Ding~
The sound came out of nowhere.
Chen Qi was still sitting at the table, staring at the empty seat across from him, when his phone lit up.
Daxia Bank: Deposit received — ¥6,170,000.
He read it three times.
Six million, one hundred and seventy thousand yuan.
Twenty seconds ago, his girlfriend had just dumped him, called him a loser, and paid for their ¥617 Japanese dinner on the way out.
Now he was a millionaire.
"The Freeloader System is now active."
"When a goddess with a Charm Rating of 90 or above — who has dated three or fewer times — spends money on you, you will receive 10,000x cashback."
Chen Qi sat very still.
10,000x.
¥617 multiplied by ten thousand. That math checked out.
"Sys — is this real? Can I actually spend this money?"
"Funds are immediately available. No restrictions."
He exhaled slowly.
Then he started laughing.
Thirty minutes earlier.
China, Donghai City. Saturday, July 6th. Clear skies.
Inside a Japanese restaurant at Yida Plaza.
"Babe, look — my friend's boyfriend just got her an iPhone 15 Pro."
Li Ting shoved her phone in Chen Qi's face, pointing at a social media post.
"Must be loaded. That's gotta run over ten grand." He barely glanced at it.
Ten grand. He couldn't scrape together a hundred yuan right now.
He stared at his credit card statement under the table. Over ¥5,000 due next month — and tonight's dinner alone was going to cost him ¥600. He was already sinking.
"Oh, it's only eight thousand. My birthday's next month — you should get it for me, babe."
Eight thousand. Sell a kidney? He could barely cover tonight's bill.
"Babe, maybe something a little cheaper?"
Li Ting blinked. "Excuse me? This is the first time I've ever asked you for anything, and you're saying no?"
"I'm strapped right now. I'm barely going to make my credit card payment next month."
"That's your problem."
"But I'm genuinely broke. Shouldn't couples look out for each other?"
"Where does all your money even go?"
"Between dinner, movies, and groceries every week — over a thousand yuan, just gone."
Li Ting's expression went ice cold. "So what you're saying is — I'm draining your wallet?"
"My friends' boyfriends drop thousands on gifts. I've never once asked you for anything. And you have the nerve to bring up dinner and movies?"
Chen Qi said nothing. Because she wasn't wrong.
He just couldn't do it anymore.
His parents had died in a car accident when he was fifteen. He'd scraped through college on a small insurance payout. Now twenty-six, pulling ¥8,000 a month in a third-tier city — decent by Donghai standards, invisible by Shanghai ones.
City-center rent: ¥1,200. Monthly spending with Li Ting: never less than ¥5,000, all from his pocket. Holidays: another ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 in gifts. Some months he lived on plain boiled noodles just to stay afloat.
Where did other guys find reasonable girlfriends?
He hadn't been stupid enough to take out loans for a relationship. But this was suffocating him.
Li Ting stared at him, waiting for him to back down.
"Maybe we should just… end it."
"What?"
"I said let's break up."
She let out a cold laugh. "Over a phone."
"It's not about the phone. We have completely different ideas about money."
"Fine." She stood, tossed her napkin on the table. "I'll get the bill. Don't contact me again. Loser."
Chen Qi watched her walk to the register.
And felt a weight lift off his chest.
Ding~
Back to the present.
Chen Qi set his phone face-down on the table and took a slow breath.
¥6,170,000. Because Li Ting paid a ¥617 dinner bill.
"Sys — every other system I've heard of makes the guy spend money to get rewards. You've flipped the whole thing."
"Obviously. Read my name."
"Bind target?"
────────────────────────────── TARGET PROFILE Name : Li Ting Age : 25 Height : 163 cm Charm Rating : 90 Occupation : Accountant Relationships: 3 Affection : -10 ────────────────────────────── Bind target? ──────────────────────────────
He'd just broken up with her. The smart move was to walk away clean.
But Chen Qi thought: Bind.
[ SYSTEM ] ────────────────────────────── Cashback triggered! FL Coins received : 617 Converting to CNY... Deposited : ¥6,170,000 ─────────────────────────────────────────
Already confirmed. He smiled at the number on his screen one more time.
"Any other rules I should know about, Sys? All at once — I'd rather not get blindsided."
"You can hear the inner thoughts of any goddess with a Charm Rating of 90 or above."
"No requesting or hinting at money from a goddess. Cashback only triggers when she voluntarily spends on you."
"No direct cash transfers to a goddess."
"When a goddess reaches 100% Affection, she will be devoted to you for life. Wealth generated by that goddess doubles, and you receive 10 Stat Points."
╔══════════════════════════════════╗ HOST PROFILE Name : Chen Qi Age : 26 Goddesses : 1 Skills : None ──────────────────────────────────── INT 10 (comprehension, learning, focus) STA 10 (endurance — it matters) STR 10 (one punch, one problem) AGI 10 (even bullets can't catch me) RES 10 (immune to all — skin thicker than steel) ──────────────────────────────────── Base value for a normal person: 10 Use Stat Points to upgrade. ╚══════════════════════════════════╝
"Sys — 10,000x feels a little modest. Other systems hand out billions on day one."
"Complaining about free money? Fine. I'll leave."
"No — Sys, I was joking. Please."
Having any system was a gift. Most people never got one.
Across the restaurant, Li Ting turned for one last look at him.
She crumpled her receipt into a ball and flicked it at him without a word.
〖 She thought: "He awakened something? We just broke up and now I don't even know if I'll find someone that good-looking again. Hmph. I'm gorgeous — of course I will." 〗
Chen Qi caught every word.
He might be broke — but he was good-looking. The only reason someone like Li Ting had dated him on an ¥8,000 salary in the first place.
He stood up, pocketed his new phone — wait, he didn't have a new phone yet — and headed upstairs.
First order of business.
Inside the Apple Store, he walked straight to the counter.
"iPhone 15 Pro Max. 1TB. Black."
The associate blinked. "Would you like to trade anything in?"
Chen Qi looked at his iPhone 7 Plus — bought with part-time job money back in college. Sluggish as a Tuesday morning. But he'd earned every yuan of it.
"No thanks. Keep it."
Daxia Bank: Payment of ¥13,999 processed.
Remaining balance: ¥6,156,001.
If Li Ting knew, she'd lose her mind.
He rode the escalator up to the third floor. Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Armani — a wall of luxury stretching as far as he could see.
He used to walk past this floor without even slowing down.
Not tonight.