"Scarlet, can you tell me if your boyfriend is also a college student? Is he from our school or somewhere else?"
Chloe asked curiously.
Scarlet had already thought about how to answer her best friend on this question.
From Arden's style, it was clear he preferred keeping a low profile.
If he wanted to, he could easily dress in a way that screamed wealth, to the point where even people unfamiliar with luxury brands would instantly recognize his affluence.
But he didn't. Instead, like most college students, he wore inexpensive fast-fashion brands or basic stuff.
Therefore, Scarlet decided not to introduce Arden to anyone at school for now.
There were also some subtle intentions behind this.
After all, Arden was too exceptional—keeping him hidden was better, in case other girls got ideas.
"Sorry, Chloe, my boyfriend's pretty low-key and doesn't usually flaunt his wealth. I'd rather not share specifics about him. I can only tell you... well, the school he goes to isn't particularly prestigious, but he has an amazing personality, and we get along incredibly well."
"Oh, I see. No worries, I totally get it." Chloe giggled. "If I had an insanely amazing boyfriend, I'd probably hide him too and wouldn't want him meeting my best friends."
"Mm... Oh, you should eat a few bites first—the food's getting cold."
"Ah! You're right, I was so into our conversation I forgot to eat!"
At that moment, Chloe suddenly felt hungry and quickly started eating.
Scarlet also took out some popular snacks to share.
While eating, Chloe didn't forget to snap a photo of the ridiculously expensive bag and send it to her boyfriend Tyler.
"My dorm senior is in a relationship. Her boyfriend gave her such a beautiful bag. Ugh, when will I ever get to use a bag of this caliber?"
Although Scarlet said she wouldn't introduce her boyfriend to them, Scarlet's intention was clearly to signal that she was taken.
Therefore, Chloe telling her boyfriend these things completely met Scarlet's requirements.
At that moment, in Harrison Hall, room 510.
Evan was tinkering with something on his computer using his phone.
"Dude, aren't you done yet? You're still grinding after class. What code are you writing?" Tyler couldn't help asking. Damn, it was only the start of freshman year—was the dorm already producing a competitive grind monster?
Evan smiled slightly. "I made a small plugin to remind me to pay attention to Imogen Blake."
"...Aren't you already paying attention to your goddess every waking moment? Do you really need a reminder?"
"If anyone mentions Imogen Blake in a group chat I'm in, or in a private message, or if there's related content on social media, the plugin triggers a special alert sound," Evan said earnestly. "Timeliness of information is crucial. Sometimes finding the right entry point helps you seize fleeting opportunities and enter the goddess's heart."
He's completely delusional!
Tyler rolled his eyes.
Evan was too intense. Other simps were at most severely ill, but Evan already had the subtle air of a performance artist.
He said dismissively, "What fleeting opportunities? That's all nonsense. If you ask me, picking up girls in college is simple. As long as you're willing to spend money and provide convenient perks, like, for example, having a car."
"It's so convenient to drive girls around. Instantly sets you apart from other guys."
"Like me—I drive a Volkswagen Passat, a solid mid-size sedan, spacious and comfortable..."
Ryan, who was grinding in his game at his desk, twitched his shoulder.
He was holding back laughter.
When Tyler started rambling about his girl-chasing tips, Ryan had already predicted the smooth combo that would follow.
Within three sentences, he'd inevitably bring up his beloved Volkswagen Passat.
Facts proved Ryan had thoroughly figured out his two roommates' personalities.
Besides being a "local real estate kid," another very obvious label on Tyler was "Volkswagen Passat."
He loved showing off, sometimes even driving his beloved car from the dorm to the other end of campus for mandatory events.
Therefore, in addition to the nickname "real estate kid," classmates sometimes called him "Passat Bro."
But then again, for a college student to drive a car worth nearly twenty-five grand was pretty impressive.
After all, car usage, maintenance, and city parking fees were all considerable expenses.
An average family really couldn't swing it.
This car did give Tyler an advantage.
Right after military training ended, girls from other majors were already asking about Tyler through intermediaries.
It could only be said that Tyler's flashy style also had its audience.
To each their own.
Not surprising.
Ryan remembered Arden saying he was picking up a car.
He wondered what kind it would be.
But given Arden's current wealth level, it had to be better than a Volkswagen Passat.
Just as Tyler was rambling on, a message from his girlfriend Chloe came through.
This made Tyler frown, his expression changing.
"Why'd the real estate kid stop? Keep going," Ryan asked—he hadn't had enough entertainment yet.
"Holy crap, holy crap! Do you guys remember that senior in my girlfriend's dorm?"
"I remember. Scarlet Hayes, one of the three campus goddesses. She should be a junior this year, known as Pennbrook's most attractive campus beauty in history." Evan rattled off details about the legendary dorm. "What about her?"
"Scarlet is in a relationship."
Oh, wow!
Hearing this, both Evan and Ryan were somewhat surprised.
Supposedly that senior had crazy high standards. She'd been at Pennbrook for three years, had countless guys after her, but hadn't gotten into a relationship. Now she suddenly had a boyfriend.
They hadn't heard any rumors beforehand.
"She probably got together with someone super loaded. Today Scarlet came back with an LV bag."
"That brand's really expensive, isn't it?" Ryan said. Even though he knew nothing about luxury goods, he'd heard of LV's legendary reputation.
"Expensive, yeah. Basic models cost a few thousand to tens of thousands, and anything with a slightly unique design goes into the tens of thousands."
Tyler sighed after speaking.
Chloe sending him this message—her intention couldn't be more obvious, right?
She wanted one herself.
For a basic LV model, Tyler could find an excuse to ask his parents for extra allowance, and it wasn't like he couldn't afford it.
The question was: did Chloe deserve it?
He'd already spent so much on the confession setup, taking her out, plus the sushi place arranged for this weekend.
And now a bag too?
Tyler was super annoyed, but he didn't dare lose his temper with Chloe. After all, she was a girlfriend he'd worked hard to land. Although nowhere near the three goddess roommates, she was still pretty cute, which made Tyler feel proud in front of classmates.
He could only message her to smooth things over.
"Haha, really? That bag's pretty nice."
"Right, right! This one's a collab with the famous artist Murakami Takashi, featuring..."
Chloe went on about design language, artistic vision, and so on.
Tyler didn't understand a thing. After Chloe finished, he sent:
"That's cool, but it's way too extravagant for a student to use LV. I think Target bags are pretty good actually."
"Chloe: ???"
"Chloe: Those cheap Target bags are only used by middle school girls with less than fifty bucks in allowance! How can you not understand anything? I'm so frustrated. Ugh, I really can't expect a guy to have even a tiny bit of taste!"
"Chloe: I'm not talking to you anymore. Going to study."
Tyler paused, then felt both angry and wronged.
Damn, was this about taste?
It's about money, it's about money!
That Scarlet was stunning even compared to influencers and had been scouted by talent agents—an LV bag seemed fitting for her.
What are you, Chloe? You should take a good look at yourself.
Ugh...