Father and son began to puff clouds of smoke on the balcony. Old Shen looked at the traffic on the road, slowly exhaling rings of smoke, "You all have been working hard recently. If our family business had not collapsed, we wouldn't have to move here."
"I've taken on a foreign trade order with friends recently. It's a batch of drinking cups ordered by a Dongying factory. The contract manufacturer can deliver the goods next week. The profit is decent. After deducting costs, I should be able to make thirty."
As he smoked, Shen Heping said, "Once the payment comes through, we'll move to a bigger three-bedroom place so you'll have a room when you come back."
Ever since Old Shen's travel agency went bankrupt, his hair had turned much grayer, and his vitality had waned significantly, no longer as spirited as before.
But he still hadn't given up on his career and continued to struggle outside for his children.
Shen Yuan felt a pinch in his heart. Old Shen seldom talked about work with the family, and the fact that he brought it up today indicated that the pressure must be really heavy.
Shen Yuan was aware of the family's situation. They were now more than a million in debt, and even earning three hundred thousand would only be enough to fill the hole.
Moreover, since the order was for contract manufacturing, it definitely required advance payment, so Old Shen had likely taken out another loan.
Thinking of Old Shen nearing fifty still shouldering such burden and having to continue fighting in the business world, Shen Yuan couldn't help but feel an additional sense of responsibility on his shoulders.
"From now on, the responsibility of providing for the family will fall to the son."
Shen Yuan patted Old Shen's shoulder sincerely. Now that he had the system as his 'big daddy', he had to accelerate his pace of making money to relieve Old Shen's burden!
"For now, focus on your studies. Providing for the family and making money are not your concerns yet. Besides, you can't make money now." Old Shen shook his head.
"Old Shen, that's kind of underestimating us university students." Shen Yuan was somewhat dissatisfied.
Old Shen fell silent for a moment, then said, "Actually, it's not that I underestimate university students."
"So what are you..."
"Come in and eat!"
Li Hongjuan's urging came from inside, interrupting Shen Yuan's speech. Old Shen stubbed out his cigarette and turned to go, "Let's eat first."
Shen Yuan stood stunned on the spot for a long while before he realized, so Old Shen was actually underestimating me!
"Well, you got me, Old Shen. Is this how you treat your son!"
....
After dinner, Shen Yuan took a bus for about fifteen minutes to get back to school.
Without a place for him at home, he could only stay at the school.
It was quite pitiful, really—only a fifteen-minute drive from home, yet he could only stay on campus.
Walking on the road, Shen Yuan pondered the consumption tasks given by the system.
Repeatedly spending money on Li Xiao's teaching services was definitely not suitable. On one hand, it was just a teacher-student relationship, and on the other, she wasn't the type of money-worshipping girl like Zhou Wanting.
If one could develop a relationship from a teacher-student background to...
But, looking at the current situation, it seemed rather difficult, not to mention that Li Xiao had a sister who was keeping a watchful eye.
Shen Yuan felt it was necessary to develop relationships with more women, preferably the materialistic and vain type, as they would provide a continuous capacity to consume.
"You fucking Cao Shunjin, you're still laughing!"
Huang Haibao glared at him, resentfully said, "It's nothing much, just a breakup."
Shen Yuan was a bit confused. He had been roommates with Huang Haibao for so long, and the guy had never been in a relationship to begin with, so what breakup was he talking about?
"Be more specific," Shen Yuan was a bit curious to hear the rest.
"My goddess, Fang Minhui, went to see a movie today with that scumbag Li Zhanpeng!" Old Huang said through clenched teeth.
"That's it?"
Shen Yuan suddenly felt like laughing. He knew about Old Huang's crush on their classmate, Fang Minhui.
But Fang Minhui had never shown any interest in Old Huang, they had never been involved in any way and they had barely exchanged a few words on WeChat.
Besides, Fang Minhui had only gone to see a movie with someone else, they weren't even dating. What's Old Huang fussing about?
Fang Minhui was the class belle of their 2020 International Trade class 2.
To become the class belle among the beauties of the International campus, especially since their class was famously high-quality when it came to the female students, she definitely had some solid qualities.
Shen Yuan vaguely remembered, three years ago during military training one night, the instructor was in high spirits and suggested those with talents to perform.
At first, everyone was shy, because they were not familiar with each other, and also because it was in front of so many people.
After the instructor called out several times, some boys came up to sing; Li Zhanpeng, that noticeable guy, even specifically ran back to the dorm to grab a guitar to perform.
But singing didn't really lift the spirits, and Shen Yuan found it quite boring.
Until Fang Minhui took the stage.
She took off her military training jacket and tossed it into the air, which conveniently landed on Huang Haibao's head, probably getting him all infatuated on the spot.
Probably then, Old Huang started to have feelings.
Fang Minhui was wearing a low-cut white tank top underneath her military outfit, revealing a large area of smooth white skin on her chest and back, mesmerizing the male soldiers.
As the high-energy dance music played, Fang Minhui started moving along to it, her supple waist and impressive bust continually stimulating the senses of the boys.
However, before the male soldiers could get enough of the view, the dance had to be stopped abruptly.
It couldn't be helped, the guys from the neighboring squad couldn't even stand at attention properly, craning their necks to watch Fang Minhui dance. Not even a kick to the butt from the instructor worked.
The instructor of Shen Yuan's squad had to end the dance early.
That night, Fang Minhui was sensational, unmatched in popularity.
At that time, not just Huang Haibao, but all the new male freshmen of the 2020 class remembered that irresistibly tempting body.
Thinking back, Shen Yuan also felt it was a pity. Fang Minhui had been single for three years, and now she's suddenly connected to Li Zhanpeng.
"Old Third, I consider you a brother, what's with that face?"
...