Morning.
6 am.
A new day had started.
"Duck."
Bai Xue muttered after looking at his results. It was not good.
'I truly have no scope in this field.'
*Hmmmmphgh*
He closed the results and left for the Library to enjoy some peace time things could start.
It was 6 in the morning and the places he wants to be wouldn't welcome him at such a time.
Last night, he had thought a bit before going to sleep and today, he was going to give more foundations to his plan.
From how the situation was in, the first part is to find the fields he could delve into. If he can find more than one, then that's all the more good news.
Then he would have to get some funds for the business, either through a loan or through some other forms.
Or he can find a way or field that he can start for free. Probably.
Lastly, he needs to eat something quick as the side effects of his hunger were going quite rampant and if he didn't eat by the night, he wouldn't be able to stand up the next morning.
"I won't need to visit the buffet for three more days. I just have to persevere three more days then."
He sat at his usual spot in the department garden of the Library council and began to search for info on his Telscreen.
Telscreen was basically a simple hyper computer that acted as smartphone/credit card/ID card and much, much more. So much that Bai Xue hasn't even complete explored a percentage of its uses despite having it for the whole month and using it for everything that he didn't understand.
There was one a reason why this was one of the most popular form of assistive device in the entirety of the world for the past 39 years since its creation.
A few hours passed and once he was finished with whatever he needed, Bai Xue booked a loan approval appointment with a trusted company and left for it when he got the reply.
....
Greenwood City was a third tier city of the Great Xia, located in the north-eastern part of the Green Ridge County.
Fortunately, in this age and time, the correct transportation will directly take him to his destination. The correct one.
There was just a tiny bit of a problem. He only had money for a one way trip.
So either he had to walk to the company 148 kilometres away as the company was at the edge of the Greenwood City, bordering more on the Yunwei city and none of this was something he cared about.
If he were to set out walking, he would die along the way. If he were to return walking, he might just kill himself for he had failed in acquiring the loan.
"Let's sell the cycle. Xu Bai Xue definitely had one on his name."
As for why not use the cycle. He didn't know how to. There was no need for it in his previous life. He was faster than it can ever be.
'I have been here for just a month. Just finishing Xu Bai Xue's final part of project took me that time, when would I learn this!'
'And how? With this flabby, useless arms of mine, or this useless stamina that needs rest after a brief walk of 5 minutes. Do I not have enough rumours? Why add more?'
'I am getting irritated and sad.'
"This is the thirteenth thing of his that I am selling. I will miss the cloth printer."
Bai Xue had a depreciating inner monologue in his mind on his way to the Bike storage.
Xu Bai Xue had a good enough savings for a college student. If Bai Xue didn't need to pay the fines and reparations to the authorities, he would have likely not run out of fund for a long time.
"I will fill your coffers. I promise."
He muttered while putting the bicycle on quick sale.
"The meeting with Eavāntí is in three hours. It will take 15 minutes from the next town. Then I have to get the bus 12:45, that is two hours from now on and I will have enough leeway for both the meeting and to eat something on the way.
2 hours and 27 minutes later.
"Thank you. I got the payment. Havea great ride."
Bai Xue checked the payment and passed the bike to the senior who had brought the bike for his sister who will join in the upcoming year and immediately left the campus for the next town.
He was late. Obviously. But the safe grace was the fact that the bicycle at least got sold and he was able to get 33 Credits for his second hand, 9 months used bicycle. Half the price of an orginal. It was a good deal hence he won't complain much. He won't.
He got to the next town, got off at the wait stop, waited for the next bus for his destination and three minutes later, he left on the new bus.
Fortunately, his current body had no motion or travel sickness otherwise he was going to be doomed. He would have likely ended himself by that point.
*Hmmmmphgh*
His stomach growled in hunger again. Time was of essence or he would have stopped by to eat something somewhere, anywhere. With 33 Credits, he had enough funds for his survival for the month.
Having funds also means that he could struggle for the loans and such for a few more days and thay was both good and bad according to the situation.
More struggle basically means that he was reaching for more things meaning he had achieved a certain level of satisfaction in whatever he had been doing.
On the other hand, less struggle means he had a stable situation but the scope of rapid improvement had be shulled to the side due to funding restraints.
'Eavāntí should live up to its reputation.'
The bus stopped at his destination and he got off with a somber heart and heavy mind. His hunger was filling his head with bad thoughts and he was trying to make the solutions of the what ifs that were arousing.
Conclusion: He had having interview stress.
He took a deep breath and looked at the really tall building that was equally beautiful and impressive. His heart grew heavier.
'I wonder if someone has ever jumped from the rooftop.'
"I should not speak my mind. Definitely."
He took a few more breaths, checked the time and entered the building. The receptionist told him that he had to wait a bit and apologized for the inconvenience and he said no problem to her.
Good.
He went to wash his face after being seated at the waiting area and when he returned, his eyes darted to the snacks for the guests and it was obviously free.
6 seconds of heavy discussions in his mind and he drank a liter of citrus juice and sat at the side.
Soon he was informed of his meeting along with the general directions and he followed his Telscreen to the appointment room only after re-enquiring at the reception and getting his assurance and also learning on how to use the direction function of the Telscreen from the helpful receptionist.
A few minutes of faithfully following the directions and he was in front of the appointment room and door opened to his face but as he took his as his cue to enter, two beings exited from it and now he was a bit too close to them and so were they.
Bai Xue promptly backed up and stood to the side. They gave a small nod to him and left while he entered the office, the doors closing shut.
Inside sat a middle-aged bald man who was supposedly his loan approvaller because he was the only person in the room except him.
"I had an loan ap---"
"Sit down sit down. No need to be so formal..."
The middle-aged Bald man interrupted Bai Xue before he can say any further and gestured him to sit. This however crushed a bit of the self preparation that he had done and also enraged him a tinsy bit.
A liter of juice wasn't enough to fill in the gaps of his two missing meals.
Even then though, he kept his cool and sat down at the newly created tap for him.
"Thanks." [Bai Xue]
"No need for formalities like that. We are all humans, we shouldn't be so tensed with each other." [Bald Man]
The Bald Man began the conversation and Bai Xue didn't know the appropriate response to this that wouldn't get him to trouble.
The Bald Man didn't seem to mind his silence though. He just continued with a slight business smile on his face.
"Not the talkative one eh? What do you need the loan for and how much do you actually need?"
The middle-aged Bald man asked Bai Xue, still with a smile on his face while signalling him to submit his ID(number or card) for some background checks.
"I have a criminal past."
Bai Xue said while swiping his telscreen above the Memory holder. Many screens appeared with his information ranging from his basic details, to academic achievements and criminal and system records.
Under the user and consumer agreements, this can't be viewed one sided so both Bai Xue and the Bald man saw the files together and after silently checking them all, the Bald Man just said this,
"Oh..." [Bald Man]
"Sorry. We can't give you any form of loan at the moment. You are barred from taking any loans for commercial purposes. We can't help you or we would be troubled." [Bald Man]
"The matter is such that this will become that, grape to brigade, a bit of spark and they will involve our past... You get the gist, right?" [Bald Man]
The Bald Man looked at the data one more time and closed the screens and took a sip from his glass.
'I am barred from loans as well. No one told me that.'
"I see."
The verdict did punished him with fines and reparations along with other things but why did barred him from loans when he had already paid the fines and most of the reparations? That's borderline bullying now. Do they want to die so badly?
Bai Xue thought and calmy got up to leave but was stopped.
"Don't be in such a hurry! You are a bit slow. Here, drink some sugarcane juice and have some crackers. Let's have a human to human talk." [Bald Man]
Bai Xue looked at him when he said that and his eyes said a lot. He had no intention of talking to a human when he was here to talk to his loan approvaller.
"You need money. I can help you. The others won't." [Bald Man]
"Eavāntí appreciates innovation. You look like a lovely innovative child, do not let yourself be limited to your surroundings. Let us help you." [Bald Man]
"I stole money." [Bai Xue]
"As I was saying, we may not be able to help you due to exactly that, at least openly per se, but there are other ways we can help you discreetly." [Bald Man]
"Why?" [Bai Xue]
"I may not be able to pass your application pertaining your current status but I can give some financial advice as a senior in the field. Will you take it? It's free and won't consume much of your time." [Bald Man]
"You are not listening to me." [Bai Xue]
"Put that aside for now na. Those are things for later." [Bald Man]
A plate of crackers was offered along with that statement.
"Okay. One more glass." [Bai Xue]
Someone agreed.
"Sure." [Bald Man]
The Bald Man poured him a new glass and then began speaking.
"You are here for business loan I presume." [Bald Man]
"...Um" [Bai Xue]
Bai Xue nodded.
"You are currently barred by the system and it would remain so until the end of your punishment term. That, is something you will handle yourself, I presume." [Bald Man]
"Hm." [Bai Xue]
Bai Xue nodded again.
"Then the answer to your financial issues are simple. Get someone to be your partner and put them as the financial forefront of the company. That would make things easier." [Bald Man]
As he heard the Bald Man, Bai Xue realised that this felt a bit familiar. This is what he was going to do albeit a bit differently. What a coincidence!
Such a fine coincidence!
"Secondly, we still can't give any loans to YOU. No one will, even if you come as a package with someone else(even marriage) and get their approval. You should lay low till the end of your punishment term and then file the plea to remove the restrictions on your monetary profile." [Bald Man]
"Or reach an agreement with the related parties and get it settled as soon as you can. This is harming you more than you think." [Bald Man]
"Thirdly, I suggest you don't do anything like this again. Personal suggestion." [Bald Man]
"I get it that you are young and all but--"
Bai Xue stared at him, the Bald Man decided to change topics as this doesn't seem like something he should speak yet.
"I will wait for your return then." [Bald Man]
The middle aged Bald man quietly slid a card to Bai Xue who asked for a refill again. Bai Xue stared at the card and took it without saying anything.
"I hope so." [Bai Xue]
Bai Xue drank the juice, ate a few more crackers and left after giving a small bow to the Middle Aged Bald Man.
"No need to. Mail your questions there, We will be happy to answer."
...
Bai Xue slowly returned to the office lounge with heavy steps and death on his face. He went to the guests snack area and ate all of it. Now he wouldn't need a buffet for a long while.
This happened in the eyes of the shocked staff who wondered if Bai Xue was a competitive eater recording weird videos but they couldn't find anyone recording him and that made them more confused.
He was fine when he came. He did drink the juice but he clearly looked malnourished and thirsty.
And then he was doing this after his meeting. Has he gone crazy?
"That's a freaking psycho! How did he even swallow them? Those taste terrifically horrible when eaten together and did you see the boxes that he eat from? How many were they?"
"I think seven or eight. How did he even swallow it with the juices?"
"I am thinking the same thing. He drank two whole jugs of juice and they were different flavours at that."
"I wish he returns again. I wanna ask how was the taste and why did he eat them? Was he angry at us or something btw?"
"You could try them yourself when they refill the station."
"No, I am not that mad to ruin my appetite because of my curiosity."
"But seriously, just how much sugar was it?"
The receptionists began to chat among themselves while working. It wasn't everyday that you encounter non threatening crazy people who ate around 8 boxes of mouth freshners along with snacks of all flavours along with juice.
How did he even swallow thw vile combination of what he was putting in his mouth?
Truly a wonder.
....
Bai Xue on the other hand took the bus to the diner and got off. He changed lanes and began to wait for his ride to the university.
"So I went a complete circle huh?"
He had planned to open a company, get it going, get ut going really well and then transfer everything to You Weixi and end this.
You Weixi will be rich and he made him rich. Both situation meets.
Now a new turn of events.
He makes him the company owner, have him as the head and then be a side partner who funds his pocket till he is rich and both the situation meets thus fulfilling the task.
"This is fine as well. I stole, I got caught. I have to pay the price. Obviously."
He wondered as the aromatic fragrance of the diner's food once again came to him despite the increased distance between him and the food.
He now wanted to eat even when he had a full stomach because what he ate before was downright malicious to the history of thw earth and if not for the rampaging hunger that he had since the previous night, his mental state in the hunger debuff and free food, he would have refrained a bit. At the least, he wouldn't have eaten the mouth fresheners.
"This much food will stop the crumbling for a week or two. I will have a good buffet then."
His ride came in a few minutes. He got off near his campus, walked to his dorms and then went to sleep as he was tired from the brief but mentally taxing day that he had.