The Underlying Code of Xue Tao

Hearing Su Bai's question, Xue Tao's expression immediately changed, but he quickly put on his trademark stubbornness:

"What do you mean I spent a lot of money? We ate, drank, and had fun together. Can you really call that spending money on her? That's called enjoying shared consumption..."

"Ah, right, right, right."

"..."

Seeing Su Bai's obvious disbelief, Xue Tao felt incredibly awkward. He scratched his head, "Regardless, at least this one is less trouble than Liu Yuanyuan. She doesn't really pick fights with me."

"That's not bad, then."

It seemed that Brother Tao's standards for a girlfriend were truly not high; not picking fights with him was actually considered a praiseworthy virtue.

Arguing was practically non-existent among Su Bai's group of female confidantes. None of the women ever lost their temper with Su Bai.

Girls always have emotional fluctuations, but they would very obediently resolve them on their own.

What ultimately gets treated as an emotional trash can depends on its durability. If your durability is on the same level as a trash can, then you'll easily become one when dating.

Running into Su Bai made Xue Tao very happy. The semester hadn't even started yet, and the campus was completely deserted. The computer science buddies Xue Tao usually hung out with hadn't returned to school yet, and other than them, he had no one to talk to.

There were also some topics he couldn't discuss with those buddies, like dating. Most of those guys were still single, and even the ones who weren't had very average-looking girlfriends, whose appearances were at least two tiers lower than the likes of Liu Yuanyuan and Huang Ran.

That's right, Xue Tao's sole metric for evaluating a girlfriend's worth was her looks.

In a way, you could say he was very pure.

But talking with Su Bai was great. In Xue Tao's eyes, Su Bai was a top-tier master. Although Su Bai's stats were completely out of his league, the girls Xue Tao pursued weren't exactly on Chen Yusheng's level either!

Since Su Bai also wanted to get some exercise, he went jogging with Xue Tao.

The track at Jiang University was quite well-regarded, and many family members of the faculty and staff loved to come here to run.

Xue Tao claimed that his stamina had improved significantly lately and that he was no longer the weakling he used to be. It seemed that his failed intimate experience with Liu Yuanyuan had left a very serious psychological shadow on Brother Tao.

Su Bai watched him run a few laps and indeed, the progress was obvious. Before, Xue Tao would look half-dead after just two laps of a slow jog. Now, he could easily manage five or six laps. With this stamina, at least he wouldn't risk sudden death during the school's physical fitness test.

He definitely didn't want his roommate dropping dead; it's not like he needed a recommendation for grad school, haha.

After their run, Xue Tao found some fitness equipment and started swinging on it like an old grandpa.

It was hard to say whether this guy was precocious or prematurely aging. He wasn't even twenty yet, but he constantly gave off the vibe of an elderly man, which was hard to take seriously.

"Brother Bai, if I want to take Huang Ran to shoot a set of boudoir photos, what kind of venue do you think would be best to rent?"

"Boudoir photos? I don't know anything about that." Su Bai paused. "Are you hiring a photographer to shoot her?"

"Uh, she said she wants to hire a professional photographer. Honestly, I think it'd be enough if I just took them for her. The equipment I have is perfectly fine, but she thinks my skills aren't up to par..."

Xue Tao looked very distressed.

Clearly, he didn't really want to find a photographer to take pictures of Huang Ran.

This mindset was very normal among guys, especially regarding boudoir photography. Just the thought of finding a strange male photographer to shoot intimate photos was a bit much. But there were just some women who insisted on doing it even when they had boyfriends. And if the boyfriend tried to intervene, she would start lashing out and accusing him of being petty.

Su Bai had seen many people complaining about similar situations online.

He never expected this plotline to happen to Xue Tao... Well, Brother Tao did seem to be a magnet for toxic women. Liu Yuanyuan was no saint, and this Huang Ran wasn't simple either. She had only been his girlfriend for a few days, and she was already unlocking the boudoir photographer side quest. It was truly lamentable.

"Then I suggest finding a female photographer. You still need to avoid arousing suspicion, right?" Su Bai offered an incredibly sincere suggestion.

"That's what I thought too."

"Did you tell Huang Ran that?"

"I did. She said... we'll see. She said we won't know what kind of photographer we can book until the time comes, depending on their schedule. Sigh..."

Xue Tao sighed.

Su Bai encouraged him, "I think you need to be more assertive. If she's still being vague about it, you should hit her with equal countermeasures."

"Like what?"

"Like the simplest example: if she shoots boudoir photos with a male photographer, you go get a foot massage. A legitimate place, but ask for a female masseuse."

"...That, that wouldn't work, would it? She'd totally blow up."

"What's there to be afraid of if it's a legitimate place! You can't have double standards. Besides, a legitimate massage is way milder than a boudoir shoot. Doesn't a boudoir shoot involve seeing a lot of intimate angles?"

"..."

Xue Tao had to admit that Su Bai made a good point.

Brother Bai had one defining trait: his logic was incredibly clear.

But his face still showed his conflicted feelings, mostly out of fear that Huang Ran would get mad. It couldn't be helped. Whenever Xue Tao was in a relationship, his mindset became a bit submissive. It was like his base code, hard to change.

"By the way, Brother Bai, have you ever been to a massage parlor?"

"...Wait, Brother Tao, aren't you a local big shot in Jiangcheng? Don't tell me you're actually an inexperienced good boy." Su Bai couldn't quite suppress the smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"Haha, how is that possible... Uh, I'm just curious if you've been, Brother Bai."

Xue Tao had an expression of guilty weakness.

Su Bai couldn't be bothered to expose him and just played along, "Never been. Usually, the twins massage me."

"Oh, oh, you mean those two from the broadcasting department... Wan Xinyan and Wan Xinyue? Damn, Brother Bai, you really know how to enjoy life..."

Just imagining that scene was beautiful.

Clean, fresh college girls were indeed much more comfortable than the ones in the parlors.

The key was that they only served Su Bai, and were on call whenever he needed them.

After sulking to himself for a while, Xue Tao took out his phone and started browsing a local city app, preparing to rent a villa for the photo shoot.

"I've never shot boudoir photos before, so I don't know how long it takes. Brother Bai, do you think renting it for two hours is enough?"

"How would I know? That depends on how long you can last."

"...Brother Bai, I suspect you're mocking me, but I have no proof."

"No need to mock you. It's an open secret that you can't last."

Su Bai teased him with a scoff and jumped onto the parallel bars to do a few tricks.

Parallel bars had always felt a bit mysterious to him. Back in his hometown, he always saw retired old men playing on them in his neighborhood, and it seemed really difficult. Not many young people nowadays could handle them. Su Bai could only master them after his physique had been enhanced by the system.

Watching Su Bai flip up and down, Xue Tao shivered, thinking to himself that this guy was a total beast. How come he didn't notice Su Bai's exaggerated physical fitness when they first enrolled? It seemed he had been keeping a low profile all along.

No wonder so many girls in the school lusted after Su Bai. Even though Su Bai already had several top-tier girlfriends, people still relentlessly tried to join their ranks.