Chapter 7 Spoiler Dog

"Dingdong! Your Alipay account has received 50,000 yuan."

Meng Lang's eyes widened. "We graduated from the same university, so why do we live like we're from two different classes? Do you really make that much money in real estate?"

"It's not that I'm doing well, it's that you're doing too badly!"

"Hey, hey! That hurts, man. Don't kick a guy when he's down, okay? But aren't you going to ask what I need the money for?"

"Back in college, when there was a fight, did you ask me why before you jumped in?"

"No."

"There you have it then."

Meng Lang was incredibly touched. "Don't worry, I'll definitely pay you back..."

"Cut the cheesy stuff. But I'm warning you, no gambling, no drugs, and definitely no prostitution; otherwise, we can't even be friends."

"Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

That's why, when you're at rock bottom, having a reliable friend is so crucial. Meng Lang, who had been feeling down after finishing 'My Struggle,' reignited his fighting spirit.

I'll jump over every pitfall you set for me, just you watch!

And I'll avoid the pitfalls I should avoid, but I won't miss out on making the money I should!

Picking up his bowl, Meng Lang gulped down the chestnut porridge in front of him and wiped his mouth with determination, "I've got some things to do this afternoon, so eat slowly; I'm heading out!"

"Huh? What's up?" Duan Xian, stuffing cabbage into his mouth, looked at Meng Lang quizzically.

"Going to a few banks!"

"What???"

Going to the bank is one thing, but what does he mean by going to several banks?

In a daze, Duan Xian watched Meng Lang's back as he hurriedly disappeared through the doorway.

Duan Xian shoved the cabbage in his chopsticks into his mouth, a half-eaten piece of cabbage hanging as he furrowed his brows in thought.

Something feels off...

"Hello, your total consumption is 128, it's 80% off for members," said the boss lady, batting her big watery eyes while handing over a bill.

Duan Xian: "..."

What happened to you treating?

Feeling gloomy, his phone suddenly rang, and he glanced at it before answering.

"Hello, Mom? What's wrong... what?" Duan Xian's face changed...

...

When Meng Lang said he was going to several banks, he really made several trips.

Huaxia Bank, Huaxia Industrial and Commercial Bank, Huaxia Construction Bank, Huaxin Bank, Mingsheng Bank...

Meng Lang was like a diligent little hamster scurrying among the city's various financial institutions.

"Hello, I'd like to apply for a credit card."

"Okay, which type of credit card would you like to apply for?"

"The one with the highest credit limit!"

The same opening line, the same process, Meng Lang did it a total of 7 times.

Present ID card, fill in information, open card, activate.

Luckily, due to banks promoting paperless self-service, the efficiency of card applications was extremely high, the whole process taking no more than fifteen minutes.

Even so, Meng Lang just barely managed to get everything done before the banks closed their doors for the day.

The seven credit cards in his pocket were the fruits of an entire afternoon's labor. Together with the two he already had, Meng Lang now had a total of nine credit cards, elevating him to a "card master!"

Credit cards can accompany you in idyllic serenity or provide romance like flowers in the snow—they can stay unused, but you should not be without them. In critical moments, they are your emergency little gold reserve.

That's right! Meng Lang planned to solve a wave of "primitive capital accumulation" with credit cards.

Knowing that a stock market crash was imminent, how to quickly gain a large amount of initial funds to short-sell the stock market became the key to determining the "purity" of Meng Lang's first bucket of gold in life.

Money isn't everything, but if you want to change your fate, you can't do it without money!

Of course, such frequent credit card applications in a short period of time would definitely have a temporary negative impact on a citizen's credit.

But Meng Lang wasn't worried at all. With money, he could even smash his credit back into good standing.

By the time he returned to his rental apartment, dragging his slightly weary body with him, the sun was already setting.

But as he turned a corner...

"Bang!" "Ouch!"

A little figure suddenly ran smack into Meng Lang's waist.

He was fine, but the little one who bumped into him sat down with a plop, dropping a bag she was carrying. Potatoes rolled out across the ground, drawing the attention of passersby.

"Hey, are you okay?" Seeing that it was a little girl, Meng Lang quickly went to help her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, sorry uncle, I bumped into you," the little girl apologized to Meng Lang anxiously.

"It's alright, you didn't do it on purpose," Meng Lang reassured, not the type to hold a grudge against a little girl.

But his voice sounded vaguely familiar?

Seeing the little girl scrambling to pick up the potatoes, Meng Lang crouched down to help her.

By chance, he glimpsed a red scrape in the palm of the little girl's hand and stopped short.

"Are you hurt?"

The little girl's hands shrank back as she timidly replied, "It's nothing, just a little scrape."

As Meng Lang placed the last potato back into the bag, he took a look inside: a few potatoes, a bunch of greens, some tomatoes, and a couple of eggs.

He took another long look at the little girl.

About four feet tall, wearing the uniform of nearby Qing Song Primary School, with a chubby baby face, clean and white, and a pair of big, shiny eyes that were very cute.

Only six or seven years old, normally they would be the age to be dropped off and picked up from school by their parents, but now she looked like a housewife holding a vegetable basket, which was somewhat comical but also a bit bitter.

"Goodbye, Uncle!" the little girl said politely, bending over to Meng Lang with the bag in hand, then turned to leave.

Meng Lang saw the little one struggling to carry the supermarket bag nearly as tall as her waist and seeming to be in a hurry as she walked quickly ahead, and he felt an inexplicable ache in his heart.

The little girl walking ahead suddenly felt her hand lighten and looked up to see that the uncle had taken her bag.

"I happen to be going your way, I'll help you carry it for a while."

The little girl hesitated for a moment, but seeing Meng Lang already walking ahead on his own, she could only say "Thank you, Uncle" and then quickly took a few steps to lead the way.

The golden afterglow stretched their figures long, but the more they walked, the more bizarre Meng Lang's expression became.

Vaguely, Meng Lang seemed to realize something.

Sure enough, when the two stood at the base of Building No. 5 in the residential complex, Meng Lang's facial expression was quite something to behold.

"Uncle, this is my place."

Meng Lang looked at the little girl with a complex gaze, "You...are you Xiao Yu? Do you live in 302?"

"Eh? Uncle, do you know me?"

More than knowing you, thanks to you, I even ended up in prison, reviled by thousands!

"So this is...what they call fate..."

He whispered softly, faintly hearing the gears of fate "clicking" into motion.

He finally understood certain issues.

For instance, why this girl named Xiao Yu, who never appeared in "A Miserable Life".

In "My Struggle", however, she completely changed his life.

There was only one explanation.

He had never encountered this little girl in the space-time of "A Miserable Life"!

However, today, the future of "A Miserable Life" had been changed by him.

It was in order to make his first bucket of gold that he would go to apply for a credit card, and because of this, he happened to meet Xiao Yu at this moment, entangling their fates.

And the future had then evolved into "My Struggle"!

His brain was burning fiercely, and an even more terrifying conjecture emerged in Meng Lang's heart.

Logically speaking, even if it was a vicious murder case next door involving a completely unknown little girl, it should have affected him deeply.

But in "A Miserable Life," it was never mentioned.

Was it because he was in a dazed state of self-isolation after his investment failure and therefore indifferent?

Or was it because there was no personal pain, so at best it was just a few seconds of memory fragments in a news broadcast, not recorded in his memories?

Or is it that, in that space-time... the girl simply didn't die?

Meng Lang stiffened.

If it's the last possibility, then it means... the death of the girl might have been caused by his own doing?

I do not kill Boren, but Boren dies because of me.

If he hadn't wanted to change his fate, this innocent and lively little girl might still be relying on her sister.

In the distant future, she might have been able to attend an ideal university and form a happy family with the one she loves...

I possibly doomed a lovely girl's wonderful life just for myself?

At the thought, Meng Lang felt a deep sense of guilt in his heart.

He even felt an impulse to reverse time, preferring everything to return to its original trajectory of fate.

Wait! Now is not the time for self-reproach!

If I can change fate once, I can change it a second time!

Meng Lang forced his brain to calm down and began to sort through the threads of fate again.

"Since today's meeting is the cause of everything, it means that the murderer must've seen me with Xiao Yu, and that's why he conceived the plan to kill Xiao Yu and frame me?"

Such meticulous planning indicates he must've been targeting Xiao Yu for some time!

Which means, he must be... right here!"

At that thought, Meng Lang was sharply alarmed.

He quickly looked up, scanning the surroundings.

In a fleeting glance, the figure of someone wearing a mask and hood just turned the corner, disappearing from sight.

Meng Lang's pupils dilated sharply.

If he were a normal person, facing such a passerby, he might not give it a second thought.

Unfortunately for him, Meng Lang is not a normal person!

He is the "Reader of God" who has read the entire "murder case comic," nicknamed "Spoiler Dog"!

Wearing a mask is fine; you can say you have a cold or fever. But it's dusk now; why are you wearing a hood?

Moreover, if I remember correctly, that path indeed leads to an entrance of a residential area.

But because it is a fire lane, for easy management, it is always closed, only to be opened by designated personnel during a fire.

The nearby residents can't possibly be unaware of this.

Which means, that's simply a dead end!

Meng Lang's lips curled into a cold smirk.

Murderer! You didn't expect this, did you?

You were circled out in the very first chapter!