"Bring food? Transfer the money to me plus a sufficient delivery fee. If not, please spare me from playing your beast of burden."
Lu Bei silently typed out a line and sent his reply.
His tone was hardly polite, but these words... were indeed entirely reasonable demands for any normal person.
Yet, behind the screen, Xu Qingshuang puffed up her cheeks in anger as she read them.
In the past, Lu Bei had always catered to her every whim.
If she wanted to buy something, even if he had no money on hand, he would scrape it together by borrowing money and working himself to the bone.
Yet overnight, everything had changed so drastically.
Could it be... because she had publicly said she disliked him yesterday, which made him angry?
"Lu Bei, are you even a man? It's just a tiny matter. You stinky jerk, what are your delusions now?"
"And can you not talk so crudely? It makes me feel sick just reading it."
"Oh right, for breakfast I want soup dumplings. Deliver them to the bottom of my dorm building within ten minutes, and I'll consider forgiving you."
Xu Qingshuang hurriedly sent a flurry of messages to interrogate him.
"Sorry, I'm afraid you'll welch on the debt."
Lu Bei calmly typed out a line in reply, his attitude completely devoid of romance.
It was as if he hadn't understood the girl's remarks—which practically amounted to explicit hints—or perhaps... out of sheer mental exhaustion, he simply no longer cared to decipher them.
"Well, you're a real blockhead, Lu, you bad guy."
"I'm angry, the kind that won't go away no matter how you coax me. You figure out what to do, hmph."
Faced with Lu Bei's impervious attitude, Xu Qingshuang sent several angry sticker animations in a row to express her dissatisfaction. This tactic had always worked like a charm for her—a special move with a 100% success rate against Lu Bei.
In the past, whenever she threw a tantrum, her childhood friend would rush around frantically to coax her, telling her not to take it to heart, then take all the blame upon himself and promise never to do it again.
Yet even after doing all that, Xu Qingshuang still wouldn't forgive Lu Bei easily.
This detestable childhood friend would also have to buy various designer brands and gifts, and personally deliver them to her doorstep, before Xu Qingshuang would reluctantly choose to forgive him.
Relying on past empirical habits, when a conflict arose, Xu Qingshuang subconsciously resorted to the same trick.
But this time, the outcome was clearly different.
Because... Lu Bei had proactively chosen to block and delete Xu Qingshuang.
Looking at the red exclamation mark, the girl who had grown up alongside Lu Bei jumped up in her dorm room with anger.
What is the meaning of this?!
That stinky Lu Bei—all she did yesterday was put on a bit of a cold face and say a few harsh words.
Why is he holding such a grudge?!
Is he still the "good man" she remembered or not?!
In stark contrast to Xu Qingshuang, Lu Bei, who had just finished blocking her, wore a very calm expression.
"No classes in the morning, and it looks like I have a tutoring interview in the afternoon."
"Back in 2012, this industry was quite lucrative. But in my past life, it seems because of someone's interference, my afternoon interview failed."
Lu Bei opened the notepad on his phone.
Through memories that had grown somewhat hazy, he pieced together his current situation as best as he could.
Afterwards, he began mapping out his next steps.
Having abandoned the chance to attend a key university out of town due to his previous subservient devotion, he had already missed one opportunity.
However, studying for a master's entrance exam or applying to study abroad still offered a chance to improve his academic qualifications.
As for his career, Lu Bei, having returned from the future, naturally understood many business opportunities that would thrive in the years to come.
For instance, founding a short-video website or a bike-sharing app early on—both of which were bound to explode in popularity.
Though lacking connections and background meant he would inevitably have the sweetest fruits plucked away by others, as the founder, achieving success far beyond the average person would not be difficult.
Of course, there was also a path to success that required no forfeiture of profits.
Like buying up Bitcoin, a venture with a thousandfold return.
This virtual currency, destined to soar in the future, was currently priced at a mere 0.3 dollars each—hardly expensive.
If he invested now, by the end of next year, its price would skyrocket to twelve hundred dollars apiece.
If he had enough patience and waited until 2021, a single Bitcoin would even be worth over sixty thousand dollars.
For someone reborn into the year 2012, there was no better deal than this.
As for buying lottery tickets like the Lotto, all-in gambles were out of the question for Lu Bei. For one, he couldn't remember the numbers, and for another, those things carried a certain element of human manipulation.
Choosing a path that flowed with the current of the times would allow him to walk much more steadily in the future.
Only... right now, due to his previous simpery, Lu Bei's pockets were cleaner than a whistle.
Even buying Bitcoin while it was ridiculously cheap was out of the question.
Besides, living a second life, Lu Bei also wanted to genuinely experience college life.
So, taking on a few odd jobs to tide himself over might be a good choice.
"The name of the student who needs tutoring is Xiao Wanting? Have I heard that name somewhere before?"
Lu Bei pressed his temples as a sudden, sharp pain flared in his mind.
A sealed room, handcuffs—these bizarre images rushed back into his head.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Xu Qingshuang's roommates stared in bewilderment as she bounced up from her bed in a fit of rage for no apparent reason.
"Qingshuang, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly flying into such a rage?"
"It's nothing. Just that annoying childhood friend of mine, who keeps pestering me, pissed me off again."
Xu Qingshuang bared her little canine teeth, glaring fiercely at her phone as if she longed to devour the person on the other side who had just blocked her.
"Can that little simp of yours actually bite the hand that feeds him?" another roommate sneered.
Xu Qingshuang silently clenched her fists and chose to remain silent, but... right at that moment in her heart, she was already beginning to resent Lu Bei.
What is wrong with this childhood friend anyway, making her lose face in front of so many roommates?
"Don't worry, Qingshuang. He goes to this school; the monk may run, but the temple can't run away. Tomorrow we'll go settle accounts with your childhood friend," another plump female roommate added.
"Exactly, exactly! When the time comes, we sisters will all go together. That little simp won't get off unless he pays a price."
"At the very least, we have to make this little simp treat Qingshuang and us to a big meal. Hey, that Western restaurant we went to last time was pretty nice."
"How is just a meal enough? Oh, right, I've had my eye on the newest designer bag, and I'm still short a thousand yuan."
"Qingshuang, we're all roommates. When that little simp compensates you, we should be able to get a share of the benefits too, right?"
The roommates crowded around, gazing at Xu Qingshuang with eyes full of vulgarity and greed.
"Yeah, Lu Bei always listens to me the most. Everyone's requests will definitely be satisfied." Facing her roommates' expectant gazes, Xu Qingshuang nodded without hesitation. She lifted her chin, exposing her snow-white neck like a proud little swan.
"I won't say anymore for now. I still have to go for a tutoring interview this afternoon, so everyone just wait for my good news."