Lin Feng looked at them with an expectant expression.
"I guess that's one way to get an audience," Mengqi said.
Su Yue looked between the two of them, confusion written on her face.
"Isn't that... pretty bad?"
"Well, it depends," Mengqi replied. She shrugged. "It's your debut. You have no reputation to uphold even if you're discovered."
She paused.
"Though I doubt the scheme will be discovered. The industry does this all the time - maybe not to this extent, but still."
She crossed her arms.
"The only thing we have to worry about is the hardcore fans who will be disappointed that this wasn't from their oshi's group. They might even start hating on the songs just because."
Lin Feng just smiled from the side.
What did it matter if they hated?
It was all part of the plan. Hating also boosted engagement. In the end, they would win.
And as long as the rest of the songs in the mini-album were hits, there was no need to worry about the haters. They would slowly be transformed into fans.
As for those who remained stubborn - they would keep arguing with the fans, causing even more discussion about Su Yue, boosting her popularity even further.
Lin Feng glanced at the time.
"Anyway, it's getting late. I'll escort Mengqi to her apartment and then head back to campus."
He picked up his items from the table and packed them into his backpack.
He turned to Su Yue.
"Get ready. Your training officially starts tomorrow."
Then he turned to Mengqi.
"Let's go."
He was about to start moving when a hand landed on his.
He turned.
Su Yue was holding onto him.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
She blushed slightly and let go.
"Um, no," she stammered. "Well... there is something I wanted to talk to you about. But there's no need to keep Mengqi waiting."
She fidgeted with her fingers.
"How about you call me when you get back to campus?"
He looked at her.
Hmm. Was she still troubled about my idea?
He smiled.
"Sure."
Su Yue watched as the two left, chatting casually as they walked out the door.
When the door finally closed, her expression turned serious.
She stared at her phone.
The clock showed 9:12 PM.
She kept staring at it.
Minutes passed.
And eventually, the phone rang.
She seemed to snap out of her trance and answered in a sweet voice.
"Hello?"
Lin Feng's voice came through from the other side.
"I just arrived at campus. What did you want to talk about?"
"Ah, that."
She paused.
"Never mind. I figured it out."
She looked at the screen. It showed 9:33 PM.
She smiled.
"You did?"
"Yeah." Her voice softened. "Anyway... thanks for always taking care of me."
A brief pause.
"Goodnight."
On the other end, Lin Feng answered.
"Well, if you've already figured it out, then I guess it's alright. Don't hesitate to call me if you have any doubts."
"Goodnight."
The line went dead.
She sat there, looking at her phone.
She remembered Mengqi's words from earlier.
…
On the other side, Lin Feng had a confused expression after the call ended.
What's up with her?
He remembered that she had seemed a little strange before he left. Had something happened?
At that moment, a notification appeared - both on his phone and from the system.
[Personal account has been credited with ¥2,450.00 from account ending in...]
Su Yue really is my golden goose. I should take care of her more.
He summoned the full system.
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥21,342.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥21,342.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥22,777.00]
He smiled.
He had broken through twenty thousand in daily income. It wasn't even that long ago that he was celebrating hitting ten thousand in personal balance.
With this level of money, he should be even more proactive.
Speaking of, he wondered what had happened with Tianji. Today was supposed to be the deciding day. He had earned about ¥400 from it, so it was probably fine, right?
Well, he would talk to Yu Shen about it later.
For now...
He withdrew his money and then closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
…
Monday, October 26th.
Lin Feng groaned.
His arm extended from beneath the covers, fumbling blindly until it found the source of the noise. He turned the alarm off and dragged his phone back under with him.
He rolled to the other side of the bed and held up the screen.
He winced.
The bright light stabbed at his eyes.
After a moment, they slowly readjusted. He looked at the time.
6:00 AM.
He sighed.
Then he slowly dragged himself out of bed.
…
Half an hour later, the four of them sat together for their usual meeting.
"Is there anything else?" Lin Feng asked after everyone had finished their daily reports.
Chen Ming spoke up.
"There's a slight problem. Honestly, I'm not even sure if it's a problem."
He scratched his head.
"The thing is - with everyone having their midterms over the next two weeks, won't we have trouble finding people to deliver?"
He paused.
"I had that thought, but after thinking about it more, I figured there won't be anyone to deliver to either since they'll also be having their midterms."
He shrugged.
"So maybe there's no need to worry."
Lin Feng nodded. That made sense.
That being said...
"Our midterms aren't always aligned - especially with the other years and majors. It should work alternatively when one side is doing their exams though."
He tapped the table.
"But just to be sure, monitor the situation and see if there's a loose end. If there is, we can fix it tomorrow by hiring more deliverers in the weaker category."
Chen Ming nodded.
With that, the meeting was dismissed.
…
Although it was a weekday and also the start of midterms, Lin Feng didn't really have much to do.
He only had one exam today, and it was about the same for the rest of the days.
Today's exam was Advanced Mathematics 1, and it wouldn't start until 2 PM.
That meant he had plenty of free time.
Most people would spend this time revising, but Lin Feng didn't think he needed any of that. He had already pretty much refreshed his memory on these topics throughout all the studying he had done over the past weeks.
He decided to finish up their coding session early this time so he could have the rest of the day to himself.
He asked Li Jun and Zhang Wei.
They seemed to have the same idea.