The roasted skewers were finished just as they reached the entrance of Xia Nuannuan's neighborhood.
Even though Qin Tian had repeatedly reassured her that eating a few skewers wouldn't matter, Xia Nuannuan had still only eaten a few pieces of lotus root and vegetables.
The rest naturally went into Qin Tian's stomach.
"I'm here..."
Influenced by his words, Xia Nuannuan seemed to have cheered up considerably.
Her direct gaze met his, with less timidity and inferiority, and more bravery and confidence.
"Yeah, go on in. I need to head back too."
Qin Tian smiled, his heart filled with relief.
The current Xia Nuannuan was taking a step closer to the peerless Xia Nuannuan he remembered.
Xia Nuannuan's eyes held a trace of reluctance as she waved goodbye gently. "Well then... Bye!"
"Bye!"
Qin Tian nodded with a smile.
After watching Xia Nuannuan enter the neighborhood, Qin Tian was about to turn and leave when Xia Nuannuan's voice suddenly called out:
"Qin Tian!"
"Hm?"
Qin Tian looked back at her with a questioning gaze.
"Will you be going to that internet cafe tomorrow?"
Xia Nuannuan mustered her courage and asked loudly.
"Probably!"
"Then... can I go too?"
"Of course, you can. I'll call you when I'm going."
Qin Tian said, unable to suppress a chuckle.
He had already noted down her phone number on the way back from seeing Xia Nuannuan home.
"Okay, don't forget!"
Xia Nuannuan instructed him with a charming sincerity.
"Don't worry, I won't."
"Okay, bye!"
Xia Nuannuan waved goodbye again.
"I'm off."
Qin Tian smiled, turned, and left with a flourish.
Xia Nuannuan watched him go until he was out of sight before turning towards her own building.
Neither of them knew that as they bid each other farewell, Xia Nuannuan's mother, Su Xia, was watching everything from the corner of a building not far away.
After receiving her daughter's text message saying "I'll be back soon," she had come downstairs to wait.
She wasn't there for any other reason than to see what the boy who had his eye on her precious 'white cabbage' looked like, and to vet him for her beloved daughter.
She didn't oppose her daughter dating; in fact, she was quite supportive.
However, she also knew her daughter's personality was too innocent and easily deceived by boys with honeyed words.
"Hiss... that darn girl, coming back so late, I'm freezing."
Seeing her daughter approaching, Su Xia tightened the sleepwear around her and quickly turned to leave.
She had to get home before her daughter did and then pretend she hadn't seen anything.
"Her taste isn't bad. That boy seems decent enough. But... how do I handle Old Xia!"
Thinking this, Su Xia felt a headache coming on.
If that doting father knew his daughter was dating, he'd throw a fit.
...
It was already ten o'clock in the evening when Qin Tian returned home.
His house was located in a more secluded old district of Yucheng. The house was a three-story self-built structure.
In his previous life, after he started college, this old house was designated for demolition.
However, the demolition news had been circulating for a long time, but the dream of becoming a demolition recipient had not been realized until before his transmigration.
Of course, Yucheng was just a small, eighteenth-tier city, and even with demolition, it wouldn't lead to overnight riches.
Qin Tian took out his key and opened the door. The lights inside were on.
In the room, a TV was playing an advertisement for a certain milk brand.
The middle-aged woman who had fallen asleep on the sofa immediately woke up upon hearing the sound of the door opening.
"Xiao Tian, you're back!"
Tang Xiuxia yawned and sat up, looking at her son who had just appeared at the doorway.
"Yes, Mom. Why aren't you asleep yet!"
Qin Tian asked with concern.
Tang Xiuxia was stunned for a moment, her gaze fixed on her son with a hint of surprise.
A mother knew her own child best.
She vaguely sensed that her son seemed different somehow, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it.
"I was just watching that TV drama and must have dozed off."
Tang Xiuxia said with a gentle smile, then stood up. "Have you eaten? There's still food in the pot. Should I cook you a bowl of noodles?"
"You go rest. I'll cook it myself."
Qin Tian said hastily.
The fried snacks he had earlier hadn't filled him up.
He was indeed hungry, but he could manage to cook a bowl of noodles.
"Since when do you enter the kitchen? Can you even cook? Let me do it!"
Tang Xiuxia smiled and headed straight for the kitchen.
Qin Tian didn't say anything more. He entered the room, sat down on the sofa, and his gaze fell on a photo frame placed on the coffee table.
It was a photo of him and his mother taken when he was just starting elementary school.
In the picture, the five or six-year-old him had a face full of unwillingness.
Beside him, his mother, who was squatting down and hugging him, her face pressed against his, wore a gentle and bright smile.
He remembered that back then, still a naive child, he was in his rebellious phase.
Because other children had fathers, but he had never seen his own since birth, he was mocked by the brats in class, who called him a child born out of wedlock.
As a result, he had gotten into many fights, taking his anger out on his mother.
Later, as he grew older and began to understand and pity his mother, he never asked about his father again, acting as if that person didn't exist.
"Where did you go today?"
His mother's voice from the kitchen behind him interrupted his drifting thoughts.
"I went to the internet cafe with Zhang Peng to play some games."
Qin Tian replied loudly, not hiding anything.
"Your college entrance exams are coming up. You should play fewer games. If you're tired, go play some basketball or something."
"Got it."
In his memory, his mother had always been quite open-minded. Unlike many parents who desperately wanted their children to succeed, she didn't constantly pressure him to study, only wishing for him to manage to get into a university.
In his previous life, he had indeed gotten into a third-rate university.
He had initially decided not to attend because the tuition fees for third-rate schools were too high.
However, his mother insisted he go to college, working extra shifts at a supermarket after finishing her day job at the garment factory to afford it.
Throughout his four years of university, the monthly living expenses she sent him weren't a lot, but they were always enough.
With this second chance at life, he would absolutely not let his mother work so hard again.
He would also give his mother a surprise with his college entrance exam results.
[System Task Triggered: Host, please achieve the provincial top scorer in the college entrance examinations. Task reward: Unknown]
Suddenly, the system popped up in his mind, giving him a task that perfectly aligned with his intentions.
With a thought, the system interface appeared before his eyes.
His gaze immediately fell on the wealth value displayed at the bottom.
[Wealth Value: 4502]
He had twenty-seven yuan in loose change earlier. He spent twenty-five on the skewers. Adding the four thousand five hundred he earned from power leveling today, it was exactly this amount.
He glanced at the top right corner again.
[Points: 100]
"System, redeem five points!"
He pondered for a moment and attempted the redemption.
When he looked at his points again, he found they had increased by five, while his wealth value had decreased by five hundred.
Qin Tian felt his pocket with his fingers. Indeed, it felt a bit lighter, as if five one-hundred-yuan bills had disappeared.
"Tsk, five hundred yuan for only five points, which is five hours of life. The speed of earning money is still too slow!"
He thought to himself, then remembered Xu Hao, whom he had met at the internet cafe today.
This person had a considerable background in Yucheng, and judging by how he handled the deposits today, he seemed capable.
If they got to know each other better over the next few days, and if the person proved reliable, they could perhaps collaborate to expand the power leveling business.