Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
Zhang Zhixu meant no harm; he was just joking around.
He thought his description was pretty good, but after he finished, he realized no one was laughing. Instead, they looked at him as if he were an idiot!
"What's… what's wrong?"
Zhang Zhixu scratched his head, feeling like a clown.
"Old Bai broke the record!"
Fang Mingyuan explained.
"What record?"
Zhang Zhixu was confused, and so were the others in his group.
"The escape room record!"
Hu Wenwu interjected.
Soon, Zhang Zhixu and the others understood what had happened, especially with the boss offering 50,000 yuan as hush money, which shocked them.
In this class, some students came from less affluent families. For them, 50,000 yuan was more than their parents' annual salary.
"Hurry up and agree, it's just a poisonous oath, especially since you don't plan on telling anyone!"
Zhang Zhixu urged, seeing it as a surefire deal. If it were him, he wouldn't just swear an oath; he'd even consider doing a hula dance if necessary.
"We're all out, so let's go eat!"
Lin Baici stood up, looking at the boss: "What about the popcorn and cola? You promised us one each!"
The receptionist glanced at the boss and immediately went to pack it up.
"I give up, I'll give you the 50,000 yuan, no need for the oath."
The young boss took out his phone: "Add me on WeChat, let's be friends, shall we?"
He could tell these two guys weren't short of money and were the type that money couldn't easily buy over. Rather than insisting on a poisonous oath and risking a fallout, he preferred to take the friendlier route.
Whether it would work out or not, he'd leave it to fate.
Sigh!
Such a smart person, why come to an escape room? Go solve unsolvable cases or compete in chess games with AI, why bully us?
Do you know how expensive it is to design and set up an escape room?
The boss added Lin Baici as a friend, transferred the money cheerfully, and even personally escorted them to the store's entrance. He wanted to invite them for a meal, but Lin Baici declined.
"Class monitor, you're so awesome!"
Pei Fei was thoroughly convinced. Assisting Lin Baici was no shame, and she decided to diligently complete any tasks he assigned in the future.
"Class monitor, you just made an easy 50,000 yuan while playing around. Aren't you going to treat us all to a big meal?"
Liu Yu couldn't hold back any longer.
Seeing Lin Baici make money, he felt unhappy, so he wanted Lin Baici to take a loss.
If he agreed, he would lose money; if he didn't, he'd be labeled a miser.
It was an open conspiracy, unsolvable.
When it came to money matters, even the students with the lowest EQ, who didn't understand the ways of the world, kept quiet because treating over 30 people to a meal would cost at least several hundred yuan.
That was no small sum.
"The money from the game we all played together will be split!"
Lin Baici opened WeChat and started transferring money to Fang Mingyuan, Ji Xinyan, and the others.
"Wow, 4,300 yuan, class monitor, can I really take this money?"
Pei Fei was excited and nervous.
She had been longing for an iPad for a long time, wanting to buy it for note-taking during lectures, but it was too expensive. With this money, she could afford it now.
"Having taken my money, remember to speak well of me in the girls' dormitory, make them all like me."
Lin Baici deliberately lowered his voice, as if conspiring with Pei Fei, but in reality, everyone could hear.
His demeanor immediately put Pei Fei at ease, and everyone else started laughing.
"Amazing!"
Even Bai Jiao began to see Lin Baici in a new light.
This guy wasn't low on EQ; he knew how to speak.
Breaking the escape room record was Lin Baici's achievement. Everyone else did nothing, and now that he was sharing the hush money, they felt guilty and embarrassed to accept it. But with his words, everyone felt at ease, and the atmosphere became harmonious.
Also, his level of generosity was impressive; it was 50,000 yuan, after all. An ordinary person wouldn't have the courage to share it with others.
"Class monitor, rest assured, every morning when I wake up, I'll praise you first!"
Ji Xinyan joked, "Winter is coming, I've decided to buy a hand warmer with this money. I'll keep it in my pocket every day, so I'll always be grateful for your kindness!"
Tea Sister was a social butterfly, and because there were many classmates, she couldn't be too explicit, or else she'd leave Lin Baici covered in tire marks.
"Why don't you just become the class monitor's girlfriend, then you can hug him every day, isn't that a hand warmer?"
Zhang Zhixu teased.
"Have you ever seen such a big hand warmer?"
Ji Xinyan stretched out her arm, comparing the height of her head to Lin Baici's, which immediately caused a roar of laughter.
Tea Sister was actually not short, with long legs, but next to Lin Baici, who was over 1.8 meters tall, she seemed petite.
"Old Bai, then I won't be polite!"
Someone who casually lets others play with an alienware laptop worth tens of thousands of yuan on his bed, how could he be a miser?
Lin Baici's computer, Fang Mingyuan played with the most; it was almost like his own, but Lin Baici never said a word.
"Old Bai…"
Hu Wenwu was about to speak when Lin Baici immediately raised a finger, shaking it at him, signaling him not to speak.
"Shuangquan , take it, Old Bai doesn't care about this!" Qian Jiahui persuaded.
Hu Wenwu's nickname was Shuangquan, derived from the phrase "excelling in both letters and arms."
"Big class monitor, thank you!" Bai Jiao whispered her thanks. Everyone else had accepted, and if she refused, it would seem distant and arrogant.
Lin Baici smiled slightly and called everyone to leave.
"Let's go, let's go, time to eat!"
Lin Baici went to hail a cab.
Ji Xinyan keenly noticed the change in the classmates' attitudes towards Lin Baici, more respectful and friendlier.
Breaking the escape room record was a show of strength, and casually giving away 50,000 yuan was a sign of generosity. Honestly, who wouldn't want to be friends with someone like that?
Thinking deeper, who was in this group?
The prettiest girls in class were herself and Bai Jiao, and there was also the class committee member Pei Fei. On the boys' side, there were the rich Qian Jiahui, Fang Mingyuan, and Hu Wenwu, all of whom were Lin Baici's dorm buddies. Their relationship was already good, and this money would only make it better.
Ji Xinyan looked back and glanced at Liu Yu. His days ahead wouldn't be easy. If he didn't know his place and continued to trouble Lin Baici, it would be even worse.
***
After getting into the taxi, Ji Xinyan whispered in his ear, "Big class monitor, you're truly an excellent hunter."
Tea Sister could foresee that if Xu Daguan didn't know his place, he would probably struggle in the dormitory too.
Lin Baici's 50,000 yuan was spent brilliantly, and Tea Sister was certain that tonight's meal would definitely be on Lin Baici.
She had already thought of the reason: having picked up 50,000 yuan for nothing, he would surely want to share the wealth.
As the saying goes, eat from someone's hand and you'll speak softly; take from someone's hand and you'll be short. After everyone had eaten Lin Baici's meal, they would subconsciously stand by his side.
Anyway, Liu Yu wouldn't be able to find good friends in this class.
Lin Baici smiled modestly and gently patted Tea Sister's thigh, the meaning clear without words. He wasn't a fool; why would he give away money for nothing?
This was buying people's hearts!
Isolating Liu Yu!
After all, this money came for free.
Speaking of which, Ji Xinyan's thighs felt pretty good!
[With a body trained in dance for ten years, the muscles are firm and chewy, perfect for grilling with a sprinkle of cumin!]
[Tea Sister can strike many poses you wouldn't imagine!]
***
The dinner was reserved by Pei Fei at a place called "Kung Fu Path" on the third floor of Wanda Plaza, an affordable barbecue buffet restaurant.
It was hard to gauge the appetite of the girls, but the boys at this age were generally big eaters. With just the class funds, the ordered dishes would definitely not be enough, so a buffet was a better choice.
Everyone arrived at the mall and headed to the fourth floor in a grand procession.
Outside the buffet restaurant, there was a long queue.
"So many people?"
Bai Jiao lost her appetite at the sight, mainly because there were too many people and the dining environment wasn't great.
"This buffet is quite popular!"
Pei Fei explained, "I've seen reviews online!"
"Is there no private room inside? We probably won't be able to sit together, which defeats the purpose of a group meal!"
Qian Jiahui didn't care much about what to eat; he mainly wanted to have fun together.
"Feels like we're going to wait a long time!"
Liu Zilu checked the time on her phone: "This is probably going to take at least an hour!"
It was the weekend, and many young people were out and about.
"Shall we go upstairs for Japanese food instead? I saw on Xiaohongshu that there's a good Japanese restaurant here!"
Liu Zilu suggested.
"Isn't that going to be expensive?"
In Zhou Zhou's mind, Japanese food was expensive, something you'd eat to show off on social media.
"We can negotiate a discount with the boss for so many people!"
Liu Zilu looked towards Lin Baici and Qian Jiahui, the two who could make the decision, one with authority and the other with money: "Just asking, if it doesn't work out, no big deal, right?"
"I'll ask!"
Xu Daguan raised his hand, finally his turn to shine as a social butterfly; "With my internet celebrity status, I should be able to cut down some of the cost!"
"No need for such trouble, do you guys want to eat Japanese food? If you want, let's go, if the money isn't enough, I'll cover it!" Qian Jiahui was generous.
Most of the classmates had never eaten Japanese food, so they were quite interested, and they all went up to the fifth floor together.
The boss, seeing so many customers, also wanted to make the sale, so he offered a 30 yuan discount, bringing the price down to 148 yuan per person.
"Still expensive, shall we eat something else?"
"Or should we each pay a bit more class fees?"
"I heard Japanese food is raw, won't it upset the stomach?"
Everyone discussed noisily.
"Let's go, let's eat something else!"
Ji Xinyan understood that suddenly asking for more class fees would make some people unhappy and others unable to afford it. Even if they ended up eating this meal, they would feel uncomfortable for a long time, so it was better to give up: "What matters is being together, what we eat doesn't matter!"
"Ah, don't bother, let's go, let's go, I'll pay!"
Qian Jiahui couldn't stand the dilly-dallying, he pushed everyone into the restaurant.
The boss immediately called the waiters to serve the customers.
Everyone was still worried and looked to Lin Baici to make a decision.
"Don't worry about the money, eat your fill and make Jiahui cry."
Lin Baici joked, knowing that Qian Jiahui, the tycoon, truly didn't care about the money and just wanted everyone to have fun.
He actually wanted to pay for the meal, but since Qian Jiahui had already offered, it would be awkward to bring it up again, as if he didn't trust Qian Jiahui's financial power.
The boss arranged for everyone to sit in the northwest corner and promised not to bring any more customers to this area until the rest of the place was full.
Soon, the waiters began serving dishes.
Whether it tasted good or not was another question, but with names like French red wine foie gras, broiled eel, sashimi platter, and teppanyaki beef fillet, along with exquisite plating, it looked quite impressive.
Everyone was quite satisfied, as these kids, who had just started university and left their hometowns, were just beginning to see the world.
Bai Jiao was aloof and not talkative, but Ji Xinyan was the opposite, able to chat with anyone, even with someone as invisible as Hu Wenwu, making sure they didn't feel left out.
Of course, Liu Yu was an exception; Ji Xinyan didn't even glance at him once.
On the boys' side, Xu Daguan was a social butterfly, never stopping talking. If it weren't for everyone's disagreement, he would have started a live broadcast, claiming to show the fans the cohesion of the Software Engineering 01 class.
The meal was enjoyed by all.
When Qian Jiahui went to pay, Lin Baici followed, but the boss said a girl had already paid.
"Who?"
Qian Jiahui frowned.
Lin Baici guessed it was probably Ji Xinyan.
"That pretty girl in boots!"
The boss had a deep impression of Ji Xinyan; when she paid the bill, he even asked for her WeChat.
Qian Jiahui hadn't figured out what to do when Lin Baici pulled him.
"Let's go!"
Everyone was full and happy, heading downstairs.
Qian Jiahui approached Ji Xinyan: "We agreed I would pay!"
"Can we stop arguing about this?"
Ji Xinyan thought to herself, this is Lin Baici's show, I can't let you steal the spotlight!
A few thousand yuan, I can afford it too!
Thinking about it, I've just secured my position as Lin Baici's queen, right?
"Let's go, let's go!"
Qian Jiahui called everyone to get in the car, heading straight for the hottest nightclub in Haijing.
"Absolutely not, you've already paid for the meal!"
Bai Jiao refused.
"I didn't pay, it was Ji Xinyan!"
When everyone heard this, they turned to look at Ji Xinyan.
"I'm happy today and want to spend money, who dares to stop me? But the money was given by the big class monitor just now, it's his kidneys that are hurting, hehe!"
Ji Xinyan made a cutting gesture with her right hand, looking adorable: "I'm just re-gifting!"
Bai Jiao cursed under her breath, calling her a schemer. She was boosting Lin Baici's popularity.
Could Ji Xinyan be planning to chase after Lin Baici?
But at the beginning of the semester, compared to Qian Jiahui, she was more interested in Lin Baici.
"Let's go, let's go!"
Qian Jiahui herded everyone into the car, heading for the most popular nightclub in Haijing.