Lu Fan was still smiling and joking as he left.

But once he was actually gone, his expression turned somber.

Indeed.

These past years had been truly hard on her.

Elder Meng was right.

For the past eighteen years, she had juggled multiple roles, raised two children by herself, and endured the villagers’ gossip.

It was all caused by his past self—that scumbag.

’How could I have been such a scumbag?’ Lu Fan sighed. ’Looking back, I was just infatuated with those brainless, busty women. What a fool I was.’

Even though Jiang Yixia had made it clear she wouldn’t forgive him.

Lu Fan had his own methods.

You could never go wrong with shameless persistence.

This trick might not work on other women.

But for Jiang Yixia, it was a guaranteed success!

Lu Fan remembered how, back in the day, whenever he made Jiang Yixia angry, he would beg for her forgiveness by apologizing to her nonstop until she was placated.

’But of course... this time was different from their time together nineteen years ago.’

’It would take some time.’

’His best bet now was to focus on the children.’

Jiang Silu was a given; her impression of him had already started to change after their last few meetings.

Jiang Sifan, on the other hand...

They hadn’t been in contact at all since the boy drew a line in the sand.

’I wonder how my son’s startup is going. I’m actually looking forward to seeing it.’

...

「That evening.」

In a dorm room at the Jinling Institute of Technology.

Jiang Sifan was stressing out.

Half an hour earlier, he had received a message from his senior, Pan Lindong.

Pan Lindong: [Dude, what’s going on?! How have you not raised the startup capital yet? Senior Jinhua keeps bugging me about it. He says if you can’t pull it off, he’s just going to find someone else. He doesn’t want to waste any more time on this.]

Jiang Sifan saw the message and immediately replied: [Sorry, senior. I’m working on raising the money right now. I’ll have it soon.]

Pan Lindong: [Alright, I’ll give you one more day. Senior Jinhua happens to be free tomorrow afternoon. Once you have the money, come to our company.]

Jiang Sifan: [Okay.]

Pan Lindong: [If you’re really serious about this, you could just ask your parents for the startup money. There’s no shame in it. After all, once this project gets off the ground, we’ll be making 20,000 a month!]

Jiang Sifan: [I get all that, senior, but I’m too embarrassed to ask my mom. I’ll figure something out.]

Pan Lindong: [Anyway, tomorrow afternoon is the latest, okay? If you miss that, and Senior Jinhua finds someone else to partner with, I won’t be able to help you. You know we hit it off right away, and I feel like we have a real connection, which is why I’ve been pushing for you to work with Senior Jinhua.]

Jiang Sifan: [I know, senior. I really appreciate it.]

Pan Lindong: [Okay, I’ll let you go then. Think it over.]

Jiang Sifan: [Okay, senior. I’ll definitely have the money and be at the company on time tomorrow afternoon.]

After the chat ended, Jiang Sifan climbed into bed.

His dorm mate, Gao Lao, seemed to notice his mood.

He asked, "Sifan, what’s up? Did you get into a fight with your girlfriend?"

"Huh? No, nothing like that," Jiang Sifan explained.

Qiu Zai, who was playing games on the floor below the bunks, chimed in, "Yeah, Sifan, you’ve seemed really down the last couple of days. If something’s bothering you, tell us about it so we can have a good laugh."

"You’re ruthless, man," Brother Ming, who was brushing his teeth, joked.

That’s just how guys in a college dorm are.

The guy who grabs you food is your "godfather."

When you need a favor, you have to call him "Dad."

They worry when you’re struggling, but they also dread the day you show up in a Range Rover.

Their teasing made Jiang Sifan crack a smile, so he decided to just ask for their advice. "I’m trying to get a campus startup project going, but I need some capital. I’m still short seven thousand yuan, and I have no idea where to scrape it together."

"Ask me!" Gao Lao puffed out his chest. "I’ll lend you two hundred."

"I’ll lend you three hundred."

"And I’ll lend you four hundred."

The three of them spoke with grand generosity, but the amounts they offered were small.

Jiang Sifan politely refused them one by one. "Alright, alright. I know your parents only give you guys a little over a thousand a month for living expenses. One of you needs it for dating, and the other has to spend money on in-game purchases. You should keep your money. Even if you gave me all of it, I’d still be miles away from my goal."

Gao Lao then asked curiously, "Oh, right, Sifan. Why don’t you ask your parents?"

That question struck a nerve with Jiang Sifan.

He immediately shook his head. "I don’t want to ask my mom."

That’s right—he didn’t mention his father. In Jiang Sifan’s mind, Lu Fan didn’t deserve to be called his dad.

Just then, Qiu Zai, having finished a match of *Honor of Kings*, stretched and said, "If all else fails, just use a loan app like Huabei or Du Xiaoman. If your startup really makes money, you’ll just have to pay some service fees later. And if it doesn’t, you can figure out how to pay it back then."

Brother Ming shook his head. "No way. Taking out online loans is a bad idea. We’re only freshmen. Didn’t they just make it clear at the student assembly the other day that college students are forbidden from taking out online loans?"

"Brother Ming, you’re worrying for nothing. The people who get in trouble with online loans are either gambling it all away or spending it on prostitutes from the art school—all high-end expenses. Sifan just needs a few thousand for his startup. If it really fails, he can just be honest with his parents, and they’ll understand. Worst-case scenario, the four of us can tighten our belts, give him our allowance, and live on instant noodles for a month."

Brother Ming listened to Qiu Zai but still thought it was a bad idea. He looked at Jiang Sifan and said, "Sifan, I really think you should find another way."

Jiang Sifan didn’t say anything. He had already thought of every possible solution.

’It seemed like this was his only option now.’

He downloaded a loan app, intending to borrow seven thousand yuan.

He registered with his real-name authenticated phone number, completed the text message verification, and set a login password.

To his surprise, for a small loan of under twenty thousand yuan, the system’s approval was automatic. The loan was approved in just a minute or two!

’No wonder the school bans students from using online loans. Getting the money is way too easy.’

But Jiang Sifan was rational. He only borrowed seven thousand yuan.

Not a single cent more.

He was well aware of how these loans worked, with their compounding interest.

Once the hole got too big, he’d just be robbing Peter to pay Paul.

With everything settled, Jiang Sifan had finally scraped together the ten thousand yuan for his startup capital.

During this time, Huang Hui sent him a message.

Huang Hui: [Babe, what are you up to?]

But Jiang Sifan didn’t reply right away. Instead, his mind drifted back to the scene at the hotel.

’Normally when they were out, her parents never initiated a video call. Why did they suddenly want to video chat the moment they got a hotel room?’

But even with his suspicions, he chose to trust her for now.

’After all, seeing is believing. He had to investigate and find out for sure first.’

He just wasn’t as cheerful as he had been yesterday. After a bit of small talk, they said their goodnights.

Huang Hui clearly noticed the shift in Jiang Sifan’s mood.

But she didn’t pay it too much mind. Instead, she sat down in her chair, secretly took out the designer bag, snapped a picture of it, and began to admire it.

「The next day.」

As soon as his classes were over, Jiang Sifan immediately hailed a cab to Zhuoyue Limited Company.

"Hey, Senior Lindong, I’m downstairs at the building. I’m coming up now."

"Great, great, hurry on up. Senior Jinhua and I are waiting for you in the office," Pan Lindong said excitedly.