4: Chapter 4: The dark gray cashmere coat, a completely welded-together character design.

When the somewhat paint-chipped wooden door of the dormitory was pushed open, it emitted a familiar, dull "creak." Shen Du stepped over the threshold.

A familiar scent, a mixture of Liushen Florida Water and mothballs from suitcases, rushed to meet him.

The dormitory, which had been somewhat noisy, was forcibly muted the moment Shen Du stepped inside.

Xu Hao, who was tidying up his clothes in front of his bed, was still holding two shirts he had just taken out of his suitcase; Lin Zimo was half-squatting on the floor, head bowed, fiddling with the power cord of his Hasee laptop.

As for Chen Fei, the chubby guy was sprawled out on his chair in a splayed posture. He held a half-eaten pork floss bun in his hand, his mouth still mumbling as he bragged to Xu Hao about his vacation experiences.

Hearing the movement of the door hinges, the three of them instinctively stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in unison to look at the doorway.

Shen Du stood there quietly, one hand in his pocket. The dim light from the corridor intertwined with the stark, pale incandescent light of the dormitory, shining on him without reservation.

The dark gray Bottega Veneta cashmere coat perfectly hugged his tall, upright frame. The unique matte texture and extreme drape of the top-tier fabric created a visually striking sense of disconnect in this cramped, ordinary dormitory.

Shen Du didn't intentionally strike any pose, he simply swept his calm, unruffled gaze over the three of them. But that sense of composure and nobility, cultivated over years of immersion at the pinnacle of the pyramid, instantly overwhelmed the originally relaxed and casual atmosphere of the dormitory.

Chen Fei's eyes grew wider and wider, his jaw dropping open bit by bit. "Plop." The half-eaten pork floss bun in his hand slipped from his fingers without warning, landing straight onto the gray-white terrazzo floor. The soft sound of the bread hitting the ground finally broke the eerie silence in the dormitory.

Xu Hao was the first to snap out of it. He straightened his back abruptly and habitually pushed up the half-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. Those eyes, which usually radiated shrewdness, were now scanning Shen Du like a radar. "Shen Du... did you, win the lottery?"

There was unconcealable astonishment in Xu Hao's voice; even his usually steady tone sounded a bit airy. Shen Du's expression remained unchanged as he walked slowly into the dormitory and closed the door behind him. He naturally took off the expensive cashmere coat and casually draped it over the railing of his slightly mottled iron-frame bed. The movement was fluid and natural.

There was no trace of the awkwardness of a nouveau riche, nor the frivolity of deliberate showing off. "No." Shen Du pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing his legs casually. His deep gaze swept over the three of them, his tone steady and without a ripple: "My family just sent me my living expenses."

Watching the three of them still in a daze, unable to snap out of it, Shen Du leaned back slightly against the chair and unhurriedly tossed out the reason he had prepared long ago: "I had a fight with my family before school started, and they cut off my card. I didn't go home for the National Day holiday, so they got anxious, and we just made up."

The air in the dormitory seemed to stagnate for two seconds. Xu Hao even took half a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the high-quality coat on the bed railing, and finally fixing firmly on Shen Du's calm face, trying to find even a hint of a flaw.

Shen Du sat quietly in the chair, letting them size him up, his deep eyes as steady as Mount Tai. A soul in its thirties, he grasped the scale of this psychological game with absolute precision.

The freshmen had only been in school for a month, and military training had only just ended not long ago. Usually, the things these guys discussed most in the dormitory, besides which department had the most beautiful girls, were how to run dungeons in "World of Warcraft." As for the real cards each family held, no one had really delved into it.

Faced with this absolute information gap, his half-true, half-false "second-generation script," combined with the sense of ease cultivated from having experienced the vicissitudes of life, was simply impeccable.

"Holy shit!" An exaggerated exclamation broke the deadlock. Chen Fei finally completely recovered from his daze. He slapped his thigh hard, not even caring about the bread that had fallen on the floor. The chubby guy rushed over in two or three steps. He grabbed Shen Du's leg, tilted his round face up, his features scrunched together in excitement: "Tsk! I didn't see that coming, Brother Shen! I really didn't! Turns out you're the one in our dorm who's the most well-hidden young master from a wealthy family!"

While howling, Chen Fei hugged Shen Du's pant leg tightly, as if afraid he might run away: "I'm hugging this thigh in advance! Young Master Shen, when you become rich in the future, don't forget about us!"

Looking at Chen Fei's clownish appearance, and glancing at Xu Hao next to him, who finally looked relieved and had put away his suspicious gaze, as well as Lin Zimo, who silently shifted his gaze from his computer screen, the stone in Shen Du's heart finally settled firmly. The reactions of the three roommates signaled that his new identity as an "invisible rich kid" was now completely solidified.

Shen Du chuckled. He lifted his leg to casually push aside Chen Fei's massive frame and stood up, interrupting the gossip and questioning that was about to boil over in the dormitory. "Alright, stop messing around." He lowered his head to straighten his shirt cuffs, his tone as light as if he were discussing what to eat at the cafeteria tonight, as he dropped a bombshell: "I just ran into Wei Ziang downstairs. He's throwing a party at a venue outside tonight and invited me. You guys get ready, and we'll go together."

Once these words were out, the air in the dormitory paused for a subtle moment. Shen Du was very clear that for the past month since the start of freshman year, the impression he had left on his roommates, besides being from a poor family, was a kind of aloofness etched into his bones that kept strangers at a distance. Wei Ziang had often made noise downstairs at the dormitory building, organizing messy gatherings to show off his superiority. But Shen Du had always been a cold bystander, not even giving him an extra glance.

If this were a few hours ago, if he had voluntarily said he wanted to attend Wei Ziang's kind of decadent, rich-kid party, Chen Fei and Xu Hao would definitely have thought he had water in his brain, or that he had suffered some great humiliation and was seeking his own doom. But at this moment, combined with the incredibly textured Bottega Veneta coat draped on the bed railing, and the natural aura he exuded with every gesture, this abnormality instead became the most logical explanation.

Shen Du took in the changes in the three men's expressions. He could tell that in their current understanding, this wasn't some poor student going to broaden his horizons. It was the "real young master" who had been disguised for over a month, finally getting his living expenses back, tearing off his disguise, and preparing to return to his own vanity fair with an extremely relaxed posture.

Chen Fei scrambled up from the floor, nonchalantly brushing the dust off his pant legs. The jaw that had been dropped in shock was now completely transformed into a face full of excitement. He rubbed his hands vigorously and chuckled: "That grandson Wei Ziang usually has his eyes on top of his head. Thanks to Brother Shen tonight, I'll finally be able to get a taste of their circle!"

Xu Hao didn't join in the clamor. He stood by the wardrobe, slightly squinting those shrewd eyes, his gaze lingering on Shen Du's calm profile for a moment. Shen Du saw it very clearly. With Xu Hao's keen sense of smell, he had obviously detected the unusualness behind his sudden agreement to attend the appointment. This wasn't just going to a party. This was clearly the young master having regained his confidence and preparing to flip Wei Ziang's table.

Xu Hao asked nothing, just wore an expression of watching a good show. He silently picked the neatest, clean jacket from his wardrobe and put it on. Lin Zimo in the corner pushed up his thick myopia glasses. His gaze shifted between the computer screen and the three people in the dorm for two seconds. His brain seemed to be quickly calculating the cost of not fitting in by "everyone going out while he stays alone in the dorm." Finally, with a "snap," he closed his Hasee laptop. He stood up, giving his answer with silent action.

Shen Du took in the three completely different reactions of these three prisms. Witness, mood-setter, executor—all in place. He didn't say anything more. He reached out and grabbed the dark gray cashmere coat draped over the bed railing, threw it over his shoulders with one hand, and wrapped it neatly around himself. Then, he opened the dormitory door and was the first to step into the darkness of the corridor. "Let's go."