Xu Mu was already on his way back to Jiang City. Sitting in the car, he opened his system panel for a glance—and was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell?
His Fate Points had skyrocketed to over nine thousand, just a few hundred short of ten thousand.
He remembered having only a little over a thousand before—mostly gained from Li Yun and Zhao Yingying.
After checking carefully, he finally understood why.
The rest of the points—those several thousand—came from the audience's Favorability toward him during the concert.
In short, it was audience affinity.
Of course, most of those audience members had low Fate Levels, just Level 1. So while each one only gave a small amount of Fate Points, there had been so many people that the total skyrocketed.
Xu Mu closed his eyes in thought. Did that mean he needed to keep performing publicly to gain more Favorability?
But that didn't suit him. Xu Mu preferred to stay behind the scenes—a shadowy mastermind rather than a celebrity.
Still… if he could raise the Favorability of the people around him, then gather all of them together someday—their combined Fate Points might easily rival the total from thousands of ordinary spectators.
He already had over 9,000 now. If he could get a bit more from Ye Tong, he'd hit ten thousand.
A ten-draw cost 1,000 points and came with a free extra pull.
So a hundred-draw for 10,000 points…surely it would grant more than just ten bonus pulls, right?
He planned to test it once he got home—while Ye Tong performed "Treasure Retrieval," he'd roll the lottery at the same time.
That was how he'd obtained his last martial art technique. Maybe it would work again.
"President Xu, what's wrong? You seem to be smiling," Meng Wanyue asked from the driver's seat.
"Oh? Wanyue's talking to me on her own initiative now? I'm touched," Xu Mu teased with a grin.
[Favorability +5]
Meng Wanyue pressed her lips together shyly. "President Xu, please don't joke like that."
"I'm not joking," Xu Mu said casually, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
To him, this was perfect. Once he pulled Meng Wanyue to his side, he could use her to keep the Dragon King in check.
He glanced at the car's display clock—no need to stop by the company now.
"Wanyue, skip the office. Drive me straight home. You're having dinner at my place tonight," he said.
"President Xu, that's not necessary—"
"Listen to me, or I'll dock your pay."
Xu Mu gave her a mock glare.
Meng Wanyue sneaked a glance at him, then nodded slightly.
Meanwhile, Xu Mu had already set a trap for Lin Yan and his team.
His father, Xu Shou, wasn't idle either.
For their company's slimming pill, they had stocked up on raw materials early.
Now that Lin Yan's side was buying aggressively, prices were soaring.
Sitting in his office, Xu Shou reviewed the report his daughter Xu Ningbing had prepared. His smile grew wider and wider.
"They don't realize some of those materials have already been swapped. The ones that originally cost five yuan now sell for ten times as much."
He looked at her with a grin. "What's your plan?"
"Sell them, of course. Hoarding this much is pointless. Tenfold profit—we'll make a killing," Xu Ningbing said, smiling for once. "That's free money."
"You're still too soft."
Xu Shou chuckled. "We'll keep buying. Drive the prices even higher. Make them think we desperately need the materials. Once it hits fifteen times, then we sell."
Xu Ningbing frowned slightly. "That's risky."
"Risky? You think they'll abandon their slimming pill at this stage?" he countered.
"…Alright. I'll get on it immediately."
She nodded.
Over at Lin Yan's company, every cent of their funds had been poured into the project. All food production lines were shut down to focus entirely on slimming pills.
Lin Yan stared at rows of pill boxes, smiling more and more. He knew exactly how valuable these would be.
"Mr. Lin, bad news—look!"
Li Feipeng hurried over with a tablet. "Several of our key materials just spiked in price. Someone's clearly buying in bulk!"
Lin Yan glanced at the screen, then sneered. "The Xu Group must also be mass-producing. Ignore them. Keep buying. We'll just add the extra cost into the final price of the pills."
"Understood!"
Li Feipeng nodded. He'd been thinking the same.
Xu Mu didn't bother getting involved in that business battle. He and Meng Wanyue had already returned to the villa.
Let the dogs bite each other—he had better things to do.
He went straight upstairs and disabled the security cameras. Now Lin Yan's people couldn't monitor the place.
"Tonight I'll cook. You two beautiful ladies stay in the living room. Wanyue, it's time you tasted my cooking."
He playfully nudged Ye Tong and Meng Wanyue toward the sofa, then headed to the kitchen.
Ye Tong held Meng Wanyue's hand as they sat together.
"Wanyue, do you have a boyfriend?"
Ye Tong asked gently. She felt it was time to think seriously about her own relationship—and she quite liked Meng Wanyue's personality.
"N-No… I don't."
Meng Wanyue shook her head. Romance had never crossed her mind.
Until a few days ago, she fully expected to remain alone for life. She didn't even think she'd live long enough to grow old.
But lately… her thoughts had started to change.
"What do you think of Xu Mu?" Ye Tong asked, smiling slightly.
"President Xu is… a good man," Meng Wanyue answered honestly.
Ye Tong nodded softly. A person's eyes never lied—clearly, Meng Wanyue had feelings for Xu Mu too.
Perhaps she could give them a chance—if Wanyue was willing.
"Dinner's ready! Come help!"
Xu Mu's voice called from the kitchen.
Meng Wanyue immediately stood up and hurried over. She was shy and socially anxious, but around Xu Mu, she could relax a little.
The dishes laid out on the counter stunned her.
His piano playing was amazing—but his cooking too? Just looking at them made her mouth water.
[Favorability +5]
Ye Tong joined in to help carry the dishes.
Since there were only three of them, Xu Mu didn't make much—just five dishes: Twice-Cooked Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, Spicy Boiled Beef, Dry-Braised Prawns, and a few sides.
Meng Wanyue took one bite and froze. "It's… it's so good!"
[Favorability +5]
Ye Tong tasted it too and nodded repeatedly.
She already knew Xu Mu's cooking was good, but every time, it moved her anew.
[Favorability +10]
Xu Mu watched the black text floating above their heads—At this rate, he might reach ten thousand points tonight without even "farming" Ye Tong.
After dinner, Meng Wanyue made an excuse to leave. She still felt a bit out of place here; talking to people was more stressful for her than killing someone.
After washing up, Xu Mu lay on the bed. He was only a few dozen points short now—just a little help from Ye Tong would finish it.
When Ye Tong lay down beside him, her face was flushed red. In a shy whisper, she said, "It's been three days… my period's over."
The words made her blush all the way to her ears.
Xu Mu narrowed his eyes slightly. He had originally planned to have her use Treasure Retrieval while he did his draws.
But if he was the one doing the work… he wouldn't be in the mood for a lottery.
"Wife, I don't want to move," Xu Mu said with a teasing blink.