Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Birthday Party
Spent a pleasant weekend with Zhang Yumeng.
After dropping Zhang Yumeng back at Finance University, Gu Bai was driving the 918 back to Shanghai Theatre Academy. The night had fallen, and all the skyscrapers were lit up with brilliant lights, showcasing the bustling Shanghai nightlife from this moment on.
Gu Bai slowly navigated through the city, looking at the surrounding scenery, recalling what someone told him in his past life: Shanghai is like a beautiful bitch, never belonging to anyone, but as long as you have money, the city will do its utmost to show all its beauty.
Just as Gu Bai was sighing in his heart, the phone rang.
Deng Bo: "White Pieces, where are you now?"
In the dorm room foursome, it was only Deng Bo who would call him.
Steering with one hand, he brought the phone to his ear with the other: "On my way back to school, what’s up?"
"Don’t go back, come to Song of Hu Shang to rescue the scene!"
Gu Bai was quite familiar with Song of Hu Shang. In his past university life, he went there quite often—it’s a KTV not far from the Theatre Academy, frequented mostly by academy students, and the prices are quite reasonable. Birthday parties and such were usually held there.
"What’s the situation?"
Gu Bai was a bit confused.
On the other end, Deng Bo laughed somewhat sheepishly.
"You know I’ve been after Fan Jiayue for nearly half a year. It’s her birthday today, and she invited me, but I’m still a little nervous..."
Hearing Deng Bo’s words, Gu Bai teased, "Even Deng Bo gets nervous about this kind of thing?"
"Alright, cut the crap. Are you coming or not? Also, help me buy a gift. The one I got seems a bit too shabby. I’ll pay you back next time."
"Buying a gift is no problem, but you know it’s not polite to bring uninvited guests. Won’t it be a bit awkward for me to just show up?"
"No worries, I’ve told Jiayue, and they hope you can come as well."
"Alright then, send me the room number."
After receiving the room number from Deng Bo, Gu Bai turned around and went to the mall to buy two gifts.
A Tiffany bracelet costing several thousand, and a Cartier LOVE series necklace worth 65,000.
The bracelet was his own gift. Though he didn’t have much interaction with Fan Jiayue as classmates, they knew each other because of Deng Bo, so it would be inappropriate not to bring a gift to her birthday party.
The Cartier necklace was bought for Deng Bo. In his previous life, Deng Bo pursued Fan Jiayue for nearly two years but eventually missed out due to cowardice. Now that he had a chance to help him, Gu Bai naturally wouldn’t refuse. As for the money Deng Bo said he would repay, Gu Bai didn’t take it seriously at all.
Song of Hu Shang was not far from the Theatre Academy, so when Gu Bai drove there, it was the peak time for guests at the KTV.
After parking the car, Gu Bai ignored the envious or jealous stares from the crowd at the KTV entrance and walked directly inside.
"Sir, do you have a reservation?"
Seeing him arrive, a waiter hurried up to ask.
"Room 888."
Upon receiving Gu Bai’s reply, the waiter quickly led him to the door of Room 888.
"Sir, we’re here."
Gu Bai gave him a polite nod, then knocked heavily on the door.
Inside the room, someone was singing, and laughter could be heard through the KTV’s soundproofing, indicating a lively atmosphere.
Before long, a girl came to open the door. Surprised to see Gu Bai, she said, "Gu Bai?"
There weren’t many first-year students at the Theatre Academy, about four to five hundred. Although Gu Bai didn’t know the girl before him, it wasn’t surprising that she knew him.
He gave her a slight smile.
"Hello."
The girl quickly opened the door, saying, "Did Deng Bo ask you to come?"
Since she knew him, it was normal to know that he and Deng Bo were roommates.
Gu Bai nodded, and inside, Deng Bo quickly ran over when he saw Gu Bai: "How come you got here so quickly?"
"If I didn’t hurry, you would have worried yourself sick."
Hearing this, Deng Bo gave him a playful you’re awesome look.
"Stop standing at the door, come in first."
After Gu Bai entered the room, he took a brief look around. About ten or so men and women were already seated, and they all turned their eyes on Gu Bai as he entered.
"Let me introduce, they’re all classmates, some of you should know him, Gu Bai, from the directing department, also my roommate."
Deng Bo began introducing Gu Bai to everyone.
Gu Bai also smiled politely at everyone.
"Whether freshmen or seniors, who wouldn’t know Gu Bai from the Theatre Academy? The school heartthrob who single-handedly overwhelms the acting department boys,"
The boys stayed silent, but the girls had no such reservations.
"I only found out after the spotlight hit the campus forum last time that we had such a big shot hidden in the Theatre Academy! Gu Bai, you’re too low-key! I didn’t even know you had a Lamborghini throughout all of freshman year."
"Been living under a rock, huh? Didn’t check the school forum? He switched a week ago, now he has a white Porsche, right Gu Bai?"
Seeing the girls chatting, Gu Bai remained politely smiling without a word.
As the host of the birthday party, Fan Jiayue had to stand up.
"Alright, enough talk for now, let him sit down first."
Then, she smiled and said to Gu Bai, "Gu Bai, take a seat, don’t mind them."
For Deng Bo to be pursuing her for two years, Fan Jiayue’s looks naturally wouldn’t be bad.
"Name: Fan Jiayue
Looks: 89
Health: 88
Goodwill: 50
A beauty score of 89, just one point shy of the goddess standard line.
Fan Jiayue was wearing a white dress, estimated to match her outfit, paired with a pair of transparent high heels, making her height, already close to 1.7 meters, appear exceptionally tall.
Gu Bai didn’t rush to sit down but took out two gift boxes he was holding.
"This is my fault. When Deng Bo and I went to pick out gifts with you before, there was no stock. We agreed to get them this afternoon, but I forgot. I just went to the mall to pick them up, so I’m a bit late."
The white one is from me to you, and the pink one is from Deng Bo."
After saying that, he handed the gift boxes to Fan Jiayue.
Gu Bai’s explanation didn’t seem abrupt, taking the blame on himself and directing attention to Deng Bo.
After hearing Gu Bai’s words, Deng Bo also gave Gu Bai a grateful look.
Fan Jiayue wasn’t polite either, she took the gift box from Gu Bai and thanked him, then invited Gu Bai to sit down again.
"What kind of gift is it? There’s no stock?"
As soon as Gu Bai sat on the sofa, he suddenly heard a voice.
Hmm?
Hearing this, Gu Bai looked towards the source of the voice.
The one speaking was a guy sitting on the other side. Seeing Gu Bai look over, he wasn’t fazed at all and just met Gu Bai’s gaze head-on.
Suddenly, Deng Bo’s voice came into his ear.
"He’s Zhou Zhou, also pursuing Jiayue."
Upon hearing this, Gu Bai immediately understood that this guy was Deng Bo’s rival in love.
With him here, everyone’s attention on the scene shifted to him and Deng Bo, so it was understandable that he felt uncomfortable.
Some girls on the side also started to coax: "Yuanyuan, why don’t you open it and see? We also want to see the gifts from Deng Bo and Gu Bai."
Although unwrapping gifts in public is somewhat impolite, Fan Jiayue actually wanted to see too, so she turned her gaze to Gu Bai and Deng Bo.
Gu Bai kept a calm expression, just playing with his phone, since he was here to support, he had to act like it, and such matters were left to Deng Bo to handle.
As for Deng Bo, he didn’t know what gift Gu Bai bought either, but he trusted him completely.
"It’s nothing much, if they want to see, they can open it."
Deng Bo spoke up.
"Alright."
After speaking, Fan Jiayue first opened Gu Bai’s gift box.
The box with the bracelet revealed the Tiffany logo.
"Tiffany?"
"Wow, I’m envious!"
They were at the age where they loved these luxury brands, so Tiffany was definitely not unfamiliar to them.
After opening the bracelet box, a few girls saw the Tiffany bracelet quietly lying inside.
"I know this bracelet, it costs several thousand yuan, I’ve always wanted to buy it but have never splurged."
"It’s so beautiful."
Being sensory creatures, the girls were instantly attracted to the bracelet, and it seemed Fan Jiayue liked it too and thanked Gu Bai once again.
A discordant voice rose again.
"Such a rich guy, just giving a few thousand-yuan bracelet, isn’t that a bit stingy?"
It was Zhou Zhou speaking again, and upon hearing this comment, Gu Bai couldn’t help but laugh.
If you’re rich, do you have to give extravagant gifts? What kind of logic is that? If I had some multi-trillion fortune, would I have to start gifting small islands?
This Zhou Zhou was clearly an airhead; no wonder in the past life Deng Bo neither won over Fan Jiayue nor ended up with Zhou Zhou. With that water-logged brain, he might manage to pursue ordinary girls, but someone of Fan Jiayue’s level, he’s unworthy.
Just as Gu Bai expected, as soon as Zhou Zhou spoke, Fan Jiayue showed a hint of dislike and said unhappily, "Gu Bai attending my birthday party is already a great honor, and besides, how is a gift worth thousands stingy?"
"Exactly, I only gave Yuanyuan a lipstick. If this is considered stingy, what about mine?"
Seeing Fan Jiayue unhappy, Zhou Zhou hurriedly explained: "I didn’t mean that."
Fan Jiayue, however, couldn’t be bothered to listen to his explanation and opened the other gift box.
When the heart-shaped Cartier necklace appeared in front of the girls, someone immediately exclaimed.
"Wow! Cartier LOVE series necklace!"
"Deng Bo, you’re so romantic! This necklace must be worth tens of thousands, right?"
Deng Bo didn’t know Gu Bai had chosen such an expensive gift either and quickly looked at Gu Bai.
Gu Bai gave him a reassuring look.
"As long as Jiayue likes it."
Deng Bo seized the opportunity and quickly smiled and said.
Fan Jiayue quickly put the gift back in the box but didn’t hand it back; instead, she said to Deng Bo, "No way, this gift is too expensive, I can’t accept it."
Seeing Fan Jiayue wanting to return the gift, Deng Bo was stunned—what was going on?
Is she rejecting me?