2003: The Opening Sniper Against the Financial Tycoon

"Still free and myself, forever singing my song... Forgive me for this life..."

The KTV had very poor soundproofing; even when Qin Hanyang walked onto the street, he could still faintly hear the singing.

He looked around at his surroundings with a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or reflection

Human memories are always filtered.

In the past, when I reminisced about the past, I felt that the sky would be bluer and the moon bigger and brighter.

But at this moment, everything is so ordinary and peaceful.

In his view, even the currently popular pedestrian street is full of an old-fashioned and backward atmosphere, eventually becoming what his generation calls the "old street".

"Qin Hanyang!"

A shout came from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

Qin Hanyang turned around and saw a girl approaching. She was wearing large black-rimmed glasses, was rather thin, and was wearing a school uniform with "Hongcheng No.1 Middle School" printed on it.

"You are... Jiangnan Yue?"

"Still drunk? Your eyesight's failing too?"

As Jiangnan Yue spoke, she stretched out a hand and waved it in front of Qin Hanyang.

This rustic yet somewhat adorable appearance reminded Qin Hanyang of a Japanese anime female character whose name he had forgotten from a past life.

But unlike them, the person in front of them was even more impressive; he was the top science student in their school's college entrance examination!

Qin Hanyang smiled and stopped her hand: "Is something the matter?"

"Here, this is a graduation gift for you."

The brief physical contact caused Jiang Nanyue to pull her arm back as quickly as a startled rabbit.

Then, with her other hand behind her back, she placed a gift box in a tote bag into Qin Hanyang's hand.

"What's inside?"

Seeing her flustered and disorganized state, Qin Hanyang was both amused and exasperated.

Jiangnan Yue shook her head, afraid he wouldn't accept it, and said with a shameless grin:

"You'll see when you take it back."

Qin Hanyang held it in his hand and weighed it in his hand. It felt heavy, like some kind of electronic product.

Although I don't know what it is, any electronic product on the market right now is quite expensive.

"A cell phone? I wouldn't dare accept something so valuable."

"It's not a cell phone..."

Upon hearing his guess, Jiang Nanyue quickly denied it, then waved her hand and turned to leave, saying, "Alright, I'm going to go play with them."

"Come back here!"

Qin Hanyang immediately called out to Jiang Nanyue, who jumped back in surprise, looking nervous and awaiting Qin Hanyang's judgment.

"Is there... anything else?"

Qin Hanyang didn't answer. He turned his gaze to a night market stall next to him, where an old man carrying a skewer of candied hawthorns was wandering around.

"Old Huang, give me a skewer of candied hawthorns!"

"One yuan a skewer."

The old man rushed over in a flash. He was a little puzzled by this unfamiliar young man. How did this young man know that his surname was Huang?

Qin Hanyang took out a five-yuan bill and casually handed the string of candied hawthorns to Jiang Nanyue.

"This is for you."

"Thanks!"

Seeing this, Jiangnan Yue happily accepted the string of candied hawthorns, reluctant to tear off the outer plastic film.

Qin Hanyang smiled.

I should at least return the favor with a gift, shouldn't I?

"Young man, I only have three yuan left in change, I can't make change, how about you buy another one for the beautiful lady?"

Old Huang interrupted the two of them from the side.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hanyang looked at him suspiciously, thinking to himself, "So this kind of rhetoric is used now?"

You should know that the five yuan he has in his hand represents all his current assets!

"Old Huang, how about we play rock-paper-scissors? If you win, I'll buy you another skewer; if I win, you give me a free one. How about that?"

Old Huang found this novel idea quite interesting and immediately agreed.

"Come on then!"

......

Ten minutes later.

Old Huang looked at his bare wooden stick, then touched the sweat on his bald forehead, and said, "A bet's a bet,"

"Young man, you're a master. I can't beat you. Let's meet again another day."

"OK."

Qin Hanyang nodded and handed the twenty-odd strings of candied hawthorns in his arms to Jiang Nanyue.

"These are for you too."

Jiangnan Yue accepted it with a wry smile, then watched Old Huang's departing figure, and said with some sympathy:

"Won't this guy have a hard time explaining to his wife when he gets home?"

Qin Hanyang laughed, "It's alright, that old guy's shrewd. He deliberately loiters around the late-night food stalls, only asking girls, his goal being to force the guys with girls to pay the bill! He's already made enough money!"

Qin Hanyang did not explain to her that this old Huang later became a local celebrity.

He often loses all the candied hawthorns in a drinking game with customers, and his habit of always going first or second in a row is unchanging.

He's addicted to food!

Qin Hanyang is determined to have him cornered today.

"But I can't eat that much."

Jiangnan Yue, holding this huge pile of candied hawthorns, was still somewhat at a loss.

"Then you can share some with the other students."

Qin Hanyang gestured towards the KTV with his lip. "Alright, I have to go back now. Thank you for the gift."

Then, without lingering any longer, he hurried home.

"Wait! Qin Hanyang!"

Jiangnan Yue suddenly caught up with them again.

Qin Hanyang asked, "Is there anything else?"

Jiangnan Yue looked at her with hopeful eyes: "Um... please don't give up on yourself. If you encounter any difficulties, we will all help you."

"Emm..."

Qin Hanyang didn't know what to say, so he just nodded to get through it.

Jiang Nanyue returned to the KTV room where her classmates had gathered.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, he laid out more than twenty strings of candied hawthorns on the table all at once.

A girl asked in confusion, "Yueyue, where did you buy so many candied hawthorns?"

Upon hearing this, Jiangnan Yue quickly explained, "This is Qin Hanyang treating everyone to this meal."

"???"

Everyone was taken aback.

"No way, we were just discussing how to donate money to him."

"Exactly, where did he get the money?"

"..."

-----------------

the other side.

Qin Hanyang walked slowly back, casually tearing open the outer packaging paper.

"Holy crap, it's an iPod!"

He was genuinely surprised now!

I originally thought it was just a small item costing a few hundred yuan, but now it's jumped to three thousand yuan!

Even buying them is difficult; in these places, you have to pay extra!

"Now we can really enjoy the gender advantage."

Qin Hanyang was well aware of the girl's feelings for him.

But in his previous life, he didn't have any feelings for the latter.

Throughout his adolescence, he had absolutely no interest in girls, and could even be described as completely numb and confused.

So I've never had any experience with being a "simp" or having a "white moonlight" (ideal love).

To be honest, he still doesn't know what Jiang Nanyue likes about him.

He only remembered that after entering university, he met Jiang Nanyue a few times by chance because they were all in the same city.

The latter, after taking off her glasses and school uniform, was exceptionally beautiful and was the goddess in the hearts of many boys during her university years.

It was only when he transferred to a school abroad that they finally lost contact.

"What exactly does Jiangnan Yue's family do?"

This was information that Qin Hanyang had never investigated in his previous life.

In my past life, out of my pitiful pride, I was too embarrassed to accept this girl's gift.

Now that I've accepted it, I feel like I owe someone a favor, especially since it's so expensive.

"Forget it, let's talk about it later. She only gave herself to me because she thought I was handsome and wanted my body. At worst, I'll just reluctantly give it to her once in the future."

......