Chapter 098: Yang Yuqi

At that moment, Huang Yu finally emerged from his silence. He realized that although this girl was indeed different from most, there was still something he genuinely appreciated about her. At the very least, she was forthright, speaking her mind without reservation. This, in turn, made him even more curious to see what Yang Yuqi would be like in person.

“I’m at the Tianhe International Hotel,” Huang Yu replied simply, refraining from any further explanation.

“All right, I’m already on my way. Just wait for me in the hotel lobby; I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” came the quick response. “By the way, I’ll bring my best friend along—hope you don’t mind?” Yang Yuqi first instructed him to wait in the lobby, then followed with what seemed to be a question. Yet as she had already said they were en route, it was clear she was simply informing him, not really asking for approval.

“Of course I don’t mind,” Huang Yu replied, the corners of his mouth twitching a little.

With that, he felt greatly relieved. It was obvious that the girl had little interest in him; she was merely going through the motions for the sake of this arrangement. As long as they both played their parts, this awkward business would soon be over.

The plan for the day was simple: accompany two girls on a tour of KM City’s various attractions, treat them to a lavish dinner in the evening, and his task would be perfectly accomplished.

YN University, located in KM City, YN Province, is a prestigious national university jointly operated by the Ministry of Education and YN Province, with the ministry taking the lead. The university comprises twenty-seven colleges, ten research institutes, a teaching hospital, and a graduate school, offering eighty-two undergraduate majors spanning eleven academic disciplines: literature, history, philosophy, economics, management, law, science, engineering, agriculture, education, and the arts.

At a parking lot near the School of Economics at YN University, inside a sleek, red, eighth-generation IV supercar:

“Yunmeng, that guy doesn’t mind—at least he knows his place. Let’s go. I’m curious to see what kind of extraordinary man my father has been praising to the skies,” Yang Yuqi said, putting down her phone after reading Huang Yu’s last message.

As she spoke, she started the car and drove out of the parking lot. The red supercar, with its smooth lines and domineering silhouette, turned heads wherever it went.

Yang Yuqi was a sophomore at YN University, majoring in international economics and trade. Her companion, Zhou Yunmeng, was her roommate and closest friend, also a sophomore in the same major.

“Qijie, is it really appropriate for me to tag along on this date your father arranged for you?” Zhou Yunmeng asked timidly, her expression somewhat anxious.

“What’s inappropriate about it? I don’t know what’s gotten into my dad today, insisting I go on a date with some guy. If he finds out I don’t go, he’ll cut my allowance in half next month,” Yang Yuqi replied at once, her tone betraying her annoyance at her father’s heavy-handed matchmaking.

Naturally, she was already quite displeased with this Huang Yu, sight unseen.

Yang Yuqi was puzzled; she knew nearly all the scions of KM City’s elite, but she had never heard of anyone named Huang Yu.

If not for the threat of losing half her allowance, she wouldn’t have bothered with anyone by that name at all.

Zhou Yunmeng fell silent at those words, her demeanor subdued. In truth, she thought the threat of halving Yang Yuqi’s allowance hardly counted as a threat at all—for even with half gone, she would still have a hundred thousand left, a sum that dwarfed Zhou Yunmeng’s entire monthly living expenses many times over.

“The world of the wealthy is truly another realm,” Zhou Yunmeng mused inwardly.

Her father toiled all year to earn what Yang Yuqi received in a single month. She considered herself lucky to have become the roommate and confidante of such a privileged young woman, as it had significantly improved her own quality of life.

Why did she feel so fortunate?

She first met Yang Yuqi during freshman orientation, when Yang Yuqi, with her delicate features, was teased by a student council senior assisting with check-ins. A quarrel broke out on the spot. At the time, Yang Yuqi’s unremarkable clothing masked her true background; she seemed like just another small-town girl entering the big city for the first time.

In contrast, while Zhou Yunmeng’s outfit wasn’t designer, it was stylish and trendy, marking her as a city girl.

The senior’s teasing was mostly harmless, but the seemingly naive freshman proved to have a fiery temper wholly at odds with her appearance.

As fate would have it, Zhou Yunmeng was just behind Yang Yuqi in line. Since they were in the same major and likely to be classmates, and because she disliked the senior’s attitude toward new students, she jumped to Yang Yuqi’s defense. With her sharp tongue and clarity of thought, she quickly turned the tide, and together, they left the senior speechless.

Before Zhou Yunmeng joined, Yang Yuqi’s loud voice and temper alone hadn’t given her much advantage. But with Zhou Yunmeng’s support, the situation flipped instantly: their combined efforts overpowered the senior, whose voice grew weaker until he eventually apologized to Yang Yuqi, bringing the dispute to an end.

That encounter forged the beginnings of a friendship between the two, which deepened even further when they were assigned as roommates.

Thanks to Zhou Yunmeng’s earlier intervention and their compatible personalities, they became fast friends and inseparable companions.

The other two roommates in their dorm were less fond of Yang Yuqi’s outspoken, pampered ways and would often snidely remark that she had all the ailments of a rich heiress but none of the fortune. At such times, Zhou Yunmeng always stood up for her, siding with Yang Yuqi and speaking on her behalf.

Through these exchanges, their bond only grew stronger; they were rarely seen apart, and Zhou Yunmeng looked after Yang Yuqi in every way.

At that time, Zhou Yunmeng’s monthly allowance was over six thousand, which was already considered well-off among the students. When she learned that Yang Yuqi lived on just over two thousand a month, she would insist on footing the bill whenever they went out.

For students from ordinary families, two thousand a month was the norm.

Zhou Yunmeng’s six thousand plus made her relatively affluent among her peers.

Throughout the first semester, except for the occasional hint of princess syndrome, Yang Yuqi behaved much like any other student. No one suspected she was, in fact, the daughter of a truly wealthy family.

Living closely with her, Zhou Yunmeng noticed nothing amiss apart from the occasional spoiled habit. It wasn’t until the end of their first semester, when Yang Yuqi invited her home for the winter holidays, that she learned the truth.

That was Zhou Yunmeng’s first glimpse of what true affluence looked like, her first taste of the life of a genuine heiress.

It was then that Yang Yuqi explained the reason she’d chosen to live as an ordinary student: not to “play the underdog” or to make genuine friends by hiding her wealth, but simply because of a wager with her father. The prize was a forty-million yuan supercar she coveted.

The terms of the bet were simple: first, Yang Yuqi had to live as an ordinary student with only two thousand yuan a month, without revealing her true identity to any classmates or teachers, and successfully complete her first semester. Second, she had to completely cut off contact with all her previous friends and acquaintances during that time.

The wager lasted from the beginning to the end of her first semester. Her father sent people to monitor her secretly, and if she failed on either count, she would lose the car and have to agree unconditionally to some request of his.

In the end, Yang Yuqi won the bet, gaining both the supercar of her dreams and Zhou Yunmeng’s friendship.

When Zhou Yunmeng learned the truth, she felt no resentment at being kept in the dark; instead, she was sincerely happy to have such a wealthy friend.

For Zhou Yunmeng, the mere crumbs from Yang Yuqi’s table were things she once considered out of reach.

From the start of the second semester, Yang Yuqi covered nearly all their expenses, and the two of them rented a villa near campus to live in together.

Every weekend, no matter what she planned, Yang Yuqi took Zhou Yunmeng along, exposing her to experiences she’d never dared to imagine—fine dining, extravagant outings, a dazzling array of amusements.

And whenever Zhou Yunmeng fancied something while shopping, Yang Yuqi would buy it for her without hesitation.

Looking back on her college life since the second semester, Zhou Yunmeng often felt as if she were dreaming, and frequently sighed with gratitude: how wonderful it was to have such a wealthy best friend.