Two Hundred Thousand

"Confirm scene review."

During scene review, the perspective collapses into text, revealing more information - what Shen Yi jokingly calls the 'reference answers'.

......

[Jian Leyi put on black stockings and left home. Another sucker had somehow found her, but that was a good thing, wasn't it? She prepared to go meet him.]

[Your grand entrance in a sports car stunned Jian Leyi. As a shady bar girl who worked in the shadows, when would she ever get to meet someone from the 'upper class' like you? She could only sit in the car with confusion mixed with flattery.]

[The atmosphere in the car was very tense. Your intense focus on driving without making conversation put a lot of pressure on Jian Leyi, so she pretended to take photos and then, under the pretense of editing them, lowered her head to ask for help in her bar sisters' group chat.]

[When she posted the photo of the car's interior, the group chat exploded. Many expressed envy, while some warned it might be a scam, and others advised her to pursue the opportunity even if it cost her.]

[Jian Leyi felt both excited and scared. In her line of work, which involved semi-scamming, she feared establishing long-term relationships the most. She had hopes of instant success but also worried about ending up with nothing. So, breaking from her usual routine, she handed you the drink menu instead.]

......

Reading this, understanding dawned on Shen Yi's face. Jian Leyi's affected mannerisms and reserved tone at the time had masked such complex inner thoughts.

As Shen Yi read on, he saw how Jian Leyi's suspicion turned to belief after he spent money lavishly, and how she ultimately planned to pretend to be drunk to sell herself, hoping for a future.

The further he read, the more complex his expression became. Jian Leyi's various thoughts were crystal clear in the review, so real it was as if such a person truly existed.

Her materialism was pure and unrestrained, as she navigated between various men and their advances, never investing emotionally. She could compete with colleagues and girlfriends in the art of manipulation one moment, then cry genuine tears over third-rate romance movies the next.

This authentic yet complex portrayal left Shen Yi silent. The review ended with Jian Leyi's inner monologue:

"You are Shen Yi, I am Jian Leyi, but sadly, we'll never add up to two..."

Review ended.

"It's just a dating game, why make it so melodramatic..." Shen Yi muttered to himself.

After reviewing the entire scene, Shen Yi understood why his rating wouldn't improve. As the final evaluation stated, money isn't everything - throwing money at a gold digger might be effective, but even a confession won't win her true heart.

Based on the glimpses of Jian Leyi revealed in the review, Shen Yi realized that to achieve a B-grade or higher rating, he needed to delve deeper into the storyline to find a more perfect strategy.

"*yawn*"

After working hard all day, he had finally made some progress, and after the excitement wore off, fatigue began to set in.

Rubbing his eyes, he checked the time and discovered it was already past three.

"Damn, I have work tomorrow, better get some sleep while I can." Shen Yi quickly turned off his phone and prepared for bed.

He had already been busy at work during the day, and when he came home, he had only intended to play games briefly to relax. Who knew he would get so absorbed that he lost track of time?

Shortly after lying down, Shen Yi became drowsy. In his hazy state, he thought about how the game didn't require much operation, so perhaps he could play it while slacking off at work tomorrow.

As his consciousness faded and he entered dreamland, his phone on the bedside table suddenly lit up, showing an automatic game notification - reward synchronization complete.

At nine in the morning, the annoying alarm went off right on schedule.

Shen Yi rolled over and reluctantly got up. It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep more, but he had recently moved and now lived farther from the office, increasing his commute time.

When he lived closer, he used to wake up at nine-thirty, but now he had to get up earlier.

Shen Yi's company started work at ten, which was relatively late, but the trade-off was that ending times were irregular. Officially, they were supposed to finish at six-thirty, but that was never certain - he'd never seen anyone actually leave at six-thirty.

Standing drowsily in the bathroom, Shen Yi swayed while squeezing toothpaste. He had no choice but to deal with his lack of sleep after playing too intensely last night.

After finishing his morning routine, Shen Yi stood in front of the mirror wiping his face when he suddenly froze. For some reason, this morning his face - the same one he'd been looking at for 25 years - seemed somewhat more handsome.

Shen Yi laughed at his own thoughts, assuming he was just groggy from sleep.

"Hah, I've always been this handsome~" he said, humming a tune as he walked out.

Currently, Shen Yi's rented apartment wasn't large, but it was bigger than his previous place. The roughly thirty-square-meter space was divided into a bedroom, bathroom, living room, and a small balcony that could barely fit two people. It had simple decorations and low rent. Apart from being a bit far out, Shen Yi was quite satisfied with it.

There was no kitchen, and although Shen Yi knew how to cook a few home dishes, he was too lazy to bother, especially when it came to washing dishes, so he was actually happy not to have a kitchen.

After getting dressed, he grabbed his bag, phone, and keys, took out the trash, and after a final check to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, Shen Yi headed downstairs.

For breakfast, Shen Yi usually either skipped it or grabbed something quick on the way, like now.

"Auntie, two buns and a soy milk, please total it up."

The breakfast shop auntie glanced at Shen Yi, noting he was a new face, and while packing bags for other customers, skillfully said, "Alright, young man, three-fifty, scan here."

Shen Yi moved the bag in his left hand to the side of his laptop bag on the right, freeing up a hand to scan and pay.

"Auntie, I've sent the payment, please check."

"Oh, no need, I trust you. Come back again if you enjoy it, young man."

Though the amount was small, the plump auntie remained enthusiastic, indicating she didn't need to check.

Shen Yi nodded with a smile. The breakfast shop was right below his building, and he'd surely be coming back often, so it was good to become familiar.

Putting one bun in his mouth, Shen Yi turned toward the subway entrance.

After quickly finishing his breakfast, he took out his phone to check the unread messages that had accumulated overnight.

Unless he received a phone call, Shen Yi wouldn't easily check work groups after hours - looking at them only tended to increase anxiety, a lesson learned from experience.

Casually scrolling through, the work groups were unremarkable with no important information, which Shen Yi quickly skimmed past. However, in the team group, the team leader had tagged everyone, reminding them about a morning meeting.

Shen Yi smiled after seeing this, having a good guess about what it was about, though he wasn't concerned - any anger wouldn't be directed at him alone.

After handling work-related matters, Shen Yi opened two unread text messages.

The first was a 23-yuan notification from last night's food delivery, sent because he had paid by credit card.

Having unread notifications made Shen Yi uncomfortable, so he quickly marked it as read and turned to the second message from around three in the morning.

"Thud!"

His laptop bag fell against the flower bed with a muffled sound.

Shen Yi stared at his phone screen with wide eyes, completely ignoring what had happened, repeatedly confirming the numbers in the message.

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands... two hundred thousand?!!"

The message showed that an organization called Tianhai Foundation had transferred exactly two hundred thousand yuan to him at 3:21 AM.