Lin Xia tossed and turned last night, his mind racing. He had to wonder... was this the only chance he would get in his entire life?
"I see." Chu Bamboo gave Lin Xia a deep look. He'd met too many people in the Dream World, spoken with too many of them. So, he could now sense a bit of what was on Lin Xia's mind and decided to just go along with it.
"I'll give it a try, but don't get your hopes up. There isn't even a one percent chance."
This was only because Chu Bamboo had run into Nuwa No. 17. But Chu Bamboo wasn't actually expecting the Nuwa AI to have stock or lottery records from some bygone era of a previous civilization hidden inside it. At best, he'd just casually ask about it the next time they met.
"Great." Lin Xia nodded in satisfaction, then pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and waved the screen at Chu Bamboo.
Chu Bamboo: "...What grand scheme are you cooking up now?"
Seeing the pile of banking apps and other bizarre software on Lin Xia's phone interface, Chu Bamboo felt a headache coming on.
"Getting loans! What else? You want me to let *you* get the loans? Whether we're playing the stock market or doing something else, we need startup capital!" Lin Xia glanced at Chu Bamboo, looking baffled, then shuddered as a thought occurred to him. "Right, and if we lose money! Uh, if we don't lose too much and I can pay it back, I'll slowly repay it after I graduate... If I can't pay it back, how about you go become a sports superstar, earn some cash, and give me an interest-free loan, old man!"
"...Do me a favor and uninstall all those shady apps from your phone! Are we in a desperate rush for money right now? What's the point of messing with this stuff?" Chu Bamboo was genuinely speechless.
He was actually very familiar with Lin Xia's current state. Back when he was twelve in the dream, when he had gathered a group of people to wipe out all the gangs...
That group's emotional state had been just like his!
The premonition of doing something big! The feeling that their lives were about to turn a corner! It made them excited, impulsive, hot-blooded, and desperate to do *something*...
Even if the things they wanted to do were potentially meaningless, or even counterproductive.
Chu Bamboo had dealt with this kind of situation before. He knew the routine by now—quash the other person's heated passion and give them precise, actionable instructions.
"...Oh."
Then, the two of them left the classroom. They had no more classes for the day!
But it was already nine o'clock at night when Chu Bamboo saw Lin Xia again.
"What's this about?" Chu Bamboo was a little confused.
Lin Xia glanced at their roommates in the dorm—who were playing games, yelling loudly, and completely ignoring the two of them—and sighed. "I rented a place for you near the school! I sent the specific address and apartment number to your WeChat. I figured I should at least provide you with a more peaceful living environment!"
Chu Bamboo raised an eyebrow. He took the keys Lin Xia tossed him, met his gaze for a long moment, and nodded. "Alright, I'll accept your kind offer. We'll go check it out together tomorrow."
After exchanging a few more words, Chu Bamboo got into bed and fell asleep.
And what was Lin Xia doing?
He was berating their restless, wild ape-like roommates.
"Keep it down! Bamboo is trying to sleep..."
"??? Wait, why's he sleeping even earlier than usual today... Lao Bamboo, are you really a college student? What kind of college student goes to bed at nine o'clock!"
'Duh!' Lin Xia fought the urge to roll his eyes. 'You guys are just sleeping. When Ah Zhu dreams, he's playing a real-life version of Minecraft! It'd be weirder if he *didn't* go to bed early and wake up early!'
...
「Dream World.」
The environment was still familiar.
The time was still familiar.
"Ah, that's nice!" Chu Bamboo stood up and stretched, feeling refreshed and clear-headed. He had to admit, the sensation of entering the dream once was completely different from entering it after several resets!
After washing up and heading out, Chu Bamboo casually greeted the people around him.
"Boss Sun, hope business is booming!"
"Good fortune to you, sir."
[Interaction Quest Triggered. Interaction Successful. Obtained Breakfast Meat Bun from NPC Boss Sun!]
Breakfast: solved. √
"Li Ergou, what a coincidence running into you! Right, you told me last time that your factory is run by a heartless bastard, that the toxic smoke and dust from the production line has killed and injured a whole bunch of people! I ordered him to pay compensation and overhaul the line. I watched him pay the money for the dead and disabled, so how's the production line overhaul coming along...?"
"Oh, they're still dragging their feet? But they didn't say when it would be fixed? Hmm... Go find the publicity officer for the shantytown's labor union! Have him follow up on this closely! These rich, unscrupulous old foxes need a good whipping to get them moving. They won't budge unless you beat them!"
Li Ergou was dressed in dusty gray work clothes. His face was still childish, and he was much shorter than Chu Bamboo, looking to be only twelve or thirteen years old.
Hearing this, his expression turned serious. He pulled a few wrinkled, folded pieces of paper from the collar of his undershirt, took out a pen, and solemnly recorded what Chu Bamboo had said. After writing it down, he reread it to confirm there were no mistakes. Then...
"Yes, sir!" Li Ergou snapped, his back ramrod straight, loyalty written all over his face.
"You! I told you, there's no need for all that." Chu Bamboo sighed. 'Damn, it feels like I'm in a Korean private server again.'
Shaking his head, Chu Bamboo spotted another acquaintance. "Cai San, go to the union office. Tell them I sent you, and find the general secretary. Then ask him if he's been slacking off lately."
"The whole point of founding the union was to get the factory labor mortality rate below two percent annually, and the annual disability rate below five percent. Has there been no progress on that lately? And what about child labor, female workers, and the equal pay for equal work issue? How's that coming along? Tomorrow—no, let's say the day after tomorrow. I won't push him too hard. Have him give me a report before the day after tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!" This was Cai San, a union worker who had been watching from the surrounding crowd.
An annual mortality rate of two percent! It was an outrageous number... But if they could actually get it down to that, Chu Bamboo would be satisfied. It wasn't that he was cold-blooded or inhuman... It was that this figure was truly pushing the limits of what those Factory Directors could stomach.
In this chaotic and crazy world, useful Ancient Relics—far superior to anything produced by the factories of the current steam-powered industrial age—could be dug up from who-knows-where from time to time. As a result, many goods produced in the current era simply couldn't be sold at high prices...
The profit margins were genuinely limited!
It wasn't that Chu Bamboo couldn't shove the heads of these Vampire-like Factory Directors into a toilet. He could even do it with ease!
But what he couldn't do was create a whole host of new industries and jobs. He might have an extraordinary status in the shantytowns of his dreams, but in the Real World, he was just a clear-headed but not-so-brilliant college student. His knowledge and abilities were truly limited.
Since he couldn't solve the root problem... he could only use the union for now, doing his best to maintain a fragile balance.