Chapter 23 Who gave their friend tens of thousands of yuan in one go...?
Gu Mingyan's stunning appearance caused a stir in the live stream, with viewers praising Yun Qingqing's discerning eye for uncovering Gu Mingyan's previously overlooked beauty.
[Yun Qingqing has some real talent! Her makeup artistry is top-notch!]
So, what will Qingqing look like next? I'm kind of looking forward to it.
Gu Mingyan used to always wear white dresses and project a pure and innocent image, and Yun Qingqing happens to have a pure and innocent look, making her a perfect fit for this type.
Yes, yes, I was amazed by Yun Qingqing's look in the last promotional photoshoot; she looked so ethereal.
Amid everyone's anticipation, the director smiled and cued the flow of the process: "Alright, now let's take a look at the look of our last guest, Yun Qingqing."
All eyes were on Yun Qingqing. Yun Qingqing was poised and graceful. She smiled at the camera and pulled off her oversized coat and hat.
Then, an eerie silence fell over the entire room once again.
If Gu Mingyan had left everyone speechless with amazement, then Yun Qingqing had left everyone speechless with shock.
Around her neck were at least three necklaces layered together: a magnificent diamond-encrusted choker, a large pearl necklace, and an elaborate gemstone pendant necklace. They were intertwined and looked so heavy they could choke her.
Her wrists were adorned with a jingling sound: on her left were two diamond-encrusted bracelets of varying widths, along with a diamond watch that looked quite expensive; on her right were several delicate bracelets, some made of gemstones and others of gold, which clattered together with her movements.
Her fingers were also busy; she wore more than one ring, each with a rather large main stone.
Each piece of this outfit is expensive and exquisite on its own, but when they are all piled together, the effect is exactly like a mobile jewelry display stand!
It was indeed glamorous, but it completely overwhelmed Yun Qingqing's cool and agile temperament, leaving only an overwhelming "I'm expensive" nouveau riche vibe.
"...I've gone blind."
[Did they move the entire jewelry store here?]
Gu Mingyan's taste is just too outrageous!
Meng Xian was the first to react, covering her mouth and laughing, "My goodness, Qingqing's outfit is too formal."
She turned her gaze to Gu Mingyan, "Mingyan, you know, Qingqing dressed you up so beautifully, why didn't you think of making Qingqing look pretty too?"
These words, seemingly a joke, actually imply that Gu Mingyan is selfish, only caring about stunning everyone while treating her partner as a jewelry display stand to flaunt her wealth.
The comments section was indeed stirred up:
This aesthetic is so tacky! They've dressed up a beautiful, elegant woman like a Christmas tree!
[Gu Mingyan is so selfish! She only cares about her own beauty and just throws together a shoddy job for her partner.]
[It feels like Yun Qingqing was used as a foil to highlight her, which is a bit pitiful.]
However, Yun Qingqing herself did not show the slightest displeasure.
She affectionately took Gu Mingyan's arm and sincerely exclaimed, "Who said that? I think the outfit Mingyan put together for me is absolutely stunning! Look at the brilliance of the diamonds, the purity of the rings, every piece is dazzling!"
Ding Manni looked at Yun Qingqing's dazzling ring and couldn't help but twitch her lips: "It is quite dazzling... but don't you think these things are a bit overshadowing the main attraction?"
Yun sighed softly and knowingly, "You don't understand this feeling. If your partner gave you all these jewels at once, you wouldn't feel like they were overshadowing you."
"What?! You got them all?!" Meng Xian couldn't contain herself this time and exclaimed in shock.
She knows her stuff; any piece of jewelry Yun Qingqing wears is a limited edition, priceless and unavailable on the market. Gu Mingyan just casually gave it away?
Gu Mingyan's ears hurt from Meng Xian's shrill voice, and she frowned impatiently: "It's just a piece of jewelry. If it looks good on her, I'll give it to her. What's so surprising?"
She spoke of it casually, as if she were giving away a few cabbages instead of priceless jewels.
Meng Xian looked at the astonishingly valuable jewelry on Yun Qingqing's body and was speechless.
Ding Manni said quietly, "They're giving it all away? I'm starting to like this outfit more and more."
Meng Xian: "..."
I admit I was speaking too loudly just now. Who could resist being covered head-to-toe in free, priceless jewelry?!
[Add one! I don't mind it being cheesy; I just love this kind of profound friendship!]
[Waaaaah, so the clown was me! I was actually feeling sorry for Yun Qingqing being used as a tool!! If I received this whole outfit, I'd be grinning from ear to ear!]
Today is another day I shed tears for someone else's friendship.
The tasks assigned by the production team in the morning were indeed easy.
After the dressing-up segment, the group strolled through the historic campus, listening to the program team introduce famous alumni and architectural history.
She seemed quite familiar with the place, and whenever they walked to a distinctive building, she would add a few words as appropriate.
“This library is a Soviet-style building from the 1930s. You can see its arched windows and red brick walls, which are very characteristic of the era.” Meng Xian’s voice was gentle and her tone was unhurried. “However, I think the design of the library in the new campus is bolder and more avant-garde. The interior uses a spiral bookshelf structure, which is said to be inspired by the DNA double helix, symbolizing the inheritance of knowledge and life.”
Jiang Mingqian looked at her with admiration in his eyes: "You also have an interest in architecture?"
Meng Xian modestly replied, "I wouldn't call it research; I just learned a little bit when I audited acting classes before."
She even audited a performance class at Yuncheng University! What a hardworking girl!
No wonder his acting is so good; he works so hard in private.
[This is what a truly excellent idol is like—always striving to improve themselves. Being a fan of Meng Xian's career is truly a blessing.]
Jiang Mingqian's gaze softened as he looked at Meng Xian: "You're always so eager to learn."
Meng Xian smiled gently: "This is a basic quality that actors should maintain, it's nothing."
She was about to continue explaining the design concept of the teaching building when Gu Mingyan suddenly spoke up with a "what the hell are you talking about?" expression:
"The spiral bookshelf you mentioned doesn't draw inspiration from DNA structure, but rather from the 'spiral staircase-style bookcase' in Li Jie's 'Yingzao Fashi' (Building Standards) from the Northern Song Dynasty. If you don't understand these designs, it's best not to give unsolicited explanations, as it could easily mislead others."
"You know everything now?" Jiang Mingqian couldn't help but feel indignant on Meng Xian's behalf.
Gu Mingyan gave him a strange look: "These buildings you're talking about were all donated by my family, of course I know about them."
Meng Xian: "..."
Jiang Mingqian: "..."
[I urgently retracted a comment criticizing Gu Mingyan for being a know-it-all.]
[Oh, so these buildings were all donated by the Gu family. That's alright then.]
[Damn, she doesn't just have a mine at home, she has a money-printing machine!]
This has further solidified my understanding of just how wealthy Gu Mingyan is. (Smile)
Meng Xian's fingernails dug deeply into her palm, leaving several crescent-shaped red marks.
The production team didn't let the guests relax for long. In the afternoon, the director used a megaphone to announce that everyone should follow the schedule.
Upon hearing this, Ji Sihan's face immediately fell: "Huh? No way, Director! We graduated so many years ago, do you want us to go back to class?"
The director, still smiling, said, "Don't worry, our first class is physical education. We'll play a three-legged race, so we don't have to do it in the classroom."
"That's good, that's good." Ji Sihan's sorrow immediately turned to joy.
As long as he's not sitting in a classroom with books, he'll do whatever he wants.
He excitedly shared with Yun Qingqing, "I'm good at sports! I was on the school track and field team in high school."
When Gu Mingyan saw Ji Sihan chattering away in front of Yun Qingqing again, she snorted in dissatisfaction, stepped forward, and precisely blocked Ji Sihan and Yun Qingqing from seeing each other.
Ji Sihan, who was suddenly blocked by a tall figure, was speechless.
Yun Qingqing, who was about to politely respond to Ji Sihan, asked: "??"
[Haha, Miss Gu is at it again!]
I can't help but laugh every time I see the undercurrents between the three of them.
Seeing that the main camera was always pointed at Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan, Meng Xian secretly sneered.
The three-legged race requires the most cooperation, and given Gu Mingyan's self-centered personality, she and Yun Qingqing will definitely drag each other down.
Soon, the production team marked out a track on the playground and set up a station to collect meal tickets every fifty meters.
The game has a time limit of fifteen minutes, and the number of meal tickets you receive directly determines how lavish your dinner will be.
As soon as the whistle blew, several groups of guests set off at the same time.
Ji Sihan lived up to his reputation as a member of the school's track and field team, cooperating well with Nan Xu. The two shouted slogans and quickly found their rhythm.
Although Jiang Mingqian and Yu Ran were a little slower, they were still quite steady and followed closely behind.
Meanwhile, Gu Mingyan and Yun Qingqing encountered trouble right from the start.
Eager to win, Gu Mingyan tried to rush out as soon as the whistle blew, forgetting that her right leg was tightly tied to Yun Qingqing's left leg.
She took a big, quick step, and before Yun Qingqing could keep up, the two of them instantly lost their balance and fell to the side with a cry of surprise.
"Ah!" Gu Mingyan exclaimed.
Yun Qingqing reacted quickly, twisting her waist and using her arm to support Gu Mingyan, barely managing to keep them steady and preventing them from falling together.
"Are you alright?" Yun asked, taking a light breath.
Gu Mingyan was startled and quickly shook her head to indicate that she was alright.
Meng Xian and Ding Manni happened to pass by them. Seeing this, Meng Xian slowed down and reminded them, "Mingyan, be careful. Three-legged races require coordination. You can't just focus on your own speed. You need to pay attention to each other's pace. Only when the two of you are in sync can you run."
Gu Mingyan was already annoyed by her bad start, and immediately retorted curtly, "It's none of your business."
[What's Gu Mingyan's attitude? Meng Xian was just trying to kindly remind her!]
[This is truly a case of biting the hand that feeds you; they don't appreciate kindness and are incredibly rude.]
[She seems to have a terrible temper; being in a group with her must be incredibly frustrating.]
Yun gently supported Gu Mingyan, her eyebrows slightly raised.
She felt that Meng Xian always paid special attention to Gu Mingyan. Some of her words seemed fine on the surface, but upon closer inspection, they always carried an inexplicable meaning, as if she was constantly emphasizing and amplifying Gu Mingyan's mistake of "disregarding others," which made people feel uncomfortable.
Meng Xian didn't seem to care about Gu Mingyan's cold face. She smiled helplessly and tolerantly at the camera, and then shouted slogans with Ding Manni. They quickly caught up with Jiang Mingqian and Yu Ran's group ahead.
Gu Mingyan and Yun Qingqing, on the other hand, were left behind last.
Gu Mingyan became increasingly anxious and confused, unable to coordinate her steps at all. Several times she had to rely on Yun Qingqing's support to avoid falling.
"I'm sorry..." Gu Mingyan looked at the receding figures of the other groups, feeling anxious and angry, but even more annoyed that she had dragged Yun Qingqing down.
She has always been competitive since childhood, always striving to be the lead dancer in ballet and to be number one in exams. She has never been so relegated to the bottom of the class, dragging her partner down with her.
"It's okay, we'll take it slow, safety first," Yun said casually.
"But the meal voucher..."
Gu Mingyan watched as Ji Sihan and the others in the distance received their first meal vouchers, and she was so anxious that she wished she could crawl over to them on all fours.
Yun Qingqing looked at her puffed-up cheeks and found it kind of cute: "Don't worry, we have another way."
"You have a way?" Gu Mingyan was taken aback.
Yun smiled slyly: "The director only said that the legs should be tied together, but he didn't specify how to run after they were tied together."
"What's the meaning?"
Gu Mingyan was still pondering the hidden meaning in those words, but Yun Qingqing didn't answer again. She just smiled mysteriously, then bent down to check the sturdiness of the straps on their legs to make sure they wouldn't come loose.
Then, before Gu Mingyan could react, Yun Qingqing suddenly exerted force on her arm—
Gu Mingyan felt a sudden tightening at her waist, her feet lost their footing, and she was instantly lifted off the ground!
Gu Mingyan: "???"
She was shocked to find herself pinned under Yun Qingqing's armpit with one hand!
"Hold on tight, I'm going to speed up!"
Yun gave a soft shout, gripped Gu Mingyan firmly, and sprinted off towards the track ahead!
The wind suddenly whistled past my ears, and the surrounding scenery rushed past.
Gu Mingyan was trapped, her vision swaying, and she could only see Yun's hair fluttering gently and the blurry scene of the ground moving rapidly in front of her.
She was completely stunned.
What... what kind of operation is this?!
The viewers in the live stream were just as shocked as she was:
[Hahahaha, help! Why did they just grab someone like that without saying a word?!]
Although Gu Mingyan is thin, she's still nearly 1.7 meters tall. Is Yun Qingqing some kind of super-strong girl?
[That's incredible strength! But then again, the production team didn't actually prohibit running like that.]
Just as the barrage of comments was flooded with Yun Qingqing's unbelievable actions, Meng Xian, who was chanting slogans with Ding Manni and steadily moving forward, heard an unusual, hurried sound of footsteps coming from behind her, getting closer and closer.
She turned around instinctively.
Then they saw Yun Qingqing carrying Gu Mingyan steadily under her armpits, rushing straight towards them at a rapid speed!
Meng Xian's confident smile froze, her pupils dilating in shock: "?"
Just as Yun Qingqing passed by them and stopped at the first meal ticket collection point, Gu Mingyan, who was being held between them, moved.
She demonstrated the exceptional flexibility and core control of a ballet dancer, deftly bending her upper body to the side and extending her arms. As she passed the table where the meal tickets were placed, she precisely hooked and pinched a ticket with her fingers, easily removing it from the table.
"Got it!" Gu Mingyan excitedly waved the meal voucher in her hand.
"Well done." Yun Qingqing cooperated perfectly with her and happily rushed towards the second station fifty meters away.
Ji Sihan and Nan Xu, who were overtaken, only felt a dark shadow brush past them. When they looked closely, they were dumbfounded.
"Yun Qingqing, why are you running so fast?" Ji Sihan couldn't help but shout at her back.
Yun smiled slightly: "Have you ever fought for food in a high school cafeteria under a completely closed management system?"
Ji Sihan shook his head blankly: "N-nothing?"
Yun Qingqing kept her pace, her clear voice carried on the wind: "Oh, after waiting for you for three whole years, fighting her way through the scramble for food like a stampede of horses every day, you'll understand why I'm so fast."
Ji Sihan: "???"
I get it! I know it all too well! My high school was incredibly crowded; if you arrived late, you'd have to wait in line for half an hour to get food.
[Who started crying while watching? How could a rich young master like Ji Sihan understand the hardships of those of us who are fighting for food?]
[Yun Qingqing's skill level is so high back in the day, she was definitely the cafeteria queen!]
No wonder their lower body is so stable and their core strength is so strong; it's all thanks to the solid foundation they laid back in the days of fighting for food.
With Yun Qingqing's completely unconventional running style, she and Gu Mingyan came from behind and, as if they had a cheat code, swept up meal vouchers at multiple stations in the remaining time.
When the fifteen-minute time limit was up, Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan's group unsurprisingly received the most meal vouchers and won the most sumptuous dinner.
Ding Manni looked at the bland soup on her table, then glanced at the lavish dishes on the next table, and couldn't help but sigh: "Ah, I suddenly realize how great it is to have a teammate like Yun Qingqing..."
He's fast, strong, quick-witted, and can easily carry his teammates.
Upon hearing this, Meng Xian managed a weak smile, but didn't reply.
She and Ding Manni had tried the other two's methods earlier, but since they were of similar height and weight, neither of them had Yun Qingqing's monstrous arm strength, and they almost fell over together.
After her failed attempt, Ding Manni kept complaining that Meng Xian wasn't strong enough, which made her quite unhappy.
Yun Qingqing was gnawing on a chicken leg when her phone screen on the table suddenly lit up.
She picked it up casually and glanced at it, only to find it was a bank deposit notification.
She initially thought it was Gu Mingyan's daily wage of 100,000, but upon closer inspection, she discovered it was actually 130,000.
“Mingyan,” she turned to look at Gu Mingyan beside her, “did you press the wrong button? You added 30,000 too many.”
Gu Mingyan didn't even lift her eyelids: "I didn't make a mistake. I had a lot of fun today, so I'm happy to play a little more."
Yun Qingqing was deeply moved and mentally exclaimed to the system, "System! Look at my precious God of Wealth! How generous! How magnanimous! How understanding!"
The system's electronic brain buzzed from her barrage of flattery: [...]
However, the commotion at Yun Qingqing's table was spotted by Meng Xian, who had been secretly watching them.
She caught a glimpse of the money transfer notification on Yun Qingqing's phone, and combined with the snippets of their conversation, Meng Xian's heart skipped a beat—
She knew it! How could someone with Gu Mingyan's fiery temper and arrogant personality possibly make a friend like Yun Qingqing who would protect her like that?
It turns out that Yun Qingqing was Gu Mingyan's paid partner!
Having caught something red-handed, Meng Xian felt a surge of excitement. Suppressing her excitement, she asked Yun Qingqing with concern in her eyes, "Qingqing, I noticed you were looking at your phone the whole time. Is something wrong?"
Before Yun Qingqing could speak, Gu Mingyan frowned and asked, "Are you in trouble?"
"No, I'm fine." Yun Qingqing looked at Meng Xian with a half-smile. "Why did you suddenly ask this, Teacher Meng?"
Meng Xian said softly, "I accidentally saw that Mingyan transferred over 100,000 yuan to you just now... I was so surprised when she transferred so much money at once, I thought you had encountered some emergency."
Gu Mingyan disliked this kind of roundabout probing, so she said bluntly, "It's just transferring some money, why are you making such a fuss?"
"I'm sorry, I was just concerned about Qingqing." Meng Xian looked a little flustered. "It's really not common for friends to suddenly transfer such a large sum of money."
This argument successfully caught the attention of the viewers in the live chat:
Meng Xian is right. Who would casually transfer tens of thousands of yuan between ordinary friends?
I also feel... no matter how good the relationship is, transferring so much money seems a bit odd, doesn't it?
Meng Xian pressed on, "I was just concerned about Qingqing. After all, she's a guest in the same group, and I wanted to ask if there was anything I could do to help..."
Gu Mingyan looked at Meng Xian as if she were a fool, her tone filled with utter bewilderment:
Is it really that surprising to give a friend tens of thousands of yuan in pocket money?
Meng Xian: "...?"
Gu Mingyan leaned forward slightly and asked seriously, "It's just a small amount of money, only six figures. You never spend money on your friends?"
Meng Xian: "???"
Shouldn't you listen to what you're saying? Six figures can't be considered small change.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Gu Mingyan seemed to understand something, clicked her tongue softly, and muttered, "So you're this stingy with your friends."
Meng Xian suddenly felt she had nowhere to seek justice.
No way, who would give a friend tens of thousands of yuan as pocket money all at once?!
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