It wasn't that Xia Wenbin didn't want to exchange for other cultivation methods and martial arts techniques, but most secret manuals were simply too expensive, easily costing four or five thousand points or more, not to mention the strict physical and mental requirements.
Therefore, Xia Wenbin could only pick a few practical ones that came with fewer restrictions.
Invisibility allowed him to escape or launch surprise attacks, while Mind Reading let him see through the enemy's schemes and tricks.
As for Martial Arts Mastery, it was said that once learned, one would gradually and automatically master all martial arts styles ever witnessed (in short, making him tougher the longer he fought).
Hearing it was so powerful yet priced at only 500 points, how could Xia Wenbin resist buying it?
After learning all the skills, Xia Wenbin immediately used Mind Reading on his sleeping roommates, only to find that all they had on their minds was looking forward to that grand feast he promised.
Then he used Invisibility to visit the restroom and take a leak. As a result, a guy using the restroom witnessed urine falling out of thin air directly into the urinal. By the next day, rumors were already circulating that the men's restroom was haunted at midnight.
After confirming that both abilities worked normally, Xia Wenbin returned to his dorm and went to sleep in peace. As for the final passive skill, Martial Arts Mastery, he had no idea how to trigger it.
With his eyes closed, Xia Wenbin thought about the events of the day, feeling they were entirely surreal.
He was afraid that when he woke up the next day, he would find it was all just a dream. At that moment, he felt an urge to transfer the entire 100 million from his phone to his family, but in the end, he held back.
If it were just a one-day dream, it would be meaningless; what he wanted was for his family to live in peace and never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives.
In the end, he decided to stop thinking about anything, went to sleep soundly, and calmly awaited the arrival of the next day.
The next day was Saturday.
The first thing Xia Wenbin did when he woke up in the morning was summon the System to check his status interface:
Host: Xia Wenbin
Race: Human (Earth Star)
Physique: 49 (Quite strong)
Spirit: 35 (As witty as they come)
Points: 5000
Bound Target: Lin Yanran
Functions/Skills/Items: Loving Embrace, Invisibility, Mind Reading, Martial Arts Mastery
Overall Combat Strength Evaluation: "Campus God-tier Tycoon with minor psychic powers"
Seeing that nothing had changed, Xia Wenbin finally let out a sigh of relief.
After getting up and washing up, he happily went downstairs to grab breakfast.
Walking across campus, he noticed many students pointing at him, occasionally casting gazes filled with envy and awe.
"That's Xia Wenbin! I heard he slapped Chen Haoxuan across the face right in the school cafeteria yesterday."
"I heard that too. Apparently, the two of them placed a bet over trying to win over Lin Yanran."
"I really never expected Xia Wenbin to be hiding his true capabilities like this, casually pulling out 100 million to rub Chen Haoxuan—one of the Four Young Masters of Jiangzhou University—right into the dirt."
A group of people whispered behind his back from a distance.
Xia Wenbin didn't bother arguing with how others discussed him; after all, the one whose face got slapped wasn't him.
Besides, the more envious, jealous, and furious others were, the more Emotion Points he would harvest. Of course, he wasn't the type to go around stirring up hatred for no reason.
Yet just as Xia Wenbin was basking in his triumph, a pleasant yet slightly angry voice sounded behind him.
"Xia Wenbin, get over here!"
He turned his head and saw that the person calling him was actually Lin Yanran. At that moment, she was glaring at him with puffing cheeks, accompanied by two other girls.
He felt a momentary panic, wondering why the great campus belle was suddenly looking for him.
Could it be that she was so upset about him taking advantage of her yesterday that she couldn't sleep all night, and had come bright and early to exact her revenge? Surely she couldn't be that petty!
Xia Wenbin quickly walked up to Lin Yanran and said with a flattering smile, "What is it, great campus belle? Do you have any orders? This humble servant will surely see them carried out."
After all, she was his Bound Target, and he would still need Lin Yanran to farm points for him at school in the future.
Showing a little appropriate flattery wasn't too much to ask, right? This definitely didn't count as acting like a bootlicker, Xia Wenbin comforted himself.
"Hmph, take this! This is your breakfast."
With a light huff, Lin Yanran turned her head away with a blushing face, handing the breakfast in her hand to Xia Wenbin.
Then she continued with a puffing chest:
"You clearly walked right past us and even pretended not to see me. Don't forget that your money is still with me! Believe it or not, I really won't give it back."
Seeing that Lin Yanran was angry with him, Xia Wenbin quickly tried to flatter her:
"Thanks for the breakfast, great campus belle. What's all this talk about money? Didn't I say I was giving it to you? Besides, we're practically family—isn't my money your money? Why split hairs like that!"
Seeing Xia Wenbin shamelessly teasing her again, Lin Yanran's pretty face blushed even harder, and in her heart, she desperately wanted to step forward and pinch him a few times to vent her frustration.
Considering that Xu Huanhuan and Zhao Xiaoling were both right beside her, she could only grit her teeth, let out a soft huff at Xia Wenbin, and turn around to drag her two best friends away.
Seeing the campus belle leave in a huff, Xia Wenbin quickly called out after her, "Lin, don't bother treating me to lunch today; I won't be at school."
However, the only reply he got was Lin Yanran tossing back: "Hmph, narcissistic much? Who said anything about treating you to lunch?"
Hearing this, Xia Wenbin just stood there grinning stupidly. What could he do when he possessed Mind Reading? This silly girl actually still planned to treat him to lunch at noon.
Yet he still had a part-time job to do today, so he figured he might as well tell her early to avoid her getting angry again when she couldn't find him later.
There was no helping it—even a God-tier Tycoon had to make a living! To flex better, slap more faces, and earn more Emotion Points, he had no choice but to endure humiliation and work to make money.
…………
"Yanran, was that guy just now the Xia Wenbin you mentioned yesterday? Did he really bet with Chen Haoxuan and transfer 100 million to you?"
"Yeah, Yanran! I saw that he was dressed pretty ordinarily from head to toe, with no trace of a wealthy second-generation heir about him. Are you sure you're not pulling our leg?"
Zhao Xiaoling and Xu Huanhuan asked with wide-eyed curiosity as they were being dragged along by Lin Yanran.
Although they had heard back at the dorms last night about Chen Haoxuan getting his face slapped with cash, actually running into the person involved today still made it feel quite surreal.
"Hmph, would I lie to you about something like this? It's definitely that annoying jerk! He's driving me crazy.
Chen Haoxuan's 50 million was supposedly relief funds given by the Chen Group to Lin's Trading, so I could just transfer it directly to my dad to handle.
As for that 100 million of his, not only can I not return it, but he refuses to take it back. It's driving me sleepless, and on top of that, I have to manage his three meals a day and daily expenses."
As Lin Yanran spoke, she seemed to recall Xia Wenbin's smug face, and her chest immediately heaved with renewed anger.
Seeing this, the two best friends quickly comforted Lin Yanran, telling her not to be angry and to look at the bright side.
Stepping out of the school gates, Xia Wenbin ate the breakfast personally delivered by the campus belle while thinking about the part-time job he had promised the restaurant chef the day before.
The restaurant he was heading to was called Lanyuan Pavilion. Almost everyone in Jiangzhou City knew the name; the guests it entertained on any given day were either government leaders or corporate executives, and everyone who went there to dine held a lofty status.
If you wanted to afford a meal there, you couldn't even pay the bill without having a few hundred thousand to your name. It could truly be called the top dining establishment in Jiangzhou.
The only reason Xia Wenbin managed to land a job there was because his dorm buddy, Bo, had pulled some strings to get him introduced, and Bo hadn't spared any effort educating Xia Wenbin on the origins of Lanyuan Pavilion.
It was said that Lanyuan Pavilion was founded single-handedly by a beautiful boss named Ye Lanyuan, who brought her subordinates along to build it from the ground up.
Back when Ye Lanyuan first came to Jiangzhou to hustle, no one would have guessed that a year later she would lead her crew to directly establish Lanyuan Pavilion. From that time on, she befriended practically all the dignitaries and leaders of Jiangzhou.
No one knew how she pulled it off; some said she had a rock-solid backer, some said she was the woman of some big-shot, and others claimed she relied purely on her own hustle...
Regardless of how bizarre the rumors outside were, the truth was that Xia Wenbin had been working a part-time job at Lanyuan Pavilion for over half a year, and he had never once laid eyes on Ye Lanyuan.
Perhaps it was because his job was just washing dishes and doing odd jobs in the kitchen! After all, the proprietress would only ever sit in her office; she would never come down to a place like the back kitchen.