Spring came by gently in quiet springs.
Schedules of school, library courses, and evening mealtimes orbited circles without a beat, one mergingirresistibly with another. For Lin Feng, though, the very same happened: his days nominally like they always had, but ever-so-slightly altered, it was as ifan infinitesimal, uncatchable angle tipped—the whole was perceptibly but very slightly skewed differently.
No more the system now.
She made it this time.
Satin Gazes and Gentle Times
Every afternoon now, Liu Xiaoyu would smile at him from her corner seat bythe front row. She'd smile—just a small smile—but it stayed in his chest longer than it should.
Lin Feng reminded himself initially, it was nothing. Just courtesy. Just politeness. That's what people like her did—warm and friendly to everyone.
But after she started inviting him over to group study sessions, then asking for his notes, and even texting him about non-school things, Lin Feng started feeling the spark of something real.
He wasn't really sure when, though.
Maybe it was that night in the library. Or maybe it was the way she listened to him—really listened to him. Not like someone wincing through a terriblekid's soliloquy, but like someone trying to hear him.
Dorm Room Tension
Back in the dorm once more, Lin Feng sat at his desk, clean, with a second-hand computer which looked brand new only because he'd scrubbed it mercilessly. The system had given him a ¥1,000 clothing allowance as a small side bonus earlier that morning, oneof a "personal image maintenance"quest he'd completed inadvertentlysimply by dressing reasonablyproperly for seven days running.
He'd not said a thing to anyone else about the system—not even in a whisper. It was between him and me now.
His roommates were not stupid.
Zhao Lei, who rarely ever gave him attention otherwise, glanced up suddenly from his phone. "Hey, Lin Feng. Is that a new windbreaker?"
Lin Feng looked down at his vaguelylarge dark-blue windbreaker. It wasn't expensive, but it was crisp, clean, and—imperatively—did not at this point burst at the seams like his last onehad.
"Yeah," Lin Feng growled, brushing over the comment.
"Not bad," Zhao Lei said, raising an eyebrow. "You win the lottery with a Taobao bargain or something?"
Lin Feng hadn't time to answer before Wang Peng spoke up from his bunk, half-jesting: "Or is someone beingsugar-daddied, then? Richie-girl treatin' you to goodies and whatnot?"
The room erupted into friendlylaughter, and even Lin Feng couldn'thelp but crack a smile.
But under the mocking tone, there was a glimmer of curiosity. Suspicion, at that.
Zhao Lei kept looking at him for a few seconds too long before returning to his phone.
They didn't know. But they knew.
System Update: Silent Fortune
That night, the room was dimly lit. The others had gone to play billiards, but Lin Feng stayed back, claiming he needed to study.
With the darkness of evening closing in and nothing but the drone of the radiator to shatter the stillness, he sat in front of his laptop, watching the system screen.
[Login Reward Collected – Day 29]
Reward: ¥2,000 cash
Bonus: Partial Share – JD.com Stock (¥500 Value)
[Hidden Quest Completed: Keep Low Profile While Building Status]
Reward: Personal Investment Opportunity Unlocked
Reward: New Passive Perk – "Financial Instinct I"
A subtle increase in intuition when itcomes to investments, business decisions, and evaluating risk.
Lin Feng's eyes widened.
This was his first passive skill. It wasn't showy, but the implications.
If it worked the way he thought it did, this could change everything.
He leaned back in his chair, the glow of the screen illuminating an expression of intent quietness on his face. Not happiness. Not excitement. But focus.
He had enough sense not to get smug. The system was working together—but life had a way of biting back.
However, the process was unfolding, step by step.
The Walk with Liu Xiaoyu
The night after a review session, Lin Feng and Liu Xiaoyu walked along the side of the campus road, side by side.
The streetlights wavered overhead, and there were few students leftoutside. The air was cold, but Liu Xiaoyu didn't appear to notice. She crossed her arms around her books and looked at him.
"Been a bit quiet today, haven't you?" she said. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," Lin Feng said. "Just tired. Been thinking too hard."
"About what?"
He paused.
"Do you ever get the feeling you're behind everyone?" he said finally. "Like… no matter how much you study, or work, someone's always ahead of you?"
She looked at him for a long time, then nodded. "I think everyone feels that way sometimes."
"Not people like you," he said before he could stop himself.
"What do you mean, people like me?"she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're intelligent. You're. you're average. Not struggling to make it in order to stay afloat."
She paused, and her face was a mask for a moment. And then she smiled at him. "You don't know everything about me."
Lin Feng blinked.
She gazed up at the stars. "People have secrets, you know. Everybody's struggling some kind of fight. Even if they don't always display it."
The instant stretched out. Lin Feng looked at her form in the light and felt something stir in his chest.
He didn't know what it was. Maybe hope. Maybe fear.
But whatever it was—it was there.
The Beginning of Jealousy
Behind them, leaning against a pillar just short of the campus entrance, Lu Chen stood silently watching.
He hadn't meant to loiter. He'd just been passing by. But when he saw the two of them walking side by side, something clicked in his jaw.
He didn't utter a word. But his silence was deafening.