**Hangzhou Finance University – First-Day Lunch Break**
The hallway buzzed with noise as students streamed out.
Some rushed to the cafeteria, others gathered in small gossip groups.
Li Chen walked out calmly, not paying attention to the whispers that followed him like shadows.
"Did you see how he talked back to Qin Feng?"
"He looked… different today."
"Isn't he the guy from Chengdu village?"
"He seems… confident now."
And somewhere in the crowd, **Lin Xiaoyu** watched his back with a complicated expression.
Confusion mixed with guilt.
The boy she dumped yesterday looked nothing like the boy today.
But Li Chen didn't look at her.
Not even once.
He headed toward the parking area—aiming for the regular student lot.
Yet the system's small blue map softly blinked in the corner of his vision.
> **[BMW M4 — Location: VIP Parking Lot]**
Li Chen paused.
The VIP zone?
That area was reserved for:
* local Hangzhou rich kids
* spoiled brats from Guangzhou
* some Shanghai princelings
* professors with expensive tastes
A village boy from Chengdu walking into the VIP lot?
Anyone would think he was lost.
But Li Chen went anyway.
---
**VIP PARKING LOT**
The moment he entered, heads turned.
A few boys cleaning their cars looked up, confused.
"Who's this guy?"
"Freshman?"
"Probably lost."
Li Chen ignored them.
Then he saw it.
The jet-black **BMW M4 – Hangzhou Special Edition**, polished like a mirror, parked perfectly and shining under the soft afternoon sun.
He stopped breathing for a second.
The car… was real.
He approached slowly.
The smart key—the one that mysteriously appeared in his pocket after the system activation—felt cold against his fingertips.
He pressed the unlock button.
*Beep! Beep!*
The car responded instantly.
A small group of rich kids cleaning their Mercedes froze.
"Huh? That car… belongs to him?"
"No way."
"He's from a village, isn't he?"
"But… the car unlocked…"
Li Chen didn't react.
He slid into the driver's seat, closed the door gently, and…
*VROOOOOOM—*
The engine roared to life.
Deep.
Smooth.
Powerful.
He rested both hands on the steering wheel.
He wasn't used to this feeling.
Not luxury.
Not money.
Not power.
**Control.**
True, absolute control.
The thing he never had in his past life.
Then—
A soft chime inside his mind.
> **[SYSTEM NOTICE]**
> Host's mental stability rising.
> Host's confidence increasing.
>
> *Comment: "Owning power suits you, Host."*
Li Chen exhaled slowly.
Yes.
This suited him.
---
**MEANWHILE – Qin Feng**
Qin Feng strutted toward the parking lot with his usual arrogance.
Behind him were his buddies—Wang Hao, Li Zixuan, and two other rich boys.
"Bro, let's go eat hotpot. I'll drive us in my BMW M4."
"Yeah man, flex on the freshmen."
"Hahaha, you're the king here."
Qin Feng smirked.
He loved it.
He loved the admiration.
They reached the VIP lot—
And froze.
Dead.
Silent.
Because in the middle of the parking lot…
**Li Chen** stepped out of the BMW M4, adjusting his simple T-shirt calmly.
Qin Feng's smile shattered.
His voice cracked.
"W-What… what is he doing near MY car?!"
Wang Hao swallowed.
"Bro… are you sure your dad actually *bought* it? Didn't he say he was still… planning?"
Qin Feng's feet turned cold.
He stared as Li Chen walked around the car, checking it casually like he was used to it.
Then the car *locked* automatically behind him.
*Beep.*
"…That's… definitely his."
Qin Feng's brain stopped working.
Li Chen met his eyes—calm, silent, unreadable.
Not mocking.
Not arrogant.
Just… beyond him.
Lin Xiaoyu arrived a few seconds later, breathless from running.
Her heart tightened painfully.
"L-Li Chen… is that car… yours?"
Li Chen put the key in his pocket.
"Yes."
Just one word.
Soft.
Calm.
Irrefutable.
Lin Xiaoyu felt her chest go cold.
She dumped him because he had "no future."
Now he stood in front of a supercar worth millions.
Her voice trembled.
"But… how…? How did you—"
Li Chen walked past her without even looking.
"You don't need to know."
The sentence hit her harder than any breakup.
---
**BACK TO LI CHEN**
He didn't look back.
Didn't slow down.
Didn't explain.
He simply headed off…
as the entire parking lot stared in disbelief.
Qin Feng stood frozen.
Lin Xiaoyu's face turned pale.
The rich second-generation boys whispered furiously.
And a new rumor began spreading across Hangzhou Finance University:
**"The poor boy from Chengdu… came in a BMW M4."**
**"Who is he really?"**
**"Is his family secretly powerful?"**
But only Li Chen—and the Ultimate Bragging System—knew the truth.
This was just the beginning.
The campus was too bright for the kind of mood I was in.
I had barely stepped out of the cafeteria when the day decided to fuck with me again.
Three seniors were leaning near the corridor railing, pretending to chat, but their eyes were locked on me from the moment I walked out.
Great. Just what I needed. Drama before lectures even started.
The tallest one—broad shoulders, sharp jawline, the type who thought he owned the college—blocked my path.
"First year?" he asked, voice dripping arrogance.
"Yeah," I replied, calm but not submissive.
He smirked. "Then where's your introduction, junior?"
Ah. So it *was* the cliché type.
I gave a thin smile. "I didn't know seniors needed an introduction from strangers to feel important."
His two friends coughed—trying not to laugh.
His jaw twitched. "You've got a fucking attitude."
"I've got a class in ten minutes," I said, stepping sideways to walk past him. "I don't have time to waste it doing monkey tricks for bored seniors."
He grabbed my arm.
That's when something snapped—instinctively, not emotionally. His grip tightened, but my patience didn't.
I turned my head slightly, eyes cold.
"Let go."
Maybe it was the tone. Maybe it was the stare.
But he released me—fast.
His friends snickered again, and he glared at them. "This isn't over, junior."
"Wasn't planning for it to be," I said, walking away.
My heartbeat was steady, not angry. I had learned long ago—not all battles are worth fighting.
Especially after someone like **Lin Xiaoyu**.
Even thinking her name felt like reopening a wound I had stitched shut with too much force.
A year ago, I thought love was something you can protect if you hold tight enough.
Turns out, people leave even when you give them everything.
And Xiaoyu…
She didn't just leave.
She walked away without looking back.
I wasn't going to repeat that mistake.
Not here.
Not now.
I exhaled slowly, pushing the thoughts back and heading toward the main corridor—
—and stopped.
Because that's when she walked in.
**Su Yan.**
The new campus belle of our FY batch.
White shirt, light blue skirt, long hair tied loosely, sunlight catching on her eyes like it was purposely following her around.
She was surrounded by two friends, laughing about something, completely unaware of how many people were staring.
And then, for some impossible, ridiculous reason, her eyes met mine.
Just a brief moment.
Two seconds, maybe.
But enough to feel like someone suddenly turned the world's volume down to zero.
She didn't smile.
She didn't look away either.
Just a calm, curious gaze.
Then her friend tugged her arm, and she walked forward, passing by me.
A soft breeze followed with her perfume—fresh, clean, quiet… very unlike the storm that Lin Xiaoyu had left behind.
For the first time in a long time, something inside me felt… lighter.
I didn't chase the feeling.
I didn't deny it either.
I simply turned and walked to class.
Today was going to be interesting.
Very interesting.
---
Next Day
The sunlight broke through my curtains earlier than expected, forcing me out of the bed of my **1BHK apartment**.
I still wasn't used to waking up with hearing the ceiling fan rattling.
I checked the time: **7:42 AM**.
I had slept well.
Better than I had in years.
The system notification from last night echoed in my mind:
**[Host is advised to upgrade image and living standards.]**
Not a command.
Just a… suggestion.
And honestly?
It was time.
I looked at my clothes in the wardrobe—
all old, faded, bought during discount seasons.
Nothing wrong with them, but…
They didn't match the life I wanted to build now.
After everything that happened yesterday—
* Su Yan's unexpected gaze,
* Qin Liang's hostility,
* Lin Xiaoyu pretending I was invisible…
I was done looking like the weak version of myself.
**Today, I would change my appearance.
From head to toe.
Properly.**
but before going for a shopping i should go out and eat first.
---
The Lumière Crown Hotel's dining hall hummed with quiet luxury — crystal chandeliers, muted piano in the background, linen napkins folded like small white sails. Li Chen sat by the window watching rain-silvered lights on the street and picked at his food without hurry.
At the table behind him a group of four men had gathered, clearly drunk on their own importance. They ate loudly, clinked glasses, and leaned forward as if the whole hall existed only to receive their announcements.
"Let me tell you," the biggest of them said, slapping the table so the cutlery danced. "I finally closed the Jade Peak Hills deal yesterday. Top-tier, private courtyard, view of the mountains at dawn — the developer only built three of those. Price? Ridiculous. But what does price mean when you have real clout?"
His companions whooped and pretended surprise.
The second man waved a hand. "Nice. But listen — my stake in Qing tian International jumped again this morning. Board approved my special tranche. That stock? It's going private next quarter. I'm telling you, the dividend stream alone covers a year of someone's life."
A younger one, more showy, leaned in with a grin. "You call that luxury? My imported car arrived this morning. Straight from Germany — custom interior, carbon-fiber trim, number plate through my family's contacts. It's not even on the market yet."
The fourth laughed and lifted his glass. "Brothers, all of that is child's play. I just paid for lifetime premium access to the Skyline Privé Club. They asked me twice before they let me in. Entry fee is obscene. But now? Private members-only events, exclusive lounges, connections that open doors."
They roared, high-fiving each other, each one trying to outshine the last.
Li Chen kept eating. He watched them for a few seconds, then lowered his head to his plate. The laughter made the chandelier tremble a little; the hotel staff kept polite distance.
Only Li Chen saw the blue panel unfurl in his vision — private, sharp, clinical.
> System - Tang Wei bragging detected to the Host
> System provides Host with - Jade Peak Hills Luxury Villa (A Top-tier unit) — Ownership Transferred to *Li Chen*
He felt nothing outwardly, but inward the world tilted imperceptibly. The man's sentence was a fire-starter; the system translated bravado into property ownership and the paperwork arrived in the background, silent and complete.
"Damn, top-tier?" the second man said, still trying to top the first. He leaned back with the air of someone who already owned the future. "My portfolio's crushing it. Qingtian's shares just doubled my baseline for the year. Contracts are moving. My name's on the board packages next month."
> System - Sun Hao bragging detected to the Host
> System provides Host with - Qing tian International shares (Shares Transferred to Host) — Valuation: market-equivalent transfer completed
A cool ripple moved across the men's faces as they imagined additional wealth. Li Chen picked up his glass, sipped, and set it down. No expression betrayed that the transfer had occurred in microseconds — only he could see the confirmation float and vanish like a private petal.
The third man, who smelled faintly of expensive cologne and risk, thumped his chest. "You guys love property and stocks. That's old money. New money is speed — my supercar arrived today. It's not for the road; it's for people who appreciate an engineering poem. Interior's handmade. They whispered it was a limited run of fifty."
> System - Gao Rui bragging detected to the Host
> System provides Host with -Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail (registration and keys assigned to Host)
It's a luxury car worth 30 million dollar outside China and when it is converted the actual price is 212 million yuan it is a car even money can't buy a limited edition with only 4 car in the whole world.
"Memberships matter," the fourth man said, voice thick with self-satisfaction. "Skyline Privé is where real influence happens. You sit in one room and the next week your whole company has new contracts. I paid in full. Lifetime. They called me personally."
> System - Lin Bo bragging detected to the Host
> System provides Host with - Skyline Privé Club Lifetime Membership (Host registered as Premium VVIP Member) — Benefits activated
Li Chen's chopsticks paused. The hall's noise continued — wine glasses, soft laughter, a piano trill — yet the four men's world was dissolving into quiet wonder somewhere in the background: private registrations, transfer confirmations, imported-vehicle paperwork, membership IDs arriving and slotting into his private invisible ledger.
A waiter hovered near Li Chen, uncomfortable. He glanced at the braggart table and then at Li Chen. "Sir, I'm sorry about that," the waiter stammered. "They're regulars and very… talkative. Please forgive the disturbance."
"It's fine," Li Chen said. His voice was controlled — not cold, but certain. "Enjoy your evening."
A few heads turned; the braggarts noticed there was someone who neither flinched nor flamed. One of them leaned toward his companion and sneered under his breath, loud enough for Li Chen to hear, "That kid looks like he's trying to be deep. Maybe he's saving up for a toy." The table laughed again, richer and meaner this time.
Li Chen finished his meal slowly, each bite measured. His calm was a tool — it kept attention from becoming investigation. If anyone had suspected a supernatural ledger, they would have pressed, asked questions. Nobody did. They only saw a quiet young man who did not care to fight for attention.
When Li Chen stood, he dropped a polite nod to the waiter, paid without drama, and walked past the braggarts' table. Their laughter hovered in the air, then was swallowed by the hotel's opulence.
After finishing his food Li Chen left the hotel.
He stepped into the night with the rain gone soft and the city lights stitched into a low constellation. The boastful voices behind him remained trapped in the present; they had no idea that the very things they repeated to impress each other had, in silence, become Li Chen's footholds into a life they could not imagine stealing back.
He did not look back. He did not gloat. He drove out into Hangzhou's wet streets, the car's engine a steady heartbeat beneath his palms, the invisible ledger humming in the dark like a promise.
**End of chapter**