Chapter 4: Living Up to the Reputation

Hearing a series of prompts, Jiang Chen felt a sense of relief in his heart.

However, when his gaze fell upon that bottle of imported liquor, he began to feel uneasy again.

Naturally, he didn't recognize the brand. But if he were to down a whole bottle like that in one go, he would most likely collapse right here.

He came here to be a simp.

Not to risk his life.

"Is one glass okay?"

Leaving was definitely not an option; after all, the "simp relationship" was already bound.

If he didn't win over Li Shurui, then this ten trillion simp fund would be nothing more than a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water—visible, yet utterly unreachable.

"One glass?"

"No, no, it has to be at least three!"

"Yeah, three glasses!"

A few of the girls began to jeer, eager to stir up trouble.

They just wanted to watch a joke unfold and weren't willing to let the show end so soon; in doing so, they inadvertently helped Jiang Chen.

"Fine."

Three glasses it was.

With his alcohol tolerance, three glasses shouldn't be a problem.

Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Chen immediately sat down, acting quite heroic as he grabbed the bottle and glass to start pouring.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

He had still underestimated the potency of the imported liquor. As he gulped down the last glass, a burning sensation flared in his chest, nearly making him vomit, but he managed to force it down at the last second.

"I'm finished."

Watching the tears well up in his eyes from the choking sensation, the girls were delighted. One girl gave a charming smile and flashed a thumbs-up. "So cool!"

Jiang Chen wiped his mouth and checked his favorability rating.

Still -100.

Unchanged.

As expected, picking up girls wasn't that simple.

However, this favorability rating was a bit too soul-crushing; it was actually negative.

If it were 0, he could at least feel somewhat better.

He and Li Shurui knew each other, but they hadn't actually interacted much. Such an exaggerated rating was likely the "credit" of his reputation as a simp.

"Jiang Chen, have you really moved on from Ai Qian?" one girl asked curiously.

"She and I are in the past now."

Jiang Chen's answer was incredibly domineering, making him sound like a completely different person from the legendary simp.

"Then now you..."

Jiang Chen didn't speak; he simply gazed silently at Li Shurui. The silence was quite profound.

The girls looked at one another.

"Hey, you're not making a move on our Shurui, are you?"

Jiang Chen smiled, showing no embarrassment. His throat was so parched from the alcohol that his voice sounded somewhat dry as he said meaningfully, "I just want to become friends with Shurui."

"Oh... so you just want to be friends..." one girl teased, deliberately drawing out the end of her sentence.

"Drinking is fine, but I have no interest in you."

Li Shurui was quite magnanimous. She didn't care about her friends' teasing and responded very bluntly.

To finish, she poured herself a glass of wine. Her exquisite, manicured fingers gripped the rim of the glass as she swirled it gently, adding one more thing

"You're not my type."

As expected of the Art Academy's campus belle.

Truly straightforward.

Even though he had been sentenced to death before he could even act, Jiang Chen's expression didn't change. Perhaps because he was already used to it, he remained impossibly calm, asking nonchalantly, "Then what type do you like?"

Li Shurui lifted her slender, jade-like neck and took a sip of wine. She didn't speak, looking sexy yet cold.

The friend beside her began counting on her fingers, saying pointedly, "At the very least, he has to be no worse than that guy Liang Zhenlun, right? He drives a Maserati Quattroporte. Even if it's second-hand, it's still worth hundreds of thousands. Shurui's partner should, at the very least, drive a car more expensive than his."

A more expensive car.

Wouldn't that be in the millions?

These girls from the Art Academy were damn materialistic!

Jiang Chen felt a bit frustrated.

If it were before, hearing such exaggerated requirements for a partner, he would have stood up and walked away immediately; after all, even if he sold himself, he couldn't afford it.

But the situation was different now.

He possessed ten trillion in simp funds!

What does ten trillion mean?

For a million-dollar car, he could buy a million of them!

That's right.

A full million cars!

But the damn thing was...

There were restrictions on how the simp fund could be used; he couldn't spend it on himself.

"Driving a luxury car doesn't mean they will treat you well. From what I know, Ai Qian and Liang Zhenlun are not happy together."

Jiang Chen spoke with total seriousness, but his words immediately sent the girls into fits of laughter.

"Giggle... Jiang Chen, who told you that? Did Ai Qian tell you? If she's so unhappy, why doesn't she leave Liang Zhenlun? Teehee, I'm dying laughing..."

One girl was even moved to tears.

Clearly, in the eyes of these goddesses of the Art Academy, Jiang Chen was just a foolish, pathetic joke.

"You can leave now."

Li Shurui went even further and issued a direct order for him to leave.

How could she possibly take an interest in someone who wasn't even good enough for Ai Qian?

"Jiang Chen, what are you doing here?"

Luo Peng appeared beside them. He had clearly come looking for Jiang Chen after seeing him not return for so long.

"I ran into Shurui, so I sat down for a few drinks."

As a veteran simp, Jiang Chen's expression remained unchanged even now.

Luo Peng glanced at Li Shurui and the others, easily spotting the mockery in their eyes.

He had dated a girl in the Art Academy before, so he had a very poor impression of the place.

The atmosphere in this college was terrible; the students were generally prone to comparison and were quite materialistic.

Although he didn't know why Jiang Chen was hanging around them, Luo Peng quickly tried to lead his buddy away.

He could see that these girls were looking at his friend like he was a laughingstock.

"Xiao Bai and the others are waiting for you. Let's go."

He pulled at Jiang Chen, but Jiang Chen didn't budge.

"Shurui, could you give me your contact information?"

Luo Peng froze, looking at his best friend in disbelief, utterly shocked.

What was going on?

Was it a case of "an old habit die hard"?

Hadn't he just said that being a simp was a sin punishable by death?

"Jiang Chen, I think you should stop wasting your energy. Go chase your goddess Ai Qian instead. Good luck, we're rooting for you!"

Jiang Chen turned a deaf ear to the girls' teasing, his eyes fixed intently on Li Shurui.

To pursue something even when knowing it is impossible—that was the code of conduct for a simp.

"I told you, you're not my type."

Li Shurui was heartless, giving Jiang Chen no face at all.

Even Luo Peng felt a sense of humiliation, but whether or not to give out contact information was her freedom, so he couldn't say much.

"Let's go."

He forcibly dragged Jiang Chen away.

"Giggle, as expected of our school's famous simp. His reputation is well-deserved. But why did he suddenly stop simping for Ai Qian and start simping for Shurui?"

One girl rested her chin on her hand, watching the departing backs of the two young men with confusion.

"Who knows? He couldn't even keep his own girlfriend, yet he wants to pursue Shurui. He's dreaming."

"Shurui, you should be careful. This Jiang Chen is very persistent. Even after Ai Qian dumped him, he kept pestering her shamelessly. Now that he's set his sights on you, he probably won't give up easily."

Li Shurui drank her wine quietly, completely indifferent to Jiang Chen's departure.

A white swan like her would never bow to a toad in a deep well.