Financial Independence through Cracked Apps-Chapter 83 - 82: Invitation
Lin Shen sighed to himself, then waved a greeting.
"Hello!"
"Have you been waiting long?"
Jiang Wan walked up to Lin Shen and gave him a gentle smile, then proceeded to introduce them to each other.
"This is Xu Lu. She was my college roommate, and we’re housemates now."
"And this is the junior I was telling you about, Lin Shen, who’s a year below us."
’So handsome!’
After looking Lin Shen up and down, Xu Lu covered her mouth with one hand in surprise. She looked a little nervous as she shook his hand and exclaimed.
"You’ve changed so much! I remember you being pretty average in college. How did you get so handsome these past few years? Do you have any secrets? I want to make my man try them."
"Exercise more, eat more fruits and vegetables, stay up less, and the most important thing..."
Lin Shen chuckled.
"Love yourself well."
"I get it."
Although what Lin Shen said was all very generic—even the kind of "get handsome" tips you often see online.
But in real life, how many people could actually do all of that?
Just the "stay up less" part would eliminate a huge number of people.
Seeing Xu Lu nod in agreement, Jiang Wan smiled and asked a favor of Lin Shen.
"Would you mind giving her a ride to her office?"
"Of course."
"Oh, that’s too much trouble..."
Xu Lu made a polite protest, but after seeing that Lin Shen didn’t mind, she grinned and got into the back seat of the Jaguar XFL.
"Thanks!"
Once inside the car, Xu Lu was surprised to find that the back seat felt incredibly spacious for her 5’5" frame; she could even move her feet around freely.
So she immediately whipped out her phone, snapped a photo that included Lin Shen in the driver’s seat and Jiang Wan in the passenger’s seat, and then posted it to her Moments with a caption.
[I’m finally riding in my bestie’s boyfriend’s car! Hope they live happily ever after!]
A moment later, a message came from Xu Lu’s boyfriend.
[Stinky Pig: Babe, I saw your Moments post. Jiang Wan found a boyfriend?]
[Xu Lu: Yep~]
[Stinky Pig: Her boyfriend is no simple character. A Jaguar XFL costs over 400,000 to get on the road. And people who drive cars like that are usually super low-key; you can never really tell how powerful they are.]
[Xu Lu: He is pretty impressive, but you’re not bad either (love you)]
*
After Lin Shen drove Xu Lu to the building where she worked, he suddenly noticed several mobile food carts selling breakfast by the side of the street.
Seeing this, Jiang Wan perceptively asked.
"Have you eaten breakfast?"
"No."
"Then I’ll go buy some buns."
Jiang Wan got out of the car, bought a few meat buns and a cup of soy milk from a small stall, and returned to hand them to Lin Shen.
"Here, eat."
"Thanks."
While Lin Shen ate his breakfast, Jiang Wan briefly went over the shops she needed to "check in" at today.
There were four in total, all located relatively close to each other.
Lin Shen glanced at the map and formulated a plan as he ate.
"First, we’ll hit the two dessert shops. Then, the Japanese restaurant for lunch. And we’ll finish with the DIY craft place."
"I was thinking the same thing."
Jiang Wan smiled gently. Noticing a crumb on the corner of Lin Shen’s mouth, she pulled a wet wipe from her bag, wiped it for him, and then tossed the wipe into a small trash bag she had ready.
"So, shall we head to the first dessert shop?"
"Mhm."
Seeing that Lin Shen had finished his breakfast, Jiang Wan casually took the trash from his hand. Her gentle and considerate gesture left him feeling a bit overwhelmed by the attention, and he immediately teased with a light chuckle.
"Jiang Wan, whoever marries you will be getting the deal of a lifetime!"
"Then why don’t I let you have this deal?"
Jiang Wan retorted with a grin, and Lin Shen readily agreed.
"Of course you can. I’d be delighted."
"Stop being a smart aleck and focus on driving."
They both knew the other was joking, but who could say for sure that there wasn’t a kernel of truth in their banter?
Lin Shen turned the steering wheel with his left hand and, with his right, pulled up a popular playlist, letting a gentle melody drift through the car.
When Jiang Wan heard it, she suddenly began to hum along softly.
"I may be a woman of a thousand charms, but I am no good match~"
"Who will be so lucky, to waste a lifetime on me~"
When Jiang Wan hummed this kind of guofeng song, with its charming trills, her mellow voice took on an entirely different kind of allure.
Hearing it for the first time, Lin Shen was completely immersed in their impromptu duet, and he couldn’t help but praise her.
"Jiang Wan, I had no idea you sing so beautifully."
"I’m just so-so."
Jiang Wan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I learned some singing techniques when I was little, but I gave up when I realized I didn’t have much talent for it."
"You can dance and you can sing. So multi-talented."
Lin Shen added a compliment.
Compared to a career-focused ice queen like Qin Yuenan, a gentle, big-sister type like Jiang Wan was probably more popular with guys.
But Lin Shen was greedy; he liked them both.
’It all comes down to my own skills and character build...’
After driving for over half an hour, Lin Shen finally found the dessert shop, tucked away in a small alley.
Half-Spoon Galaxy.
"..."
The moment he saw the name, Lin Shen understood why this shop needed to advertise to attract customers.
’This name is way too artsy!’
If it weren’t for the ice cream logo on the bottom right of the sign, who would even know it was a dessert shop?
Lin Shen followed Jiang Wan into the shop, and the interior decor immediately caught his eye.
The space wasn’t large, but the layout was extremely efficient. The overall style was vintage, with alternating dark red and beige-brown walls. Arches and wooden partitions were used to divide the area into different sections and booths.
To the right of the counter, there was even a themed wall with a telephone booth and a gramophone, perfect for girls to take photos and post online.
Of course, judging whether a dessert shop was worth visiting wasn’t just about the interior design; the quality of its desserts was also crucial.
"Hello."
Seeing a customer enter, the shop owner immediately came out from behind the counter to greet them and recognized Jiang Wan at a glance.
"You must be ’Shui Yanwei,’ right?"
"Yes."
"Hello, hello!"
The shop owner proactively shook Jiang Wan’s hand with a polite smile.
"I’m the owner of this shop, Zeng Chang. Welcome, and thank you for coming to our shop to promote it!"
"It’s just a collaboration. No need to be so formal."
After some small talk with Zeng Chang, he led Jiang Wan and Lin Shen to the most comfortable private room in the shop.
A dark brown sofa paired with a wooden floor created a rich, vintage atmosphere. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
There was even an old-fashioned radio and some vinyl records on a table in the corner; it was clear a lot of thought had gone into the decor.
"I was hoping you could help us recommend a few of our signature desserts. I’ll bring them out one by one for you to taste, is that okay?"
"Okay."
After Zeng Chang left, Jiang Wan asked Lin Shen.
"What do you think of the atmosphere here?"
"It’s pretty nice."
Lin Shen looked around, casually scanned the QR code on the table, and shook his head after glancing at the menu.
"It’s just that the desserts are a bit pricey. The cheapest one is over thirty."
"Everything is free for us this time."
Jiang Wan blinked her beautiful eyes and gave a cute smile.
"Plus, there’s a guaranteed payment of six hundred yuan. If the post gets a lot of likes, my cut might even be over a thousand!"
"It pays that well?"
Lin Shen raised an eyebrow, his expression slightly surprised.
He really hadn’t expected that an influencer like Jiang Wan could earn hundreds or even thousands from a single sponsored post.
’Or is it simply because she has a lot of followers?’
"Actually, my rates are on the low end."
Jiang Wan explained to Lin Shen.
"Some influencers who bring their own professional equipment can make several thousand from one sponsored post."
"I’m still new to this. If my Xiaohongshu followers hadn’t started growing recently, I’d probably only be making two or three hundred."
"You have an account on Xiaohongshu too?"
"Yes."
Jiang Wan showed Lin Shen her social media account on Xiaohongshu. It had the same name as her Douyin account, and her follower count had already surpassed two hundred thousand.
"Douyin is mainly for shooting videos, and Xiaohongshu is mainly for making guides."
"You must be pretty busy then."
Lin Shen said with concern.
"Your main job is being a counselor, and in your spare time, you have to edit videos and prepare copy. You don’t even have a team to help you. Isn’t that exhausting?"
"It is."
Jiang Wan gave a tired smile, but there wasn’t much complaint in her voice.
"But as long as I can make money, all the exhaustion is worth it."
"..."
’Life isn’t easy for anyone!’
Lin Shen sighed inwardly. Just then, Zeng Chang personally brought over the dessert.
It looked a bit like a volcano, its surface dotted with what looked like raisins and crushed hawthorn, with two Oreo cookies stuck on top.
"This is called a Lava Burst Basque Cheesecake."
Zeng Chang explained.
"The burnt spots on the surface are especially crisp, while the inside is molten cheese lava. It will burst when you cut into it."
"It might look a bit sweet, but we pair it with a raspberry sauce to cut through the richness. A must-try for any cheese lover."
"You can just introduce it like that."
"Mhm."
Jiang Wan silently noted down the owner’s description in her phone’s notepad, then turned to Lin Shen with a smile.
"I’ll be relying on you for the photos."
"Okay."
Lin Shen took a camera out of his bag, which surprised Jiang Wan slightly.
"You really bought it?"
"Brother Sun recommended it so strongly. How could I not buy it?"
Last night, Lin Shen had looked up some information online to learn how to make food look more appealing in photos.
He found that he learned with unexpected efficiency.
This made Lin Shen suddenly realize that the "Improved Photography Skill" from the [Photo Album and Camera] also included the ability to *learn* how to take photos.
All the professional jargon and photography knowledge he hadn’t understood before, he now grasped completely at a glance.
This made Lin Shen suddenly develop a keen interest in photography.
After all, once a person realizes they have a talent for something, they tend to quickly grow to like it, and then to love it.
Lin Shen first found a good angle and used a macro lens to capture the dessert’s details in a close-up shot.
Then, he had Jiang Wan lean forward over the table, turning her face to look out the window.
He stood up and stepped back, composing a shot that incorporated the dessert, the person, and the shop’s environment to create a sense of atmosphere.
Finally, he had Jiang Wan pretend to eat the dessert with a spoon, capturing the cheesy pull.
"Done!"
He got it all in one take; there was no need for a second pass.
When Lin Shen showed the photos to Jiang Wan, she praised him with amazement.
"Amazing! Lin Shen, you’re really talented at photography!"
"I just enjoy it, that’s all. I wouldn’t say I’m talented."
Lin Shen said modestly. Seeing this, the smile playing on Jiang Wan’s lips grew wider.
"Since you enjoy photography so much, how about I be your model from now on?"
