Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

「Three days later, early in the morning.」

With a roar that tore through the air, a sapphire blue Aston Martin WHOOSHED down the road, entered the airport, and slowed to a crawl.

Supercars weren’t rare in Jiangning, but they weren’t particularly common either, so it naturally attracted some attention.

The boys’ attention was on the car itself; the girls’ attention included the person in the driver’s seat.

He parked, got out, locked the car, and left the key at a restaurant in the airport terminal. It was one of Qi Shan’s side hustles. Rich people, you know, they have all sorts of ventures.

Su Ran handed the key to the young woman at the register. "Excuse me, could you give this to my friend when he gets here?"

"Mhm, President Qi already mentioned it. No problem. Would you like to get something to eat?"

"I’m good."

"Hehe."

The cashier gave a knowing smile. She could tell from the look in Su Ran’s eyes that he wanted to avoid the notoriously expensive and awful airport food.

He walked out of the terminal and hailed a taxi.

Su Ran sent a message in the group chat: "I left the car key at XX Restaurant. Just pick it up when you get to Jiangning Airport. There’s a parade today, so I’m heading back to school. Feel free to drive back to ’Buchu Garden’ or go shopping—it’s on me. I’ll meet up with you guys after the parade is over. (smile)"

Xiao Wanqing: "I just don’t get it. Why did you name it ’Buchu Garden’?"

Su Ran: "It’s from the poem ’I am on this mountain, but the clouds are so deep I know not where.’ Get it? How poetic is that? It used to be called ’Yuxin Garden,’ which is from a line about ’beauty that captivates the soul, a heart happy by one’s side.’ Now *that* really screamed ’lust.’"

Xiao Wanqing: "Then why not just call it ’Deep in the Clouds’ or something? Picking ’Buchu Garden’... the way you say ’buchu, buchu’... it sounds so wrong I’m not sure I dare visit you anymore."

Xie Yiren popped up: "It does sound a little scary, but it’s a good thing you’re a good person. We trust your integrity. (smile)"

Su Ran: "’Deep in the Clouds’? Heh, I’m not playing that whole Lan Zhan and Wei Ying game. Anyway, that’s all. Call when you arrive."

Their flight was at nine. It was still very early, not even seven yet, and only Xiao Wanqing and Xie Yiren were awake. Liu Jinyu and Aina were still fast asleep, each with a hand resting on her chest.

SMACK!

Xiao Wanqing smacked Liu Jinyu’s ample bottom and gave it a hard squeeze. With a mischievous, teeth-gritting expression, she purred, "Does this feel like when Su Ran gropes you?"

Holy shit!

Ripped from a deep sleep by a sudden slap, Liu Jinyu instantly flew into a rage, letting loose a stream of curses in her Chongqing dialect.

"I’ll fuck your ancestors’ graves! That really hurt, you know! Hiss~ Seriously, Xiao Wanqing, I think you son of a bitch are getting more perverted by the day!"

"Don’t worry. If it’s swollen, you can just ask Su Ran to blow on it for you when we get to Jiangning."

"Screw you."

...

「Jiangning.」

Taking advantage of the early morning, Su Ran went to a legendary hole-in-the-wall noodle shop in a shantytown area.

The most delicious and authentic old-school food is often hidden away in dilapidated alleys. These are time-honored establishments that have been around for decades.

Su Ran thought he’d arrived plenty early, but it turned out there were even more foodies ahead of him, including a few food bloggers.

A bowl of beef noodles was 10 yuan, and an extra serving of beef was another 15. In the past, he would never have splurged like this. But now that he had money, he could eat whatever he wanted and enjoy life to the fullest.

After finishing the noodles, Su Ran gave a thumbs-up. It was delicious and perfectly authentic.

Whether it was delicious or not was a matter of personal taste, but whether it was authentic was for Su Ran to decide.

For no other reason than his ’Tongue Combat Power,’ which could tell if the seasonings were adulterated or if the cow had been happy before it died.

He had considered getting three orders to-go for his dorm mates, but the noodles would get soggy and clumped by the time he got back, so he decided against it. Instead, after returning to campus, he went to the cafeteria first and bought three breakfasts. They were dorm mates, after all; you had to look out for each other.

As he was leaving with the food, he saw Shen Qingning. She was wearing a camouflage uniform with her hair in a ponytail, sitting all by herself in the cafeteria, eating congee and a steamed bun.

She had lost weight over the past nineteen days of military training. She’d even fainted once while standing at attention. He’d heard her family was not well-off.

Su Ran didn’t know the specifics, but seeing her always reminded him of himself from before he became a ’Divine Rich’.

Back then, Su Ran had also preferred to be alone. Due to a family tragedy in high school, he had closed himself off from the world, wanting nothing more than to be by himself.

’Hmm... people need to be ’saved,’’ Su Ran reflected. It was Liu Jinyu and the other three girls who had appeared in his life and brought him joy, allowing him to gradually open up and become more cheerful.

So...

This classmate, Shen Qingning, was still waiting for her ’savior’ to appear.

"Here. I bought too much. You eat it, don’t let it go to waste."

Su Ran placed a tea egg next to her tray.

"Su..."

Shen Qingning was just about to refuse, but Su Ran was already heading back to the dorm with the breakfast.

Dorm 403.

Zeng Cao looked at his own breakfast, then at Cao Wo’s and Wang Dachui’s, and was suddenly unhappy.

"Class President, what gives? Are we not close enough or something? How come these two assholes get tea eggs and I don’t?"

"I just ran into your ’Shen Youchu’ and gave the tea egg to her."

"Oh, Qingning! You should have said so earlier! You should’ve just given her all three eggs to help her get some nourishment."

Zeng Cao’s eyes lit up. He’d recently developed a huge crush on this real-life ’Shen Youchu’ and had been thinking of pursuing her.

Su Ran, who was in the middle of folding his quilt into a perfect ’tofu block,’ paused and asked with concern, "By the way, do you guys know what Shen Qingning’s situation is exactly?"

Zeng Cao shook his head. Su Ran looked at him with disdain. "And you talk about pursuing her. You don’t know a single thing."

Wang Dachui chimed in, "Zeng Cao is a real piece of work. He freaking told me it was love at first sight. Pfft, he’s just after her body."

’Hmm...’ Su Ran propped his chin on his hand and thought for a moment. ’As the class president, I can’t just pry into her family’s situation. But I know that girls who are this reclusive tend to be very sensitive. They care deeply about how others see them, and even the slightest offhand comment can upset them for a long time. I should give these guys a reminder.’

"Hey, everyone, let’s try to be more considerate of Shen Qingning. Don’t make insensitive jokes about her, alright?"

"OK!"

"Alright, you guys go ahead and eat. I’m going to find the drill instructor and ask about the parade today."

As Su Ran turned and walked out, Zeng Cao let out a long sigh. "Man... look at our class president. So damn dedicated."

Su Ran went downstairs and walked out of the dormitory building.

"Class President."

Shen Qingning called out to him from under a large banyan tree. She walked up and held out two yuan that she’d been clutching in her hand with her phone.

"The money for the tea egg."

"Okay."

Su Ran took the money; he knew she wouldn’t have it any other way. He asked casually, "By the way, you’re from Anhui, right? Are you getting used to Jiangning?"

"Mhm."

"I’m the class president, and I’m a local here in Jiangning. If you ever need help with anything, just let me know, alright?"

"Thank you, Class President. I’ll be going now."

Shen Qingning’s voice was quiet and timid. She was the type who didn’t like to talk much; after murmuring her thanks, she turned and walked away by herself.

"..."

Su Ran looked at the two yuan in his hand. ’She really does need to be saved,’ he thought.