I agreed to be a kept man, but I'm still being punished by the system.

Wednesday morning.

Enwei Group's Hair Care Division.

The tension that had lasted for a week finally eased.

After Su Man personally submitted the overseas study tour plan, which embodied the hard work of both departments, to the president's office, the atmosphere in the entire department seemed to lighten considerably.

The sound of the keyboard was no longer a rapid battle cry, but a leisurely afternoon tune, and the printer also fell into a rare silence.

The collaboration between the two business units has finally come to an end.

Lin Yang was finally able to catch his breath.

He leaned back in his company-provided office chair, stretched, and his joints made a series of fine, crisp cracking sounds.

Unlike He Xiaoya and Li Tong, he no longer needs to be busy organizing and archiving mountains of documents.

As Suman's personal assistant, his work pace completely followed that of the female director.

Su Man was resting, so he naturally had some free time as well.

He picked up the water glass on the table, got up and walked to the tea room to make himself a cup of coffee to perk himself up.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

An unfamiliar number, its location is listed as Huahai City.

Lin Yang frowned, not answering the call immediately, but thinking about the enemies he had recently made. Only Zhang Long was on the list, but he hadn't been in the country recently, so it couldn't be him.

But the phone number didn't seem like a pyramid scheme or insurance call, so he answered it anyway.

"Hello, is this Lin Yang?"

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

The voice was crisp and clear, with a hint of uncertainty, yet it also had a strange sense of familiarity, as if it had pierced through years of time and precisely plucked a string deep in his memory.

Lin Yang stopped holding his phone.

He almost instantly recognized the owner of the voice.

That handsome figure with a ponytail, wearing a blue and white school uniform, always buried in doing practice problems during breaks.

But he didn't immediately point it out; instead, he asked in a calm voice.

"It's me. And who are you?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft laugh, tinged with a hint of reproach.

"Ah, you can't even recognize my voice? Lin Yang, you've changed."

Lin Yang's lips unconsciously curved into a smile, his tone carrying a hint of embarrassment.

"I didn't recognize your voice before, but I do now. Oh, it's Dandan. What made you think of calling me?"

It's Gu Dandan.

His ideal woman from high school.

"Only Xiao Qing knows your phone number in Huahai. If she hadn't gone back to work in Linhai, I wouldn't even know your number." Gu Dandan's voice sounded much more relaxed.

"Back then, only Zhou Qing, Zhang Wei, and I from our class got into Huahai University. We were all from the same hometown, so we had to exchange phone numbers," Lin Yang explained.

"Now I've also been admitted to Huahai University."

He already knew about this from Zhou Qing, but he still pretended to be surprised and made a joke.

"Oh, you repeated a grade for so many years?"

"Retake the exam, my foot!"

Gu Dandan's clear laughter came through the receiver, dispelling the last bit of awkwardness.

"I'm a graduate student, and I got into the Department of Social Sciences at Aurora University."

"Ah, you're a graduate student now." Lin Yang's tone carried just the right amount of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, including admiration and surprise).

"Just like Xiao Qing said, you've changed a lot since high school. You even know how to joke now."

Lin Yang leaned against the door frame of the tea room and chuckled softly.

"Sigh, life really does teach us how to be reformed. Since you've come to Huahai, as your host, I should definitely treat you to a meal."

"Of course, I'll definitely make you pay for this." Gu Dandan's tone was full of self-righteousness.

"Absolutely," Lin Yang readily agreed.

"Okay, this Saturday, at 10 a.m., come to Aurora University and I'll show you around."

"Great, I've never been to a 985 university in my entire life."

"Hehe, I'm not going to talk nonsense with you anymore, I have class later."

See you on Saturday.

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Yang held his phone, and even the aroma of instant coffee in the break room couldn't pull him back to reality.

The night of his high school graduation prom involuntarily came to mind.

The lights were dim and the music was loud.

Wearing the suit his father had stolen, his palms were sweaty as he mustered all the courage he had ever had and cornered Gu Dandan in the corner of the corridor.

I can't remember what he said anymore.

All I remember is that the girl had her head down, her fingers nervously twirling the hem of her clothes, and finally said in a soft but clear voice that she wanted to focus on her studies and wasn't considering dating for the time being.

That was the first time he had ever confessed his feelings, and it ended in complete failure.

Back then, although he wasn't short, he was as thin as a stick, far from being as strong and well-built as he is now after four years of systematic training in the university's fitness club.

The past is now like smoke and rain.

Lin Yang's gaze snapped out of his brief reminiscence and became sharp and deep.

He is no longer the naive boy he was four years ago, who would toss and turn at night over a single rejection.

He possessed the "soft rice hard system," which gave him unimaginable wealth and opportunities, and the confidence and resources to handle any woman with ease.

An idea took clear shape in his mind.

Since I couldn't win over Gu Dandan back then, I'll just have to win her over on Saturday.

This is not about making up for the regrets of youth, but more like a self-conquest of the past.

He wanted to make the white moonlight he once looked up to completely submit to his present self.

With that thought in mind, Lin Yang no longer hesitated, returned to his workstation, and mentally summoned the system.

Pale blue virtual text instantly appeared on his retina.

[Host, how can I help you?]

"Exchange for intermediate combat skills."

His instructions were simple and direct, without a single unnecessary word.

[Okay, host, are you sure you want to redeem?]

Ok?

Lin Yang paused for a moment.

Why is the system asking for confirmation now? There wasn't this step when I redeemed the basic combat skills before.

The system quickly provided the answer in the next line of text.

[The host currently has 20 "soft rice points" at their disposal, and various skills within the system can be redeemed.]

It turned out to be the case.

The system was reminding him that this was a large expense.

"Well, we can think about those later. Let's focus on mastering the intermediate combat techniques first."

He knew very well that improving his fighting skills would bring far more than just enhanced self-defense or fighting abilities.

It's about a man's aura, confidence, and absolute control in any unexpected situation.

This is the underlying logic behind his "forced" living off a woman.

[Okay, exchange for Intermediate Fighting Skill. 200100 Soft Rice Points, exchange for 100000 points, 100100 points remaining.]

The moment the system finished speaking.

Another indescribable torrent suddenly burst from his tailbone, rushing wildly up his spine to his brain!

Countless images flashed through his mind, overlapped, and merged.

This time, the information is no longer just basic exercises, but includes techniques, skills, and even more importantly, the transmission of experience.

Boxing, kung fu, chokeholds, jujitsu, karate, mixed martial arts... all kinds of fighting techniques converge into information.

All of this is not learning, but rather implanting information into the brain.

This made Lin Yang tremble slightly at his workstation.

He Xiaoya shouted from her workstation, "Lin Yang, stop shaking!"

Lin Yang finally snapped out of his daze after receiving the message: "Sorry, Sister Xiaoya."

"I'm sorry, if you don't stop, I'll think you're looking at something you shouldn't be looking at at work."

He Xiaoya looked at him with disdain.