GDRG CH6

Chapter 6: Green Tea Schemer Shows Off His Headphones

The bright yellow car key momentarily shut Shi Xueqing up. Seeing him suddenly go quiet, Xing Jun thought he had finally managed to scare him and that he was feeling guilty.

A sense of accomplishment and pride welled up inside him.

When it came to threats, less was more. Since Shi Xueqing was being obedient, Xing Jun decided to let him off the hook for now.

On the way back, Shi Xueqing was as meek as a quail, not saying a word, only occasionally glancing over at Xing Jun. Xing Jun thought he was trying to read his expression, but when he glanced back, he felt Shi Xueqing’s gaze was a bit low.

It wasn’t like he was looking at his face, but rather… at his waist.

Xing Jun: ?

“Thank you, Brother Xing, for taking me to dinner and driving me home.”
As he got out of the car, Shi Xueqing spoke again, ever so politely.

He was so refined, it was as if he wasn’t the same person Xing Jun had threatened with his car key half an hour ago. Xing Jun turned his head and happened to see the tip of an ear revealed beneath his dark hair. A silver stud on his fair earlobe glinted, flickering before his eyes like a star.

When he tried to look again, Shi Xueqing was already holding his headphones and opening the car door. The small stud disappeared into his hair. Xing Jun let out a soft scoff and only said to Shi Xueqing, “Just remember what I told you tonight.”

Shi Xueqing stood outside the car, smiling at Xing Jun. As he looked at the white BMW, his mind was filled with “Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari.”

Right, Xing Wei could afford to rent a private jet to go to Seattle, so what was a Ferrari? Maybe Xing Jun even had several Ferraris!

The Xing family was so rich!

As Xing Jun uttered his threats, he suddenly found Shi Xueqing’s smile a bit dazzling. His eyes reflected the streetlights, sparkling brighter than the stars in the sky.

He was stunned for a moment. When he looked again, Shi Xueqing was already holding his headphones and turning to go upstairs.

…A green tea is a green tea. His smile was so full of service spirit; he must have practiced it in the mirror countless times.

Ten minutes later, Xing Jun drove away from Shi Xueqing’s apartment building.

Back in his hotel room, he idly held his phone, the candle Shi Xueqing had given Xing Wei sitting beside him. He stared at the candle for a long time before calling Xing Wei.

“Hello?” It was noisy on Xing Wei’s end; she was probably blasting her idol’s stage performance at home again.

“I gave the headphones to Shi Xueqing and treated him to a meal,” Xing Jun said, feigning nonchalance. “You don’t need to thank him separately anymore.”

“Oh… how did it go?”

“He seemed pretty happy,” Xing Jun thought, excluding the part at the end where he got scared.

He wondered what Shi Xueqing was doing right now. He thought that the words he’d said should have left some sort of impression on him. He wondered if Shi Xueqing was thinking of him at this moment, just as he was thinking of Shi Xueqing.

He must have left some kind of impact on him. Suddenly, an idea struck Xing Jun. “Did Shi Xueqing post on his Moments?”

“Huh? Why are you asking?”

“He was taking pictures all over the restaurant, must have been… fifty or sixty shots. Looked like he’d never eaten at such a nice place before.” Xing Jun shifted his sitting position, thinking he was exposing Shi Xueqing’s vain true nature to his sister. “Did he post on his Moments?”

“Let me see… Nope.”

“What about Instagram?” Xing Jun asked again.

“Hold on, I’m replying to a message… Brother, when did you get so nosy? If you want to see, just add him on WeChat and look yourself.”

Xing Wei got sidetracked replying to messages and went offline, probably getting into a voice chat with her girlfriends. Xing Jun sat on the bed for a while longer and opened WeChat.

Xing Wei had created a group chat a few days ago when they played Werewolf. Shi Xueqing’s WeChat profile picture was another selfie, also a side profile, very atmospheric.

His WeChat name was also Cyan_S.

His WeChat was set to show ten recent posts to strangers. Xing Jun opened it and saw mostly artsy things. The leaf calligraphy and collage poem from the other day were there. The top post was still the Hesse collage poem. No Michelin-starred restaurant.

“…”

If he’s not posting on Moments, surely he’d post an Instagram Story? Otherwise, what was the point of taking all those photos?

On Instagram, the account named Cyan_S was in his message list. Xing Jun stared at the words “Follow Back” for a long time, then smirked contemptuously.

There was no way he was going to follow back a gold digger. He had said it before: it was best for green tea gold diggers like Shi Xueqing to stay as far away from them as possible.

He put down his phone, thinking he should at least give Shi Xueqing some time to edit the photos—he would probably post on his Moments tomorrow.

Before bed, Shi Xueqing did not post on his Moments.
After waking up, Shi Xueqing did not post on his Moments.
…
When the hell was Shi Xueqing going to post on his Moments?
…

Of course, Shi Xueqing wouldn’t post about going to a Michelin-starred restaurant on his WeChat Moments. He maintained two different personas on Instagram and WeChat Moments.

On WeChat Moments, he cultivated an artistic, tranquil style, as if his mind was filled with nothing but art. Because Moments were more private, he wanted people to see his essential, lonely soul. Only then would they spend money on him to “heal” him.

As for Instagram, of course, it was all about being as high-class as possible.

Obvious displays of wealth were only posted on his Stories. Flaunting wealth was like fireworks; it should only flash for a moment, leaving an impression of being rich. If he made dedicated posts, his entire feed would be filled with luxury goods. How tacky would that be?

Besides, it would make it harder to fish for people. He couldn’t have people figure out he was a green tea gold digger the moment they landed on his page.

Shi Xueqing beautifully edited his photos with a filter and posted them to his Stories, receiving countless likes and noticing that “Balenciaga Bro” had viewed them. The hard work of choosing the perfect filter had paid off. Shi Xueqing then elegantly made a post on his feed.

One picture was of the restaurant’s elegant interior, one was of the delicious omakase, one was a photo of him with the Japanese chef, and another was a carefully selected photo of himself sitting at the bar, chin in hand.

His gaze was melancholic and lonely. He had spent a long time editing it.

The caption was minimalist: a moon emoji, as if hinting at someone saying goodnight to someone.

After a while, many people started sending him direct messages. Having seen Xing Jun’s Ferrari key, Shi Xueqing had lost interest in dealing with these people. He washed his hair and went to bed.

The next day, and the day after, Shi Xueqing quickly forgot about the omakase dinner. His main mission these two days was to go out wearing the B&O H95s and find an opportunity to casually show off the headphones.

Xing Jun waited for three days and didn’t see a Moments post from Shi Xueqing. He grew increasingly annoyed, wondering where all the photos Shi Xueqing had taken had gone.

Although he wanted to laugh at Shi Xueqing, it was still his money that had paid for Shi Xueqing’s Michelin-starred meal.

Did he send them privately to someone?

The more he thought about it, the worse Xing Jun’s mood became. He told himself he just couldn’t stand Shi Xueqing using his money to pretend to be a rich guy.

Xing Wei also noticed his bad mood. She thought her brother was worried about company business. During lunch, she said, “Brother, let’s go to 12th Street later. There’s a newly opened matcha brunch place near our school. I want to try their drink.”

“What drink?”

“Matcha Strawberry Latte.” Xing Wei thought a sweet drink might improve her brother’s mood. She handed her phone to Xing Jun. “Look.”

Xing Jun merely glanced at the phone distractedly, and then the steak knife in his hand clattered onto the plate with a “clang.”

On the screen, Shi Xueqing was holding a Matcha Strawberry Latte, his smile faint and distant.

More prominent than the drink was the pair of headphones around his neck—silver-white, with a sleek design. Nine hundred dollars, gleaming in the sunlight.

“Brother! What’s wrong? Don’t break the plate!”

“My hand slipped,” Xing Jun said, feigning nonchalance. “Is this… Shi Xueqing’s Instagram?”

“Yeah,” Xing Wei said with a laugh. “He really likes this place. He’s been going every day for the past few days.”

Xing Jun: …

“Let me see.”

He scrolled through Shi Xueqing’s Instagram on his sister’s phone. Today was a Matcha Strawberry Latte, yesterday was a Matcha Coffee Latte, the day before was a Matcha Mango Latte… Xing Wei was still talking across from him, “He really must love matcha.”

Xing Jun: …

What matcha? In every single photo, that nine-hundred-dollar pair of headphones was sparkling on Shi Xueqing’s neck.

The neck was so white and long.

Xing Jun finally found the post about the Michelin restaurant on his Instagram. In the comments, someone asked, “Did you go alone?”

It was a girl who posted it.

Shi Xueqing replied with a smiley face, saying nothing else.

“…”

“Brother, what are you doing with my phone? Are you secretly reading my chat history?” Xing Wei couldn’t take it anymore. “Give me back my phone.”

Xing Jun gave her the phone, maintaining a calm expression. “I was just looking at your classmate’s Instagram. It’s been over two years since graduation. Seeing a bit of youthful energy really makes me nostalgic.”

“Saw a pretty girl? Who do you want to see? Just follow her and look yourself.” Xing Wei stuck out her tongue.

Xing Jun picked up his own phone again. He opened Cyan_S’s profile again, stared at the “Follow Back” button, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

…

Shi Xueqing finished the last sip of his Matcha Strawberry Latte. He looked at his few posts with satisfaction, thinking his method of showing off was really good.

Now everyone knew not only that he was an artistic young man who loved the small joys in life and liked to drink cute little drinks, but also that he had a new pair of nine-hundred-dollar headphones.

He had also run into Balenciaga Bro at the brunch place these past two days. As the saying goes, the circle of international students is just that small. Balenciaga Bro’s face soured when he saw the headphones and asked him, “Someone gave them to you, right?”

Shi Xueqing just smiled without a word, only saying softly, “You’re too tacky.”

Balenciaga Bro: …

Shi Xueqing took his drink and left, overhearing a few girls nearby say, “The premiere of The Blue Room is soon. Do you want to go?”

“What’s it about?”

“I think it’s an indie art-house romance… Next Friday, the midnight premiere at the 15th Street AMC… Wow, the moment the two protagonists reunite and kiss is exactly at midnight.”

It sounded so romantic. Shi Xueqing’s heart skipped a beat. He decided to look up what The Blue Room was about.

Just as he was about to search, the bubble tea shop owner called. The owner unceremoniously told him to come back and work an extra shift, his tone bossy and demanding.

“It’s not my shift right now,” Shi Xueqing said, a little angry.

“I told you to come, so hurry up and come.” The owner hung up.

Shi Xueqing: …

Ever since Shi Xueqing had refused to cover a shift last time, the owner’s attitude towards him had become increasingly rude. Shi Xueqing held back his anger, but he was under someone else’s roof and had no choice but to go.

His anger grew and grew, needing an outlet.

Before leaving, he glanced at his Instagram—someone new had followed him, another international student from the school, it seemed.

He followed back, and suddenly thought of a glaring account—Xing Jun still hadn’t followed him back.

Holding his phone, Shi Xueqing suddenly let out a cold laugh. In a fit of anger, he unfollowed JensenX.

The premiere of The Blue Room is on the same day Xing Jun flies back to the Bay Area. What a coincidence.

So what if you have a Ferrari? You’re not a girl.

Get lost!

…

Xing Jun held his phone for a long time. Finally, he convinced himself.

I just want to monitor Shi Xueqing’s movements.

He thought of Shi Xueqing’s photos again.

Such bulky headphones, yet they looked so right on his neck.

The neck was so white and long.

No wonder he wanted to fish for headphones.

He opened Instagram, intending to tap “Follow Back,” but quickly noticed the button had changed.

He looked closer.

At some point, Cyan_S had unfollowed him.