Wang Qiqi and Jiang Xin bid farewell, politely declining the escort offered by Cao Rui's roommates. Wang Qiqi walked home with a heavy heart. Though she hadn't exchanged many words with Cao Rui, her feeling about him was distinctly negative.

Shi Man had only just arrived home herself, enjoying the food brought back by Juliana, when she saw Wang Qiqi walk in. She was quite surprised, glancing at the clock. "So early?" It was barely eight; surely the gathering hadn't ended already.

"We barely exchanged a single agreeable word," Wang Qiqi muttered, snatching the spoon from Shi Man's hand and stuffing a few mouthfuls into her own mouth. "The dinner table was mostly just listening to gossip…" Besides, the quality of the food overall wasn't great—too much rich, heavily flavored meat. It simply didn't suit Wang Qiqi’s palate.

Shi Man was startled by Wang Qiqi’s sudden action. Even Juliana put down the documents she was reviewing and looked over. "You didn't eat anything, did you?" Shi Man stammered, remembering that Jiang Xin's boyfriend was supposed to be treating them. "Thank goodness I didn't go. I would have been furious." Shi Man hated it when someone supposedly treated them, yet they ended up still hungry—it felt like they were being mocked.

Juliana felt immensely relieved too. Even eating frozen dinners at home was far better than having to socialize on an empty stomach.

Wang Qiqi devoured several more bites until her stomach stopped protesting. Only then did she speak. "Maybe if Nana had gone, we would have gotten a decent meal in a private room." Although Wang Qiqi couldn't be certain about Cao Rui's character based on her initial impressions, her statement was surprisingly bold.

What? What did Qiqi mean by that? Shi Man and Juliana exchanged confused looks. "Why would Nana get a private room and good food if she went?" Shi Man genuinely couldn't fathom Qiqi’s reasoning.

"Because I suspect Jiang Xin's boyfriend, Cao Rui, knows about Nana's situation." Seeing that Shi Man and Juliana didn't believe her, Wang Qiqi recounted what had happened at the restaurant. "Of course, it's also possible I'm just overthinking things."

After listening, Juliana casually sat down by the dining table, stroking her chin in thought. "Maybe it's not you overthinking. It might actually be exactly as you suspect." Juliana didn't doubt Wang Qiqi’s ability to read someone's eyes. Ever since Qiqi’s parents passed away, many people looked at her with varying expressions once they learned about her family's circumstances. In light of that, Juliana couldn't believe Wang Qiqi misjudged the look she received.

"But how would he know about your situation?" This was what Shi Man found most baffling. When filling out the school registration forms, Juliana had significantly embellished her family background. Moreover, Jiang Xin's boyfriend was from a different hometown than they were. How could he know, especially considering how private Juliana had always been? From elementary through high school, she kept her life deeply hidden; few people knew about her family, and even fewer knew the details so clearly.

"Perhaps he's just perceptive about us," Juliana mused, unable to figure out why Cao Rui would know about her. "Regardless of whether he knows or not, we need to be cautious from now on. What worries me is whether Jiang Xin might have told Cao Rui about you two buying property." Looking back, even if Cao Rui wasn't as ill-intentioned as they suspected, Juliana still felt deeply uneasy, as if they were being plotted against.

Hearing Juliana say that, Wang Qiqi’s mouth dropped open, and she let out a long sigh. "If he found out, there's nothing we can do…" I can just say I sold the house back home and bought this one in the Capital with a loan." Wang Qiqi mentally thanked herself for taking out extra loans when buying the properties. "Female friendships are so unreliable; maybe she’ll sell us out over a man," Wang Qiqi lamented.

Shi Man nodded in agreement beside her. "If I hadn't shown up, she must have been quite angry." Shi Man and Jiang Xin used to be quite close. If it weren't for the 'dunce' (referring to Cao Rui) and the importance of this lecture, she would have attended. She had originally planned to treat them later, but after hearing Wang Qiqi's account, she dropped the idea. Even if someone has schemes, shouldn't they realize how close the three of us are? By scorning Qiqi, he’s scorning all of us. He’s too pragmatic. Doesn't he understand that if his relationship with one of the three of us is poor, his relationship with the other two won't be good either?

"Let her be angry. Are we supposed to coddle her? Besides, if she’s going to coddle her boyfriend like that, who knows how much trouble she’ll cause later on." Juliana hadn't met Cao Rui, but her impression of him was already very poor. "In a few days, I’ll treat everyone to a meal at the school cafeteria as an apology."

Juliana had no intention of inviting Cao Rui to their home. She preferred to keep a distance from someone with such ulterior motives, ensuring he wouldn't know where they lived so he couldn't stage 'accidental' meetings under various pretenses.

"Then tomorrow," everyone confirmed. Given their class schedules, the three knew that if they all had morning classes, they could eat together; otherwise, they’d sort out lunch individually. Wang Qiqi knew they all had classes tomorrow morning, so it was best to just host the meal and avoid dragging things out.

Shi Man and Juliana didn't mind; it was just two extra people at lunch. However, Shi Man felt a pang of pity for the 'dunce' (Cao Rui). "What a pity for the dunce. I thought Jiang Xin would find a decent man, but it turns out she's just another face-lover." What good is a handsome man? Gao Kai is much better looking than Han Tao, but so what? His character isn't up to par.

Since everyone already had a poor impression of Cao Rui, compounded by his attitude toward Qiqi that day, Shi Man and Juliana had already internally condemned him. They would only maintain civility out of respect for him being Jiang Xin's boyfriend—provided, of course, that Jiang Xin still considered them friends.

"Which man she chooses has nothing to do with us," Juliana stated coldly. If she started prioritizing a man over them, Juliana wouldn't hesitate to treat her as a stranger. "Manman, what do you think?" Juliana knew that although Jiang Xin and Wang Qiqi had known each other the longest and were in the same class, Wang Qiqi’s relationship with Jiang Xin was only slightly better than that of casual acquaintances. In contrast, Shi Man and Jiang Xin had the best connection.

"Hmph. If her man doesn't respect Qiqi, I won't respect her either. Enough, let's change the subject." Shi Man didn't want to waste such a lovely evening discussing some scumbag. "The realtor messaged me today; someone is interested in our property. We’re going tomorrow afternoon to sign the lease!" Shi Man was ecstatic just thinking about finally collecting rent.

Wang Qiqi hadn't expected tenants so quickly and was quite excited too. "Really?" As long as the houses weren't rented, Qiqi felt immense pressure. Although she received rent from her hometown property, Wang Qiqi intended to save that until winter break to bring it to the Capital for the house purchases. It was easier to get loans now; with an income statement, one could take out loans for ten or eight properties without issue. This way, the hometown rental income would serve as down payments. If possible, Wang Qiqi even wanted to save the rental income from the Beijing properties.

Thinking about the austere life she was about to lead made Wang Qiqi want to cry. It felt like she was returning to the calculating existence she endured before her rebirth. However, the thought of the comfortable life awaiting her brightened her mood considerably. "It will be much easier to make my loan payment next month." The five-thousand monthly payment was a heavy burden, but now that the house finally had tenants, Wang Qiqi felt she would only need to cover about a thousand yuan in mortgage payments each month.

Shi Man let out an affirmative sound, then suddenly sat bolt upright, nearly startling Wang Qiqi and Juliana. "I need to save aggressively too. I hope to buy another property next year." Shi Man planned to buy a smaller one then, slowly acquiring properties one by one to expand her real estate portfolio. She didn't have Qiqi's daring to buy so many houses at once; the loans alone were enough to stress her out. Hadn't she stopped nagging about her terrible boss exploiting child labor lately just because she was worried about making loan payments? Shi Man got a headache just thinking about living that way.

Jiang Xin saw Wang Qiqi approaching and was about to say something, but then recalled how her boyfriend had repeatedly urged her not to be upset that Juliana and Shi Man hadn't come when he walked her back to the dorm yesterday. He assured her they must have been busy. Jiang Xin had mostly set aside the issue of their absence, but seeing her boyfriend clearly expecting her friends, she felt a surge of anger when neither Shi Man nor the others showed up, so she didn't speak first.

Seeing Jiang Xin's demeanor, Wang Qiqi sighed internally. She had become rather haughty. In the past, Wang Qiqi might not have stayed, but after everything she'd experienced, if Jiang Xin wanted distance, she couldn't be the only one trying to keep up appearances. If Jiang Xin could play the polite game, so could she. "Xin-xin girl, are you free for lunch?"

Jiang Xin considered it. "I am. What is it?" Could it be that they were treating her today? If so, it meant Nana and the others still cared about her, and perhaps they just hadn't had time yesterday. Thinking this, Jiang Xin felt that their own invitation yesterday might have been a bit hasty.

"Nana and Manman and I all have morning classes today. We decided to have lunch together, so we wanted to invite the two of you. Nana has been so busy lately; she hadn't even returned home when I did yesterday. I was really worried that if we kept delaying this meal, we wouldn't know when it would happen," Wang Qiqi said apologetically.

Jiang Xin knew Juliana was busy. She thought for a moment. "Let me page Cao Rui first. Once we set a time, we can meet up?"

Whether Cao Rui had something planned or not, he would immediately rearrange his schedule upon receiving a call from his girlfriend. He was genuinely surprised by how quickly Juliana had responded. After confirming the meeting time and location, Cao Rui skipped his next class. Back in his dorm, he began meticulously washing and grooming himself, determined to present his best appearance to Juliana.

(To be continued)