Chapter 24 - A Secret Crush

Making money was merely one important part of life. For the sake of testing into to the number one university of Asia, Qin Fen hurried to school the moment it was daybreak.

The past week of deep sleep had caused him to lose his morning milk delivery job. This made Qin Fen a bit depressed. He no longer had free milk for breakfast. For the sake of supplementing his body with nutrients, he would need to spend some nutrition costs for breakfast.

Qin Fen, cast once more in intense study, suddenly discovered that his two friends, Lin Liqiang and Enzo Rota, and both disappeared from the face of the earth. The only thing left was Lin Liqiang’s super powerful skills in taking leave of absences from school everyday.

For geniuses like Enzo Rota and Lin Liqiang, things would have been fine even if they didn’t submit leave of absences. They were already accepted into the U of S&T. They spent time in school for the sake of experiencing a high school life.

The leave of absences were nothing more than a message from Lin Liqiang to Qin Fen: Us brothers are doing all right. You don’t need to worry about us.

Song Jia acted mysteriously everyday. She would frequently and oddly pop out of nowhere, even taking the initiative to ask Qin Fen to grab a meal together after school. Towards these invitations, Qin Fen would always think of an excuse and refuse. Even though he was a bit poor, he knew that it wasn’t proper etiquette to let a woman pay for a meal when eating out. Plus, if he had Lin Liqiang and Enzo Rota there, everyone eating out, then these two would be able to take the heat off of him.

Hanging out with Song Jia alone? Qin Fen didn’t believe himself to be a match to this goddess. There was no possibility of a relationship developing, and he didn’t want to waste good paper money. Though Qin Fen was forced to admit that Song Jia was a very attractive woman, he already had a secret crush. It was best not to be too close with this great beauty.

As for Song Jia, the more Qin Fen refused her invitations, the more her curiosity and competitiveness stirred. There had never been someone who acted this arrogant in front of her, Song Jia!

Such matters happened for a few days in a row before drawing a beautiful yet strange scene in the school.

Song Jia, seizing the title of being the most beautiful girl in the school the first day she transfered, would passionately ask Qin Fen out on a date. The result: Student Qin Fen avoided Lady Song Jia’s invitation like avoiding the plague. This made people very puzzled. Did the current trend of popularity and style change? Though Qin Fen had sharp, clear, and masculine facial features, there were still guys more handsome than him in the school.

Qin Fen’s life used to consist of working in the morning, then going to school, then working at night. Now it had changed to cultivating in the morning, then going to school, then thinking of ways to avoid Lady Song Jia’s invitations, and finally logging on to the battle network at night to accept challenges and make money at night. He alloted time for two fights a day.

Only where there was competition did the challenger’s fee increase. If he fought several dozen fights a day, the fee would naturally decrease quite a bit. Supply and demand. Qin Fen deeply understood this. He deliberately set only two fights a day. Right now the price to fight a round with him was already four hundred dollars.

If things were to continue like this, then he would probably have a sizable wealth in a few years. It was just that such a thing was impossible. Qin Fen understood this very well. As people discovered that challenging him would always lead to losses, the number of challengers would decrease. In the end, there wouldn’t be anybody recklessly spending money to challenge him if they weren’t absolutely certain of victory.

It was good to take advantage of the market. Qin Fen would carefully defeat his opponents, adopting thrilling methods to beat his opponents. He gave others hope, and at the same time, he enticed others to continue challenging him. Simultaneously, he actively searched for information pertaining to the War God Arena to prepare for the upcoming War God Arena event.

Prizes were immediately announced, and they were all good prizes. Qin Fen was able to confirm this much, at least. He was full of expectations toward the War God Arena.

“Thirty-Six Hours wins….”

The system determined the victory to Qin Fen’s side, the announcement ringing in the air, but Qin Fen had already logged out of the Sky Martial Battle Network by then.

Today was Sunday. Qin Fen had something very important to do. He was going to meet someone. One of the few people who treated him with kindness in this city.

He had already made an appointment with this person last night over phone. It was almost time to meet now.

Qin Fen changed to simple casual clothes, picking up the gift he had already prepared on the table. He smiled happily. He had carefully selected this gift, costing merely the money he made from two fights.

He was in a good mood, his foot steps felt lighter than usual as he walked down the road. Qin Fen tightly held the gift with his hands as he rushed to the meeting spot.

He thought back to when he just arrived at Treasure Island, to a time when it hadn’t been long since his brother disappeared. He had exhausted practically all his savings in order to find his brother when a girl appeared before him like an angel. She gave him a small amount of money, saving his life.

In the past, it had been hard to feed and clothe himself. Qin Fen could only bury his feelings of love and appreciation in the bottom of his heart. Now that he had a stroke of luck with the Sky Martial Battle Network, gaining a simple economic foundation as a safeguard, he needed to confess his feelings before he served in the military, at the very least!

He made his way though a few streets, arriving at McDonald’s they planned beforehand. This was a high-price place to Qin Fen of the past, and it was also a place he was very familiar with.

On the other side of the glass window sat a young girl wearing white sportswear. She wore white casual shoes and had her hair up in a cool ponytail.

She appeared to be in high school, and there was a glass of coffee on the table before her, half empty from being drunk from. She leisurely looked outside the window with a pair of headphones on.

The girls eyes clearly lit up the instant she saw Qin Fen. A sweet smile was revealed on her lips, as she extended her fair-white hand to give a gentle wave of hello.

Tian Tian! Qin Fen’s secret crush.

A silly smile burst on Qin Fen’s face as he pushed open the door and quickly walked into the McDonald’s. He scratched his head in embarrassment as he said, “Sorry for being late….”

“No, it’s okay,” Tian Tian smiled, revealing a neat row of white teeth. Her smile was just like her name. Incomparably sweet. “I’m the one who came early. You see….”

Tian Tian raised her wrist, pointed at her cartoon watch, and said, “You came half an hour early.”

“Oh….” Qin Fen looked at Tian Tian with bulging eyes, “Then wouldn’t you be waiting half an hour if I arrived on the dot?”

“Then I’d just wait.” Tian Tian propped up her chin with her hands, appearing to be indifferent about the matter. “I made a bet with myself, that you would certainly come early.”

After sitting down, Qin Fen quietly drew in a deep breath. He presented the gift with both hands to Tian Tian, his complexion reddening a bit. He said, “This is for you.”

“For me?” A hint of surprise flashed in Tian Tian’s bright eyes, along with cryptic smugness. “Thank-you, but why the gift all of a sudden?”

“This….” Qin Fen suddenly discovered that confessing was something harder than fighting by a hundredfold.

“Tian Tian, you’re too amazing! You can even win bets like this,” a piercing voice sounded from behind Qin Fen during this uncomfortable moment.

Before Qin Fen could turn his head, the man he spoke had already arrived by Tian Tian’s side. He had a tall and straight nose, black hair, and a hint of light blue in his eyes. There was a frivolous smile on his face. He was an utterly handsome man of mixed blood.