September 22, 2023, 6:30 PM.
In Zibo City, Shandong Province, at the entrance of the Eight Major Bureaus Convenient Market.
Wu Wei took a photo of the arched entrance and opened WeChat to share it on his Moments.
The caption read, "Off-peak time for Zibo barbecue."
He then turned off the screen and stepped forward into the market.
Although the tourist peak in Zibo in September was no longer as it had been, it was still mealtime, and the place was still very crowded, with many people queuing at each snack shop.
And at the famous Zibo barbecue, customers had filled up the seats in front of every shop.
Wu Wei randomly chose a shop that looked decent and, after taking a number, sat down on a small stool.
While browsing short videos, he waited.
Just then, a WeChat message popped up.
Liu Lili: "You went to Zibo???"
Seeing this name, a look of disgust immediately surged on Wu Wei's face.
Liu Lili was a former colleague of his.
She was cheerful and lively, and quite attractive too.
They often interacted at work, and so Wu Wei gradually developed feelings for her.
After a company party, he confessed his feelings to her.
She didn't accept, but she didn't reject him either. Instead, she said shyly, "Let's see how you perform."
Thinking he had a chance, Wu Wei didn't hesitate to court her.
To win her over, he spent most of his salary on her.
Food, gifts, red packets, money transfers...
She accepted everything he offered.
However, their relationship made no further progress.
He pursued her for almost a year, and they hadn't even held hands.
Whenever he thought about giving up, she would seek him out, give him a little affection, and speak in intimate and ambiguous terms.
It made him feel as if his progress bar was at 99%, and just a little more effort might succeed.
Unwilling to let his previous efforts go to waste, he continued to sink deeper...
A few days ago, Liu Lili messaged him on WeChat, telling him her birthday was coming up and that she wanted a Donkey brand bag as a birthday gift.
Seeing the message, the usually compliant Wu Wei hesitated for the first time.
Due to the year's adverse circumstances, the company's performance continued to decline, and last month, he was let go.
Although he received an N+1 severance package, after paying half a year's rent upfront, he lost a third of that money.
The Donkey brand bag cost twenty thousand yuan; he could afford it, but after buying it, he would only have enough money left for one more month of living.
But love-blinded as he was, he gritted his teeth and agreed.
Figuring that if she liked the bag so much, maybe she would agree to be his girlfriend after receiving it.
But what he never expected was that the next afternoon, after coming out of a job interview, he saw her arm-in-arm with a man who appeared to be in his thirties, walking into a high-end restaurant, chatting and laughing.
At that moment, he felt as if struck by thunder.
He was completely stunned.
He stood there dazed, staring at the restaurant's entrance for a long, long time.
Then, he unexpectedly burst into relieved laughter.
No wonder she never agreed after all his attempts; she had been treating him as a backup option.
He didn't behave like a fool sending her confronting messages, nor did he furiously call to rebuke her. After all, he wasn't her boyfriend; he was just someone's backup.
Thinking of the Donkey brand bag that the delivery guy had just brought at noon, he felt exceptionally ironic.
He offered her sincerity, and she only wanted to blow through his money!
That he had been strung along for so long without realizing it made him feel incredibly stupid!
Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on himself?
So upon returning, Wu Wei immediately returned the bag and went to a nearby mall to buy himself a heap of clothes and shoes, all brands and styles he had previously balked at purchasing.
In fact, he didn't even spend half of what the bag would have cost!
However, shopping didn't improve his mood.
The dual setbacks in career and love deeply depressed him, as if a heavy stone were pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
So he decided to take a trip to relax and change his mood.
Zibo was this year's hottest domestic travel destination. He had always wanted to go but never had the chance. Now, with no job, it was the perfect opportunity to thoroughly enjoy himself.
He might even visit his alma mater in nearby Weicheng, stroll through the old campus, classrooms, and dormitories, and reminisce about the glorious college days.
From Weicheng to Zibo City, two days of travel allowed him to temporarily forget the troubles and annoyances of his mind.
Especially when he thought of the Zibo barbecue he had been longing for, his heart was filled with joyful anticipation.
However, at this moment, Liu Lili suddenly sent him a message on WeChat, ruining his good mood.
Wu Wei looked at the message, frowned deeply, and without a second word, deleted her from his friends list.
He had nothing good to say about such a despicable woman.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for awakening, system activation successful!"
At that moment, an electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
Wu Wei was nearly startled by the noise.
Once he recovered, his eyes lit up immediately.
Fuck, is this the legendary system?
After many miserable years, was it finally his turn to cheat?
Just as he was thinking, a high-tech interface appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Wu Wei]
[Age: 27 years old]
[Height: 175cm]
[Weight: 71kg]
[Appearance: 62]
[Physique: 55]
[Constitution: 63]
[Health: 58]
[Stamina: 65]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Assets: 15625.5 yuan]
...
Wu Wei looked at the screen before him and was ecstatic.
After a quick glance, he continued to read on.
[This system is named the Goddess Strategy System, and the host can use Goddess Strategy Gold for transactions when spending on beauties with an appearance score above 80]
[1 yuan can be exchanged for 10000 Goddess Strategy Gold]
[Raising a goddess's favorability to 80 will reward attribute points (base reward 10 points, each point above 80 in the goddess's appearance score grants an additional 1 point)]
[Raising a goddess's favorability to 90 will refund all the strategy gold spent on her]
Fuck, is it really that awesome?
Wu Wei read carefully several times to ensure he understood correctly, and then he was shocked!
Spending on a goddess with more than 80 points only costs one yuan for what is worth ten thousand yuan!
The key is, if you get the goddess's favorability to over 90, the money spent will be fully refunded!
In other words, if he converted all his assets of more than fifteen thousand yuan into Goddess Strategy Gold and spent it on a goddess, raising her favorability to 90, then his personal assets would reach an astonishing 150 million!
"Is this for real?"
The surprise was too great, and Wu Wei was somewhat incredulous.
Then the system displayed: [Goddess Strategy Gold account is now open, bank card has been automatically linked to WeChat and Alipay, host can complete the exchange by normal transfer]
At the same time, Wu Wei suddenly found a black card in his hand.
It looked like a Centurion Black Card, but the design on it was completely different.
Wu Wei pocketed it and then opened WeChat, indeed finding a new bank card already linked to it.
"Let's transfer one yuan and see."
Wu Wei withdrew one yuan from his WeChat balance to the new bank card.
[System account received 10000 yuan, current Goddess Strategy Gold balance 10000 yuan]
It really was ten thousand yuan!
"Quick, find a beauty with a score above 80 and see if I can use it."
Wu Wei immediately started looking around him.
Now the question was, how could he determine whether a girl was indeed a goddess with a score over 80?
After all, there was no definite standard for this.
Moreover, with many girls nowadays mastering makeup techniques so skillfully, almost like witchcraft, how could he, a straight man, clearly see what their true appearance was like?
While he was worrying, the system displayed: [Information scanning feature has been fully loaded, host can activate it to view a girl's basic information]