Upon hearing Li Zhiyan's words, a faint pang of sorrow welled up in Rao Shiyun's heart. She stepped forward and gently gave him a brief embrace.
"Good boy."
Li Zhiyan could truly feel just how generous Aunt Rao's embrace was—she was truly worthy of being called an exquisite, mature beauty of forty-two.
"Auntie has to get going now. Make sure to keep in touch when you've got free time."
Though she hadn't known Li Zhiyan for very long, Rao Shiyun genuinely admired this self-reliant boy from an impoverished background.
"Goodbye, Auntie."
Liu Yan was practically gritting his teeth in fury.
His own mother had actually hugged Li Zhiyan, letting that little punk take advantage of her! This was the very classmate who was his sworn enemy! And now, of all things...
As he watched Rao Shiyun's Audi A6 drive away, Li Zhiyan heard a voice behind him.
"Li Zhiyan."
"Aunt Gu."
Li Zhiyan turned around to look at Gu Wanzhou. He felt that Aunt Gu's embrace probably wouldn't be quite as full as Rao Shiyun's. Still, that aloof, icy demeanor of hers gave her a truly unique charm. Besides, you couldn't always judge a person's true stature by their surface appearance.
"Be a good boy."
"If you have time, come over to Auntie's place. Auntie will cook for you."
Though she had never considered getting involved in a May-December romance with this punk of a kid, the misunderstanding from earlier had left Gu Wanzhou with a heavy sense of guilt toward Li Zhiyan.
What a simple, hard-working boy. Teaching himself programming must have taken an immense amount of effort. Solving the problems for Liu Yan's company probably required him to push himself to the absolute limit—staying up for who knows how many all-nighters to pull it off.
Yet she had suspected him of using underhanded methods to track her down, pretending it was fate just so he could sleep with her. But the truth was, he had simply come to collect his money, and nothing more. Not only had she refused to give him the time of day afterward, but she had even thought of him in such a vile way.
As a boy lacking affection, he must have been terribly hurt inside.
"Really, Aunt Gu? You're not angry with me anymore?"
Li Zhiyan gently took Gu Wanzhou's hand.
This was his very first physical contact with Yu Sisi's biological mother.
Gu Wanzhou's heart sank. Just as she thought, a child with no backing was the most sensitive; he had sensed her shift in mood instantly.
Feeling a pang of heartache, Gu Wanzhou stroked Li Zhiyan's face.
"Don't worry. From now on, whenever you want to talk to Auntie, just reach out."
"Thank you for being so good to me, Aunt Gu."
Taking the opportunity, Li Zhiyan gave Gu Wanzhou a quick hug before letting go just as fast. He realized that Gu Wanzhou really was a woman of hidden depths; you truly couldn't judge a book by its cover.
Gu Wanzhou remembered how Rao Shiyun had hugged Li Zhiyan earlier. A wave of jealousy washed over her—why was that woman so flirtatious? Initiating a hug with a young boy like that, could she be looking for a May-December romance? Well, it wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Now that Li Zhiyan had given her a hug too, it balanced things out in her mind. At the same time, however, her guilt grew even deeper.
Just then, the system suddenly issued a new quest:
"Gu Wanzhou has invited you to her home."
"Please visit her home tomorrow to share a meal, and give her a massage for her neck, shoulders, and thighs to relieve her neck pain."
"Quest reward: 20,000 yuan in cash."
"Note: Massage technique is currently downloading. Once learned, your massage skills will be capable of significantly alleviating pain."
Li Zhiyan's heart skipped a beat.
I'm sorry, System! I'll never call you a weakling again! With a massage technique that can actually relieve pain, I could open my own massage parlor in the future and rake in a fortune!
"Aunt Gu, I'd like to come over to your place tomorrow. Is that alright?"
At this, Gu Wanzhou was visibly surprised. She hadn't expected Li Zhiyan to be so eager to visit her home. Could he actually be after a May-December romance? But she quickly shoved that dirty thought out of her mind.
She couldn't keep misunderstanding this child; he had already suffered enough.
"Alright. We'll chat on QQ tomorrow. Auntie will go grocery shopping and cook something delicious, and the two of us can have a nice, long talk."
Becoming Li Zhiyan's girlfriend was out of the question, so Gu Wanzhou deliberately emphasized the dynamic of the two of them as an older relative and a younger one.
How could Li Zhiyan miss the underlying meaning in her words? Yet he simply pretended not to hear.
"Goodbye, Aunt Gu."
Watching Gu Wanzhou leave, Li Zhiyan picked up the bag containing the fifty thousand yuan and headed off as well.
A lingering curiosity crossed his mind—if Gu Wanzhou had a sore neck, why on earth did she need him to massage her thighs? Was this system even legitimate?
"No use overthinking it. Better focus on completing the quest first; twenty thousand yuan is no small chunk of change."
In the dead of summer, even the July breeze carried a wave of heat. Yet Li Zhiyan's steps on the way home were exceptionally light. He wasn't some reborn corporate executive or mega-tycoon who could make a fortune leveraging past experience. As an ordinary person through and through, having a system—even a Salted Fish System that let him make money just by doing chores—was simply the best fit imaginable.
"Let's set a small goal first: become a millionaire!"
"Though, I should give this money to Mom first."
Li Zhiyan knew all too well how much his mother loved him. Even if she gave up on going to Modu just because she couldn't bear to leave him behind, she would undoubtedly work herself to the bone doing overtime to make money. Mom was only forty-two; Li Zhiyan refused to let her age prematurely. In this lifetime, he was determined to repay her properly and let her spend the rest of her days free of worry.
...
The moment he reached the front door, Li Zhiyan called out happily, "Mom!"
There was nothing quite like coming home and calling out to your mother.
"Alright, alright, no need to shout so loud."
"I'm right here."
After closing the door, Li Zhiyan glanced at the high heels his mother had bought at a street stall and left by the entryway, then slipped into his house slippers. The moment he struck it rich, the first thing he'd do was buy his mother a few pairs of the finest high heels in the world.
"Mom, I brought you a gift!"
Hearing that her son had bought her a gift, Zhou Rongrong, who was currently washing dishes in the kitchen, said with mild reproach, "What did you go buying gifts for? Such a waste of money. The money we save needs to go toward buying you a house. Stop spending carelessly."
Though she said that, Zhou Rongrong still felt a sweet warmth in her heart knowing her son was thinking of her. This boy was truly different from before; his thoughts were clearly focused on her more and more.
"No, Mom, the gift I got you is very special. I earned it through my own hard work."
Li Zhiyan thanked his Salted Fish System once again in his heart. Thank goodness for it, otherwise he might never have managed to draw this much attention in his lifetime.
"What kind of gift? Did you go take on a part-time job?"
Seeing the black plastic bag in her son's hand, a ripple of doubt crossed her mind. Had he really gone out to work part-time?
Taking the bag from him, she said with a heart full of distress, "You shouldn't be doing part-time jobs. A kid like you just needs to focus on doing well in college and mastering your professional skills at school. You don't need to worry about money at all."
Yet the moment she opened the bag, Zhou Rongrong froze right where she stood. This was... cash!
Five bundles of neatly banded hundred-yuan bills, a full fifty thousand yuan.
After a brief moment to collect herself, Zhou Rongrong hurried over to the window, pulled the blinds shut, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Son, tell me the truth—did you steal this money from someone?"
In 2010, fifty thousand yuan possessed a purchasing power that went without saying; it was a genuine fortune. Even in 2024, fifty thousand yuan wasn't a sum just anyone could casually produce. At the very least, most ordinary people simply couldn't pull out fifty thousand yuan on the spot.
So the moment her son suddenly produced this sum, Zhou Rongrong's instinctive reaction was that her boy had broken the law!
"No, Mom, you don't need to be so scared. I taught myself some computer programming and helped a boss solve a problem at his company. So he gave me fifty thousand yuan as a reward. It wasn't obtained through any illegal activity. You know me—I'm a good boy, I don't have the guts to steal money."
Zhou Rongrong thought about it for a moment and decided Li Zhiyan was probably telling the truth; he genuinely didn't have the nerve to steal from anyone.
"But when did you even have the time to learn computer programming? I never see you messing around with the computer at home."
"Mom, I just taught myself whenever I went to the internet cafe."
Looking at her precious son, Zhou Rongrong's eyes flickered with a hint of awe.
Who would have thought her own good-for-nothing boy was so talented? He had taught himself programming and earned fifty thousand yuan. It was a massive face-saving moment for her as a mother.
After making Li Zhiyan confirm it repeatedly, she finally accepted that her son really had made fifty thousand yuan through computer programming—and he was only eighteen years old.
"My son is amazing. Mom is so proud of you!"
Overcome with emotion, Zhou Rongrong pulled Li Zhiyan into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. Li Zhiyan, the ultimate mama's boy, reveled in this warmth of motherly affection, wishing time could simply stand still.
"Mom will hold onto forty thousand of this for you, to save for your future bride. You keep ten thousand for yourself, but spend it sparingly."
Li Zhiyan took the ten thousand yuan and asked with lingering curiosity, "Mom, are you really okay handing me this much cash?"
"My son is all grown up!"
Zhou Rongrong pinched Li Zhiyan's cheek, her stunning face brimming with pride. "That's why Mom trusts you to handle this ten thousand well. Besides, you're an adult now—if you end up dating someone or anything like that, you're going to need money."
"Mm..."
Li Zhiyan accepted the cash. He couldn't give any more of it to his mother just yet, otherwise she really would be frightened out of her wits.
"Oh, and Mom, from now on I can cover my own college living expenses through programming, and I'll even be able to save up some extra cash. So you can forget all about going to work in Modu—I really can't bear for you to leave."
Seeing that her son had actually earned fifty thousand yuan, Zhou Rongrong had completely abandoned the idea of heading to Modu. If her son couldn't bear to part with her, how could she bear to part with him? He was the only piece of her flesh and blood left in this world.
"Don't worry, Mom won't go to Modu."
"Not only are you not going to Modu, but you're not working overtime anymore either. Just stick to your normal hours. From now on, I'll send money your way right on schedule every month."
Zhou Rongrong was momentarily stunned. Truly, mother and son shared a single heart. Everything she had been thinking, her son had guessed right away!
"Don't worry, Mom won't work overtime anymore. I'll spend more time keeping you company from now on."
Stroke by stroke, as she smoothed her son's hair, Zhou Rongrong's heart was a tangle of complicated emotions. The boy had genuinely grown up. It seemed he was finally becoming someone she could lean on.
"Alright, Mom, pinky promise!"
Seeing her son acting more and more like a little child again, Zhou Rongrong smiled and linked pinkies with Li Zhiyan.
...
That evening, after watching a bit of *iPartment 1*, Li Zhiyan drifted off into a deep sleep. Clutching ten thousand yuan in his arms, he slept exceptionally soundly. The hum of the little electric fan in the rented room provided him with an added layer of safety and comfort.
The moment he woke up the next morning, the very first thing on Li Zhiyan's mind was completing the quest and getting a look at Gu Wanzhou's porcelain-white legs.
Today he was going over to Aunt Gu's place to massage her legs, right?
Bah—to massage her neck! What on earth was running through his mind?
Yet in his dreams last night, he seemed to have dreamed of things involving a little horse and a big carriage.
Pushing open his bedroom door, Li Zhiyan caught sight of Wu Qingxian, his mother's best friend who had almost become his godmother.
"Morning, Aunt Wu."
Wu Qingxian looked at Li Zhiyan with eyes full of admiration. She had dropped by today to walk to work with Zhou Rongrong. To her surprise, she ran into Zhou Rongrong planning to deposit forty thousand yuan in the bank—and Zhou Rongrong had told her it was earned by her son through programming.
This instantly made Wu Qingxian think of her own son. Why couldn't she have a son as exceptional as Li Zhiyan?
"You little mama's boy, Auntie had no idea you had these kinds of tricks up your sleeve."
After that, Aunt Wu launched into a round of effusive praise for Li Zhiyan. Being able to earn forty thousand yuan at the age of eighteen was indeed an impressive feat.
After his mother and Wu Qingxian left, Li Zhiyan finished his breakfast, tidied up briefly, and went back to his room. He pulled two thousand yuan out of the stack of ten thousand, shoving the remaining eight thousand into the very bottom of a cardboard box used for miscellaneous items.
This box held a lot of his childhood treasures, including marbles, toy pistols, and slingshots from back in the day.
"Online banking still isn't very practical these days. Cash remains the king of payment methods. Two thousand yuan will keep me going for a long time."
Carrying this small fortune of two thousand yuan, Li Zhiyan stepped out the door, ready to strive toward his goal of becoming a millionaire.
...
Upon arriving at the internet cafe, sure enough, that dork Li Shiyu was sitting there playing *CrossFire*. At that moment, he was stuck underground and playing fiercely. Not long after, a forced disconnection screen popped up.
"Damn it!"
"Kicked again!"
Li Zhiyan casually slapped a hundred-yuan bill down right in front of him.
"Go buy yourself some VIP status, otherwise you'll keep glitching through the map like this and getting kicked every single day."
Li Shiyu looked visibly astonished.
"Li Zhiyan, did you actually go rob a bank or something? How do you have this much cash? I really can't bring myself to take this money!"
Li Zhiyan flashed the stack of red bills in his pocket.
"Don't worry, I made some money recently. Clean and honest. You can just pay me back whenever you've got the cash."
Li Zhiyan hadn't actually planned on making this "Emperor of Bathhouse" pay him back. His only thought was to let Li Shiyu take the money with peace of mind. This was the best friend who would buy him a cola even when he couldn't afford to eat, and who would sell his car and lend him two hundred thousand yuan while completely broke. In this lifetime, he was definitely going to give the guy a hand up.
"Alright then..."
In the end, Li Shiyu couldn't resist the temptation of CF VIP status and headed over to the counter to load up thirty Q-coins.
Meanwhile, Li Zhiyan logged onto his own QQ and sent a message to Gu Wanzhou.
"Aunt Gu, are you there?"
Gu Wanzhou: "Mm. Xiaoyan, just come over around noon."
"Don't worry, Sisi went over to Wang Xinyue's place."
Yu Sisi and Wang Xinyue were on very good terms, and the two of them had even applied to adjacent universities. Because of that, Yu Sisi often went over to hang out at Wang Xinyue's house. Gu Wanzhou knew that her daughter and Li Zhiyan were currently at each other's throats, so this arrangement saved everyone from awkwardness.
"Got it, Aunt Gu. I'll be there at noon."
The two exchanged some casual small talk before Li Zhiyan suddenly heard the system prompt sound.
"Massage technique download complete."
With this skill acquired, Li Zhiyan figured he would never be poor again. Even if he made a living exclusively massaging wealthy women in the future, he'd still become a rich man.
Of course, it was probably best to keep his main focus on the system quests. According to the Salted Fish System's hints, failing to complete quests would lower the probability of new ones dropping in the future.
As they chatted, Li Shiyu caught sight of Li Zhiyan's chat window from the side.
"Holy crap, you're actually chatting with Yu Sisi's mom? So fired up—did you already hook her?"
"What's it like with a mature beauty? Any different from a young girl?"
"Must be pretty wild knowing she's twenty-three years older than you, huh?"
"Now that's the ultimate revenge on Yu Sisi!"
"You gave me the cold shoulder, so I went and bagged your mom!"
"If Yu Sisi could hear this from the next room over, tsk tsk..."
Listening to Li Shiyu's endless stream of nonsense, Li Zhiyan couldn't help a wry smile. True to his title as the Emperor of Bathhouse, the guy's imagination was truly boundless.
"Alright, stop guessing nonsense. I've got to head out soon."
"Tonight I'm taking you down to the bathhouse to kick back and properly unwind."
"Time to splash some cash."
He certainly couldn't sit by and watch this bro of his repeat his past mistakes of chasing Wang Xinyue only to be kept on a leash. All he had to do was awaken the Emperor of Bathhouse's true combat form ahead of schedule, and nothing on earth could ever turn him into a simping lapdog again.
Li Shiyu remained unimpressed.
"It's just a bath. At most it comes with some milk, a salt scrub, and a back rub—boring."
Li Zhiyan: "Stop running your mouth and come help me run some DNF dungeons for a bit."
"I want to level up an Asura."
Without wasting another word, Li Shiyu logged in. "My alt needs to clear some DNF map achievements anyway, let's go together."
...
At half past eleven, Li Zhiyan took a cab to Yu Sisi's home.
The apartment complex where Yu Sisi lived had been purchased in recent years, spanning 140 square meters. In a place like Wancheng, this qualified as a high-end gated community. Back in 2010, anyone driving a Mercedes-Benz around here was a true person of wealth.
"Aunt Gu!"
After a light knock on the door, Gu Wanzhou's pretty face quickly appeared in Li Zhiyan's field of vision.
Today she was wearing a black shirt paired with a black pleated skirt. Without stockings, her porcelain-white legs beneath the short skirt were exceptionally eye-catching.
The thought that he'd soon be massaging Aunt Gu's legs sent a persistent, uncontrollable itch rippling through Li Zhiyan's heart.
"You're here, sweetie."
"Come on in and sit down, Auntie is in the middle of cooking for you."
Gu Wanzhou had decided to have a serious talk with Li Zhiyan today about the Oedipus complex—to make it clear to him that a romantic relationship between them was impossible.
However, if Li Zhiyan was willing to acknowledge her as an elder, she wouldn't mind acting as his godmother. But dating him was strictly off the table. A May-December romance was simply too absurd, too childish. As long as she retained even a shred of sobriety, she would never let Li Zhiyan pull her into a romance.
"Aunt Gu, let me help."
Li Zhiyan followed her into the kitchen, a sight that tugged gently at Gu Wanzhou's heartstrings—children from poor families truly had to grow up fast.