Chapter 45: I can give you a chance to pursue me!

After handing the bank card with one hundred thousand inside over to his parents, Su Chen was left with a meager fifteen thousand in savings.

To use that previous joke to describe this amount, it would only be enough to keep Zhou Yujie financially sustained for a day and a half.

Returning to the Wangfu residential complex and just as he unlocked and stepped into his apartment, the door to Zhou Yujie's place right next door suddenly swung open.

"Oh, Chen, you finally deigned to come back?" Zhou Yujie leaned lazily against the doorframe, humming softly.

Perhaps suddenly realizing that her tone sounded a bit like a nagging young wife waiting alone at home for her husband to return late, Zhou Yujie quickly scrambled to patch things up. "I thought you weren't coming back at all!"

Well, patching it up was no different from leaving it alone—now it sounded even more like it!

Su Chen tilted his head slightly, glanced sideways at Zhou Yujie, and smiled. "Of course I had to come back. I still have a very important thing left here that I haven't taken with me yet. How could I bear to leave?"

Though it had only been a few days since they last saw each other, Su Chen couldn't help but feel that Zhou Yujie had grown even more breathtakingly pretty.

Her makeup-free face, completely exposed because she had tied all her hair back into a ponytail, revealed a gentle, exquisite sweetness that instantly lit up his eyes.

"What on earth are you blabbering about!" Zhou Yujie's delicate pink cheeks spontaneously flushed with a rosy hue, blooming like the sunset glow on the horizon to add an extra layer of beauty, as she gave a light, indignant huff.

"What's wrong? I didn't say anything wrong..." Su Chen looked at her in apparent confusion. "All the hard work, sweat, and memories of my past three years are right here. Isn't that important?"

Zhou Yujie fell silent for a brief moment, her cheeks gradually turning completely crimson. Seized by sudden embarrassment and anger, she snapped, "Su Chen, are you asking for a beating?"

[Received irritation points from Zhou Yujie, +999]

Watching the flustered and exasperated Zhou Yujie, Su Chen dodged her incoming barrage of little punches while laughing heartily.

"My bad, my bad, I'm sorry. The most important thing to me must be right here before my eyes... Ah yes, exactly, it's that ceramic figurine! Bought it for over a thousand, super expensive!"

Zhou Yujie: "..."

[Received irritation points from Zhou Yujie, +666]

How could anyone in this world be blessed with such an irritating mouth? She really wanted to just take a bite out of him and get it over with!

After bickering and wrestling for a good while, Zhou Yujie finally vented her pent-up frustration.

Although she hadn't genuinely expected Su Chen to say anything heart-fluttering or embarrassing, teasing her like this was still profoundly annoying!

Seeing that the atmosphere was just about right, Su Chen took a step forward and gazed at Zhou Yujie with a serious expression.

"What?" Zhou Yujie's heart skipped an involuntary beat. She instinctively took a step back, looking at Su Chen with a trace of timidity.

Su Chen couldn't help but chuckle, asking softly, "If I had just said that the most important thing I have here is you, how would you answer me?"

A faint flush crept across Zhou Yujie's cheeks, and her gaze noticeably flickered away. This clearly indicated that her inner world was far from calm, stirred by a subtle and rippling tide of emotion.

This wasn't the first time Su Chen had used such words to tease her, yet it made her heart race far more violently than any previous occasion.

The sunlight spilling across the windowsill, the cool breeze, the fluttering curtains—all of these served merely as the backdrop to this single sentence, making her heart tremble slightly.

That surging emotion felt as if it were about to burst forth, warming her cheeks and sending a tingling, electric sensation coursing through her entire body.

"I know!" Zhou Yujie let out a soft exclamation before whispering, "Stop talking!"

Su Chen: "Huh?"

What was that supposed to mean? Did the flirtatious move succeed or fail? Why couldn't he understand this?

Even Su Chen, who fancied himself a master of romance, found himself scratching his head. Why wasn't this young lady playing by the rules?

Pinned under Su Chen's direct, unwavering gaze, Zhou Yujie felt increasingly uneasy. Unable to take it anymore, she gave him a light push and said in a shy, indignant tone, "Why aren't you going over to clean your room yet? It's all dusty, disgusting!"

Looking at Zhou Yujie's feigned indifference, Su Chen noticed how the cascading waves of red flush climbing up her cheeks inadvertently betrayed her true feelings.

Oh well... This feeling was quite wonderful anyway, no less thrilling than the threesome dynamics with Orange and Su Chengmei!

In fact, compared to straightforward physical pleasure, Su Chen preferred this kind of tentative, flustered, natural, and unpretentious feeling.

After all, relationships between men and women weren't just about the physical act itself; the psychological entanglements, probing, dodging, and flirtation between two people were far more fascinating and richly flavored.

Otherwise, why would anyone bother dating? They could just pay for companionship directly, and even the most stunning women could be found that way.

After finishing the cleaning together, time had flown, and it was already past five in the afternoon.

To thank Zhou Yujie for helping him clean up, Su Chen treated her to a lavish dinner as a token of his appreciation.

However, on their way back, a woman of striking looks and figure, accompanied by an assistant, suddenly blocked their path.

Her willow-like waist, voluptuous breasts, and the swaying curves of her figure as she walked possessed an undeniable, alluring charm.

Su Chen instinctively furrowed his brows slightly and asked in confusion, "Excuse me, who are you?"

The woman, wearing light makeup and carrying a somewhat glamorous appearance, smiled and said, "Barging in uninvited is indeed a bit presumptuous. Allow me to introduce myself first.

"My name is Aivei, co-founder of Mimi MCN agency, and also a beauty blogger with tens of millions of followers."

As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling person. Su Chen nodded with a polite smile and replied, "Pleased to meet you. Is there something you need from me?"

"Shall we talk right here? Wouldn't it be a bit inconvenient?" Aiyou glanced at Zhou Yujie standing beside Su Chen, momentarily struck by the girl's stunning looks.

She hadn't expected to encounter such a gorgeous young woman in real life, but her primary target today was still Su Chen.

Su Chen smiled. "Let's head to that coffee shop up ahead then. We can sit down and talk."

Zhou Yujie had already guessed the visitor's intention. After a brief hesitation, she said softly, "Chen, you guys go ahead and talk then. I won't disturb you; I'll head back first."

It wasn't out of intimidation by the other party's presence, but rather because Zhou Yujie possessed a strong sense of personal boundaries. Feeling that she had no business participating in this conversation, she tactfully took her leave.

"Alright... I'll look for you later!" Su Chen didn't press her to stay and accepted with a smile.

Arriving at the coffee shop and exchanging a few polite pleasantries, Aivei cut straight to the chase. "Su Chen, let's get straight to the point.

"The reason I came to look for you today is because I've taken a liking to your current popularity and future potential, and I want to sign you!

"You may have heard of Mimi MCN; we are arguably the premier influencer incubation company in the country.

"While your current popularity is quite good, turning that into commercial value still requires a tremendous amount of effort. Today's era is simply not suited for fighting alone.

"Our company, on the other hand, has a whole series of professional personnel to take care of everything for you—content planning, publicity and promotion, fan management, and contract agency.

"As for the terms, whether it's the signing bonus or revenue split, we will offer you the standard of a top-tier traffic blogger. I hope you can feel our sincerity."

Aivei's pitch was sincere enough. If Su Chen were just an ordinary internet celebrity, joining her agency wouldn't pose any real problem.

Since he had the heat, all terms were negotiable; after all, this was a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Unfortunately, Su Chen was different. Wielding the formidable weapon that was his system, any MCN or influencer incubator was nothing more than unnecessary baggage to him.

Su Chen gave a faint smile, shook his head, and politely declined. "I'm truly sorry, but I don't have any such considerations or plans at the moment."

And he never would in the future, either.

Aivei was momentarily stunned, then asked with mild bewilderment, "Has another company approached you before this?

"That's fine, too. In this business, it's only natural to shop around and maximize one's benefits; I completely understand.

"If the other party has offered you certain terms, we can easily discuss them!"

Aivei had watched Su Chen's live broadcast two weeks ago, and it was that exact broadcast that had won her over, which was why she had sought him out today.

She firmly believed that as long as Su Chen didn't commit any fatal, principled errors, his future achievements would undoubtedly be massive!

Therefore, as long as Su Chen's demands weren't too outrageous, she felt there was plenty of room for negotiation.

"It's not that..." Su Chen smiled. "It's just that I've grown accustomed to a free and lazy lifestyle and don't like being bound by these rules."

Su Chen knew very well that the moment you take someone else's money, you are correspondingly obligated to work for them.

He had no intention of altering his original developmental trajectory for the sake of such petty profits.

"Well, what if I offered it this way... What if I gave you an opportunity to pursue me? Would that change your mind?"