GDRG CH1

Chapter 1: The Green Tea Schemer Shakes Milk Tea

Shi Xueqing was shaking milk tea in a bubble tea shop run by Chinese owners.

He wore a black face mask, and black-framed glasses covered most of his face. His shoulder-length black hair was tucked into a beanie, making him look furtive, as if terrified of being recognized.

A few female international students were chatting casually at a nearby table, and a few of their words drifted into Shi Xueqing’s ears.

“Are there any good-looking guys in our year?”

“Edmond?”

“No foreigners. Chinese guys. I can’t appreciate someone I have a communication barrier with.”

“…The best-looking guy in our year has to be that Shi Xueqing, right?”

“…”

Shi Xueqing discreetly glanced at his reflection in a mirror. Even in his work uniform, his tall figure looked handsomely upright under the drab apron.

But the girl’s next sentence nearly made him stumble.

“I heard Shi Xueqing is pretending to be rich. His family cut him off. Is that true or false?”

“Cut him off? Do you mean his living allowance was downgraded, or can he not even afford tuition?”

“No way… Didn’t you say you wanted to pursue him?” someone teased, poking the girl in the middle with her elbow. “Perfect timing. A fallen pretty boy on clearance.”

The girl in the middle, who had rhinestone nail art, took a prim sip of her milk tea. “There’s a way to pursue rich people, and there’s a way to play with poor people. If his family really went bankrupt, am I supposed to pay his tuition? That’s a lot of money…”

“Speaking of the richest person in our year… my god, the ‘big missy’ posted photos again.”

The phone in Shi Xueqing’s pocket vibrated. It was a notification that a user marked as “Special Attention” had posted on Instagram.

He shoved his phone deeper into his jeans. The three girls were huddled together, heads touching, whispering as they looked at a phone.

“Another limited edition… That ‘big missy’ really buys bags by the carload.”

“The comments are full of sycophants sucking up, calling her a ‘fair-skinned, rich beauty’ left and right. It’s disgusting. As if she’d ever look at them.”

“I heard Xing Wei is super generous. It’s hilarious, last time she chartered a private jet to take a few friends to the West Coast for vacation.”

“A private jet? What does Xing Wei’s family do? How are they so rich?”

“No idea. But I heard her older brother is in charge of the family business now. He has a total sister complex and gives her money without a second thought…”

“Even if you don’t become her boyfriend, just getting into her inner circle of close friends, you could probably get a lot of money…”

“A’Qing, time to switch shifts.”

A Hong Kong colleague in the bubble tea shop uniform patted Shi Xueqing’s shoulder.

“Okay, I’m off.”

Seeing the girls look over, Shi Xueqing quickly turned and left, trying his best to ignore the glances falling on him.

Vaguely, he heard one of the girls say, “That guy making the bubble tea has a pretty good figure, like a model.”

“Don’t you think he looks a little familiar?”

Of course I look familiar, Shi Xueqing thought. I’m the broke international student you were just gossiping about.

In the changing room, he took off his work uniform and put on the clothes he came in. When he took off his glasses, a pair of elegant and distant willow-leaf eyes were revealed. When he removed his mask, a fair and handsome face was exposed.

He took off the black beanie and combed his specially styled collarbone-length hair. A white shirt, a gray jacket, slim-fit jeans, a silver chain necklace resting on his collarbone, and a silver stud in his earlobe.

What a standard image of a long-haired, artistic pretty boy.

He gave himself a faint, ethereal smile in the mirror, his willow-leaf eyes filled with emotion. Shi Xueqing looked at himself and felt even more satisfied.

Very ‘green tea,’ and very good at baiting a hook. What a natural-born kept man.

The sunlight outside the bubble tea shop was dazzlingly bright. Shi Xueqing emerged from the alley and walked gracefully down the street. He wore a chain bracelet from a niche brand on his wrist, looking no different from any other artsy international student with a bit of money. Good-looking people always have a lot of luck with romance. He had just stopped at a bus stop when someone came up to chat with him.

“Are you also a student at M University?”

Shi Xueqing glanced at him.

A university sweatshirt, Levi’s jeans, Skechers sneakers.

An ordinary watch, an ordinary backpack, an ordinary hairstyle.

And he was a guy.

Shi Xueqing smiled gently, not wanting to be offensive, but it was already a polite refusal. It was one thing that this person hitting on him was a guy, but he also didn’t look like he had any money.

Of course, being a guy was also a big problem. He was a straight man.

A straight, “green tea” man who wanted to date a rich older woman.

His wrist ached from shaking milk tea all afternoon. Sitting on the bus back to his apartment, Shi Xueqing idly scrolled through Instagram. The post by the rich beauty, Xing Wei, had many comments. Shi Xueqing just thought their methods were crude.

He didn’t comment on Xing Wei’s post, just gave it a like. Then, he posted a story.

In the photo, he was shooting the sunset through a piece of a shattered sunglasses lens.

After a while, Xing Wei commented on his story: “Your glasses broke?”

He replied reservedly, “At least I got to see the last sunset on the West Coast with them.”

This was a photo Shi Xueqing had cunningly taken when they had all gone to the West Coast together a while back.

Shi Xueqing thought Xing Wei would reply again, but she didn’t. After a while, he got off the bus one stop early. As he walked towards his apartment, he puzzledly went to check Xing Wei’s Instagram.

Under her latest post, Xing Wei was chatting with an unfamiliar account.

The unfamiliar account was named JensenX.

JensenX: Got a new bag again?
 

Xing Wei: What’re you doing on Instagram?
 

JensenX: Done with company business. Haven’t been to your school yet. I’ll come by next week to check it out.

Alarm bells went off in Shi Xueqing’s head.

Xing Wei and this JensenX seemed very familiar, and the tone of their chat was unlike that of ordinary classmates. When faced with competition, Shi Xueqing was quick to act. He clicked on the person’s Instagram profile, wanting to scout out the enemy.

The person’s Instagram was a private account. Shi Xueqing couldn’t see anything but a profile picture.

The profile picture was also shot very abstractly. A back view of someone standing in the night, so blurry you could only tell it was a man.

A man!

Could it be Xing Wei’s boyfriend?!

Shi Xueqing was frantic. To make matters worse, the elevator in his apartment building was broken again, with a large “OUT OF SERVICE” sign taped to the door. Left with no choice, he had to take the stairs. After shaking milk tea all afternoon, he now had to climb four flights of stairs.

The place he lived in was a studio in this apartment building—the cheapest type of unit. No bedroom, no partitions, the kitchen, living room, and bedroom were all one space. The only thing worth mentioning was a huge glass window. Sometimes Shi Xueqing would curl up in bed, watching the sunset slowly sink outside the window, dyeing the small overseas city where he was studying in a rosy glow.

This was probably the only peaceful and happy moment in his life as an international student who had been cut off by his family.

Of course, his studio was also very messy. There were some luxury goods he had bought in high school, as well as some fake shoes and clothes. He lay exhaustedly on his bed and repeatedly clicked into that JensenX’s profile three more times. Finally, he sat up, and started searching for the username on Google.

No one was going to stop him from finding a rich woman!

…

“Jensen, congratulations on closing another big deal.”

In the rest area of a professional boxing studio, Chen Fan said with a smile to his young friend.

The young man sitting next to him was wiping sweat with a towel. He had wheat-colored skin, well-built muscles, and his handsome face, with its sharp brows and deep-set eyes, carried a hint of fierce, not-to-be-messed-with energy. Chen Fan looked at him and sighed with emotion again, “You only graduated two years ago, right? And you’re already so capable. I heard Old Xu sighing the other day, saying that if his good-for-nothing son had half of your, Xing Jun’s, ability, he could die in peace.”

The young man, whose English name was Jensen and Chinese name was Xing Jun, just smiled. Chen Fan added, “We have a gathering at the shooting club next weekend. Are you going?”

“I’ve taken ten days of annual leave. I plan to go see my younger sister and check on how she’s doing,” Xing Jun said. “Before, I was busy fighting for the family inheritance, and later, I was busy with company matters. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her in almost a year. It’s funny, I even remembered her major wrong before.”

“That can’t be helped. No one else in your family can be relied on. You’ve had a tough few years,” Chen Fan comforted him, then suddenly gave a sly wink. “Speaking of which, have you ever considered your own marriage prospects?”

Xing Jun, who was packing up his boxing gloves, froze. “Marriage prospects?”

“Yeah, you’re already 24 and you’ve never even had a girlfriend. Old Xu wanted to introduce his niece to you before—did you notice? He was so dejected, said you had no spark with his niece at all.”

Xing Jun let out a laugh. He held his things, paused, and said, “Forget it, no rush.”

“No rush? You don’t have any impulses at all? Or, do you prefer men?”

“It’s not a matter of gender. Well, for me, it’s all about the same,” Xing Jun said.

“Then what’s the problem? For example, that female painter from before…”

“They’re not the problem. It’s me—I’m quite suspicious. I’m always worried that people have ulterior motives for getting close to me. You know what my family situation was like before. It’s finally starting to recover with me, and it can’t afford another mess.” As Xing Jun spoke, his handsome face turned a little gloomy. “I don’t plan on considering any intimate relationships for the next few years. I’ll just focus on making sure my sister’s life is going well first.”

“Alright, but being too suspicious isn’t good either,” Chen Fan said. “Speaking of which, your sister is 18 now, right? She’s a beautiful young lady. You should pay more attention to her when you have time, don’t let her be tricked by someone with ill intentions. I hear international students are especially starved for affection, especially at this age.”

Xing Jun drove home from the boxing studio. He had a high requirement for privacy and lived in a villa on a semi-mountainous area, having spent a fortune on the highest level of security facilities around it. After getting home, he first logged into his long-unused Instagram account and commented on his sister’s post, then received a call from Xing Wei.

“Brother, are you really coming to my school?” Xing Wei said. “Are you finally done with your work?”

Xing Jun smiled. “Are you happy?”

“Happy—I guess! After all, we haven’t seen each other in almost a year!” Xing Wei said excitedly. “What are you coming here for? I don’t have time to take you around all day.”

“To see how you’re living, who’s around you.” As Xing Jun scrolled through his sister’s Moments and Instagram, he remembered Chen Fan’s topic. “By the way, is there any guy you like?”

Xing Wei posted a lot on Instagram, sometimes more than ten times a day. He was patient at first, but later lost the mood to look at every single picture. When he saw a few vacation photos, he was about to scroll past, but his finger stopped on one of them.

The photo was a group shot of several people on a beach. A tall, handsome boy was standing next to Xing Wei, his face slightly turned towards the camera. Even in the dim light, it was clear his skin was very fair.

And he was staring at Xing Wei, smiling gently at her.

“You know, at my age, my main priority is fangirling—did you see my Moments cover photo? I’m so obsessed with him lately, he’s practically a princess…”

Xing Jun scrolled to Xing Wei’s Moments cover. On it was a fair and handsome boy band idol, holding a microphone, his eyes closed, looking like a delicate angel.

He scrolled back to Instagram to look at the vacation photos. Among them, Xing Wei actually had a separate photo with that boy. The boy was helping Xing Wei adjust her scarf, smiling at the camera, looking delicate and weak.

A bit “green tea,” a bit pretentious.

Years of experience fighting for the family inheritance lit up a “this person is not to be trusted” warning in Xing Jun’s mind.

Xing Jun’s smile faded, and his expression gradually became blank. He said, “So you like this type.”

His fingertip tapped on the boy’s face, ignoring Xing Wei’s excited nonsense on the other end, “Yeah, I really want to find him a few husbands.”

“When are you coming over?” Xing Wei said again. “It’s the Dragon Boat Festival this weekend, and I’m having a party. If you come, I’ll have to arrange for someone to pick you up from the airport…”

“This weekend. You don’t need to worry about me.” Xing Jun said, his eyes still fixed on the boy’s face. “A Dragon Boat Festival party is a good idea. Invite more people, preferably all your friends.”

“Oh, okay. You’ve become an extrovert again after starting work, old brother. I’ll introduce you to them then,” Xing Wei giggled. “Maybe I can even introduce you to a sister-in-law.”

The call ended. Xing Jun was still looking at that photo. Suddenly, he let out a cold laugh.

Then, in the gaps between other photos, he also found that boy.

His smile and attire were deliberate, with a touch of intentional artistry and pretentiousness. Xing Jun scrolled back and forth, then started looking through Xing Wei’s liked posts. He went through them one by one and finally found that person’s account.

Cyan_S.

Cyan, and he even used a very niche English name. The S was probably his surname.

Cyan_S was a private account. Xing Jun could only see his profile picture—a very artistically shot side profile, wearing a shirt, neck exposed, with collarbone-length hair, looking even more beautiful than in the group photo. While Xing Jun thought the photo was very beautiful, he also felt that everything was within his expectations.

Probably photoshopped, he thought. Otherwise, how could he be so good-looking.

Isn’t my sister studying in some backwater village? It’s not a big city, where would a beauty like that come from.

Just then, a notification popped up on his long-unused Instagram. Xing Jun saw the message, frowned, a little surprised.

The message read: “Cyan_S has started following you.”

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