The sunset cast a rosy glow, and a gentle breeze carried the crimson clouds.

The highway was bathed in red, and the crowns of the pine trees were also gilded with a layer of red. Even for Chunming, such weather was a rarity. Many students, whether on their way to the cafeteria or just leaving, took out their phones to capture the scenery.

Yet, on the pedestrian path beneath the trees, a slender little girl was slowly nibbling on a cold bun from the morning.

She ate gracefully, chewing slowly and methodically.

Quiet had returned to the small stall. She didn't bother to brush away the few pine needles that had fallen on top, as no one was coming anyway.

It was all because Lord Dumpling had been taken away by Zhou Li.

Without hurry, Baozi finished the bun, then twisted open the thermos next to her to take a small sip of water.

There was only a little left.

She drank down to the goji berries and chrysanthemum flowers at the bottom, chewing them. Though the chrysanthemum was bitter, it added some flavor to her mouth.

Speaking of which, she had bought this thermos back in her third year of junior high. Back then, if she filled it with hot water in the morning, it would usually still be hot in the evening. But now its insulation was failing—the water she got in the morning had already cooled.

And she was nearly out of goji berries, too.

At the start of last semester, she had been drinking black goji berries from Qingjiang. Later, she switched to red goji berries from Western Xia, and after that, local ones...

It all comes down to money.

Baozi tipped the cup to her lips, pouring all the goji berries into her mouth. The soaked berries actually tasted pretty good. After setting down the cup, she noticed two or three berries still clinging to its rim. Casually glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she slipped her finger into the mouth of the cup.

After sealing the lid, she took out her phone.

Alipay: 106 yuan received today. WeChat: 182 yuan received today. Plus some loose change.

Baozi fished out the cash. She counted it carefully twice: 54 yuan. Subtracting the 20 yuan in change she had started with, that left 34 yuan from sales.

So, 322 yuan in total.

Did she really sell 161 items?

She could hardly believe it and counted again.

The amount was still the same.

Time to use the calculator!

Baozi glanced at the clear plastic bag of buns, then at her old thermos, took a deep breath, and quickly realized that all of this was thanks to Lord Dumpling. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to make so much money.

So the question was, how could she keep Lord Dumpling with her permanently? Buy some cat food? Ham? Canned cat food?

Baozi made up her mind. She realized that one had to spend money to make money. There was no reward without investment, and she felt it was time to show off her entrepreneurial talent—tomorrow, she would buy things cats love!

Order for local delivery! Buy the good stuff, imported! Express shipping!

As for today...

Baozi looked at the pine needles that had fallen on her stall and decided to close up shop. She would treat herself to a milk tea to celebrate finding a path to riches without relying on help from Brother Nan or Zhou Li.

Just then, she saw two figures approaching from the distance, with a half-grown cat walking by their side.

Both were wearing slippers, ambling along leisurely. Their shadows stretched long in the setting sun.

Baozi's gaze drifted downward, noting that Zhou Li had a piece of tissue pinched in his hand, stained with chili oil, and Brother Nan also looked content, as if she had just enjoyed a meal.

She remained silent, stopping her efforts to pack up the stall.

The two soon reached her side. Zhou Li asked, "Are you closing up shop?"

"Is Lord Dumpling still going to help me attract customers?"

"Nope."

"Then I'm closing up."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I have."

"Closing up so early? Are you heading back to your dorm?"

"...I'm going to buy a milk tea." Baozi had intended to lie and just go along with Zhou Li's assumptions. She didn't even have to speak; a nod or a hum would suffice. But she just couldn't bring herself to say it. "Do you want one too?"

At this point, she could only sneak glances at them, secretly hoping they wouldn't be interested in milk tea since they were out for a walk.

"Sure!" said Brother Nan. "We're taking a walk; it'll be nice to drink and walk."

"..."

Baozi clenched her phone in her hand.

There went two days' worth of food expenses.

Then came Zhou Li's voice as he tossed the used tissue into a trash bin, "I want a large brown sugar boba tea with mini taro balls."

Four days.

At the same time, Lord Dumpling began to meow.

Baozi silently continued packing up her stall.

She had intended to go to that cheap and tasty drink shop, since it was affordable and good. But now that Zhou Li wanted brown sugar boba tea with mini taro balls, she had no choice but to lead them to a fancier grass jelly dessert place, which was nearly twice as expensive.

Ten minutes later, Baozi's figure disappeared around the corner.

Brother Nan, still clad in shorts and flip-flops and holding a cup of milk tea, was laughing heartily. "Haha, did you see that? Your cousin's pained expression, like she could hardly breathe and was too embarrassed to say anything! It killed me..."

"I saw it." Zhou Li was feeding Tuanzi some milk tea.

"Hmm!" Brother Nan took a sip of milk tea. "The end of the term is approaching, and course selection begins in a couple of days."

"Elective courses?"

"Right."

"I have no idea how this works."

Brother Nan explained, "It's about picking your own courses. Whatever you choose, you'll have to attend next semester, take exams for it, and it counts towards your credits. You need to make sure your electives don't clash with your required courses, like your major subjects. Then, you either pick something you're interested in, something fun, or something easy with a lenient professor... Basically, something easy to pass."

"I see."

"Don't you want to know which courses are easy to pass?"

"Do you know?"

"Of course! I've got intel!"

"I'm interested."

"Call me 'Brother Nan' and I'll tell you."

"Brother Nan."

"Call me 'Big Brother' and I'll tell you."

"Big Brother."

"Give me a kiss and I'll tell you."

"..."

Zhou Li seriously suspected Brother Nan was just messing with him. He glanced down at Tuanzi beside his feet, hesitated, and said, "Lord Dumpling is right here."

"Afraid you'll be a bad influence on her?"

"Yes."

"She's just a cat."

"She's a little kid."

"Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling doesn't want to walk anymore." Tuanzi rubbed against Zhou Li's leg, pawing at his pants. "Carry Lord Dumpling."

"Lord Dumpling is too lazy."

And so, Zhou Li picked her up.

Brother Nan watched from the side, shaking her head in silent disbelief. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you later; consider this a rain check. You just keep doting on that cat of yours, carrying her everywhere. Just make sure you don't drop her!"

Zhou Li found this amusing.

「Half an hour later」

Dorm room 106 was also discussing the matter of elective courses.

Mianmian said dreamily, "I want to take piano. My childhood dream was to become a pianist."

Then, she rolled over to look at Baozi, who was on the lower bunk, staying up late editing pictures. "Baozi, what do you think? Is learning piano hard?"

Baozi continued working expressionlessly, her milk tea still two-thirds full after all this time. "Not hard. But in an elective course, you'll only learn how to make the piano produce sound and get a basic idea of how others play actual pieces."

Mianmian pondered for a moment. "Then I'll choose Song Dynasty Poetry Appreciation. I also have this dream of being born in ancient times, as a young lady from a prominent family, spending my days at home reading poetry."

Baozi worked in silence, fully focused on her tasks.

Mianmian continued to muse, "I also want to take Traditional Handicrafts, so I can make myself a Hanfu."

"Baozi, what do you want to pick?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"Is there anything you want to pick?"

"No."

"Why do I get the feeling you don't want to choose any courses at all? I find it quite interesting!" Mianmian voiced her confusion. "You always seem so unmotivated. By the way, do you have any dreams?"

"Yes," Baozi said.

"What is it?" Mianmian was very interested.

"To have endless money," Baozi said.

"So, are you going to earn money?"

"Not earning money. Just *having* endless money," Baozi clarified.

"...I want that too," Mianmian said.

"How boring!" Brother Nan's voice came from the doorway. She walked in and tossed her milk tea cup into the trash bin. "Huh, Baozi, you've been nursing that milk tea for ages and still haven't finished it?"

"Brother Nan, don't you want that too?" Mianmian asked.

"No, I don't," Brother Nan answered.

"Why?" Qian Qian was also very interested.

"It's something I understood when I was a kid," Brother Nan said. "Back then, my dad bought a computer. It had Red Alert on it, and there was a cheat to get unlimited gold. There wasn't much else to play, so I played it every day. At first, I didn't know about the cheat and always wished I had endless money. Later, I used the cheat, got unlimited gold, and guess what happened?"

"What happened?"

"I played for a week, and then I never touched that game again."

"OH..."

Mianmian and Qian Qian nodded thoughtfully. They were dressed in thin nightgowns—one a tender pink, the other slightly translucent—revealing the soft curves of their backs as they lay on their beds. Unfortunately, such allure held little value in a girls' dormitory.

"That's because she already *has* endless money," Baozi said, rubbing her sore eyes.

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