Yan wasn’t playing games. The reason she was wearing headphones was that she was browsing Gu Jiasui’s profile on a certain encyclopedia site, as well as some videos about her on a popular video platform.
Of course, this was mainly to get to know her roommate better, not entirely out of a desire to gossip.
About her new roommate, Gu Jiasui, Yan only knew her controversies and that one stunning performance during a public audition—both of which she had seen online. As for the actual variety shows or TV dramas, she hadn’t watched them.
After all, high school life was quite busy. Gu Jiasui wasn’t some genius actress; according to the entertainment industry’s hierarchy, she was barely a C-list celebrity. The reason she had so much buzz was mainly due to being constantly compared to her sister, the nation’s sweetheart, Lu Jianian. The constant comparisons and overshadowing made it hard for anyone to feel any genuine fondness for her.
Yan searched for “Gu Jiasui” on the video platform, and the first result that popped up was a compilation titled *Gu Jiasui’s Variety Show Drama Queen Moments*, with nearly ten million views.
Below that was a clip of her audition performance, which only had three million views. Scrolling further down, there were videos like *Gu Jiasui vs. Lu Jianian: Why Should We Like You?* and *Gu Jiasui, the Sister Parasite: Get Lost!*—all of which were tied to her sister and aimed at belittling Gu Jiasui.
Yan thought for a moment and changed the search term to “Lu Jianian.” The results immediately shifted to videos like *The Nation’s Sweetheart from Childhood to Adulthood: Adorable Jianian!*—all high-view clips that were incredibly endearing.
Yan just wanted to understand her roommate better, but wasn’t the search engine’s bias a bit too obvious?
A flicker of confusion crossed her eyes. Gu Jiasui hadn’t changed her name, but she had publicly revealed that she was a daughter of the Lu family. How could the Lu family allow such online bashing without doing anything about it?
Not to mention, these videos that dragged Gu Jiasui while praising Lu Jianian—both were daughters of the same family, and one had been separated for many years before being reunited. Wasn’t the difference in treatment a bit too stark?
Even if they hadn’t raised her for many years, this was still too much. Ridiculous!
Yan didn’t have any particular dislike for Gu Jiasui. She usually treated entertainment gossip as a way to pass the time and didn’t understand why so many people were so emotionally invested in attacking and insulting others online.
Especially after witnessing what happened today—Gu Jiasui, who was clearly the innocent victim of having water thrown at her, was still being criticized. It was just too tragic.
The curse of being a public figure...
Yan exited the video platform and saw that Bingbing had sent her another message—another link to Weibo?
She clicked on it, which redirected her to the app, and saw a post that had already been reposted ten thousand times.
**[CC123]**: Are the people in the *Gu Jiasui Gets Splashed with Water at Bin University* topic all idiots? It’s infuriating to read. A girl in a dress gets splashed with water, and you call the perpetrator a “passerby”? If the bottle had contained sulfuric acid, they’d be a criminal. Gu Jiasui hasn’t broken any laws or committed any crimes. She was just walking down the street when someone splashed her, and now she’s being subjected to “victim-blaming”? What’s wrong with you people? #StopVictimBlaming. Repost for a chance to win one of 20 high-end skincare gift sets.
Reading the blogger’s words, Yan nodded in agreement. At least there were still some sensible people out there.
Below the post, the blogger, CC, had posted a photo of twenty high-end skincare gift sets stacked on a counter, along with the receipt.
“Gu Jiasui actually has rich fans?”
“I looked it up—those skincare sets are over 2,000 yuan each. This rich fan just casually gave away 50,000 yuan.”
“The account looks like a throwaway, though.”
“I don’t like Gu Jiasui, but the blogger is spitting facts. I’ll support this.”
“Joining in as a participant. Let’s see if I get lucky.”
No wonder this post was the first thing that popped up when searching the topic again—the combination of a repost giveaway and expensive skincare products had boosted its visibility.
Yan clicked into CC’s profile. The account’s IP address was still showing Yang City, but this post’s IP was from Bin City.
She clicked the repost button, added the two hashtags, and joined the giveaway as a participant.
“Hey, I’m back—” Chu Bingbing’s cheerful voice rang out. Yan quickly switched her phone screen and took off her headphones as Bingbing walked in.
Bingbing was carrying a gift bag from a high-end skincare brand and placed small bags on Ding Ling’s desk.
“I didn’t have enough space in my luggage, so I forgot to bring my skincare products. I went out and bought some, and the sales associate was really nice—she gave me a lot of samples. Here, everyone gets a share.”
She smiled as she handed small gift bags to Gu Jiasui, Yan, and Yi Zhi.
Gu Jiasui glanced at it, thanked her, and accepted it. Yi Zhi didn’t think much of it either—she wasn’t familiar with the skincare brands in this world.
“Thanks, Bingbing,” Yan said as she took the small gift bag. But when she opened it, she fell silent.
Inside was a 30ml bottle of platinum serum and a 15ml eye cream. While the sizes were labeled as samples, they were essentially full-sized products.
Having attended a private high school for three years, Yan was well-versed in high-end, niche luxury brands, from fashion to skincare.
Just this small bottle of serum and the eye cream would cost at least 6,000 yuan.
As for the small bottle of toner and the sheet masks in the bag, those were the actual free samples and didn’t count toward the total value.
There were four people in the dorm, and on the first day of school, Bingbing had essentially gifted each of them 6,000 yuan worth of skincare products as “samples.” It seemed her “can’t live without spending money” aura was strong.
Receiving 6,000 yuan out of the blue—equivalent to two months of her living expenses—was a bit shocking. Even though Yan’s high school classmates were all from wealthy families, no one had ever been this extravagant on the first day of meeting.
“Ding Ling isn’t back yet,” Bingbing remarked.
“I checked the campus network at the service center. We can top up our student cards and choose from different packages, ranging from 10 to 30 yuan. I read online that the 10-yuan package has slower speeds, but the 30-yuan one supports up to five devices.”
“The campus network was preloaded with 100 yuan when we registered, so we just need to activate it in the school system,” Yan said, flipping through the student handbook.
As they chatted casually, Bingbing felt relieved seeing her roommates accept the skincare products without hesitation.
For the past two weeks, there had been fewer sudden mandatory tasks, but today, on the first day of school, one had popped up, catching her off guard.
Luckily, Bin University wasn’t located in the suburbs, and there was a shopping mall nearby, allowing her to quickly find a place to spend money.
Bingbing had initially planned to take a taxi to a high-end mall, buy a couple of luxury bags, and quickly meet the spending requirement. However, she had forgotten that today was move-in day, and the area around Bin University was packed with cars—school shuttles, parents’ cars, students’ cars, and vendors.
Forget about hailing a taxi for a quick trip; even shared bikes were nowhere to be found.
Bin University was a historic building, surrounded by protected heritage sites and old residential neighborhoods.
Bingbing checked her phone’s map and found the nearest shopping mall, but it didn’t have any luxury brands.
Fortunately, the first floor was filled with skincare counters. While there were no high-end brands like La Mer or La Prairie, there were mid-tier brands like Lancôme and Estée Lauder.
Bingbing had the sales associate pack ten sets of platinum eye creams and serums, which covered more than half of her spending quota. She had planned to spend the rest at a jewelry store by buying a 50g bracelet, but while the associate was packaging her items, she saw a local Bin City trending topic on her phone.
Clicking into it, she saw that her new roommate had been splashed with water, and the comments underneath infuriated her.
Looking up, she noticed the eager sales associate from the Lancôme counter nearby. Bingbing walked over, scanned twenty gift sets, and created a throwaway account to host a repost giveaway to vent her frustration.
**[Mandatory Task: Spend at least 100,000 yuan within three hours.]**
**[Location Restriction: Bin City (No transfers, must be physical purchases)]**
**[Current Spending: 113,000 yuan]**
**[Countdown: 3:39]**
Glancing at the task countdown, Bingbing placed the gift bags on the bookshelf, took off her coat, changed into slippers, and opened her phone’s map to search for nearby malls with luxury stores or jewelry shops.
She needed to be prepared so that the next time a task suddenly appeared, she wouldn’t be stuck without a place to spend money. That would be a disaster.
After all, if this money isn’t spent, it’s her lifespan that’s being deducted!
For every dollar less she spends, a day of her life is taken away! Completing the task only gives her money but doesn’t extend her life. Seriously, what kind of logic is that?
“Gu Jiasui, is this CC123 your fan?” Yi Zhi suddenly mentioned Chu Bingbing’s alternate account, causing her to stiffen.
“What?” Gu Jiasui turned to look at Yi Zhi, her expression blank.
“Hmm… there’s a blogger on Weibo who posted a retweet-and-win giveaway,” Yi Zhi said vaguely, handing her phone over.
Gu Jiasui was familiar with Weibo, but due to the constant barrage of hate, she had all but abandoned her account, letting it gather digital dust.
As for this CC fan, she frowned slightly, glancing at the content on Yi Zhi’s phone. Her expression softened, and she relaxed.
“I don’t know them.”
The number of her fans was questionable to begin with. If she had such a generous and outspoken supporter, she would definitely remember them.
A faint smile played on Gu Jiasui’s lips. “But this CC girl seems sharp-witted and kind-hearted. She must be a wonderful person.”
Amidst all the hate, it felt nice to have someone stand up for her.
Chu Bingbing watched as Gu Jiasui smiled, and it was like witnessing a celestial being gracing the mortal world with her radiance. She felt a tingling sensation all over.
This level of beauty! This charm! Celebrities are on a completely different level compared to ordinary beauties, okay?
Spending a mere 50,000 to make such a beauty smile and feel happy? Totally worth it!
At that moment, her mandatory spending task countdown came to an end.
Chu Bingbing glanced at the settlement screen that appeared before her. She spun the roulette wheel skillfully, and the pointer landed on “3.”
**[Settlement in progress. Task expenditure: 113,000 yuan. Full refund issued. Critical hit x3.]**
**[Your Xia Country Bank savings card ending in 8888 received 452,000.00 yuan on September 7th at 15:28.]**
A critical hit of three times? Not bad. She made a profit of over 300,000 yuan. Chu Bingbing raised an eyebrow, satisfied.
Meanwhile, Yan joined in on the speculation about “CC123.”
“I saw it too. She’s probably a beautiful, kind-hearted, and justice-driven rich lady,” Yan agreed.
“Ahem.”
Chu Bingbing suddenly coughed twice.
Yan shot her a curious glance, noticing that Chu Bingbing seemed completely uninterested in their conversation.
At that moment, Chu Bingbing was resting her chin on her hands, staring intently at her phone. Her sweet face twisted into a strange expression as she curled her toes against the floor, as if she were trying to dig a hole with them.
