"You guys go on ahead. I'm going to the bathroom." Alex had noticed some white marks on his clothes, so he went to clean himself up.
Ben and Carl had already spotted Rose and the other two girls and had been struck by how beautiful they all were. Ben turned shy, and he began to walk slower, while Carl nervously pushed his glasses higher up his nose.
"Hi, girls. What are you all talking about? And what's so funny?" Suzan asked, smiling as she walked toward her friends.
Rose and the other girls looked over, and when they saw Ben and Carl, their smiles froze, and they felt like a bucket of cold water had been tossed over them.
Ben's appearance was unremarkable, and Carl seemed just as ordinary. This wasn't what they'd expected. After just a single glance, the girls looked away, seemingly disappointed.
Seeing her friends' reactions, Suzan flushed with embarrassment. She'd known this would happen. She turned her head and glared at Joe, who could only shrug and smile.
"Let's sit," Joe said. "Carl, why don't you sit next to Stacy? And Ben can sit next to Betty."
He had just finished making the suggestion when Stacy got up and moved to sit beside Betty, making it clear she didn't want to sit with Carl or Ben.
Joe felt bad for his friends. Stacy and Betty chatted on their cell phones, ignoring them, and that just wasn't right. It was downright rude.
The table had a total of four wooden stools that could each seat two people. Stacy and Betty sat together, as did Carl and Ben. Joe sat with Suzan, and Rose was alone.
Suzan and Joe were both concerned. Rose was the prettiest of Suzan's roommates, but she was also the pickiest. When Alex came over, how would she react?
Alex wasn't bad looking, but he was dressed poorly and wouldn't make a good impression.
Joe asked everyone what they wanted to order, and Stacy and Betty focused their attention on the menu, completely ignoring their friends.
"Why are there only two guys here? Are there only three people in your dorm?" Rose asked Joe as she played with her hair.
"Oh, one guy went to the bathroom and should be back soon," he replied. Right on cue, he spotted Alex walking toward them, so he stood up and waved him over. "Alex, over here. Come and join us."
When the girls heard him, they all looked in Alex's direction. Stacy and Betty only took a glance before losing interest, and they went back to studying the menu.
Rose's eyes grew wide. A twitch developed at the corner of one eye and dissatisfaction flashed across her face.
Alex also recognized Rose. Keeping eye contact, he walked over to her, confused about why she seemed to hate him so much.
When he sat beside her, she stared at him and then snorted softly, giving him a mocking smile.
"Rose, what's wrong?" Suzan asked, wondering how Rose seemed to know Alex.
"Nothing." Rose's smile was cold. She glanced at Alex, then looked at Stacy and Betty. "As unlikely as it seems, this is the person who bumped into me at Metro Sky Bank."
"This is the guy?" Stacy asked, her mouth hanging open.
"Well," Betty said, "It seems like he's still wearing similar clothes."
Both girls looked Alex up and down, their expressions disapproving.
"What are you guys talking about?" Suzan was still confused.
Since Rose didn't seem interested in explaining, Stacy stepped in. "Rose went to take care of some business with her father at Metro Sky Bank earlier, and this guy hit her head with a door. See? Rose has a small bump on her forehead."
Betty took over the conversation, glancing at Alex. "You can see how he's dressed, and he walked right into the Metro Sky Bank. You need one million dollars to get a card, and yet he went in anyway, and the manager had to challenge him. No doubt, he ran out of there with a red face, right?"
Suzan and the others all stared at Alex, imagining how embarrassed he must have been at the Metro Sky Bank.
Suzan was quite worried. Rose already seemed to have a poor impression of Alex, so would she want to stay now? She was very direct and wouldn't stay just to be polite.
Rose's smile was cold as she looked at Joe and Suzan. "Suzan, I'm glad you found a handsome boyfriend like Joe. But I have something I have to do, so I won't stay. Bye."
With that, Rose stood up, turned around, and walked out, even though she'd been the one to suggest this lunch. Joe was really good-looking, and since he was a sports major, she'd assumed that his roommates would be attractive as well.
She'd thought that if one of Joe's roommates had been suitable, then it would save her the trouble of having to find a boyfriend her father would approve of. And even if none of them was suitable, she'd still get to meet two handsome men.
She'd been surprised when Joe's roommate, Ben, had looked a bit anxious, and Carl was completely ordinary. Still, she could tolerate the two of them.
But when she'd seen Alex, Rose couldn't hold back any longer. He was just a poor loser with no place in the world.
The heavens were toying with her. She'd been looking for someone rich and handsome, and the universe gave her someone like Alex, who disgusted her.
Anger rose quickly. She was so furious that she stormed outside, not paying attention, and bumped into a man's shoulder.
He was dressed all in black and looked very professional. His hair was fashionable but neat, and his skin was pale. He held an iPhone in his hand and wore an expensive watch on his wrist.
The man's expression turned dark. But then he took a closer look at Rose and noticed how beautiful she was, and his manner changed drastically.
"Hey, gorgeous, I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked. "Would you like me to massage it better?" With a wicked grin, the man extended his hand toward her shoulder.
Rose was so angry that she lashed out before the man's hand even made contact. She slapped the man's face, and with a frosty expression, she glared at him and snapped, "Watch where you're going."
Before he could react, she had already marched out of the restaurant.
Joe and the others had been ready to go over to help and were shocked when they saw Rose slap the man.
When Rose left, Stacy and Betty decided to leave too, but Suzan eventually persuaded them to stay.
After lunch, Suzan accompanied Joe to pay the bill, and then they left the restaurant. Stacy spoke to Joe and didn't even glance at Alex and the others.
Suzan was also quite disappointed with Joe's roommates. She was Joe's girlfriend, and she didn't want their relationship to get complicated because of his friends. She was careful to say goodbye to each of them, and then she walked toward the dorm with her best friends.
After returning to the dormitory, Joe changed into a new set of sports clothes and dashed to the sports field to participate in training.
Ben was lying on his bed, bare-chested, playing with his cell phone, while Carl started up a video game and started playing it.
Alex put a card into the Samsung Galaxy phone. If Cathy didn't want it anymore, he may as well use it. He turned it on, and it worked quite smoothly.
At that moment, Ben shouted excitedly, "Alex! Carl! Minnie's live streaming channel is on. Quick! You need to watch it!"
Ben had a huge crush on Minnie. She had started a live streaming blog two days ago and had even posted about it in the class chat. Almost everyone in the class knew about this blog.
Since Alex had nothing better to do, he registered an account and went to Minnie's live streaming channel.
She had been streaming live for twenty minutes, and over thirty people were watching it, all classmates. There were no classes in the afternoon, so most people were free to watch it.
Minnie hugged a pink pillow and had red earphones in as she chatted in front of the camera.
"Babes, we haven't had any presents yet. Anyone who has a present for me should let me know." She twirled a lock of her hair around one finger and pouted at the camera, giving an air kiss. Her lips almost touched the screen.
She was extremely popular, and quite a few people were secretly in love with her. So, whenever she asked for a present, many boys wanted to give her what she asked for. Besides, the gifts weren't too expensive, so the students were able to afford them.
The screen flashed with the notification: [A necklace from the Morning Star.]
Then: [Captain Reckless has sent the bikini.]
"Thank you, Morning Star!" Minnie said, clapping her hands. "And thank you, my handsome little captain. I love you!" Minnie tilted her head and made a heart gesture with her hands, and just as she finished speaking, a shout came from the corridor, "Minnie is so cute!", followed by another voice yelling, "She's adorable!"
Ben saw that Minnie was flirting with the people who gave her gifts, and he felt a little jealous, so he nervously chose a gift and pressed the send button.
A message popped up on the public screen.
[Flying Fish has sent a necklace]
Ben typed out a message under his screen name, Flying Fish: [Minnie, I'm Ben. I'm watching your live broadcast.]
Minnie smiled sweetly and spoke into the camera. "Thank you, Ben. I know."
"Minnie spoke to me!" Ben mumbled as he floated in a daze.
At this moment, another message popped up on the live streaming channel.
Ghost Rider typed: [Ben, that stingy loser, gave a presentation to Minnie! What a laugh. Can you believe that?]
Ben's expression changed instantly. Almost everyone from their class was in the chat room. What should I say? he thought. And how can I show my face in class after this?
Ben sent an angry message: [So what if I'm gifting a present? Have you been eating the poop emoji? Why else would you be talking shit?]
Ghost Rider responded: [Idiot. You're a loser who has nothing. And yet you have money to give presents? Are you planning to sell your kidneys? Or have you been begging your parents for money? You have some nerve!]
Minnie scowled. People were fighting in the live streaming channel, and she didn't like it. "Knock it off, guys. If you don't stop fighting, I'll block you."
Ben quickly messaged her: [Sorry, Minnie. He started it.]
Ghost Rider sent: [Ha ha. So what if I get in trouble with you? I don't care.]
Minnie frowned slightly and prepared to block Ghost Rider, but the system notification flashed again in the live broadcast.
[Ghost Rider has sent a Money Gun.]
Minnie stopped in her tracks. Those were worth about fifty dollars, and it was the most expensive gift she had received so far.
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