Chapter 3: The Girl Who Decided to Follow a Stranger
The morning sun cut through the dusty hostel window like a blade.
Lee Feng woke up before his roommates. He always did. Two years of part-time shifts had trained his body to reject sleep after 6 AM.
But today was different.
He wasn't tired.
He sat up slowly, expecting the usual ache in his lower back. The usual stiffness in his neck. The usual fog in his brain.
None of it came.
He felt... light.
His body moved like it had been oiled overnight. His vision was sharper. He could hear Liu Yang's soft snoring from across the room, could smell the instant noodles from the common room two floors down.
"Side effect of wealth absorption," the system's cold voice announced. "The body adapts to accommodate the host's new status. Minor physiological enhancements are automatic. Do not be alarmed."
Lee Feng flexed his fingers.
The cut on his palm from the broken pitcher was gone. Completely. No scar. No mark.
He checked his phone.
Available Balance: 28,380,023.50 CNY
Still there.
He smiled.
Not a happy smile. A cold one.
---
The university library was empty at 7 AM.
Lee Feng sat in the back corner, surrounded by stacks of old textbooks he didn't need. He wasn't here to study. He was here to think.
Twenty-eight million yuan.
It was enough to change everything. But he couldn't just start spending. His roommates were already suspicious. If he showed up with new clothes, a new phone, a new anything—they would ask questions he couldn't answer.
He needed a plan.
"Recommendation," the system said. "Open multiple bank accounts. Distribute funds. Begin with small, untraceable purchases. Cash is ideal. Avoid digital traces."
Lee Feng nodded slowly.
Cash.
He could withdraw cash. Spend it anywhere. No one would ask where a broke college student got a few thousand yuan in cash.
"Also. The system detects a potential boast source nearby."
Lee Feng's head snapped up.
"What? Where?"
"East wing. Second floor. A male student is currently on a phone call with his father. He is boasting about his family's recent land acquisition."
Lee Feng stood up immediately.
His legs carried him toward the east wing before his brain caught up.
---
The east wing reading room was almost empty.
A boy sat by the window, phone pressed to his ear, voice loud enough to echo off the walls.
"—I'm telling you, Dad, the land is worth at least fifty million. Fifty. Million. And that's just the initial valuation. Once the development starts—"
Lee Feng slipped into a chair two rows behind him.
The boy didn't notice.
He was too busy boasting.
"—the old man doesn't know what he's talking about. He said real estate is a bubble. A bubble! Can you believe it? Our family has been in this business for thirty years. We know what we're doing."
"Boast detected," the system whispered.
Wait. Is this valid? He's not boasting about money in his account. He's boasting about land value.
"Affirmative. The boast concerns an asset. The system recognizes asset-based boasts. Land, property, vehicles, stocks—all are eligible. The system generates equivalent value from parallel streams."
Lee Feng's heart pounded.
How much?
"Calculating. The boaster claims the land is worth fifty million. The system will generate 55,000,000 CNY (50,000,000 + 10%). Transferring now."
Lee Feng's phone buzzed.
He didn't check it. He didn't need to.
He knew the money was there.
---
"Transfer complete. New balance: 83,380,023.50 CNY."
Eighty-three million.
From a single phone call.
Lee Feng stood up and walked out of the reading room. The boy on the phone never even looked at him.
He had no idea.
None of them ever did.
---
The library exit opened onto a narrow path lined with old banyan trees.
Lee Feng was halfway down the path when he heard it.
Crying.
Soft. Muffled. Like someone was trying very hard not to be heard.
He stopped.
The sound came from behind the library's side entrance—a small alcove hidden by overgrown bushes. No one ever went there. It was where students went to smoke or cry or both.
Lee Feng should have kept walking.
It wasn't his business.
"Curiosity is not a system function," the cold voice observed. "But the host's actions are his own."
Lee Feng ignored the system and walked toward the sound.
---
She was sitting on the ground, back against the wall, knees pulled to her chest.
Her uniform was simple—a white shirt and dark pants, no jewelry, no makeup. Her hair was long and black, pulled back in a plain ponytail. Her face was hidden behind her arms.
But Lee Feng recognized her.
Sort of.
She was in his year. He had seen her in lectures, always sitting in the back row, always silent. He had never heard her speak. He didn't even know her name.
She was the kind of girl who existed in the background. Present but unnoticed.
Like he used to be.
"Hey," Lee Feng said quietly.
She looked up.
Her face was red and swollen from crying. Her eyes were puffy. Her lips were trembling.
But even through the tears, Lee Feng could see it.
She was beautiful.
Not in the loud, obvious way that Zhao Xia was beautiful. This was different. Quiet. Like a painting you had to look at twice to truly see.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She shook her head quickly and looked away. "I'm fine. Go away."
Her voice was hoarse. Raw.
Lee Feng didn't move.
"I'm not going to leave," he said. "So you might as well tell me what's wrong."
She stared at him.
Most people would have walked away. Most people didn't care.
But Lee Feng wasn't most people anymore.
---
Her name was Lin Yue.
No. Wait.
That was from the old novel.
Lee Feng caught himself. He was mixing up stories.
This girl's name was different.
He didn't know it yet.
But he would.
---
"I need money," she whispered finally.
Lee Feng sat down on the ground across from her. The concrete was cold. He didn't care.
"How much?"
She laughed bitterly. "You can't help me. No one can."
"Try me."
She looked at him. Really looked at him. Her eyes searched his face for something—mockery, pity, amusement.
She found none.
"My father is sick," she said slowly. "He needs surgery. The hospital won't do it without a deposit. Twenty thousand yuan."
Twenty thousand.
To Lee Feng, twenty thousand was nothing now. Eighty-three million sat in his bank account. Twenty thousand was a rounding error.
But to this girl—this silent, invisible girl who sat in the back of every lecture—twenty thousand was the difference between life and death.
"I don't have it," she continued, her voice breaking. "I've been working part-time at a café. I saved eight thousand. But the rest..." She shook her head. "The rest is impossible."
Lee Feng didn't say anything for a long moment.
Then he stood up.
"Wait here," he said.
"Where are you going?"
"Wait here."
---
The nearest ATM was a five-minute walk from the library.
Lee Feng withdrew the maximum allowed—twenty thousand yuan in cash.
The machine whirred. The bills stacked up. Thick. Green. Real.
He stuffed them into his backpack and walked back.
She was still sitting in the alcove, still crying.
He sat down across from her again and pulled out the stack of cash.
Twenty thousand yuan.
He held it out to her.
Her eyes went wide.
"What... what is this?"
"Money for your father's surgery."
She stared at the cash. Then at him. Then back at the cash.
"Why?" she whispered.
Lee Feng thought about it.
Why?
Because he could. Because twenty thousand was nothing to him now. Because this girl—this silent, invisible girl—reminded him of who he used to be.
But he didn't say any of that.
"Because I want to," he said simply.
She didn't take the money.
She just stared at it, trembling.
"I can't... I can't pay you back. I don't know when I'll ever—"
"I didn't ask you to pay me back."
Her lips quivered.
Tears spilled down her cheeks again—but different tears this time. Not tears of despair.
Tears of something else.
Something Lee Feng didn't have a name for.
---
"Emotional fluctuation detected," the system announced. "Source: Unknown female. Intensity: High. Points generated: 150."
Lee Feng ignored it.
"Take the money," he said gently.
She reached out. Her fingers brushed against his as she took the stack of cash.
She held it like it was made of glass. Like it might shatter.
"My name is Wen Jing," she said quietly.
Lee Feng nodded. "Lee Feng."
"I know," she said. "You sit three rows behind me in Professor Lin's lecture."
He was surprised. "You noticed me?"
She looked down at the money in her hands. "I notice everyone who sits in the back."
A small silence.
Then she said: "I will pay you back. I don't know when. But I will."
Lee Feng stood up. "Do whatever you want. I don't need the money."
He started to walk away.
"Lee Feng."
He stopped.
Wen Jing was still sitting on the ground, still holding the cash, still crying.
But her eyes were different now.
They weren't sad.
They were... determined.
"I won't forget this," she said. "Ever."
Lee Feng nodded once and walked away.
He didn't look back.
[End of Chapter 3]