"What does your illness have to do with me?" Zuri commanded coldly to Shi Feifei's parents, "Move your things, now!"
The forceful tone in Zuri's voice stunned both families in the room. Reluctantly, Shi Feifei's parents began moving their belongings back to the bed that was originally theirs, which was inconveniently located near the bathroom.
Once they had left, Azura cheerfully began unpacking her things. She tossed a set of bedding to her uncle, saying, "Uncle, make the bed."
Leo calmly took the bedding and began making the bed with a practiced ease. Meanwhile, Shi Feifei, clearly upset, sat down in a chair, while her mother quietly consoled her.
"Sweetheart, don't lower yourself to their level. They're just small-minded people, not worth your anger," Shi Feifei's mother whispered.
Shi Feifei's father chimed in, "Later, I'll take you shopping. You can buy whatever you want."
Shi Feifei's mood lightened slightly. "Alright," she said.
Seeing their daughter's expression soften, the parents breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, the last student arrived with her mother, who wore old, worn clothes. The two carried very little, only a simple set of bedding and not much else.
Shi Feifei glanced at them with undisguised disdain.
To break the tension, Shen Menglai's father spoke up, "You must be Esme. This is my daughter, Shen Menglai."
Esme nodded in acknowledgment and looked towards the beautiful girl by the window.
Noticing her gaze, Zuri smiled slightly, "I'm Zuri."
Shi Feifei, however, sneered and had no intention of befriending anyone.
Shi Feifei's mother, seeing an opportunity, chimed in, "This is my daughter, Feifei. I'm sure she'll need your help in the future. You seem like a kind and responsible girl, the type who would look after others. If my Feifei ever needs anything, I hope you'll be there to help. And, of course, if you need anything, Feifei will be happy to assist."
Esme nodded shyly.
After Zuri finished setting up her bed, the three left the dormitory and went to Azura's dorm, where they encountered no odd situations.
After a pleasant introduction to her new roommates, Leo was called away by a phone call. Zuri spent the rest of the evening dining with Azura and her new roommates, enjoying her first day on campus.
When Zuri returned to her dormitory, only Esme and Shen Menglai were there; Shi Feifei was absent. Shen Menglai greeted Zuri with a smile, "Zuri, tomorrow, our dorm is going out for dinner together. Would you like to join us?"
"Sure," Zuri replied.
Esme hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Shen Menglai glanced at Shi Feifei's bed, "I doubt she'll come. I find her a bit too pretentious. Just because she's wealthy, she acts like she's better than everyone else."
Zuri simply smiled without commenting.
At that moment, the dormitory door was kicked open, and Shi Feifei entered, her arms laden with shopping bags. Seeing no one helping her, she called out to Esme, "Hurry up and help me!"
Esme obediently went to assist her, placing the shopping bags on her bed.
Shen Menglai rolled her eyes.
Shi Feifei began unpacking her bags, taking out a delicate designer handbag, and walked over to Shen Menglai, "This is for you."
Shen Menglai was shocked. It was a Gucci bag, easily worth over ten thousand yuan!
Shi Feifei smirked, pleased with herself. "Take it. Don't be shy."
Next, she pulled out another handbag and handed it to Esme, "This is for you."
After handing out gifts, Shi Feifei deliberately ignored Zuri.
Esme and Shen Menglai exchanged glances, both feeling awkward for Zuri.
Shi Feifei glanced at Zuri with a smug expression.
Hmph, just a poor girl!
Zuri was well aware of Shi Feifei's intentions—to make her feel isolated and upset.
But did she care about someone so insignificant?
Zuri didn't even bat an eye, completely ignoring Shi Feifei's theatrics.
Esme hesitated with the bag in her hand, "This is too expensive. You should take it back."
Shi Feifei waved her off dismissively, "Just take it. It's not a big deal. I have plenty of these at home."
Shen Menglai, on the other hand, was delighted with her new bag. She had always wanted a designer handbag but couldn't afford one. Now that she had one, she wasn't about to give it back.
Shen Menglai curiously asked, "Feifei, what does your family do? Your parents are so generous. They buy you anything you want."
Shi Feifei, eager to boast, proudly replied, "My family manufactures bathroom fixtures, exclusively supplying five-star hotels. We have two factories."
Shen Menglai was visibly impressed, "I had no idea we had a wealthy heiress in our dorm."
Esme also looked at Shi Feifei with a hint of envy.
"Tomorrow, let's all go out for dinner together. Does anyone object?" Shi Feifei suggested, glancing at Zuri out of the corner of her eye.
Shen Menglai smiled, "I just mentioned it to Zuri earlier, and we were waiting for you to get back to hear your thoughts. Looks like we're all on the same page. I'm new to the city and don't know where the good restaurants are. Do you?"
Esme shook her head, "I'm also new here."
Shi Feifei offered, "I'll make the reservations. I'm familiar with this city."
"Great!" Shen Menglai agreed enthusiastically.
Shi Feifei and Shen Menglai continued chatting excitedly, with Esme occasionally joining in, but mostly listening. Meanwhile, Zuri, uninterested, kept her earphones in, listening to foreign languages.
Meanwhile, the Feng brothers had a rare moment together at home.
"Zuri's in the capital now. Shouldn't we go visit her?" Owen suggested. "Even if she doesn't want us to escort her, we can still check on her."
"You're going to the academy?" Adam gave him a sideways glance as if looking at a fool. "You showing up wouldn't be 'checking on Zuri,' it would be a disaster."
Owen was silenced by the reprimand.
Finally, the usually quiet Nolan spoke up, "Let's invite her to dinner over the weekend. She's wary of us right now, so if we push too hard, it'll backfire."
Adam nodded in agreement, "Take it slow. Zuri isn't superficial; she's independent and strong-willed. We need to approach her gently, not force our way into her life. That would only make things worse."
After a moment, Adam turned to Owen, "Did you understand what I just said?"
Owen rolled his eyes, "It's not rocket science."
"Then why did you show up at her place with several carloads of gifts, attracting a bunch of thieves? If big brother hadn't had someone watching outside, Zuri would've been in serious trouble."
Recalling that incident, Owen looked down, speaking in a low voice, "Alright, I get it. I won't do anything like that again."
Damn it, who knew those idiots would flash cash in broad daylight?
His good intentions had backfired, nearly causing trouble for Zuri.
Feeling guilty, Owen remained silent.
After some discussion, the three brothers agreed on a strategy of gentle persuasion, intending to win Zuri over slowly and carefully.
The first day at university was very relaxed. It was a time for everyone to get to know each other and start building their social circles. Because of Zuri's outstanding appearance, she was quickly dubbed the "department flower."
Zuri just smiled when she heard this and didn't take it seriously, but someone else certainly took note.
Shen Menglai, sitting beside Zuri, lowered her voice and said, "Zuri, do you see that handsome guy in the front row, Xu Xieze? I heard his family owns a clothing factory with its own brand. He's here purely out of interest, to learn more about the industry."
Shi Feifei chuckled lightly. "Some no-name brand I've never even heard of. But Xu Xieze does look pretty good."
If she hadn't seen Leo yesterday, Shi Feifei might have been interested in Xu Xieze, but after meeting Leo, Xu Xieze simply couldn't compare.
Shen Menglai smiled, "Not bad! He might just be starting out, but having that kind of scale is impressive."
Zuri knew about that brand. It's not very noticeable now, but in the future, it would dominate the mid-to-low-end market, holding over 30% of the market share. It could be said that in its category, it would claim the largest piece of the pie, with a future that's nothing short of promising—a brand well worth investing in.
"Xu Xieze could be the 'department grass' for us," Shen Menglai changed the topic.
Around noon, Zuri received a text message from Azura.
As the four of them headed towards the cafeteria, Zuri said to the other three, "A friend is looking for me, so I'll head over first. You guys go ahead and eat."
After Zuri left, Shi Feifei scoffed, "Let's just go eat ourselves! Clearly, she thinks she's too good to eat with us."
Shen Menglai and Esme were too embarrassed to say anything.
Azura came alone to meet Zuri without bringing anyone from her dorm. The two went to the second cafeteria, which was crowded with people, with long lines at every window.
Unlike Windsor Academy, there wasn't a dedicated cafeteria here just for the students.
"What a long line! I haven't queued up for food in years," Azura said as she craned her neck, trying to see over the sea of heads in front of her.
"Isn't it a good experience?" Zuri didn't seem to mind.
As they moved to the middle of the line, two men in suits suddenly approached them.
"Miss Ye, Zuri, your family has sent lunch for you," one of them said.
Zuri quickly took the lunch box from their hands. "Thank you."
"Enjoy your meal," they said respectfully before turning to leave.
The commotion drew the attention of those around them, with many people casting curious glances their way.
Zuri and Azura took the lunch box to a corner table and opened it. The aroma of food wafted out, revealing a balanced meal with one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup.
Azura smiled as she looked at the food. "I wonder who sent this? Zuri, do you think it was my uncle?"
"I don't know. Maybe your father sent it," Zuri said, having a rough idea of the situation between Azura and the Ye family and aware of the tension between father and daughter.
"Hmph, him being that thoughtful? I don't believe it. It's probably something your brothers arranged." Although Azura said this, she secretly hoped it was from her father.
Zuri noticed this but didn't say anything.
"Let's eat."
As Zuri looked at the food, she realized these were all dishes she liked or ate most often—simple home-cooked meals.
"Zuri, our dorm is having dinner with the dorm next door tonight. You should come along," Azura said with her mouth full of an egg roll.
"We're having a dorm dinner tonight."
"Your dorm? Is that Shi Feifei going too?"
"She's in our dorm, so naturally, she'll be there."
"I don't like her. You should be careful around her," Azura said, shoveling food into her mouth. She couldn't help but feel that the food tasted exceptionally good today. Did they hire a new chef?
"Hmm."
Zuri didn't think much of Shi Feifei.
Thinking of Zuri's methods, Azura felt she might be overthinking things.
By evening, the freshmen were heading out in groups by dorm, including Zuri's dorm.
"Feifei, which restaurant did you book nearby?" Shen Menglai asked.
"When I was making the reservation, the better restaurants nearby were all fully booked, so I had to book one a bit farther away. We'll need to take a taxi."
"Alright."
The four of them flagged down a taxi. Shi Feifei sat in the front, while Zuri, Shen Menglai, and Esme sat in the back.
"Driver, to the Haitan Hotel," Shi Feifei instructed.
"Got it."
Esme's eyes lowered when she heard they were going to a hotel, her hand quietly tightening around the little money she had in her pocket.
Half an hour later, the taxi stopped in front of the hotel. The four of them stood outside the grand and opulent entrance. Shi Feifei's eyes gleamed with pride as she glanced at Zuri, feeling pleased with her plan.
She was completely unaware of Esme's nervousness and Shen Menglai's strained expression.
Esme came from a poor family, and Shen Menglai's family was only moderately well-off—neither could afford to eat at such a place.
Seeing Zuri's calm demeanor, Shi Feifei sneered inwardly.
Keep pretending!
Let's see how long you can keep it up.
"Let's go!" Shi Feifei said with a smile, not caring about the other two's uneasy faces.
They had no choice but to follow her inside. Shen Menglai couldn't help but glance at Zuri, admiring her composure.
"Do you have a reservation, ladies?" the hostess asked.
"Yes," Shi Feifei responded, giving her name and phone number. The hostess quickly led them to table 48 in the main hall. The waiter was attentive, pouring tea and handing them the menu.
Shi Feifei picked up the menu and started pointing out the most expensive seafood dishes. "This, this, this, and this, plus these few items—we'll have them all."
Her aggressive ordering left Esme and Shen Menglai looking increasingly uncomfortable.
Unable to maintain her composure, Shen Menglai finally spoke up. "There are only four of us. We don't need to order so much. We can't eat it all."
"It's fine." Shi Feifei ignored her, continuing to point at the menu. "And we'll have these desserts, four of each. That's it."
The waiter smiled and left.
"This meal is our dorm's first gathering, so of course we have to eat well. Don't you think?" Shi Feifei said to the group.
No one responded, not even Shen Menglai, who was usually the most talkative.
Shi Feifei felt a bit awkward and continued, "Come on, it's not that much money. Don't worry about it—I've got it covered."
Shen Menglai forced a smile, while Esme kept her head down.
Shi Feifei then turned to Zuri. "Zuri, I bet this is your first time eating at such a fancy place, right?"
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