I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

"Hey! What are you thinking about?"

Shen Kang was jolted out of his reverie and saw Li Xiangjun waving a hand in front of him, staring at him with a suspicious look on her face.

"It's nothing." Shen Kang chuckled dryly, then casually asked, "By the way, Sister Jun, what kind of work are you doing now? Are you still working in an electronics factory?"

Li Xiangjun only briefly mentioned her work to Shen Kang in later generations, without going into detail about the specific timelines of each stage. Therefore, Shen Kang was not entirely sure where Li Xiangjun was at that time.

Li Xiangjun looked a little awkward. She smoothed her hair, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I quit the electronics factory and now I sell beer; I earn more money that way."

"Just to earn a little more?"

"What else could it be?" Li Xiangjun rolled her eyes at him, then ignored Shen Kang and opened MapleStory Online on her desktop, ready to play a few rounds.

"So how much do you earn a month now?"

Why are you asking this?

"Just out of curiosity."

"The commission is not fixed. I heard from my colleagues that during the peak season, some people can earn 6,000 a month if they do well, and normally they can earn 3,000 to 4,000. But I just started and I'm not familiar with the job yet. Last month, my salary was a little over 2,400. This month, it should be more than 3,000."

It seems that Li Xiangjun has indeed just started working as a beer girl.

Shen Kang fell silent, lost in thought: "A waiter in a small restaurant in Yangcheng earns about 1500 yuan a month, a recent graduate from a second-tier university earns around 2100, and those with popular majors can earn around 2500. Li Xiangjun has only been working for a little over a month and already earns over 3000, and it's likely to go even higher in the future. She's definitely earning a lot."

I need to come up with a startup project as soon as possible, then get Li Xiangjun to work for me and give her room to grow...

Shen Kang did not intend to give Li Xiangjun the money directly.

He will give her hope, just as Li Xiangjun requested before she died, and then let Li Xiangjun herself answer her question.

He thought that Li Xiangjun herself would also want to know the answer.

……

That evening, Shen Kang moved into his new home in Shenlan Waterfront.

Upon entering his bedroom, the bathroom is on the right, and further in is the bedroom itself. To the right is a wardrobe, and in the middle is a two-meter-long bed. A desk is by the window, and two decorative paintings hang on the wall. The overall color scheme is yellow and white, fresh and elegant, with a potted green plant in the corner adding a touch of life.

Shen Kang didn't have much luggage, so moving was easy. He also bought some other things: shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, towels, and other daily necessities.

The most expensive new item was a Huashuo M50 laptop, priced at 9999 yuan. I didn't buy a desktop computer because I'll be going to university soon and will be spending most of my time at school.

The internet cables are readily available, 20M from China Telecom, which is considered very fast internet speed in Yangcheng these days.

After putting away some personal belongings, the bedroom finally felt a bit more human.

Shen Kang threw himself onto the bed, looked up at the ceiling, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional: even in his later life, he had never lived in such a big house. The second bedroom plus the bathroom was as big as the living room of his house in his later life.

However, this "home" is more like a hotel.

For the next two days, Shen Kang didn't see Zhou Man and Xiao Bonian even once, as both of them left early and returned late.

Of course, Shen Kang wasn't much better off. He also went out early in the morning, wandering around the entire city of Manyang, looking for entrepreneurial projects. He ate all his meals outside and didn't return until late at night.

That day was even more outrageous; he didn't return until almost dawn—he had gone to inspect Yangcheng's nightlife, to see if there were any projects available for various nighttime businesses.

So when he opened his eyes that day, it was already 5 p.m.

This body is so young; the quality of sleep is amazing. It's been sleeping soundly until now. If this were in later times, when people need less sleep, it would probably wake up around noon.

After stretching and yawning, Shen Kang went to the bathroom to wash up quickly before heading out.

As soon as he reached the living room, he stopped in his tracks.

The sunlight at this time is no longer bright; it has a hazy yellow tint, streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Along the long bar counter separating the living room and the study, a young girl sat on a high stool, her back to them.

She wore a beige chiffon dress that cascaded down her back. Her long, smooth, black hair was styled differently than usual, with several small braids interspersed among them. A simple black and gold hair clip was pinned to the back of her head. Her two fair and slender arms were placed on the bar counter, fiddling with something.

There are several dolls.

The doll she's holding in her left hand appears to be a male office worker.

"Hey, honey, I'm home from get off work."

She deliberately imitated a very rough voice, which sounded a bit naive.

At the same time, he held the doll in his left hand, shaking and moving it to simulate walking.

As for the doll she's holding in her right hand, it's a housewife figure, holding a spatula.

"Ah, honey, you're back."

She then deliberately mimicked a very high-pitched voice, shaking the housewife doll in her right hand, "Why did you come back empty-handed? Today is the child's birthday, didn't you buy a present?"

She suddenly lifted the male doll she was holding in her left hand and imitated a rough, silly voice, "Ah, I forgot, what should I do, wife?"

Then her voice became softer, and she shook the housewife doll in her right hand, "Really, I knew you would forget, so I already bought it."

Then came a rough,憨憨 (simple-minded) voice, "Wife, you're so good!" and the two dolls were brought together with both hands, as if in a hug.

She chuckled softly to herself, a soft, bell-like sound, her own natural voice.

After some fuss, the child finally appeared. She was a smaller doll, and judging from her appearance, she was a girl, carrying a schoolbag.

"Wow, it's my birthday!"

She temporarily put down the two large dolls and picked up the small doll, moving it up and down repeatedly as if jumping with joy, using her own voice instead.

"Mom and Dad, let's sing 'Happy Birthday' together."

After saying that, she put down the small doll and went to get the two large dolls.

Just as I picked up the two large dolls and was about to put them together with the small dolls, a lazy voice came from the side.

"Hey, I'm home, old lady! I'm out of money, can you give me some?"

Accompanying the sound was a man's hand holding a mannequin riding a motorcycle, slowly moving forward on the table as if driving a motorcycle.

He Qiuzhu was startled and abruptly raised her head.

Shen Kang sat down in front of her, still holding the man doll riding a motorcycle in his hand. He looked indifferent, with a bit of a roguish air, like a little hooligan.

He Qiuzhu's face flushed red instantly, like a teapot with bubbles, and she looked very flustered, her hands gripping the two dolls tightly.

"Why are you...at home?"

She asked the question in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

Shen Kang acted as if he hadn't heard her, not even glancing at her. He simply stomped on the motorcycle mascot, his voice even more thuggish, "Hey, old woman, didn't you hear me? I said I need some money! I'm getting angry!"

Seeing that Shen Kang wasn't looking at her, He Qiuzhu calmed down a little, but still didn't speak. After a while, she whispered, "Who are you?"

Shen Kang stomped the man on the bar counter again. "I'm Xiao Kang, the eldest son of this family, Xiao Ya's brother, a frivolous teenager who doesn't go to school, a petty hoodlum. Enough talk, hand over the money! I heard you've prepared some money for that little girl's college education, give it to me now!"

He had been searching around for a long time, looking for either dinosaurs or superheroes, and this was the only one who looked like a normal person. So he could only go with this persona; it wasn't that he was inherently evil.

"..."

He Qiuzhu finally moved, placing the housewife doll in front of the motorcycle doll, and said in a high-pitched voice, "No, that's for Xiaoya's college education, you can't take it!"

"Hey, old woman, don't make me do it!"

She switched back to her usual gruff voice: "Xiao Kang, you're not allowed to call your mother 'old woman'!"

"Old man, don't think I'm afraid of you. I practice Wing Chun!"

……

At the same time, at Yangcheng University, in Building A3, Xiao Bonian hurried downstairs and bumped into a male teacher.

"Professor Xiao, where are you going? Don't forget the dinner party tonight."

"Teacher Wang, I'm sorry, I have something to do today, so I won't be able to attend the dinner party tonight."

After saying that, he walked past Teacher Wang and was about to continue downstairs.

Teacher Wang was taken aback and quickly stopped him. "No, Professor Xiao, didn't I already say? Although Teacher Lin might not go, she said she'd go if she had time. It would be a shame if she went and you weren't there."

Then, lowering her voice, she said, "Her husband is a member of the judging panel, and he has your vote in his hands."

Xiao Bonian hesitated for a moment, but still refused: "You said it yourself, she might not even go. Even if she does go, you know I'm not good with words, so I might not be able to make the connection."

Teacher Wang shook her head, "That's not how it works. You have to try. Given your current situation, the competition is fierce. You have to try your best for every opportunity."

Xiao Bonian shook his head again. "I really have something to do. Teacher Wang, I'm so sorry to have troubled you so much this time. I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow... no, next week. I'll treat you to dinner next week at the Hyatt."

Seeing his expression, Teacher Wang was certain that something was really wrong, so she stopped trying to persuade him: "Alright, it seems you really have something to do. You're right, even if you go, you might not run into him, and even if you do, you might not be able to make contact. Professor Xiao, if you have something to do, go ahead and take care of it. Forget about the dinner invitation."

"No, no, no, I definitely have to treat you to this meal."

Xiao Bonian chatted with Teacher Wang a couple more times before saying goodbye, hurriedly going downstairs to get his car and heading towards Shenlan Waterfront.

On the way, the scene from earlier flashed through my mind:

Just now, Shen Kang sent him a text message asking him to check his QQ.

After he opened QQ, he saw that Shen Kang had sent him a photo. According to the photo information, it was taken with the digital camera that he had brought with him.

The photo shows He Qiuzhu sitting at the bar, holding a doll.

Below is Shen Kang's explanation:

I just remembered, today is June 20th, her birthday. She's playing house by herself, making up a mom and dad to celebrate her birthday. If you have time, I hope you can come over and celebrate her birthday with her. If you're coming, don't come upstairs yet when you get downstairs, send me a message first, and I'll let you come up then.