Don’t worry, I admit it!

Holding the knife in his hand brought Chen Ling a small measure of reassurance. After all, Jin Youde had always had the reputation of an old ox—he surely had plenty of unsavory acquaintances. Otherwise, his massage parlor and gaming rooms could never have operated so smoothly. So Chen Ling had no choice but to remain vigilant; it never hurt to be cautious with others. The reason he was taking such a risk was to keep the cash-out channel under his sole control—a different kind of caution, but caution all the same.

Fortunately, Jin Youde didn’t seem to have any intention of using force. He simply picked a dozen or so cards at random from the pile, verified them with his supermarket’s machine, and his grin grew even wider.

“Not bad, Xiao Chen! The cards are good—I’ll get your money.” With that, Jin Youde crouched down, opened a cabinet, and revealed a small safe.

A moment later, fifty-seven thousand six hundred yuan lay stacked in front of Chen Ling. It wasn’t an enormous sum; in his previous life, Chen Ling had seen far more cash. But the significance of this stack was entirely different—it meant his “Card Bull” business had finally connected every link in the chain.

“Thanks, Old Jin!” Chen Ling carefully packed up the money, ready to leave. Jin Youde, always hospitable, walked him to the door.

Once Chen Ling had disappeared through the school gates, Jin Youde pulled out his phone and made a call. Not long after, two idle-looking young men sauntered over from the direction of the gate and stopped in front of him.

“You got everything straight?” Jin Youde asked.

The buzz-cut youth in a tank top and jeans flexed his muscular arms and grinned. “Yeah, Brother De, we’ve got it all figured out—it’s a promotion from the telecom company…” He recounted Chen Ling’s movements in detail. Listening, Jin Youde pieced together the gist of Chen Ling’s money-making scheme.

Then the youth asked, “So, Brother De, what do you think? Should we rough the kid up a bit and scare him off, so we can keep this channel for ourselves?”

Jin Youde rubbed his nose and chuckled. “Sure, but don’t go overboard. He’s just a half-grown kid—if things get out of hand, it’ll only bring trouble.”

“Got it, Brother De. Leave it to us.” The buzz-cut youth flicked his tank top and set off to carry out his orders.

Jin Youde’s smile never wavered. Inwardly, he thought, Kid, don’t blame me for cutting off your income. Everyone’s just trying to survive.

He lit a cigarette, returned to the supermarket, and resumed his game of Fight the Landlord, becoming once more the harmless, good-natured shopkeeper…

…

When Chen Ling returned to the dormitory, Zhang Peng and Bao Zhenhai were still at their computers, responding to messages. Ruan Hui lay on his bed reading, but when he saw Chen Ling come in, he deliberately turned his back.

He assumed, of course, that Chen Ling had cozied up to Zhang Peng and that was why they’d partnered up today. No wonder Chen Ling’s attitude was so odd this morning—had he really “bowed for a bowl of porridge” all along? Contemptible! As for that money-making top-up scheme? Just a petty trick, nothing remarkable.

But Zhang Peng and Bao Zhenhai were of an entirely different mind when they saw Chen Ling return.

“Old Chen!”

“Master Ling!”

Both jumped up, so excited they didn’t even know what to say.

Chen Ling understood them best. He said nothing more, quietly unzipping his backpack and stacking the cash in thick bundles on the table.

Each slap of a bundle struck right at their hearts.

Bao Zhenhai’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he picked up two stacks, rifling through them like pages of a book, clicking his tongue in awe—this was the first time he’d ever seen so much cash.

Zhang Peng handled it with more composure—he’d seen ten or a hundred times as much cash before—but the gleam in his eyes was unmistakable.

Even Ruan Hui couldn’t resist a curious glance over his shoulder… only to be consumed with jealousy. So he buried his head again, trying to ignore the impact of that money, but the vivid red notes seemed seared into his mind, especially when he saw them in Bao Zhenhai’s hands. He could only curse the unfairness of fate.

“This money can’t be divided just yet…” Chen Ling’s words snapped everyone back to reality.

He continued, “Based on today, we’re likely to see several times more orders each day from now on. We’ll need all the cash we can get to keep up with the pace.”

Zhang Peng nodded. “Of course! You worked hard today, running all over the place.”

“Not at all. You two weren’t exactly idle either. How’s everything going?” Chen Ling smiled.

“We’ve pre-booked over a hundred orders, but…” Zhang Peng glanced at the still-buzzing QQ chat and gave a wry smile. “I think we might get over a thousand orders tomorrow.”

At this, Chen Ling felt a little troubled. Despite all his careful planning, he’d clearly underestimated some issues—the biggest being lack of capacity. With only two people taking orders, efficiency was too low, and there was only one person handling things at the service hall. If there really were a thousand orders, Lian Xiaohua would be busy from dawn to dusk. And if the numbers kept rising?

Thinking of this, Chen Ling said seriously, “I’ll try to find a solution. Also, we’d better bring in another person or two to help with order-taking.”

He turned to Ruan Hui. “Want to join us, Ruan Hui?”

Bao Zhenhai bristled at this, about to protest, but Zhang Peng stopped him with a gesture.

Ruan Hui didn’t even turn around, replying sullenly, “Count me out. This isn’t sustainable, if you ask me. You’re all too short-sighted, even quitting your internships for this…”

Bao Zhenhai couldn’t take it anymore and shot back, “I’m making several times my internship salary each month—how is that short-sighted? Isn’t work about making money?”

Ruan Hui sneered, “Ha, just for a month. And then what?”

“You—” Bao Zhenhai was about to retort, but Zhang Peng stopped him again and turned to Chen Ling.

Chen Ling waved Bao Zhenhai off. “If you’re not interested, we’ll find someone else.”

Only then did Bao Zhenhai realize Chen Ling had expected Ruan Hui to refuse, and had only asked to avoid future gossip. That level of tact, plus the whole Card Bull idea, made Bao Zhenhai’s opinion of him soar.

The three agreed Chen Ling would find more help, while Zhang Peng and Bao Zhenhai wrapped up their QQ chats and went to bed to rest.

After lights out, Chen Ling used the old phone Zhang Peng had given him to log into QQ and scan through some group messages.

As he was browsing, a friend request popped up. It was a girl named “№ Xin’er ※” from Qujiang Institute of Technology.

“Liu Xinyue?” Chen Ling immediately pictured that delicate, doll-like face and quickly accepted the request.

A message came at once: “Got a light, mister?”

Chen Ling replied, “It’s me. What a coincidence!”

“No coincidence. I was looking for you on purpose.”

“Is something wrong?”

“What, you borrow something and never return it?”

“??? You really want me to give you back your lighter?”

“Who said anything about that! I’m asking, did you tell the service hall manager that you’re my boyfriend?”

The words hit Chen Ling like a bucket of cold water—he froze.

He had no idea what Li Mingjiang might have said to the father and daughter later, but if this lie got exposed, his Card Bull business would be finished.

He absolutely could not let that happen!

He replied quickly, “Sorry! I was desperate. Please believe me, I meant no harm!”

“Haha, are you panicking? Relax, I admitted it. :P”

“You admitted it?” Chen Ling stared at the message in shock—then broke into a smile.