Chapter 15 Take a Look at the Underlayer

The sky had completely darkened, and Zhou Wang stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the suite's living room, listening to soft music, holding a glass of champagne in hand, and gazing down at the myriad lights of Ming City, his eyes deep and contemplative.

He gently sipped his drink and immediately grimaced, "Is champagne always this sour?"

Not much of a sparkling wine drinker, Zhou Wang broke character within a second, no longer playing the part of high society. He decisively turned off the music, set down the champagne, and grabbed a bottle of Roosevelt No. 10 craft beer from the fridge, taking a hearty swig and then finally leaning back on the sofa with satisfaction.

"Beer is more to my taste!"

The champagne was part of Bella's hotel check-in gift, and while the drinks in the fridge were complimentary, the wine was not.

However, with Zhou Wang's current income, drinking hotel-priced 80-yuan-a-bottle craft beer was just like splashing water; it didn't faze him.

He drank and listened to music only as a means to quell a small restlessness within his heart, a feeling that stemmed from another part of the check-in privileges Bella had told him about.

In addition to complimentary use of the meeting room and fitness area, he was automatically granted VIP status at the hotel's high-end SPA center partnered, enjoying the highest discount and even a free trial voucher.

Staring at the card on the table, and the beautiful girl who graced the advertising cover, Zhou Wang, who had never experienced such luxuries before, was filled with longing.

He didn't suspect the massage SPA of being shady; it was just that within such a short span of one day, after so much had happened, every cell in his body screamed for release and decompression.

At just over 20, it was normal to feel some vague restlessness due to the surge of hormones.

"I still have things to do, important things to do..."

But ultimately, Zhou Wang steeled himself against the urge to indulge in the experience right then and there. Instead, he summoned the system interface, opened up his reading list, and began planning his next learning session.

With a total of 14 days, Zhou Wang wasn't sure how many books he could get through, so he chose the safest approach: from easy to difficult, planning to adjust on the fly if his reading pace picked up later on.

In the end, Zhou Wang carefully selected 20 books. Although he definitely wouldn't complete so many, as long as he finished at least a quarter of them and earned a minimum of 200 points, he would have a solid baseline.

By the time Zhou Wang finished editing his self-made book list, it was already past 10 p.m.

He called Bella to deliver a late-night snack, and while sitting at the dining table, Zhou Wang picked up the phone he'd earlier set to silent.

No missed calls, but several text messages awaited him, though aside from the hotel's welcome message, all were marketing texts.

These spam messages were different from the ones he'd received before; some were from securities firms, others from luxury second-hand goods recycling companies...

Zhou Wang couldn't help shaking his head.

Under the reign of big data these days, personal privacy was a joke. In less than a day, his mother didn't even know he had come into money, yet all sorts of creatures had already jumped out at him, and Zhou Wang couldn't even be sure where the leaked information had originated from.

He opened WeChat and spotted a flurry of new messages in the class group. Scanning through them, he saw that a bunch of classmates in Ming City were inviting each other to Ding Yi's birthday banquet the day after tomorrow.

His local roommate, Li Cheng, had even privately asked if he was back in Jing City and wanted to go together.

Remembering that perpetually beaming girl, Zhou Wang zoned out for a moment before finally replying to Li Cheng.

"No, I'm a bit busy lately, no time."

To say he had no feelings for Ding Yi would be hypocritical. After all, he had once been genuinely moved and also felt regrets.

Zhou Wang didn't care for the vulgar term "Moonlight," but if he confronted his feelings honestly, it would amount to physical attraction and... continued physical attraction.

Zhou Wang simply felt the timing wasn't right; their relationship could never return to what it once was. And, he was certain of one thing: Ding Yi must have sent special invitations to certain classmates.

Since he wasn't on that list, he had to be aware of the situation.

Even if he followed the group invite to join the fun, Ding Yi wouldn't show any particular reaction, but... what would be the point?

Assets of one or two million were trivial in the face of a family like Ding Yi's. If there were ever a day for them to meet again, Zhou Wang hoped he could approach it with a more tranquil mindset.

After replying to Li Cheng, Zhou Wang scrolled down and tapped on the conversation with a red "11" notification.

"Brother, what are you up to?"

"Isn't my new nail art fabulous? Did it just outside the school gate, the whole set for only 198~"

"Nail art photo + miniskirt, legs.jpg"

Was she really asking him to check out nail art?

Zhou Wang's eyes glazed over Yajing's pale legs for a few seconds before continuing to scroll.

"I get it, Mr. Zhou must be busy, right?"

"I just wanted to chat with you, brother, you don't have to reply to me, hope I'm not bothering you~"

"Brother, I just took a shower and am about to sleep, showing you our cozy dorm!"

"Selfie.jpg"

The backdrop of the photo was a four-person dormitory with a pink and green color scheme that did indeed look cozy, but the main attraction was still Su Yajing in the foreground.

She really had just taken a shower, her damp hair casually draped to the sides. After removing her makeup, her natural, clean cheeks bore a sweet smile, radiating innocence.

She wore a loose gray T-shirt that just covered her most voluminous curves, which were barely obscured by the tips of her hair. It was difficult to tell if she wore a bra or not, but the shape was quite nice.

She leaned back slightly so the T-shirt stretched to cover the top of her thighs, followed by bare legs, as if she wore nothing underneath...

"Check out your undergarments..."

Zhou Wang subconsciously typed a few characters, then rethought it and deleted them.

Wouldn't sending that signal to her that he had taken the bait?

Zhou Wang may not understand flirting, but he definitely wouldn't let himself lose the upper hand so easily.

He scrolled down a little more and realized that Yajing, who should have been asleep, had sent him a few more messages and even pushed a name card to him.

It seemed his boss Mao Yi wanted to add Zhou Wang on WeChat, but Yajing didn't dare decide for Zhou, so she pushed Mao Yi's WeChat to him, letting Zhou Wang make the call.

Zhou Wang checked out the name card and found the WeChat name amusing; it was a long string:

"AAA Business hosting, Nightlife consultation, Local accompaniment, Manager Xiao Mao"

He knew what "local accompaniment" meant, but "business" and "nightlife" gave him a feeling of half understanding, half not.

Zhou Wang was somewhat curious, so what exactly was Manager Mao's business when all these services were combined?