"I touched both bags."
"?"
The girl in the neighboring bed widened her eyes. "You touched them?"
As if savoring the texture, Sister Guan continued, "I've never touched real leather before, so I didn't know what it felt like. But Lao Wu's bag is different. Once you've touched real leather, you know the feeling—it's completely different from any leather item I've ever touched."
"...?"
"Is it really that magical?"
Sister Guan clicked her tongue, unable to describe the smooth feeling. "You guys should find a chance to touch it yourself. Oh, and have you ever bought a comb?"
Suddenly reminded of something, she made an analogy enthusiastically: "A cheap comb from a street stall that costs twenty yuan and a sandalwood comb that costs several thousand—they're completely different things, not even in the same category, okay? Once you've touched a good item, you understand. Expensive things have their reasons. A sandalwood tree that's grown for hundreds of years and ordinary wood from a year or two, real leather versus fake leather—how could they be the same?"
"Hearing you say that," another roommate mused, "I remember last year during the event at Zhongjin, the school-organized one. Near the end, I was dragged by the class monitor to do manual labor. I went to the CEO's office, and there was a chair—I swear it was like lifting gold. It didn't look big or heavy, but it was pure rosewood... Incredibly heavy, very solid."
Guan nodded, looking pleased that her disciple was teachable, and said that Xiao Yingying's bag felt inferior.
Bed Six said, "In that case, if Lao Wu's family is so rich..."
"No idea at all. Then she's really low-key...!"
"Are you a luxury goods expert? How can you say that with such certainty? Who are you to decide if it's real or fake?" Feng Yuan was getting agitated, wanting to argue. "The entertainment reporters said this bag was reserved for a big shot. The address was blurred, but it was in XXX wealthy area. Sister Xiao's boyfriend lives in that wealthy area!"
Hearing this, Sister Guan laughed contemptuously. "Nonsense. Where in North City is there a wealthy area? Whether it's Changhai, Pingxi, Liangang, the new city Datong, or Sujiatun, it's all mixed—rich and poor intertwined. It's hard to have a concentrated wealthy area."
Then, as if remembering something, she paused, wrinkled her nose, and changed her tone: "Maybe Junyi Mansion on Jingxi Road counts."
"But you can't get in there with just anyone. Even just having money isn't enough."
"Wow... Is Sister Xiao's boyfriend's family that rich?"
"Don't listen to her blowing smoke. He's just a nouveau riche."
"Huh?"
"Really? Spill the details?"
Guan Qianru clearly knew something, but she rarely bothered to reveal it. "A profiteer in aquatic product transport. A few years ago, he caught a wave and made some money. Married a second wife who's a 985 graduate. The couple started a business together and got into the industrial park."
"That guy is the son from the second wife. He inherited some of that scholarly aura, so they're investing heavily in his education."
"So Sister Ying is about to marry into a wealthy family?"
"Dream on. North City mothers check three generations of criminal records even for their sons' blind dates with 211 master's graduates."
"Her? Wishful thinking."
"So... Sister Ying's bag is fake, and Cheng Buxi's is real?"
"Yeah. You guys can touch it yourselves next time."
Feng Yuan couldn't take it anymore. "Even if hers is real, she could still be kept by someone. Look at her arrogance, like she doesn't care about anyone. She's definitely a gold digger."
"Maybe her family just has money. Look at her wardrobe—everything she wears and uses is high-end, even her hand cream is Chanel. She just doesn't like to show off."
"How do you know those brand-name items in her wardrobe aren't fake? Remember the fake Arc'teryx she wore last time?"
"True..."
"But with looks like hers, if I were a big shot, I'd like her too. Smooth skin, beautiful like a fairy, and such a sweet voice. I bet she sounds great in bed."
Gao Yabin had just come out of the bathroom when she heard that. She rolled her eyes so hard they almost got stuck.
-
At the drama club.
Fang Xinyi, who rented a place off-campus, had just learned from a friend about what happened in the dorm last night. She was so angry she wanted to go confront Qu Yijiao right away, but Cheng Buxi remained detached, curled up in a chair in the corner, completely unaffected, leisurely reading a comic book.
Fang Xinyi was frustrated by her lack of spirit. "I say, Cheng Buxi, they're practically stepping on your face, and you're still so calm? Even if you're careless, you can't be like this."
It wasn't that she was born without a heart; it was just that she had experienced too many similar incidents since childhood. When one's tolerance threshold for a certain thing is raised high enough, everything else seems trivial.
Fang Xinyi criticized her current carefree attitude.
Just then, "Cheng Buxi!" the head of the club suddenly called out.
She looked up blankly, having been secretly reading a romance novel.
The head said to her, "Starting today, you'll play Helena."
She blinked in confusion. "..."
"It's settled."
What was settled? How?
Seeing her still bewildered, Fang Xinyi explained, "Yu Yan broke her leg the day before yesterday, so this role opened up. They want you to play it."
Helena, the girl in Shakespeare's *A Midsummer Night's Dream* who is madly in love and cannot have her love returned.
Previously, this role had been Yu's. Since she couldn't come, they needed a replacement.
Cheng Buxi: "..." But everyone knew her acting was terrible—atrociously bad.
The head hesitated a little after saying that. Although Cheng Buxi's appearance was impeccable, her acting skills... were yet to be evaluated. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone so long without taking the stage, only doing organizational work.
Moreover, standing next to Qu Yijiao, she made Qu look like a maid, which wouldn't do, since Qu Yijiao was the lead actress.
But aside from her, everyone else was even more unreliable. For the end-of-month school celebration, they had to settle for this.
Qu Yijiao only learned right before going on stage that her acting partner had been replaced, and with none other than Cheng Buxi. Already bearing a grudge against her, she trembled with rage, turned into a desk-cleaning master, smashed everything backstage, and her eyes in the dressing mirror seemed capable of dripping black-red poisonous blood.