An Encounter in the Morning Rain Curtain

Based on Su Bai's observations, the atmosphere within the anime club was actually quite good. Simply put, everyone was very familiar with each other, they were all just there to have fun, and there were no conflicts of interest.

So playing games was a very happy experience. As everyone knows, when playing games with familiar buddies, it is easiest to trigger the classic scenario of friends turning on each other.

Of course, after tearing into each other, they would act as if nothing happened, and it wouldn't create any real rifts between them.

However, in the gaming squad Su Bai joined, there wasn't even a trace of this backstabbing. Everyone was just coaxing Su Bai and playing along with him.

This left Su Bai a bit puzzled. Could his charm really be that great?

That shouldn't be the case. He figured the System hadn't given him an incubus physique or anything.

So, after their gaming session ended, Su Bai threw this question to Senior Sister Little Bear.

Through their recent interactions in various matters, Su Bai realized that although this Little Bear was far from the standard of an S-class goddess, she was an extremely capable subordinate.

To enjoy the life of a rich man, just building a harem definitely wasn't enough; recruiting capable talents was also an indispensable part.

Little Bear was exactly the kind of capable talent Su Bai approved of.

She handled things cleanly and decisively, never dragging her feet.

Moreover, she clearly understood her position, never getting a big head or acting recklessly.

She never missed a single thing she was supposed to do for Su Bai.

Furthermore, according to Su Bai's occasional inspections of her social media moments, this girl also took advantage of her closeness to him to expand her network, recently joining a somewhat exclusive club at Jiangcheng University.

Based on Senior Sister Little Bear's resume, it originally should have been quite a stretch for her...

Not bad, she was a smart woman.

Regarding Su Bai's question, Little Bear's answer was very straightforward:

[Strawberry Sticky Bear: Because they want to hook up with you!]

[Crispy White Goose: It shouldn't be like that, right? I thought we were all just freaking bros...]

[Strawberry Sticky Bear: Girls are very good at hiding their true thoughts. Maybe from a rational perspective, they know it's impossible for them, but deep down they still hold onto a sliver of hope. Hmm, an irresponsible guess would be that they might be trying to replicate Chen Yusheng's route...]

Ho ho ho, that could be replicated too?

Su Bai immediately found it amusing. It was true that he and Chen Yusheng met through playing games, but gaming was only a sufficient but not necessary condition.

That kind of fun, eccentric personality combined with the charm of a top student was still very rare.

[Crispy White Goose: Then do you hold onto any hope in your heart?]

[Strawberry Sticky Bear: Haha, not at all ()]

[Strawberry Sticky Bear: I know my own worth. Sigh, who wouldn't covet an outstanding man like Junior Su Bai? But a person has to know their own limits.]

A hint of green tea vibes.

Su Bai chuckled. Well, it was a good thing. Since she wasn't a romantic confidante, as a pure collaborator, being a bit green tea was good. It proved she had a good head on her shoulders and was smooth and tactful in handling things.

...

The next day.

It rained in the early hours of the morning. The rain lasted for about two hours, and the sun didn't reappear until half past seven.

Su Bai's leave of absence had already been approved, and he had spoken to all the necessary teachers. Next up was to enjoy the journey.

When he first heard the sound of the rain, Su Bai had a sudden thought and decided to go mountain climbing to watch the rain.

Whenever it rained in Jiangcheng, Mount Tianrong would be covered in fog. Climbing halfway up the mountain would offer a very nice view, though climbing on a rainy day was somewhat dangerous and required the support of professional equipment.

If it were an ordinary person, they would mostly likely choose to take the cable car.

However, Su Bai intended to test his own body, so he decided to walk up on foot.

Upon arriving at the location, he found that at the rain-sheltered viewing platform, there were already a few scattered middle-aged men holding cameras and taking pictures.

Photography enthusiasts, that is.

Speaking of which, the morning mist in the mountains was absolutely stunning for photography, but young people usually couldn't get up that early. It was only convenient for middle-aged people who needed less sleep.

Su Bai, on the other hand, didn't have this problem. He now only slept for an hour and a half every day, and couldn't sleep any longer even if he tried... unless he had a girl massaging him, then he could get some extra snoozing in.

Thinking about it this way, for people who liked to sleep, the body modification fluid might not necessarily be a good thing...

With random thoughts running through his head, Su Bai arrived at the pavilion, took off his raincoat, and took a breath of fresh air.

Hmm...

After fresh rain in the empty mountains, comes the evening of autumn.

The poems written by the ancients were indeed very vivid.

The rain and mist were like a winding, silent long snake slithering through the mountain forest. Looking from afar, it gave off an inexplicable sense of mystery.

One of the men holding a DSLR camera suddenly looked at Su Bai with a complex expression:

"Why are you here too?"

"I had nothing to do, so I came... By the way, bro, who are you?"

Su Bai carefully looked the other party up and down a few times before recognizing him as someone he had seen at the anime convention before. He was the anime club's former sole designated photography expert, named...

What was his name again?

It didn't matter. Anyway, everyone called him Photography Guy, so Photography Guy it was. A name was just a code name after all.

When they were playing games in the group chat last night, this person didn't show up. Or rather, Photography Guy had rarely swaggered around in the anime club's main group chat lately.

Perhaps he had switched to hanging out in the smaller group chats.

It was probably because Su Bai had stolen his thunder when it came to showing off.

This kind of thing was very common. Generally speaking, in a college students' group chat, there would usually be one and only one king of showing off in a certain field.

Once the number of these kings was greater than one, it was very easy for conflicts to break out.

The best example was their godly dorm room 510. The drama of the local guy versus the Shanghai elite played out every day. Even after these two were dealt a blow by the midterm exams, they both started looking for new ways to show off, which was truly touching.

"Su Bai, for today's basketball game, my roommate said he's going to get people to target you. You'd better be careful."

"Huh?" Su Bai was a bit confused. "Who is your roommate?"

"Niu Zhihong. He's very famous in the school, I can't believe you don't know him!"

"... Never heard of him."

Looking at Su Bai's completely natural, bewildered expression, Photography Guy almost felt a pang of heartache for his roommate.

Niu Zhihong, as a minor internet celebrity from the previous batch at Jiang U, had always seen Su Bai as his arch-nemesis. Yet, his arch-nemesis didn't even know he existed. Ummm... how should he put it?

It gave off a certain Qiao Feng of the North, Murong of the South kind of vibe.

In all fairness, to be completely honest, without exaggerating or downplaying... Photography Guy truly felt that Su Bai was more impressive and had more prestige than Niu Zhihong.

The projects that Brother Niu purely bragged about, Su Bai had actually implemented directly.

It was said that he had invested ten million into that mobile game studio, directly transforming it from a strapped-for-cash small studio into a well-funded, high-end indie game studio in one leap.

This was actually very rare, because domestic wealthy individuals were usually more willing to top up money in online games rather than invest in making weird, niche games...

Because of this, Photography Guy decided to tip Su Bai off. Mainly, they happened to bump into each other while shooting the mountain rain. Damn it, if he didn't warn him, his conscience wouldn't let him rest.

Seeing Su Bai's nonchalant look, Photography Guy added, "Niu Zhihong is a sports student, and he hangs around with quite a few shady characters—those 'not three, not four' types..."

"Not three, not four? Then I'm not afraid. I play the number five position, center. A swingman forward can't do anything to me."

"..."