Jiang Lai continued spending her fortune in secret like this. By early December, during lunchtime in the cafeteria, Zhang Yue slapped a promotional flyer on the table.
“Lai Lai, take a look at this.”
Jiang Lai picked up the flyer. It was for the school’s Christmas winter camp—a two-week trip to Finland and Sweden. The itinerary featured photos of the Northern Lights, design museums, and public lectures at the University of Helsinki. Excluding airfare, accommodation and activity fees totaled fifty-six thousand.
“Lai Lai, um… do you want to go together?”
Jiang Lai mentally calculated using her System balance. With over two hundred thousand in savings, spending fifty-six thousand wasn’t impossible, but it would be her largest expense to date. She had grown accustomed to the confidence her substantial savings gave her, and the thought of spending a quarter of it made her hesitate.
“It’s too expensive,” she said, putting the flyer down. “I’ll think about it.”
“I’ve already thought it through for you,” Zhang Yue said, sitting across from her, chopsticks holding a piece of sweet and sour pork. Her expression suggested she had anticipated this response. “The winter camp offers both king-size and twin rooms. If you don’t go, I’ll book a king-size room. But since the prices are the same, I’ll be spending that amount regardless. If you come with me, I’ll cover the accommodation. You only need to pay for your flight and meals. Let’s not let those foreign hotels off easy.”
Jiang Lai counted on her fingers. Accommodation was the biggest expense in Northern Europe, and this would cut her costs in half.
“Sis,” Zhang Yue put down her chopsticks and clasped her hands together, “we’re together every day. Don’t I know how much you love to explore? The Northern Lights, Santa Claus Village, Northern Europe—are you really not tempted?”
Jiang Lai was tempted. Not just by the Northern Lights, but also by the international exchange activities. Spending two weeks with a group of strangers, attending classes, visiting sites, and chatting—introducing herself, sharing personal experiences, and explaining why she transferred schools—this trip could yield significant rewards. Once she recouped her expenses, reimbursing Zhang Yue for the accommodation wouldn’t be a problem.
“Alright,” she said, folding the flyer and tucking it into her bag. “I’ll go with you.”
When she returned home, she told her mother that the winter camp was also covered by her scholarship. Her mother, unfamiliar with the lifestyles of the wealthy, believed whatever her daughter said.
The night before departure, Jiang Lai packed her luggage in the dorm. Zhang Yue sent over a dozen messages, all filled with outfit suggestions and screenshots of Northern Europe travel guides.
Zhang Yue’s suitcase was stuffed with three down jackets in different colors, five scarves, a pair of snow boots, and a pair of Martin boots. Jiang Lai only packed one long black down jacket, two thick sweaters, and a pair of fleece-lined leggings. She also placed a novel and a power bank in her carry-on bag. She was especially careful when slipping her passport into the inner compartment—this was her first time traveling abroad.
The arrival hall at Helsinki Airport was small, with vast expanses of white visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. After collecting their luggage and heading outside, the automatic doors slid open, letting a rush of cold air directly into their collars. At minus fifteen degrees Celsius, their exhaled breaths formed sparkling white clouds under the streetlights, and a thin layer of frost settled on their eyelashes within seconds. Zhang Yue walked ahead, suddenly crouching down to scoop a handful of snow from the roadside. She turned back and shouted, “Jiang Lai, look at this! It’s really pink! Pink snow!”
Jiang Lai took out her phone and snapped a photo of her. Her hands were trembling slightly from the cold, and her fingers, encased in touchscreen gloves, weren’t very cooperative, but the photo came out clear—Zhang Yue crouched in the snow, holding a handful of snow with both hands, her face flushed red from the cold, smiling so widely her eyes curved into two slits.
“Send it to me!” Zhang Yue ran back and snatched her phone to look. “I want to send it to my mom.”
The hotel was a renovated old building in the city center, with a fireplace in the lobby burning real wood, crackling softly.
Their room was on the fourth floor, the window facing a small park in the middle of the street. Snow had buried half of the swings and benches.
Jiang Lai opened her suitcase and began unpacking her things one by one. The scent of Northern Europe was different from back home—the crisp, cold smell of snow in the air, the woodsmoke from the hotel lobby’s fireplace, and the aroma of roasted almonds drifting in from the street. She cracked the window open a sliver, letting in a bit of cold air before closing it again.
The winter camp schedule was packed.
The first day was the Helsinki Design Museum. White exhibition halls with high, vaulted ceilings displayed classic Nordic furniture and tableware in glass cases. Zhang Yue stared at a set of pale green glass vases for a long time, saying the color matched her living room curtains exactly, but it was a shame she couldn’t take them back. Jiang Lai bought a stack of postcards at the gift shop, planning to mail them back home.
In the afternoon, they attended a public lecture at the University of Helsinki on Arctic ecology. The lecture hall was overheated, and the translator’s voice came through the headphones in a flat, monotonous tone. Zhang Yue started dozing off halfway through, her head nodding and tilting toward Jiang Lai’s shoulder.
After the lecture, there was a group discussion. The sixteen students were divided into four groups, with the theme “Your Path to Education.” Jiang Lai was placed in a mixed group with Finns, Swedes, and a high school boy from Denmark. Everyone chatted in English, haltingly but enthusiastically.
When it was Jiang Lai’s turn, she mentioned that she had just transferred from a regular high school to Mingde Private High School this semester, adding, “My mom is supporting me all by herself, and it hasn’t been easy.” The Swedish group leader translated this for the Finnish students nearby. One of them nodded and said something in accented English. The teacher translated it back, adding, “He says you’re lucky to have a mother who supports you. Children from single-parent households often become more independent.”
Jiang Lai took a sip of the hot drink on the table.
In her mind, the System chimed pleasantly, one after another.
[Keyword detected, Compensation triggered. WeChat transfer received: ¥24,000.]
[WeChat transfer received: ¥18,000.]
[WeChat transfer received: ¥36,000.]
[WeChat transfer received: ¥45,000.]
[WeChat transfer received: ¥9,000.]
Different languages intermingled in the same room. English’s “single parent,” Finnish’s “yksinhuoltaja,” and a Swedish pronunciation she didn’t understand but the System still recognized—all were judged as valid triggers.
The amounts ranged from a few thousand to the maximum of fifty thousand, with over twenty transfer notifications popping up within half an hour. She placed her phone on the table, screen down, flipping it over occasionally to check as the numbers climbed.
[Detected concentrated mentions, triggering location-specific Physical Rewards: one Finnish brand cashmere scarf, one set of handmade scented candles, and one pair of reindeer leather gloves.]