Li Yan took a deep breath and started thinking through the ideas that had been bouncing around his head.
First, he had a gut feeling about the system tasks.
He suspected that future missions would probably include more time-intensive challenges like this one.
The morning run was just the beginning. Whether more would pop up remained to be seen.
But the other thought weighing on his mind was way more pressing—should he quit his job?
Did he even need to think about it?
Not really...
Just completing this one task would put nearly 170,000 yuan in his account.
Even if the system never issued another mission, that money would be enough to find a new job or come crawling back to this place.
As they say, "those who fail to plan ahead will find trouble at their doorstep." That's exactly why Li Yan hadn't started whooping and hollering about quitting to become some rich playboy the night he got the system.
Now, watching his savings grow and the good life beckoning, he was done hesitating.
Time to quit!
Right now!
Well, obviously not right now.
He'd have to follow proper procedures, give the company time to adjust, finish things properly.
If Li Yan were eighteen or nineteen when he got this system, he wouldn't give a damn about all this adult bullshit.
He'd just walk off the job. Who cares about pocket change?
Drop everything and bounce.
But Li Yan was different. Almost twenty-six years old, he was still a functioning adult with a working brain.
Besides, the company had treated him decently. He'd never been wronged here.
Actually, working here was pretty much the ideal slacking situation.
Without much deliberation, Li Yan decided he'd talk to management later.
...
Having made up his mind about quitting, Li Yan was now chatting with his childhood friend in their group chat.
Even though this was an incredibly chill job where he could slack off all day, the thought of dropping it felt like shackles falling away.
People just weren't meant to work!
Having delivered this profound life wisdom to himself, Li Yan picked up a call from another friend back home.
"Hey, when you coming back?"
"Early next month."
"Cool, I'll pick you up at the station."
"Nah, I'll probably drive back."
"You bought a car?"
"Yeah... picking one up in a few days."
"Holy shit, nice! What kind?"
"Haven't decided yet. We'll see."
Meanwhile, back in Shandong Province, Zheng Qi hung up with Li Yan and glanced at his girlfriend Wang Yingying, who'd just gotten off work and was scrolling through videos beside him.
"Who was that?"
"Li Yan."
"Oh, he's coming back too? You picking him up? How's he doing in Hangzhou?"
"Yeah, he's coming back. Don't need to pick him up though. Didn't ask about work, but sounds like he's doing pretty well."
Wang Yingying paused her video and looked at her boyfriend, who was clearly holding something back. "What's up?"
"He's buying a car. Sounds like work's going well..."
Zheng Qi and Li Yan weren't exactly childhood friends, but they were from the same town and got along pretty well.
Their mutual friend Wang Kun's wedding was actually one of the reasons Zheng Qi had called Li Yan.
The difference was that Zheng Qi came from money.
His dad drove trucks and had made decent cash back in the day.
After Zheng Qi wore him down with constant begging last year, his dad bought him a Mercedes C-Class. That's when Zheng Qi met his current girlfriend, Wang Yingying.
When Li Yan came home last year, Zheng Qi had picked him up with his new girlfriend in tow.
Would Li Yan be lying if he said he wasn't jealous? Of course.
But was he that jealous? Not really.
Still, owning your own car, especially a Mercedes—a traditional luxury brand—was definitely something to envy in a small Shandong county town.
Don't give me that crap about how BMWs and Mercedes are trash now, or how domestic electric vehicles are taking over.
In most ordinary people's minds, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi still carried serious brand prestige.
All those internet warriors talking shit about the Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, and BMW 3 Series?
If you actually offered to buy them one, they couldn't afford it anyway.
Or if you straight-up gave them one, they'd be grinning ear to ear.
So take those online opinions with a grain of salt.
Regular people with common sense know the truth.
For a kid from an ordinary family to buy a car before thirty without family help? That's already pretty damn impressive.
And if you want a luxury brand like BMW, Mercedes, or Audi without luck, special talents, solid skills, or an enviable job?
Buying one of those cars before thirty on your own? Basically impossible.
Sure, Zheng Qi had gotten his Mercedes C with family money and a loan, and his family was still making most of the payments.
But that didn't stop him from getting tons of likes when he posted about picking up the car!
And his current girlfriend was definitely a looker, at least in Zheng Qi's opinion.
You could say the Mercedes played a part in that!
Li Yan, who'd just hung up with Zheng Qi, had no idea about the complicated feelings swirling in his friend's head.
Brothers fear each other's suffering, but they also fear each other's success.
Li Yan also didn't know that Zheng Qi was telling his girlfriend right now that Li Yan would probably just finance some hundred-thousand-yuan domestic car.
But that didn't change the fact that they were still pretty good friends.
Most relationships are like this. Behind your back, even your best friend might be talking shit about you in some way.
Maybe looking down on you or putting you down in certain areas.
But that doesn't stop you from being decent friends overall.
And when push comes to shove, you'd still help each other out.
It's not contradictory or surprising.
Li Yan obviously had no clue about Zheng Qi's assumptions about him financing some cheap domestic car.
But that didn't stop him from planning to hit up some 4S dealerships in the next few days.
His first stop would be the brand he was currently watching videos about on his phone.
Porsche.
Whether it was the Panamera, Cayenne, or 911, Li Yan loved them all.
Now he just had to pick the model that suited him best.
Something that would let him show off to the max while staying within budget!