Trillionaire's Slice of Life

"Tingting, you're being too modest. When we graduated, you were chosen by Dean Lu to participate in research projects. That made many people envious. Tingting, your grades were always top-notch. You got plenty of scholarships while in school. Come on, tell us about your current situation.

Are you now holding a high position in some multinational company? I might even visit you someday."

The expression on Li Tingting's face next to him froze for a moment. Even if Chu Mo didn't know what had happened between the two girls, he could tell at this moment that the tall girl in front of them definitely had some past issues with Li Tingting. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dug so deep just to make Li Tingting look bad.

Li Tingting, who had been beaming with happiness, now had little expression on her face. As the other party persisted with her questions, Li Tingting was about to speak up when Chu Mo suddenly interjected:

"Tingting is now helping me manage my company. She's really capable. If it weren't for Tingting's help, I couldn't have possibly managed the company well on my own. I'm planning to hand over the company's management to Tingting. She might get even busier in the future."

Chu Mo noticed that Li Tingting seemed reluctant to mention anything about the research. He knew that assistant research always came with confidentiality rules and could not casually be discussed with outsiders. Since it was inconvenient to talk about the research, Chu Mo had no choice but to help her deflect the questions casually.

As for managing the company and the like, it was actually nothing more than a casual remark from Chu Mo. Starting a company was a piece of cake for him and wasn't anything significant.

While Chu Mo was talking big, Li Tingting next to him gently wrapped her arm around his own. Then, very covertly, she pinched his arm, clearly dissatisfied with him talking nonsense.

At that moment, Li Xin beside him didn't hesitate to follow up with questions:

"Start a company? What kind of company? What's the main business? What's the market value...?"

As the tall girl bombarded them with a series of questions, Li Tingting simply grabbed Chu Mo's arm and started walking forward, speaking indifferently:

"Let's go inside first. It's not good to keep the others waiting."

After Li Tingting and Chu Mo started walking swiftly forward, Chu Mo suddenly lowered his voice and said:

"Do the two of you have a grudge?"

With a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes, Li Tingting softly replied:

"It's all because of the graduate studies. That year, Dean Lu was only recruiting one research assistant. Li Xin and I were competitors. In the end, Dean Lu chose me, so she's always had a knot in her heart!"

Chu Mo nodded slightly. He had no interest in the petty grievances between the two girls, and he was somewhat speechless about their open and covert struggles. But Li Tingting was someone he had his eye on, someone who could play a role in his future plans. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to attend such a gathering out of boredom.

So, if necessary, Chu Mo would still need to protect Li Tingting; at the very least, he wouldn't allow her to be bullied.

If Li Xin stopped at this point, that would be the end of it, but if she really dared to trouble Li Tingting, Chu Mo would definitely make things difficult for her.

Of course, up to this point, Li Xin had only tried to find a sense of superiority in matters of work and boyfriends, and as a man, there was no way for Chu Mo to get involved in that.

Entering the private room, Chu Mo also met Li Tingting's other two roommates.

It was not until this moment that Chu Mo truly believed the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." Li Tingting naturally had an impressive beauty score of ninety-five. Li Xin also had striking looks and a devilish figure.

When he saw Li Tingting's other two roommates, he realized that although they were slightly less impressive than Li Tingting, they were also great beauties with a score of ninety.

Similarly, each girl was accompanied by a young and handsome man, which was no surprise. Given the extraordinary beauty of the four girls, their partners were naturally not too shabby either.

Among the men, Chu Mo's score of eighty for his looks was just considered very average. Of course, he wasn't embarrassing Li Tingting either.

Li Tingting and Chu Mo were the last ones to arrive. Once the two entered the private room, everyone was gathered. At that moment, the spirited Li Xin immediately called out:

"Waiter, everyone's here, start serving the food!"

Although this Western restaurant couldn't compare to a five-star hotel, it was still fairly well-known in Magic City, mainly because it boasted a Michelin one-star chef whose culinary skills were exceptional, attracting many people to come and dine based on his reputation alone.

The dining process went smoothly, with Chu Mo speaking very little throughout. After all, his role was merely to act as Li Tingting's boyfriend, and aside from a brief self-introduction at the beginning, he kept his mouth shut and focused on eating with gusto.

Li Tingting and the other two girls were chatting and laughing. Even when Li Xin tried to provoke them halfway through, Li Tingting simply ignored her, so the meal proceeded without any drama.

The saying 'three women make a drama' is certainly true, and if four women get together, it becomes an even bigger stage. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say their chat could go on until the end of time.

During the meal, the four girls kept talking about college topics. Chu Mo and the other three men couldn't get a word in edgewise. Except for some idle chit-chat, the men really had nothing to do.

Eventually, seeing the lively chat among the four girls and realizing that they were unlikely to leave any time soon, one of the older young men couldn't stand it anymore and proposed they play cards to kill time.

Calling the waiter over, they got two decks of cards and the four men gathered for a game.

Truth be told, Chu Mo had little interest in card games or any similar entertainment. Whether during his school years or the years since graduating, he was mostly dealing with text. If he had some free time, he might play some video games, but card playing was really not his cup of tea.

Chu Mo knew his luck was average, and since he was a complete novice, he figured he would likely lose more if they played cards.

But before Chu Mo could decline, the other three, presumably bored men, had already taken their seats. Now, with four people ready to play and just Chu Mo missing, refusing at that point would make him seem very out of place.

After one last glance at the engrossed group of women, who surely wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, Chu Mo thought that since he'd be bored anyway and even if he lost it would just be a way to pass the time, he stopped declining the persistent invitations from the other men and took a seat at the table.

Actually, when they first entered the private room, they had all introduced themselves. But Chu Mo felt he wouldn't have anything to do with these people after the meal. They'd probably never meet again in their lives, so aside from Li Xin and her boyfriend Yin Yao—who had greeted him at the door—he really didn't remember the other two people's names.

As the game began and people addressed each other by name, Chu Mo finally learned that the oldest among them was Zhao Hongsen, whom everyone called Brother Zhao, while the other one was simply known as Xiao Sun.

They were just killing time with simple card games, and after a few awkward rounds, Chu Mo gradually got the hang of it.

The skill levels of the players were mostly on par, and even someone as unskilled as Chu Mo had some wins after a few rounds; it wasn't a complete loss.

Half an hour later, Zhao Hongsen, the oldest, suggested:

"Playing like this is kind of boring. How about we make it interesting and put a little money on the line? It's just to pass the time anyway, so how about ten bucks a hand?"

Ten bucks a hand—even if someone lost continuously, it would just be a few hundred at most, which was negligible for anyone there, so no one objected.

Chu Mo certainly didn't mind. The card game resumed, everyone placed their bets, and indeed, it served to pass the time. After a few rounds, everyone was more or less breaking even.

But ten minutes later, Yin Yao, who had appeared nonchalant until then, suddenly said:

"Playing like this, even if we play until tomorrow, we won't win enough for a pack of cigarettes. So, let's make the next round a hundred bucks."