Chapter Twenty-Four: Spending for Power, Grandmaster

Yang Xiaofan carried a mountain of shopping bags in both hands, another slung over his shoulder. He glanced at Qin Nuanyu, who was still lost in thought, and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Class monitor, let's go. We should head up."

"Oh, right!" Qin Nuanyu's mind was in a feverish haze she could no longer control. She immediately followed behind Yang Xiaofan like a bashful bride.

As they passed the main entrance, Yang Xiaofan worried for a moment that the dormitory supervisor might stop him. Fortunately, she didn't. Instead, she called out warmly, "Young man, do you need a hand with those?"

Yang Xiaofan gave a polite smile. "No, thank you."

This experience made him sigh inwardly: having money truly made things easier. Drive a Ferrari, and even the girls' dorm was open to you. The world was just that practical.

Soon, they arrived at Qin Nuanyu's dorm room. At Northern Jiangsu University, there were fewer male students than females, so it wasn't uncommon for guys to share a dorm in pairs like Yang Xiaofan and Gu Hao. But the girls' dorms were nearly always in groups of four.

Stepping inside, the room was filled with a fragrance unique to girls—delicate and pleasant. When he switched on the light, the layout was revealed: the room was done almost entirely in pink, brimming with cuteness. On one bed, a few plush toys were scattered, along with a pair of recently discarded stockings.

Qin Nuanyu's cheeks flushed instantly. She rushed over and hid the stockings under the covers. "My roommates are always leaving their clothes around," she muttered.

Yang Xiaofan glanced at the bed, noticing more clothes and books tossed about. He asked in mild confusion, "Isn't this your bed?"

Qin Nuanyu’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.

Yang Xiaofan just chuckled and set all the bags down beside her bed. "All right, it's late. You should get some rest. I won't keep you."

"Ah?" Qin Nuanyu was momentarily stunned. Wasn't something supposed to happen between them, according to how these things usually played out? She would surely resist in the end, but surely Yang Xiaofan would at least do something? At the very least, a kiss, a hug, maybe lift her up gently?

But in truth, Yang Xiaofan had no intention of making any moves. He wasn't some lovesick fool who lost his head at the sight of a woman. Their relationship was already established; there would be plenty of time in the future. Besides, it wouldn't do to get up to anything improper in the dorm—what if her roommates returned? That would be mortifying.

"Is there something else?" Yang Xiaofan scratched his head, puzzled by her expression. The class monitor was always so upright that he never imagined what might be going through her mind right now.

Blushing, Qin Nuanyu stammered, "No... nothing. I just thought you must be tired today. Do you want to rest a bit?"

"I’m fine, not tired at all. I’ll head back now. See you tomorrow." Yang Xiaofan’s martial arts strength and physical prowess were already at a grandmaster level—how could he possibly be tired?

Seeing that he still hadn’t understood her hint, Qin Nuanyu felt a wave of disappointment. "Well... all right then. You should get some rest too."

"Okay."

Yang Xiaofan turned to leave, but after a pause, as if recalling something, he ran back, enveloped Qin Nuanyu's head in his arms, and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Heh heh… I didn’t get enough kisses last time—making up for it today!"

With that, he dashed out like a gust of wind.

Qin Nuanyu pressed her lips together, a radiant smile blooming on her face—a smile filled with happiness. "You silly fool," she murmured.

...

Before long, her other roommates returned. Judging by their outfits, they had clearly been out shopping together.

"Nuanyu, who did you run off with today? We went to your class looking for you and couldn’t find you. We tried calling, but you didn’t pick up."

Qin Nuanyu quickly apologized. "Sorry, I was busy and had my phone on silent. I didn’t see your calls."

"A shame! We went to the pedestrian street and had pig’s trotter rice from that new place. You have no idea—so delicious!"

"That really is a pity," Qin Nuanyu replied.

"Hey, where did you go shopping? You bought so much stuff!"

Before long, the girls noticed all the shopping bags and crowded around, only to erupt in shrieks.

"Oh my god! That's the latest Gucci bag! It's over a hundred thousand!"

"And this—this is Chanel’s brand-new limited edition set—seventy-two thousand for the set!"

"And here’s a Louis Vuitton special edition bag. The original price is one hundred and thirty-five thousand. Even the knockoffs cost over three thousand. I’ve always wanted one but could never bring myself to buy it."

As they rummaged through the bags, they discovered a Cartier watch box and the receipt. When their eyes caught the string of zeros, they all stared at the watch on Qin Nuanyu’s wrist as if entranced.

"E-e-eighty-eight thousand for a Cartier watch!"

"My god, Nuanyu, did you hook up with a sugar daddy?"

"Even a sugar daddy wouldn’t spend this much!"

Qin Nuanyu felt embarrassed. "I did not. My boyfriend bought these for me. I told him not to, but he insisted."

"Ahhhh! We were eating pig’s trotter rice, and you were out shopping with your boyfriend, buying luxury goods worth millions!"

"I’m so jealous! Absolutely green with envy!"

The three girls burst into tears on the spot. The delicious pig’s trotter rice suddenly lost all its appeal. They were all women—how could their lives be so utterly different?

Qin Nuanyu panicked. "Don’t cry, please!"

"We don’t want to, but we can’t help it!"

...

On Yang Xiaofan’s side, he had no idea what was unfolding in Qin Nuanyu’s dorm after he left.

He hurried back to his own dorm, eager to start painting. Now that he had money, he felt the advantages of wealth more keenly and was more motivated than ever to earn more. At the very least, he wanted to earn those remaining hundreds of millions.

His roommate, Fatty, was nowhere to be seen. He’d already packed up the art supplies, and several sheets of scribbled paper were tossed in the trash—a clear sign that Fatty’s painting experiment had failed.

Yang Xiaofan didn’t give it much thought. He immediately grabbed his brushes. "Since President Mu and the others are so good to me, I can’t just do a half-hearted job. I have to paint something worthy of them. Otherwise, I’d be letting them down."

Besides, a quality painting would mean better word of mouth—and more referrals in the future.

With that in mind, Yang Xiaofan logged into the online shop to top up his account. He still had ninety million left. Upgrading his painting skills to grandmaster level would only cost ten million.