Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

Chapter 176: Chapter 117: Believe in the Light

The girls adored the class monitor’s particular brand of charm. He was usually so proper, yet even his flirting was done with such a straight face that they couldn’t find a reason to object. In fact, they all loved it.

On the other hand...

Cao Wo, Wang Dachui, and Zeng Cao: ’Sigh... We feel so defeated. He really has a way with the ladies. It’s incredible. Just look how happy they are.’

"...Alright, that was just a little warm-up for today. Everyone can go about their business. Tomorrow night, I’ll show you all another kind of disappearing act."

"What’s disappearing?"

"I’m not the lewd one! The class monitor was the one acting like a scoundrel just now."

"Nonsense! Stop slandering our honorable class monitor. He was clearly just performing a magic trick for us."

"What a travesty!"

Su Ran smiled, left the athletic field, and headed to the parking lot. He found two pink envelopes on his Aston Martin. Inside were confessions written in delicate handwriting, along with their contact numbers.

’Hmm... Confessions from the upperclasswomen.’

Su Ran received these often. Without a word, he placed them on the passenger seat and drove off. He didn’t throw them away; it was a sign of respect for the girls who pursued him. Far from being annoyed by their advances, Su Ran was grateful. After all, having someone like you is a wonderful thing. It just needed to be handled with care.

He started the Martin and lightly pressed the accelerator.

VROOOM~

The seductive roar of the engine immediately filled the air. It wasn’t intentional; it was simply the sound a multi-million-dollar sports car was supposed to make. After all, if you bought a car like this but couldn’t race it on public roads, couldn’t you at least enjoy the sound of the engine?

Otherwise, you wouldn’t be getting your money’s worth.

As he drove out of the school gate, he saw Shen Qingning standing in the cold wind, waiting for the bus.

The Aston Martin slowed to a stop in front of her, and the window rolled down.

"Get in."

"Class Monitor?"

"Get in."

"No, no, it’s okay. The bus will be here soon."

"Come on, get in. It’s freezing out, and it’s starting to snow. You’re shivering all over. Don’t be so formal, we’re classmates. Get in, I’ll give you a ride."

"Uh... okay, then."

Given the class monitor’s insistence, Shen Qingning felt she couldn’t refuse again. She opened the door, picked up the love letters that had been on the seat, and sat down. After closing the door and buckling her seatbelt, the car began to move. Shen Qingning wasn’t the gossipy type; she just neatly stacked the letters and placed them on the center console.

The most expensive car she had ever sat in was an Audi A4. Now, sitting in her class monitor’s multi-million-dollar supercar, she was incredibly stiff. She didn’t dare move her feet, terrified that the dirt on her shoes would soil the pristine interior.

She didn’t dare look around, instead clutching her Redmi phone with its cracked screen. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, and she didn’t even have the courage to say where she was headed.

A very insecure girl.

"Are you heading to the Neighborhood Dessert Shop on Chang’an West Road?"

"How did you know?"

Shen Qingning was stunned, a jolt of anxiety running through her at the thought of a private part of her life being exposed.

"I passed by the other day and saw you out front, handing out flyers in a big yellow duck costume."

"Oh."

Hearing this, Shen Qingning’s grip on her phone tightened, and she lowered her head.

She was the poorest student in their class. Her clothes were incredibly simple, a world away from her classmates’. She was frugal with every meal, her life governed by meticulous budgeting.

Su Ran didn’t know the details of her family situation, but from these little clues, he could deduce that things were tough for her.

"It’s nothing to be ashamed of, really. I was poor before college, too. I’ve handed out flyers, worked as a carpenter installing flooring... and had plenty of people look down on me..."

Hearing this, Shen Qingning looked up at Su Ran. "You were poor?"

"Yeah, very, very poor. I had to support myself. While other kids spent their high school years studying and having fun, I spent mine studying and working. I took any job I could to make money. During the summer after my sophomore year, I even carried bricks on a construction site. I was almost killed by a steel rebar that fell from the floor above..."

As he spoke, Su Ran reminisced about those days. It wasn’t that the memories were too painful to look back on; he considered them formative experiences.

"To be honest, back then I was a lot like you. Uh... you won’t get mad if I say something?"

"I won’t."

"What I mean is, back then, I was all alone and so young, working just to get by. I felt insecure, too. But then I watched *Forrest Gump*. I figured, if Forrest could live his life without caring what other people thought, then why should I? I was a perfectly capable person, earning my own keep. Why on earth should I care about the opinions of people who could only get by on their parents’ dime?"

So...

At a red light, Su Ran patted Shen Qingning on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "You have to believe in the light."

The light turned green. The Aston Martin continued forward, eventually stopping outside the shop where Shen Qingning worked.

She got out of the car.

Shen Qingning hesitated for a moment, then said, "Um, thank you for everything you said, Class Monitor. I’ll work to be as amazing as you are."

"Yeah, of course. Just focus on being you—that’s what matters. Don’t worry about how others see you. If you don’t even respect yourself, then what’s the point? Anyway, I’m off. Come hang out tomorrow night if you’re free. We’re all classmates, a single group."

With that, the Aston Martin disappeared down the road, heading into the wealthy district.

Shen Qingning turned and entered the dessert shop, located on the ground floor of a building in a modest residential complex.

The Aston Martin pulled into a VIP spot outside a high-end imported goods supermarket. There was no special reason for this, other than the fact that when you drive a multi-million-dollar car, security guards just give you the best spots. For one, an expensive car out front boosted the supermarket’s image, making it look even more exclusive. For another, the car was simply too valuable. If another vehicle scratched it, the repairs could easily cost a small fortune. While that might be pocket change for the owner, it would be a catastrophe for an ordinary person, who might have to sell their home just to cover the cost of a new paint job.

That’s just how reality was.

Su Ran pushed a shopping cart through the supermarket, tossing ingredients from his list into it one by one. He didn’t need to look at the prices. Just "buy, buy, buy"—that was its own kind of happiness.

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