Han Fei spoke calmly.
"Oh, I thought something happened. Not that I'm saying anything, Brother Fei, but why did you bring your laptop into the bathroom...?"
Ignoring Zhao Xin's endless chatter, Han Fei looked at the vial with some hesitation.
If he had guessed correctly, this thing might greatly improve his chances of survival.
But after glancing at the laptop beside him, flickering with black streams of light, Han Fei still put the vial away through sheer willpower.
Something like this should not be used up so casually.
After washing up quickly, he packed everything away.
Only then did he leave the bathroom.
"Old Zhao, I'm heading back to my room. You should wash up and sleep early too. We still have class tomorrow!"
"Got it!"
Han Fei returned to his room and put away the laptop.
Looking at the vial in his hand, which emitted a faint azure glow, his eyes seemed to shine.
"Black Star, list the investment opportunities suitable for me, along with those unlucky websites."
"Yes."
Han Fei then wrote them down one by one.
"Alright. For the future, I'll start working hard tomorrow!"
A Brief Explanation for Starting Over
Quite a few readers probably followed over from the previous Drifting Bottle novel, so I should apologize. That novel was flagged for violations and remained unavailable for a long time. My editor suggested that I start over, which was why this novel came about.
It was actually the same story as that one, with only some changes to the first chapter and a few minor details. Since this is a new novel, I can't update too quickly, or the recommendations won't keep up. Also, I hope readers who followed the previous novel can check in every day, mainly because recommendations are currently based on follow-up reads.
If it doesn't reach fifty, there won't even be a first round of recommendations, and it'll have to go solo.
That would be very detrimental to this novel.
So I hope everyone can take a look every day.
Once it gets recommendations, I'll speed things up and push the plot back to where the previous novel was. It's only around thirty chapters away anyway, so it'll be quick. So I'll be relying on everyone for the next few days.
My heartfelt thanks.
Fleecing the Sheep
The next day.
"Zhao Xin!! Get up!"
A lion's roar echoed through the entire room.
"Huh? Ah?"
Zhao Xin rolled right off the bed, staring at Han Fei with bleary eyes.
Han Fei ignored him and unhurriedly entered the bathroom to wash up. Only after that did he see Zhao Xin emerge from the room fully dressed, yawning.
"Alright, hurry up and wash. We'll grab breakfast at the school cafeteria, then it'll be time for class."
"Ah~ Why can't class start in the second period today?"
Zhao Xin grumbled as he splashed water on his face, then followed Han Fei out the door.
After leaving the building and turning two corners, they arrived at the university.
"Brother Fei, are we going to settle things with those bastards today?"
Zhao Xin asked as they walked.
"No need. We taught them a lesson yesterday, so they should behave for the next few days. Besides, we're students. What do you mean, settling things with them? That's upholding justice!"
"Mm-hm, that makes sense. As Zhao Yun's descendant, how could upholding justice be called settling things with people?" Zhao Xin said with wholehearted agreement.
Han Fei rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue.
Before long, the two arrived at the school gates.
Giant Gorge University.
The largest and most famous university in Giant Gorge City.
Zhao Xin and Han Fei both studied there.
Since it was September, although autumn had arrived, the sun was still blazing.
So.
People's clothes were inevitably a little more revealing.
A dazzling sea of pale white—no, graceful moonlight, tender as jade cream.
"Your eyes."
"My eyes? What's wrong with my eyes?"
"They're about to fall out."
"Cough, cough."
Zhao Xin coughed, lifted his chin, and puffed out his chest, looking every bit the upright gentleman.
"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Little Xin, do you know? As long as a person has one thing, even if he openly stares, people will only think he's charming. If he sneaks glances, they'll only think he's shy. Maybe they'll even come over and chat with him. Do you know what that thing is?"
The curve of Zhao Xin's smile widened. "Oh, stop it. I'm not as good as you make me sound, Brother Fei."
"Idiot! I meant handsome guys! Handsome guys! That's a privilege only handsome guys have! Are you one?"
Han Fei said, smacking his ponytail.
"I actually feel like I—"
Under Han Fei's gaze, Zhao Xin wisely chose to shut up.
"Old Zhao, let me tell you something. I'm about to do something big. Are you in?"
"I'm in!"
"So decisive?"
"Of course!"
"What is this? This is brotherhood!"
A few hours later.
"Brother Fei, you never told me we were doing this?"
Zhao Xin stared blankly at the word "loans" on the webpage.
"You're short on money? I've got some; I'll give it all to you. Let me tell you, you can't touch this stuff. When I was upholding justice before, quite a few girls were driven into selling themselves by this thing, and—"
"Alright, I'm not short on money. I've got insider information. These websites have already been targeted and are about to go under, so you understand~" Han Fei gave him a meaningful look.
Zhao Xin suddenly understood and nodded with a grin.
"Heh heh heh..."
"Then, Brother Fei, should I find a few more people?"
"Hm? That's not a bad idea. We can do that, but remember to find reliable people."
"Okay!"
One thousand.
Five thousand.
Ten thousand.
Twenty thousand.
ID cards, home addresses...
In the end, Han Fei and Zhao Xin alone borrowed fifty thousand.
Fifty thousand was no small sum at the time. It could buy a bathroom on the outskirts of Giant Gorge City.
In a small county town, it could get you one, maybe even two apartments.
Of course, the interest rates were also terrifyingly high—high enough to sell the two of them off.
Including the money borrowed by the people Zhao Xin had recruited, several small loan companies had already handed over most of their funds.
Some people didn't believe them, and Zhao Xin didn't say much. Trusting Han Fei was one thing; he couldn't make other people trust him too.
Then.
A week later.
"Our city has successfully cracked down on several online usury websites. Among those arrested were dozens of university students. Campus loans have quietly grown into a major problem, and we must remain vigilant..."
"The following are the names of the websites and those arrested..."
Watching the news on television, Zhao Xin's grin would not stop widening. Han Fei was worried that this guy might transform into some kind of slit-mouthed monster.
He took out his phone and opened a website.
Smack!
404.
He opened another one.
404.
He checked them all in succession.
Every one of them was 404.
"Brother Fei!"
Zhao Xin turned and grabbed Han Fei's hand, tears welling in his eyes.
"From now on, you're my real big brother!"
"Ugh."
Han Fei shook off his hand.
"Brother Fei, you're incredible. How did you know so accurately that this would happen?"
"Want to know?"
"Mm-hm."
"Heh heh. You'll know once you're as handsome as me."
"..."
"Alright, enough messing around. Now we're going to use this money to do something big. This will be the beginning of our brand-new future!"
"Alright! So what exactly are we doing? Buying a house?"
"No! Buying a house comes after we have a large amount of money. For now, we invest first."
Han Fei took out the list.
Inside a rented apartment.
Black Star, whose hardware had already been upgraded, sat there.
"Master, all personal information has been thoroughly deleted. According to surveillance footage, they had no photographs, only electronic copies, which have also been deleted."
Before you continue