Everyone had lunch at the hotel.

This time, Yan Zhikai was truly generous. Most of the dishes he ordered were luxuries these students rarely had the chance to eat, and under Lao Mei and Fu Bai’s instigation, he even had several bottles of alcohol brought over. Shu Yuxin didn’t recognize the brand, but judging from the lavish packaging alone, it was clearly expensive. Unfortunately, almost no one at the table drank alcohol. Lao Mei went around trying to persuade people with his glass, but no one obliged. In the end, everyone could only watch as Lao Mei and Fu Bai drank straight from the bottles—and they hadn’t even finished yet.

“Enough, you two! Stop drinking!” Finally unable to stand it anymore, Yan Zhikai snatched the bottle Lao Mei was holding and drinking from. The alcohol that spilled out flowed down Lao Mei’s neck and into his T-shirt, making him shiver.

“And you too! Fu-dog, put the damn bottle down!” Yan Zhikai slammed the bottle onto the table, then pointed at Fu Bai beside Lao Mei, looking like he was about to start a fight. “Did I bring you here just so you could chug alcohol? Are you still going out to play this afternoon or not?”

Lao Mei wiped the corner of his mouth, grinning. “You’re underestimating us. This little bit of booze won’t get us drunk.”

“Take a look at your face before you talk—red as hell, like Guan Yu.” Yan Zhikai sat back down and put the bottle on the floor by his feet, clearly stating his stance.

Seeing the atmosphere at the table grow a little stiff, Lao Mei shrugged and patted Fu Bai on the shoulder. “Hehe, alright, alright. We’ll do it tonight. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

Across the table, Jiang Zixuan withdrew his gaze from them and looked at Shu Yuxin beside him. “Why did you stop eating?”

There was only a piece of chicken in Shu Yuxin’s bowl—the one she had picked up at the very beginning. After eating the skin, she hadn’t touched it again. The table in front of her was still full of dishes, yet she was staring blankly at the large bowl of fish soup in the middle, unmoving.

Hearing Jiang Zixuan’s voice, Shu Yuxin snapped back to her senses. She poked at the chicken in her bowl with her chopsticks and said softly, “I’m full.”

“You’re really full?” Jiang Zixuan frowned slightly, clearly unconvinced. “How much did you even eat?”

Shu Yuxin glanced at him and said nothing.

At least half the dishes on the table were barely touched. Jiang Zixuan stared at the table in silence for a moment, then asked quietly, “Is there really nothing here you like?”

Shu Yuxin still didn’t answer.

Jiang Zixuan sighed. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll starve to death?”

Now he finally understood why her parents said she was hard to take care of.

“None of your business.” Shu Yuxin rolled her eyes.

This extravagant lunch came to an end when everyone put down their chopsticks and picked up their phones. The table of food had been mostly cleared out; the only thing still relatively intact was the bottle of alcohol by Lao Mei’s side. He tried several times to open it and pour himself another drink, but every time Yan Zhikai glanced over, his hand instinctively withdrew.

As the club president, Yan Zhikai still had basic authority at times like this.

After lunch, Zhang Houlin suggested going back to the rooms to rest for a bit. After all, they’d spent the entire morning traveling here with great difficulty, and everyone’s energy was pretty much drained. But since it was rare for them all to go out together, everyone was excited. Lao Mei and Fu Bai, in particular, were so hyped they wanted to fly straight from the hotel to the amusement park and ride the roller coaster. In the end, Zhang Houlin’s suggestion was dropped. They didn’t even go back to their rooms, heading straight out of the hotel toward Laiter Paradise Amusement Park.

And they were immediately hit with a bucket of ice-cold reality at the entrance.

Just the line at the gate alone stretched so far it was impossible to see the end.

Peng Xiaoxiao stood at the front of the crowd, staring at the line in shock. “It’s this long?! How long are we going to have to wait?”

“At this rate, we might not even get in today,” Lao Mei said, propping his chin on his hand and analyzing the situation seriously.

“Why are you panicking with me around?” Yan Zhikai suddenly sauntered over. He tilted his body slightly as he scanned the group, then waved them over and turned to walk ahead. “Follow me. We’re going to the VIP line.”

Peng Xiaoxiao was startled. “VIP? Wow, President, you’re a VIP? I remember that costing a lot, right?”

“Heh, Xiaoxiao, don’t be fooled by how Kai looks like a fat otaku—he’s actually loaded,” Wei Zhanpeng leaned over and whispered to her.

“Wow? Really?”

“Of course,” Zhang Houlin chimed in with a smile. “‘A fat otaku has a wall of houses, one apartment inside Beijing’s Third Ring’—that’s talking about someone like Kai. Ordinary folks like us can’t compare.”

Yan Zhikai’s voice drifted over from ahead. “What’s wrong with being a fat otaku? Did I eat your rice?”

“Hahaha, I was praising you!” Zhang Houlin laughed and waved his hand as he followed after him.

Shu Yuxin and Jiang Zixuan lagged behind, strolling slowly. Looking at the massive line in the regular queue beside them, Shu Yuxin couldn’t help smacking her lips. “There are really so many people…”

“There are always this many during holidays, and it gets worse every year,” Jiang Zixuan said with a smile. “I remember the only time you went out for a convention was back in your ninth-grade year? Once you see more, it won’t feel that unusual anymore.”

“You say that like you’ve seen so much. Besides, there were tons of people at that convention too, okay? I’m just making a comment, not saying it’s that strange.” Shu Yuxin pouted.

The smile at Jiang Zixuan’s lips deepened. “Alright, alright, whatever you say.” Then he suddenly changed the topic. “Were you actually full earlier?”

After a brief pause, Shu Yuxin shook her head. “No.”

“Then do you want to buy something to eat?”

“Forget it. I’m not that hungry right now. We’ll see later.”

Jiang Zixuan nodded and didn’t ask further.

The VIP entrance to Laiter Paradise Amusement Park was right next to the regular entrance. Compared to ordinary visitors, so-called VIPs only really enjoyed one perk—skipping the line. Everything else was just trivial extras, like the reception girls at the VIP counter being noticeably prettier than those at the regular counter. VIP membership was expensive and sold with a minimum one-year term. On normal days, while the park was busy, it usually wasn’t crowded enough to require queuing, so this perk was really only useful during holidays. Since there were only a few major holidays each year, the cost-performance ratio of this VIP privilege was quite low. That was why most people outside, even while standing in long lines, had no intention of buying VIP. In the end, this kind of privilege was simply marketed to the wealthy.

In addition to enjoying skip-the-line privileges during the valid period, a VIP could authorize up to nine additional people to enjoy the same privileges for one day each time they visited. However, those additional tickets had to be purchased online in advance by the VIP holder and cost ten percent more than regular tickets. Naturally, all of that was paid for by Yan Zhikai.

After smoothly collecting the pre-booked tickets at the counter, Yan Zhikai slowly handed them out one by one to the group behind him, who were still chatting away. The last ticket went to Peng Xiaoxiao. Then he turned around and stared at Wei Zhanpeng, empty-handed, for ten full seconds.

Wei Zhanpeng had just been discussing where to go first with Peng Xiaoxiao. Seeing Yan Zhikai like this, he immediately sensed trouble. “…Where’s my ticket?”

“You want one?” Yan Zhikai tilted his head, very streetwise, and extended his hand toward Wei Zhanpeng, lightly clapping it with a crisp “pa.” “None left.”

Wei Zhanpeng’s mouth twitched. “Didn’t you say—”

“I said I’d treat you guys,” Yan Zhikai put his hands on his hips, “but you only told me this morning that you were coming along. The batch I pre-booked was already sold out. What do you want me to use to book one for you?”

Wei Zhanpeng immediately looked awkward.

“So… he can’t go in and play?” Peng Xiaoxiao clutched her ticket, looking a bit nervous.

Yan Zhikai stared at Wei Zhanpeng, who looked like an elementary school kid who’d done something wrong, for a long while before slowly nodding. “He can. Tickets can still be bought on the spot—but at double the price.”

This rule was originally meant to prevent some VIPs from profiting off their skip-the-line privileges. Although it couldn’t completely stop loopholes, the final beneficiary was still the park itself—essentially paying for priority access with one extra ticket’s worth of money.

But for a college student who wasn’t exactly well-off, double the ticket price was a real burden.

Wei Zhanpeng hesitated.

He really wanted to go in and play with Peng Xiaoxiao—that was the very reason he had defied his father’s orders and followed Yan Zhikai here. But now, facing the doubled ticket price, he could afford it, yet the next half month would probably be spent living on instant noodles.

“You can’t afford it?” Noticing the difficulty on Wei Zhanpeng’s face, Peng Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and spoke up. “How about I help you—”

“No need. I can pay for him, and I can buy the ticket for him,” Yan Zhikai waved at Peng Xiaoxiao. “I just wanted to scare him a bit. Next time, make your decisions earlier. Stuff like this can easily get ugly, you know?”

Wei Zhanpeng lowered his head in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Only then did Yan Zhikai nod in satisfaction and turn around to buy the ticket for him.

The group of onlookers had been watching the whole time, and now they finally started commenting.

“Yan Zhikai feels really strict…” Shu Yuxin nudged Jiang Zixuan with her elbow. “Hey, don’t you think he’s kind of like our high school homeroom teacher?”

“Not really.” Jiang Zixuan shook his head.

“Huh… I think he really is. Kind of similar, you know?”

“Not really,” Jiang Zixuan denied again. “He’s not mean enough.”

Shu Yuxin: “…Fair point.”

Zhang Houlin laughed helplessly. “That’s just how Kai is. You’ll get used to it.”