Sticky and Chewy Li Xingya

Xue Tao struggled for a moment before deciding to ask Huang Ran first... and her girlfriends.

"No, wait, why are her girlfriends involved?" Su Bai spotted the blind spot. "So it's not just the two of you going alone?"

"Yeah, she said renting the venue and clothes just for photos wouldn't be worth it for one person, so she brought two besties... So, Brother Bai, I don't think she has any other intentions. With so many people there, nothing could happen with the photographer, right?"

Xue Tao looked like he was comforting himself, leaving Su Bai dumbfounded.

No, bro!

The issue to consider wasn't the photographer anymore, but why she was bringing two besties. Wasn't this just using Xue Tao's name to let her friends enjoy themselves? What was the point?

Su Bai had seen similar jokes online, like someone going on a blind date, only for the other party to bring their entire dorm, turning the date into a team-building event.

It was ridiculous just thinking about it. Who gave these women the audacity to think they could bring their friends to a blind date for a free meal?

It felt like they simply had zero interest in the guy.

As for Xue Tao's private boudoir shoot turning into a bestie gathering, that was even more absurd. Su Bai couldn't help but complain, "What does her friends taking pictures have to do with you? And you actually agreed to this?"

"Sigh, I had no choice. She said they are really close and have been together for three years in college. Since graduation isn't far off, they wanted to do a private shoot together as a memento of their youth."

"I thought it was the kind of private shoot meant to bring a young couple closer together."

"I wish it were like that. Uh... actually, I think boosting our relationship is secondary. Our relationship has been pretty good lately, honestly."

Seeing Xue Tao start to babble incoherently, Su Bai roughly understood. Brother Tao had probably successfully gotten a hotel room with Huang Ran during the holiday; otherwise, he wouldn't have such a smugly suppressed expression.

However, given how obsessively Xue Tao was running right now, the actual performance of this success was probably less than satisfactory.

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, Su Bai couldn't be bothered to try anymore. As the saying goes, the Buddha only saves those who are destined, and this bastard Xue Tao clearly lacked that destiny.

Su Bai really couldn't picture the scene: Huang Ran's friends, whom Xue Tao didn't even know, taking private photos while Xue Tao stood on the sidelines... Wasn't Huang Ran afraid her friends would be taken advantage of by letting Xue Tao see them?

He always felt that Huang Ran's way of doing things was very bizarre, a style Su Bai found hard to understand.

Of course, when it came to bizarre, the Shanghai guy's crazy landmine girlfriend was still the absolute worst.

Xue Tao made up his mind, seemingly having agreed with Huang Ran to rent a villa for half a day. He then started picking venues on a local platform, saying they needed an ancient-style one. This was mainly a requirement for the set, which had to match the photoshoot's theme and the girls' outfits.

There were mainly two types of such villas: ordinary party villas, and set villas specifically designed for photos and videos. The latter cost about twice as much as the former.

Xue Tao originally just wanted to rent a party villa and be done with it, because even the cheap ones cost several hundred to over a thousand for half a day.

Recently, Xue Tao's spending had been strictly controlled by his parents. Being able to scrape together any money in this critical moment was already quite a feat.

Unfortunately, his pre-selected options were forcefully vetoed by Huang Ran, so he had no choice but to look at the set villas instead.

"Holy crap, why are they all so expensive? There's a freaking one that costs seven thousand a day!" Xue Tao was dumbfounded and showed his phone to Su Bai.

"Seven thousand? Does that even get any sales?" Su Bai took a glance and was astonished. "Damn, 2 sales this month. People actually rent it. Could it be a crew shooting a short drama?"

"Don't say that, it's really not impossible. I can't imagine what an ordinary person would do renting this thing for seven thousand bucks."

"But this set does look pretty intense, hmm..."

Su Bai fell into deep thought.

To be precise, it wasn't just an antique-style villa; it was a small traditional garden.

It was perfectly qualified to be used for filming a drama.

He felt there was nothing wrong with building a garden for himself. The cost would be at least tens of millions, and a cashback explosion would net him at least two or three hundred million.

"Brother Bai, do you want to do a private shoot too?"

"It's not out of the question. If I were to shoot, I'd bring a few more people along. Hmm, then it wouldn't just be a private shoot anymore."

"..."

Xue Tao caught the underlying meaning in Su Bai's words.

He couldn't help but secretly admire Su Bai's kidneys.

Only after practicing it did he realize how exhausting that kind of thing was. The fact that Su Bai could satisfy the needs of so many female confidantes at the same time was truly ridiculous.

In the end, Huang Ran chose a half-day session that cost just over three thousand. How should he put it? This venue had a European palace-style set that many cosplayers would visit. The classiness definitely went up, but correspondingly, Xue Tao's wallet deflated.

"Damn it, my hidden backup funds are down to just a few hundred bucks. What do I do now?" Xue Tao pulled a bitter face. "Brother Bai, tell me, are there any part-time jobs suitable for me?"

"?" Su Bai was stunned. "You want to work part-time to make money?"

"I have to make money. Never mind recently, my budget for next semester won't be enough either. My dad is going to slash my living expenses."

"Then go drive your Cayenne for Didi."

"...Would that really work?" Xue Tao looked suspicious. "Driving a gas car doesn't seem to make much profit."

"I think you need to worry more about your driving skills."

"..."

Xue Tao immersed himself in delusions of making money from a part-time job.

Su Bai figured that for undergraduates at Jiangda University, the most reliable part-time job would probably be tutoring. However, given Xue Tao's performance in his freshman exams, Su Bai couldn't help but doubt whether this guy even remembered his high school knowledge...

Besides, this guy's temper wasn't suited for tutoring either.

After finishing his run, Xue Tao returned to the dorm, and Su Bai was also preparing to make a graceful exit, but then Li Xingya called.

"Boss... you're actually at school."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Um, I'm studying in the lab."

He was surprised. She entered work mode this early?

As expected of Li Xingya. Su Bai couldn't help but feel a bit pleased; it seemed the assistant he found for Shengsheng was indeed highly valuable.

For the assistant of a genius girl, the most important thing wasn't talent, but the capacity to grind.

Or rather, under the modern scientific research system, the capacity to grind was often actually more important than talent...

The other party said she was in the lab and then fell silent, acting like a little punching bag. Li Xingya was always like this.

Su Bai understood her meaning and immediately stated that he would head over to the lab and bring her a late-night snack on the way.

As for how Li Xingya knew Su Bai was at school, it was probably because Su Bai had posted on his social media while playing on the parallel bars earlier, and this introverted little girl had seen it.

She wasn't like those uninhibited and passionate girls. Her intense longing for Su Bai was all hidden in her heart. She silently did her own things and continuously worked hard. Deep down, she always felt she wasn't good enough for Su Bai, so she had to double her efforts to make herself useful to him.

Compared to a certain someone who brought her besties to a private photoshoot and made her boyfriend pay for it, they were truly two completely different personalities.