第1章厨房春潮-我的妺妺h

*I\'m almost at your school, are you done yet?*

He hit send and slipped his phone back into his pocket just as Donald rolled to a stop at a red light.

Don turned to Donald, giving him a bit of a sidelong look. "So…" he began, a smirk creeping onto his face, "did you at least get her number? What was her name again… Becky, right?"

Donald, already looking a little zoned out, blinked as he processed the question. A moment passed before he let out a long, defeated sigh. "Shit."

Don laughed, leaning back in his seat. "I\'ll take it that\'s a no, then."

"Ugh." Donald grumbled, giving the steering wheel an irritated pat. "How did I forget to ask?" He glanced over at Don, a flicker of hope lighting up his face. "You think there\'s a chance I might see her again on campus?"

Don shrugged. "Could be. If she\'s a student, yeah, you might run into her. But she might\'ve just been visiting for the evaluation."

Donald\'s expression faltered. Don thought about telling him not to get too hung up on a girl who\'d thrown him a bone (or, well, more than that) over something so minor. But then again, maybe a little chase would be good for Donald\'s growth.

Just then, Donald straightened up, looking a bit more resolved. "Well, I\'m not giving up. Tomorrow, I\'ll check around campus, maybe look her up on social media or records." He nodded to himself.

\'She must\'ve given him some real good head,\' Don thought, his mouth twitching slightly with amusement. But before he could comment, he noticed the light turning green and pointed ahead. "It\'s green."

"Oh, crap!" Donald snapped his focus back, stepping on the gas as they continued toward Nexus.

A ping on Don\'s phone drew his attention, and he checked to see Summer\'s reply:

*We\'re outside, where the hell are you?*

He rolled his eyes, typing a quick

*almost there*

before stashing his phone again. A few minutes later, they reached the gates of Nexus Academy.

Donald pulled up a little past the entrance, coasting to a stop by the sidewalk where a group of students clustered around Summer and Sylvia, talking away nonstop.

Donald looked over, his hands still gripping the wheel. "Uh, where should I stop?"

"Right here\'s good," Don replied, sending a short text to Summer, who looked visibly annoyed, standing stiffly as she half-listened to the chatter around her.

Summer glanced at her phone and immediately looked their way, nudging Sylvia with her elbow and gesturing toward the car.

They broke from the crowd and hurried over, leaving the others trailing after them with disappointed expressions. Summer ignored them, making her way to the passenger side. Her gaze met Don\'s as he gestured for her to hop in the back.

Sylvia paused by the door, throwing Don a playful wink before blowing him a kiss. She then slipped in behind Summer, who took a seat with a huff, her frown more obvious now that she was in the car.

"So, what are you doing in Cassie\'s car?" Summer asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Don just shrugged, nodding in Donald\'s direction. "Well, she let Donald borrow it and he gave me a ride." He barely finished the sentence when Sylvia\'s hands reached from behind, covering his eyes.

"Guess who?" she teased, her voice sing-song.

Don let out an exasperated sigh. "I saw you get in, so what\'s the point?"

At that moment, Donald started pulling the car back toward the main road, and the group Summer had left behind spotted Don through the window, calling out excitedly.

"Oh my god, it\'s him! Summer, introduce us! Hey, can I get a picture?" They waved frantically, trying to catch Summer\'s attention.

Ignoring them completely, Sylvia leaned forward more as she answered Don. "I know, but I just wanted to hear you say my name."

Summer shot her a look, frowning as she gently pulled Sylvia back to her seat. "Hey! Sit down, will you?"

"Aww~" Sylvia whined, but Summer gave her a warning glare before turning back to Don, her eyes narrowing. "And you—why the hell didn\'t you tell me you were doing your evaluation today?"

Don chuckled, scratching his cheek as he gave her a sheepish look. "Well…"

———

Meanwhile, back in the VIP area of the main battle stadium, Mr. Xiao and Ms. Claire were now seated in a private booth away from the other elites present in the area.

The booth was surrounded by glass walls, allowing no sound to escape. It had a circular wooden table at its center with a fine finish, and four plush chairs around it in the same color as the table.

Ms. Claire and Mr. Xiao were seated on opposite ends, each with a glass to their right-hand side. Mr. Xiao\'s glass held whiskey, while Ms. Claire\'s contained sparkling water.

Mr. Xiao currently had a thoughtful expression on his face as he processed the demands Ms. Claire presented on Don\'s behalf.

He didn\'t show it outwardly, but he was incredibly surprised by what Don was asking. It was no better than requesting to be a regular student with a few perks here and there.

It made absolutely no sense to someone like Mr. Xiao, who, during his time as chairman, had dealt with countless young upstarts eager to join the professional ranks of superheroes. It was far more common to see them come with outrageous demands, and depending on their abilities, Mr. Xiao or his representatives would negotiate until the two parties met halfway.

But with the demands Ms. Claire presented, there was no halfway—Don wasn\'t really asking for much, so it was mostly a matter of whether or not the university would agree.

If Don had been an average-performing candidate, there would have been no problem. But after his performance today, agreeing to his demands was akin to giving up the potential to make a fortune off him—TV deals, sponsorships, school representation, assigned missions, and the list went on.

Like Starboy, Don had the potential to make the school millions, if not more, in the long run. So it was incredibly hard for Mr. Xiao to accept this.

He let out a sigh before forcing a smile, shaking his head as he said, "I wasn\'t expecting this at all. But surely, your client is willing to make some changes to these demands so that both parties can benefit. I assure you, you won\'t be at a loss. To start, we can completely throw out the lack of PR, since Mr. Bright has the potential to become the face of the school—sponsorships, interviews—"

Before Mr. Xiao could finish, Ms. Claire curtly cut him off. "Let me stop you right there. I\'m sure you have plenty to offer my client, perhaps even millions, but let me make this clear from the start. Those demands are hard-set. You can either agree to them or disagree—I\'m sure other institutions will be more open to them."

Mr. Xiao was someone very accustomed to getting whatever he wanted—even Starboy, who was sought after by many schools, had eventually been persuaded by Mr. Xiao to stay at SHU in his hometown of Santos City.

It wasn\'t been cheap, but the deal was done, and he thought the same could be possible for Don. But that clearly wasn\'t the case here. This made Mr. Xiao look a bit more tense.

He tried to hold his smile, but Ms. Claire could see the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly, as though he were losing patience.

"This is exactly why I wanted Mr. Bright present, so we could be malleable in our negotiations. Surely, he wouldn\'t care too much about parting with some of his demands in exchange for adequate compensation. Whatever his worries are, I\'m sure I can alleviate them as well."

Ms. Claire showed a small smile, actually finding it hard not to let out an amused laugh as she shook her head and replied, "I assure you, Mr. Xiao, if you do not give me a direct response now, whether or not you visit my client offering millions in compensation, he would have already lost interest and begun looking to take his skills elsewhere. I know it may come as a surprise for someone in your particular field of business, but I repeat, my client has no interest in letting go of the demands I\'ve presented. If the university cannot meet them, simply tell me now so we can both save ourselves the time. It is pointless otherwise to speak any further."

Mr. Xiao now had a vein visibly popping on his forehead, and yet he still managed to keep his forced smile in place. Ms. Claire didn\'t seem the least bit fazed by him looking as if he were about to explode; she even kept the smile on her face.

Suddenly, Mr. Xiao stood up from his seat, slamming his hands on the table

**bam**

, causing cracks to appear. Ms. Claire didn\'t even flinch, she just looked up at him as he stared at her with a gaze that could kill.

"Well, since your client seems so adamant on these demands, I have no choice but to accept them. I\'ll have my people draft a contract and send it to you. Good day, Ms. Claire." After saying this, Mr. Xiao took the liberty of leaving first, pushing the glass door of the booth with such force that he caused cracks to appear on the surface as well.

Ms. Claire didn\'t even bother turning her head to watch him leave. She just smiled as she reached for her glass of sparkling water and took another sip, thinking,

\'I see he still doesn\'t take rejection well.\'