Chapter 42 Encountering Fans at the Airport

Hearing this, Zhou Ming could not help but be slightly stunned, almost failing to react in time. He never expected Su Chen to be so resolute and firm, refusing him directly without the slightest bit of awkwardness or hesitation.

That's not right! This completely differed from the script progression he had originally imagined!

After a brief moment of silence, Zhou Ming lowered his voice again and said, "Brother Chen, if we really calculate it carefully, we aren't just strangers who just met. We've known each other for six or seven years, to say the least. If it weren't for such a profound relationship between us, I usually wouldn't bring this up, nor would I have the face to ask. Besides, all I want to borrow is around ten thousand yuan—it's not much, not some grand sum of tens or hundreds of thousands. Is it necessary to use such harsh words?"

Upon hearing this, Su Chen couldn't help but sneer and said, "According to what you're saying, is ten thousand yuan not money then? Why don't you tell me how much your monthly living allowance is—fifteen hundred or two thousand? You're really something else!"

Hearing this, Zhou Ming grew embarrassed and angry, snapping, "Is it really that serious? Since you have so much money now, do you even care about borrowing such a tiny bit to me?"

Seeing the ugly, desperate look of rage on the other's face, Su Chen shook his head and said, "Just how shameless do you have to be to ask other people for money with such a righteous and clear conscience?"

"Fine, fine, fine! You've really got it made, Su Chen. I'll remember you today!" In an instant, Zhou Ming flew into a rage, slammed the table, and stormed off in anger.

[Received anger value from Zhou Ming, +999]

Watching Zhou Ming's furious retreating figure, Su Chen couldn't help but smile helplessly.

As expected, he had long guessed that this was a feast with no good intentions. Generally speaking, when a friend or classmate you haven't kept in touch with for a long time suddenly comes looking for you, it's rarely for anything good and usually has an ulterior motive.

However, over the years, Su Chen had long become adept at the art of rejecting others. He would never show mercy or soften his words because of so-called friendship.

Life, after all, is a process of constantly meeting new friends while continuously weeding out old ones, until the ones who remain at the very end are true friends.

For so-called friends like Zhou Ming, who hadn't been in touch for ages and whose first words were attempts to take advantage, Su Chen held only one attitude and one sentence: roll as far away as possible and don't come near me.

Quickly wrapping up this boring meal, Su Chen hailed a taxi straight to the airport.

While waiting in the departure lounge, Su Chen casually noticed several youthful and pretty girls whispering to each other, occasionally glancing in his direction while they spoke.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before those young girls took small steps over to Su Chen's side.

"Excuse me to bother you, but may I ask if you are the ultimate romantic Su Chen?" a girl wearing hot pants and revealing a pair of long, fair legs asked softly with a hint of shyness.

Su Chen was slightly startled and smiled, then generously nodded and admitted, "Yes, that's me."

"Wow, it really is you! I thought we were mistaken," the long-legged girl exclaimed pleasantly and in surprise. "Here's the thing, all of us are your fans!"

"We are so lucky today to actually run into you in the departure lounge. Would it be convenient to take a photo together?"

"We watched your livestream the other day from start to finish. I have to say, it was simply amazing!"

"Yeah, yeah! We originally wanted to send tips, but we found out we couldn't."

The young girls surrounded Su Chen, chatting happily and all at once. Their voices immediately attracted sidelong glances from many passengers nearby who were waiting for their flights.

Su Chen burst into a hearty laugh and said, "How about this, let's sit down and talk so we don't disturb the rest of the other passengers..."

"Okay, okay!" Seeing Su Chen say this, the young girls nodded obediently in agreement, then gathered around and sat in a circle near him.

"Brother Su Chen, where are you heading? Is it Ou City?" Because they had met near the same boarding gate, the long-legged girl asked this question.

"Mm-hmm, I'm heading to Ou City. I suppose you guys are too, right?" Su Chen responded with an easygoing smile.

"Yeah, yeah, we are too! What a huge coincidence!"

"Mm-hmm, Brother Su Chen, how come I feel like you're even more handsome and better-looking in person than you were in the livestream!"

"You flatter me. Maybe it's because I'm just not photogenic?"

"Brother Su Chen, can I post the photo of us together on my Moments? My friends are definitely going to die of jealousy."

"Hahaha, it's not that exaggerated. I'm not some big celebrity to be this popular."

"We've seen big celebrities before, but honestly, none of them look as handsome as you!"

"Hahaha, if you say that, I'm actually going to take it seriously!"

...

Encountering their favorite streamer, the young girls were naturally full of spirit. Su Chen didn't mind either and was quite happy to chat and interact with them.

In the midst of a boring journey, being able to chat and converse with a few youthful and pretty young girls was undoubtedly an interesting pastime.

However, as the group grew more familiar with one another, their questions became increasingly bold and profound.

Girl: "Brother Su Chen, since you're so good-looking, have there ever been any wealthy older women wanting to keep you as a kept man?"

Su Chen: "No, actually. Come to think of it, that's quite a pity!"

Girl: "Oh? Well, if a wealthy woman suddenly said she wanted to keep you, would you agree?"

Su Chen: "Well, you see, I believe that as a person, you still need to have a bottom line, right? You surely can't abandon money just for your dignity, can you? That would be foolish!"

Girl: "Wow... So that's how it is. Then how about the few of us pool our resources together and keep you?"

"Ah, this..." Su Chen couldn't help being taken aback, and asked out of curiosity, "Based on what you're saying, how much could you shell out per month?"

Girl: "We'll ask our families for some allowance money, around one hundred thousand each per month. Put together, that's still at least... around six hundred thousand!"

Su Chen: "..."

Damn it, true bloody little rich girls!

Although Su Chen was naturally joking—having just asked, these young girls weren't even adults yet—he still felt a slight twinge of bittersweet amusement.

Girl: "Brother Su Chen, what kind of things are guys usually quite sensitive about?"

Su Chen: "Huh? Sensitive? Which aspect do you mean?"

Girl: "You know, the kind of thing where even if someone just touches it, you'll have a huge reaction."

Su Chen: "That would definitely be the minion wave. I will genuinely curse people out over that."

...

This chat continued all the way until they boarded the plane and returned to their respective seats. Only then did this increasingly outrageous and bold conversation finally come to an end.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Su Chen mentally reviewed the various items he had recently obtained through the lottery system.

Regarding scripts:
Grade-E movie script, "Pure Heart, Chasing Dreams in the Entertainment Industry" — Unwanted, straight into the trash can.
Grade-A movie script, "The Wealthiest Man's Path to Fame" — Set aside for now, kept at the bottom of the box as a backup.

Regarding songs:
Grade-E song lyrics and score, "Old Driver, Give Me a Ride" — Uploaded to Douyin now to farm anger values.
Grade-A song lyrics and score, "Someone Like Me" — Copyright already registered, recording completed, just waiting for the right timing to release it.
Grade-A song lyrics and score, "An Old Friend's Sigh" — Copyright also registered, but not yet recorded.

Regarding acting skills:
Professional Grade-A Doctor acting skills — As the saying goes, having extra skills never weighs you down.

Regarding singing and musical skills:
Professional Grade-C guitar playing ability.
Professional Grade-A suona playing ability.
Professional Grade-A music theory knowledge.
Professional Grade-SSS singing proficiency.

Regarding literary works:
Grade-E literary work, "Infidelity on the Wedding Night" — Published on Qidian Chinese Network to farm anger values, now completed.
Grade-C literary work, "Wukong: Eternal Regrets of Life Like Flowing Water" — Same as above, currently being serialized.
Grade-A literary work, "Daoist Priest of Strange Immortality" — Not yet published.

Current remaining anger values:
Over ten thousand, and still continuously rising.

Regarding income:
Currently serving as Lin Yueyao's PR manager — twenty thousand per month.
"Wukong: Eternal Regrets of Life Like Flowing Water" — Total earnings over thirty thousand so far, with future royalties expected to rise.
Livestreaming revenue — Broadcasting hasn't resumed yet, but estimated monthly earnings should exceed one hundred thousand.
...

Although, judging by the current situation, becoming a heavenly king superstar still seemed a long way off, one had to remember that it had only been a little over a month since Su Chen acquired the system.

If he were given another year, Su Chen couldn't even imagine how abundant his accumulations would be by then. Would his dreams still seem so far away at that time?

Just thinking about this made the corners of Su Chen's mouth curl upward uncontrollably, unable to be suppressed.

Having sorted through his current gains, he was just about to take a brief rest when he noticed a flight attendant slowly walking over, squatting down beside him, and asking in a gentle whisper:

"Excuse me to bother you, but may I ask if you are the ultimate romantic Su Chen?"