The next afternoon, student dormitory.
“Xiao Qi, hurry up, hurry up, go back to the dorm!” Lao San, holding something strange in one hand and pulling the slow-moving Xiao Qi with the other, rushed towards the dorm, ignoring the odd stares from their classmates.
Xiao Qi, dragged by him, was out of breath by the time they reached the dorm.
As soon as they opened the door, Lao Da and Lao Si were already waiting. One went to support Xiao Qi, while the other took the strange item from Lao San’s hand.
Despite its odd appearance, this item was the tool they had been trying to find.
After the impact of the live stream, they had planned to make iron plate potatoes but struggled to find the proper tools, so the idea had been put on hold.
This morning, they had started looking for tools everywhere, but since they were all drinking nutritional liquid and the school only had a star-rated restaurant that they couldn’t access, they couldn’t find any tools.
In the end, Lao San, who knew more people, managed to borrow a device from a senior who liked to grow plants. This device, originally used for heating nutritional liquid, was small but could heat to a high enough temperature, perfect for their needs.
Now, everything was ready; they just needed the final touch.
Since it was Xiao Qi’s potatoes, the others decided that he didn’t need to help and could just wait for the food.
The fire was lit, the iron plate was set up, oil was brushed on, and the pre-sliced potatoes were placed on it one by one, with Lao Da, the best cook among them, taking charge.
They didn’t have the same condiments as in the live stream, so they used a nutritional liquid seasoning kit bought from a nearby shop that sold nutritional liquids.
Lao Da’s skillful hands worked quickly, and before long, the unique fragrance of the potatoes started to fill the air.
As time passed, the smell became even stronger, drawing the attention of the other three who had been sitting and looking on. They moved their chairs closer, eagerly watching.
“Is it ready yet, Lao Da? It smells so good!” Lao San swallowed hard.
“Yeah, Lao Da, hurry up! It really smells amazing.” Even Lao Da, usually calm, couldn’t wait any longer.
“Alright, alright, it’s almost done.” Lao Da responded as the golden-brown potato slices started to take shape.
The golden, fragrant potato slices were lifted off the iron plate by Lao Da and shared among the group.
“Wow, this tastes amazing.”
“It’s totally different from watermelon, but just as delicious.”
Although they had tasted it in the live stream, the real experience was far better than the virtual one, and everyone was praising it.
*Knock knock knock.*
A loud knocking sound startled them.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Lao San, go open the door and check.”
“Could it be the dorm manager? Does he know we’re cooking here?”
They all felt a little uneasy at the thought, especially since it wasn’t supposed to be the time for the manager’s shift.
But no matter what, Lao San still ran to open the door.
A round head popped in, and they all sighed in relief when they saw it was a classmate from the dorm across the hall.
“What are you guys doing in there? It smells so good. I was trying to hold out, but I couldn’t resist. My mouth is watering, so I came to check.”
The visitor glanced into the dorm and naturally saw their feast.
“Wow, is that potato? That’s definitely potato. Oh, that’s the same kind from the live stream, right? You guys actually got it! That’s so cool!”
The person, friendly and familiar since they were in the same class, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and 506 dorm ended up sharing a few slices with him.
*Knock knock knock.*
This time, it was a classmate from the dorm diagonally across, their class president. Unable to refuse, they shared a few more slices.
After sending off the class president, the group learned their lesson and quickly shoved some food into their mouths, but the potatoes had to be cooked slowly, and the smell was just too tempting.
Before long, another classmate arrived, and before they could deal with that one, another came. Soon, the 506 dorm was packed.
They had all been classmates for years and got along well, so it wasn’t right to give one person food and not another. In the end, all the potatoes were shared among everyone.
Even Lao Da, who was still cooking, had people volunteer to help just to speed up the process and get their hands on the hot potatoes.
Once the potatoes were finished, the crowd took the hint and left, leaving behind an empty grill and a floor full of gifts. These were items the visitors had left, feeling awkward for just eating without giving anything in return, and many of them were of high value.
By then, Xiao Qi and the others had no energy left to clean up. They had spoken more today than in the past month combined.
This was a real misstep; they hadn’t expected that making potatoes in the dorm would attract so many people. The allure of potatoes was truly something else. Normally, there wasn’t much interaction between dorms, but today, not only the outgoing and friendly students but even the more introverted ones had come running for a taste.
That night, everyone in 506 dorm slept soundly.
The next morning, as usual, the group headed to class.
On the way, they ran into many people greeting them, many of whom had come over for the potatoes the day before.
At this point, no one realized that something was off.
But after they all sat down, the third one kept squirming around in his seat.
The leader couldn’t stand it and slapped him on the head. “Do you have worms in your butt, why are you squirming like that?”
“No, but don’t you think something is off today?”
“What’s off? I think you’re the one who’s off.”
“No, I really feel like something’s wrong.”
As he spoke, he started looking around the classroom. The lesson hadn’t started yet, and the students were chatting or doing other things.
The third one looked over and happened to make eye contact with one of the people talking. The other person’s gaze started to shift away nervously, and soon several others did the same.
The most important thing is that he saw one of Wang Haotian’s lackeys. He raised his fist in a protest as usual, but the other party did not fight back. Instead, he shrank his head and pretended not to see it.
The third one withdrew his gaze and tugged at the leader, Xiao Qi, and the fourth one’s clothes.
“Leader, leader, I know what’s wrong. You know Guan Ling, right? Wang Haotian’s lackey? He used to always try to provoke me, right? But today, there was nothing. When I made eye contact with him, he actually shrank away.”
The most hot-headed in the dormitory was the third one, and ever since they had fallen out with Wang Haotian, there were often conflicts. Guan Ling would always provoke him—whether by making sarcastic remarks or bumping into him on purpose whenever the third one came in. It was always like that.
So today, his behavior was indeed strange. But even though he thought this in his mind, he still had to argue.
“If he didn’t do it, then he didn’t. You’re not addicted to his provocations, are you? Can’t you be at ease unless he teases you?”
Seeing the leader’s indifferent attitude, the third one got anxious.
“Leader, second, fourth, don’t you guys notice? It’s not just Guan Ling, it’s the others too, especially the ones chatting. When I made eye contact with them, they avoided it, and some of them kept glancing at us.”
The others were stunned, then started to observe the surroundings. Sure enough, what the third one said was true.
“What’s going on? Did something happen that we don’t know about?”
They wanted to know the reason, but the class was about to start, so they had to wait.
After the class ended, they immediately found a classmate they were close to and asked.
“Ah, you guys don’t know? You’ve gone viral on our school’s internal network, like, really viral. Just go check it out. And hey, we’re friends, right? Don’t forget us when you’re rich!”
The group was puzzled by his words, but they understood the terms “internal network” and “viral.”
They quickly logged into the school’s internal network.
The very first post had a large, bold title: “Let’s expose our school’s hidden rich kid.”
The entire post talked about a hidden rich student in the school. How rich were they? Apparently, they could easily get a whole box of items from Lin Jia Store (a high-end store), and the post included several photos.
Some pictures were taken before the items were unpacked, some while counting them on the table, and others of the first watermelon being cut. The pictures were edited to highlight the items clearly. One of the photos even had little tags showing the product prices and total cost, all clearly calculated.
The group looked at each other, confused. How did their dormitory photos end up here?
It was the fourth one who was quick to realize. “Did any of you post photos outside?”
The others realized that, yes, except for the fourth one, the three of them had shared photos, mainly because it was their first time seeing so many Lin Jia Puzi items and they couldn’t resist showing them off.
The three photos in the post were clearly taken from their accounts, each person contributing one.
Okay, so that issue was solved. They continued reading.
The next part emphasized how difficult it was to get Lin Jia Store’s products, how expensive they were, and how hard they were to grab online. Whenever someone managed to get one, everyone would envy them, but this hidden rich student had so many of them.
The post made it clear that this person was extremely rich, powerful, and connected. After all, how else could they get so many things?
The content was well-written, with solid reasoning and heartfelt emotion. If they hadn’t been the ones involved, they might have believed it.
Scrolling down, they found more photos from yesterday afternoon when they were all eating grilled potato slices together.
What more could they make up?
They read the long paragraph below carefully.
It explained that the reason the rich kid was called “hidden” was that they were very low-key. They never bragged about their wealth or showed off their Lin Jia Store products. Instead, they were modest and shared with their dorm mates.
If it weren’t for the irresistible smell of the grilled potato slices, other students might never have known!
Moreover, when students approached, the so-called rich kid didn’t mind at all. They shared freely, without any hesitation, and even made everyone feel like their spirits were uplifted. The students felt more energized and even more focused on their studies.
A long paragraph of text left the 506 dormitory members utterly stunned. Xiao Qi couldn’t help but think, “Am I really this rich? Am I really this mysterious? Am I really this noble?”
Wow, the author is truly talented. Without this kind of gossip, the entertainment industry’s news would be a loss.
And it doesn’t end there.
The author even dug up the past conflicts between the 506 dormitory and Wang Haotian.
First, they thoroughly discussed and analyzed the grudges and feuds between them.
Then, they used Wang Haotian and his lackeys as negative examples, saying that he was just a nouveau riche who had gotten a few tomatoes from the Lin family’s products and started making a big fuss about how amazing he was.
Meanwhile, the 506 dormitory members looked down on his nouveau riche attitude. They were heirs of mysterious, hidden wealth, owning a whole box of various Lin family products. They couldn’t be bothered with these clowns, and didn’t want to argue with them. On the contrary, if these guys ever crossed the line, with just one finger, they could squash them.
Wow, wow…
The members of the 506 dormitory were really stunned at this point. This news article was truly “peak” journalism.
It was clear that years of gossip news experience were needed to write something like this.
They almost believed it, let alone their classmates. No wonder everyone had this attitude. Guan Ling even started avoiding them.
It was truly a mix-up caused by a delivery.
Xiao Qi didn’t know what to say anymore. Are people really this good at imagining things now? They managed to come up with an entirely fabricated news story based on just a few small details.
And somehow, it went viral, spreading across the campus network and convincing countless classmates.
After reading the article, they went to the comments section, not willing to give up. They opened the comments and looked.
Watermelon isn’t potato: If it weren’t for this article, I wouldn’t have known the 506 dormitory was so low-key.
Potato Bean: Never thought I’d be classmates with a mysterious rich person, hehe hee hee~
I love games: I always felt there was something about xxx (the big guy’s name), and now looking at it, sure enough.
【Big guy: How did I not know about this?】
I’m a tool: Yeah, and xxx (the fourth guy’s name), when he gives me that look, I feel like an idiot. He’s probably pretending to study, but secretly he’s getting some elite education. We all seem so naive.
【Fourth guy: That’s because you look like an idiot.】
Crunch crunch crunch: I’m not jealous of anything else, just that potato. I smelled it when they were roasting it yesterday. It was so fragrant! If I knew them, I would go and steal a bite like their classmates.
So jealous: I smelled it too! It was so good. I remember how I go every day at the exact time to try and grab one, but I can never get it. It’s so sad. I really hope the big boss will take me under their wing.
Crunchy: I’m a friend of a friend of their friend. If you round it up, I’m friends with a mysterious rich person, hahahaha.
The 506 dormitory members’ reactions:
Big guy: …
Second guy: …
Third guy: …
Fourth guy: …
Things have gone way too far. We can’t handle this!
[dropdown title=”Discord”]@dogfoodplease or @dogfoodplease#8837
translation works:
ARTTEDSBGT (After Rebirth The True Eldest Daughter Starts Brewing Green Tea):
main story – completed translating
extras/side stories – i still dont have money and account to access this
ATISIUP:
ongoing
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In case you guys are confused Lao is brother and san third, da is eldest, si is fourth