Chapter 42: At Least Two Million

Li Yu clapped his hands, took off his headphones, turned around, and cupped his hands toward the group with a smile.

"I've embarrassed myself, truly, haha."

Zhao Fangting gave him a thumbs up. "Awesome!"

Lin Bai shook his head and returned to his seat to open his laptop. Li Yu approached him with a silly grin on his face.

"Brother Bai, did you see the post I made? How was it? Loyal enough, right?"

Lin Bai turned his head, his deep gaze making Li Yu feel a bit uneasy, and he subconsciously scratched his head.

"Brother Bai, you..."

"Delete it."

Lin Bai’s words prompted a soulful inquiry from all four of them, including the other three roommates.

"Why?"

Chen Zhe came up behind Lin Bai, his voice rough. "We can't delete it! Brother Bai, have you forgotten how that little vixen dragged your name through the mud a few days ago?"

Zhao Fangting: "Yeah, Brother Bai, for a whole week, we’ve been getting骂 for a full week! Do you know how we’ve spent this past week?"

Zhao Fangting grabbed Li Yu’s shoulder, his expression miserable.

Lu Xiaobin adjusted his glasses. "Does Brother Bai feel it’s unnecessary?"

The others looked at Lu Xiaobin in unison.

"Exactly. Regardless of everything, Chen Shuya and I were high school classmates. If the public opinion continues to ferment, it will likely affect her studies, and that is not the result I want."

The others thought about it and realized he was right.

Now that the revenge was had and the anger vented, affecting Chen Shuya's education wasn't what anyone wanted, let alone Lin Bai.

"Fine! We'll listen to Brother Bai. I'll delete the post right now!"

Li Yu was impatient; he immediately took out his phone, logged into his homepage on the campus forum, and deleted the post that held the number one spot for engagement.

"There you go, Brother Bai, it's deleted."

Lin Bai nodded. "Thanks for this."

"Oh, it's nothing, Brother Bai, you're too polite. If you need anything else from your little brother, just say the word!"

Li Yu patted his chest, promising with absolute certainty.

Lin Bai looked at him deeply.

Li Yu was clever, cunning, and knew how to read the room—he was a scoundrel through and through.

People like this were double-edged swords; used well, they could yield unexpected results, but used poorly, they were a path to one's own destruction.

"By the way! There is actually one thing." Lin Bai’s eyes lit up as he thought of something.

"How much do you know about Xu Youmeng?"

***

Upon hearing Lin Bai's question, Li Yu was stunned for a moment, then wore a wicked grin.

"Brother Bai, you don't mean to..."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't." Lin Bai’s expression darkened, his eyes serious.

Li Yu immediately straightened up.

"Xu Youmeng is the school beauty, after all; what guy doesn't know her? Speaking of which, she..."

"Get to the point. Which department, which class? Where does she live?" Lin Bai interrupted.

Li Yu scratched his head. "Art and Design, Class 1, sophomore year. She lives in West Dorm 101, but she doesn't stay in the dorm often. If you want to pursue her, Brother Bai, I suggest you head to the Entrepreneurship Park more often."

"Entrepreneurship Park? What for?" Lin Bai asked, puzzled.

"This Xu Youmeng is quite good at League of Legends. She formed her own team and has an office in the park for training. She plays in tournaments from time to time."

Hearing this, it clicked for Lin Bai. He had seen on the forum that Xu Youmeng’s only hobby was LOL, but he hadn't known she had her own team.

"I see you're pretty good at the game yourself. What’s your rank?"

When Lin Bai asked this, a touch of arrogant pride appeared on Li Yu’s face as he wiped his nose.

"You asked the right person, Brother Bai. I’m a Challenger on both the national and Korean servers!"

Although Lin Bai wasn't much of a player, he knew Challenger was the highest rank and was extremely impressive.

"Oh? Then why aren't you on Xu Youmeng’s team? Doesn't she recruit?"

"Bah, it's not like I didn't think about it. How should I put it? I went once, and those people on her team... their skill levels were just too trash. We couldn't get on the same page, don't even get me started."

"With the level of her team, wanting to win a tournament? Good luck with that."

Lin Bai vaguely understood what Li Yu meant and didn't ask further.

"Alright, it's getting late. Go back and get some rest."

"You got it, Brother Bai. Call me anytime you need help—I'm your biggest fan!"

Lin Bai shook his head in silence and ignored him, picking up his toiletries and heading into the bathroom.

...

The next day.

Around nine in the morning, Lin Bai drove away from school, heading straight for Maple Forest Town.

Before ten, Lin Bai arrived in Maple Forest Town and pulled up to a building where Qin Ruowei had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing Lin Bai get out of the car, Qin Ruowei trotted over and affectionately took his arm.

"Hee hee, did you miss me?"

Lin Bai subconsciously thought of what happened with Li Ruonan last night and felt a pang of guilt, gently flicking her nose.

"Missed you? I missed you to death."

***

"Smooth talker. Come on, my dad and the others are waiting for you inside. Let me tell you..."

Finally, Lin Bai stepped into Qin Ruowei’s home for the first time.

The moment he crossed the threshold, Lin Bai was stunned by the exquisite decoration and layout of the house.

Before he could take a closer look, a nanny brought over a pair of slippers, and Lin Bai changed into them.

Then, led by Qin Ruowei, Lin Bai walked into the tea room.

Inside, sandalwood incense wafted through the air, smelling pleasant.

Qin Yang, dressed in a formal suit, sat at the head of the table, tinkering with the tea set.

Hearing the door open, Qin Yang looked up. As their eyes met, Lin Bai felt an immediate and intense pressure, causing him to feel subconsciously nervous.

"You're here. Sit."

Qin Yang offered a kind smile, gesturing for Lin Bai to sit, and poured him a cup of tea.

"I heard from Ruowei that you want to borrow money from me? How much do you intend to borrow?"

Lin Bai had expected Qin Yang to ask about his situation first or make some small talk, but he hadn't expected him to get straight to the point, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Lin Bai subconsciously glanced at Qin Ruowei, who was standing beside him with a grin.

Lin Bai paused and asked in return: "How much are you willing to lend me at most?"

This time it was Qin Yang’s turn to be stunned, but he soon laughed.

"Hahaha, you kid. Lending money is fine, but I at least need to know what you're borrowing it for, right? I heard you want to borrow money to play the stock market?"

Lin Bai had nothing to hide and nodded firmly. "Yes!"

"I looked at Huaxing Cloud Tech’s stock last night; it seems quite ordinary. Why are you so sure you can make money? Or let me ask it a different way: why are you so sure you won't lose?"

Lin Bai frowned. Naturally, he couldn't say the system told him it was a guaranteed profit. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Uncle Qin, you don't need to know these details. You only need to lend me the money. Of course, no matter how confident I am, you will have concerns about the risk, so... I think you should trust Ruowei."

Qin Yang’s eyebrows arched as he looked at the young man before him with newfound focus.

After a moment of silence, Qin Yang took a small sip of tea. "Five hundred thousand. When will you pay me back?"

To Qin Yang, Lin Bai was essentially a stranger, and lending him five hundred thousand on a first meeting was already a significant sum. But!

"That's not enough. At least two million."

Lin Bai shook his head gently, his eyes firm.

Beside him, Qin Ruowei was startled and gave Lin Bai a light nudge.