The sunlight filtering through the pale blue bed curtain allowed Chu Ci to roughly see his roommate’s face. Even blurred, it fully unleashed its aesthetic appeal. He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he kept feeling that the other guy was growing more and more handsome.
He didn’t know when the other had changed, but it had happened sometime without his knowledge.
As if eager to swap every daily item for pale blue, even the perceptually insensitive Chu Ci easily discovered this small preference of his.
But at this moment, Chu Ci was very much enjoying this private space, even though it was already noon, past twelve.
His roommate had slept in one position the entire night, and his arm was still draped over him now. Clearly, he was a sound sleeper; his initial awkwardness must have been just due to unfamiliarity.
Now he wasn’t afraid of strangers anymore, and he was his only friend.
Thinking of this, Chu Ci felt a sense of fulfillment.
It was also his first time sleeping in the same bed with someone else. The times Chu Ci had imagined sharing a bed before were naturally for doing R-18 things with men who caught his eye. Otherwise, he didn’t see the point of just lying there doing nothing.
Now, however, he felt that just lying there doing nothing was pretty nice, too.
Chu Ci thought about his KPI for the year, feeling a slight irritation in his heart. He’d have things to do this afternoon again. But his roommate wasn’t going anywhere; they could still have lunch together.
He had already researched several restaurants in advance; they could share many meals together. Thus, Chu Ci’s heart settled down again, and he savored this moment of happiness.
“Chu Ci? What time is it? Did you have insomnia again last night?” He Yuxuan asked groggily, catching sight of the other’s open eyes.
“Just past twelve. No, I slept pretty well.” Actually, Chu Ci had fallen asleep quite late, but his sleep quality was decent.
“That late!” He Yuxuan began to feel annoyed with himself. He used to be really disciplined, going to bed early and waking up early.
Now that he was a student, he’d gotten even lazier.
Pulling open the bed curtain, he saw the dorm room was left with just the two of them. He Yuxuan yawned and lazily climbed out of bed.
“Good that you slept well. What’s for lunch?” He Yuxuan was pondering whether to get a small bowl dish or noodles.
That’s right, he was already starting to accept cafeteria food. Mainly because he really couldn’t afford anything else.
Couldn’t say it was delicious, but it filled his stomach.
“I’ve already found a place. A fusion cuisine restaurant.” Chu Ci then hopped lightly off the bed, showing his phone screen to He Yuxuan.
Good lord, over 1000 per person. That was many days of his wages. He Yuxuan had already fully adopted a worker’s mindset.
“Okay, thanks for the treat, Young Master!” He Yuxuan accepted happily. He was overjoyed to improve his diet and couldn’t help but blurt out the internal term of address he had for Chu Ci.
Oh well, it shouldn’t matter between friends, right?
Actually, he had saved Chu Ci’s contact name as Young Master Chu as well.
Chu Ci first paused, then raised an eyebrow, quite pleased. He took it as a special nickname from He Yuxuan. Besides, it wasn’t incorrect.
“But after eating, I’ll drop you off at school and then have to leave right away. It’s been pretty busy lately. I’ll tell you about it in a bit.” Chu Ci reported in advance.
He Yuxuan nodded understandingly. Of course, a Rich Second Generation had to be busy inheriting the family business.
“Sure.”
The second time eating together, He Yuxuan took out his phone and casually snapped two photos.
“Hm?” Chu Ci didn’t quite get it.
“Just documenting. After all, it’s a treat from the Young Master.” He Yuxuan said offhandedly, then put down his phone, went to wash his hands once more, and came back ready to eat.
“Good. Take a photo every time from now on.” They’d be sharing many more meals together.
Chu Ci didn’t usually fuss over trifles, but this tiny bit of ritual made him feel valued. Looking at the other’s face, Chu Ci felt his initial act of taking the initiative had been quite right.
“OK~” He Yuxuan made an OK gesture, then said politely, “I’ll dig in then. It looks delicious.”
“Yeah, try a bit of everything.” The Young Master leaned back and didn’t move at first, simply watching He Yuxuan eat.
The dishes ordered were still plentiful, but He Yuxuan already had experience: the Young Master could eat a lot, so he wasn’t too worried.
He still tasted them one by one, commenting on each, even though he was currently broke.
“Hm, let’s not order this one next time.”
“You found over half of them pretty good. Seems this restaurant is decent.”
Chu Ci also replied to each comment, feeling this choice was much more successful than the very first one.
“Right, what I was going to tell you. I’ve been interning at my family’s hotel recently, so I’ve been really busy.” Chu Ci began to explain.
“Running around from morning till night every day? That tough?” He Yuxuan listened, an incredulous expression crossing his face. He’d thought young masters would have it pretty easy.
“Yeah, been busy with a fairly important project lately. Looking at investing a few tens of millions, testing the waters.” Where no trade secrets were involved, Chu Ci didn’t hide anything, speaking of tens of millions as casually as eating and drinking.
It had been so long that He Yuxuan had no concept of what tens of millions meant anymore. But he had never been sensitive to numbers anyway; in his previous life, he hadn’t even known his total assets before he died.
It was just work, work, rest and shop, on a loop.
“Sounds very challenging. No wonder you had insomnia. But make sure to rest well, too.” Towards those close to him, He Yuxuan’s empathy was quite strong. He felt for him for a few seconds, then began comforting Chu Ci.
Who’d have thought he himself only had a thousand bucks in his pocket?
“When it gets really tiring, I’ll come back to you to recharge.” Chu Ci said without any restraint.
He Yuxuan naturally wouldn’t misunderstand again. He nodded emphatically in a brotherly manner.
“Right, once I get the hang of things, you can come intern where I am. And you can come work here after graduation too.” The Young Master added.
He was well aware that his roommate was a bit of a vase who didn’t love studying much, and his family situation was just so-so. If he wanted to keep developing in Jinghai in the future, it would be quite difficult.
But if he were by his side, under his care, his prospects wouldn’t be too bleak, and he’d feel more at ease.
He Yuxuan was genuinely touched by the Young Master’s pure-hearted sincerity after hearing this. The other truly considered him a real friend.
Although he felt he’d probably just be a disappointment, re-entering the performing arts industry wouldn’t be simple either. That line of work required not only skill but luck.
So thought the former male celebrity, starting to get grounded.
If he couldn’t find a job after graduation, he might end up relying on his bro someday.
“Alright. I’ll do my best to study my major courses properly then.” He Yuxuan felt he couldn’t let down the Young Master’s good intentions. After thinking for a moment, he said so.
“Mm.” With He Yuxuan’s reply, Chu Ci already took this as his own responsibility. Shielding just one guy wasn’t hard, anyway. Besides, the fact that his roommate actually planned to develop his career in Jinghai after graduation set Chu Ci’s mind at ease. The days ahead were long.
“Oh, and if you ever feel lonely normally, just feel free to message me.” Chu Ci had been thinking about this for a while.
He Yuxuan only had him as a friend, hadn’t been popular in high school. So he probably had some obstacles with interpersonal relationships. To him, it didn’t matter at all, but for a regular student, it would be pretty rough.
He’d been busy lately, and thinking of this guy who, besides classes and studying, probably couldn’t do much else except help out at his club, Chu Ci felt a bit bad. Moreover, over the past two-plus weeks, their chat interface had barely any messages. He probably feared disturbing him.
So Chu Ci deliberately pointed out this issue.
“Sure.” He Yuxuan thought about it, figuring such moments wouldn’t arise, but he’d certainly accept his friend’s concern. It was good to keep in touch more, anyway.
“Almost done eating?” Chu Ci saw that He Yuxuan was already putting down his chopsticks.
“Pretty much full.” He Yuxuan rubbed his stomach.
He then continued watching the Young Master sweep through the dishes like a whirlwind. The Young Master was good; rich but not wasteful.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you back. Don’t be afraid to contact me.” Chu Ci placed one hand on He Yuxuan’s shoulder and pointed at his phone with the other.
“Mm-hm, no problem.” He Yuxuan waved goodbye to Chu Ci at the school gate.
He felt quite happy inside. Since transmigrating into the book, life was starting to get on track.
Being broke wasn’t so unbearable after all, was it?
He Yuxuan glanced at his phone messages. Pinned at the top was the drama club’s group. He hadn’t forgotten that he also had work to do.
Though it didn’t involve deals worth tens of millions, to him right now, it was serious business.
Their drama club’s welcome performance was, of course, meant for new students to perform. He’d heard that sometimes even small-time directors or talent scouts came to check out events of this caliber.
To avoid troubling his friend after graduation as much as possible, He Yuxuan felt he’d better start planning well early. His major was really tough to learn; he couldn’t understand Calculus at all.
He checked the gathering time: 3 PM. Not much time left, so no need to go back to the dorm.
The program list was already arranged. He could have a performance slot with another student, a cello and piano duet.
He’d already added the person: a student named Bo Yuanyuan. Likely a girl. He wasn’t sure which department she was from; He Yuxuan wasn’t yet familiar with the people in the drama club.
She was just messaging him to ask: “Hello classmate, are we meeting on the first floor of the Second Canteen?”
He Yuxuan glanced at the notice: “Yes.”
“And do we need to prepare our own performance outfits? I do have my own.”
Mentioning this, He Yuxuan’s expression grew a bit solemn: “Probably not. Seems like it can be reimbursed. Otherwise, I’d only be able to wear a T-shirt.” …Couldn’t spare a cent.
“Hahahahaha! Hope so, then. See you in a bit, let’s discuss the performance piece.”
“OK~”
What He Yuxuan didn’t notice, however, was that quite a few guys in the group were extremely annoyed that Bo Yuanyuan had been paired with someone else.
This was the Campus Belle ranked number one in this year’s new student Campus Belle and Campus Hunk selection. The people chasing her could literally circle the entire school.
Not only was she ridiculously pretty, but her family was also in real estate. She was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—a complete baifumei(white, rich, and beautiful).
Her personality was also especially gentle and kind. She was the public goddess, truly a standout even in the Art Institute.
As for the other guy’s name, it wasn’t too familiar, yet somehow seemed a little familiar.
Anyway, perhaps another love rival was about to appear. Hopefully, he knew his place.
Aside from group announcements, He Yuxuan completely ignored the group messages. He was too busy, even having to go to his part-time evening job to earn money.
He and classmate Meng Jingshu had also reached a deal: he taught her how to play the cello, and she lent him her instrument to practice on.
So He Yuxuan busily contacted Meng again: “Jingshu, I’ll probably need to borrow the cello again [praying hands.jpg]”
“No problem. Gonna perform again? Let me know when!”
“It’s a duet with a club member. If you have time, come watch.”
“Heehee, OK, Teacher Little He. Can I bring someone? Got a flirtation thing going on lately.”
He Yuxuan completely understood: “Plenty of seats available. Come together.”
Social obligations done, he then received a message from Chu Ci: “I’m at the hotel.” Attached was a photo of the office.
He Yuxuan smiled: “Young Master, go get ’em!”
Chu Ci instantly felt more driven. For himself, he could slack off however he liked and still never worry about food and drink, but now that he had his roommate in mind, he still needed real clout within the corporation.
He Yuxuan understood it as the Young Master offering him a job opportunity, but Chu Ci was actually thinking about how to push this vase onto an executive position.
