We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

Xu Jiao raised her phone, found the right angle to photograph the colorful lights in the private room, and snapped a picture.

A group photo immediately appeared on the screen.

Li Meng immediately leaned closer, her eyes lighting up: "Amazing! The lighting in this shot is really great!"

Xu Jiao smiled and turned the glossy black iPhone 4 over. The metal frame reflected a textured sheen under the dim light.

She casually pushed the phone back in front of Ye Chen and leaned back lazily on the sofa: "Thanks, Ye Chen."

Ye Chen smiled faintly.

He picked up his phone, lightly pressed the power button with his thumb to turn off the screen, and casually put it in his pocket.

As they were talking, the waiter pushed open the door to the private room.

A large tray was brought in, with several plates of cool appetizers and a large bunch of sizzling, oily grilled meat skewers placed steadily on the glass tea table.

Immediately afterwards, with a "bang," a whole case of chilled beer was moved to the table.

Wang Yao is a straightforward person. She picked up a screwdriver and pried open the metal caps of several beer bottles with a few quick "clicks".

"Come on, let's have one!" Wang Yao stood up, raised a glass full of beer, and smiled broadly.

"Today marks the first official meeting between our two dorms. Let's look out for each other at Jiaotong University!"

Upon seeing this, Lu Wenbo quickly picked up his wine glass and stood up as well.

Sun Haoyu was even more unrestrained, grabbing the wine bottle and pouring it into his own glass.

The golden liquor, frothy and overflowing from the rim of the glass, was ignored as he picked up the glass and stood up.

Chen Zhiqiang stood up, looking slightly flustered, holding a glass full of orange juice in both hands.

Ye Chen picked up the warm water in front of him, his expression calm.

Xu Jiao and Li Meng also raised their drinks and wine glasses.

Gu Yuxuan, who was sitting in the seat closest to the door, moved very slowly.

She stood up gently, her pure white skirt brushing against the edge of the sofa, tracing a beautiful arc.

Holding a glass of clear lemonade in my hand.

"Cheers!"

Eight glasses clinked together crisply above the tea table.

The liquid swayed gently in the glass, reflecting the colorful lights in the private room.

After sitting down again, Wang Yao picked up the serving chopsticks and skillfully divided the meat skewers from the grill into several empty plates.

"Sun Haoyu, you just said you like sports, do you usually play basketball?" Li Meng took a bite of her meat skewer and looked at the person opposite her with curiosity.

Sun Haoyu downed half a glass of beer in one gulp, put down the glass, and wiping his mouth with a tissue in a bold manner.

"We have to hit him!" He slapped his strong thigh with a dull thud.

"With my physique, standing under the basket is like being a solid wall! Anyone who dares to run into me won't budge, and they'll be sent flying!"

Li Meng was amused and put down the bamboo skewer in her hand, jokingly saying, "Really? Then you'd be able to do whatever you want on the court!"

"Absolutely!" Sun Haoyu casually picked up a skewer of grilled kidneys.

"In Northeast China, even if you play ball in the snow in winter, you won't cry out if you fall. You southerners have probably never seen that much snow, have you?"

Li Meng shook her head.

Sun Haoyu completely opened up, gesturing and speaking: "The snow where we live is so real, it goes right up to your knees when you step in!"

"After playing ball and working up a good sweat, don't say anything, head straight to the bathhouse!"

Li Meng leaned back on the sofa, her face full of curiosity: "A bathhouse? You have to go to a whole center just to take a bath?"

"Hey, you don't understand, do you? Where I'm from, bathing is a kind of culture!" Sun Haoyu held up a finger, speaking with great enthusiasm.

"Go in, get your wristband, change into slippers, and then soak directly in the 40-degree hot pool! The water is scalding hot, and it will make your whole body turn red and your pores open."

"Then you lie down on the bath bed, and the bath master takes that special bath towel and scrubs you all over, front and back!"

Li Meng shrank her shoulders upon hearing this and muttered softly, "Doesn't that hurt?"

"What pain! After the massage, you'll feel like you've lost two pounds. It'll feel like your soul has left your body and your whole body feels refreshed!" Sun Haoyu waved his hand.

"After the massage, I went straight upstairs to the second floor, changed into a sauna suit, and enjoyed a buffet, tea, and a movie – it was so relaxing!"

Li Meng nodded repeatedly, "That sounds really interesting."

Xu Jiao suddenly interjected, "Do you have private shower stalls?"

Sun Haoyu shook his head vigorously: "What do we need private rooms for! They're all big pools, the main theme is for brothers to be completely honest with each other!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yao and Lu Wenbo burst out laughing.

The atmosphere in the private room visibly warmed up.

Sun Haoyu was no longer as nervous as when he first entered, rubbing his thighs. He leaned back comfortably on the sofa, munching on a skewer of meat, and chatting with Li Meng from time to time.

Chen Zhiqiang sat next to Sun Haoyu, his hand tightly gripping the glass of juice.

The plate in front of him was empty; he simply listened quietly to Sun Haoyu's boasting, unable to get a word in edgewise for a long time.

Ye Chen glanced at it without making a sound, then casually picked up a skewer of lamb from the grill and placed it naturally on the plate in front of Chen Zhiqiang.

"The lamb here is grilled perfectly, eat it while it's hot," Ye Chen said casually.

Chen Zhiqiang was taken aback for a moment, then turned around, his eyes filled with gratitude: "Thank you, Brother Chen."

Ye Chen then pushed a plate of grilled chives over, jokingly saying, "Eat more, or Old Sun's physique will devour them all later."

Chen Zhiqiang then relaxed his tense shoulders, picked up his chopsticks, and put some chives into his mouth.

Ye Chen also took a skewer of grilled chives and chewed it slowly.

Gu Yuxuan sat in the corner, with only a few slices of lightly seasoned cucumber on the plate in front of her.

She gracefully picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of food, and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly and carefully.

After finishing her meal, she put down her chopsticks, picked up her lemonade, took a sip, and remained quiet throughout, without saying a word.

When Wang Yao threw out a few topics, she only responded politely with short words, exuding a cold and aloof aura that kept strangers at bay.

"Yuxuan, try this grilled chicken wing, it tastes pretty good." Wang Yao enthusiastically handed over a skewer of grilled wings.

Gu Yuxuan reached out and took it, gently placing it on the plate in front of her. Her voice remained as clear and cool as spring water: "Thank you, but I almost never eat meat at night."

Xu Jiao turned her head at this moment, her gaze passing over the table and landing on Ye Chen.

"Hey, Ye Chen." Xu Jiao rested her chin on her hand, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"You just said you made money doing part-time work. What kind of part-time work did you do? Handing out flyers or tutoring?"

Ye Chen precisely tossed the bamboo skewer in his hand into the trash can, then slowly and deliberately wiped his hands with a tissue.

"I just typed a few lines of code," Ye Chen said casually.

Xu Jiao picked up her wine glass, somewhat surprised: "Coding makes so much money? We're just starting out in the Computer Science department at Jiaotong University, and we're already getting freelance work?"

Ye Chen picked up his water glass and took a sip: "I was lucky; the employer I met was quick to pay."

"What kind of code can earn you over ten thousand?"

"I was bored, so I made a little game on my phone." Ye Chen leaned back on the sofa, his posture extremely relaxed.

Xu Jiao put down her wine glass, her eyes widening slightly: "You can earn over ten thousand yuan from just a little game?"

"Just lucky, the data just happened to be pretty good." Ye Chen glossed over it casually.

Seeing that he didn't want to say more, Xu Jiao didn't press him further and looked away.

Lu Wenbo stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth, looked at Ye Chen, and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up:

"If you ask me, Lao Ye, you're really amazing! Our military training hasn't even started yet, and you've already figured out programming code."

Wang Yao nodded in agreement, then slapped Lu Wenbo on the shoulder: "That's impressive, the difference is huge. But you talk too much, hurry up and eat your meat to shut your mouth!"

The private room fell silent for a moment after the conversation, creating a slight pause in the atmosphere.

Ye Chen put down his chopsticks, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

He clapped his hands and deliberately cleared his throat.

"Hey, why is everyone so polite?"

Then, he changed his tone and vividly recounted a funny joke he had just seen online.

He perfectly captured the rhythm of his two lifetimes, his tone was vivid, and his expressions were slightly exaggerated, yet completely natural.

Gu Yuxuan turned her head to look at him.

His previously icy expression suddenly broke into a chuckle as he displayed this unexpected contrast.

She held the lemonade in her hand and swayed slightly before bringing the glass to her soft lips, using the act of drinking to hide her smile, but her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons.

The somewhat subdued atmosphere was instantly reignited by Ye Chen's casual gesture.

Everyone joined in the laughter and joking, and the private room was once again filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating and the mood was right, Wang Yao picked up the microphone on the table.

"Old Ye is right, just eating isn't fun! Let's order some songs!" Wang Yao handed the microphone to Xu Jiao.