Wu Yun lazed around in bed playing on his phone until five o'clock. Only then did he get dressed, tidy up a bit, and grab his documents before heading out.
The July weather was unbearably hot. Even though Wu Yun walked under the shade of the roadside trees, it wasn't long before damp patches appeared on his white T-shirt.
He arrived at a lottery shop not far from his residential complex. The setting sun shone directly into the store.
Even with the outdoor air conditioning unit by the door whirring loudly, the shop owner inside was still shirtless, hunched over and gnawing on a large slice of watermelon.
Wu Yun pushed aside the plastic strip curtain and instantly felt the air temperature drop by several degrees. It was much cooler.
Seeing a customer enter, the lottery shop owner put down his watermelon and quickly wiped the juice from his face and hands with a tissue.
"Hey, can you get me a quick-pick ticket? I want to play it 100 times," Wu Yun said, seeing the owner sitting in front of the machine.
"A hundred times?" the owner asked, his voice rising as he sought confirmation.
When Wu Yun nodded, the owner didn't say anything more.
As the owner operated the machine, Wu Yun opened his character panel and silently activated the Wish Card. 'Activate Wish Card!' he thought.
The sound of the machine printing rang out, and a lottery ticket was produced.
Wu Yun's phone and the system both sent out notifications one after another.
Taking the ticket from the owner, Wu Yun carefully tucked it away in his sling bag. 'No joke, this is 50 million right here!'
Under the owner's astonished gaze, Wu Yun pushed open the curtain and stepped back out into the blistering heat.
Following the shade of the trees along the Old Street, Wu Yun walked for ten minutes, using his phone's navigation to find a registration office for the Chengnan Driving School.
Through the glass door, Wu Yun saw the tall figure of a woman in an off-white dress sitting at a desk inside. Admiring her exquisite curves, he wondered if her face could possibly live up to her figure.
He pushed open the glass door and went inside. Seeing there was only one clerk, he was about to sit on the bench and wait, but then he was stunned by her profile as the woman in the dress turned to look at the entrance.
'That familiar face!'
After just a glance, the woman turned her head back to continue her business.
Wu Yun touched his chest, suddenly feeling a chord struck within his heart.
'I just got these Detection Glasses,' he remembered.
So he silently commanded, 'Detect!'
Soon, the information from the detection appeared:
Name: Qi Fei
Age: 19
Height: 170cm
Looks: 95
Figure: 96
Special: 98
System Evaluation: A true treasure of a girl! Recommended that the Host not let her get away. Experience it for yourself!
Expand other attributes?
Favorability: ???
Skills: ???
'So... they're Perv Goggles.' He then found himself strongly agreeing with the system's evaluation.
Before his rebirth, Wu Yun would have definitely kept a girl like this at a respectful distance. Whether because she was a potential femme fatale or because he was flat broke, he would have never tried to get close to her.
But things were different now. With the system, he had the confidence to pursue people and things he wouldn't have even dreamed of before his rebirth.
While he was lost in thought, Qi Fei finished her business, stood up, and turned to leave.
Wu Yun also stood up. Looking at Qi Fei's face, which resembled that of a movie star from the 80s or 90s, he recalled the legends surrounding this Miss Qi.
Qi Fei's appearance was strikingly similar to a celebrity from Japan named Sakaguchi Yasuko, but her face and figure were even more outstanding.
Wu Yun flashed what he believed to be a brilliant smile at Qi Fei and said, "Senior! What a coincidence, you're signing up for driving school too!"
Then he turned to the clerk and said loudly, "Hi, I'd like to sign up for the VIP package. The one that gets me my license the fastest."
"Uh, we've had too many people sign up recently, so the instructors are swamped. The VIP package costs extra!" the clerk, a woman in her thirties, said.
She added, "And right now, the VIP package isn't one-on-one, it's one-on-two. If you sign up, you'll have to share a car with this young lady who just registered."
As the clerk spoke, she pointed to the girl who had nodded at Wu Yun's greeting and was about to leave. Hearing she'd have to share a car, the girl stopped in her tracks.
Wu Yun was overjoyed to hear this, but he put on a troubled expression. "There's no one-on-one option? I want to get my license as soon as possible. I already know how to drive and everything."
The clerk looked troubled as well and explained, "Even if you want to get your license quickly, you still have to complete the minimum required training hours. They're very strict about it now. We can, however, arrange for you to take your theory and practical tests back-to-back! But, well... that costs extra!"
Wu Yun was a little speechless. 'This woman is obsessed with money.' "Fine. Here are my documents. Please sign me up for the VIP package. As for the cost, please calculate the total for the fastest possible option."
Wu Yun then smoothly turned to Qi Fei, who was standing there with a puzzled expression. "Senior Qi Fei, I'm Wu Yun. I'm one year below you!"
That's right. Both Wu Yun and Qi Fei were students at Jingyang Foreign Language School, but Qi Fei was a year ahead of him. From the moment he started high school, Wu Yun had been hearing legends about her.
Tales of so-and-so getting rejected after confessing his love to her, so-and-so getting beaten up over her, and so-and-so receiving a demerit because of her. The final legend was that Qi Fei had been accepted into the acting department of the Modu Drama Academy. With her natural gifts, by the time of Wu Yun's rebirth, she was already a nationally recognized movie star. Some even compared her to the "Four New Heavenly Queens" of the film industry, but Wu Yun wasn't very interested in entertainment, so he never looked into the details.
"You know me?" Qi Fei smiled at Wu Yun, her voice gentle yet tinged with a hint of distance.
"Senior, my name is Wu Yun. I just graduated from the Foreign Language School this year," Wu Yun said as he walked over.
Hearing Wu Yun's explanation, a slight smile appeared on Qi Fei's face. Her stunning beauty made Wu Yun lose himself for a moment, but it was only for an instant.
"Dark cloud?" Qi Fei murmured softly.
"It's the 'Wu' from Wushan, and the 'Yun' from Bai Yun," Wu Yun clarified, realizing she had misunderstood his name.
"Senior, you signed up for the VIP package too? What a coincidence! I guess I'll be in your care from now on, since we'll be learning in the same car. But don't worry, I won't be studying for long. I already know how to drive, I just need the license," Wu Yun said, trying to get friendly. "Senior, should we exchange contact info? That way we can coordinate when to come for lessons."
Qi Fei thought for a moment and didn't refuse. She took a white iPhone 5S from her handbag, opened WeChat, and said, "Okay, you can scan my code." She still used few words, but her voice was as gentle as ever.
After adding each other, Wu Yun didn't try to chat more. Instead, he said, "Senior, I won't keep you any longer. We can connect on WeChat when you have time to schedule a lesson."
Qi Fei nodded without a word, turned, and left. She got into the back seat of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which then drove away.
This brief interaction confirmed the high school rumors about Qi Fei for Wu Yun. 'She really is a woman of few words, and a bit aloof,' he thought.
'Then again, she has every right to be arrogant. Her grades, her looks, her family background... none of it is something the other kids at school could even compare to.'
As the saying goes, a full belly leads to lustful thoughts. Wu Yun now began to ponder how he could get closer to this proud senior of his.
"Hello! Sir!" the clerk called out twice, interrupting Wu Yun's train of thought.
"The forms are all ready. I'll need your ID card and a passport-sized photo. Do you have a photo? If not, you can get one taken next door. It's quick," the clerk explained practicedly.
"I have one," Wu Yun said, taking out his ID and photo and handing them over.
"You can pay here. 5,000 yuan for the VIP package, plus 3,000 for the rush service. That's 8,000 yuan total."
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sent another notification: Remaining balance: 277,293.55 yuan.
EXP +8000. Level 3 (814,069/1,000,000).
'A level up is on the horizon.'