With that, Zhang Kang patted the hood of the car behind him.
A Brilliance BMW 320.
A bit worn, handed down to him by his father after being replaced.
But so what? It was still a BMW, after all.
"My dad runs a company worth hundreds of millions, with business all over the province. I got a BMW right after graduation and can afford to buy a wedding apartment outright. With credentials like these, what the hell does Zhou Jialu have to complain about?"
"No one said the senior has to like you!" Liu Yuanyuan rolled her eyes. This guy was seriously cringe—his mindset wasn’t much better than Xue Tao’s.
"Eh, Zhou Jialu probably just ran into some hot guy and got blinded by his looks. Once she steps into the real world and gets beaten down by society for a couple of years, she’ll realize how wrong her choice was—giving away her precious first time so casually..."
Just as Zhang Kang kept rambling, a brand-new Mercedes C260L glided smoothly into the parking spot next to them.
It was parked a little crooked, but the move was effortless, radiating coolness.
Then, the door opened, and Zhou Jialu stepped out in high heels, clutching a pack of tissues gifted by the dealership. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled it straight at Zhang Kang.
Smack!
The tissue pack hit Zhang Kang square in the face. The hard, angular cardboard box stung so badly he yelped in pain.
"What kind of moron are you? Who I choose to be with, who I give my first time to—what’s it got to do with you?"
Zhou Jialu strode over with unshakable confidence, jabbing a finger at Zhang Kang’s nose. "You’re nothing but a stray dog barking on the street. Normally, I’d ignore you, but you just had to push your luck, huh? Trying to mess with my life? Get the hell out of here!"
Zhang Kang shrank back under her scolding.
After all, this was a woman who’d stayed chaste working in car sales, never letting anyone take advantage of her. To pull that off, she had to have a fiery temper.
Gentleness? That was reserved for her husband.
For lowlifes like this, only a brutal smackdown would do.
Stunned by Zhou Jialu’s aura, Zhang Kang took a moment to recover before stammering, "Z-Zhou Jialu, you—you dare hit me?"
"Damn right I hit you! Consider this a lesson—stay the hell away from me. If you harass me again, I’ll beat you every single time!"
Zhang Kang’s face twisted. "Hah! You’re just some poor bitch from the countryside. Who the hell gave you the guts to act like this? You think I can’t pull some strings and make sure you never graduate?"
Seeing Zhou Jialu show him zero respect, Zhang Kang snapped, dropping all pretense and resorting to icy threats.
But Zhou Jialu didn’t flinch. She sneered, "Who do you think you are? Just because you’ve got some dirty money, you think you’re hot shit? Driving a beat-up secondhand BMW with your nose in the air—get over yourself!"
She then raised her LV handbag, waving it in front of him. "If you sold your car right now, it still wouldn’t cover the cost of this bag!"
Zhang Kang scoffed. "Hah! You’re dreaming—"
But his smirk froze as he took a closer look. The bag looked familiar.
Suddenly, he remembered—last month at a bar, a girl from the hype squad had mentioned this exact bag. Later, when he took her shopping, she even dragged him to the LV boutique to check it out.
It was identical to the one Zhou Jialu was holding.
His first thought? Fake. It’s gotta be a knockoff.
But then he noticed her outfit—a full Chanel set, and not the basic pieces college girls bought to flex. These were well-designed, high-end pieces.
His stomach dropped.
No way… Did Zhou Jialu land a guy with real money?
As if reading his mind, Zhou Jialu pointed at the Mercedes behind her. "Oh, and this car? My boyfriend bought it for me too."
Zhang Kang forced a laugh. "Bought it for you? Yeah right—it’s probably just a company car lent to you temporarily."
"Still in denial? Fine, let me educate you on how real rich guys spoil their women."
Zhou Jialu pulled out the vehicle’s title from the car. Right there, in bold letters, was her name.
When the document smacked Zhang Kang in the face, his expression crumbled.
Now, he had no choice but to believe it.
Zhang Kang’s mind reeled. What kind of insane flex is this?
A 300,000-yuan car, bought just like that.
Zhou Jialu had stayed single all this time—her relationship couldn’t be that old.
The car, the clothes, the bag…
All together, it added up to nearly a million.
Spending that much to chase a girl? No wonder he lost.
If he ever dared to dip into his parents’ money like that, they’d kill him.
Defeat and jealousy twisted inside Zhang Kang.
Gritting his teeth, he spat, "Tch. Zhou Jialu, I knew it—you’re just a gold-digging slut. The only reason you ignored me was because I wasn’t rich enough!"
"And what about it?"
To his shock, Zhou Jialu didn’t even blink. "Yeah, I like money. So what? I’m loyal to my man—no cheating, no playing games. But you, Zhang Kang? Don’t think I don’t know about you flirting with your student council underlings or hooking up with bar girls. You’re the real slut here."
"..."
"Don’t ever show your face around me again. I’m not interested."
"Your precious BMW? Not even close to the car my man casually bought me."
"And if you keep harassing me, my boyfriend won’t just sit back and watch. Trust me, he’s way more ruthless than I am."
With that, Zhou Jialu turned and got back into her car, leaving Zhang Kang pale and speechless.
Her words struck a nerve.
A man with that kind of wealth? His influence was nothing to scoff at.
For all Zhang Kang knew, a single word from him could sink his family’s business.
The thought made him wilt, cold sweat dripping down his back.
Any ideas of revenge evaporated instantly.
No way. Risking the family fortune over a girl? Not worth it.
If anything, Zhou Jialu was being merciful by not siccing her man on him.
Compared to a true tycoon, Zhang Kang was small fry.
A net worth in the hundreds of millions sounded impressive, but in reality?
Someone had done the math—traditional manufacturing bosses with 100 million in assets usually pulled in just 1 to 3 million a year.
Sure, that beat the average salaryman.
But Zhou Jialu’s boyfriend had dropped nearly a million on her just at the start of their relationship.
And for business owners, that income had to cover networking, living expenses, kids’ education… After all that, there wasn’t much left to splurge.
Bottom line?
Zhou Jialu’s man was on a level Zhang Kang could never compete with.
"Damn it… I thought I was the top contender among her suitors. How did this happen?!"
Meanwhile, Liu Yuanyuan quickly followed Zhou Jialu into the car.
The car started and drove out of the campus at a steady pace.
"Whew..."
Zhou Jialu let out a long sigh, quickly regaining her usual cheerful and lively demeanor after calming down.
"Sorry you had to see that, junior. Let me treat you to dinner tonight—any good spot near campus, your pick!"
"Thanks, senior!" Liu Yuanyuan replied excitedly, her eyes soon sparkling with admiration. "You were so cool back there! If someone like Zhang Kang kept harassing me, I wouldn’t even know how to handle it."
"Ugh, he’s such a pain. Comes from a wealthy family, plays the student council game, knows how to butter up teachers... If it were just any girl without backup, she’d really be in trouble."
Zhou Jialu shook her head, then her expression softened into a warm, proud smile. "Luckily, I’ve got an amazing boyfriend. He’s my rock."
] [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!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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?!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
