Chapter 264: First Encounter

Before opening his eyes, the sound of cars and voices reached his ears.

As usual, the first thing Wang Yan did upon opening his eyes was to survey his surroundings.

At this moment, he was sitting on a shaded street. A small car passed by, its headlights off, stopping abruptly at the curb; the car behind slammed its brakes, nearly rear-ending it. The rear car honked continuously, the driver's lips moving—even someone who didn't understand lip-reading could tell he was uttering a variant of Lu Xun's "damn it," namely "your mom's." The front had added a "fuck" for emphasis; though crude and involving elders, it perfectly captured his rage.

As Xiang Zhenru had said, echoing Nicolas Zhao Si: "The harmonious society saved you." Though furious, the driver of the rear car didn't get out to fight on the street. He reversed slightly, seized the opportunity, turned left, and merged back into traffic.

He himself sat on the bench behind the bus stop sign, cooling off, a stack of flyers beside him reading "College Student English Tutor." After scanning the area and finding no issues, he began receiving system messages.

Wang Yan, nineteen, lost both parents in a car accident two years ago. His family was extremely wealthy; after their deaths, they left him a standalone villa by Yangcheng Lake, along with cash and stocks worth eighty million yuan. Including the lakeside villa, he was technically a billionaire.

Originally an excellent student, he quickly fell into decline due to grief and lack of supervision, but thanks to a decent foundation, he barely scraped into Suzhou Normal College, enrolling in the "Chinese Language and Literature" program at this second-tier institution.

The current date is September 20, 2008, Saturday—his sophomore year. He's handing out flyers just to kill time and experience...

After reading it, Wang Yan couldn't help but marvel at the system's divine power as his "living dad."

Before arriving, he'd checked: in reality, Suzhou had no normal undergraduate normal school, yet now the system had somehow logically created one—a second-tier normal college. Truly a dad.

But this time, he'd arrived far too early—nine years remained before the plot began... Lost in thought, Wang Yan gazed aimlessly around.

The system's "living dad" never acted without purpose; his appearance here was no coincidence. Wang Yan had barely looked around when, between two adjacent bus stop signs, he spotted across the street a girl in a white short-sleeve top, tight jeans, and a ponytail, her face delicate. She held a stack of flyers and chattered beside a middle-aged man—clearly promoting a course.

Wang Yan had sharp eyes; despite the six-lane road separating them, he could clearly see the girl and the man's faces, and the stack of blue flyers she held—identical to those beside him.

The girl could only be Su Mingyu, in her prime. The man was her benefactor, Meng Zhiyuan.

At this moment, Su Mingyu had just broken ties with her family, working to earn money for overseas study. This scene naturally led to her pitching herself to Meng Zhiyuan. Though the drama never showed what Meng Zhiyuan actually gave her, it was surely just two things: a sum of money to fund her studies, and a job opportunity.

Su Mingyu's self-promotion was impressive—not everyone had the courage to do this. Most crucially, she didn't know Meng Zhiyuan's true character, yet she still did it—bold to the point of recklessness. Only because she was the protagonist with fate on her side; otherwise, such behavior might have turned self-recommendation into offering herself as a concubine. After all, she was just a poor student—what could she possibly achieve?

As for Su Mingyu's rift with her family, it stemmed from her mother Zhao Meilan's son preference, blatant favoritism, and utter disregard for Su Mingyu, stalling her development. Wang Yan had previously experienced Fan Shengmei's parents in "Ode to Joy," who were also son-preferential. Comparing the two, each had their own brand of awfulness.

Fan Shengmei wasn't as outstanding as Su Mingyu, but she'd attended a first-tier university; though her tuition and living expenses were minimal, they were sufficient for graduation. Su Mingyu's parents, while hindering her development, were consistent: they knew she'd succeeded under Meng Zhiyuan and become wealthy, yet they never contacted her—not once, unlike Fan Shengmei's parents, who relentlessly drained her.

Of course, neither family compared to normal parents—they merely competed over who was worse. Parental nurturing is the pinnacle of morality; no matter how you judge them, it's always a tangled mess.

Seeing Su Mingyu and Meng Zhiyuan, Wang Yan admitted the timing of his arrival felt awkward.

If he'd arrived earlier, he could have seduced Su Mingyu, taken her abroad, traveled, and enjoyed life—no effort needed from him, the mission would've been essentially complete.

After all, in the plot, most of Su's family problems were solved with money. Even if Su Mingyu didn't return, Su Daqiang would still act up—but without Su Mingyu as his safety net, things would be different. He'd slowly drive himself to ruin, driving Su Mingzhe and Su Mingcheng into divorce, debt, and despair.

But now, with Su Mingyu already having interacted with Meng Zhiyuan and having no connection to Wang Yan, Meng's mentorship and kindness would naturally be deeply etched in her heart. As in the drama, Su Mingyu would remain utterly devoted to Meng Zhiyuan, bound by gratitude.

Su Mingyu was resolute in her principles. Even if Wang Yan seduced her, such fundamental issues couldn't sway her. Moreover, at this moment, a man as good as he was appearing in her life—whether she believed in fate or not—would inevitably trigger thoughts of "meeting a benefactor and turning her luck around," making her even more devoted to Meng Zhiyuan. Trying to "wash" her mind would be pointless. After all, once washed, she wouldn't be herself anymore.

All his thoughts assumed he'd seduced Su Mingyu—he'd never considered friendship. As for Shi Tiandong later? Far away, as far as possible. Wang Yan made his decision: first seduce Su Mingyu and live with her; the mission could wait—he had years to figure it out.

As Wang Yan was lost in thought, Su Mingyu, nervously circling the front of the car, opened the passenger door. For some reason, a sudden intuition made her glance toward his location.

Seeing Su Mingyu staring at him, Wang Yan waved.

Su Mingyu recognized the man—he'd just arrived today. But they'd had no interaction; she didn't understand why he waved, as if smiling... warmly?

"What's wrong? Get in." Seeing Su Mingyu lingering by the door, Meng Zhiyuan called out.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just saw an acquaintance." Su Mingyu dismissed it, got in, and closed the door.

Wang Yan smiled, lowered his hand. He knew the plot—he knew Meng Zhiyuan hadn't touched Su Mingyu, so he wouldn't maliciously speculate. He guessed Meng was probably taking her to lunch, testing her, seeing if she was worth cultivating.

Watching Meng Zhiyuan drive away with Su Mingyu, Wang Yan picked up his stack of flyers, stood, brushed off his pants, and left.

Experiencing life was the system's arrangement—just an initial encounter—but this job wasn't what he wanted. Handing out flyers was pointless. If the system's "living dad" didn't care, he'd endure it. But now he was wealthy—he'd rather sit somewhere drinking tea and fishing than waste time on this.

He didn't throw away his flyers. Instead, he walked to another person nearby handing out flyers, handed him his stack, and asked him to deliver a message: he was quitting.

It was nearly noon, lunchtime, yet the boy showed no sign of leaving—he kept handing out flyers, persistently explaining the course, earnest in his attitude.

Honestly, this wasn't about talent—it was tied to mindset. The boy approached everyone indiscriminately, followed them up, had no shame—but lacked strategy. Su Mingyu was different: no one taught her, yet the people she approached were clearly of higher quality. Unlike the boy, who even approached middle-aged women buying vegetables, explaining the course to them.

Of course, Wang Yan wasn't judging or endorsing either. The boy cast a wide net; Su Mingyu targeted selectively. Who was better? Unclear. Statistically, Su Mingyu's results should be higher—but there's something called "fate," called "luck"—it's about who's luckier.

Wang Yan had never lived in Suzhou, only passed through a few times. He wasn't in a hurry to explore the scenery—he'd be living here, plenty of time.

So he left and took a taxi to Deyue Lou. In the real world, it was evening; though he'd eaten dinner, he'd also been active with Wei Lan, and his appetite was far larger than average—plus, it was daytime, so he should eat.

Having lived so long and being a lover of luxury, he'd eaten nearly everything from Tiannandibei. Though his taste remained strong, he'd long grown accustomed to southern cuisine, no longer feeling discomfort. Deyue Lou served Suzhou-style cuisine—generally sweet and fresh. He ordered several signature dishes and ate well.

After eating his fill, Wang Yan took a taxi to the villa by Yangcheng Lake.

The villa wasn't ancient architecture—it was merely a high-end development by a real estate company. His villa was in the first row by the lake, separated from the water only by a road—a true lakeside view. The environment? Jiang Nan's water village—naturally impeccable.

The villa had three floors above, two below, with a pool in the yard. The architecture and interior were styled in classical imitation, complete with a tea room, gym, entertainment system, study, and more. There was also an elderly housekeeper who handled daily chores—overall, quite good.

Wang Yan brewed tea, sat under a sunshade on the third-floor terrace, lounged in a rocking chair, and gazed at the lake below.

Yangcheng Lake was still too small; Wang Yan preferred Taihu. But the downside? Taihu was much farther from the city center—likely a deliberate consideration by the system's "living dad."

Watching the lake, Wang Yan thought about what he needed to do now. For him, the mission wasn't the priority—he must do something beneficial to the real world.

It was 2008. Unless something unexpected happened, his return would be during the Spring Festival of 2020—twelve years ahead.

He'd initiated four projects: Qiang Shen Wan, artificial intelligence, balanced ternary "Hundun" computing, and new materials. He abandoned Qiang Shen Wan. The remaining computing and materials projects primarily served artificial intelligence—so overall, only AI remained. But AI, after a century of development, had nearly reached current computing limits. In essence, his main focus was only on new computing.

To recreate "Hundun," his hundred million yuan was far from enough. If he sold Qiang Shen Wan again, his hundred million might help—but building reputation to a breakout would take at least half a year. Add in capital accumulation, R&D, and so on—it would take three to four years. Then, according to the new system, replicating existing AI functions onto "Hundun" would take another ten to twelve years. Altogether, over a decade.

This timing was awkward. Not doing it meant wasting over ten years. Doing it meant falling just one or two years short. Like scoring zero versus fifty-nine—the greatest regret is "so close." If he failed by just a little, it would be unbearable.

Starting another project was unnecessary. In the real world, he hadn't even mastered AI or Qiang Shen Wan—which outpaced printing money. Greed leads to indigestion.

So after all this thinking, he'd still do it. Even if he might not finish, he could still iterate on computing research. Over ten years, he could rebuild it—and the remaining years? He'd at least upgrade it once. The gains would still be substantial.

Thought it, acted it.

He checked the top headhunting firms, called them, and laid out his requirements.

Four areas: management, sales, finance, HR. With people in these four areas, the company could be established. His requirements weren't high: no need for brilliance, no need for genius-level vision—just solid professional ability and clean records. He wanted obedient tools, not candidates who talked about stars and oceans.

Though the latter type might be more suitable, they also had heavier ambitions and desires. Sure, he could easily suppress them—but why waste energy on that? It was pointless. And bringing such people in wouldn't add value to his company. His technology was solid, his money abundant, his corporate structure proven over years within his Wang Empire—no one needed to come and give him orders.

After contacting them, there was nothing more for him to do—just wait for interviews to finalize hires. He'd only provide money, technology, and instructions—no need to micromanage. After reading books all afternoon and eating a decent dinner prepared by the housekeeper, he drove out for a cruise.

He lived in a big villa—he had a car. Perhaps because he was too young this time, the "living dad" didn't give him the mature A8, but a slightly younger, sportier black top-spec S8—the upgraded sport version of the A8. Compared to the A8, the driving experience was noticeably better—quite good.

After a quick look, Wang Yan started the car, drove out of the garage, out of the villa complex, and merged into traffic.

He weaved through streets and alleys, feeling the two-and-a-half-thousand-year-old heritage of this earthly paradise...