Chapter 4

Lu Wuqi, who still had over five hundred yuan in her pocket, walked into the internet cafe. After seeing the promotion at the front desk—recharge three hundred and get two hundred hours of internet time—she decisively spent more than half of her money.

Lu Wuqi needed a relatively quiet environment, so she skipped the noisy main hall and chose a pricier single-person booth instead.

Earning over ten thousand yuan in twenty-two days was simple for Lu Wuqi. She just needed to spend some time studying the stock market and run a quick short-term trade.

But the problem was that her starting capital was too low. After spending three hundred yuan to recharge her internet time in one go, she was left with just a little over two hundred yuan in her pocket again.

【Host, how are you going to make money?】 The Redemption System couldn’t help but pop up to ask. Lu Wuqi had been browsing web pages for over an hour now and had even splurged on a five-yuan bottle of soda. This didn’t look like a way to make money at all.

“Take on some quick jobs first and save up a bit of cash,” Lu Wuqi replied.

In the other world, Lu Wuqi had started off on pretty solid footing. From the age of five, after being adopted by the Lu Family, she received a fixed allowance every month. After fifteen years of targeted training, twenty-year-old Lu Wuqi had completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees ahead of schedule and entered the Lu Group as a high-level employee.

It took Lu Wuqi eight years to rise from high-level employee at the Lu Group to its leader, turning the Lu Group from national top three to world number one in just seven years.

During that time, what Lu Wuqi needed to think about was how to make money generate more money—turning one hundred billion into one trillion—not true rags-to-riches bootstrapping.

Fortunately, after fifteen years of the Lu Family’s targeted cultivation, Lu Wuqi had learned a ton. She was a jack-of-all-trades when it came to making money. Plus, with all the job rotations at the Lu Group, she really knew a little about everything and could do a bit of it all.

After spending over an hour figuring out the rules of a certain forum, Lu Wuqi found her ideal gig in the featured posts—making money by modifying and completing core code.

Her account was brand new with no impressive resume to show, so she could only take on small jobs like helping students with homework or making simple games with embedded ads.

Even so, by the end of the day, Lu Wuqi had earned more than working at a milk tea shop or doing one-on-one tutoring. After rounding down, she had a clean one thousand yuan in income.

Seeing her balance jump from three digits to four, Lu Wuqi expertly cleared all traces of her activity from the computer. Before five in the afternoon, she logged off and left the internet cafe.

–

The summer sun never set until after six. At just before five, it still hung steadily in the sky.

After leaving the air-conditioned internet cafe for the street, Lu Wuqi’s whole body rebelled against the over-thirty-degree outdoor heat. The glaring sunlight made her squint involuntarily.

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.

She had only enjoyed the cafe’s AC for half the day, yet her body had perfectly adapted to the comfort and now despised the sweltering heat.

Lu Wuqi pulled out her phone to check the time. She first got a new SIM card nearby, then headed to a stationery store in the area.

She had met her money-making goal for the day, but she hadn’t even prepared for writing that heartfelt handwritten apology letter.

Like, what pen to use? A4 paper, loose-leaf, or a notebook?

For ten thousand words, it’d take a lot of pages. Should she buy a bigger notebook?

Or maybe a pretty hand account notebook? Add some decorations to the apology?

Would that seem too frivolous? Or more sincere?

Lu Wuqi’s mind buzzed with all sorts of questions—happy troubles she’d never faced before.

The stationery store’s flashy notebooks and tools delayed her a full twenty minutes. In the end, she picked a water-ink fountain pen that let her mix her own colors and a palm-sized hand account notebook with one hundred twenty pages.

The hand account notebook was about the size of Lu Wuqi’s hand. With fingers spread, she could perfectly grip its edges. If arranged well, ten thousand words of apology could just about fill it up.

But like this, it felt more like a gift than an apology?

Lu Wuqi weighed the notebook in her hand and handed her chosen pen and inks to the owner.

“A total of one hundred eight yuan. How would you like to pay?” The owner swiftly scanned the barcodes and thoughtfully pulled a nice paper bag from under the counter, packing everything inside. It was as if this made it hard for Lu Wuqi to say she didn’t want it.

One hand account notebook, two water-ink fountain pens, and three small bottles of ink—for one hundred eight yuan?

Lu Wuqi instinctively glanced at the price display. Seeing the notebook cost seventy-eight yuan, she couldn’t help but frown.

The price-tag assassin had struck the habitually big-spending Lu Wuqi. But thinking that this apology was for Lan Xu, she silently pulled out her phone, brought up the payment code, and said, “Mobile pay.”

The hand account notebook was going to her girlfriend sooner or later anyway. A bit expensive was fine—as long as it was pretty.

Good thing she had earned a thousand today. Otherwise, her entire savings couldn’t have bought even a couple of these notebooks!

–

Carrying the paper bag out, the sun had shifted a tiny bit westward, and the perceived temperature had dropped. Walking the streets felt much more comfortable now.

Recalling the ingredients she’d seen in the fridge last night, Lu Wuqi headed to the nearby market, planning to buy extra produce to take home.

Drinks and food at the internet cafe were extra, and twenty yuan for a bowl of noodles might as well be two carp at home for dinner.

Lu Wuqi mentally tallied as she picked ingredients based on the dishes she remembered from family meals. As her shopping bags filled up, her balance dropped back to three digits.

Riding a shared bike home, the sun was just setting, leaving behind some reddish clouds.

Carrying her full load of ingredients inside, Lu Wuqi was unsurprisingly “scolded” by Mother Lu.

“You child, why did you buy so much? One fish is enough—three people can’t finish two.”

“Why so much pork, chicken, and beef? The fridge is almost full…”

“Next time, don’t buy so much. All this might not get eaten in a week…”

Lu Wuqi stood in the living room, watching Mother Lu open the plastic bags to inspect while “scolding” her—noting the slightly upturned corners of her mouth despite the complaints.

“Mom, I found a new part-time gig. I’ll eat lunch and dinner at home from now on,” Lu Wuqi said. “I want beef noodles tomorrow at noon.”

“Eating at home from now on? What job did you switch to? The commute won’t be an issue?” Mother Lu asked with concern, her smile widening a bit more.

“No issue. Just helping people write some code online,” Lu Wuqi explained. “Mom knows I majored in programming, so I know a bit about it. I can learn and earn at the same time.”

Per Lu Wuqi’s plan, she’d be holing up in internet cafes for the rest of her time here. To avoid worrying her mom, she needed to share the key details.

Mother Lu dropped the ingredients and immediately grilled her seriously on the part-time details, terrified she’d fallen for some scam.

Lu Wuqi had anticipated Mother Lu’s questions and prepared her answers. In under three minutes, she dispelled all doubts.

“Alright, tell me ahead of time what you want to eat, and I’ll make it,” Mother Lu said with a smile tinged with pride. Not bad for her daughter—so smart! Coming up with money-making ideas like that!

Thinking these meats and veggies would go into Lu Wuqi’s belly made Mother Lu feel the bulk buy wasn’t wasteful at all.

Her young daughter was out there part-time hustling. She deserved good food—meat every meal!

Lu Father sat on the sofa with an unlit cigarette between his fingers. He seemed about to stand and say something, but seeing mother and daughter ignoring him, he silently settled back, chewing on his thoughts with the unlit smoke in his mouth.

–

After dinner, Lu Wuqi returned to her room. She mixed the color for her water-ink fountain pen, opened the hand account notebook, and began earnestly writing her apology.

Dear Xuxu:

I have deeply reflected and recognized my mistakes. I…

Lu Wuqi had no experience writing apologies, but in the other world, she’d seen countless self-evaluations and error summaries from subordinates. She wasn’t at a loss for words.

The notebook had a warm yellowish tint, while Lu Wuqi’s mix of primary color inks came out deep blue, paired with her usual running script font.

On the hand account notebook, it looked less like an apology and more like a love letter.

To avoid smudging, Lu Wuqi patiently waited each time before turning the page, only flipping once the ink had fully dried.

An hour flew by. Lu Wuqi counted the pages and saw she’d produced about a thousand words of apology. Satisfied, she closed the notebook.

Earned a thousand yuan, wrote a thousand words—daily tasks complete. Time for a shower and bed.

Just as Lu Wuqi stowed the pen and notebook in her drawer, her phone on the side buzzed twice.

Lu Wuqi picked it up and unlocked it with face ID. The lock screen showed two new messages from Lan Xu.

Lan Xu: How’s it going? Found a good one-on-one tutoring gig?

Lan Xu: If you don’t want to go to people’s homes, you could assist as a teacher at a tutoring center.

Lu Wuqi opened the chat and pondered before typing a reply.

What she could tell Mother Lu, she could tell Lan Xu too.

Plus, Lan Xu knew she read programming books in her spare time. The same excuse should work.

After typing over a hundred characters, Lu Wuqi noticed Lan Xu was still typing. Impatient, Lan Xu called with a video call.

The ringtone startled Lu Wuqi mid-sentence. She instinctively glanced back, saw her bed was neat and tidy, then tapped the green button.