2: Chapter 2 Su Qingxue and Chu Yao

At the mention of her grandmother, the Spirit Su Qingxue had just barely managed to muster instantly dimmed again. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and her voice grew lower and lower, as if she had been struck by frost, her eyes filled with helplessness and confusion.

"She is still in the observation room. The doctor said that with the surgery and subsequent rehabilitation treatment, it will cost at least seventy or eighty thousand..."

She bit her lower lip, her eyes slightly red: "I... really have no other options right now."

She had called almost all her relatives and friends, exhausting every plea.

Some directly pleaded poverty, saying their own lives were difficult;

Some symbolically transferred three or five hundred, their tone filled with perfunctory indifference;

Even worse, some directly advised her: "Grandmother is so old, why bother with surgery and suffer through that? Just take her home for conservative treatment, let her eat whatever she wants."

The warmth and coldness of human relationships, the fickleness of the world, were all experienced vividly in this single night.

Yet, it was this man before her, whom she could hardly call familiar, who reached out to help without hesitation.

Lin Yu looked at the helplessness almost overflowing from her eyes and spoke calmly, his voice steady, carrying a strength that inexplicably brought peace of mind: "If you really can't scrape it together, just tell me. I'll think of a way."

His words were few, stopping at the right point, neither frivolous nor boastful, yet they acted like a calming pill.

Su Qingxue suddenly looked up at him, her eyes hot, tears nearly falling, her voice choked with emotion: "Thank you, Lin Yu... really, thank you."

[Ding! Su Qingxue intimacy +10, current intimacy: 25]

Lin Yu nodded slightly, not lingering, nor offering excessive comfort.

The few thousand he transferred to her last night was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the seventy or eighty thousand needed for the surgery.

Only when she was completely at a dead end and utterly desperate would she accept his help, right!

"I still have to go to work, I'm heading off now. If anything comes up, contact me on Green Bubble."

"Mm, okay, take care on the road."

Lin Yu turned and left, his steps calm, without looking back.

Su Qingxue stood in place holding the heavy fruit basket, watching his back, her heart filled with mixed emotions, and a warmth she had never felt before quietly spread through her.

After leaving the hospital, Lin Yu hailed a taxi again and headed straight to his workplace—the Ze City Funeral Home.

The car stopped at the entrance of the Funeral Home, and Lin Yu paid and got out.

The morning Funeral Home was quiet to the point of solemnity, with lush trees and fresh air, lacking the hustle and bustle of the outside world, and possessing more serenity.

As Lin Yu was walking, a tall figure emerged from the parking lot not far away, instantly attracting the gaze of everyone around.

The woman was dressed in a plain work uniform, simple in style and understated in color, yet worn on her, it somehow exuded a sense of high-end elegance.

She was about 1.7 meters tall, with a well-proportioned figure, a devilishly perfect physique that even the loose work uniform could not fully conceal.

Her facial features were impeccably exquisite, her brows like distant mountains, her eyes like cold stars, her skin fair to the point of being almost transparent, and her temperament cool and clean, like a piece of cold jade unstained by dust, or a goddess stepping out of ice and snow; she was so beautiful that one could not look away, yet one could not bring forth a single thought of profanity.

Lin Yu's heart jolted.

Almost the same second he saw her face clearly, the system prompt sounded clearly:

Ding! Detected a beauty meeting the standards:

Name: Director Chu Yao

Age: 27

Occupation: Chief Mortician at the Funeral Home

Beauty Score: 94

Height: 170cm

Weight: 58kg

Purity: 100

Health: Normal

Intimacy: 8

Meets cashback conditions!

Lin Yu's breath hitched slightly.

A beauty score of 94!

This was already a ceiling-level appearance.

Even more terrifying was the purity—a perfect score of 100.

In other words, she had never been in a relationship?

Was her standard so high that she couldn't look at anyone, or was it because of this special job that made others shrink back?

Lin Yu's thoughts raced, but his feet did not stop.

Director Chu Yao was clearly still focused on the documents in her hand, her brows slightly furrowed, her expression serious, her steps hurried, her mind entirely on her work, not paying much attention to her feet.

When passing the steps at the entrance, her foot was lightly tripped by something, and she slipped violently, her body instantly losing balance and tilting to the side.

"Careful!"

Lin Yu reacted almost subconsciously, stepping forward and reaching out to steadily support her arm.

Their fingertips touched, feeling cool and delicate, with a slightly cold texture, like jade.

Director Chu Yao's body stiffened violently, as if electrocuted, instantly stopping all movement, and she slowly looked up.

A pair of cool, clean eyes crashed straight into Lin Yu's calm gaze.

She was always cold and detached, rarely having physical contact with others, but at this moment, her cheeks faintly flushed with a thin layer of red, and even her ear tips were slightly burning.

"Tha... thank you."

Her voice was cool, carrying a hint of imperceptible panic, and she somewhat unnaturally pulled her arm back gently.

"It's nothing." Lin Yu withdrew his hand, his tone natural, full of a sense of propriety, neither deliberately intimate nor overly distant, like treating an ordinary colleague.

Director Chu Yao nodded slightly, clutching the documents in her arms, her steps subconsciously slowing by half a beat, and she took the initiative to speak, her voice light and soft: "I've troubled you to help move equipment several times before, and haven't formally thanked you yet."

Usually, she spoke very little and kept her distance from everyone, but today, she had spoken a few extra sentences, which was unprecedented.

"We are all colleagues, it's only right." Lin Yu smiled faintly.

The two walked inside side-by-side, chatting intermittently along the way.

Director Chu Yao did not speak much; every sentence was concise and clean, her voice cool yet soft. Unlike others who were secretive and avoided the work at the Funeral Home, there was only professionalism, calmness, and respect in her eyes.

Lin Yu himself had a steady personality, and his sense of propriety was excellent; he didn't ask too much, didn't pry, and didn't overstep. After a few words, the distance between the two had clearly narrowed significantly.

Ding! Director Chu Yao intimacy +8

Current intimacy: 16

Walking to the work area, the two separated to their respective posts.

Lin Yu changed into his work uniform, took a deep breath, and began the day's body transport work.

Throughout the entire day, he made three trips, the routes were steady, everything was normal, there were no accidents, no special circumstances, exactly the same as countless other ordinary workdays in the past.

But his mindset had already been turned upside down.

Before, he was struggling to support himself for that fixed salary of four thousand five hundred, enduring one day at a time.

Now, he possessed a heaven-defying system, and every minute and every second, he was waiting for an opportunity to truly take off.

During work breaks, Director Chu Yao would occasionally pass by, her gaze would inadvertently linger on him for a moment, and then quickly move away.

Between her cool brows and eyes, there was a hint of curiosity and concern that even she herself had not noticed.

Ding! Director Chu Yao intimacy +4

Current intimacy: 20

The day's work ended steadily.

When Lin Yu changed out of his work uniform and walked out of the Funeral Home gate, the sunset was hanging aslant in the sky, dyeing the entire sky a warm orange-red, and the afterglow sprinkled on him, feeling warm.

He took out his mobile phone and calmly took a look at his bank balance.

A six-digit number lay steadily in his account, solid and reassuring.

Lin Yu waited for nearly twenty minutes before a taxi arrived, and he stated the address: "Driver, go to the mobile phone street on Youth Road."

The car drove through the evening rush hour traffic, and in just twenty minutes, it stopped steadily in front of a store with floor-to-ceiling glass walls in the most prosperous section of Youth Road, where the huge "Far Ahead" logo was particularly eye-catching in the twilight. This was the largest official flagship store in Ze City, and in terms of location, scale, and passenger flow, it far exceeded other stores.

Lin Yu got out of the car and walked straight in.

The store was brightly lit and bustling with noise. It was the after-work rush hour, and customers bringing their families or shopping in groups crowded the experience area, with various latest mobile phones, tablets, and smart wearable devices displayed, full of a sense of technology.

He was 1.82 meters tall, with a tall and straight figure, and handsome, pleasant features, which could be considered quite good-looking. Yet, he was wearing a set of washed-out, cheap clothes that obviously came from a street stall, which was completely out of place with the glamorous environment around him. Coupled with the fact that most of the shop assistants were busy greeting well-dressed customers, not a single person came forward to greet him, and they were even stingy with a glance.

Lin Yu had long been accustomed to this kind of warmth and coldness of human relationships, and he was not annoyed, wandering around the exhibition area on his own.

Looking at the exquisitely crafted phones with bright screens, he subconsciously touched the old phone in his pocket, its screen covered in spiderweb cracks and nearly falling apart at a single drop, sighing inwardly: any one of these here was ten times better than the "broken brick" in his hand.

His gaze finally settled on a tri-fold flagship phone in the center of the counter.

The body was shimmering with colors, the folded form was exquisite and imposing, and when unfolded, it was a nearly perfect large screen. Whether in terms of beauty or aura, it could be called the ceiling of the mobile phone world. The advertisement had once bombarded all major platforms, and Lin Yu already had a deep impression of it.

The price tag was conspicuously marked: 23,999 yuan.

This price was enough to make 99.99% of ordinary people in the market shrink back.

Lin Yu reached out and gently picked up this tri-fold display model. The moment his fingertips touched the cold body, a slightly mean female voice sounded in his ear:

"This is our latest top-of-the-line tri-fold model. It costs over twenty thousand. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Lin Yu looked up.

Standing in front of him was a female sales assistant with heavy makeup and a decent figure, who could indeed be considered a beauty based on appearance alone. But no system prompt sounded in his mind—meaning her beauty score did not reach eighty points. As expected, what the naked eye saw as beautiful and the beauty score determined by the system were ultimately not the same thing. Whether it was makeup covering her bare face or later "renovations," it was unknown!

When the sales assistant spoke, her peripheral vision kept sweeping over Lin Yu's street-stall attire, her contempt and disdain undisguised, clearly thinking that he couldn't afford it at all and was just a poor kid coming over to get a kick out of holding it.

Lin Yu couldn't even be bothered to give her a look, directly ignoring her.

He turned his head, his gaze falling on another figure not far away.

The girl was wearing the uniform sales outfit, yet it could not hide her clean and pure temperament. Her eyes were gentle, her movements soft, and she was lowering her head, seriously tidying up the display models on the counter. It was obvious she was a college student who was still studying and out doing part-time work in her spare time.

Lin Yu waved his hand and called out with a smile: "Beauty, come here for a second."

The pure part-time sales assistant was stunned, quickly put down the work in her hands, walked over quickly, and nodded politely: "Sir, how can I help you?"

"Help me get two of these top-of-the-line tri-fold new phones, and pack them up directly." Lin Yu pointed lightly at the display model on the counter, his tone as flat as if he were saying "get me two bottles of water."

As soon as the words fell.

The whole place was instantly quiet for two seconds, and several customers around looked over one after another.

The look of contempt on the face of the mean female sales assistant next to him instantly froze, and she stood there stunned with her mouth slightly open, thinking somewhat unquietly:

Two top-of-the-line tri-fold phones... that's nearly fifty thousand yuan, just to buy two mobile phones. Such a wealthy person, and I actually misjudged him! I took him for a poor wretch just wandering into the store! This commission that was in my hands just flew away right before my eyes!

Her face turned blue and then white, and she wanted to slap herself in regret. The commission for two top-end machines was not a small amount for her; it would have been more than enough to pay a month's rent.

When she reacted, she hurriedly piled an awkward smile on her face, squeezed forward to fawn, and said: "Handsome, actually I can also help you process it. I am very familiar with this model and can introduce the detailed functions to you... We can also add Green Bubble, and we can go out to play when we have time another day—"

Lin Yu didn't even pay her any mind, his gaze never falling on her from beginning to end.

The part-time sales assistant was both surprised and happy, and quickly responded respectfully: "Okay sir, please wait a moment, I will get the new phones and pack them for you right away!"

When it comes to commissions for opening orders, whoever receives the customer gets the credit; this is the store's rule. The mean female sales assistant could only watch helplessly as the fat order flew away, her intestines turning green with regret.

In just a few minutes, two brand-new, unopened tri-fold phones were packed properly. Lin Yu scanned the code to pay. What? Bargain? Isn't that stupid? Hehe... gotta maximize benefits. Taking the bag and the shopping receipt, he turned and left, without the slightest hesitation throughout the whole process.

The mean female sales assistant stood frozen in place, watching his tall, departing back, unable to maintain her expression anymore. She stamped her feet fiercely, and in anger and regret, spat out in a low voice: "Pfft, what's so great about it! Isn't it just having a little money!"

Lin Yu's ears twitched slightly, but he didn't even have the interest to turn back.

Walking out of the flagship store, he hailed a taxi again and headed straight in the direction of home.

As soon as he entered the house, the smell of food rushed towards him. Mom, Dad, and his sister were sitting around the dining table eating. Seeing him return, Mom hurriedly looked up: "Xiao Yu is back? Come sit down and eat, it was just made."

Lin Yu smiled and shook his head, handing the two exquisite handbags in his hands to his Mom and sister respectively.

"Mom, Sis, I brought you a little gift."

Mom and sister took them suspiciously, opened the bags and looked, and when they saw the high-textured, latest tri-fold flagship phone, both of them were stunned.

"Th-this, isn't this that latest 'Far Ahead' model? I heard it's really expensive!" Sister exclaimed, holding the phone and unable to put it down, her eyes lighting up.

While saying words of blame, the smile on her face could not be hidden. Mom also touched the new phone carefully: "Such an expensive thing, why are you spending money recklessly? And where did you get so much money?"