Chapter 155 - Spending So Easily
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
Since there was only 3,000 yuan left, Shi Lei spent it rather easily before midnight on Sat.u.r.day.
He went to tutor Er"jie on both Sat.u.r.day and Sunday and now Zhang Meimei was extremely enthusiastic when she saw him.
It had already been four weeks since he became a level one employee, and the amount of money refreshed to 100,000 yuan again. Shi Lei thought that if his consumptions reached the Black Card"s expectations, then he might be able to reach level two next week.
Would level two really be a million per week?
That seemed hard.
After all, there were so much restrictions to possible consumptions and the limits were rather blurry.
Even though he knew it would be difficult, Shi Lei still looked forward to leveling up.
The main point was that there was a reward after leveling up, especially some special rewards that couldn"t be measured by money. And it was also possible to draw a prize.
Shi Lei set his sights on the intimacy card. Since he knew of the existence of the card, he could at least know clearly whether he could spend money on someone or not when he used it, and know with whom he"d reached a high enough intimacy level. This way, it would much easier for Shi Lei to spend money. And he believed that intimacy had different levels. For example, for the three guys from his dorm, Shi Lei could only treat them and problems may occur if he ever gave them money or bought things for them. But for his parents, Sun Yiyi, and even Wei Xingyue, the circ.u.mstances were different. He was even closer to Wei Xingyue than Sun Yiyi, and it would be fine for him to give her things. Of course, that was under the condition that they used the presents themselves.
And that was reason why Shi Lei had the money and yet didn"t dare to buy things for his parents. It wasn"t that he didn"t want to demonstrate filial piety toward them, but because he was worried that if bought things for them, they would leave them there unused. Such an action may cause Shi Lei to lose his life within the short span of a week. He would hold onto it a bit longer, wait until he returned to Run Zhou on holiday, then buy things for them and supervise their use of it.
When the amount of money refreshed after a week, Shi Lei remembered something else: the incense he bought at Yu Banzhi"s place. Since he didn"t lose any money for that, Shi Lei believed that Yu Banzhi really didn"t want him to spend money inappropriately and was not baiting him. Shi Lei even thought that the incense would be a great cost-efficient deal, but he forgot to ask the Scepter. Although the deal may have been cost-efficient, the amount wouldn"t be that big and Shi Lei forgot about it.
And it was strange how Wei Xingyue seemed to disappear after leaving that note behind for him that day. He didn"t see her nor receive any calls. Not even a WeChat message.
Shi Lei even checked Wei Xingyue"s WeChat moments and discovered that she"d barely posted anything. The last time she posted was a month ago.
It wasn"t that he didn"t think of calling her to ask what happened, but after pondering, Shi Lei thought that it was better to not be affiliated with a crazy woman like her. Especially since there was something really unclear between them. They were friends, but they were more than that. Have you ever seen friends who would kiss each other? But Shi Lei didn"t exactly like her either. Not all men would like a woman if she was pretty. Perhaps some men will, and even like to make love(1) with her, but Shi Lei wasn"t someone like that.
Contrary to what others might think, Shi Lei was very uncomfortable with the thought of a more-romantic-than-friendship relationship. Although he didn"t clarify that he was a couple with Sun Yiyi, he felt strange.
Shi Lei was really scared about Wei Xinguye"s feelings toward him. It was good for her to not come in contact with him for a while. After she calmed down, then as the young lady of a big family, she should realize that it was just a temporary urge she"d felt and would naturally keep her distance from him in the future.
Or perhaps, Wei Xingyue had already realized that and had purposefully cut ties with him. If that was the case, then Shi Lei didn"t have the need to go and look for her.
Soon, it was Friday.
This week, Shi Lei still had nothing to do and he was mainly studying investments and stocks. He made some progress, managing ot raise his success rate to more than half out of the four stocks he picked. Shi Lei even thought that after another week or so, he could even try to invest real money.
Of course, Wednesday was still the party day. Shi Lei took those three out for a good time. It was obvious that they didn"t feel as excited as they did before. Other than stuttering when borrowing money from Shi Lei to get rooms with girls, they were no longer excited when eating and playing. They even felt sorry, and Zhang Mo said that even though Shi Lei really was a fuerdai and super rich, his money hadn"t been easily earned and he didn"t want Shi Lei to treat them so often.
On the other hand, Shi Lei said that they"d been friends for four years. Now that the fourth year of university was about to end, everyone was about to start their new life and join new friend circles. If they didn"t keep in contact like this, then they may drift away from each other. Seeing that the three were still hesitant, Shi Lei agreed that the theme of these parties would be "the reunion of F4." As for the scale, they could decease it down to just having fun at Shi Lei"s place.
After coming across collectibles and speakers, Shi Lei gained more knowledge on how to spend money. He no longer knew only clothing brands like before. His world seemed to be opened by the Black Card and he began to experience a quality of life he could have never experienced before.
Like this, it became even easier for him to spend money.
He"d worn the Armani blazer for a long time and wanted something he could change into. He bought a casual suit from Givenchy at the price of about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.
He also bought a BV handheld bag on the way. Now that Shi Lei had luxurious cars to pick him up all the time, even though they were only booked online cars, it seemed unpresentable that he was empty handed.
The bag was more than 8,000 yuan and he only had a little more than half of this week"s quota left.
He still spent a lot on Wednesday"s parties. Although it was not as much as the previous few weeks, it still costed a few thousand.
Shi Lei also took Sun Yiyi to buy a few sets of clothing and ate a few meals with her. She couldn"t get use to the extravagant clothes worth more than 10,000 yuan, so they bought a set from a not-so-expensive brand. It was over 10,000 yuan with the meals.
Shi Lei went to Yu Banzhi"s place and chatted with him for a whole afternoon. He"d originally wanted to treat Yu Banzhi to dinner as though they were friends, but if the Black Card acknowledged this friendship, it would mean that their level of intimacy was more than that of friends. Yu Banzhi originally agreed, but couldn"t make it in the end due to other business he had to attend to.
Through his contact with Yu Banzhi, Shi Lei became interested in tea. Yu Banzhi said that really high quality tea could easily cost up to a few thousand for a hundred grams, and it was expensive to buy a tea set. It was another thing for Shi Lei to spend money on over a long period of time. Although the amount of money was not too high, he agreed.
At a tea set shop Yu Banzhi recommended, he bought a tea table made from green maca.s.sar, which was a type of mahogany. There was a big piece of it and it was more than 20,000 yuan. He also bought tea cups. Yu Banzhi told him that since he just started, there was no need to buy such high quality ones and that he should start with basic ones to try it out first. Shi Lei followed his advice and bought a set of china for a few thousand yuan. After this, he"d almost spent all the money for this week.
Make love & like: Pun in Chinese; "xi huan" means like, "shang" is up, but combined together (xi huan shang) means becoming to like someone, but it read as "xi huan" and "shang" separately, "shang" has the connotations of make love
Chapter 156 - Level Two Employee
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
After he finished doing homework with Zhang Liangliang on Sat.u.r.day, Zhang Meimei came back unexpectedly. Zhang Liangliang wanted Shi Lei to eat with her, but she didn"t have a reason. She couldn"t just ask Shi Lei to eat with her and her mother every single time.
Zhang Meimei told Shi Lei that she needed to go to a meeting in Qiong Zhou, which was in the South. Although it was said to be a meeting, it was actually the end of the year holiday with pay. Many companies had benefits like this and the so-called team building was basically travelling. Shi planned to bring Zhang Liangliang with her since Christmas was around that time, too. She didn"t seem to worry about Zhang Liangliang"s studies and requested a few days of absence for her so they could stay at Qiong Zhou for a few days.
"I"m not sure about next Sat.u.r.day yet, but I will definitely keep you updated. If we are not back, I will tell you. Sorry, teacher Shi!" Zhang Meimei was very polite.
Shi Lei smiled and said, "There"s no need to be sorry. You guys going out to play and communicating more are things I"m happy about. I can also relax because I don"t need to bicker with Er"jie."
Zhang Meimei also smiled while Zhang Liangliang was a bit upset, giving Shi Lei a meaningful look. "Dashu, why don"t you come with us? You don"t have many cla.s.ses in the last year of university and I think that you are free the majority of the time."
Now that Zhang Liangliang mentioned it, Shi Lei realized that he hadn"t been to cla.s.ses for almost a month. Although they didn"t really care about students in their fourth year, it wasn"t good to skip.
"Nope. I"m a student after all, and I need to go to cla.s.ses."
"Won"t you go if my mom"s paying for it?" Zhang Liangliang panicked.
Shi Lei waved his hands and said, "Although I don"t have much money, I can afford it if I was going to play somewhere. I even earned about 2,000 yuan from you recently. But I really need to go to cla.s.ses…"
Of course, Zhang Meimei knew that it was impossible for Shi Lei to go with them. It was fine if they went as mother and daughter, but she had colleagues from her office and what would they think of their relationship? Her daughter"s boyfriend? She seemed too young. Her own boyfriend? Even if she hunted for young men, he was a bit too young. Wasn"t that just asking for other people"s criticism?
Zhang Liangliang was just immature as a child.
Hence, Zhang Meimei quickly said, "Teacher Shi hasn"t even graduated yet. After he graduates next year and you make it into a good high school, I"ll take you guys out to play!"
"Remember what you said! You can"t go back on your word!"
"I won"t!" Zhang Meimei smiled as she agreed and Shi Lei took his leave.
He didn"t have any dinner plans tonight, having almost finish spending this week"s money, so he didn"t go find Sun Yiyi.
He ate by himself and found a self service bank, checking with the Scepter about this week"s sum and seeing that he had indeed spent it all. Shi Lei was about to eject the Black Card and return to his apartment when the Scepter asked him to stay.
That was the first time it had done so.
"Don"t be in such a hurry! There are some things I need to tell you!"
Shi Lei blanked out for a second but quickly reacted. "Shouldn"t I be levelling up?"
The Scepter didn"t answer this question but said, "You should probably come again at midnight tonight."
"Just say it, I"m about to level up," Shi Lei smiled. "Oh, according to your rules, you can"t say it yet since I haven"t finished my time as a level one employee. Fine, I"ll come back later. But can you tell me if the sum of money would be a million after I level up?"
He thought that the Scepter would ignore him, but it actually answered. "Yes, a million."
Shi Lei felt strange. The Scepter didn"t seem like its usual self and its style changed dramatically. It seemed to be extra patient and was not in a hurry at all.
"You don"t seem to be in a good mood today!" Shi Lei attempted to tease him.
But the Scepter was the Scepter and it became enraged instantly. "Stupid marmot! I, the n.o.ble Scepter, would never have the so called emotions you lowly humans have! Hurry up and f.u.c.k off!"
Shi Lei jumped, quickly ejected the card, and ran with it. What was wrong with the Scepter today? Was it on its period? He thought.
He enjoyed drinking tea by himself for a while and played extremely low quality MP3 through the professional player and beginner level speakers. Shi Lei picked up the book "The Best Fortuneteller" on the Qidian website and thought that life was beautiful.
Seeing that it was almost midnight, Shi Lei put on his jacket calmly and unhurriedly, then ran to the self service bank around the corner and inserted the Black Card into the ATM.
After typing in the pa.s.sword, the galaxy whirlpool appeared and the Scepter gradually came into view. Everything was the same.
Seeing how the Scepter posed itself, Shi Lei smiled. "Hey. h.e.l.lo, n.o.ble Scepter. Are you in a better mood now?"
The Scepter"s voice became calm. Although it still sounded as.e.xual, it was more solemn and respectful.
"Congratulations. Since you"ve successfully completed the quotas and reached the standard for consumptions in the past four weeks, you meet the requirements for leveling up and are now a level two employee!"
The previous words sounded normal, as if the emotionless female machine voice of the ATM had spoken. But when it spoke the last two words, Shi Lei could clearly hear the Scepter clench its teeth.
But that wasn"t the point. The point was…employee?! Didn"t the Scepter previously use a lower level word to look down on Shi Lei? He used to be a hired man, so was it written on the Black Card. This term clearly had a negative connotation since it meant "servant" in English.
But why was it changed to employee now?
Shi Lei wanted to eject the card and check the logo on the bottom right side of the Black Card about whether it had been changed to employee, which was the more accurate translation.
Except he held back his urge to do so and asked, "Employee? Did you have to change the way you addressed me and can no longer insult me with the older term? So you are angry and that"s why you were in such a bad mood this afternoon. After I pointed it out, you got angry. You seem to be in a worse mood when you said the word "employee"!"
"Stupid marmot! I told you, a n.o.ble like me would never have the so called emotions you lowly humans have!"
"Then what"s up with your tone of voice right now?" Shi Lei laughed loudly. "If you don"t have emotions, then you wouldn"t be hating my guts. And if you don"t have emotions, then when I picked up the Black Card, no, when you forcefully gave me the Black Card and I entered the pa.s.sword like an idiot, why did you sound like you were so proud of yourself? You were proud for such a long time after that too. Because I didn"t choose to quit during the training period and you successfully tied me to the Black Card. At that time, did you ever imagine that one day I would make you so angry you wouldn"t even have the appet.i.te to eat? Oh wait, you don"t need to eat. But you know what I mean. Anyways, now that I"m an employee, you can"t use the other term to insult me anymore, hahahaha…"
The Scepter didn"t speak. From the screen, the gem at the top of the gold Scepter seemed to be shining extra brightly. This, perhaps, was the fire which could be seen in a human"s eyes when they were angry.
Seeing this, Shi Lei became even happier.
"Let me guess, the so called seniors of mine didn"t know that the term "slave" could be changed and they didn"t know that the term needed to be changed after levelling up. They were, at most, high level slaves, but still slaves in the end. But I, on the other hand, defined my relationship with the Black Card as of employee and employer, so you must change your way of addressing me every time I level up, am I right?"