"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.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
