Getting Rich Legally 1

After the mission ended, the Alliance directly granted Lin Qi and the System a week of leave. The System strongly recommended an Emotion Convergence service to Lin Qi, "Go do an Emotion Convergence, stop crying at home all day. Once you're done, you won't think about Du Chengying anymore."

Lin Qi listlessly rolled over on the bed. "Go catch up on your variety shows."

"Are you kidding me? Who catches up on variety shows during a holiday," the System sneered. "Only a shut-in like you would do that. I'm going on a date, bye-bye."

Lin Qi wanted to ask if the System actually had dates, but then he thought of how Du Chengying had accompanied him across mountains and rivers, and he pulled a tissue to cry softly.

He missed Du Chengying so much.

Perhaps because he had never received it before, Lin Qi only now realized what a joyous thing it was to be loved by someone. Even crying had become a form of acting spoiled. He was so happy.

Lin Qi sprawled on the bed, not wanting to do anything. Looking at the clean, silvery-white ceiling, he missed the dilapidated thatched cottage he and Du Chengying had built with their own hands beyond measure.

Seven days later, when the System returned and saw Lin Qi looking like neither human nor ghost, it gasped in shock. "Bro, have you just been lying here this whole time?"

Lin Qi said numbly, "Yeah."

System: "...I'll give you three minutes to go do an Emotion Convergence."

Lin Qi, who was always obedient, firmly refused this time: "I'm not going!"

System: "..."

Tears rolled down from his eyes again. Lin Qi turned around and curled up into a ball, whimpering, "I don't want to forget him."

System: "..." Moderators these days were getting worse with each generation.

The System didn't want to be an emotional mentor and said coldly, "If you don't go, I won't force you, but the missions must continue."

Lin Qi sniffled and said softly, "I'll do them."

System: "That's good."

Lin Qi climbed up and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I'm going to take a shower."

System: "...Go ahead."

After taking a shower, Lin Qi still looked sickly pale. "Let's go."

System: "..." Going to work was truly like visiting a grave.

The System said bluntly, "Looking at you now, it's exactly like your husband just died."

Hearing this, Lin Qi's eyes reddened again, and he said stubbornly, "He didn't die. We are just living in different worlds."

The System said indifferently, "So you actually know that you're living in different worlds."

Listening to the System's mockery, Lin Qi remained unmoved. "So what? He loves me, and I love him. The opposite of love is forgetting. I love him, so I won't forget him."

System: "Stop, stop, stop. Stop with all this love talk, I'm getting a headache. Fine, whatever you want, can we just do the mission?"

Lin Qi: "I didn't say I wouldn't do it. I just told you to leave earlier, you're the one who started arguing with me."

System: "..." Damn, people with dead husbands sure speak with a lot of backbone.

For the second world, the System let Lin Qi choose it himself, just to prevent the emotionally unstable Lin Qi from causing any trouble after entering a world.

Lin Qi decisively chose Meng Hui's world because Meng Hui was a straight man, as straight as could be. He still remembered that when he died, Meng Hui was getting engaged.

He didn't want to invest his feelings into anyone other than Du Chengying. In this world, he absolutely had to keep his boundaries in check.

System: "Alright."

...

"That's it?"

The cold bills slapped against his face. Lin Qi hadn't even adjusted his emotions after landing, so his eyes happened to be red.

The yellow-haired teenager with a face full of pimples opposite him grinned. "Oh, crying?"

In this world, Lin Qi was still a student. Wearing a baggy, faded school uniform, he tightened his grip on his backpack straps and said softly, "That's all, there's no more."

"Fuck, what kind of bullshit are you sprouting?" The yellow-haired teenager, namely Ge Jianjun, spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground with a 'ptui', and his slanted eyes scanned the thin Lin Qi up and down. "You collected the class funds today, didn't you?"

"I already handed the class funds over to the teacher," Lin Qi glanced at the few bills pinched in Ge Jianjun's hand, saying nervously, "That's really all I have."

"Really?" Ge Jianjun retracted his hand, stuffed the money into his pocket, and looked again at Lin Qi, who was backed into the corner of the wall. "Why don't I believe you?" He pointed at Lin Qi. "Stand there and don't move, I'm going to search you."

Lin Qi hurriedly pulled the backpack from his back to block his front. "No!" Why hasn't Meng Hui appeared yet! He remembered that right when Ge Jianjun was stripping his clothes, Meng Hui had descended from the sky, executing an unexpected gangster-eat-gangster robbery.

He didn't care about this before, but now the situation was completely different. He absolutely refused to let this Ge Jianjun touch him even once.

His intense reaction actually made Ge Jianjun suspicious. "Alright, you really were lying to me." Without another word, he came up and yanked Lin Qi's backpack. Lin Qi's backpack had been used for many years, and it was already flimsy from carrying too many books. With Ge Jianjun's tug, the backpack straps immediately snapped. It rolled away with a clatter, the sound of the pencil case and lunch box crashing together inside ringing out, sounding particularly jarring in the secluded alley.

"Fuck," Ge Jianjun was also startled, and viciously rolled up his sleeves. "You're fucking asking for a beating!"

As soon as he spoke, a lazy "Hey" came from the head of the alley. Lin Qi's spirits instantly lifted upon hearing that voice. The hooligan boss had arrived! This little yellow-haired punk in front of him would soon be nothing.

"Hey your fucking mom." Ge Jianjun turned his head back with a raised fist.

The streetlight stretched the newcomer's shadow very long. A tall figure appeared in Ge Jianjun's line of sight. The newcomer had tanned skin and a buzz cut, his hair so short it was just a patch of grassy stubble. A pair of eyes shone like a wild beast in the dark night. His baggy school uniform jacket was unzipped, revealing a tank top underneath that was stained yellow with sweat, and a body of defined muscles faintly visible. With an unbridled expression on his face, he spoke slowly: "Whose fucking mom are you heying?"

Ge Jianjun cowardly backed down a bit. The other party was much taller and much more robust than him. A wise man knows when to retreat; he spat to his side, shoved his hands into his pockets, and muttered curses under his breath, wanting to leave. As he passed by Meng Hui, Meng Hui reached out and grabbed him. Meng Hui was very strong; his grip on his arm hurt like hell. Ge Jianjun twisted into a pretzel, his face contorted as he said, "Bro, bro, I was wrong, I was wrong."

"I'm not your bro," Meng Hui turned his head. Only at such a close distance did Ge Jianjun realize that this handsome guy had a knife scar on the side of his forehead. Meng Hui said unhurriedly, "Otherwise, it'll be hard to figure out whose mom is whose."

Ge Jianjun said, his legs weak, "Bro, I have a cheap mouth, I was really wrong. I just didn't see you. I shouldn't have cursed, I'll curse my own mom, okay?"

"Unfilial." Meng Hui lifted his foot and kicked Ge Jianjun in the calf. Ge Jianjun let out an 'ouch' and knelt down, clutching his leg. Meng Hui smiled faintly: "Mm, now you're filial."

Lin Qi, holding the two lonely backpack straps, watched with great relish. Whether it was cursing or hitting people, Meng Hui was the strongest of the strong. Not only were his methods highly effective, but they also had great entertainment value.

Later on, after Meng Hui made his fortune and opened a company, he still couldn't change his inherent hooligan temperament.

Ge Jianjun was in immense pain, knowing he had bumped into a tough nut to crack. He begged to the heavens and earth for Meng Hui to let him off, pulling out all the bills and coins from his pockets. The coins spun and rolled across the ground.

Meng Hui said unhurriedly, "Pick them up."

Ge Jianjun hurriedly picked up the few coins on the ground.

"I told you to pick up the backpack," Meng Hui kept his hands in his pockets, but blocked the entrance of the alley to prevent Ge Jianjun from escaping. He glanced at Lin Qi in the corner. Although it was just a fleeting glance, that bright, beast-like gaze still made Lin Qi tremble. "You ruined a good student's backpack, are you even fucking human?"

Ge Jianjun didn't know how tearing a backpack made him inhuman, but he hurriedly limped over to pick it up. The backpack was quite heavy. Pressing on his leg with one hand, he struggled to hold the overstuffed backpack with the other, carefully saying to Meng Hui, "Bro?"

"Bro what bro, give it to whoever it belongs to." Meng Hui said indifferently.

Carrying the backpack, Ge Jianjun limped back to Lin Qi and presented it to him. Lin Qi took the backpack and hugged it to his chest. Ge Jianjun was about to turn around when he heard Meng Hui say, "And the rest?"

Ge Jianjun cursed internally, thinking he had encountered a vigilante for justice. Having no choice but to concede defeat, he turned around and shoved the handful of bills back into Lin Qi's hands.

Lin Qi clutched the crumpled pile of money, wondering to himself: Why isn't Meng Hui pulling his black-eat-black robbery?

Ge Jianjun limped back in front of Meng Hui and asked flatteringly, "Bro, can I go now?"

"No," Meng Hui lowered his eyes, a fierce glint fully exposed in them. He pulled out the remaining bill from Ge Jianjun's hand and patted Ge Jianjun's face lightly with it. "That's it?"

Lin Qi: ...Now that is Meng Hui.

Just like in the past life, Meng Hui completely cleaned Ge Jianjun out before letting him go. Meng Hui stuffed the money into his own pocket and slowly walked towards Lin Qi.

Lin Qi hugged his backpack and shrank back into the corner, pressing tightly against the wall.

Meng Hui blocked him and carefully looked him up and down before suddenly saying, "You were quite delicate and pretty when you were young."

Lin Qi was dumbfounded by this completely out-of-the-blue remark.

The System appeared at the right time. "Detected that the target character contains rebirth elements. Favorability at 100%, Blackening Value at 100%."

Lin Qi opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

Meng Hui looked down at the teenage Lin Qi, thinking to himself that this guy looked pretty normal when he was young, so how did he become a stoic blockhead when he grew up? It had been too long. It had been so long since he last saw this face, so long that when he stood at the head of the alley, he even doubted whether the person was Lin Qi. "My name is Meng Hui."

"H-hello..." Lin Qi dodged his gaze, not wanting to look directly at this Meng Hui who had a 100% favorability toward him. "My name is Lin Qi."

It was truly too shocking for him. Meng Hui, how could Meng Hui have a 100% favorability towards him? This, this time it should just be brotherly affection, right?

"Call me bro," Meng Hui looked at the young Lin Qi. A heart that had remained silent and undisturbed for years suddenly sprang to life. He lifted his chin. "Let me hear you call me Brother Hui."

"Brother Hui..."

The train of youth roared past, blasting its whistle as it reversed. In that soft, sweet call, Meng Hui finally felt the reality of returning to his youth.

He was back. Back to his most destitute and impoverished age, back to where it all began with Lin Qi—the lover he had once missed out on.

"Let's go," Meng Hui extended his long arm and suddenly hooked it around Lin Qi's shoulder. Lin Qi shrank back in surprise, looking at Meng Hui in panic. Having run all the way here, there was a lot of sweat on his buzz cut, the tips of his hair sparkling faintly under the moonlight. Meng Hui curled his lips into a smile. "Brother Hui will take you home."