I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

The three of them were chatting here.

On Yin Zhiqian's side, the waiters had already started serving drinks one by one.

Xie Xiaoxu, who had previously said that "a night stroll has its own unique charm," was sitting by the window, opposite a girl named Tian Yuxin from the Singles Association.

Just then, Tian Yuxin held up a glass of blood-red liquor to herself, took a sip through the straw, and looked on with anticipation.

After taking one bite, his face scrunched up.

"I'd always heard of 'Bloody Mary' and thought it would taste amazing, but it tastes so strange!"

Tian Yuxin opened her mouth, released the straw, and her face was still a little wrinkled; her previous expectations had turned into disappointment.

However, she quickly stopped worrying about it and pushed her phone in front of Xie Xiaoxu, "Brother Xu, take some photos for me."

Xie Xiaoxu admires the natural and freehand style of ancient literati, the kind of "lighter than a horse with a bamboo staff and straw sandals," pursuing a natural and spiritual understanding. Even when traveling to scenic spots, she is too lazy to take pictures and only focuses on experiencing the scenery.

Therefore, Xie Xiaoxu has always been critical of girls' tendency to deliberately take photos: "Is it necessary?"

Tian Yuxin muttered, "Of course it's necessary! We were lucky this time; we ran into the proprietress, who even brought us here to eat. We even ordered a Bloody Mary for 100 yuan a glass! And the view outside is so beautiful; we definitely have to remember this. I wonder when we'll have another chance to come here again..."

Xie Xiaoxu was too lazy to listen to her nagging anymore. She took Tian Yuxin's phone, stood up, and said, "Okay, let's take the picture."

As he spoke, he opened his phone, intending to take a picture from above.

Tian Yuxin immediately stopped her.

"Don't stand there taking pictures! Sit down... Yes, wait, don't take the picture yet, let me strike a pose... Change your angle, come next to me... Step back a little further, we need to capture the night view outside too..."

While Tian Yuxin moved her lips to direct Xie Xiaoxu, she sat by the window, propping her chin up with one hand and looking out the window at a 45-degree angle with a melancholy expression. The Bloody Mary was still beside her.

After tormenting Xie Xiaoxu for quite a while, Tian Yuxin finally stopped.

She took many photos, checking them one by one and deleting the ones she wasn't satisfied with.

While Tian Yuxin was looking at the photos, Xie Xiaoxu, bored, was using her phone to QQ.

Xie Xiaoxu actually wanted to join the Beiming Community. Besides being an employee of the Beiming Community, he was also a loyal user of the community.

Unfortunately, Beiming Community hasn't implemented a dedicated app page architecture yet, so his phone can't access it. He can only browse QQ to pass the time while waiting for the food to be served.

Not long after she started browsing, a QQ friend named "Ink-dyed Years" sent Xie Xiaoxu a message.

"Xiao Xie, what are you doing?"

This "Ink-dyed Years" is also a student at Yangko University of Science and Technology. His real name is Zhang Tianyu, and he is a member of the Yangko University of Science and Technology Literary Society. Xie Xiaoxu met him when she went to register for the literary society. Because they were from the same hometown, they added each other on QQ, and the two would sometimes chat on QQ.

Xie Xiaoxu frowned when she saw that the message was from Zhang Tianyu.

Zhang Tianyu is a bit annoying.

After learning from Xie Xiaoxu that they had started a "new media literary society" called the "Singles Association," Zhang Tianyu always belittled the Singles Association, implying that their Singles Association was just playing around and fooling around, and that if they really wanted to improve their literary skills, they should join the literary society.

However, when Xie Xiaoxu hoped to find time to learn from him and ask him to help her improve her literary skills so that she could join the literary society, Zhang Tianyu always said he was busy.

Like many relatives in life: these people, the moment they meet you, they say your job isn't good, how great their son is, and they can help you find a job if they have time. But when you actually ask them for help finding a good job, they make all sorts of excuses to refuse. Their real purpose isn't to genuinely help you, they just want to show off their superiority in front of you.

Zhang Tianyu is that kind of "relative".

So Xie Xiaoxu frowned slightly, but still replied with a message: "Having dinner with friends."

Zhang Tianyu replied quickly: "What a coincidence! Our literary society is also having a get-together!"

Zhang Tianyu's messages came one after another, and he typed quite fast.

"Today, the Literary Society had a joint activity with Yangcheng Teachers College, which included a visit, a seminar, and an exchange of outstanding works by members from both sides. We learned from each other and made progress together."

"I was pretty lucky; one of my essays was selected as an outstanding piece for discussion, but they said it was mainly due to my own ability."

"After the event, we all went out for a meal together. It was at 'Wang Pangzi Barbecue' on the commercial street, you know it, right? It's the most expensive barbecue restaurant in the university town, but there's a reason it's expensive, the taste is really good."

"We ate for several hours straight, and now we're almost finished and ready to go home."

"Oh, right, I also took a few photos, which I've already uploaded to my album. Why don't you take a look and leave a comment under the photos to help me out?"

Bombarded by this information, Xie Xiaoxu frowned even more, and wanted to come up with a reason to refuse Zhang Tianyu's request to "check out his space".

But before he could come up with a reason, another message came from Zhang Tianyu.

"Thank you."

Xie Xiaoxu was a rather refined and easy-going person, and felt embarrassed to refuse, so she could only click into Zhang Tianyu's album and find the few photos that Zhang Tianyu had recently uploaded.

Some of the photos are from today's joint event between the literary societies of Yangko University of Science and Technology and Yangko Normal University.

As you can see from the photos, the resources secured for this joint event were quite good, and it was even held in a small auditorium. There were quite a few people there, and since the other party was a teachers' college, there were a lot of girls.

Several of the photos, judging from the time they were uploaded recently, were taken at a barbecue restaurant. A group of young men and women were together, having pushed together several tables, and it looked very lively. The tables were also laden with both uncooked and undercooked meat, which looked very tempting.

There's also a solo photo of Zhang Tianyu in a barbecue restaurant.

In the photo, Zhang Tianyu is holding a bottle of Budweiser, which is captioned "10 yuan a bottle, but about the same price as Tsingtao beer."

There are already some comments under these photos.

Just as Xie Xiaoxu was about to leave a comment and help leave some positive feedback on her profile, Tian Yuxin on the other side had already deleted all the photos she was unhappy with.

"Brother Xu, take a few more pictures for me."

"Wait, something's come up."

Upon hearing this, Tian Yuxin leaned over with amusement, "What are you doing?"

Then I saw the page on Xie Xiaoxu's phone, and what Xie Xiaoxu was doing.

"Wow, this looks interesting." Xie Xiaoxu wrote this comment under the photos of the event.

"Wow, it looks lively!" Xie Xiaoxu commented under the photos of the barbecue restaurant gathering.

Although it was somewhat perfunctory, it was already quite a show of respect.

After browsing the space, Xie Xiaoxu exited the photo album.

Zhang Tianyu immediately sent a series of messages, like a barrage of urgent calls.

"I saw it, but let me tell you, Xiao Xie, your writing is still too lacking, it's dry and lifeless. You really need to practice more."

"I feel it's still a problem with your singles association. You've been in there for quite a while, but your writing is still like this, which means it's really useless and doesn't improve your skills."

"By the way, why didn't you comment on my solo photo? Could you please comment on that one too? Thanks!"

……

Xie Xiaoxu sighed and prepared to leave another comment in the photo album.

A voice came from beside him, "Brother Xu, who is this guy?"

The speaker was Tian Yuxin.

She had been peering out at the camera when she realized the angle was wrong, so she moved around and sat down next to Xie Xiaoxu to look at her. She looked a little annoyed.

Xie Xiaoxu replied, "Zhang Tianyu."

The members of the Singles Association had all been rejected by the Literature Club, including Tian Yuxin. Therefore, she also knew Zhang Tianyu.

Knowing that the other party was Zhang Tianyu from the literary society, and thinking about what she had just seen on Xie Xiaoxu's phone, Tian Yuxin became even more annoyed. Her eyes lit up and she came up with an idea.

Xie Xiaoxu had already clicked on the solo photo of Zhang Tianyu holding a bottle of Budweiser and wrote a comment: "Wow, 10 yuan a bottle."

Xie Xiaoxu originally intended to use QQ to pass the time, but ended up getting a little frustrated, so she prepared to log out of QQ on her phone.

Tian Yuxin suddenly spoke up: "Brother Xu, let me take some pictures of you."

Xie Xiaoxu didn't have the habit of taking photos, and subconsciously refused: "No need, I don't like taking photos."

"We have to film it!"

"Then let's take the picture."

Xie Xiaoxu was quite easygoing and immediately gave in.

Then, under Tian Yuxin's direction, he started posing for photos in his seat.

"Protect your chin with your left hand... No, that's too stiff. Move your left hand a little to the side... That's right. Tilt your head and look out the window... Too much tilting, bring it back a little..."

After some guidance, Tian Yuxin even took the initiative and placed a glass of champagne over—this glass of De La Pierre Gold Label champagne was ordered by Xie Xiaoxu. It looked beautiful under the booth lighting.

Tian Yuxin also adjusted the position of her Bloody Mary on the table.

Finally, Tian Yuxin took Xie Xiaoxu's phone, constantly adjusting her position and angle, and took more than a dozen pictures of Xie Xiaoxu. After deleting and editing, only one picture remained.

In the photo, Xie Xiaoxu sits by a glass curtain wall, resting her chin on her hand, looking out the window at a 45-degree angle, occupying one-third of the left side of the photo.

The remaining scene shows the night view outside the glass curtain wall and an exquisite dining table. On the table, there is a glass of champagne, a Bloody Mary, and a napkin. If you look closely, you can see the letter "h" subtly embroidered on the napkin.

Under the lighting here, the whole photo has a very sophisticated atmosphere.

"Okay, this one will do."

Tian Yuxin was very satisfied.

Tian Yuxin had Xie Xiaoxu's QQ account logged in on her phone, so she uploaded the photo directly to Xie Xiaoxu's QQ album and even gave it a title: "The Hilton's dining environment is not bad."

After doing all this, Tian Yuxin still didn't return the phone to Xie Xiaoxu. Instead, she pressed the button on the phone herself and sent a message to Zhang Tianyu.

"I also uploaded a new photo. In return, could you comment on it and visit my profile? Thanks!"

The other end of the radio wave transmission

In Wang Pangzi's barbecue restaurant, on the east side, several tables were pushed together, and the area around them was filled with men and women, members of the literary societies from two schools who were having a meal there.

At this point, everyone has almost finished eating and is about to leave, so they are mostly chatting.

Zhang Tianyu sat in one of the seats, holding his phone, reading the comment Xie Xiaoxu had just posted on his solo photo.

"Wow, 10 yuan a bottle."

Upon seeing Xie Xiaoxu's comment, Zhang Tianyu burst out laughing.

"The vocabulary is really too limited."

Then he got excited and prepared to send Xie Xiaoxu some more messages.

He especially enjoyed talking nonsense with Xie Xiaoxu, seeking a sense of superiority. In particular, Xie Xiaoxu was very easy to talk to; no matter what he said, Xie Xiaoxu would never get angry, which made her even better—she was practically the perfect person to vent his superiority on.

Before Zhang Tianyu could even send a message, Xie Xiaoxu sent a message.

"I also uploaded a new photo. In return, could you comment on it and visit my profile? Thanks!"

?

Zhang Tianyu was a little confused about what was going on.

Based on his understanding of Xie Xiaoxu, Xie Xiaoxu would either silently continue reading his messages or simply log off at times like this.

What's going on with this message?

After thinking it over, Zhang Tianyu clicked into Xie Xiaoxu's photo album and saw that photo.

"..."

Zhang Tianyu looked at the photos for a while, then looked up and silently glanced at his surroundings, remaining silent for a long time.

Clearly, these two are not even in the same league, just from an environmental perspective.

Zhang Tianyu sent Xie Xiaoxu a message directly: "Did you strike it rich?"

Immediately, the other party, Super Alloy Slug (Xie Xiaoxu's QQ name), replied to the message.

Super Alloy Slug: This glass of champagne? It's De La Pierre Champagne, only 129 a glass.

"..."

Zhang Tianyu remained silent.

The messages from the other side kept coming.

Super Alloy Slug: That Bloody Mary was ordered by someone else, so it was cheaper, only a little over 100 yuan a cup.

Super Alloy Slugs: They weren't expensive, so it wasn't exactly a windfall.

Super Alloy Slug: But if it were me, I definitely wouldn't be willing to part with it either. Mainly because our Singles Association completed a big project today, and the boss was so happy that she treated us to a meal at the Hilton – a simple late-night snack.

Singles Association, Hilton, just a simple late-night snack...

Zhang Tianyu couldn't connect these words together, and subconsciously didn't want to believe that Xie Xiaoxu seemed to be doing better than him at this moment.

He's like the kind of person who's used to finding a sense of superiority in a poor relative. When that poor relative suddenly becomes rich, he can't accept it more than anyone else, and subconsciously wants to deny everything.

So Zhang Tianyu pointed out the photo Xie Xiaoxu had just uploaded to the album, and pulled the person next to him, saying, "Old Qi, take a look at this photo."

The person next to me was also from the Yangko University of Science and Technology's literary society; his name was Qi Houji. Within the society, he came from one of the wealthiest families.

Qi Houji was talking to a female student from Yangshi Normal University across the street when he was pulled over, and he looked over impatiently.

Upon closer inspection, Qi Houji was stunned. "Isn't this Xie Xiaoxu?"

He also knew Xie Xiaoxu and had learned about her situation, including her family's financial situation, from Zhang Tianyu.

The place where Xie Xiaoxu is in the photo is clearly a high-end restaurant.

"Where is this?"

"He said it was Hilton," Zhang Tianyu said, then asked, "Is it true?"

"Hilton? There's only one Hilton in the North Lu area, and it's quite far from here."

Qi Houji explained for a moment, then looked at it carefully, and finally shook his head, "I've never stayed at that Hilton, so I don't know if it's the right one."

Qi Houji glanced at it again and shook his head. "It looks like champagne. I don't know what that 'pepper' thing you mentioned is. I've heard of Bloody Mary, but I've never had it. I don't know if this is the one, or how much it costs."

After saying that, Qi Houji added, "But this place looks pretty high-end, maybe it really is. Did he strike it rich?"

Zhang Tianyu did not answer.

Seeing that Qi Houji was also unsure, he started asking other people.

Finally, it was Li Yilin, a girl from Yangshi Normal University, who answered Zhang Tianyu's question.

"This is indeed the Hilton in the North Lu area."

This girl named Li Yilin wore glasses, had two braids, and looked very quiet. "I used to live there and have eaten here before."

Zhang Tianyu couldn't accept it—he was always the one who felt superior to Xie Xiaoxu, so when did it become Xie Xiaoxu's turn to show off in front of him?

So, unwilling to give up, he continued to bring up the issue of drinks: "What about these two glasses?"

After a moment's thought, Li Yilin said, "I haven't ordered these two drinks, but considering the prices there, the prices you mentioned are quite normal."

Zhang Tianyu found it even more unacceptable.

Li Yilin, looking puzzled, continued, "But from what I understand, this restaurant at this hotel is already closed at this hour, so we can't have a late-night snack here."

Zhang Tianyu, who was feeling increasingly unwell, perked up upon hearing this and quickly confirmed it again.

After receiving a definite answer from Li Yilin again, Zhang Tianyu became even more energetic and immediately sent a message to Xie Xiaoxu.

"Xiao Xie, aren't you exaggerating a bit? This hotel is already closed at this hour."

He was so focused on denying it that he didn't consider a deeper question—if the restaurant was already closed, how did Xie Xiaoxu end up sitting inside?

Xie Xiaoxu quickly replied with a message: "Check my album, there are new photos."