Mo Xiaoxiao watched her older brother suddenly start silently wailing at a rather sci-fi-looking panel, completely unable to make heads or tails of it.

Wait, you can actually see it?!#

“Big brother?”

“No, it’s nothing...”

Zhiyuan didn’t want her daughter finding out about something so embarrassing. Was she supposed to tell her she’d ended up with a perverted system obsessed with boobs?

For that matter, she had no idea what this system even was, or how to define it.

Going by the usual novel tropes, wasn’t it supposed to be something like a Goddess Raising System, a Tycoon Raising System, a Harem Raising System, or even a Scumbag Raising System?

How come mine doesn’t have any of that?

Never mind. The most urgent thing right now was figuring out how to make ends meet.

There were only five eggs left in the fridge, plus a little under half a pack of bacon and two cartons of milk. And then... nothing.

So if she didn’t find some money soon, she and Xiaoxiao would really be eating dirt.

A little under half a pack of bacon... If I eat half a slice a day and Xiaoxiao eats one, how long will it last?

It was too late to find a job that paid monthly. Unless she found one that paid daily. Those jobs had lower barriers to entry than monthly-paying ones, so they were worth considering...

A while later, Mo Zhiyuan suddenly opened her eyes, clenched her right hand into a fist, and smacked it into her open left palm. She’d made up her mind.

—Borrow money!

When it came to borrowing money, since she’d always been pretty socially awkward, she’d have to ask the good sons she’d spent all four years of college with!

If she could help it, Mo Zhiyuan wanted to avoid seeing them face-to-face for now. After all, looking like this...

Thankfully, in this age of technology, she could borrow money without meeting them. Otherwise, Mo Zhiyuan wouldn’t even know how to bring it up.

There was no time to waste. Mo Zhiyuan picked up her phone and opened a certain green messaging app. She had so few friends on it that she could count them on her fingers.

She only had a few group chats, too: elementary school, high school, and college.

Mo Zhiyuan didn’t even glance at the elementary school group. She’d muted it ages ago. As for why she hadn’t left... well, it was a way of looking back on her childhood, in a sense.

There were still a few people she could talk to in the high school group. The college group was purely for receiving important notices, and she could’ve left it without a problem.

But one of the group chats was called “There’s Always a Son Who Wants to Be Dad.” There were only four people in it, and Mo Zhiyuan was one of them.

After typing a bit, Mo Zhiyuan hit send.

Mo Zhiyuan: “I’m short on cash. Can someone lend me some?”

Chu Yao: “Call me Dad.”

Elementary Schoolers Rule: “Go eat shit! I won’t call you Dad even if you ask!”

Blue Fatty: “Dads, I’m out of money too. Can you lend me some while you’re at it? crying.jpg”

Mo Zhiyuan’s face darkened. These guys were more ridiculous than each other. Could they not have a normal conversation?

And you, Blue Fatty—you’re trying to steal my deal?! I asked first!

Mo Zhiyuan fired back: “Blue Fatty, shut up. You’re the richest one in the dorm! Don’t pretend you’re broke. Help me first!”

Blue Fatty: “Tsk, tsk. You and that jerk Chu Yao still haven’t returned the car you borrowed from me. Shouldn’t you bring it back first?”

Mo Zhiyuan: “Next time, for sure.”

After that, the chat filled with messages like “Life’s hard” and “I can’t afford to eat.” The whole group was suddenly in high spirits.

After coming back to her senses and looking over the chat history, Mo Zhiyuan figured Chu Yao seemed easier to ask. She messaged him directly: “Chu Yao, lend me two thousand yuan to tide me over.”

Chu Yao: “Sure. But you have to call me Dad. Send it as a voice message.”

Nice! That’s my bro of six years for you—what a stand-up guy! But there’s no way I’m calling him Dad~~

Her voice was different now. If she sent a voice message, it’d only make him suspicious.

Mo Zhiyuan: “Quit yapping and hurry up!”

Chu Yao: “You’re the one who should quit yapping. You come begging Dad for money with that attitude?”

Mo Zhiyuan: “You’re the reason my blind date fell apart yesterday. Don’t you owe me some compensation?”

Chu Yao: “Bullshit! I told you to buy pants and toilet paper, and you took half an hour. My legs were twisted into pretzels from crouching there! And you’ve still got the nerve to say that?! If you want to borrow money from me, you’re calling me ‘Dad’!”

Tsk!

Damn it, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?!

Mo Zhiyuan clicked her tongue, found an old voice message where she’d called him “Dad,” and forwarded it to Chu Yao.

“Ding—”

A transfer notification. Two thousand yuan secured!

“Heh~ Hehehe~~ Heh~~”

Mo Zhiyuan happily gave a little fist pump. Cradling her phone, she smiled in the sweetest, cutest way, like a little kid who’d just gotten candy, and let out a soft, cheerful hum.

After enjoying herself for a while, she suddenly seemed to remember something and picked up her phone to type out another message.

“Good son! I’ll pay you back in a month or two.”

Chu Yao: “...Never mind. Say, isn’t your place in Tianhe District?”

Mo Zhiyuan paused, then replied, “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Well, damn, what a coincidence. I’m gaming at an internet café near your place. I was planning to stop by later.”

......

Oh—no, no, no, no!!!!!!

Mo Zhiyuan’s face fell. There was absolutely no way she could let him see her looking like this!

She wasn’t mentally prepared to face her friends in her new identity yet!

Mo Zhiyuan hurriedly tapped all over her phone with both hands. “I’m not home right now.”

“Go eat shit! You’ve got location sharing turned on. You’re in Tianhe District, and you’re only a kilometer away from me. Who do you think you’re fooling?”

What? Location sharing?!

Mo Zhiyuan looked in a panic, and sure enough, that was exactly what had happened.

She’d apparently turned it on yesterday when she drove to pick Chu Yao up for the blind date, just to make things easier. And she still hadn’t turned it off.

Well, that was that. She’d just blocked off her own escape route.

Chu Yao sent another message: “As far as I can remember, I’ve never been to your place. You just asked me to lend you two thousand yuan. You’re not going to refuse me this one little request, are you?”

Uh...

With things put that way, Mo Zhiyuan had no idea what to do.

Ah, whatever. Better to get it over with. She’d have to face it sooner or later; the only question was whether she was ready.

So be it!

Mo Zhiyuan reluctantly replied, “All right. I’ll come downstairs to get you in a bit.”

Chu Yao: “Uh... how about noon? I found a restaurant with really good pork cutlet rice. I’ll pick up a portion for you on my way over.”

Aww... good so—uh, I mean, good buddy! But I really don’t want to see you right now...

With tears in her eyes, Mo Zhiyuan pressed send. “Get me an extra portion of pork cutlet rice.”

After sending the message, Mo Zhiyuan looked up at the clock. It was already eleven-thirty. In about half an hour, she’d have to meet her good buddy as a girl.

Xiaoxiao?

Zhiyuan helplessly patted her daughter, who’d been hugging her and dozing lightly this whole time, and woke her up.

“Xiaoxiao, a friend of mine is coming over soon. Hurry and put away anything in the house that boys shouldn’t see.”

Mo Xiaoxiao stared fixedly at Zhiyuan, then, with a serious expression, wrote something on a piece of cardboard.

??

Mo Zhiyuan tilted her head slightly. A few seconds later, Xiaoxiao held the cardboard up for her to see: “Big brother, inappropriate.”