Liu Chen didn't notice Wang Weicong behind her. Before she left, she specifically gave the round-faced saleswoman five thousand yuan and asked her to help arrange the room, as she was bringing a friend to stay today.
She swiped her card to enter the elevator. The corresponding floor lit up, and the elevator began to ascend rapidly. Liu Chen even felt that this elevator was the fastest she had ever been on, except for the one in the Oriental Pearl TV Tower today.
Using the key to open the door and turning on the lights in each room, the orange-yellow light instantly illuminated the entire mansion.
"Wow! Chenchen, this four hundred yuan was well spent!"
Zhuzhu exclaimed and ran towards the balcony outside the living room. A smile also appeared on Liu Chen's face. She slowly walked to the living room balcony and looked out, the entire Puxi spread out before her like a painting.
Compared to the bustling city atmosphere of C City she had seen at her godmother's house, the charm of the Magic City was felt standing on the balcony of Tomson Riviera.
The vast surface of the Huangpu River occupied the lower half of the painting. In the middle were layers upon layers of buildings with orange-yellow lights. Higher up, the sky was tinged with a pale purple, rendered by the hustle and bustle of human life.
Just for this view alone, Liu Chen felt that the more than ten million yuan was worth it.
Leaving the three of them on the balcony to feel the cold wind and watch the Huangpu River and the Bund at night, Liu Chen turned around and toured the entire house.
It seemed that someone had come to clean it thoroughly today. All the furniture and appliances were complete. Small items like towels, bath towels, carpets, toothbrushes, and toothpaste were also provided in the bathroom.
Opening the wardrobe, she even found two unopened sachets of potpourri and mothballs.
Perhaps fearing that she wouldn't like the smell of these two items, they were left unopened and merely placed there for backup. After a walk, she also discovered lit liquid mosquito coils.
And in the kitchen, there were pots, pans, and utensils. The refrigerator even had eggs, vegetables, and fruits. The kitchen cabinets also contained instant noodles.
Liu Chen guessed that the round-faced saleswoman must have spent the entire five thousand yuan on the house, otherwise, the items wouldn't be so complete.
...
C City.
Hu Qian sat in a chair, eating the fried rice she had made. The rice was not fried evenly, and she had forgotten to add salt. It only had the fishy smell of eggs and watery rice.
Luo Meihong sat in her wheelchair by the dining table, also holding a bowl of Hu Qian's egg fried rice.
Hu Xingfa was not at home. He had recently gotten money and was planning to take out a loan to buy a few excavators to rebuild his business.
Hu Qian didn't know. She only knew that after Hu Xingfa saw her grades, he didn't hit or scold her. He just asked her to apply for a provincial university so she could take care of her grandmother at home.
Hu Qian held the bowl of fried rice she had made. She didn't know how to bring it up to let Hu Xingfa let her go. She didn't want to stay at home to take care of her grandmother. She used to think it was cruel for her mother to give her grandmother sleeping pills, but now, if given the chance, she felt she would do the same.
She had to leave. She wanted to leave S Province and never come back. She had already decided that once she got to university, she would ask Hu Xingfa for money under various pretenses. After graduation, she would marry her boyfriend from Beijing.
Stay in Beijing!
Yes!
"Grandma..."
As soon as Hu Qian spoke, Luo Meihong waved her hand and said tiredly,
"Qianqian, if you want to go to school outside of S Province, go ahead. I'll talk to your dad, and he'll agree."
Hu Qian's mind was full of prepared remarks, but she was interrupted.
"Grandma? Are you serious? But what about you?"
Luo Meihong's gaze fell on the dining table, which hadn't been wiped for a long time. She had thought a lot during this period. After much consideration, she realized that keeping her granddaughter Hu Qian by her side might lead to her retaliating against her son like her elder daughter in the future.
Besides, even if she attended university in the province, she couldn't take care of her.
"Yes, I mean it. Take good care of me for these two months, and you can report to school at the end of August."
"Okay, okay! Thank you, Grandma! When I graduate, I will definitely repay you well!"
With Luo Meihong's words, Hu Qian finally had the courage to tear open the new phone that Hu Xingfa had bought her. It wasn't the latest model, costing just over two thousand yuan. A year ago, Hu Qian wouldn't have even accepted a phone like this.
She inserted the SIM card, turned on the phone, and opened the computer to check her college entrance examination scores.
Looking at the scores on the computer screen, Hu Qian felt her blood run cold.
426 points, just 14 points above the minimum for a third-tier university.
How could she go to university in Beijing with such a score?
All her previous college applications had failed, and she was unlikely to be admitted!
Now, only two paths lay before Hu Qian. One was to repeat the year and take the college entrance examination again next year to go to Beijing. The second was to attend a vocational college in another province.
If that incident hadn't happened, Hu Qian felt she would have definitely preferred to repeat the year. But now, she just wanted to leave C City.
In the pitch-black room, the light from the computer screen shone on Hu Qian's face. She filled out an application for a vocational college in Beijing.
After finishing this, Hu Qian took out the new phone that Hu Xingfa had bought her. It wasn't the latest model, nor last year's flagship. It cost just over two thousand yuan. A year ago, Hu Qian wouldn't have even glanced at a phone like this.
Thinking of this, Hu Qian couldn't help but think of Zhang Lili.
"If only Mom hadn't been caught."
...
After a good night's sleep, for the next three days, Liu Chen took the three of them to visit most of the attractions in Shanghai. However, because Liu Chen stopped them, no one bought any so-called souvenirs.
"We just need to remember this trip in our hearts. Souvenirs are nothing more than mass-produced items."
After Liu Chen said this, Mi Zhuzhu stuck out her tongue and secretly put back the Shanghai commemorative coffee cup she had just held in her hand, ready to pay.
Thus, on their way back, the four of them had bulging backpacks. After getting off the plane and taking a taxi back to Phoenix City, they all went their separate ways.
Upon returning home, Liu Chen threw her spoils into the washing machine, pressed the start button, and after confirming that the clothes were being washed, she returned to her study.
She directly opened her laptop, woke up the screen, entered her password, and opened her personal interface.
She logged into QQ, clicked on the link sent by Ren Yu, registered an account, claimed the beginner's gift pack, and made an appointment for download.
Today was the official launch of "League of Legends." According to the data provided by Ren Yu, twenty thousand people had already downloaded the client, with fifty thousand coming from Weibo, a new channel.
It was estimated that by the time the server officially opened at 8 PM, the number of online players would reach about 150,000.
As for "League of Legends," in which she had an 8% profit share, Liu Chen never worried that it wouldn't be popular. The only concern was that the rapid increase in users might lead to server overload.
After a nap, she had dinner with her mother, Chen Long, and gave them the souvenirs she had brought back. Then, she returned to her computer and double-clicked the game icon.
She played until past 11 PM. When she looked up from the computer screen, only a few lights were still on in the residential area outside the window.
She stood up, performed the Eight Brocades Qigong three times, sweating profusely, and then went to the bathroom in the bedroom to wash up and take a bath.
Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
During this period, with Mi Zhuzhu by her side, coupled with the excitement of buying a house and the strange feeling of revisiting Shanghai with a large sum of money, she had temporarily suppressed the insecurity brought about by the system update.
"This won't do. I can't rely on the system. Although it has brought me many opportunities, I can't become its puppet. I should live this second chance according to my own will."
After saying this, Liu Chen felt a sudden clarity in her mind, and sleepiness washed over her. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.
She had traveled, she had been interviewed, and Liu Chen originally wanted to help at the shop, but her mother flatly refused and packed the four of them into a driving school to learn to drive.
The students of Class 6, Grade 3, were also getting bored at home. They had played games until their eyes were dry and they were tired of it. They had also visited all the places they wanted to. When they heard that Liu Chen and the others were going to learn to drive, they all followed.
The entire driving school became the base camp for Class 6, Grade 3 of the Normal University Affiliated High School. They took turns practicing driving every day. While waiting, they gathered nearby to play cards, practice makeup, and share gossip.
After a month of learning to drive, only Liu Chen and Mi Zhuzhu remained fair-skinned and tender in the entire driving school. The remaining male students of Class 6, Grade 3, had turned as black as coal.
When they spoke, their white teeth seemed even brighter.
Because they had performed well in the exams and had dinner together every day at noon, Liu Chen often felt that although Class 6, Grade 3, had already graduated, the spirit of Class 6, Grade 3, was still alive.
In early August, after receiving the penguin game dividends for July, Liu Chen flew to Shenzhen and bought two two-bedroom small apartments. After the transfer was completed, she handed them over to an agent for rental.
Then she flew to Sanya and bought a sea-view flat in Dadonghai, spending all her remaining money, leaving only a little over a hundred thousand yuan.
After everything was done, Liu Chen began to pack her luggage for Beijing.
Because of Liu Chen, almost half of the students from their Class 6, Grade 3, had applied to universities in Beijing. However, their enrollment dates varied. Liu Chen planned to go a bit earlier to move into her apartment in Beijing and decorate it.
Mi Zhuzhu, Ren Mo, and Lai Jielun naturally had no objections and followed along. Mi Zhuzhu and Lai Jielun intended to take a good look around Beijing before school started, while Ren Mo wanted to slack off at his elder brother's company.
The four of them discussed and decided. Liu Chen specifically informed Sang Ling, the liberal arts valedictorian. She also wanted to go earlier to familiarize herself with the environment. So, the five of them bought red-eye flight tickets to Beijing together.
The night before their departure, Liu Fang came home early from work to spend time with her Chenchen.
"We mother and daughter have never been apart for half a year. Thinking that you're going so far away, Mom is a little reluctant."
Liu Chen looked at her mother's lonely face and stepped forward to give her a gentle hug.
"Mom, I've grown up. It's time for me to try and fly on my own."