1: Is it enough to just be sincere?

On the evening of Friday, February 21st, the first Friday of the new semester at Lingnan Institute of Engineering in Yangcheng.

Inside Dorm 305 of Building 10, Ye Su, now a junior, lay on his bed with a look of worry, staring at his phone, lost in thought.

"Holy crap! There are over 12 million graduates this year, and another 13 million preparing for the college entrance exam. It's estimated that 120 million college students will graduate in the next ten years!"

Suddenly, a wail from the bed opposite him interrupted Ye Su's train of thought.

Turning his head, he saw the words [Matching...] on the screen of his "third godson." Clearly, he was scrolling through short videos while waiting for a new game to start.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

The third godson's words immediately caused the other two godsons to wail as well.

"So after graduation, I'll have to compete with so many people for a living until I'm 35!"

"Fang Zewei! If you're going to play games, just play. Why are you looking at this depressing stuff?"

"Your Honor, I've been wronged! Who put this video on my phone?!"

"So you admit it is your phone!"

Listening to the three drama queens start their daily banter actually eased the worry in Ye Su's heart a little.

In the next bunk, Jiang Zhibin, who regarded Cao Dahua, the 'Tiger of the Serious Crimes Unit,' as his lifelong idol, began to fantasize again:

"I really hope that as soon as I graduate, a female entrepreneur with Discernment Eye will recognize my talent at a glance and recruit me into her conglomerate. Then I wouldn't have to do anything every day except watch her in meetings. How blissful would that be!"

"And then she'll assign you to the most dangerous department in the company, right?"

"Give it a rest. Go look in the mirror. To be the 'Tiger of the Conglomerate,' you'd at least need Boss Ye's gigolo-like build and looks."

Ye Su's family owned a small factory, so his three roommates often called him 'Boss Ye'.

As for the looks Fang Zewei mentioned, Ye Su was indeed quite handsome.

To say he looked like Daniel Wu or Edison Chen would be an exaggeration, but among guys, Ye Su was definitely above average.

Standing at 1.8 meters tall and knowing how to keep himself well-groomed, he was the type of guy who would receive love letters during his school days.

Seeing the topic shift to him, Ye Su sat up and played along with his three godsons:

"You're too kind. To be honest, when I was a kid, my dad took me to a fortune teller who said I was born for a life of 'eating soft rice'."

"What a coincidence! My dad took me to a fortune teller too, and they said it would be a waste if I didn't live off a woman in the future."

"What, do you two have the same dad?"

Fang Zewei, the instigator of this drama, immediately turned his head. "Isn't that me?"

Ye Su and Jiang Zhibin said in unison, "Get lost!"

Just then, the notification for a successful game match sounded. Fang Zewei made a face and started playing the next round.

"No, I still need to learn a few more tricks from the grandmaster to prepare for the future!"

Saying that, Jiang Zhibin picked up his phone again and opened a short video platform.

[Solve the quantity problem first, then the quality problem.]

[Giving your heart and soul is fine, but giving money is not.]

[Money is for women to see, not for women to spend.]

The old Jiang Zhibin would have scoffed at this, but now he was studying it frame by frame.

"Tomorrow is the first weekend after the start of the semester. How about we go to House Bar tomorrow night?" Fang Zewei suddenly suggested after picking his hero.

"I have things to do these next two days, so I won't go."

Before the other two could speak, Ye Su beat them to it: "You guys go ahead. I'm busy these next few days."

"Alright then."

Ye Su had always disliked the noisy and complex environment of bars. In his two and a half years of college, he had only gone to such places with the three of them a handful of times, so Fang Zewei just assumed that was why he was declining.

But only Ye Su knew that his refusal wasn't just for that reason, but also because of the changes that had occurred at home at the end of last year.

Their family factory, which had been open for twenty years, finally couldn't hold on any longer and went bankrupt.

In fact, in earlier years, Ye Su's family relied on this factory for an annual income of several hundred thousand yuan, making them a well-to-do family in their county.

Until "those three years" arrived, the factory's situation went from bad to worse, with constant deficits. Moreover, Ye's Father was a conscientious boss; not only did he not make money, but he also poured a lot of his own into it.

After much hardship, they finally made it through "those three years," thinking things would finally improve, only to have their hopes dashed.

Until last November, a change in a downstream factory became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Although the factory equipment was sold as a package, the old machinery couldn't fetch a good price, not even enough to cover the workers' wages and compensation.

His family didn't tell him the specifics, but Ye Su knew that they were now at least several hundred thousand yuan in debt, and his Father had switched to driving for a ride-hailing service.

The only comfort was that the household hadn't fallen into chaos. Besides managing the home, his mother had always silently supported his Father without putting any pressure on him.

Before Ye Su went home for winter break, his mother had made a special call to remind him not to bring these things up in front of his Father.

But when Ye Su returned home and saw his Father after only a few months, seeing the gray hair that had somehow appeared at his temples, his heart felt heavy.

It turned out that his parents really wouldn't wait until he was fully prepared before they started growing old.

Under these circumstances, if he were to take his family's money to sing "Father" at KTV or order beers that cost dozens of yuan a bottle, Ye Su would want to slap himself.

Hearing that Ye Su wasn't going to the bar, the other two roommates immediately lost interest, and the spontaneous suggestion was dropped.

Ye Su began to calculate how much money he had left.

With the factory's closure, perhaps because people were afraid they would ask for loans, the house was noticeably quieter this Lunar New Year.

However, the red envelopes from his aunt and uncles were much thicker than in previous years. As a result, the red envelope money Ye Su received over the New Year broke the eight-thousand mark for the first time.

Combined with the few thousand yuan in pocket money he had left, Ye Su's total net worth was nearly twelve thousand, which was quite a large sum.

"This semester's living expenses and senior year tuition are covered. As long as I do some part-time jobs on weekends and work over the summer, I should be able to save enough for my senior year living expenses and internship hunting."

Given his family's situation, Ye Su could no longer comfortably ask for money. He had to find ways to ease the burden on his family. Once he graduated and got a job, he would join his older brother and sister in sharing the family's debt.

But at the thought of the number of graduates Fang Zewei had mentioned, Ye Su felt his pressure double.

"Sigh—"

Ye Su sighed deeply in his heart and couldn't help but start fantasizing unrealistically:

"If only I had a system or something right now. I really, sincerely want a system!"

[Ding!]

Suddenly, an electronic sound rang out, interrupting Ye Su's fantasy.

[Detection successful, system loading...]

[Daily Intelligence System is about to be bound. Does the Host wish to proceed?]

[Yes/No?]

For a moment, Ye Su thought one of his roommates was listening to an audiobook.

But when an electronic screen actually appeared before his eyes, Ye Su finally realized that he had truly become the chosen one!

"The system is here just like that? Am I some protagonist like Long Aotian? All it takes is sincerity?"

Ye Su never expected that he could bind a system without even having to go out and get lucky!

[Ten-second countdown. Please confirm whether to bind the system. If time expires, it will be considered a refusal.]

[Ten.]