"Looking to rent an apartment?"
"Yeah, the dorm is a bit inconvenient. I'm planning to rent a place near campus."
Zhou Jialu nodded in understanding. Jiangcheng University had relatively relaxed policies, and it was common for students to live off-campus. As a senior, she was quite familiar with the situation.
"I'm in my fourth year now, and about half of my classmates live off-campus. With internships and some jobs being far away or even in other cities, renting makes things much easier. Of course, some also rent in the university's family housing area, usually for grad school prep."
"I see..."
"Hey, let me ask you something first—when you say 'renting,' do you mean it in the usual sense?"
Zhou Jialu figured that since Su Bai was clearly wealthy, his standards for renting would naturally be higher than the average student's.
For most students, renting was about peace and freedom.
Beyond that, things like decor, space, or living conditions weren’t major concerns—or at least, they couldn’t afford to be picky.
But Su Bai was different.
He had money to burn!
"Well, there is a slight difference," Su Bai admitted frankly. "My requirement is to live in the best possible place, preferably with staff to handle most of the upkeep so I don’t have to bother with it."
Renting a bare-bones apartment and furnishing it himself sounded like too much hassle.
If he were going to decorate a place, he’d rather wait until his wealth reached tens of millions and buy a luxury mansion to customize at leisure.
For now, renting a high-end place with the added perk of cashback on rent was the way to go.
After all, indulgence meant enjoying the present!
Zhou Jialu suggested, "Why not just stay at a hotel? You can get long-term monthly rates with discounts—usually 20% or even 30% off, depending on the brand and location."
"A hotel... not a bad idea," Su Bai mused, considering it.
He’d seen online stories about newly rich people who preferred living in five-star hotels.
He hadn’t tried it yet, but it sounded worth a shot.
Maybe book a few nights first to see how it felt.
He pulled out his phone, opened Meituan, and searched for luxury hotels near campus.
After browsing, the JW Marriott stood out.
Scrolling straight to the priciest options, he landed on the River View Executive Suite.
A spacious 94 square meters, with a lavish living room, bedroom, and bathroom.
It also included access to the hotel pool, gym, and executive lounge.
At ¥1,678 per night (a discounted rate due to the off-season; prices would spike during National Day), it cost more than many students’ monthly allowances.
Without hesitation, Su Bai booked it for a week.
The one-week limit was the maximum to trigger the indulgence cashback under his current system tier.
As his lifestyle grew more extravagant, the system would upgrade, raising the cashback cap.
[Ding! Host has booked a luxury hotel. Indulgent spending: ¥11,746. Triggering 10x cashback. Reward: +¥117,460!]
Su Bai paid openly in front of Zhou Jialu, making no effort to hide it.
Zhou Jialu’s heart raced.
He’d said he wanted to try the hotel before deciding on a long-term rental.
Did that mean he was considering living in the River View Executive Suite indefinitely?
That was insane.
Even with the off-season discount, a month would cost around ¥35,000.
Her sharp mind quickly crunched the numbers.
Her breathing grew uneven.
This was spending money like water—the dream boyfriend.
Even self-proclaimed heirs to billion-dollar fortunes rarely splurged like this.
College students were still students, after all; parents usually didn’t give them unlimited funds.
Especially with the recent economic downturn, even the wealthiest guys had tighter budgets.
In the rental market, shelling out a few thousand a month for a decent three-bedroom apartment near campus was already top-tier among students, enough to attract plenty of eager girlfriends.
But Su Bai’s budget was several times that.
There was a brutal elegance to it.
Imagine being his girlfriend—staying nightly in the Marriott’s River View Suite, sipping wine in the executive lounge while overlooking Jiangcheng’s skyline.
Then a dip in the pool before soaking in the lavish bathtub.
The only "cost" was letting Su Bai sleep with her... though that wasn’t even a cost, given his looks and build. He wasn’t a celebrity, but he was easily one of the most attractive guys in class.
Most men at his wealth level were either unfortunate-looking or middle-aged with beer bellies—disgusting to even think about.
With Su Bai, there were no such concerns.
For a moment, Zhou Jialu nearly caved. Why not just throw herself at him?
But a shred of pride held her back.
It wasn’t that she was unwilling—she just wanted Su Bai to feel her allure, to be so tempted he’d make the first move.
Deep down, she’d already decided: Su Bai was the man she’d waited years for, preserving herself just for him.
From now on, her natural charm would be reserved exclusively for him.
"Hey, are you free after dinner?" Su Bai asked.
"What’s wrong? Can’t bear to let your big sister leave?" Zhou Jialu licked her lips and batted her lashes.
"Come check out the hotel with me. Honestly, it’s my first time staying somewhere this nice," Su Bai said candidly.
"Wait, really? Your first time?" Zhou Jialu was surprised.
"Yeah. My family raised me with a ‘tough love’ approach—frugal and hardworking. Now that I’m in college, I can finally enjoy myself."
"Ohhh, that explains it."
Zhou Jialu suddenly understood why Su Bai seemed so low-key. Good upbringing.
Rich kids who grew up spoiled usually turned into useless heirs, incapable of handling family businesses.
Experiencing ordinary life and hardship bred empathy for employees and better decision-making.
That’s how it always went in CEO romance novels!
Her mind spun an elaborate backstory for Su Bai, fueling her infatuation.
As a senior, she’d already done internships and shed her naive student mindset. She understood society now.
Women at this stage often grew pragmatic fast.
Money truly changed lives—and was truly hard to earn.
Dating Su Bai would be a shortcut to a better life.
And who didn’t love shortcuts? Everyone had a lazy streak.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
