"Nanzhi is back! Go wash your hands quickly; Mom made your favorite steamed prawns and braised beef brisket with tomatoes."
Hearing the door open, He Yurong walked out of the kitchen.
"Oh."
Xiao Nanzhi replied listlessly.
"What's wrong? Did something upset you?"
He Yurong removed her apron, walked over to help her daughter take off her schoolbag, and asked with concern.
"It's nothing..."
"You look like you're pouting enough to hang a soy sauce bottle, and you still say it's nothing?
Come on, tell Mom, what's bothering you?"
These words were like a crack in a sturdy dam.
Having felt wronged all day, Xiao Nanzhi could no longer control herself. Her eyes turned red, her lips quivered, and she said with a sob, "Ye Xuan is ignoring me..."
"Huh?" He Yurong was stunned. "Just because of that?"
Xiao Nanzhi was stunned too. "Yeah, just because of that!"
Ye Xuan was actually ignoring her, hey—wasn't that serious enough?
He Yurong stroked her daughter's hair and said softly, "Didn't you say you didn't want to date him? If he's ignoring you, shouldn't you be happy?"
Xiao Nanzhi was stunned again. "I didn't say I didn't want to date him; I just said I didn't want to date before college."
He Yurong's heart skipped a beat.
Not wanting to date him versus not wanting to date before college—the difference between the two was huge.
When Xiao Nanzhi told her this last Friday, she had thought her daughter was just afraid of hurting Ye Xuan's self-esteem and had used that excuse to turn him down gently.
Worried that Ye Xuan would continue to pester Nanzhi, she had gone to find him and said those hurtful things.
So... Ye Xuan ignoring Nanzhi was largely her fault?
Thinking of this, He Yurong tentatively asked, "Do you like Ye Xuan?"
Xiao Nanzhi panicked inexplicably and flatly denied it. "Who likes him? He's so childish and petty—only a ghost would like him!"
He Yurong couldn't help smiling. "Since you don't like him, there's no need to be upset just because he's ignoring you."
"I... I just... I just..."
"Just what?"
"Just... I don't know. It's just that after he started ignoring me, my heart felt so empty..."
In the year 2001, registering for school as a freshman.
Being shown the way on campus made her remember that somewhat foolish-looking boy.
In the year 2002, choosing arts or science streams.
That boy who frequently appeared around her, acting cool and grinning foolishly, gradually became the scenery she wanted to see every day.
In the year 2003, that boy began to actively approach her.
Making her laugh, walking her to and from school, bringing her breakfast.
Being able to see that boy every day had become her happiest thing.
It wasn't until today, when he suddenly ignored her, that Xiao Nanzhi realized this boy had unknowingly walked deep into her heart.
Could this be the feeling of liking someone?
He Yurong, having been through it all, knew at once that her daughter had most likely fallen for Ye Xuan.
The Gaokao was only a month away; what if her daughter was troubled by romance and performed poorly?
Pondering this, she said thoughtfully, "If he's ignoring you, you can take the initiative and look for him. If you don't know whether you like him or not, then just keep being friends first. Once you go to college and you're both mature, you can make your choice then. Wouldn't that be better?"
Xiao Nanzhi looked tempted, but quickly lifted her chin and gave a light huff. "I'm not going to look for him!"
He Yurong smiled helplessly and bitterly.
No one knew a daughter better than her mother.
She knew how proud and stubborn her daughter was better than anyone else.
Under the current silent treatment, expecting Nanzhi to take the initiative to find Ye Xuan was indeed quite unrealistic.
"Looks like I'll have to go find Ye Xuan again..."
He Yurong secretly made up her mind.
...
"Yo, son is back? Dinner's all ready, go wash your hands."
"Mom, what dishes did you cook? It smells so good!"
"Your favorites: spicy stir-fried tofu, pig's head meat, and I stewed a fish."
"Whoa, that's really lavish. What special day is it today?"
"The Gaokao is coming up soon, so I'm getting your nutrition up. Tell Mom whatever you want to eat in the future, and Mom will make it for you."
"You got it~"
Ye Xuan put down his schoolbag, washed his hands, and helped carry the dishes to the dining table.
"Mock exams today?"
"Yeah."
"How did you do?"
"Pretty okay."
"With only a month left until the Gaokao, you need to stay on your toes and not drop the ball now."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll definitely give you a huge surprise at the Gaokao!"
"Oh, you really are Mom's good son~"
The family of three finished dinner amidst laughter and chatter.
Ye Xuan wanted to help wash the dishes, but how could Wang Jiahui agree?
She pushed and shoved him into his bedroom to study.
At 10:00 PM.
After Ye Zhiming and his wife had both fallen asleep, Ye Xuan stealthily turned on the computer.
Back in 2004, home computers were still a rarity.
He had begged for a long time before Ye Zhiming bought him this second-hand one.
A 14-inch bulky CRT monitor, a Pentium processor, and a 128MB RAM stick.
Forget The Legend of Mir 2, even playing Uncharted Waters would lag.
Ye Xuan could only use it to surf the web, log into QQ, and browse websites that got the blood pumping.
After a long wait, the system finally booted up.
With a pounding heart and trembling hands, Ye Xuan opened a certain website that made countless people's blood boil—the Long Country Welfare Lottery!
The Super Lotto draw took place at 9:25 PM every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
By now, the drawing time had passed, and the winning amounts had also been announced.
"Fifteen second-prize winners for the Super Lotto, with a prize of... 400,000 for each.
Not bad, a bit more than expected."
Ye Xuan nodded with satisfaction, then closed the webpage.
If it were his parents, knowing they had won a 400,000 grand prize, they would surely be ecstatic.
But in his past life, Ye Xuan had after all been a minor tycoon worth hundreds of millions.
To him, 400,000 was truly just a small sum of money.
Not to mention the 20% personal income tax that had to be deducted.
"Now that I have my initial capital, what should I do next..."
Ye Xuan stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.
Starting from 2005, the Long Country internet industry began entering its golden age of development.
The BAT giant trio all began to rise during this period.
Therefore, the internet industry was definitely Ye Xuan's first choice.
"E-commerce, video and entertainment, social platforms, mobile payments, live streaming, short videos, food delivery...
All these projects cost a lot of money; just over 300,000 is definitely not enough.
Let's do a draw first and see what I can get this time."
Having made up his mind, Ye Xuan went to wash his hands.
Entering the system, he set the number of draws to 100.
He paid respects to all the deities in heaven and earth.
Click draw!
The next moment, the results of the 100 draws were listed out one by one.
Math Experience Book x1
Chinese Experience Book x1
Basketball Experience Book x1
Lucky Aura x1
Physical Fitness Capsule x1
...
Stock Market Information x1
"It looks like I drew quite a few new items this time?"
Ye Xuan's eyes lit up, and he quickly entered the System Inventory to check them out.