Free Web NovelChapter 674: Chapter 236: Li Scumbag: No, You Came Just In Time (Vote for Monthly Ticket)
This birthday party brought joy to some and sorrow to others. The happiest person was undoubtedly today’s birthday girl, Bai Weixi. She was so moved that she cried from beginning to end, her emotions running high. Her small hands clung tightly to Li Yuan’s the entire time, unwilling to let go. She followed him wherever he went, reveling in the glow of being his "official girlfriend" for the moment.
To the beat of the dynamic music, the bonfire cocktail party couldn’t quite compare to a real bar, but the atmosphere was even more vibrant. Since everyone knew each other and could take the stage to sing, it felt like a hybrid of a bar and a karaoke lounge.
Li Yuan took a cocktail from the bartender and handed it to Bai Weixi, but his gaze surreptitiously drifted toward a corner where Zhong Tingyue was drinking alone. Zhong Tingyue acted like an invisible person today, keeping her presence to a minimum and seemingly not wanting to steal even a sliver of Bai Weixi’s spotlight. However, no matter how low-key she tried to be, she naturally shone wherever she stood, attracting the attention of others—and that, of course, included Li Yuan.
Looking at Zhong Tingyue drinking by herself, Li Yuan felt a pang of melancholy. He desperately wanted to walk over, pull Little Moon into his arms, and comfort her. But today was Bai Weixi’s birthday party, and doing so would be highly inappropriate. He could only suppress the stirring in his heart and focus on Bai Weixi. "Bai, try this martini. It’s pretty good."
Bai Weixi was in high spirits, and surrounded by Li Yuan and her classmates, she let her guard down. She took the glass and had a small sip. "This tastes pretty good, Li Yuan. It’s a little sweet." This kind of cocktail tasted much better than spirits or beer—a bit like the RIO drinks of the future, making it more suitable for women.
"Try the food the hotel prepared," Li Yuan said, picking up a piece of steak. "It’s all freshly grilled—all kinds of seafood, barbecue, and pastries. You can have whatever you want." He deftly cut off a piece with his knife and fork and brought it to Bai Weixi’s lips. She happily parted her red lips to accept it.
The bonfire party did away with a formal sit-down meal, opting instead for something closer to a Western-style outdoor buffet. This format was much more suitable for the occasion. The crowd consisted of first-year university students who were quick to embrace new things, and this setup allowed them to eat, drink, chat, and sing all at the same time.
While enjoying being fed by Li Yuan, a blushing Bai Weixi pointed at the stage and said with a grin, "Listen, Li Yuan! Yuchen is singing a duet with Xu Zhi. Their relationship has really improved."
Li Yuan followed her gaze and saw that the lad, Xu Zhi, had indeed pulled Wang Yuchen onto the stage for a romantic duet. His mind flashed back to the accidental "close encounter of the third kind" from that other night. An unusual emotion surged within him, but he quickly suppressed it. A friend’s wife should not be coveted. I’m a respectable person, after all... Li Yuan didn’t have a good impression of Wang Yuchen. Her "green tea" tendencies were far more pronounced than Bai Weixi’s, and she had a very obvious materialistic streak.
As the saying goes, one takes on the color of one’s company. In her past life, Bai Weixi’s gradual slide into being a bit of a green tea herself was surely related to this so-called best friend. During his chat with Xu Zhi last night, while he hadn’t pressed for details, he guessed the reason Xu Zhi had privately sold off some of his Bicrown Di shares was most likely to cash out and fund his relationship with Wang Yuchen. That would explain why Wang Yuchen had suddenly restored her "intimate" relationship with Xu Zhi these past few days.
Watching Xu Zhi sing his heart out in the duet, Li Yuan thought to himself, Dazhi, if you can’t even claim her first blood with a golden opportunity like this, don’t blame me for looking down on you.
He had a gut feeling that if Xu Zhi could win Wang Yuchen over tonight, things would be fine. At the very least, his long dedication would see some kind of return. But if he still failed, he’d probably end up completely manipulated by her, just like in his previous life.
The more you invest without seeing a quick return, the greater the "sunk cost." You’re forced to keep doubling down like a gambler until you’ve lost the very shirt off your back. In his previous life, he was the one who fell into that "gambler’s trap." He had invested far too much and become completely lost, unable to see the situation clearly. By the time he reached that point, trying to pull out and cut his losses was incredibly difficult because all of his chips were already gone. In this life, however, things are different. With women like Zhong Tingyue, Xia Zhijin, and Jiang Zhiyu, he could take things slowly, enjoying the thrill of testing sensitive boundaries and embarking on a long, slow courtship. But it was precisely his fear of falling into the "gambler’s trap" again that made him choose this rapid-conquest strategy.
As he chatted with Bai Weixi, Li Yuan used his peripheral vision to observe everyone else at the party. Suddenly, his eyes landed on his high school buddy, Wang Shuai. The perpetual single was fawning over a girl named Zhou Lei like a cat that had just smelled fish. The two of them seemed to be having a great time talking.
Li Yuan asked curiously, "Bai, what’s the deal with that Zhou Lei from your class? Does she have a boyfriend?"
Upon hearing Li Yuan’s question, Bai Weixi’s instinctive reaction was that Li Yuan had taken an interest in yet another one of her college classmates.
