10: He's handsome, no way.

Ye Su never really had a clear idea of exactly how much money his family needed.

The system granted an upgrade opportunity every month, so theoretically, his income could double every month.

If the debt was only a few hundred thousand, it really wouldn't be hard for him to scrape it together.

With the massive treasure trove that was the system in his hands, there was no reason for his family to live under the shadow of debt for a measly few hundred thousand.

It was unlikely they owed over a million.

If they owed several hundred thousand, he estimated he could pay it off by the second half of the year.

"How should I ask?"

Ye Su knew that if he asked directly, let alone his parents, even his older brother and older sister probably wouldn't tell him about the family's situation; they would just tell him to focus on his studies at school and that they would handle family matters.

"Who told me to be the youngest in the family, just a student who only knows how to spend money and not earn it?"

Ultimately, having money was the most important thing.

He only had 26,000 on hand right now, which was still a long way from clearing his family's debt.

Ye Su believed that while he was earning money, he would surely be able to find out what the family's current situation really was.

As for explaining to his family where his money came from, Ye Su had already figured that out.

According to the intel, he would definitely have a windfall like winning the lottery later on, which could explain part of it.

As for the rest, he would just say he was collaborating with two seniors in their fourth year to take on freelance software development jobs, and by Photoshopping some payment records, he should be able to bluff his way through.

With his wallet getting fatter and his future filled with infinite hope, Ye Su felt like he was walking on air.

Since there was nothing to do back at school anyway, and it was rare for him to be out this early, Ye Su casually looked up a tourist spot on his phone, planning to wander around outside before heading back.

But just as he reached the subway station entrance, the phone in his pants pocket buzzed.

[Chen Xinyi: Little handsome, didn't you say last week you were going to treat me to milk tea? I'm bored today, how about we meet up?]

[Chen Xinyi: Let me show you my OOTD for today.]

Afterward, Chen Xinyi sent Ye Su a selfie of her making a peace sign.

Ye Su couldn't tell if she was bare-faced or if she had applied light makeup early in the morning, but she looked quite pretty.

And whether intentional or not, under her small leather cardigan, Chen Xinyi was wearing a wide-neck sweatshirt that happened to reveal a bit of cleavage in the selfie.

Ye Su had forgotten to turn off his "auto-aim," so when he opened the photo, his gaze automatically locked onto a certain area.

"If I could date a girlfriend like this, I'd be willing to spend the rest of my life living in a villa and driving luxury cars."

Truth be told, Chen Xinyi's face and physique in the photo, combined with the carefully chosen angle, were indeed quite lethal to a hot-blooded young man like Ye Su.

If he could record the whole thing to ensure his own safety, Ye Su wouldn't actually mind going out with her, having a deep exchange, and giving each other a chance to see how deep and long the other was.

However, Ye Su knew that Chen Xinyi was being so proactive with him not just because she lusted after his body, but also because she surely thought he was a second-generation rich kid.

After all, an exquisite woman like Chen Xinyi would look at a face when finding a partner, but she certainly wouldn't only look at the face.

Ye Su had seen plenty of news stories about people faking a wealthy background to scam gold-diggers.

He didn't want to scam her for sex or money, and he didn't want to spend money on Chen Xinyi just to maintain his image as a wealthy heir.

After some internal struggle, Ye Su decided to decline this romantic encounter.

[Sorry, I arranged to go out with friends today, and I'm already out with them.]

[Chen Xinyi: What a coincidence, the moment I ask you to treat me to milk tea, you say you're busy? You wouldn't be brushing me off to avoid paying for this milk tea, would you?]

[Why would I try to avoid paying for a cup of milk tea? It's just that I'm really out with friends right now.]

After saying that, Ye Su casually shot a short video of the street and sent it over.

[Chen Xinyi: Fine, that's the second time you've rejected me. Next time we meet, you'll have to treat me to a meal, at least.]

[Haha, definitely next time.]

He originally thought that after saying that, their chat would end there, but unexpectedly, Chen Xinyi was very enthusiastic and kept changing the subject to keep chatting with Ye Su.

Seeing Chen Xinyi so persistent with him, Ye Su couldn't help but sigh:

No wonder there are always news stories popping up online about someone pretending to be a rich kid and scamming dozens of [slow-to-warm-up] girls at once.

With nothing to do on the subway, Ye Su just chatted with Chen Xinyi on and off to kill time.

Although it was because she misunderstood his identity, having a beautiful woman be so proactive toward him still gave Ye Su's vanity a little satisfaction.

Half an hour later, he got off the subway, and seeing that Chen Xinyi was still sending messages, Ye Su casually ended the conversation with a meme.

Then he wandered around alone until past eleven, spent a little under a hundred at a restaurant with good online reviews to treat himself, and didn't return to the dormitory until one in the afternoon.

Everyone was an adult and surely had their own private lives.

The three roommates saw that Ye Su had been missing since early morning and only returned after lunch, but no one asked where he had gone. They just nodded in greeting and continued with what they were doing.

...

After profiting 8,700 yuan from Saturday's Level 2 intel, Ye Su's junior year life returned to the right track.

Besides the intel given on Sunday, which let Ye Su earn another 500 yuan.

And, aside from thursday afternoon when the school had no scheduled classes, where he used intel from the early morning to snag a backpack priced at 99 yuan from a lucky bag in a certain livestream room.

The remaining four pieces of intel were all trivial matters and of no value to Ye Su.

Having had the experience of the previous week, Ye Su was used to it; he still went to class every day and didn't fall behind on his self-study of programming.

Since the system could bind to him without warning, it couldn't be ruled out that it might disappear without warning one day.

Unless the intel provided by the system made his life secure enough that he didn't need to rely on that undergraduate degree or the skills he had learned over the past two years to live a comfortable life.

Otherwise, Ye Su had to finish his four-year university studies step by step, so that if the system disappeared, he wouldn't be left without even the only skill he had to make a living.

...

On Friday night, the 305 quartet, who had no nightlife, naturally could only huddle in the dormitory, relying on electronic devices to pass the peaceful and boring time.

After finishing a game, Fang Zewei, not knowing what news he had scrolled across, began his daily anxiety.

"Sigh, I have to go find an internship next semester; I probably won't be able to be as relaxed as I am now."

"The internship is one thing, but what I'm more worried about is how to find a job after graduation!"

"Everyone online says the macro environment is bad, and the internet industry is laying people off at the drop of a hat. I don't know if it's true or if people are just peddling anxiety."

"Anyway, a senior I know finally found a job after graduating last year, but he didn't even make it to the New Year before his entire business unit was cut. Now that the New Year is over, he's started looking for a job again, but he's been submitting resumes for a week, and let alone interviews, he hasn't even gotten a few replies!"