5: Business at your door

Seeing Ye Su drinking much more intensely than before, the few who misunderstood him as drowning his sorrows in alcohol asked tentatively: "You haven't run into any trouble lately, have you?"

Although Ye Su hadn't mentioned the closure of his family's factory at the end of last year to the three of them.

But after all, having lived in the same dorm for two and a half years, Fang Zewei and the other two could still tell that Ye Su had been preoccupied during that time.

The three had tried to probe by beating around the bush, but Ye Su had brushed them off with a few words.

Everyone has their own privacy; since Ye Su wouldn't talk, the three didn't feel comfortable digging any deeper.

Now, seeing Ye Su's abnormal behavior—chugging alcohol while belting out high notes at the top of his lungs—the three mischievous friends couldn't help but worry if something had happened to Ye Su.

"If you really ran into trouble, just say it. The three of us might be able to help out."

"Could it be that you're nursing another heartbreak? If so, just spit it out. With the three of us as your strategists, there's no girl you can't win over."

"Exactly."

Although the four of them usually just roasted each other, and it was hard to hear a kind word from anyone's mouth.

But hearing their concern now, combined with the stimulation of the alcohol, Ye Su, who had endured two major ups and downs in life over the past few months, felt particularly moved, even feeling a bit of a sting in his nose.

They say that once you step into society, it's hard to make friends; even colleagues who have worked together for years will become strangers after leaving the company.

Ye Su hadn't stepped into society yet, so he didn't know if that was true or not.

But if what they say online is true, then the three people in front of him were likely the last three genuine friends he would ever make.

Thinking of this, Ye Su made up his mind: if the environment after graduation was indeed tough, and he started to prosper thanks to his system, he would help these three "adopted sons" out if he could.

"What could possibly happen to me?"

Ye Su didn't act coy on the surface and even gave the three a look of feigned disdain: "Besides, do you three even remember the last time you held a girl's hand? And you want to be my strategists?"

"You bastard!"

Ye Su's words deeply stung the three youths, who were in the prime of puberty, hearts yearning for romance but with nowhere to vent.

"Damn it! I shouldn't have asked!"

"Playing this round with me? I'm going to crush you, you brat!"

Stimulated by Ye Su's outburst, the atmosphere returned to normal, and the sounds of dice cups, wine glasses, and the "death singers" rang out in the private room again.

Because of his loose tongue earlier, the three roommates formed a united front against Ye Su.

Although the beer had a low alcohol content, Ye Su, who didn't usually drink much, soon felt his head swelling under the onslaught of the three: "You guys keep playing, I'm going to the restroom."

Jiang Zhibin obviously still held a grudge from earlier. Seeing Ye Su trying to use the "bathroom escape" tactic, he immediately seized the opportunity to mock him: "Little brother, your stamina isn't that great, is it?"

Ye Su gave him the middle finger and then ducked into the restroom for refuge.

"Already got a message?"

After finishing up in the restroom, Ye Su sat on the toilet and opened his phone. He noticed that at some point, several people had already reached out to him on the second-hand platform.

Ye Su had been prepared for this watch to be listed on the second-hand platform for a long time, but he hadn't expected someone to message him after just one day.

[Monsoon Tamer: Would you sell it for three thousand?]

[Hardcore Poet: How about you sell it to me for four thousand? Hardcore Poet: Since you've already handled this item, you definitely won't be able to sell it for six thousand. I'm only offering four thousand because it looks to be in decent condition.]

[...]

Opening the app and clicking on several messages, Ye Su realized that everyone reaching out to him was wielding a "dragon-slaying saber."

Sure enough, upon clicking on their profiles, he saw that some accounts had all sorts of items listed; they were clearly professional second-hand dealers looking for steals.

The advantage of dealing with these people is that their goals are clear and they don't drag things out; once the price is agreed upon and the item is confirmed to be okay, the transaction can be completed.

But the downside is that they need to make a profit, so they naturally low-ball the price more than a regular buyer would.

Although he got the item for free, Ye Su didn't want to be treated like a total sucker. Plus, he couldn't out-haggle these people, so he simply stopped replying to those messages.

[Don't Want to Sleep: Hello, may I ask if the watch is authentic? Don't Want to Sleep: Are you sure the watch is brand new and hasn't been worn by anyone?]

"Hmm?"

Seeing the last person's message, Ye Su was a bit confused.

Never mind that I'm selling an authentic one, even if I were selling a fake, if you asked like that, I'd definitely say it's authentic...

Feeling a bit speechless, Ye Su replied: [The item is authentic. I bought it to give as a gift, but I don't need to give it away anymore. As a guy, I can't wear it, so I want to sell it.]

After sending the message, Ye Su thought the other party wouldn't reply and was about to close the app, but his phone suddenly vibrated.

[Don't Want to Sleep: Then, if it's convenient, could we find a time to meet and take a look?]

[Sure, I'm usually free in the evenings and on weekends. See when you're available and you can come to Lingnan Subway Station.]

[Don't Want to Sleep: That works out, I'm not far away. How about we meet tomorrow afternoon around 3:00 at Exit D of Lingnan Subway Station?]

[OK.]

After setting the time and double-checking, he saw the message had been read. When the other party didn't reply further, Ye Su turned off his phone and left the restroom.

"Finally decided to come out? There was no movement for so long, I thought you'd fallen into the toilet."

"Fallen my ass, let's continue!"

"Bring it on. Tonight, I'll let you know who's the daddy between us!"

At the end of the day, they were just a bunch of "lightweights" pretending to be tough guys. Before coming, they all claimed they would battle until dawn.

But after drinking from nine until past eleven, the four of them had already fizzled out, and there was still half a case of beer left.

"That's about enough, let's head back."

"Alright, let's go."

"Don't leave anything behind. You've got your phones and everything, right?"

"Got everything."

It was all paid for, so the leftover beer certainly wouldn't be left for the KTV to profit from. Since it was stored there and they wouldn't come back to drink it, it would just sit there waiting to expire.

When leaving, the four of them used the clean bags from the fried skewers and duck snacks to pack up the remaining beer and take it with them.

They didn't know if riding bikes counted as drunk driving, and getting them to take a taxi was impossible, so the four simply walked back to school.

You have to admit, the happiness of student days is truly simple. With a few friends, going out for a night, each chipping in a hundred yuan, you can have a great time.

By the time the four of them reached the bottom of the dormitory building, it was already twelve midnight.

[Ding!]

Because of the walk, Ye Su only had about thirty percent of his buzz left, but it vanished completely at the sudden system notification sound.

[Today's Intelligence (Level 1): In the small woods next to the teaching building area, there are two dropped one-hundred yuan bills.]

Two hundred yuan? What year is this? There's actually cash to be picked up?

But that makes sense; after all, it's just after the New Year, so it's normal for people to have some cash in their pockets.

It's just that Ye Su couldn't figure out how the money ended up dropped in the small woods by the teaching building in the middle of the night.

Never mind that. Better go pick it up first. It's so late, the money surely won't be picked up by anyone else, but it would be funny if it got blown away by the wind.

"You guys head up first. I'm going to walk around a bit before going back."

"We've been walking for so long, you haven't had enough yet?"

"Yeah, I'll stroll around a bit more and head up in a while."

"Alright then." The three didn't think much of it, took the beer from Ye Su's hands, and went upstairs.