Don't Even Think About It

"This should be the place. Don't tell me the old man works nine to five when he comes out to scam people?"

Finding the travel agencies' physical branches had gone smoothly. Their official websites listed the exact locations, after all. The storefronts were as tiny as hole-in-the-wall eateries, but their glowing green signs stood out in the darkness.

Finding the old man from the construction site, however, hadn't gone nearly as well. After checking the areas around all three travel agencies, Xia Xu had tentatively identified the most likely spot for him to appear. But the surroundings were empty and pitch-black, without a soul in sight. Only the neighboring construction site still had a few lights on.

The area was out of the way to begin with. At night, it didn't even have streetlights, much less a night market or anything similar. It was perfectly normal for the old man not to come out, and at first, Xia Xu hadn't thought much of it.

But for three days straight, he had made a point of finding time at noon to look around, only to come away empty-handed every time. He hadn't encountered the old man or found Zhang Jianmin. He hadn't even found anyone suitable to recruit as a tracking assistant.

"This doesn't make sense. Did I get the wrong place? Or does the plot really hinge on such an incredible coincidence that the old man only starts selling when Zhang Jianmin arrives?"

Xia Xu couldn't help beginning to doubt his own judgment.

Perhaps the construction-site old man's part in The Dying Man hadn't begun yet, but this was a real world, after all. Under normal circumstances, the old man couldn't possibly start hawking antiques at the exact moment Zhang Jianmin happened to pass by. Surely he would have started some time earlier, or even frequented the place regularly.

If that was the case, then whether the plot had reached that point or not, Xia Xu should have been able to encounter the old man as long as he found the right place. Yet over the past few days, he had practically scoured the whole area. Forget the old man-he had barely seen anyone at all.

On Friday, Xia Xu finally stopped. For several days, he had spent every lunch break rushing out to search for the old man, then hurrying back for his midday rest, without even getting to enjoy a proper meal.

Tomorrow was the weekend anyway. He would have two full days to search, so sacrificing this one lunch break wouldn't make much difference.

"Here, have a piece."

After bringing a takeaway portion of rice with braised pork back to the classroom, Xia Xu began feeding his little wallflower again.

Chomp.

Tang Youxin seemed to have gotten somewhat used to it. She merely glanced around cautiously, then leaned forward and bit into the piece of braised pork Xia Xu held out once she confirmed no one else was in the classroom.

Now that he had made some money, Xia Xu naturally wouldn't skimp on himself. There weren't many pieces of braised pork in the rice, but they were cut fairly large.

With the whole piece in her mouth, her cheeks visibly puffed out like a hamster stuffing itself with food. A faint look of happiness and contentment appeared on her face.

She probably really liked meat.

From what Xia Xu had observed over the past few days, Tang Youxin only unconsciously showed that satisfied expression when she ate meat, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Do you want to make money?"

After feeding her another piece, Xia Xu suddenly had an idea.

"Yes! Do you know somewhere I could work part-time?"

Tang Youxin's eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded vigorously.

After all, her obsession plainly stated that she wanted to earn lots and lots of money.

The more someone had experienced poverty, the more they would long for wealth. That was only human nature, and holding on to one's principles and self-respect under such circumstances was all the more admirable.

"Here. This is what I earned last weekend."

Rather than answer directly, Xia Xu took out his phone, opened his messages, and waved it at her before holding it in front of her for her to read.

The messaging app displayed the bank notification for his earlier deposit.

"Ones... tens... hundreds... thousands... ten thousands..."

Tang Youxin seemed stunned. She quietly counted the digits in the amount, then stared wide-eyed and said blankly, "F-fifty thousand? How did you earn that?"

More than fifty thousand was unquestionably a huge sum to anyone their age.

Xia Xu had earned that? And in just one weekend?

Her first reaction was astonishment. Her second was suspicion about where the money had come from.

Given Xia Xu's circumstances, she couldn't imagine how he could earn so much all at once. He probably couldn't even scrape together that amount.

"Don't get any ideas. I earned this legally and legitimately. It was a reward from Uncle Policeman. Money doesn't get any more aboveboard than this."

Xia Xu smiled faintly and continued, "I'm not showing you this for any other reason. I just wanted to establish that I can afford it first. I want you..."

"Don't even think about it! Give up on that idea!"

Tang Youxin had clearly gotten the wrong impression. Before Xia Xu could finish, her face flushed, then turned pale, and she interrupted him, angry and hurt.

Although he hadn't opened her attribute panel, Xia Xu could practically see her affection rating plummeting straight to rock bottom.

"What on earth are you imagining? Get your mind out of the gutter."

Xia Xu bent a finger and tapped Tang Youxin on the forehead, torn between laughter and exasperation. "I want to hire you to help me-as an employee. I showed you the deposit notification to prove I could afford it. Otherwise, would you believe a broke student your age could hire someone?"

Besides searching for the old man, he had also been visiting the job market these past few days, looking for people with a talent for tracking. Every day, he checked the attributes of at least several hundred people.

But the more people he looked at, the better he understood just how valuable Tang Youxin's five-star destiny and talent were. Leaving destiny aside, he hadn't seen a single other five-star talent.

No, he hadn't even seen a four-star talent. Even people with three-star talents were one in a thousand. Most had one- or two-star talents, or no talent at all.

Tang Youxin's five-star programming talent unquestionably put her among the most gifted. Even protagonists like Zhang Jianmin probably rarely possessed talent on that level.

After all, this was a real world. Talent didn't care whether someone was a protagonist or a supporting character.

People with extraordinary talents or exceptional destinies weren't necessarily plot characters. They were the leading professionals in their fields, the wealthy tycoons who dominated the business world, the powerful officials and nobles who governed the land, the trailblazers of their eras.

If Xia Xu wanted to start a company and make money in the future, he would inevitably need top-tier talent. After experiencing how difficult it was to find suitable help these past few days, he naturally valued Tang Youxin's programming talent even more.

The Xia Kingdom was currently very similar to Earth, but a few years behind. With Earth's example to go by, the next great wave was almost certain to center on the internet. Knowing that made a five-star programming talent all the more valuable.

Although he didn't need someone for programming and software as immediately as he needed someone skilled at tracking, he would definitely need one in the future.

Rather than wait until he desperately needed someone and then struggle to find and recruit them, as he was doing now, he might as well start with what was right in front of him: talk Tang Youxin, a five-star genius within easy reach, into joining him and nurture her abilities.

"Huh... huh?"

After hearing Xia Xu's explanation, Tang Youxin froze as well. "I-is that what you meant?" she murmured.

Then she quickly recovered, her face flushing with embarrassment as she hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, that's not it. I knew that was what you meant. I just thought, since we're friends, you could simply ask if you needed help. I was angry because you wanted to pay me..."

That was probably the longest sentence she had spoken lately, both fluent and hurried.

Still, she ultimately lacked conviction. Especially with Xia Xu watching her with an amused smile, she guiltily glanced from side to side, not daring to meet his eyes, and her voice grew softer and softer.