Memories flooded back, and Shang Yechu froze for a moment, unable to even make a proper response.

When Shang Yechu realized who she had saved, her first reaction was to reach out and slap the other person hard!

Sheng Wenzhi's fair face was turned to the side by the slap. She was stunned, then angrily said, "Shang Yechu, what's wrong with you?"

Shang Yechu didn't even glance at the other person. She stood up, picked up her schoolbag, and turned to leave. She was afraid that if she looked at Sheng Wenzhi's stunningly beautiful face any longer, she would push the other person's head into the water.

"Hey! Wait!" Sheng Wenzhi staggered after her, but after taking two steps she collapsed to her knees—she had a leg cramp in the water.

Shang Yechu walked away with a brisk pace, trying his best to control the urge to turn around and slap Sheng Wenzhi again.

What bad luck! It would have been better to pull a dead person up!

Pah! Pah! She needs to take a good bath to get rid of all the bad luck!

The thought of negotiating with the system and exhausting himself with doggy paddle and breaststroke only to retrieve this thing made Shang Yechu feel all the blood rush to his head. He was so angry that his vision blurred and his body trembled.

103 said coolly, "Are you just going to leave the stain there and ignore it?"

“You can speak,” Shang Yechu squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, “but don’t make a sound.”

103 tactfully changed the subject: "Do you want to find a place to change your clothes? You might catch a cold if you keep going like this." He didn't want to give Shang Yechu any more energy points.

"Okay." This suggestion was at least reasonable, and Shang Yechu did not object.

Shang Yechu splurged on a taxi and sped back to the pedestrian street.

That's the good thing about pedestrian streets; they encompass all the essential industries for a person's survival—clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

Shang Ye first went to the "boutique women's clothing store" on the pedestrian street and spent a hundred yuan to buy a new outfit; then, carrying the new clothes, she went to the bathhouse on the pedestrian street and took a hot bath.

Shang Yechu thoroughly washed her entire body with hot water, especially her two hands that had saved Sheng Wenzhi; she practically scrubbed off a layer of skin.

After getting refreshed, night had fallen, and there was still an hour before Grandma Hu's bookstore visit. There was no time to buy a phone now, so Shang Yechu had to change her plans and go eat instead.

Shang Yechu strolled around the food stalls on the pedestrian street, looking at the fried lamb skewers, fried pork skewers, fried chicken skewers, stinky tofu, chive and potato balls, coriander rolls, starch sausages, crispy sausages, thick meat sausages, grilled cold noodles, grilled sweet potatoes, grilled chicken wings, rice rolls, stir-fried chestnuts, stir-fried rice noodles, stir-fried seafood, beer, cola, juice, soda, milk tea... all of these are good things to gain weight.

But Shang Yechu only felt a tightness in her chest and stomach, as if she had suddenly lost her appetite.

103 coldly watched Shang Yechu walk past the barbecue stall without glancing at her, and said, "What makes me happy is that you have finally learned to take care of your health."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Yechu walked into an ice cream shop and plopped down on the floor.

"Boss, please pack this up... ten large boxes of ice cream, one of each flavor."

"Hmm? Indeed, at our class reunion, these ten boxes were shared among everyone."

The boss was quick; within minutes, he scooped out ten servings of ice cream for Shang Yechu, packed them into two large bags, and had Shang Yechu carry them away.

Shang Yechu carried two large bags of ice cream, walked out of the pedestrian street, found a park bench at random, and sat down.

Shang Yechu grabbed a box of ice cream, scooped out a big spoonful, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The cloying sweetness melted on his tongue, making Shang Yechu feel nauseous.

"This ice cream tastes awful," Shang Yechu murmured.

Despite saying this, Shang Yechu, adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, ate box after box of cheap ice cream. Even as her face turned pale from the cold, she didn't stop.

A figure stood in front of Shang Yechu, snatched the ice cream from her hand, and said coldly, "Don't eat it."

Shang Yechu raised her head and looked mockingly at Sheng Wenzhi, who had somehow appeared in front of her: "You've been following me all this way, recording materials for our field research?"

Sheng Wenzhi's expression froze. "Back then, that incident... I admit I—"

Shang Yechu interrupted her with a cold laugh: "What do you admit? You're a writer—a 'proper' novelist, and reality is just material for your artistic creation. Even now, standing in front of me, you're probably thinking about how to write a second generation of 'Foolish Ye Zi,' aren't you?"

"No!" Sheng Wenzhi felt utterly helpless, like talking to a brick wall. "I just... I just..."

Shang Yechu threw the rest of the ice cream onto her clothes. The pink pigment from the strawberry ice cream meandered and dripped onto the black fabric, looking like a clumsy graffiti.

Sheng Wenzhi opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

Before she could speak, Shang Yechu coldly said, "I'm leaving now, Ms. Writer. If you want me to compensate you for the clothes, I'll stay at the bookstore on the pedestrian street ahead. Don't forget to clean up the trash here."

The city lights shone brightly, and the night was deep. Sheng Wenzhi watched Shang Yechu's retreating figure without hesitation for a long, long time.

On the other side, 103 reminded Shang Yechu, "I have to remind you..."

"The dress Sheng Wenzhi is wearing is Amphion Melody's latest summer collection. Its market value is enough for me to win five special prizes, isn't it?" Shang Yechu said casually.

"Since you know that, why do you still—?" 103 couldn't understand humans again.

"That's precisely why I took action," Shang Yechu said slowly. "Through this back-and-forth, we all got to know each other better."

"You are taking advantage of his guilt towards you." 103 This sentence is not a question, but an affirmative one.

"Having more friends means having more paths, and having more wealthy friends means having a hundred more paths," Shang Yechu said. "She used me to earn her first royalties, and she also gained a second life because of me. From this perspective, I am practically her second parent!"

"Can't her stepparents squeeze some benefits out of her?"

“Sure. Sure. Do as you please,” 103 said.

Actually, he originally intended to remind Shang Yechu of something else, but since Shang Yechu's attitude towards Sheng Wenzhi was merely one of exploitation, it seemed unnecessary to bring it up.