Hearing her agreeing, he smiled and thought, 'It was not so hard to get the money, if you asked the right person.'
But still he told her, "Teacher, the money I'm borrowing might be a bit much."
Andrew added another sentence, fearing that Scarlett thought he was just out of living expenses and was only asking to borrow a small amount.
Scarlett heard this and didn't refuse. Instead, she looked at him calmly and asked, "What do you need this money for?"
Andrew hesitated for a moment before answering, "I want to build a website… but buying a domain and renting a server costs money."
Scarlett raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why are you building a website?"
Andrew scratched his head, then spoke a little awkwardly, "Well… I want to create a place where people can speak freely. Like… they don't have to reveal their identity. They can curse, confess their feelings, say things they normally can't say… and also play some simple games. It's mainly for college students."
Scarlett listened quietly, her expression unchanged.
After a few seconds, she said bluntly, "That idea won't work."
Andrew was stunned. "Why?"
She replied calmly, "Because things like that already exist, especially on the dark web. And if you try to build something like this openly, you could face serious legal trouble. People abuse anonymity, harassment, illegal content… you won't be able to control it."
Her words were like cold water poured over his head.
Andrew fell silent for a moment. His excitement faded, but a trace of stubbornness remained in his eyes.
"…I still want to try," he said quietly.
Scarlett looked at him for a second, as if measuring something. But thinking that she also wants to get him under her body, she agreed.
"Fine, how much do you need to borrow?"
"Around seven or eight thousand... something like that."
"Okay, you come with me to the bank later. Large transfers might be delayed by a day or two on mobile."
"..."
Andrew was a bit stunned. She agreed just after one question? Wasn't she afraid he was lying and deceiving her?
She didn't even ask for any conditions?
When did borrowing money become so easy? Did he not even need to kneel to borrow it?
It wasn't until the afternoon, when the two went to the bank for the transfer, that Andrew still felt a bit surreal looking at the eight thousand dollars deposited into his bank card.
Back in high school, when he asked Ethan to borrow one buck for a bottle of water, that guy was stingy about it.
But now, with the amount increased by more than a thousand times, he managed to borrow it so easily, and Scarlett's face remained cool and distant, as if she didn't care at all.
Back in the car, Andrew asked, "Teacher, aren't you afraid I'm scamming you?"
Scarlett listened, looked at him, and said calmly, "You wouldn't dare scam me."
But while she thought in her mind, 'I also like to see you scam me, then I will squeeze every bit of penny through your body.'
"That's true." Andrew nodded, while he thought, 'Why should I scam my future girlfriend.'
But still, Scarlett, to comfort her reasoning, said, "However, I'm not lending you money for free. If you aren't too tired in the future, cook for me. I don't like food outside that's full of seasoning."
"No problem."
---
On Saturday night, Andrew slept very comfortably and even dreamed that he had really latched onto a rich woman.
The next morning, after waking up, he started looking for someone to build the website. As someone studying finance, he certainly didn't have that skill.
The primary target would definitely be college students like himself, because college students were cheap, easy to fool, and readily bought into big promises.
Of course, Andrew didn't fall for that trick, because he had been fed enough of the promises made by Catherine since childhood.
Back when they were at home, whenever their parents asked Catherine to do chores, Catherine would trick Andrew into doing them for her, telling him she would give him some money for pocket money once she had her university living expenses.
As a result, after Catherine went to university, she couldn't even cover her own living expenses, and Andrew never received a single penny.
It was thanks to his Older Sister's help that Andrew experienced the ruthlessness of society early on, making his mind much stronger than that of other naive college students.
Soon, he set his sights on a senior from Blackthorn University, who was also a student there.
The other person was named Mark Vane. His resume was quite rich, listing various competitions he had participated in and awards he had won.
However, Andrew knew that these things were useless when looking for a job; HR only cared about work experience and valuable technical certifications.
Andrew and Mark chatted online for quite a while. It started smoothly, but eventually, they couldn't agree on the price.
Mark insisted that Andrew pay a deposit first, but Andrew was afraid the other party would just run off with the money.
Finally, the two agreed to meet at the school library to talk.
Andrew put away his phone and prepared to go out.
Scarlett, who was in the study, saw Andrew leaving the room and asked, "Where are you going? It's quite hot outside."
"I'm going to the school to talk to a senior about building the website."
Andrew didn't hide it from Scarlett. Since the funds were provided by her, from a startup perspective, she was a shareholder and had the right to know.
Scarlett immediately got up and walked out too, "I'll go with you."
"Huh? What are you going to do?"
Andrew asked, confused.
"I'm afraid you'll be cheated."
"I won't be."
"Everyone who gets scammed says the same thing right before they get scammed."
"..."
Since Scarlett insisted on following, Andrew didn't refuse. The two set off together and arrived at the school library.
Mark was a thin, tech-savvy guy wearing square-framed glasses. He had already planned out how to negotiate with Andrew, confident he could secure his demand for a deposit.
But when he saw Scarlett following Andrew, he was instantly stunned.
He had initially thought the two might just be walking together because they were going the same way, but when Andrew sat down across from him and Scarlett sat down next to him, Mark was too shocked to speak.
Andrew coughed lightly, making Mark stop gaping and come back to his senses.
"Um, who is this?"
Mark asked in a low voice.
Scarlett replied coolly, "You two talk. Don't mind me. I'll just sit here and listen."
"Uh... Oh!"
Mark was already so nervous that he was stuttering.
Of course, he recognized Scarlett, the unattainable flower of Blackthorn University, the youngest appointed professor, aloof and distant; almost everyone knew her.
But why was she here with Andrew? What was their relationship?
Facing this ice-cold professor, Mark completely lost the assertiveness and confidence he had online when communicating with Andrew. He even forgot all the talking points he had prepared.
Just as the meeting began, Mark was invisibly at a disadvantage. Before Andrew even said a few words, the other party gave up the idea of demanding a deposit and agreed to build a prototype for Andrew to review before payment.
Andrew was initially confused: Wasn't this guy quite assertive when chatting online? Why was he stuttering as soon as they met?
He quickly realized it was because of Scarlett sitting beside him.
Scarlett sat next to him, and although she said nothing, her gaze was fixed on Mark.
Mark's body instinctively made him want to glance at the beautiful woman beside them from time to time, but the piercing gaze from Scarlett's cold eyes made him absolutely afraid to meet her eyes.
Under this pressure, Mark was nearly breaking out in a cold sweat.
He vaguely agreed to every request Andrew made.
"The website's operation and maintenance work will also be handed over to you. How long will it take you to finish it?"
"About a week, it will be fast because it uses templates."
"Good."
After the discussion, Mark watched Andrew get into Scarlett's car and leave. The shock in his heart could no longer be described in words.
He had been at the school for over three years and had personally witnessed young male teachers confessing to Scarlett, but without exception, they were all rejected or completely ignored, let alone someone who could ride in Scarlett's car.
After calming down, Mark couldn't help but send a message to Andrew, "What is your relationship with Professor Scarlett?"
Andrew thought for a moment and replied, "Why did you need to know, but for your curiosity just a teacher-student relationship."
"How is that possible? The way Professor Scarlett looks at you is different."
"What could be different? Senior, you don't need to worry about such nonsense. Your primary task right now is to properly build the website."
After putting away his phone, Andrew recalled that ever since he got drunk last time, the way Scarlett looked at him had indeed changed somewhat, becoming very gentle, completely lacking the coldness she showed others.
But why was the way Teacher Scarlett looked at him uniquely different?
Andrew was also a bit puzzled. Could it be because his cooking was delicious?
But he didn't know, that night, something had happened, which changed her.