It took nearly ten minutes before Li Shuirui returned, her face pale and tinged with a hint of panic.
"What happened?"
Jiang Chen immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Something happened to my dad."
Li Shuirui was extremely anxious. Without time to explain much, she began searching for the nearest upcoming flights on her phone and found one departing in just over two hours.
"I'm sorry, I have to go back."
Having booked the ticket, an anxious Li Shuirui grabbed her bag, intending to leave immediately.
"I'll go with you."
Jiang Chen stood up as well.
Li Shuirui looked at him.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying I'm going home with you; I mean I'll accompany you to the airport. You can't just leave your car at the airport forever, can you?"
Without time to think too much, Li Shuirui nodded.
The two of them quickly walked out.
"Take care, please come again."
Because she had been drinking, Li Shuirui drove while Jiang Chen sat in the passenger seat.
Li Shuirui was flustered; as she was pulling out of the parking space, she nearly scraped the Toyota Land Cruiser parked next to her.
"Calm down. Being anxious won't help you right now."
Jiang Chen handed her the credit card. "Your card."
"Put it in your bag."
The bottle of Bertus, worth over thirty thousand, hadn't even been finished, but at a time like this, Li Shuirui couldn't care less. She pulled up the navigation and sped toward the airport.
"What happened to your uncle?" Jiang Chen asked.
"Heart disease."
Li Shuirui's tone was hurried. He had never seen her this panicked before. "My dad's heart has never been very good; he was hospitalized for it a few years ago. He suddenly collapsed again today."
"Good people are blessed by heaven. Your uncle will definitely be fine."
Jiang Chen didn't know how else to comfort her.
Li Shuirui stopped talking and focused entirely on driving, weaving through gaps in traffic and nearly causing several collisions.
Fortunately, they arrived at the airport safely without any incidents.
Li Shuirui parked the car and handed the keys to Jiang Chen.
"Thank you for the trouble."
"It's nothing," Jiang Chen said gently. "Go, quickly."
Li Shuirui nodded, grabbed her bag, and turned to step out of the car.
Jiang Chen watched her walk into the airport until she was out of sight.
"Jingjing, yes, I need to go home for a bit. Can you help me ask for a few days off..."
In the waiting lounge, after finishing her call, Li Shuirui gripped her phone and let out a slow breath.
*Stay calm.*
Panic wouldn't solve anything at a time like this.
Li Shuirui looked up at the flight information, then looked down at her phone, only then noticing several unread WeChat messages.
Opening them, she saw that they were from Xiang Xingren.
"I'm really sorry, I actually ended up having you treat me to dinner."
Looking at the message, Li Shuirui couldn't help but frown.
Treat him to dinner?
What did that mean?
She immediately replied with a "?".
"It was originally my friend's treat today, but when we went to pay, the waiter told us that you had already paid the bill for us. Shuirui, your senior is truly too polite."
Xiang Xingren was a smart man. Although the waiter told him the lady at that table had paid, how could he not guess who the real person was?
His relationship with Li Shuirui hadn't reached that level of intimacy, and since Li Shuirui was a girl, there was no need for her to do such a thing. Furthermore, he knew that Li Shuirui was not a wealthy socialite.
"Next time there's an opportunity, I'll treat you both to dinner," Xiang Xingren sent another message.
Li Shuirui did not reply.
She certainly hadn't helped pay the bill. Could it be... Jiang Chen?
She had gone to take a call and left her credit card on the table. Could Jiang Chen have taken her card to act like a big spender?
Thinking it over, that seemed to be the only possibility.
Men, after all, all care about saving face.
Li Shuirui found the credit card in her bag again and checked her phone's text messages.
Usually, there is a notification after a credit card transaction, but strangely, she hadn't received any alerts so far.
Perhaps the cost of a meal wasn't a huge deal, but if someone used another person's card without their knowledge just to save face, that was a matter of character.
Subconsciously, she wanted to call Jiang Chen to question him, but after hesitating, she felt he didn't seem like that kind of despicable person.
Could there be some misunderstanding?
To be safe, Li Shuirui chose not to call Jiang Chen, but instead called the bank.
"Hello, I'd like to check..."
After checking the transaction history of the card, Li Shuirui was surprised to find that it wasn't that there were no notifications, but rather that the card truly had not made any purchases today.
"Thank you."
She slowly put down her phone, somewhat dazed.
*I am a trillionaire.*
*I want everyone to know that you have been given the contract to this entire fish pond.*
*My treat.*
...
The words echoed in her ears like a demonic chant.
Jiang Chen hadn't used her card, so how was the bill settled? And how did he pay for Xiang Xingren's table?
It was obvious.
The only possibility was that he paid with his own money.
But the problem was, he was a notorious pauper. Where did he get so much money?!
Li Shuirui took a deep breath, wanting to call him immediately to find out what was going on, but just then, the announcement rang out.
"Flight CZ3101 is about to depart. Passengers on this flight, please prepare for boarding."
Li Shuirui looked up, listening to the repeating announcement. She could only temporarily suppress her urge to question Jiang Chen, put away her phone, grabbed her bag, and walked toward the boarding gate.
***
At this time, Jiang Chen had already called a designated driver and was on his way back to Dongda University.
Don't drink and drive.
As a law-abiding citizen, he naturally wouldn't do anything that violated the law.
"Handsome, are you a student at Dongda?"
"Yeah."
Sensing the envy in the driver's voice, Jiang Chen smiled and said, "This car isn't mine; it belongs to a junior of mine."
To his surprise, hearing this made the driver even more envious. He glanced sideways at Jiang Chen and said sourly, "Handsome, you're a lucky guy."
Jiang Chen smiled but said nothing.
Over the next two days, Jiang Chen once again became a trending topic at Dongda.
The news that Li Shuirui's Panamera was being used by him spread to every corner of the campus.
If the relationship wasn't intimate to a certain degree, how could she possibly lend him her car?
For a time, rumors about the two of them dating were rampant. Countless students beat their chests and stamped their feet in grief, wailing about the "hatred of having one's wife stolen" and even threatening to go smash the car.
But they only shouted; they didn't dare actually act. They couldn't afford to pay for such an expensive car.
Thus, even though that white Panamera was parked openly under the men's dormitory building, it remained perfectly intact.
Of course, besides the cursing, there was another group of people who went all out to support Jiang Chen, saying this was a great victory for men.
How inspiring! How motivating! A penniless pauper making a comeback against a rich and beautiful woman!
From a "simp" to a hero, Jiang Chen now had a slight tendency to become an idol.
"Jiang Chen, I'm fucking convinced. You're the man."
Even Luo Peng, who considered himself a player, admitted defeat and was thoroughly impressed.
"Lend me the car tonight. I've got a thing tonight, you know."
"I can't be an accomplice to your crimes and help you ruin innocent girls."
"Screw you! You think you're so high and mighty!"
While the two were joking in the dorm, Jiang Chen's phone rang.
It was Li Shuirui.
(End of Chapter)