Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Breaking Boundaries, Mutual Attraction Between Men and Women
Favorability had finally come back, and it was even three points higher than before!
It meant that, setting aside other factors, Sun Yi genuinely liked the boat dinner itself.
After all, which girl could resist feasting on gourmet food while cruising at dusk on the Grand Ming Lake?
Sun Yi took several photos of the sunset outside with her phone, then turned around and snapped away at the dishes on the table.
"Stop taking pictures and eat!"
Wu Wei picked up a king crab leg and placed it on Sun Yi's plate.
"Okay!"
Sun Yi set down her phone, grabbed the crab leg, and excitedly said, "This crab leg is so big, I've never had king crab before!"
"Then try it and see how it tastes."
Wu Wei, also full of anticipation, picked up a crab leg for himself.
This was also his first time eating king crab.
He had only seen food bloggers eat it in videos before, drooling while watching, without knowing when he would get to taste it himself.
Now, he finally did.
The entire crab had already been prepared, making the crab legs very convenient to eat.
Wu Wei held it directly with his hands, peeled it open, and took a big bite.
Instantly, a burst of fragrance hit his nose, followed by a subtle saltiness and sweetness flooding his mouth.
So that was the taste of king crab.
He had to admit, it was really delicious!
After finishing a leg, Wu Wei looked up at Sun Yi, "How about it, do you like it?"
"I like it!"
Sun Yi nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken, "Now I finally understand why imitation crab sticks in hotpot look like that, they are modeled after king crab legs."
"Right, I didn't know that before either."
Wu Wei said and picked up another crab leg for her, "If you like it, eat more."
"Thank you."
Sun Yi looked at Wu Wei curiously, hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "Wu Wei, have you made a fortune?"
"More or less," Wu Wei replied with a faint smile.
"Really?"
Sun Yi's eyes widened in surprise, "Are you earning a million a year or have you won the lottery? A meal for eight thousand, that's almost my yearly food expenses!"
"Neither," Wu Wei shook his head.
As for the question of how he got his money, he had already thought about how to answer it a while ago, so he said, "I was studying computer science, right? During my freshman year, a few seniors mined some Bitcoins and then sold them in our circle of friends. I thought they would appreciate in value, so I spent 200 yuan to buy two."
Wu Wei asked Sun Yi, "You know what Bitcoin is, right?"
Sun Yi shook her head, "I'm not very clear about it, but I often hear it has gone up and down or something."
"Exactly, as long as you know it fluctuates, that's good enough."
Wu Wei smiled and continued, "After I bought them, the price kept falling, and then I gradually forgot about it."
"It wasn't until the year before last that I saw a piece of news saying Bitcoin had skyrocketed. Only then did I remember, and I logged into my account to sell those two Bitcoins, making several hundred thousand."
"Several hundred thousand?!"
Upon hearing this number, Sun Yi's face was full of disbelief, "Two coins are worth so much money?"
"Right, it was during the peak price at that time."
Unflinchingly, Wu Wei continued with his fib, "Then I took the several hundred thousand I made, learned stock trading, and made some investments. In the past two years, I've made some more, overall, it's pretty good I'd say, I've reached financial freedom."
If it were any other girl asking, he wouldn't have to explain at all, he could gloss over it or change the subject.
But for Sun Yi, who came from the same place as him and knew each other's backgrounds, he still needed to give a more realistic and credible reason.
"This is called 'doing alright'? You're simply amazing!"
Sun Yi's eyes sparkled with admiration as she looked at Wu Wei, "To seize the opportunity and build a fortune from scratch at such a young age, achieving financial freedom—very few can accomplish that!"
[Sun Yi's favorability +5]
Upon seeing the system's prompt, a wave of tremendous joy surged within Wu Wei.
With these additional five points, Sun Yi's favorability toward him had reached 51!
This was an extremely important moment!
Because surpassing 50 favorability points meant that they had broken through the boundary of ordinary friendship!
They had arrived at the stage of "fondness" between a man and a woman!
This indicated that Sun Yi's feelings for him were no longer just platonic friendship; she was starting to find him attractive and beginning to develop romantic emotions toward him!
Wu Wei couldn't help but marvel at how incredibly powerful the favorability system was—pursuing a girl was just like playing an open hand!
While thinking this, Wu Wei carefully observed Sun Yi and indeed found that her gaze toward him had changed slightly from before.
There seemed to be a bit more admiration...
Women are naturally drawn to strength, and Sun Yi was no exception.
As he gradually revealed his substantial wealth and recounted his rags-to-riches money-making journey, Sun Yi inevitably began to admire him to some extent.
And a woman's admiration for a man is often the start of her liking him.
"Sigh..."
As Sun Yi spoke, she suddenly sighed, her voice tinged with disappointment: "You've achieved financial freedom already, and here I am still in school, struggling with experiments and papers. I get criticized by my supervisor every day, and I don't even know if I'll graduate next year."
"You're putting too much pressure on yourself."
Wu Wei consoled her, "If it really gets unbearable, then just quit. Forget the PhD, and if you don't want to be a doctor, then don't become one!"
"It's not as easy as you say!"
Sun Yi shook her head, "I'm not like you; I don't have a fallback plan. If I don't graduate, my parents will definitely be disappointed, and relatives, friends, and neighbors would ridicule me to no end. And not becoming a doctor is out of the question—I can only walk this path to the end."
Wu Wei of course understood Sun Yi's predicament.
They both came from ordinary families in small rural towns, where their lives had no margin for error.
A single misstep or failure could mean they'd never have the chance to turn their lives around.
Therefore, they had to be extra cautious and steady with every step they took.
And the safest path for Sun Yi was undoubtedly to obtain her PhD and then work as a doctor in a hospital.
Even if she didn't want to be a doctor, she had to do it.
And that was the source of her constant distress.
But there was no alternative; reality was that cruel.
And his own life before had been even tougher by far!
Sun Yi, at least, was a woman; she didn't have the pressure of needing to own a house or car, and she also had the support of her parents.
But he had nothing!
Everything he had achieved had been through his own hard work.
Fortunately, everything was different now!
Wu Wei looked into Sun Yi's eyes and gently said, "Perhaps you could have a backup plan after all!"
"What backup plan?" Sun Yi blinked in confusion.
Wu Wei half-seriously, half-jokingly said, "Me, I could be your backup plan."
"Ah?"
Sun Yi was taken aback, "Don't joke about that."
"What if I'm not joking?"
Wu Wei's gaze remained steadfastly on Sun Yi's slightly bashful face.
Sun Yi couldn't bear to look him in the eyes and quickly lowered her head to focus on her food.
She sneaked glances at him from time to time, and seeing that he was still watching her, she quickly retreated her gaze.
Seeing this, Wu Wei couldn't help but laugh.