3: New goals

“Thank you, Boss Xu. I’ll definitely contact you when I come.”

With that, Chen Xiangbei walked out of the Fishermen's Wharf and took the subway back near his rented apartment. He didn’t go home immediately because he was hungry.

As a recent college graduate, working like he had for the past two days was indeed a bit tiring.

He found a decent, small restaurant, intending to treat himself.

Given today’s income, his days ahead would only get better. He couldn't let his stomach suffer, could he?

Chen Xiangbei looked at the menu and ordered a stir-fried pork with chili, a stir-fried tomato with egg, and a chicken leg.

When conditions allowed, it was still important to have a balanced diet. His physique was too weak, so he needed to take good care of his body.

Most of the jobs available recently were likely physically demanding, and eating poorly would easily lead to exhaustion.

After all, pig trotters and rice could only fill him up, without much nutrition.

The chef at the restaurant was very efficient, and the dishes were served quickly.

Chen Xiangbei ate while pondering his next plan.

He thought, he didn't have much capital right now, so he could only continue with daily-paid jobs to accumulate some savings before considering other ventures.

With his income doubling each day, his financial situation would improve within a week.

At that time, he would use the money to wholesale some small goods to set up a stall. Even if he sold them a bit cheaper, he would still make a profit.

Small profits but quick turnover. He would drive down prices, and even selling at a loss wouldn't be a loss, as the system could double his losses back into profit.

As for what to sell, he would decide later. It didn't matter if these next few days were tough or tiring; everything was difficult at the beginning.

“The vast horizon is my love~”

While he was deep in thought, Chen Xiangbei’s phone suddenly rang.

He looked closely and saw it was his college roommate, Li An, calling.

Chen Xiangbei had three college roommates: Li An was one, and the other two were named Wang Ziyi and Hu Dong.

Their relationship was quite good. During college, they often “hung out” together and knew each other's gossip, so they knew each other inside and out.

“Hey, Xiangbei, what are you doing? How have you been recently? Why haven’t you replied to my messages? Did you run into trouble?”

“Oh, no, no. I was just busy with work and didn’t see them. My apologies. How are you? Is taking over your dad’s business going well?”

Li An’s family ran a relatively large wholesale market, and a large area of Linhai City’s non-staple foods were within his family’s business scope.

After graduation, he didn't have many grand ambitions, so he simply went home to help manage the family business.

“Sigh~ It’s just so-so. My parents want me to get familiar with the business first. I just sign documents every day; there’s no technical skill involved.

Occasionally, I can chat and joke with those bosses. How about you? Is work going smoothly?”

“Me? I’ve been doing odd jobs recently. Work isn’t easy to find, so I’m doing these while looking for something else.”

“Oh, by the way, I’ll return the money I borrowed from you in a few days. I’m a bit tight on cash lately.”

“I’m not short on money, just give it back whenever you have it. Tomorrow’s the weekend, want to come out for a couple of drinks? I’m practically molding from staying at home.”

“I’m busy lately. You know, people doing odd jobs don’t have weekends. Maybe another time. Another time, I’ll treat you to a big meal at Tianhai Tower, and we won’t go home until we’re drunk.”

“Alright, call me then. I’ll tell my dad, otherwise he won’t let me go.”

“Okay, see you then. I’m hanging up.”

Chen Xiangbei hung up the phone and continued to devour his meal, finishing quickly.

On his way back, he bought a bottle of ice-cold “Happy Water for Couch Potatoes” at a convenience store.

There was nothing happier than drinking a bottle of ice-cold “Happy Water” on a hot summer day.

It was also because Chen Xiangbei’s home didn’t have a refrigerator; otherwise, he would definitely fill it with all kinds of ice-cold drinks.

“A bottle of ice-cold cola went down so refreshingly,” Chen Xiangbei thought to himself.

When he had money in the future, he would buy a house, and that house must have three large refrigerators.

One specifically for meat, one specifically for fruit, and one specifically for beverages.

He couldn't let his stomach suffer; wasn't working hard to earn money for food, clothing, housing, and transportation?

Upon returning to his residence, he changed into slippers and immediately rushed to the bathroom. A shower was the best way to wash away a day's fatigue.

Chen Xiangbei was a southerner and didn't have the habit of scrubbing, but he loved standing under the showerhead and letting the water wash over him freely.

Generally, when time allowed, it would be around half an hour.

After washing up, he returned to bed to review the day's messages, replying to those that needed it and observing those that didn't.

Then, he skillfully opened Timi and began to dominate the canyon.

Around 12 o’clock, after his last match, with a record of 0-12-3, under the “friendly greetings” of his teammates.

Chen Xiangbei cursed his teammates for being too weak, then put down his phone, waiting for the system's settlement.

“Ding, system settlement begins: Host's income from prying oysters today +285, average hourly wage 38, system reward +570, physique +0.04, settlement points +80. Please continue to work hard!”

Immediately afterward, Chen Xiangbei felt a sense of pleasure throughout his body. The effect of the increased physique was much more noticeable than yesterday.

“Bank card number 4539 received 570 yuan at 12:01, balance 1835.30 (after deducting living expenses for the past two days).”

He opened the system panel (the system panel will not appear much after this, only when there are significant changes).

Host: Chen Xiangbei

Age: 23

Physique: 0.76 (Adult normal standard is 1)

Intelligence: 0.9 (Adult normal standard is 1)

Skill: Intermediate Finance

System: Daily settlement, current settlement multiplier: 2 times. Increases by 1 time daily. (Daily settlement time is 24:00)

System Level 1: Settlement Points: 100/1000

Looking at the system panel, Chen Xiangbei fell asleep peacefully. As long as this wasn't a dream, then his dream was ahead.

The next day, Chen Xiangbei woke up early. After washing up, he headed straight to a nearby tea restaurant.

To take good care of his body, he decided to eat well for breakfast, lunch, and dinner starting today.

This morning, Chen Xiangbei found that his body no longer felt sore, which might be the effect of the physique points added yesterday.

So, he planned to find a quick-earning job after breakfast.

He arrived at Fuxin Tower, a tea restaurant with a history of 80 years. Many local landlords often came here to drink tea and chat.

Chen Xiangbei ordered a serving of siomai, a serving of shrimp dumplings, a serving of rice cake, a serving of cheong fun, a serving of tiger skin chicken feet, plus a pot of tea.

All of this combined was less than 100 yuan, which was quite affordable.

Half an hour later, Chen Xiangbei finished breakfast and headed straight to his destination for the day.

A construction site in an urban village. The job he had to do today was to carry waste materials.

Because some buildings in the urban village did not have elevators, the waste materials from renovations and cleanups needed to be carried down manually.

There were generally two ways of settlement: by piece or by contract.

Chen Xiangbei had seen this when he passed by on his way home yesterday. He had inquired and found out it was a contract job.

All the waste materials produced in a day had to be carried downstairs, by three people in total, and the fee was 2000 yuan to be split among the three.

Yesterday, Chen Xiangbei was the last to arrive and sign up, so the team was already complete. He just needed to show up on time to start working.