GDRG CH16

By the time they were about to board the plane, Shi Xueqing was happy again. Although he had lost six consecutive games of Exploding Kittens, he had successfully bad-mouthed Jason in front of Xing Wei.

“Jason, you just won a game, do you have to be so dramatic? Getting so smug is really ungraceful.” Half an hour before boarding, Xing Wei was still scolding Jason. “It’s a good thing Xiao Shi is good-tempered and doesn’t hold it against you. If it were me, I would have definitely chewed you out.”

Stared at by Jason’s hateful gaze, Shi Xueqing felt a secret thrill. Unfortunately, this thrill was cut short.

“You two bought business class tickets?” Lu Yimeng was very surprised after the boarding groups were announced.

Shi Xueqing: …

How could he have forgotten? For a trip to Hawaii, Xing Wei and the other two girls had booked their tickets together, so they must have booked first class. The trendy, generic guy Jason was decked out in Givenchy, so he definitely booked first class too.

The corners of Jason’s downturned mouth curved up again, his gaze flicking towards Shi Xueqing. Zheng Songtao laughed naively, “First class is so expensive, business is good enough. I used my Amex to buy it and even got a discount.”

Being watched by the girls, Shi Xueqing felt a prickle on his back as if his facade was being torn away. Just then, Jason casually chimed in, “What about you, Cyan?”

But Shi Xueqing hadn’t spent all these years putting on an act for nothing. He smiled faintly. “Is there a difference?”

Very nonchalant, very otherworldly.
To see through the mortal dust and be a carefree soul beyond the world.

Jason: …

Shi Xueqing saw Jason’s face twist for a moment and was satisfied to find that the other guy had indeed been impressed by his act. At the same time, Lu Yimeng looked as if her soul had been touched, happily praising that this was just how artistic youths were.

But Jason seemed to have quickly composed himself. He wriggled his eyebrows at Shi Xueqing. “Fine, then you can sit in business class in the back.”

Doesn’t Jason know that talking this way makes him seem classless in girls’ eyes? Just as Shi Xueqing was about to smile faintly, he heard Xing Wei say, “How can we do that? The six of us are traveling together, of course we have to sit together.”

With that, the young lady rushed off to ask a flight attendant. When she returned, she said happily, “There happen to be two empty seats…”

Shi Xueqing’s heart trembled. Upgrading would cost several hundred dollars more. He quickly said, “High up in the sky, it’s the same no matter where you sit…”

“She said I can use the points in my account to upgrade you guys… Xiao Shi, what did you just say?”

“Nothing.” Under Jason’s gaze, Shi Xueqing resumed his elegant and aloof demeanor. “Thank you.”

A first-class flight of over nine hours, it would be a waste not to take it.

“What’s there to thank me for? We’re all friends,” Xing Wei said.

Under Jason’s stare, Shi Xueqing lowered his head slightly and smiled. “It’s a good thing you’re using points. If you were to use money to upgrade me… I definitely couldn’t accept.”

He vaguely revealed a hint of scholarly weakness. Seeing Shi Xueqing’s embarrassed look, Xing Wei and Lu Yimeng’s eyes softened considerably. Only Jason didn’t expect to have played the role of a malicious villain, and he was fuming internally.

But when Xing Wei checked her points, she found she was a few hundred short. However, she quickly said, “Wait, there’s a guy whose points are definitely enough. I’ll go find him.”

Xing Wei ran off to make a call again. In front of the fire-breathing Jason, Shi Xueqing took out his copy of Difference and Repetition again, held it at a forty-five-degree angle to the light to catch his profile, and lowered his head to read it intently.

Xing Jun had just joyfully picked up a Ferrari from the rental agency. The service was quite good; they had sent someone to pick him up from the airport and take him all the way to the agency. When they handed over the car, they had even filled it with balloons and flowers, giving it a sense of ceremony.

The car was also sprayed with perfume.

“Do you do this for every customer who rents a car?” Xing Jun really couldn’t hold back and had to ask.

The manager smiled enthusiastically. “The boss said that Neil is also his good friend. This was specially prepared for you at Neil’s request.”

Neil was the English name of Xing Jun’s playboy friend, Ni Youwen.

Xing Jun: …

He would definitely make Ni Youwen pay after returning to the Bay Area.

Fortunately, the car was indeed nice. Xing Jun looked at the car and felt that it was barely qualified as a prop for Shi Xueqing’s “Hongmen Banquet.”

At that time, he would surely let Xing Wei see Shi Xueqing’s gold-digging nature, and from then on, she would stay far away from Shi Xueqing.

The plan had moved forward a step. Just as Xing Jun was about to tell the manager to throw away the pile of flowers, Xing Wei’s call came in again. On the other end, Xing Wei got straight to the point, “Bro, let me use your points for XX Airlines.”

Standing next to the several-hundred-thousand-dollar luxury car, Xing Jun suspected there was something wrong with his ears.

“What do you need points for? Is there some special souvenir you need to exchange with points?” Xing Jun could only think of this reason. Otherwise, what could possibly not be bought with money and had to be bought with points?

Xing Wei: “I’m using the points to upgrade my classmates. He doesn’t want to owe me a monetary favor.”

Xing Jun: …………

“Which classmate,” he said coldly.

“Zheng Songtao, and Shi Xueqing. Zheng Songtao joined last, so he bought his ticket separately. Speaking of Shi Xueqing… isn’t this all your fault? You said bad things about him before, and he found out. He didn’t say anything on the surface, but then he went and bought his ticket separately… Aiya, I really feel so bad just thinking about it. Look at him, when I said I’d help him upgrade, he didn’t want it. He only agreed when he heard I could use points… Xing Jun, I don’t even want to lecture you. You spend all day thinking the whole world is full of gold-digging men and women. No wonder you’re still single at 24…”

Xing Jun: …………

Xing Wei: “No more talking. Hurry up and use your points to upgrade them.”

So he’s still digging for your points, isn’t he?

No, wait, he’s spending mine.

Xing Jun didn’t want to get into another fight with his sister before even meeting Shi Xueqing—that would be falling into Shi Xueqing’s trap again. Holding back his anger, he followed Xing Wei’s instructions and used his points—on Shi Xueqing, no less.

Because he was unfamiliar with the process, it dragged on for nearly twenty minutes.

After Xing Wei was done, she hung up, leaving Xing Jun alone in the rental agency with his blood pressure soaring.

It was one thing for Shi Xueqing to dig for headphones and money, but he wouldn’t even let his flight points go. How could there be such an all-pervasive gold-digger in the world?

And they hadn’t even met yet, how was Shi Xueqing digging again?

After ten minutes of gloomy anger, a weak voice came from behind. “Um…”

He turned to see the manager looking at him fawningly.

His face was a mixture of “Are you done yet” and “Why is a rich guy renting a Ferrari haggling over flight points for so long.”

Xing Jun: …

He had never been so humiliated.

He would have preferred if Shi Xueqing had just dug for his money directly. Was this all to maintain a nonchalant persona? Making him waste so much damn effort.

Xing Jun drove the Ferrari away from the rental agency, his impression of Shi Xueqing worsening until it hit a new low—Xing Jun hated wishy-washy people the most, especially those whose words and actions never matched. Shi Xueqing hadn’t even arrived yet, but he had already completed a round of remote “dancing on his last nerve.”

He was lost in his thoughts, not noticing that the roses in the back seat hadn’t been fully cleared out. There was still a large bouquet of red ones right behind his seat.

Halfway through the drive, a sun shower started in Honolulu. The streets were congested at a red light. Xing Jun held the steering wheel with one hand and frowned, hearing a clamor outside his car window.

“A rainbow, there’s a rainbow!” a guy was screaming. “Wait, I’ll stand there, you take a picture of me.”

“Bro, it’s raining outside!”

“This way the photos will turn out better…”

A red light, an intersection, a rainy day. Xing Jun’s heart stirred slightly. He looked out the window. A Chinese guy, probably an internet celebrity, was standing in the rain, holding a magazine over his head, striking a pretentious gay pose. The person taking photos for him was probably his assistant. After several shots, the influencer was soaked, but he finally got a satisfactory picture.

“Bro, you’re soaked. Is this okay?”

“More than okay. The clothes are clinging to my body, perfect for ‘brushing the edge’.”

The light turned green.

Xing Jun scoffed and drove through the intersection without a second thought. The rain was still falling, and not far away, there was even a convenience store that sold newspapers.

There was even a rainbow in the sky. You couldn’t see a sun shower like this in M City.

However.

What had he been expecting just now?

Shi Xueqing wasn’t in Hawaii yet.

Not everyone was Shi Xueqing.

…

Of course, when it came to being annoyingly good at digging, Shi Xueqing was also one of a kind.

The annoying green tea gold-digger Shi Xueqing was currently sitting in the first-class cabin paid for with his points.

From the skies over the northern United States, he was flying towards Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

In his worsening mood, Xing Jun’s heart skipped a beat for no reason.

He frowned, telling himself it was just a coincidence of fate.

…

Fate was like a seesaw. As Xing Jun’s mood went down, Shi Xueqing’s went up.

It was Shi Xueqing’s first time in a long-haul first-class cabin, and he was filled with surprise and delight. He sat on the soft sofa, watching the male flight attendant help him put his bag overhead. After takeoff, he drank a complimentary Hawaiian signature Mai Tai cocktail. The enthusiastic and gentle attitude of the flight attendants mixed with the slight buzz from the alcohol, and every sensation at this moment felt like pure happiness.

There was a bar upfront where he could get drinks, a complimentary iPad and headphones for movies, and unlimited free in-flight wifi without paying an extra $9.99… Other than being surrounded by acquaintances, which made Shi Xueqing only demurely take a few photos of things and feel too embarrassed to pose for selfies, everything was so wonderful it was touching.

So touching it inspired poetry.

Just then, Jason glanced at him and pursed his lips. “What’s there to take pictures of?”

Shi Xueqing turned his camera towards the window, filming the white clouds, and sighed leisurely, “I envy not the golden goblet, nor the white jade cup. I envy not entering the court at dawn, nor ascending the stage at dusk. A thousand times, ten thousand times I envy the waters of the West River, that once flowed by the city of Jingling.”*

Lu Yimeng turned her head. “We just left M City and you’re already homesick?”

Jason, a pure overseas student who didn’t memorize ancient poetry: …

Shi Xueqing flattened his seat back. Looking at the starry ceiling above, Shi Xueqing thought, it would have been great if I had upgraded right after entering the airport.

I could have relaxed in the first-class lounge.

And they had waited through a three-hour flight delay. In three hours, he could have surely found a moment when no one else was around to take a frenzy of selfies in the first-class lounge.

Eight hours passed in a flash amidst this reverie. By the time they deplaned, Shi Xueqing was a little reluctant to leave, so much so that he was immersed in his nostalgia for first class all the way and forgot to speak.

While waiting for their checked luggage, Lu Yimeng asked him, “What are you thinking about, not saying a word?”

Jason glanced at him again. Shi Xueqing opened his mouth and came out with a poetic line, “A line of poetry came to mind… On my shoulders is the wind, and on the wind, the shimmering clusters of stars.”*

A few of them were gathered there. The glasses-wearing bestie, Tao Shu, only said to Xing Wei, “We’ve landed and it’s almost eight. There are no other plans for today, right?”

“Pick up the car, have dinner, and then sleep,” Xing Wei said.

Her two large suitcases appeared on the conveyor belt. This time, Shi Xueqing was quicker and grabbed one. With his messenger bag on his back, pulling his own suitcase and Xing Wei’s, he walked among the group like a victor.

When they got to the car rental area, Shi Xueqing was surprised to find that Xing Wei had only rented an SUV recommended for five people. He was a little confused. “Why a five-seater…”

“We have another car… he’ll be here soon.”

His eyelid twitched for some reason. They were standing in the parking lot next to their rented four-seater. Suddenly, Shi Xueqing saw something burgundy in the distance.

Burgundy… a Ferrari!

Shi Xueqing’s eyes lit up for a second, then he watched in confusion as the car drove towards them.

Suddenly, he had a bad premonition.

“Oh, he’s here.” Xing Wei waved happily at the car. “Many of you have met him before.”

“My brother.”

Shi Xueqing: …

The red car door opened. A tall, handsome man with tan skin got out of the driver’s seat. As his sharp gaze swept over everyone, he glanced at Shi Xueqing.

A glance that made one’s scalp tingle. Provocative, mocking, and ill-intentioned.

Then, he looked at Xing Wei.

“Long time no see,” Xing Jun smiled.

He smiled at Xing Wei, but in his heart, he was thinking, I finally get to see Shi Xueqing again.

The moment he saw Shi Xueqing, his first thought wasn’t of revenge, but of “seeing again.”

Just a simple thought like that.

Shi Xueqing stood to the side, in despair after a brief moment of shock. Seeing Xing Jun’s fake smile, he felt his world begin to crumble.

His long-awaited trip to Hawaii seemed to be starting its descent into hell.

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