Chapter 3: The Sixty-Year-Old Woman
Chen Su didn't have many friends, just a handful of college roommates.
Although few, they were excellent.
There were four people in the dorm.
They were the eldest, Ye Sheng; the second, Feng Wenjun; the third, Chen Su; and the fourth, He Youwen. (Ranked according to who bought breakfast for the dorm the most.)
Ye Sheng was a small boss, and Feng Wenjun ran his own small restaurant.
He Youwen, on the other hand, had passed the local civil service exam right after graduation.
He was now a Police Officer at the Chengbei Police Station.
Although the group didn't get together every day, whenever one of them was in trouble, the others would lend their full support.
Just as Chen Su was reminiscing about the past, a light screen appeared before his eyes again.
[Today's Intelligence has been refreshed. Host, would you like to obtain it immediately?]
The system had refreshed at midnight last night, but Chen Su had forgotten because he had blacked out from drinking.
He clicked 'Obtain'.
[Today's Intelligence (D-Class): Xin Xin, a beauty blogger with a million followers, is actually 63 years old in reality. Her residence is Jinyuan Courtyard, Building 11, Room 903.]
It seemed not all intelligence could be used to make money.
"Isn't this Xin Xin the female blogger A Ming likes the most?"
A Ming was a good kid, always calling him "Brother Chen" every time they met.
I should help him out.
Chen Su called a car and headed straight for Jinyuan Courtyard.
After arriving at the destination, he got an empty box from a store outside the complex, wrapped it simply, and then—
—headed straight for Building 11, Room 903.
"Hello, your express delivery."
"Just leave it at the door." An aged voice came from inside the room.
"The package is marked as a valuable item and requires personal receipt."
"Then wait a moment."
Soon after, the room door was opened.
What hit him was an intensely sweet, cloying scent of perfume.
Coupled with the foundation on the woman's face, which was as thick as a city wall—
—Chen Su nearly gagged and threw up.
After leaving, Chen Su opened Xin Xin's live stream.
Looking at Xin Xin's clothes, accessories, and hairstyle, they were identical to those of the elderly woman he had just seen.
It was almost certain that Xin Xin was that old woman.
The stark contrast made Chen Su immediately throw up by the roadside... As he passed the supermarket downstairs.
A Ming was still grinning, watching Xin Xin posing seductively on his phone.
"Thank you, Brother Ming, for the rocket! Love you, mua~"
Hearing this, Chen Su knew he couldn't delay for a moment longer.
He had to help A Ming cut his losses immediately.
"A Ming, come out here."
...Outside the supermarket.
"Brother Chen, you must be joking."
A Ming opened the Moments page of the contact saved as "Baby Xin Xin" and pointed at the pictures to show Chen Su.
"Brother Chen, look, this is Xin Xin. She's definitely a blooming young girl."
"How did you add her WeChat?"
"One rocket gets you a verified account, ten rockets gets you into the club, and an aircraft carrier allows you to video chat..."
"I'm already Level 45 now."
After speaking, A Ming puffed out his chest a little smugly.
"My dad also really likes Xin Xin. I only got to know Xin Xin after seeing her on my dad's phone."
"He's already Level 55."
Looking at the obsessed A Ming, Chen Su knew that nothing he said would get through to him.
He simply stated the elderly woman's residence address.
"Xin Xin lives at Jinyuan Courtyard, Building 11, Room 903."
"Are you sure?"
"Truer than pure gold."
"Brother Chen, you're the best! You're not that Level 60 Top Donor, are you? From now on, you're my real brother."
A Ming gave Chen Su a thumbs-up.
"Remember to bring your dad when you go."
Chen Su turned and went home after speaking.
"Got it, Brother Chen, don't worry!"
...An hour later, at the entrance of Jinyuan Courtyard.
"Dad, the sky has fallen, something huge has happened."
A Ming shouted hysterically.
"Son, don't panic. If the sky falls, Dad will hold it up for you. Where are you?"
...The next day, while Chen Su was still asleep, the doorbell rang.
Groggy, he opened the door and saw A Ming standing there with dark circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot.
"Come in and sit down first. I'm going to wash up."
"Did you see Xin Xin?"
A Ming nodded weakly.
"How did it feel?"
"Brother Chen, I don't believe in love anymore." The expression on A Ming's face was worse than if he were crying.
"How's your dad?"
"My dad is drinking alone at home. The supermarket is closed today."
"Can you get the gifts you sent back?"
"We reported it to the Police. We can only get back what was sent this month. That old hag is extremely cunning; she cashed out all the gifts from fans to buy a car, a house, and a wife for her son. It will probably be very difficult to get the rest back."
After speaking, he pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Chen Su.
Chen Su opened it and saw it contained a full five thousand yuan.
"What is this for?
"Brother Chen, please take it. Before I left, my dad specifically told me to make sure you accepted it. He said you played a huge role in getting this money back. If you don't take it, he'll beat me to death when I get home."
Unable to refuse, Chen Su accepted it.
"Brother Chen, seriously, take it. What my dad gave you isn't even a fraction of what he got back. If it weren't for you, not only would we not have recovered this money, but we'd still be throwing who knows how much more at that old hag."
Chen Su: (¬_¬").
A Ming didn't stay long before getting up to leave.
Shortly after seeing him off, Chen Su's phone rang.
The caller ID showed He Youwen.
"Suer, I have a compensatory day off tomorrow. Let's go out for a few drinks tonight. Don't refuse; I know that wretched woman Xu Jing dumped you."
Ye Sheng was a big mouth; if he knew a piece of news, it was equivalent to the whole village knowing.
"Alright, send me the location."
"At Wenjun's restaurant."
After Chen Su got together with Xu Jing, the roommates rarely gathered to drink because of her.
It was untrue to say the roommates held no resentment toward Xu Jing.
Previously, they couldn't say anything explicitly out of consideration for Chen Su's feelings.
But now that she had dumped Chen Su, why the hell should they care?
Whenever they mentioned Xu Jing, they would curse profusely, clearly intending to vent all the dissatisfaction that had built up inside them over the years.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Su suddenly remembered that he still hadn't repaid the debt on a Chinese online payment platform and a Chinese online payment platform.
After unbinding Xu Jing's linked account—
—he paid off the ninety thousand yuan debt in one go.
He let out a heavy sigh of relief.
With a thought, the system interface screen reappeared before his eyes.
[Today's Intelligence has been refreshed. Host, would you like to obtain it immediately?]
He clicked 'Obtain'.
[Today's Intelligence (D-Class): At 10:00 AM, during the opening event at Hyatt Plaza in the West of the City, spending over 1,000 yuan gives you a chance to participate in the Golden Egg Smash. The grand prize is a dual-door smart refrigerator worth 10,000 yuan, located in the 11th Golden Egg in the 7th row.]
Just like the previous two days, it was D-Class.
He checked the time; it was already 9:30 AM.
Chen Su didn't have time for breakfast and quickly hailed a car straight to Hyatt Plaza.
The ride-share driver was an older man.
"Young man, are you going to Hyatt Plaza to join the fun too? Let me tell you, that golden egg smash for a refrigerator is just a gimmick. Businesses nowadays are extremely stingy; they just want to lure you into spending."
"Uncle, you certainly know a lot."
"No, no, I just watch videos online."
Throughout the ride, the older man kept lecturing Chen Su with knowledge he had learned from short videos.
"Things like the economy is slowing down, you need to cut spending, and don't quit your job casually."
"Playing on your phone while it's charging will make it explode."
"Young people, you have to endure hardships, be willing to suffer..."
...The short trip of less than 3 kilometers felt like 30 kilometers to Chen Su.
After getting out and paying the fare.
He then noticed the ride-share driver's rating was 3.1 stars.
He clicked on the reviews.
Passenger A: Too talkative.
Passenger B: The moment I got in the car, I felt like I was back home... Chen Su silently gave a 3-star rating.
After submitting the rating, he didn't forget to block the driver.