Chapter 3: Does the Counselor Have a Partner?

"Mind your manners. I was just reminding that guy to take care of his health and not overexert himself."

Shen Yuan typed with both hands and clicked send, but to his surprise, the next second he received a red exclamation mark in response.

"Message sent, but rejected by the recipient."

"Was it necessary to block me? How will you contact me if you miss me in the future?"

Seeing the bright red exclamation mark, Shen Yuan shook his head and then continued with his cash-out operation.

Shen Yuan had a 20,000 credit limit on his Jie Bai account, 9,200 remaining on his Hua Bai, 12,000 on his JD White Card, and a credit card with 11,000 remaining credit, meaning he could cash out a total of 52,000.

He had a friend on WeChat who specialized in cash advances, charging a 3% service fee, which meant that for every 10,000 yuan cashed out, he would receive 9,700.

The fee was a bit high, but Shen Yuan figured that since his principal could generate a 200% return, he didn't mind.

He found a friend with the nickname "AAA Da Zhe" in his contacts list, briefly explained his needs, and the other party immediately sent over payment QR codes for Alipay and JD Pay. After scanning and sending 9,200 + 12,000, the other party quickly transferred 19,400 back to him.

"Credit cards need to be swiped with a POS machine. Do you need the money urgently? You can come to the National Gold Center, my shop is right across from it," Da Zhe sent a message, along with a location pin.

The National Gold Center was a famous shopping mall in Star City with many luxury stores. Seeing those four characters, Shen Yuan felt a bit dazed, thinking how he used to be a regular customer there, but now he was going there for a cash advance.

Since he wasn't in a hurry, Shen Yuan chose eco-friendly transportation and arrived at the National Gold Center after an hour-long bus ride.

Da Zhe's shop was a small phone repair store. When Shen Yuan entered, Da Zhe was bent over disassembling a phone. He appeared to be in his thirties and was rather plain-looking.

After Shen Yuan explained why he was there, Da Zhe matched the young man before him with the person he had been chatting with on WeChat. Without wasting words, he took out a POS machine and let Shen Yuan swipe his card.

"It's best to make two separate transactions, and you should leave a few hundred or a thousand yuan of credit limit on your card to avoid it being frozen."

"Okay," Shen Yuan nodded. Indeed, professionals know how to handle professional matters.

With the 11,000 credit limit on his card, he made two transactions totaling 10,500, received 10,185 after fees, and left 500 as available credit.

In total, he cashed out 29,585, plus the 20,000 just credited to his Jie Bai account, and 99 from WeChat Pay, giving Shen Yuan a total of 49,684 yuan on hand.

If he spent all this money, he could get nearly 100,000 in cashback at once.

Shen Yuan was calculating in his mind what would be most appropriate to buy with this money, when Da Zhe, still behind the counter, casually added, "If you need a loan, you can also come to me."

Shen Yuan's mouth twitched: "I shouldn't need one, thank you."

Da Zhe looked up and sized up the young man, saying flatly, "That remains to be seen."

Having worked in this business for seven or eight years, he had dealt with all kinds of people. Young people like this hadn't yet formed mature consumption habits. Suddenly cashing out so much money surely meant nothing good, he'd probably spend it all in a few days and come back for a loan.

For Da Zhe, the commission on consumer loans and small loans was much higher than on cash advances.

Faced with Da Zhe's words, Shen Yuan felt somewhat helpless, but he couldn't tell him about the system "big daddy," and even if he did, the man would probably think he was an idiot.

Thinking this to himself, Shen Yuan didn't argue with Da Zhe and continued contemplating his spending plans.

Currently, the only female with a likeability score over 60 was Teacher Li Xiao, so Shen Yuan planned to continue focusing his spending power on her.

Quickly spending 50,000 yuan on Teacher Li Xiao wouldn't be simple. Someone with her personality would definitely not accept expensive gifts from students, especially since Shen Yuan was already seen as a poor student from a bankrupt family in her eyes, which would make her even more resistant.

However, thinking carefully, there were always ways.

Half an hour later, Shen Yuan walked out of the National Gold Center's main entrance carrying an LV shopping bag. Just now, he had spent most of his money at the LV counter, leaving only 9,884 yuan.

The bag in the shopping bag was worth 39,800 yuan, a spring model from LV this year. As for why he bought a spring model when summer models were already out, Shen Yuan had his considerations.

Carrying the LV shopping bag, Shen Yuan headed to the bus stop. Meanwhile, Da Zhe was smoking at his shop door across the street and happened to see the LV shopping bag in Shen Yuan's hand. He snorted disdainfully, "Indeed a spendthrift!"

Shen Yuan was completely unaware of Da Zhe's contempt. He first took an hour-long bus ride, then walked through streets and alleys to reach an ordinary residential building.

This residential building had eight floors and was self-built. Teacher Li Xiao lived on the sixth floor.

Logically, Shen Yuan shouldn't know his teacher's home address, but coincidentally, his family rented an apartment on the fifth floor of this same building.

One day when Shen Yuan went home for a meal, he happened to meet Li Xiao while going upstairs and learned that she lived right above his family.

Shen Yuan first threw the shopping bag into a nearby trash can, then removed the price tag and carried the bag upstairs.

"Knock, knock."

Shen Yuan gently knocked on the door of apartment 601. Even through the door, he could faintly smell a light fragrance, the unique scent of a refined woman's home.

"I wonder if Teacher Li has a partner, and if they're at home, this would be awkward."

"A single male student visiting and bringing a bag doesn't seem quite right."

There had been the sound of kitchen utensils from inside, but hearing the knock, the person inside walked to the door with footsteps and opened it: "Forgot your key tod, "

"Shen Yuan, it's you?"

Li Xiao looked at Shen Yuan in surprise. She was wearing a pink apron, holding a spatula in her right hand, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

In the afternoon, Li Xiao was a considerate female teacher, but now, cooking at home, she had added a touch of domesticity, looking more like a newly-wed housewife.

"Counselor, sorry to disturb you. Are you cooking?"

Shen Yuan showed a pure smile on his face, but in his heart, he was thinking of other things. Just now, Li Xiao had thought it was someone from her household who had forgotten their key, speaking in a casual tone, which very likely meant she already had a live-in partner.

Damn, what a pity. Wonder which lucky dog got her!

Shen Yuan was thinking about things that were completely unrelated, somehow already treating that unknown man as an imaginary rival.

However, Li Xiao was puzzled to see Shen Yuan. Although they lived on adjacent floors, they had never interacted. To avoid gossip, a female teacher and male student shouldn't have too frequent contact, so why had he come up?

Then she noticed the bag in Shen Yuan's hand and asked curiously, "Shen Yuan, it's so late, is there something you need?"

"Counselor, you've taken care of me a lot during these three years of university. I used to think teachers did these things as a matter of course, but with everything that's happened to my family recently, I've slowly come to understand the help from people around me, so I should have thanked you long ago."

Shen Yuan held up the bag with both hands and sincerely said, "This is a small token of appreciation from your student. You must accept it."

"No, no need."

Looking at the bag that should be quite valuable, Li Xiao quickly shook her head: "Actually, what you said earlier is correct. As your counselor and teacher, doing these things is my duty and responsibility. There's no special treatment involved, I treat all students equally, so there's no need for this."

Over these three years, seeing her students transform from naive high school graduates into mature adults about to enter society, Li Xiao actually felt a great sense of achievement, feeling she had lived up to her efforts during these three years.

Especially with Shen Yuan, who seemed to have suddenly grown up, she as his counselor suddenly felt very gratified.

But that was the extent of it. She absolutely could not accept gifts, especially since this bag looked quite expensive.