Chapter 98

PS: Starting today, I will begin catching up on the backlog. On top of the two regular updates, I will add one or two more chapters. I will gradually make up for the backlog. The reason for the backlog is not something I want to elaborate on, but in summary, it's due to being too busy and tired, and also being stuck in writing.

Yezhuyun's family bought her a house in the university town to make it more convenient for her to attend university, which already made Zhang Qiu feel that they were quite wealthy. However, at that time, he only felt a slight sense of admiration in his heart because a house like that costs several hundred thousand, which he could afford now.

But when he entered this villa complex and saw Ye Mei's house, Zhang Qiu truly felt what it meant to be a tycoon.

Although he had heard of even larger mansions online, he hadn't seen them with his own eyes, right? No matter how large the houses he had heard about were, they couldn't compare to the direct impression of this villa.

In such a bustling and expensive city like Suxian, to own a mansion in this prime location truly made one a tycoon.

It's important to note that this is not a suburban villa. In the vicinity of this complex, high-rise apartments already cost over ten thousand per square meter, and this villa could be two or three times as expensive, and no one might be willing to sell it.

Because the current policy does not allow the construction of villas in cities, all the villas in the urban area can be considered limited editions. Since rarity increases value, many people are unwilling to sell.

Zhang Qiu couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Your house is really big. It must cost at least thirty to forty thousand per square meter, right?"

"I don't know. But this house was bought early, by my grandfather. It wasn't expensive when it was bought," Ye Mei said.

Zhang Qiu suddenly became serious and said solemnly, "Do you know, what I really want to say right now is 'Rich girl! Please take care of me!'"

"Ha!" Ye Mei was amused by Zhang Qiu's joke. She didn't expect him to say such an informal internet slang with such a serious expression, which created a very funny effect, making her laugh uncontrollably.

Inside the house, Ye Mei said, "Feel free to sit anywhere! I won't be formal with you, so you don't have to be formal either!"

Zhang Qiu smiled and said, "Then I won't be formal." He sat down on the leather sofa and glanced around the entire living room with his peripheral vision.

The house didn't have a luxurious and grand atmosphere. At first glance, it seemed simple and understated. However, after a while, one could feel a sense of luxury, which, though not overwhelming, was everywhere and impossible to ignore.

In fact, having such a large house itself was a luxury. Even without deliberately decorating it to be grand, it still felt incredibly luxurious.

"If you can win Nana's heart, you won't need to envy me," Ye Mei said as she sat down on the sofa and started chatting with Zhang Qiu. "Money, after all, belongs to the family. Talent is personal, and in terms of talent, I can't match you."

At this point, Ye Mei suddenly changed the subject, "I wonder how your grades are?"

"Why do you suddenly ask this?" Zhang Qiu said, "My grades are just average." He didn't place much importance on grades, and if it weren't for Ning Lan's words, he would care even less.

However, now, if he were to take his exams seriously, he could do very well. But because he didn't care, he didn't bother to mention his good grades.

To his surprise, Ye Mei said seriously, "That won't do! If you want to pursue Nana, your grades must be good. She's a top student! To win a girl's heart, you must first make her admire you. Even if you can't make her admire you, you must at least make her respect you. So, if you're dealing with someone who lacks money and likes money, you must have money. If you're dealing with someone who doesn't lack money but still likes money, you must have more money than her. If you're dealing with someone who doesn't like money, you must have real talent."

"What do you think Nana is like?" Ye Mei asked.

Without hesitation, Zhang Qiu said, "Naturally, the third type."

"You know that's good," Ye Mei said. "Actually, your talent is quite impressive, and it's very attractive to many girls. However, people who haven't interacted with you won't know about your talents. So, you need to have a talent that can be clearly seen. Good grades are the best choice. Now that you're truly in school, your studies are your career, and your grades are your talent. Especially for a girl like Nana, if your grades are poor, how can she look at you differently?"

"Are grades really that important?" Zhang Qiu was a bit confused. "Why do hardworking students generally not have girlfriends, while those who are lazy and mischievous easily get girlfriends? In those romance novels that women like to read, the main characters are often ruffians! Isn't it said that 'good men don't attract women'?"

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! You're completely wrong! Don't focus on those shallow and brain-dead people. You need to know that the person you want to pursue is Nana," Ye Mei said. "If what you say were true, wouldn't honest people never get married or fall in love? The issue of love is very complex and involves many factors."

"To fall in love, you shouldn't look at how society is or how others are. You definitely shouldn't read romance novels, as reading too many can make you brain-dead. First, you need to understand the girl you like and know what type of girl she is."

"You, an honest person, trying to pursue a girl who likes 'ruffians' is definitely not going to work. You need to understand that you're pursuing a top student, so you need to become a top student yourself."

"But I don't really know Lin Lai," Zhang Qiu said, a bit depressed. "Improving my grades is easy, but the situation you described is really complicated..." Zhang Qiu thought to himself, no wonder female Ph.D. students have a hard time finding partners.

"Is improving your grades really that easy? Don't brag," Ye Mei suddenly asked. "If you can really do it, then it's very simple! Don't think about other things now; focus on how to improve your grades. If your college entrance exam score can surpass Nana's, you'll at least be halfway there."

Zhang Qiu thought to himself, if you let me tour your house and sit on your bed, I might do better than Lin Lai. But to fully surpass her, it would probably require provincial-level exam proficiency.

High school exam proficiency is a special skill that can only be used in Xia Guo, and the highest level is "provincial." Currently, Zhang Qiu has city-level exam proficiency, which is equivalent to the average exam level of all city top scorers in the national college entrance exam. This level is more than enough to get into Jinghua University and can be considered a top student.

Zhang Qiu didn't know how powerful city-level proficiency was, and he knew even less about provincial-level proficiency. But he imagined that city-level proficiency would be a bit more powerful, and getting a city top scorer should be no problem.

Unfortunately, sitting on Ye Mei's bed was just a thought for Zhang Qiu. If he said it out loud, he didn't know how Ye Mei would react. After all, he wasn't very familiar with her and didn't know what the consequences would be. Also, according to his personality, he wouldn't say such a thing to someone he wasn't familiar with.

Unless Ye Mei invited him or he could find a legitimate reason.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Qiu said, "Can you show me around your house?"

"Sure," Ye Mei nodded and led Zhang Qiu to tour the villa.

Ye Mei's room was on the second floor. Knowing where her room was, Zhang Qiu became a bit distracted, always thinking about how to get into Ye Mei's room.

He now felt the difficulty of this task. The first step was to overcome his own hesitation, which was already a challenge.

The villa had three and a half floors, with the half floor being a small attic for insulation. Since most of the terrace was retained, it was considered half a floor.

On the terrace, it was made into a rooftop garden with a nice view. There was also a viewing platform near the edge where one could sit and enjoy the scenery below.

Ye Mei led Zhang Qiu to the viewing platform, and as they sat there, she received a phone call. Her brother had been rescued.

After hanging up, she couldn't put her phone away and excitedly hugged Zhang Qiu, saying, "That's great! That's great! My brother has been rescued!"

Although the hug was sudden, after accepting it, Zhang Qiu relaxed. After all, they had hugged before, and familiarity made it less tense.

He thought, "This is you hugging me." Zhang Qiu's courage grew, and he didn't feel embarrassed. The various fragrances and soft touches made him truly feel what it meant to be hugged by a soft girl.

"Good that he's been rescued! Is he okay now?" Zhang Qiu asked.

"He's fine. The criminals didn't have guns, only knives. My brother was slightly cut, but it's not serious," Ye Mei said. After saying this, her face suddenly turned red, and she let go of Zhang Qiu.

She then turned away, a bit embarrassed, put away her phone, and leaned on the railing, pretending to enjoy the breeze.

Zhang Qiu touched his nose and thought, "Ah, being a girl is great. You can hug someone and then let go without a word." Thinking about how he had to worry and explain when he accidentally hugged her, he felt it was unfair.

"Do you want to go see your brother now?" Zhang Qiu asked, finding a topic to cover up what had just happened.

Ye Mei nodded and asked, "Yeah. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure. I'm waiting for you to help me with my problems after you're done," Zhang Qiu said.

"Then let's go downstairs," Ye Mei said, walking down from the terrace, and Zhang Qiu followed.

On the second floor, Ye Mei said, "I'll change my clothes. Wait outside for a moment." She then walked into her room and closed the door.

Zhang Qiu thought, girls changing clothes never take just a moment; he was prepared to wait for a long time.

However, after a few minutes, Ye Mei came out. She had changed into a casual sportswear, which made her look less ladylike but very sunny.

"You should change your clothes too!" Ye Mei suddenly said.

"Uh... I don't need to! Besides, I don't have any clothes to change into," Zhang Qiu thought he had misheard. This wasn't his home, and Ye Mei didn't have any clothes for him.

But Ye Mei didn't care and directly walked over, pulling his arm into her room, saying, "Change your clothes to get rid of bad luck. I have clothes, don't worry."

"Uh..." Zhang Qiu was stunned. Could the task be completed so easily? He even wondered if the system was helping him. However, the reason of getting rid of bad luck was勉强说得通，但叶梅怎么会有男人的衣服呢？

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(Translation continues:)

However, the reason of getting rid of bad luck was勉强说得通，but how could Ye Mei have men's clothes?

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Note: The phrase "勉强说得通" can be translated as "勉强说得通" (勉强 means "barely" or "hardly," and 得通 means "makes sense" or "is plausible"). In this context, it means "barely plausible" or "勉强 makes sense."