pjbooks 2. Family status
2. Family status
Li Xiang lives in a double room. His roommate, Sergei, is Belarusian. The school does not allow international students from the same country to live together in order to create an environment for learning Russian.
The three met at a restaurant.
Natasha ordered the food: vegetable salad, venison tartare, bear meat dumplings, white wine braised sturgeon, wild mushroom soup, and a bottle of vodka that would make your throat feel like it was on fire.
Li Xiang activated "Deep Scan" and brought up Sergei's data details page.
[Sergei | 21 years old | Occupation: Student/McDonald's part-time job/Exhibition translator]
[Emotion: Envy (It's so good to be rich)]
[Hidden Emotion: Inferiority Complex]
[Core Anxiety: Tuition Fees Still Unresolved]
[Privacy: Two dilemmas exist (insufficient level to view details)]
Close the panel after completing the query.
"Old Xie, I'm planning to get some clothes from China. I don't have the right to work, so could you run errands for me?"
There is no such thing as part-time work for Russian students these days. If they are caught working secretly, they will be deported immediately. At most, they can find some work on campus.
However, Er Mao held a special position in the Russian fold, enjoying quasi-citizen treatment, and Sergei had the right to work.
"I've advised you before, but you just don't want the trouble and the hard work." Sergei's expression was slightly agitated.
Li Xiang grabbed Natasha's hand and squeezed it gently. "Now that there are two of us, moving out will be expensive, and we can't keep asking our family for money."
Natasha leaned closer and whispered in Li Xiang's ear, "Can he be trusted?"
Li Xiang reprimanded her sternly, "Women should refrain from interfering in men's affairs."
Natasha's face stiffened, her expression frozen for two seconds before she smiled again. She secretly pinched Li Xiang's thigh under the table. "You guys chat, I'll go check when the dishes will be served."
As soon as Natasha got up to leave, Sergei gave her a thumbs-up and exclaimed in Chinese with an expression of admiration, "Awesome!"
He didn't speak much Chinese, so he switched back to Russian, saying, "You two just met yesterday, and you've already got me all under your thumb in just one night. You're pretty good."
"Let's get down to business." Li Xiang deliberately rubbed his back. "I'll provide the capital for the business; you can handle the public affairs."
[Establish a long-term dependency relationship; dependency level: 7/100]
[Core Relationship Goal: Making Money]
Li Xiang took an envelope out of his bag and handed it to Sergei. Inside was three hundred dollars, roughly equivalent to Sergei's part-time income for a month and a half.
"I'll give you a month's salary first."
"I'm a bit short on cash, so I won't stand on ceremony." Sergei opened the envelope, his face full of surprise. "So much?"
[Fulfill Sergei's core needs | Earn money | Experience +3 | Current experience: 3/100]
This is Li Xiang's first experience with the system. Although he is still far from leveling up, it is a good start nonetheless.
"I know you're short on money," Li Xiang continued. "This is just the basic salary; there will be bonuses once the business is on track."
Sergei immediately replied, "Don't worry about it. As long as you can send the goods over, I can sell them."
-
Natasha drank two large glasses of vodka and was clearly a little drunk. She went to bed without even removing her makeup after getting home.
Li Xiang took a bottle of kvass from the refrigerator and subconsciously glanced at the living room door.
[Security door: Class A lock cylinder | Deadbolted | Knob removed | Key in Natasha's bedroom | Thin wire found in the kitchen]
Li Xiang and Natasha have been officially confirmed as accomplices, and they sleep in separate rooms.
Back in his room, Li Xiang started scanning again, wanting to see what would happen if he exhausted all his energy.
Automatic shutdown?
The remaining few points of energy were quickly exhausted, but zero was not the lower limit of energy value; there were even negative numbers.
Headache, weakness in limbs, and a racing heartbeat—the system was draining energy from Li Xiang's body, and he felt completely drained.
[Lv1 | Energy: -1/100]
He quickly turned off the scan. What is the limit of overexertion? Sudden death? The fatigue did not disappear, and drowsiness came over him.
"This can cure insomnia." Li Xiang set an alarm and went to sleep.
The next day, at seven o'clock in the morning.
The first thing Li Xiang did after being woken up by his alarm clock was to check his energy level.
After a night's rest, my energy level did recover somewhat, but only to 82, probably because I didn't get enough sleep.
Want to take another nap?
I can't sleep at all, I'm just too hungry.
Li Xiang doesn't have the habit of eating breakfast, but this morning he was so hungry that his stomach was practically sticking to his back. This must be related to the system drawing energy from his body.
Knocking on the door woke Natasha.
Natasha dawdled out of her room, her hair disheveled, wearing a pink nightgown. "Didn't we agree that we wouldn't be going to school this month? Why are you up so early?"
Li Xiang was washing up when he said, "I'm hungry, get me something to eat."
Natasha shuffled over to Li Xiang in her slippers. "We're in a business relationship, that's true, but I'm the one who paid for it, so I'm the one in charge. Why are you ordering me around?"
After brushing his teeth, Li Xiang started shaving. "We ate at the restaurant yesterday, and Sergei clearly saw our respective positions in the family."
"If you're not satisfied with your character, you should show it on the spot when I'm reprimanding you, instead of complaining afterwards. Once a character is established, it can't be easily changed."
"It's just acting, it's not real. You should get used to it a little more."
"So this is what was waiting for me." Natasha weighed her options for a few seconds. "Okay, I'll adapt."
"I finally managed to snag a relationship with a rich guy like you, and I still have to rely on you to support me. Logically, I should treat you well. From now on, you're the head of our household, okay?"
"You've adapted well, and your performance was very convincing." Li Xiang could barely suppress a smile. "Now that I'm the head of the household, shouldn't I have a key to the house? I'm paying for this rented apartment; this is my home. Is it reasonable for me not to have a key?"
"Also, give me back my phone."
"Our collaboration will last at least a year or two. Can you be on guard against me every second? I have plenty of opportunities to betray you if I wanted to. You can only trust me because you trust those you use."
"You're right, I'll make sure you, the head of the household, are well taken care of." Natasha took a step forward and whispered a threat in Li Xiang's ear, "You'd better really help me transfer the money out. If anything goes wrong, I'll settle all the old scores with you."
Natasha was relatively easy to handle; despite her skill with a gun, she was still just a young girl with limited experience. Li Xiang was more wary of Oleg, after all, he had only heard of the KGB, never actually seen one.
Natasha went out to buy food.
Li Xiang got the phone and called his father back in China.
"Dad, I landed a big order for you here."
Old Li grumbled, "You're broke again, aren't you?"
"You're the one who asked me to help you develop the Russian market. I'm not helping you with that now. Ten thousand sets of thermal underwear is a pretty big order, isn't it?"
"Keep making things up, you'll tell any lie for money." Old Li continued to complain, "I paid for your overseas studies so you could study, not go out and seduce people. You should be grateful for the family planning policy; if we could have a second child, would your mother and I still care about you?"
Li Xiang cleared his throat and said in a serious tone, "Has there really been no trust left between us, father and son?"
"I admit that I do spend money a bit extravagantly, but I can still distinguish between what's important and what's not. Even if I'm a scoundrel, I wouldn't joke about business matters with you."
"I've already negotiated the price, and they've paid in full."
"Full payment?" Old Li's interest was immediately piqued. "What's the price?"
"Four US dollars a set, port price."
Old Li: "After deducting costs and shipping fees, what profit is left? No wonder they agreed to pay you in full; it's rare to find a fool like you."
Seeing that his father had taken the bait, Li Xiang pressed on, saying, "I know there's no profit at this price, but I want to use this opportunity to test the waters. Once I've established a sales channel in St. Petersburg, we can go it alone."
Old Li was persuaded and cleared his throat. "Send the information back. The most important thing in business is reputation. You've already promised, what else can I say? Learn your lesson, and don't do this kind of thing again."
"He's grown up, he knows how to help out at home now." Old Li thought for a moment and then became a little happy, grinning and asking, "You introduced this business, shouldn't I give you a commission?"
Li Xiang chuckled and said, "No need. It's too late for a father and son to talk about money. I'd rather go to jail for you than introduce you to business."
"What are you talking about? You never wish me any good things," Old Li changed the subject. "There are still more than two months until the New Year. Your mother has already started preparing for the holiday. When are you coming back?"
[This triggers long-term dependency relationships.]
Dependency level: 23/100
[Core Relationship Goals: Parents' Aspirations for Their Children to Succeed | Continuing the Family Line | Trade with Russia]
[Meeting Li Shengli's core demands | Hoping his son will succeed | Experience +21 | Trade with Russia | Experience +4 | Current Experience: 28/100]
Li Xiang initially thought the system relationships could only be triggered in close proximity, "face-to-face," but he was surprised by the unexpected turn of events. If his father could trigger it, his mother could definitely do the same.