of replying publicly.

In their dorm room, the two beautiful freshmen had only joined a month ago.

Before that, it was just Zhou Jialu and Liu Yuanyuan living together.

Even after the dorm became a mixed arrangement, Zhou Jialu and Liu Yuanyuan remained closer. When they had daily grievances worth complaining about, they usually messaged each other privately rather than in the dorm group chat.

It wasn’t that the other two girls were problematic—they were perfectly nice—but some time was needed to get familiar.

[AAA Jiangcheng University District Mercedes Miss Zhou: Just charmed an incredibly handsome younger guy—he treated me to a ¥1000+ Japanese buffet!]

[Yuanyuan: Huh??]

[Yuanyuan: He paid for you? You usually split bills with clients, though.]

[AAA Jiangcheng University District Mercedes Miss Zhou: This one’s different. He’s seriously, seriously loaded!]

[AAA Jiangcheng University District Mercedes Miss Zhou: Honestly… I’m kind of falling for him.]

[Yuanyuan: AHHHHH! Is Jialu finally taking the plunge? I’m so excited! Some guy’s about to taste Jialu’s charms—who’s the lucky one?]

[AAA Jiangcheng University District Mercedes Miss Zhou: …It’s not exactly “taking the plunge.” Ugh, it’s hard to say. Who knows if he even likes me back?]

Truth be told.

Zhou Jialu was certain she liked Su Bai—a lot.

Both in the physical sense and in the rational, financially calculated sense.

A truly wise woman stays chaste until she meets her destined one, then strikes without hesitation.

The problem was… she seemed outmatched by Su Bai.

Just a little squeeze on her calf, and her whole body went weak—so much so that she had to excuse herself to the restroom to clean up…

Zhou Jialu never knew she could be that sensitive.

Meanwhile, Su Bai? From the moment they met, it didn’t seem like she had managed to rouse him at all.

Ah, well. Take it slow. Look on the bright side—maybe Su Bai was just playing it cool since they’d just met.

Who knows? Once they got closer, he might actually fall for her!

There was plenty of time…

At the same time, in the cafeteria of Jiangcheng University.

Liu Yuanyuan stared at her roommate’s messages, emotions swirling inside her.

She knew Zhou Jialu’s standards for a boyfriend.

She liked them younger.

Had to be rich.

Preferably handsome too.

Honestly, it was a tough combo—guys who ticked all those boxes were in high demand and never short of women.

And yet, she’d actually found one.

Liu Yuanyuan felt three parts happy for her, three parts quietly envious, and four parts an indescribable melancholy.

She wanted to eat a ¥1000+ Japanese buffet too, but Xue Tao would only take her to ¥300 ones.

He bragged all the time about how awesome he was as a local, but once they started dating, she realized his wallet wasn’t as thick as he made it seem.

Whatever. At least Xue Tao’s conditions were pretty good by their circle’s standards, and he was willing to spend on her. These days, cheap, average guys acted like buying a cup of bubble tea was a life-or-death sacrifice.

At the very least, since dating Xue Tao, Liu Yuanyuan had achieved bubble tea freedom.

And as long as she kept him hooked, the benefits would keep flowing.

Meanwhile, who knew if Zhou Jialu’s so-called rich younger guy just wanted to play around?

At that moment, at the cafeteria table.

Xue Tao sat beside Liu Yuanyuan, enthusiastically lecturing about cars.

Mostly about his Magotan.

After all, “young and successful, drives a Magotan” was one of Xue Tao’s core personal branding points.

Xue Tao started with "German-engineered mechanical precision," then countered with "Nowadays domestic cars are all cutting corners."

The words made Liu Yuanyuan's head spin.

Irritated, she cut him off: "Xue Tao, let's go out this weekend. How about Japanese food?"

"Japanese? It's all style over substance—just for show. Why not just go for Country Chicken instead..." Xue Tao's smile was strained. His budget was tight lately, and Japanese cuisine, easily costing hundreds per person, was a financial burden he couldn't handle.

"My roommates went today. Look at this—doesn't it look amazing?"

"Ah..."

Xue Tao glanced at the photo and broke into a cold sweat.

Damn, this set menu would easily run over a thousand per head.

Seriously, girl, read the room.

Your three roommates are literal goddesses—why are you trying to keep up? Give it a rest!

But Liu Yuanyuan wouldn’t let it go.

Xue Tao scrambled for excuses to dodge the topic.

This cafeteria lunch, like yesterday’s, was another accidental meet-up between their two dorms.

Wang Haoran remained in his own world, silently grinding away at his mobile game, completely disconnected from reality.

Heh, Su Bai’s maxed-out 6+5 DPS is insane—you could clear the Abyss with your eyes closed.

Chu Mingzhe was lost in his own internal struggle.

Chen Yusheng sat alone in the corner, her expressionless face tinged with quiet melancholy.

She was wondering—why hasn’t Su Bai replied to her messages?