“Xiaoyu, I really owe you for this time!” He Li suddenly said as they walked out of the hotel.
Miao Xiaoyu placed her small hands behind her back and tilted her head, pouting, “Owe me for what? I didn’t do anything!”
He Li smiled and shook his head without explaining further. After misunderstanding Li Wu at first, he had quickly guessed that Li Wu’s behavior likely meant he had recognized Miao Xiaoyu. Even the deal to buy back the medicine at fifteen times the price must have been because of her presence. With her around, things had gone far too smoothly.
Miao Xiaoyu had picked up on Li Wu’s thoughts, but she wasn’t quite sure what He Li was thinking.
“Could he have guessed my identity? No way, right? At most, he probably just thinks I come from a wealthy family. From the beginning till now, I’ve only given off the impression of being a hidden rich girl.”
Her mind was full of doubt. Little did she know, He Li had only figured out her full identity in their past life after falling in love with her.
On the side, Wu Gang hadn’t figured out much from their conversation, but he was brimming with excitement, “Fifteen times the return, tsk tsk! That batch we got for over 60,000 yuan just turned into over 900,000 yuan!”
“Li‑zi, you’re the real deal!”
“That’s faster than robbing a bank!”
“So what are we doing with the money? More business?” His eyes sparkled.
He Li nodded. Of course, they had to keep going. If he didn’t build something solid, how was he supposed to marry Miao Xiaoyu? Not just anyone could climb into her family.
He Li thought about it and said, “I want to start a studio.”
“Then use this money to develop a game. In a bit, follow my instructions and go buy parts for three computers and put them together…”
He laid out the plan in detail. Wu Gang had already witnessed He Li’s insane ability to make money and had no doubt in him anymore. Once briefed, he jumped into his three-wheeler and sped off to do the shopping.
He Li and Miao Xiaoyu headed to the rental unit to clean up the place.
“By the way, what kind of game are you planning to make?” Miao Xiaoyu asked sweetly, bringing him a glass of water after the cleaning.
“A tower defense game. Let’s call it Plants vs. Zombies.”
“Plants vs. Zombies?” Miao Xiaoyu found the name interesting.
He Li nodded. In his previous life, this game had dominated both mobile and PC charts for years. It went viral across the country and even worldwide in a very short time, bringing in insane profits for its creators. The game’s structure was simple, and with He Li’s abilities plus outsourcing some design work…
He was confident they could launch a full version before the university semester started.
“The concept and design are all in my head already. Just copying it from memory—how could I mess that up? Please.”
He chuckled internally and then began discussing various gameplay mechanics, plant designs, and zombie types with Miao Xiaoyu. Her eyes sparkled with interest the whole time.
When Wu Gang returned with the computer parts, the three of them set everything up and, under He Li’s direction, got to work.
Don’t be fooled by Wu Gang’s burly appearance—he actually had a solid foundation in programming. In their past life, he had majored in computer science. Though his current skills couldn’t handle anything too advanced, he was more than capable of managing the basics, and with his help, He Li had a lot less to worry about.
“Hey, Li‑zi, what’s the name of this game studio we’re starting?” Wu Gang asked while furiously typing away.
Still focused on the rapidly scrolling code on the screen, He Li casually said, “Carp Studio!”
“Carp?” Wu Gang paused.
On He Li’s other side, Miao Xiaoyu’s face turned bashful. Both she and Wu Gang weren’t stupid. Carp? That was clearly a combination of the last characters of their names—He Li and Miao Xiaoyu. Wu Gang immediately burst into a cheeky smile.
“Is He Li trying to hint at something?”
“Hehe, he really does understand how I feel.”
“Carp Studio… Carp… Hehehe!”
Her thoughts wandered far off. She was so distracted that she didn’t even realize she’d drawn a plant crooked on the computer.
It wasn’t until He Li paused, noticed her daydreaming, and leaned in to whisper, “What are you spacing out for? Your drawing’s crooked,” that Miao Xiaoyu snapped back to reality in a panic.
But her heart immediately tightened—He Li had leaned in so close. She could clearly feel his warm breath on her cheek, which made her heart race like a little deer.
“I… I’ll fix it!” She fought to suppress her flustered state and tried to act calm as she went back to correcting the drawing.
He Li looked at her blushing pink face and her glowing white neck… caught a whiff of her soft fragrance, and felt his mind start to drift. He quickly pulled himself together and leaned back.
The two of them, suddenly flustered, ran out of things to say. But they kept stealing glances at each other.
Every time their eyes met, Miao Xiaoyu would hurriedly lower her head and giggle like a silly girl.
He Li wasn’t any better.
Watching the flirtatious looks they exchanged, and feeling the sugary atmosphere fill the small room, Wu Gang was on the verge of a breakdown.
Every second he stayed felt like torture!
He wanted to run, but he also didn’t want to ruin their mood. So he poured all his suffering into the keyboard, working furiously for relief!
But this was only the beginning.
For the next few days, He Li and Miao Xiaoyu kept bringing each other lunch and drinks they liked. Although Wu Gang always got a portion too, he would’ve gladly skipped it if it meant those two could stop already.
As a single dog, he truly couldn’t take it anymore!
Fortunately, after more than ten days of this torture…
There was finally a temporary break.
Because the college entrance exam scores were out!
The once quiet class group chat suddenly burst into life again…
“Hahaha! 546 points, not bad!”
“Tch, why so proud? I got 547!”
“Did you hear? Liu the campus belle scored 598!”
“Two points short of 600. Wow, she’s still amazing.”
“Hehe, our class monitor scored 619!!!”
“As expected of our class monitor. Total beast!”
…
Reading the chatter and praise in the group, Li Lingjie grinned at his phone and smugly replied, “It’s nothing. Just studied a little harder than usual.”
“Honestly, it’s not even that high.”
His words reeked of humblebrag.
Some classmates rolled their eyes.
But then… a bombshell dropped into the chat.
And Li Lingjie’s moment of glory instantly exploded into dust.
[Wu Gang: 619 really isn’t that impressive.]
[Wu Gang: After all, our class has a 719!]
The moment those two messages were sent, the entire group fell silent.
A second later…
“HOLY SHIT!!! 719??”
“Lumberjack, are you sure you’re not seeing things?”
“Damn, that’s gotta be the top scorer in the whole province!”
“I’ve never even heard of anyone getting a score that high!”
“Wait… aren’t you guys wondering who got it?”
“Who else? It’s gotta be He Li!”
“This is insane! I heard He Li was still thinking about confessing on exam day and messed up his performance!”
“And he still scored over 700 after messing up? Is this even fair?!”
…
Wu Gang’s revelation made the chat blow up with 99+ messages within minutes. As for Li Lingjie, he stared at his screen, face turning darker than ever.
When he’d said 619 wasn’t that high, he was just being modest.
But you really had to go and bring up someone with a score 100 points higher to slap him in the face?
A whole hundred points?!