“Son, when did you get a girlfriend? Why didn’t you tell your father and me?”
Hearing the excitement in his mother’s voice replace her earlier exhaustion, Wang Yifan’s gloomy mood from what had happened at his aunt’s house immediately improved.
“Uh… I just haven’t had the chance to tell you yet.”
“You silly child. We’ll talk more when we get home.”
“Okay.”
His father glanced at him without saying anything, and the three of them walked home together.
In the quiet night, the only sound was their footsteps.
Beyond the glow of the streetlights, everything was pitch black.
Nothing could be seen.
The solar-powered streetlights had been installed by the government years ago.
Without them, the village would have been swallowed entirely by darkness at night.
Before long, Wang Yifan and his parents arrived home.
Their house stood beside a small river, with a bridge just outside the front gate.
As they approached, he could hear the gentle sound of flowing water.
His mother took the house key from her pocket, inserted it into the lock, turned it, and opened the door.
Inside was a spacious living room filled with various household items: a standing refrigerator, the loom his mother used for weaving, and several woodworking machines his father had brought home after working in Guizhou years ago.
The bright lights illuminated the room, though the house still felt somewhat lonely.
Since it was winter, the family gathered in the kitchen after closing the front door.
The kitchen was simple—just a traditional wood-burning stove and a large cooking stove that his mother also used for brewing homemade liquor.
She arranged the firewood beneath the smoked cured meat hanging above the stove, added several dry logs, and soon the fire crackled to life.
Sitting beside the fire, Wang Yifan finally felt warmth spread through his body.
“Son… do you really have a girlfriend?”
His mother still seemed unable to believe it.
“Mom, why don’t you trust me? I really do.”
The moment she heard his confirmation, a bright smile spread across her face.
It was as if this was the happiest news she had heard in years.
Even his slightly drunk father couldn’t help smiling.
“Son, your mother and I don’t care what other people say. As long as our family is happy, that’s enough. We used to worry whether you’d ever find someone. But now that you’ve got a girlfriend, bring her home someday. If things work out, your mother and I can arrange to meet her parents.”
Hearing those words, Wang Yifan felt his eyes grow moist.
He knew his family was something many people would envy.
Unlike many parents who constantly forced their children down what they believed was the “right” path, his parents had always respected him.
“Oh, and there’s something else.”
“I found a job.”
His parents exchanged stunned looks.
“You found a job?”
“Yeah. The company is called Yinfu Tiaodong. It’s one of the biggest companies in China.”
Wang Yifan didn’t think he was lying.
Now that he owned shares in the company, he technically did work there.
His position was just… a little higher than usual.
He deliberately avoided explaining everything because he didn’t want them to worry.
It would be better to tell them gradually.
“When did you find it?”
“Today. The company’s CEO called me while we were having dinner.”
The shock on his parents’ faces lingered.
At that moment, all the worries that had weighed on them for the past year seemed to disappear.
“Good… good… good!”
His father repeated the word three times.
His mother’s eyes filled with tears of joy.
Over the past year, whenever the villagers talked about her son, she could never hold her head high.
She had never blamed him, but like any mother, she hoped he would eventually make something of himself.
She never expected that on the very first day of the New Year, one piece of good news after another would arrive.
She was truly happy.
Seeing his parents smile so brightly, Wang Yifan couldn’t help smiling as well.
For the first time in a long while, he felt genuinely happy.
“What about the salary?” his father asked.
“It’s very good, Dad. Don’t worry. My monthly income won’t be less than twenty thousand yuan.”
His parents were stunned once again.
“Son, you don’t have to work overseas, do you? I’ve heard there are lots of telecom scams these days. You have to be careful.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I know. My job is pretty simple. I mainly review the company’s financial reports. I don’t have to do much else.”
“I see.”
“As expected of my son!”
For the first time in a long while, Wang Guoan could finally stand tall with pride.
Wang Yifan chatted with his parents for more than another hour.
They kept asking him what his girlfriend looked like, where she was from, whether he had any photos of her, and countless other questions.
Smiling, he answered them one by one.
As for photos, he naturally had plenty of Zhao Lusi’s.
He simply opened one of the short videos she had posted on the Yinfu app and showed it to them.
When they saw Zhao Lusi’s face, the smiles on their faces grew even brighter.
At half past midnight, Wang Yifan returned to his room.
Lying on his bed with his phone in hand, he replayed everything that had happened that evening.
He was so excited that he couldn’t fall asleep.
His mind was filled with thoughts of the system and the rewards he had received.
Opening WeChat, he looked at the recent chat history with Zhao Lusi and Liu Yifei from earlier that night.
Only then did he truly believe that all of this was real.
Looking at Zhao Lusi’s last message—
Message me when you get home.
He tapped the text box and typed:
Lusi, I’m home.
You’re probably already asleep, aren’t you?
He hit send.
Then he stared blankly at the chat window.
After that, he opened Liu Yifei’s conversation and sent her a similar message.
Neither of them replied.
Putting his phone down, his thoughts were completely occupied by Zhao Lusi and Liu Yifei.
They were both among the biggest stars in China—especially Liu Yifei.
Yet somehow, he had inexplicably become both of their boyfriends.
He had turned into a two-timing playboy overnight.
A very wealthy two-timing playboy, at that.
The change in his identity was so dramatic that he still couldn’t fully process it.
After setting his phone aside, he once again began communicating with the system in his mind.