Chapter 8 Invitation

"Minhui, did you hear that Shen Yuan got dumped by the senior?"

Chen Ling whispered to Fang Minhui.

"Ah? When did that happen?"

Fang Minhui was somewhat surprised. In her memory, they had already been together for three years; why would they suddenly break up all of a sudden?

"It happened just yesterday afternoon, a lot of people at the school saw it, I heard it from someone else."

Shen Yuan used to drive a BMW 4 series and was quite popular for wooing seniors at the International campus; everyone knew there was such a wealthy second-generation guy.

The scene at the school gate yesterday where Zhou Wanting dumped Shen Yuan and got into the passenger seat of an A7 was witnessed by many.

Chen Ling was naturally very gossipy, and she particularly enjoyed such juicy campus gossip, especially since Shen Yuan was a classmate of theirs.

"I see."

Fang Minhui nodded thoughtfully; she actually used to have quite a good impression of Shen Yuan. Tall and handsome, he had a frivolous smile that was very appealing to girls.

Not only was he good-looking, but the key point was that he was also rich. Being able to drive a BMW 4 series to school meant his family must be very wealthy.

Unfortunately, at that time, Shen Yuan only had eyes for the senior.

"Shen Yuan just looks like the type to squander his family's wealth. Driving such a nice car to school before, and now with his family bankrupt, it's no wonder the senior left him. It's too insecure."

"Mm-hmm."

Fang Minhui nodded again, agreeing with Chen Ling's point. Now that Shen Yuan's family had gone bankrupt, the senior was not foolish; she certainly wouldn't stay with him any longer.

"It's good that you didn't get together with him back then, or you would have really wasted three years for nothing."

As Fang Minhui's best friend at the International campus, Chen Ling also knew that Fang Minhui used to like Shen Yuan too.

Fang Minhui pursed her lips, not knowing how to respond to that.

In fact, she had always held a place for Shen Yuan in her heart. During her freshman and sophomore years, she had clung to hope that someday Shen Yuan would break up with the senior, giving her a chance to get close to him.

But now that the day had actually arrived, Fang Minhui found herself feeling indifferent.

She even thought to herself, 'If the senior herself dumped him, why should I still bother about him?'

It indicated that aside from his good looks, he truly lacked other merits. Perhaps the senior was attracted to him mainly because of his family's wealth at the time.

Moreover, his family didn't have money anymore. It was said that in order to pay off debts, they even sold their vehicles and houses.

On the other side, Shen Yuan watched the Feel-good Index value displayed above Fang Minhui's head, feeling a bit excited inside.

The counselor Lih Xiao had a Feel-good Index of only 65 towards him, but he hadn't expected Fang Minhui's to be 72. It seemed the class belle had been unable to let go of him in her heart.

But the next second, Shen Yuan was stunned, as the Feel-good Index suddenly started to change!

The value of 72 was actually slowly dropping: 71... 70... 69...

At first, Shen Yuan suspected his eyes were blurry from not being sober, but after rubbing his eyes, the number continued to decline.

What the fuck?

Shen Yuan instantly became unsettled. If it dropped below 60, that would mean Fang Minhui, this NPC, wouldn't be able to generate income for him anymore!

"I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Shen Yuan stood up. Although he didn't know why Fang Minhui's good impression of him was dropping so fast, if he let it continue, he would truly miss out on this opportunity.

"Old Third, what are you doing?"

Huang Haibao was slurping his noodles when he noticed Shen Yuan suddenly standing up. Cao Shunjin lifted his head, equally baffled.

"Old Huang, let me ask you, if Fang Minhui gets together with me, would you mind?"

Shen Yuan asked.

Before Huang Haibao could speak, Cao Shunjin took over: "Old Third, it's not about whether I mind or not. The key point is, you simply can't win the class belle now."

"You really think you're still the rich second-generation kid who drove a BMW 4 series?"

Cao Shunjin was unsparing when he started to criticize, leaving Shen Yuan speechless. He simply didn't bother to explain and instead continued to look at Huang Haibao.

Huang Haibao declared decisively, "I don't mind, as long as the class belle isn't with Li Zhanpeng, I don't mind whoever she's with."

"Okay, I was just waiting for you to say that."

Shen Yuan laid down his words without any further ado and walked straight over to Fang Minhui and her companion, greeting them: "Good morning."

Fang Minhui and Chen Ling were both somewhat taken aback because they weren't really acquainted and had barely communicated with each other.

In their class, the boys and girls didn't really hang out together, and even more so, everyone was divided into several small cliques.

The last time Fang Minhui reached out to chat with Shen Yuan on WeChat was three years ago, and they had barely talked since then.

"Good morning, is there something you need?"

Fang Minhui asked quietly. Although she didn't know why Shen Yuan was looking for them, she knew basic courtesy was necessary.

"Are you free tonight? I've reserved two seats at Star Sushi's seasonal kaiseki course. Would you join me?"

".....?"

Fang Minhui was stunned for a moment. Is Shen Yuan asking me to accompany him for dinner?

Star Sushi's seasonal kaiseki course?

The Japanese restaurant where the average expense is over a thousand per person?

Chen Ling was also bewildered. Hadn't Shen Yuan just broken up with Senior Shi yesterday? And now he's asking Huihui out for dinner at such a fancy restaurant?

She knew of Star Sushi's seasonal kaiseki course. She often saw videos of people checking out the restaurant on social media. It was one of the poshest Japanese restaurants in Star City.

And besides, didn't Shen Yuan's family just go bankrupt? How could he still afford to take Huihui out for dinner?

Seeing that Fang Minhui hadn't responded yet, Shen Yuan added, "After dinner, would you join me for a walk on the second floor of the IFC Mall? I also want to pick out a birthday gift for my sister."

"Tonight?"

Fang Minhui looked up at Shen Yuan, and after coming back to her senses, she hesitated, aware of the recent events with his family.

Your family is going through that, and you're asking me to dine at such an expensive restaurant?

"Yes, think it over, and if it's possible, give me an answer by noon," he said.

Shen Yuan smiled and pointed at her mobile phone on the table: "After all, you have me on WeChat."

"Hmm...."

Fang Minhui nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I'll be going."

Watching Shen Yuan's retreating figure, Chen Ling couldn't help but whisper: "My goodness, Shen Yuan is inviting you to a top-tier Japanese meal."

"The question is, does he have the money?"

"Uh...."

Fang Minhui also realized the gravity of the issue and pondered: "Shen Yuan's family went bankrupt a few months ago. Business is always fluctuating—earn today, lose tomorrow. Maybe their situation has improved again."

"Possible, otherwise he wouldn't invite you to such an expensive restaurant. It's at least a thousand per person, which is nearly my whole month's living expenses!"

Chen Ling exclaimed with feeling. It really was a display of obscene wealth. Sometimes, the gap between people is even bigger than that between pigs and humans.

"What about Li Zhanpeng? Didn't you just go to the movies with him yesterday?"

Chen Ling turned to look at Huihui. After all, she had just seen a movie with a guy yesterday and now she was going to have Japanese cuisine with another guy from the same class today. Was that really okay?

The gossip in Chen Ling's heart was starting to stir, but a love triangle like this was quite exciting!

And with all three of them in the same class, the thought was somehow thrilling!

"Minhui, was that Shen Yuan just now? What did he want?"

At that moment, an unhappy voice came from not far away. Fang Minhui and Chen Ling turned their heads to look and saw it was Li Zhanpeng.

"Uh... he was asking about today's classes."

Fang Minhui brushed her bangs aside unnaturally, making up a random excuse.

Li Zhanpeng frowned: "Don't we have the schedule in the group chat? What kind of nonsense is he asking!"

...