Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed

Chapter 608 - 217 The Women are Shocked: Li Yuan is Truly Ruthlessly Extravagant_3

"I heard that at the end of December, our school is holding a New Year’s Eve gala, which is also a welcome party for new students. Will you be singing on stage? Tingyue is a great singer, too. You could even perform a duet with her..."

"According to the school’s announcement, the student council, Qingmeng, and various other clubs are all recruiting new members next week. Talented Li, are you going to join the student council? I have a feeling you could become the president one day..."

...

On the way there, Ding Shanshan never seemed to run out of topics, constantly asking questions that left Li Yuan quite surprised.

Amid laughter and chatter, the group of one man and three women soon arrived at their old haunt in the Longyu Building.

As a recent regular, Li Yuan felt the young cashier was giving him a peculiar look.

"Sir, welcome back! How many in your party today? We still have private rooms available."

"Ahem, just four!"

"Alright, sir. Our restaurant has a special promotion for handsome regulars such as yourself. Once your cumulative spending reaches 10,000 yuan, you automatically become a VIP and can enjoy a 12% discount on your meals..." the cashier explained with a professional smile.

"Sir, would you be willing to leave your information? We can register you and issue a VIP card."

Li Yuan was about to refuse, but then it occurred to him that he would likely be dining at this seafood restaurant many more times over his four years of university. The restaurant had always done well. Its business was booming even before he left Modu in his past life. In just over a month, he had already come several times, spending more than ten thousand yuan. With four years of university still ahead, he would only have more opportunities to dine here.

"Ahem, sure!"

Li Yuan then smiled at Zhong Tingyue and said, "Little Moon, why don’t you all go inside and start getting some food? I’m just going to register my details."

Zhong Tingyue watched him go, a sweet smile on her face, and wondered to herself, Has he really been here that many times?

Ding Shanshan whispered, "Tingyue, Tingrou, this place is so expensive! It’s 668 per person. I was so shocked I didn’t even dare to speak earlier."

Xu Tingrou wore the same expression. "It’s only because Li Yuan is treating us. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have dared to even walk in. The cost for one person is a whole month of my living expenses. For the four of us, it’s nearly half a year’s worth. That’s just outrageous."

Zhong Tingyue simply chuckled. If you two knew that Li Yuan earned over 40 million yuan from the copyright of a single book, your jaws would hit the floor.

...

After treating Ding Shanshan and Xu Tingrou to the lavish seafood meal, Li Yuan wanted to ask if they were heading back, but he was too embarrassed to bring it up. With the two "third wheels" around, he felt awkward and restrained. He could only hold Zhong Tingyue’s hand. While driving, he even felt too shy to touch her thigh...

Zhong Tingyue saw his expression and had a good idea of what he was thinking. However, she had gotten her period in the last couple of days, which was genuinely inconvenient.

"Little Moon, ladies, do you have any plans after dinner?" Li Yuan asked. He had an appointment with Wang Jun that afternoon to sign a contract.

As for taking Zhong Tingyue home to meet Empress Dowager Xia, that’s not necessary. We already met and had dinner together the day before yesterday. I only said that at the time to keep Bai Weixi and Xia Zhijin from overthinking things.

Ding Shanshan pursed her lips and chuckled teasingly, "Li Yuan, maybe Tingrou and I should head back to school first. We don’t want to keep being third wheels and get in the way of your date with Tingyue. You two should enjoy your time alone."

Xu Tingrou also smiled and added her thanks, "Thank you for the seafood feast, Director Li. It was absolutely delicious."

Li Yuan just smiled and looked at Zhong Tingyue, gently tickling her palm with his finger.

Zhong Tingyue’s face flushed slightly. She shot him a look, bit her lip, and asked, "Senior, do you have other plans this afternoon?"

Li Yuan nodded. "It’s about that milk tea shop I mentioned to you. I need to go sign a contract and take a look at the renovation plans."

"Do you want to come with me? Or would you rather go shopping with Shanshan and Tingrou?"

Zhong Tingyue looked at him, a flicker of anticipation in her eyes. This was the milk tea brand he was building *with her*, so naturally, she took it very seriously.

"I’ll go with you!"

Hearing their exchange, Ding Shanshan asked curiously, "Li Yuan, Tingyue, what’s this about a milk tea shop? You’re talking about signing contracts and renovations... I’m a little lost."

Li Yuan smiled. "Heh, it’s nothing major. I’m just planning to open a milk tea shop, like the Junyue, Too Sweet, or Uncle Tai Mango Tea shops near our campus."

Ding Shanshan still looked surprised. "What? You’re opening a milk tea shop? That seems a bit out of character for you. Aren’t you running an internet company? Zhihu is doing so well, why pivot to milk tea?"

Li Yuan squeezed Zhong Tingyue’s hand and said with a grin, "This milk tea shop is a joint venture between Tingyue and me. It’s a gift for her. I’m the boss, and she’s the boss lady!"

A sweet smile spread across Zhong Tingyue’s face as she explained, "Well, the thing is, Li Yuan said the milk tea industry is going to experience rapid growth in the future, so we decided we should open a shop together..."

Listening to her explanation, Ding Shanshan covered her mouth in astonishment and exclaimed, "Wow, Li Yuan, you’re so romantic! Other people give normal gifts, but you’re giving Tingyue an entire milk tea shop!"

"Where is it? I want to see it too!"

Li Yuan laughed. "The locations for ten shops have already been chosen. We’re just waiting to sign the contracts and finalize the transfers this afternoon. After that, we start the renovations, which will probably take at least another month or two."