Chapter 13: The Toad's Philosophy

  This was Zhou Jian's high school life, studying, making money, studying again, and making money again. Zhou Jian knew that even if a toad became handsome, it wouldn't become a white horse prince, and even if he got into a prestigious university, he wouldn't become a proud son of heaven. At the freshman welcoming ceremony of a key university, the principal would often say with grandeur, "Being able to get into XXX University proves that you are all excellent," or "Today you are proud because of XXX University, tomorrow XXX University will be proud of you." The freshmen, full of ambition and enthusiasm, would listen with passion and excitement, but they didn't know that even the principal himself didn't believe in his own words. If he were so naive, he wouldn't have climbed to that position.

  The toad wants to transform and can only rely on its own efforts, Zhou Jian will not fantasize that a beautiful rich girl "has an eye for talent" fell in love with the fallen self, that's impossible, unless one is excellent enough to attract their attention.

  The phone rang on, Zhou Jian picked up the memory and pressed the answer button, "Hello."

  "How are you? I am Wen Ren Hui Yin."

  Listening to the crisp and clear voice coming from the other end of the phone, in high school, Wen Huiyin had called Zhou Jiannan several times to ask about solutions to math problems, and the opening line was always this sentence.

  Zhou Jian suppressed his emotional ups and downs and calmly said: "Hehe, since you have my number, why did you call me today?"

  "Hmm... I heard you've been having some financial difficulties lately?"

  Zhou Jian was taken aback, who told her? He had borrowed money from four people just now, and thinking carefully, these four people were not very familiar with Wen Ren Huiyin, how could it have reached her ears.

  "Who... who told you?"

  Sun Li.

  Sun Li? Although Zhou Jian had a good relationship with Sun Li and Li Yunfu in high school, he couldn't help but admit that Sun Li wasn't a decent girl. However, since she was his friend, Zhou Jian didn't think much of it. But why did Wen Huiyin keep in touch with her so often?

  He asked tentatively: "You and Sun Li are in the same city?"

  "No, I'm on Hong Kong Island, you don't even know which city I'm in?"

  Zhou Jian cursed himself for being stupid. He knew where Wen Ren Huiyin was, and he also knew where Sun Li was. How could he speak without thinking? He forced himself to explain: "I know, I just forgot the city where Sun Li is for a moment."

  "Hehe... alright." Wen Ren Huiyin smiled and didn't know whether she believed it or not.

  Zhou Jian said: "I just wonder why you keep in touch."

  "Oh, it was just a coincidence, I was playing an online game because of my dad and met Sun Li in the game."

  "What game?"

  "Gods and Demons."

  "Hmm? What a coincidence."

  "Are you playing too?"

  "Yes, I like playing games so much, how could I miss it."

  "Hehe, yeah, but even if you play games, you'll still learn well." Wen Ren Huiyin was one of the few girls who could see a bright spot in Zhou Jian, while most girls evaluated him as "unreliable", "not diligent", and "poor boy".

  Studying well is a bright spot? Zhou Jian smiled self-deprecatingly.

  "What's your Tianxin number in 'Shenmo'? Mine is..." Wen Ren Huiyin said her number, and Zhou Jian also reported his own.

  "Which city are you in?" Zhou Jian asked.

  "Nüwa City, where are you?"

  Pangu City.

  "Pangu City? I heard that the first team in the world to clear the new instance is from Pangu City, haha. Speaking of which, our guild will be attempting to clear the Devil's Nest in a few days, but we don't have much confidence."

  Zhou Jian was taken aback for a moment, in his impression, Wen Huiyin wouldn't care about such news even if she played online games, let alone put in so much effort to level up and challenge the new dungeon of Devil's Nest.

  He asked in doubt: "Are you going to venture into a new copy too?"

  "Uh-huh, yeah, but my level is still a bit low."

  "What grade are you in?"

  "What's your level?"

  "Hmm... 21." Zhou Jian felt that his level was embarrassing to mention for the first time, but it was too strange. The account in "Shenmo" was bound to the person and couldn't be practiced on behalf of others. Wen Huiyin had actually played a game account to level 30, which was quite unusual.

  "Hehe, if you come to Nuwa City, I can take you to level up."

  "Uh...alright," Zhou Jian felt that this world had changed, and he was actually going to follow Ren Huiyin to level up, speechless. "By the way, if your guild passes the new instance, remember to call me, I've researched it quite a bit."

  "This... I've heard that the new instance is very dangerous, you're only level 21, it's going to be very risky for you to go in."

  "It's okay, I'm a thief, I can sneak in and I've done it once before, so I have experience."

  "What? You've entered the new instance? You're only level 21."

  "Uh, I followed a high-level team in."

  "Oh, no wonder, opening a new copy requires an average level of 30 or above. Okay, I'll tell my cousin to bring you along, but be careful."

  "It's okay, don't worry. By the way, you said you played this game because of your dad?" Zhou Jian was still unbelievable that Wen Ren Hui had reached level 30.

  "Hmm, I didn't want to play at first, but my grandfather insisted that I play and even gave me a task. As it happens, several of my cousins are also playing this game, and fortunately, one of my female cousins is too, so leveling up together isn't so boring."

  "Your grandfather..." Zhou Jian originally wanted to ask what Huan Ren's grandfather did, but felt it was impolite. He felt like he had grasped something vaguely. It was said that Huan Ren's grandfather was a number one figure in Lingnan, why did he insist on his granddaughter playing games? And her cousin, elder brother...

  "Alright, let's talk about you. Sun Li said you borrowed money from her to play games?"

  Zhou Jianyi felt a bit embarrassed when he heard it, and when the words reached Sun Li's mouth, they took on a different tone.

  "No, I'm going to Peng City, but I don't have enough travel expenses."

  "How much is left? I can lend it to you."

  A simple sentence, yet it evoked a multitude of emotions in Zhou Jian's heart. Although it was nothing to Wen Ren Hui Yin, it stirred up a wave of feelings within him.

  "Thank you, but I've already pawned some gold coins in 'Shen Mo', so I don't need it."

  "Selling gold coins will lose a lot of money. You're only level 21, it's hard to make gold coins, I'll lend you some instead."

  "It's really not needed."

  "Hehe, don't you consider me a friend? Why can you borrow from Sun Li but not from me?" With Wen Ren Hui's sweet and melodious voice, saying such a slightly playful sentence, it actually gave people a kind of dizzy feeling.

  Zhou Jian said he wasn't clear why he didn't borrow money from Wen Ren Hui, maybe it was because subconsciously he felt they weren't people of the same world, or maybe it was because of self-respect.

  "Tell me your card number." Wen Ren Huiyin's voice was impossible to refuse.

  "6435xxxxxxxxxx, 500 is enough."

  "Okay."

  Ten minutes later, Zhou Jian received a text message notification that there was an additional remittance in his account. Wen Huiyun had transferred 1,000 yuan to him, with the attached message saying: "Just the transportation fee is 400 yuan, and the remaining 100 yuan for food and accommodation is too tight, so I'm sending you 1,000 yuan, don't be too hard on yourself:)".

  A smiling symbol warmed Zhou Jian's heart, and apart from his horse, he had gained another close friend.