Volume One, Chapter Six: Borrowing Money

When he came out, Li Yan made sure to tell the head of the municipal bureau that the reward money should be transferred directly to his own bank card.

He was now eighteen, a legal adult.

Five hundred thousand yuan was a substantial sum in 2012.

If the money were sent to his parents’ accounts, it would be difficult for him to access it later to start his own business.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to support his parents, but they wouldn’t manage the money well.

Especially his father—Li Yan knew this better than anyone.

His father was somewhat reckless. He remembered when he was young, his father took the family savings to speculate on the watermelon trade.

Unfortunately, that year the watermelon market crashed, and his father ended up eating watermelons for an entire month.

He even joked that his urine nearly turned red.

Later, his father tried raising sheep, but every litter ended up dying.

Li Yan and his father had to dig pits to bury the dead lambs—a task that felt like he had already dug all the pits he would need for a lifetime.

Given these lessons, Li Yan was certain he couldn’t entrust this money to his parents.

As for the undercover agents, they would surely keep his commendation for capturing the drug dealer Chen Xiangyang secret, as a form of protection for Li Yan.

When Luo Jia Shuang saw Li Yan emerge, her previously tear-filled, beautiful eyes suddenly brightened.

She didn’t hesitate and quickly ran over, throwing her arms around him.

“Li Yan, I thought something had happened to you! I’m so relieved you’re okay, really.” She began to cry while holding him.

Only today had she resolved in her heart never to miss Li Yan again in this life.

Then fate played such a cruel joke on her tonight.

Thankfully, Li Yan had come out safe and sound, and her anxious heart could finally settle.

Fu Hantao watched this scene in stunned silence, a sharp pang of jealousy and pain rising in his chest.

How could it be otherwise? Even a fool could see that Luo Jia Shuang truly liked Li Yan.

All the doubts he had before were just his own arrogance.

Li Yan felt somewhat awkward as he held the crying girl in his arms.

In his past life, he might have been thrilled by such attention from Luo Jia Shuang.

But now, he found it strange.

Still, seeing her like this, he couldn’t push her away.

Meanwhile, the head teacher Zhang Jiachuan and homeroom teacher Li Shilin were surprised to witness this scene—Li Yan and Luo Jia Shuang were dating? When had that happened? How had they never known?

At Lin City No. 1 High School, the rules clearly forbade students from dating.

However, now that the college entrance exams were over and graduation complete, they were free to pursue relationships.

The two teachers exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly—they were veterans in this.

Li Yan’s roommate Zhao Zhengzhong asked homeroom teacher Li Shilin, “Teacher, is Li Yan alright? What exactly happened?”

He voiced the question on everyone’s mind.

Why was Li Yan taken to the bureau in the first place?

Zhang Jiachuan’s face grew stern as he said, “The police invited Li Yan to assist in solving a case. You all should not gossip about it, understood?”

The recently graduated students still feared the stern head teacher, nodding in quick agreement.

Soon after learning the truth, all the students of class 22 obediently dispersed.

That night, the matter concerning Li Yan came to an end.

Fu Hantao, however, watched helplessly as Luo Jia Shuang linked arms with Li Yan so intimately, his heart aching bitterly.

Why?

Why wasn’t Li Yan the one behind bars?

How could a country bumpkin like him deserve someone like Luo Jia Shuang? He should be her boyfriend, not Li Yan.

He had been happy when the exams ended, but now he felt the world was devoid of love—a gray, joyless place.

“Hey, Luo Jia Shuang, could you please let go of my hand? It’s getting numb.”

All the way, Luo Jia Shuang hadn’t wanted to let go of Li Yan’s hand for even a moment.

Li Yan also noticed something else: Luo Jia Shuang had probably come out of her house in her pajamas, with nothing underneath.

When she hugged him, he could distinctly feel the softness—her generous curves concealed only by the loose school uniform.

“I won’t,” she said stubbornly. “I really thought something bad had happened to you. I was so worried.”

She wanted to watch over Li Yan and wished to be by his side every moment.

Especially thinking of the last life, witnessing Li Yan marry someone else, she was determined never to miss him again.

Li Yan sighed in resignation. “Alright, how about I take you home first? It’s almost two in the morning. If you don’t go back soon, your family will worry.”

Luo Jia Shuang shook her head. “It’s fine. I don’t care about them.”

Li Yan was helpless. “But I want to go to sleep. Don’t you want to come with me?”

Normally, saying that would make Luo Jia Shuang blush and hurry home.

But to his surprise, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes held a hint of hope.

She shyly said, “Sure.”

Ah...

Li Yan never expected that someone he couldn’t approach in the past life would now be so eager to sleep beside him.

He increasingly felt his reincarnation had taken a strange turn. This wasn’t how the story was supposed to go.

To be fair, he was a fool.

When something is out of reach, you chase it relentlessly, and now that it’s offered freely, suddenly the plot feels wrong.

“Ah, actually, I’m fine. Why don’t you go home first? So much happened today, I need to calm down. Also, the agents kept me questioning all night—I’m exhausted.”

He had no choice but to stall, trying to persuade Luo Jia Shuang to go home.

With such a beautiful girl at his doorstep, his mind briefly entertained certain thoughts.

But something felt off, so he dismissed them.

Luo Jia Shuang looked up with pitiful eyes. “Alright, but you can’t abandon me now. They all know you’re my boyfriend. You can’t just give up on me.”

Li Yan was at a loss.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Fine, I won’t abandon you. But you should go home now; it’s late.”

Only after Li Yan’s promise did Luo Jia Shuang smile again.

“Li Yan, will you walk me home? I want to spend a little more time with you.” Her voice was pleading, afraid he might refuse.

“Okay. It’s not safe for you to go home so late.”

He hailed a taxi and took Luo Jia Shuang to her apartment building.

Once downstairs, Li Yan suddenly remembered a problem.

He didn’t have his phone, which made things inconvenient.

He only had a bit over two hundred yuan on him.

The five hundred thousand reward transfer would take some time to process, and he wasn’t ready to go home immediately.

So he thought about borrowing some money from Luo Jia Shuang.

He recalled that although she was low-key at school, her family owned a building near downtown Lin City, so they must be fairly well off.

Still, asking her for money felt awkward.

“Well, Luo Jia Shuang, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” he finally said.

Luo Jia Shuang was taken aback, noticing the conflicted look on his face.

Was he breaking up with me?

Her heart leapt.

She found it strange—Li Yan had liked her in high school, that much she was sure of.

Now she had accepted his confession and even taken the initiative.

Yet Li Yan wanted to break up with her today? It was baffling.

No matter what, this time she was going to hold on tight to Li Yan and never let go.

Her joy at being walked home quickly faded, tears filling her beautiful eyes once more.

“Li Yan, as long as you don’t break up with me, I’ll agree to anything,” she said. She even thought that if he told her not to go home tonight, she would gladly stay.

“Hey, hey, why do you have to cry at the drop of a hat? I’m not breaking up with you,” Li Yan said wearily, confronted with this version of Luo Jia Shuang.

Upon hearing that, her tears turned to joy.

“Then tell me, I’ll agree to anything.”

Li Yan pondered for a moment, then sheepishly said, “Could you lend me some money? I’ll pay you back within a week. Is that okay?”

Borrow money from her?

Was he planning to start a business?

Thinking of all he had done in his past life, Luo Jia Shuang was certain it wasn’t Li Yan’s fault.

She decided then and there to become his angel investor.

When Li Yan succeeded in business and became a tycoon, she would be the most successful investor.

Then both the man and the money would be hers.

No other woman would have a chance.

“Ah, sure! How much do you need? I only have a little over a hundred yuan on me right now. Can you wait until tomorrow morning? I’ll give it to you then.” She didn’t even ask how much he wanted; she was willing to give him whatever she could.

Yes, everything she had.

Seeing her like this, Li Yan was speechless.

“Alright, no problem. You should go home and get some rest. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

After sending Luo Jia Shuang home, Li Yan walked back to the hotel where he was staying.

At that moment, not far ahead of him, an invisible door slowly opened.

Two men stepped out.

One glanced at the uniquely styled watch on his wrist, then at Li Yan, who was walking toward them with his head lowered.

“Quadruple time marker—it has to be him.”

Li Yan looked up to see two men in perfectly tailored black suits standing before him.

“Um, who are you?”

The two men quickly scanned their surroundings, found nothing unusual, then grabbed Li Yan and pulled him through the invisible door.