Song Qian grabbed An Ting's wrist.
She took a deep breath and turned to look at him.
"Song Qian—tell me. Between the two of us, who's your ex-girlfriend?"
He froze. "You."
"Then why are you asking me for the money you gave her?"
"Well… that's my money, isn't it?"
"It's mine now."
An Ting shook off his hand. Her long hair fell over her shoulders, and she stood there in a pure white dress, looking gentle and harmless—yet at that moment, her aura was overwhelming.
"You're a grown man," she said coolly. "You should learn to pay for your new girlfriend instead of going back to your ex to take money from her."
She deliberately raised her voice.
Nearby customers turned to look.
The gazes they cast at Song Qian were filled with disdain.
A grown man chasing after a new girlfriend—and then trying to squeeze money out of his ex?
Shameless.
Even Ye Qianqian, standing not far away, was swept up in those looks.
Her smile stiffened.
Not wanting herself and Song Qian to be misunderstood, she hurriedly spoke up. "Those things all belong to Song Qian—"
Before she could finish, An Ting interrupted gently, "I know you've been having a hard time lately. It's normal for Song Qian to help you."
She paused, then smiled faintly.
"But you wouldn't want to see him asking his ex-girlfriend for money to help you, right?"
Ye Qianqian froze.
Anger surged in her chest, but she didn't know how to respond.
She wanted to explain that Song Qian only wanted the five million back—but she had a strong feeling that no matter what she said, An Ting would twist it effortlessly.
In the end, she could only say stiffly, "Song Qian was just worried about me. He acted too hastily. I won't allow this to happen."
"So that's how it is…" An Ting said sadly.
"You knew he was worried about you. Turns out you two were already close before we even broke up—so close that lending five million was nothing to you."
The expressions of the onlookers instantly changed.
Earlier, they'd assumed Ye Qianqian was simply short on money.
But five million?
What kind of difficulty required five million?
Were they treating this man like a walking ATM?
Ye Qianqian's face went pale, then flushed red.
With just a few sentences, An Ting had completely reframed her as a gold-digger—and now, anything she said sounded like an excuse.
Furious and humiliated, she could only look at Song Qian with a pitiful expression, hoping he'd defend her.
But Song Qian was stunned too.
At first, An Ting's words sounded reasonable.
The more he thought about it, the more wrong everything felt.
An Ting didn't care what either of them were thinking.
Before they could react, she turned and walked away cleanly.
Song Qian panicked.
He'd already given her all his personal assets—and now had nothing left for Qianqian.
Without a word, he chased after An Ting, leaving Ye Qianqian standing alone under the gazes of the crowd.
Her face burned.
She'd only pretended to be short on money after hearing Song Qian planned to give An Ting five million. She'd assumed the innocent ex-girlfriend wouldn't take it. With the admiration buff in effect, Song Qian would surely hand the money to her instead.
With five million, producing a high-quality single would be easy.
But she never imagined An Ting would take everything—and refuse to give it back.
As whispers spread around the café, Ye Qianqian felt every glance aimed at her.
In the end, she could only leave in embarrassment and resentment.
As for the lost five million…
She comforted herself that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
As long as her golden finger still worked, she would eventually benefit from Song Qian.
Outside the café, Song Qian quickly caught up.
An Ting turned back helplessly.
"You want the money you gave your ex-girlfriend back? Aren't you ashamed?"
"What?" Song Qian's eyes widened in confusion.
She shot him a disdainful look and turned to leave again.
Only then did Song Qian finally come to his senses.
Thinking back on what he'd done inside the café, his ears burned red.
What was wrong with him?
Even if he was broke, he shouldn't have asked for the money back. He'd given it willingly. Even if he wanted to help Qianqian, he should've found another way.
His behavior just now was humiliating—even to himself.
He hurried after An Ting.
"Forget what I said earlier. Once I gave you those things, I won't ask for them back."
She looked at him in surprise.
"You changed your mind pretty fast. Were you just putting on a show for her?"
Song Qian couldn't explain why he'd been so bewitched earlier. He could only attribute it to his excessive concern for Qianqian clouding his judgment.
Then he muttered, "What kind of single even costs five million? Are you hiring top stars to write it?"
An Ting looked at him like he was an idiot.
In the original story, Ye Qianqian only bought a high-quality demo from the original composer, then paid big money for a famous lyricist and arranger. Most of the budget went into marketing.
Even then, she still had plenty of money left.
Only a sucker under the "adoration buff" would never question it.
Five million wasn't pocket change.
The Song family was rich—but the money belonged to his father. Song Qian himself only had five million, plus a house and a car.
He couldn't understand how he'd been so generous earlier.
Sighing, he said, "Maybe it's because Qianqian is too innocent and kind. I felt comfortable giving her the money."
An Ting didn't answer.
Song Qian scratched his head.
"I won't ask for the money back. Your situation isn't great anyway. Now that you have money, stop doing part-time jobs and focus on your studies."
"You and Qianqian are in the same major. She's already preparing her first single. You can't keep wasting time tutoring."
His words reminded An Ting—
The original owner also studied music. She was younger than Ye Qianqian, had a great voice, and showed real talent in composition.
Then, for some reason, her inspiration dried up completely.
Meanwhile, Ye Qianqian suddenly appeared and was praised repeatedly by their mentor.
When reading the novel, An Ting had strongly suspected the author deliberately erased the original owner's talent to make the female lead shine.
Song Qian meant well—but his words were unpleasant.
If it were the original owner, she'd have left in anger.
But An Ting had just pocketed five million and was in an excellent mood.
She smiled politely.
"Okay. I won't work part-time anymore."
Why would she?
This money was enough for her to lie flat for life.
She watched Song Qian leave, then took a car back to campus.
The original owner was a junior and lived in the dorms. When An Ting returned, no one was there.
She remembered the Photoshop interface from the café and opened it again.
Every function was still grayed out—even "Open File."
After struggling for a long time, she gave up and tried to close it.
A pop-up appeared.
At the same time, a mechanical voice sounded.
"Welcome to the special edition of Photoshop. Original price: five million. Discounted price: 4.98 million. Would you like to recharge?"
The moment money was mentioned, An Ting repeatedly clicked the X.
Then she realized—
The close button was grayed out.
Only 'Yes' was clickable.
"I'm not recharging!" she snapped.
"I won't give you a single cent!"
"正版主机都要钱."
"Even the official PlayStation costs money!"
"Company A wouldn't charge five million just to use Photoshop," she sneered.
The mechanical voice replied coldly,
"This special edition can affect real people."
"…Go on."
"As long as you recharge, all operations will take effect on the target."
"What target?"
After a long explanation, An Ting finally narrowed in on the key point.
"You mean Ye Qianqian has a pirated system?"
"Yes. Her system is called Admiration Buff. Its functionality is limited to filters. This Photoshop allows full control and can neutralize her effects."
An Ting frowned.
"So this thing only works on her?"
"There is no reward. This is your mission."
"If you do not recharge, you will be returned to your original dimension for reprocessing."
An Ting's eyes welled up.
"You're threatening me."
"This PS does not threaten."
"Then why do you keep calling her system trash?!"
The voice went silent.
Then the recharge interface appeared again.
"Did you even give me a choice?!"
"This is forced sales!"
"This PS will initiate return in ten seconds. 10… 9… 8…"
With tears streaming down her face, An Ting clicked Yes.
"Remember—you said 4.98 million. Leave me twenty thousand."
"This PS will not be greedy over small change."
The interface flickered.
Only the most basic toolbar lit up—cut, pen, eraser.
Everything else remained locked.
"To unlock more features, please continue recharging."
An Ting exploded.
"I'M SUING YOU FOR COMMERCIAL FRAUD, YOU TRASH SYSTEM—!!!"