At Qin Feng's house,
four people had already gathered.
Though they shared the same purpose, they soon found themselves at odds over certain details.
Qin Guangliang declared with unwavering confidence:
"No, I remember it clearly—it's X, I, O, 6693..."
Qin Guangyuan retorted, highly dissatisfied:
"Stop talking nonsense! The referral code is definitely X, I, O, 6693..."
"I remember it perfectly!"
The other two also had their own differing opinions.
Qin Guangzhi, who had been observing quietly, offered a suggestion:
"Don't you think it's possible that the referral code is different for each person?"
"Why don't you each memorize your own code for now and wait for Qin Feng to return? You can ask him for details then."
Hearing this, Qin Guangliang and the others saw the logic in his words.
They stopped arguing and began silently rehearsing their own codes, waiting for Qin Feng to come back.
...
Meanwhile, Qin Feng
had just arrived at the construction company. The moment he turned his phone back on, he saw multiple missed calls.
Some were from his roommate, some from the class monitor, others from friends, and even one from his "former crush."
Frowning, Qin Feng wondered what was going on.
Why had so many people tried to reach him in such a short time?
Usually, no one called him this frequently. He'd only silenced his phone for a little while, and now this.
It wasn't just the missed calls—
there were also unread messages on QQ. At that time, QQ was still the primary communication app; WeChat hadn't yet taken off.
Qin Feng opened QQ first.
The messages were from the same people who had called.
Apparently, when he didn't answer the phone, they'd turned to QQ.
Fang Chengying (Class Monitor):
[Qin Feng, how could you take out a loan? The debt collectors are already calling me.]
[And things have gotten serious—the school probably knows about it too. Just now, the advisor notified me that you've been expelled.]
Qiao Guanyu (Roommate):
[Damn, Qin Feng, you need to contact the class monitor ASAP. He just called me asking if I could reach you. He said you've been expelled and need to be notified immediately.]
Luo Xingxuan (Close Friend):
[Qin Feng, can't you pay back the loan? The debt collectors just called me.]
[Did you take out the loan just to buy gifts for Liu Ruyan again? How many times do I have to tell you—she doesn't like you. She's just stringing you along. You need to give up on her; she's not worth it.]
"Former Crush" Liu Ruyan:
[I never expected you to take out a loan and then fail to pay it back.]
[It's so embarrassing—the debt collectors actually called me.]
[Don't contact me anymore from now on!]
There were also messages from other classmates and friends, all expressing similar shock that Qin Feng had taken out a loan and couldn't repay it.
Qin Feng instantly understood what had happened—the debt collector must have called everyone in his contact list.
But he didn't care.
It made no difference to him whether those people knew or not!
Before putting away his phone,
Qin Feng made sure to delete his "former crush" Liu Ruyan from his QQ contacts and block her number as well.
"Please, never contact me again."
He felt no sadness over Liu Ruyan's "don't contact me anymore." On the contrary, he was relieved.
Then, he got out of the car and walked toward the Ke Construction Company ahead—
one of the top ten construction companies in his province.
...
At the same time,
at the reception desk of Ke Construction Company,
Liu Ruyan was complaining to her best friend on her phone.
She was doing her internship at Ke Construction as a front desk receptionist.
"Girl, Qin Feng is seriously the worst."
"Can you believe he took out an online loan and can't even pay it back?"
"And a guy like that actually thought he could chase me."
"...Who even understands how cringey this feels?!"
Her best friend immediately replied:
"Girl, I get you. That's beyond cringey."
"Were the gifts he gave you actually bought with loan money..."
"I really thought he was doing well financially. Who knew it was like this?!"
"Honestly, even using the stuff he gave me makes me feel sick now!"
Liu Ruyan glanced at the latest model of Fruit Phone in her hand and thought, Well, it's not like everything is that bad, right?
But she still typed in reply:
"Ugh, it's just so disgusting!"
"When I get back, I'm definitely going to sort through his gifts and throw them all away."
That's what she said, but she was already searching online for local luxury bag resale shops.
She planned to sell the bags Qin Feng had given her, not throw them away.
As for the phone... she had no intention of selling it. The depreciation was too steep—selling it and buying a new one would mean spending her own money.
Next time she met her best friend, she'd just say she'd gotten a new phone and thrown away the one Qin Feng gave her... After all, the latest Fruit Phone models all looked the same anyway.
She continued venting to her friend about Qin Feng:
"Just thinking that someone like him pursued me makes me sick."
"What's even worse is that because he didn't repay the loan, I got cursed out by the debt collectors."
"I really hate Qin Feng so much!"
As she said this, she completely ignored the fact that it was her own actions—stringing Qin Feng along and constantly asking him for things—that had led him into debt.
She didn't even consider using the money from selling the gifts to help Qin Feng repay the loan.
Instead, she used the phone he'd bought her with loan money to badmouth him to her friend.
In the middle of her tirade,
she noticed someone entering the company's main door. She quickly typed to her friend:
"Talk later, someone's here at the company."
She immediately stood up, wearing a sweet, professional smile.
But as the person approached and she recognized who it was,
her sweet smile vanished in an instant, replaced with an expression of disgust, anger, and impatience. She snapped:
"Qin Feng, didn't you see the message I sent you on QQ? I told you not to contact me anymore!"
"What, now you're pushing your luck and coming to my internship place to find me?"
"Aren't you disgusting?!"
"And how did you even know I'm interning at Ke Construction? Who did you hear it from?"
"You're such a stalker! Going around asking about my internship and then showing up here."
"Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!"
Qin Feng frowned and said,
"Who are you?"
Then, stepping closer, he recognized her: "Oh, it's you."
"I'm not here for you. I have business here—I have an appointment."
His tone was flat and professional, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
He had no interest in getting entangled with Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan let out a cold laugh:
"You have business here? What business?"
"Interviewing for a cement-pouring job at a construction site?"
"Sorry, but site labor interviews don't happen at the office. You can go straight to the construction site."
Qin Feng replied coldly:
"It's not an interview. I have a project I want Ke Construction to handle."
Liu Ruyan sneered dismissively:
"Ha! You have a project for Ke Construction? That's hilarious!"
"You're so broke you had to take out a loan. What kind of project could you possibly have for Ke Construction?"
"Do you even know Ke Construction's reputation? If you could even get a job here, you should be thanking your lucky stars. How dare you claim you have a project for them?"
"I know you're still hung up on me, but it's really impossible between us."
"If you hadn't taken out that loan, I might've considered you someday, given how much you've done for me. But now? You have zero chance!"
"The gap between us is just too wide. Look at you—you had to borrow money just to buy me a gift. And look at me—"
"You're working as a front desk receptionist," Qin Feng cut her off impatiently. "Since that's your job, just do it properly. I have an appointment—just contact Manager Li for me."
Liu Ruyan grew agitated:
"What do you know?! This is just temporary! I'll soon be—"
Qin Feng had no patience for her excuses.
Seeing that she had no intention of verifying his identity or letting him through, he didn't bother arguing further.
Instead, he stepped aside and called Manager Li of Ke Construction directly:
"Manager Li, I'm downstairs at your company."
"But your receptionist is causing a scene—she's been hurling insults, won't verify my identity, and won't let me in."