Three days later, at the New Heaven and Earth Internet Cafe.

"Zelin, what are you doing?"

Lu Haoran stared blankly at the three Pear Ices in front of him.

Today he and Su Zelin had agreed to come back for some online surfing. As soon as they arrived at the internet cafe, Su Zelin insisted on paying and booting up the computer for him, and even bought three Pear Ices at once, leaving the honest man quite bewildered.

"Isn't it hot these days? Plus, there's a lot of computer radiation, so you need to stay hydrated!"

Su Zelin casually explained.

"But I'm not thirsty, I just drank a big glass of water before leaving home."

Lu Haoran scratched his head.

"No worries, just drink it slowly. Anyway, I've already bought them and opened the bottles, so they can't be returned!"

Su Zelin shrugged.

"Oh!"

Lu Haoran could only accept it, but still found it a bit odd.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I have a feeling that Zelin did something wrong and is trying to make up for it.

Maybe it's because a few days ago he showed me that stuff, and Xiaoyanzi found out, making him feel guilty, but since Zelin doesn't like to apologize, he might be expressing his apologies this way.

Unfortunately, the honest man misunderstood.

Su Zelin was just feeling guilty for using his good buddy as an excuse to fend off Huang Panpan a few days ago, so he treated him to three Pear Ices.

As for educating Lu Haoran with a mindset of observation and learning, Su Zelin felt no guilt at all. In fact, he thought he did a good deed, saving a young man who might otherwise have gone astray in the future.

Very quickly he logged into the Windows 98 interface. After the last session's training, Lu Haoran had already learned basic Internet operations. Surfing the web and chatting on QQ were no longer problems, requiring no further teaching, so Su Zelin focused on his own activities.

He still put on the big headphones, opened Winamp, and played "I, the Person You Don't Love," one of the most popular songs of that year.

…

The phone rang in the dark night

Unsleeping me guessing it might be you

Maybe it hurt your heart

Maybe you doubt its feelings

This once led to our separation

Too much love gathered in a moment's passion

Too many let go in a moment of whim

Who really understands themselves

Who really asks themselves

What kind of person they need

To be with

I, the person you don't love

Still single alone

Guarding outside the door of emotions, supporting and enduring

Why do you still come to knock on my unsettled heart's door

…

In his ears came the unique, almost hysterical and hoarse voice of Dick Cowboy. Su Zelin lit a Liqun cigarette, casually blowing smoke rings, while opening a browser to download "Great Wisdom," something he did every day.

In fact, in the 90s, there was already stock trading software in China. Initially introduced from India, it was called "Analyst," and was later acquired by "Great Wisdom."

There were also "Qianlong," "Feihu," "Tongxinda," and others.

At first, it only showed market quotations, but by the late 90s online trading was possible, though the monthly fee cost 60 yuan which wasn't cheap at the time. Many people didn't even know how to use a computer, so going directly to the trading hall or placing orders by phone was more common.

As someone who has been reborn, Su Zelin certainly wouldn't use the outdated phone order method to trade stocks; he would definitely be at the forefront of the times.

Every time an internet cafe user logs off, the system would be restored, so this software had to be downloaded daily.

After a while, the download completed, he installed and logged in.

Soon, Su Zelin's eyes lit up.

Buying Shenghai Meilin, which had been calm and quiet these days, showed some movement!

After the market opened today, this stock suddenly soared.

Su Zelin calculated the date; it was already July 22, the latter part of the month.

Haha, it's starting!

I've taken the solid first step towards becoming a 100,000 yuan big investor!

Feeling elated, Su Zelin couldn't help but whistle.

Which caught the attention of Lu Haoran beside him. The honest man glanced at the screen and curiously asked, "Zelin, what are you playing with so many colorful different lines? Is this some sort of game?"

The internet cafe was mostly filled with people playing games, so his desk mate, being this advanced, would definitely be playing games.

"That's right, it's a game, a game of wealth, quite thrilling, haha!"

Su Zelin smiled without further explanation.

Lu Haoran might not even understand what stocks are at this point, so any explanation would be futile.

"Why is your game so dull and incomprehensible!"

The little cutie was puzzled.

Other people's games had characters, or tanks, planes, cannons, even poker cards or whatnot, but Su Zelin's was just so different.

"This is a high-end game that regular folks can't play."

Su Zelin acted cool.

"Oh, I see!"

The honest man watched for a while but couldn't make heads or tails, so he turned his attention back to his own machine.

Looking at the purple short-haired girl's avatar on his buddy list, he felt a bit troubled.

He hoped Xiaoyanzi would log in but was also worried she might bring up that embarrassing incident from last time.

Just as Lu Haoran was thinking about this.

"Knock knock knock..."

The notification sound rang, and then the purple short-haired girl's avatar lit up.

Speak of the devil, and she appears.

"Zelin, Xiaoyanzi is online!"

Lu Haoran got nervous.

"So what if she's online? Is she going to crawl through the internet cable and eat you?"

Su Zelin replied casually while keeping an eye on the stock market trends on the screen.

"I made her angry last time, how should I chat this time?"

Lu Haoran asked.

"Last time?"

Su Zelin remembered after a few seconds.

Lu Haoran was referring to the essential knowledge science event.

If his buddy hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have recalled.

"Oh, come on, Haoran, it's been ages. Xiaoyanzi has probably forgotten about it, so what's there to worry about!"

Su Zelin laughed.

"It's not that simple. Xiaoyanzi must hate me. Just look, she hasn't sent me any messages!"

Lu Haoran was worried sick.

"Maybe she's just surfing or playing games, and didn't have time. Not everyone likes chatting on QQ the moment they're online. Besides, haven't you sent her messages too?"

Su Zelin rolled his eyes, thinking you're really good at overthinking.

"No matter what, I think I still need to apologize to Xiaoyanzi!"

Lu Haoran made up his mind.

"No, you absolutely mustn't!"

Su Zelin quickly stopped him.

"The more you try to fix something like this, the worse it gets. Xiaoyanzi might have almost forgotten by now, and you're just giving her a reason to get angry again!"

"Then what should I do?"

Lu Haoran was at a loss.

Su Zelin thought to himself, with my skills, if I couldn't make her happy in two minutes, that'd be a failure on my part!

But helping Haoran like this wouldn't work either, because Xiaoyanzi would easily see that it wasn't his style and that he'd gotten someone else to do it, which might backfire.

He pondered for a moment: "Hmm, anyway, you absolutely can't bring it up, never mention it. How about this, just ask her out for milk tea, it's basically like apologizing!"

"Ask Xiaoyanzi out?"

Lu Haoran stammered, "Zelin, is it okay to do that? Won't she misunderstand?"

"It's pretty normal for friends to grab milk tea, what's there to misunderstand?"

Su Zelin smirked.

"Well, okay, I'll ask her out, but, Zelin, you have to come with me!"

There's no way Lu Haoran would have the guts to meet Tang Yan alone.

Su Zelin felt a bit dizzy, he didn't want to be a third wheel.

He earnestly criticized: "Haoran, you don't even have the courage to ask a female classmate for milk tea, how are you going to find a girlfriend in college? You can't always rely on others, you need to toughen up yourself!"

"Next time, maybe next time. This time, you're involved too, so you should come with me."

Lu Haoran found an excuse.

Su Zelin thought to himself, how am I even an involved party? I'm just here to observe and learn, it's as if I've done something terrible.

"By the way, bring Qin Shiqing along. Xiaoyanzi might not be comfortable as the only girl there."

Lu Haoran added.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say!"

Su Zelin responded impatiently.

"Why don't we meet up now?"

Having been caught looking at inappropriate things in the internet cafe, this issue was like a thorn in Lu Haoran's side that he was eager to resolve as soon as possible.

"Haoran, are you silly!"

Su Zelin ruthlessly shot down his suggestion: "Xiaoyanzi just got online and is probably in her zone. Asking her out now might lead to rejection. You need to wait until she's about to log off when she's got nothing to do; she'll be bored and more likely to agree!"

"Right, Zelin, you really think things through!"

Lu Haoran admired him greatly.

Understanding social dynamics is a huge deal, and he was far behind his good buddy in this area, needing to learn more.

Su Zelin added: "I've seen Xiaoyanzi online a few times before; she usually logs off in about an hour, so just time it and ask her in fifty minutes."

"Makes sense!"

Lu Haoran immediately borrowed a pen and a small piece of paper from the internet cafe manager to note down the current time, leaving Su Zelin speechless.

Then, under his guidance, Lu Haoran started a conversation with Tang Yan, though it was sporadic.

But Xiaoyanzi replied only every other moment.

Su Zelin could tell she wasn't busy; she was purposely being a bit aloof toward Lu Haoran.

He found it puzzling.

Someone like him was already labeled a "bad student," so watching an educational film seemed normal; nobody cared.

But if by chance he did something good, others might actually praise him.

In contrast, someone like Lu Haoran, who was usually honest, did something slightly out of line, not even really bad, and it looked as if he'd committed some heinous crime—the way people looked at him changed completely.

So, being a "bad guy" is still better!

As a result, Su Zelin resolved to continue being a "bad guy" for fifty more years.

Lu Haoran was restless, agonizing over every minute and second. It took so long to reach the fifty-minute mark, and perhaps due to sensing Xiaoyanzi's coolness, the courage he had mustered disappeared again.

"Ze, Zelin, how about you ask her out for me? You're better with words. If I ask Xiaoyanzi, she'll definitely turn me down!"

"Haoran, you've been holding back for so long, and at the crucial moment, you chicken out? What's going on?"

Su Zelin was frustrated at his lack of progress.

"You ask this time, next time, next time I'll do it."

Lu Haoran chuckled awkwardly.

"Next time and next time again, next times are endless; you wait for next time, and you'll miss your chance to woo a girl!"

Su Zelin shook his head, feeling inspired, and came up with a doggerel.

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