12. Familiar with the food delivery process.

Having regained his composure, Tang Song hopped on his small motorcycle, humming a tune as he returned to the apartment building.

Opening a food delivery app, he clicked on "Go Online," selecting a permanent delivery area.

He began the endeavor of making money.

As it was his first time delivering, he adjusted the order acceptance mode to a nearby mode and set the simultaneous order acceptance quantity to two.

This way, he wouldn't be overwhelmed, only needing to deliver two orders at a time and quickly familiarize himself with the entire delivery process.

According to the information he found, newcomers generally couldn't grab too many orders. However, since the system assigned this task, it must have resolved these issues for him, so there was no need to worry about not getting orders.

As long as he had a good understanding of the delivery route, nearby neighborhoods, and businesses, and had sufficient stamina, completing this task would be relatively easy.

He quickly received the first order, and luck was on his side; the distance to the restaurant was only six hundred meters, and the delivery location was a nearby residential area within two kilometers.

Following the navigation, he reached the restaurant, reported arrival, and waited for the restaurant to prepare the order.

After receiving the food, placing it in the insulated tailbox, he began the delivery.

Utilizing his excellent driving skills, the small motorcycle smoothly maneuvered through the crowded streets in the afternoon.

Entering the residential area, the navigation led him directly to the building entrance. Climbing up to the fifth floor in one breath, he confirmed the delivery.

The entire process was seamless, easing Tang Song's initially tense nerves.

After all, it was his first time, and the smooth completion was a good start.

The second order came quickly, slightly farther away, but Tang Song, with the intention of familiarizing himself with the route, didn't decline.

Continuing the journey, he received an additional order on the way to pick up the food.

Handling two orders simultaneously was a bit hectic, but it went well, and he successfully completed the deliveries.

Next, Tang Song selectively accepted orders, choosing ones from unfamiliar businesses or residential areas. This allowed him to quickly familiarize himself with various routes.

...

At 8 PM, Tang Song returned to his rented apartment.

Due to the hot weather, his entire body was soaked in sweat, making him feel uncomfortable. He quickly took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp~ Ah~"

He drank most of the bottle in one go.

One had to admit that delivering food was more challenging than he had imagined.

Apart from occasional mistakes in the delivery route, he encountered various issues, such as slow food preparation by the restaurant, inability to reach the buyer by phone, wrong or missing items, and other miscellaneous problems.

He still needed to learn more about handling these issues; he couldn't let a small problem stop him from making deliveries. Opening the food delivery app, Tang Song checked his earnings for the day.

Excluding meals, he had worked for more than 6 hours, completing 24 orders. As a part-time delivery worker, the unit price was relatively low, earning him only 114 yuan in delivery fees.

However, considering the tenfold cashback promised by the system, the total amount was 1140 yuan—quite a profitable venture!

Checking the leaderboard, he saw that the tenth position on the "Daily Order Quantity Ranking" had 76 orders.

Considering it was a weekday with fewer orders, the number would probably exceed 90 during the weekend.

Tomorrow was Wednesday, and he could consider accepting three orders simultaneously, gradually increasing the workload. By this Saturday, he could challenge taking four or five orders at once.

If an order had a problem, he could even cover the cost himself to ensure a sufficient order quantity to complete the task. Extending the delivery time until midnight would guarantee success.

With these thoughts, Tang Song stretched lazily.

Out of habit, he turned on his computer, intending to play the "God of Tomorrow" game again, only to find it had disappeared at some point.

Tang Song felt a slight panic, quickly checking the recycle bin and searching for system files.

There was no trace, not even the game screenshots saved in the gallery.

Tang Song couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.

Looking back at the past four years, he had devoted himself entirely to this game.

Before playing "God of Tomorrow," Tang Song had many hobbies, such as novels, online games, basketball, comics, and technology, among others.

Now he realized that he hadn't touched any of these for a long time. This kind of state wasn't typical for a normal college student.

He had immersed himself in this single-player game for the entire four years, as if under a spell, aggressively progressing through the game.

He barely played games like League of Legends, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Genshin Impact, or Honor of Kings, which were popular among his classmates.

Apart from Ouyang Baoyue, he didn't have any particularly close friends.

Checking the time, Ouyang Baoyue should be off work. He opened WeChat and sent her a message: "Baoyue, what do you usually do in your free time?"

Her reply was as prompt as always: "Sing, study, or play games with colleagues. Occasionally, I go shopping."

"What about you? During your university days, I never heard you mention any interests or hobbies. You don't play games, read novels, or anything. Now that you've graduated and have your own space, you're not staying at home watching unhealthy short videos every day, right?"

Tang Song was puzzled: "Who said I don't play games anymore? Haven't I told you several times that I play a single-player game every day? And what's the meaning of 'short videos'? Have you learned some bad habits?"

Ouyang Baoyue retorted, "Don't talk nonsense with me. I've kept all our chat records. When have you ever told me? I've asked you to play games with me several times, and you always said you were busy."

Tang Song furrowed his brows and searched their chat records, indeed finding no information related to "God of Tomorrow." However, he vividly remembered sharing interesting game experiences with Ouyang Baoyue.

Ouyang Baoyue continued, "I even went to your school once and secretly inquired about you. According to your classmates, you were elusive in university, always busy, and didn't form any special relationships with the opposite sex. Moreover, you seemed to vanish every holiday, and they suspected you were facing financial difficulties, often secretly working part-time jobs."

Ouyang Baoyue added, "I thought maybe... maybe it was because of my rejection that you were hurt. It made you introverted, and you didn't enjoy your university life. I felt guilty for a long time and didn't dare to persuade you."

Tang Song gradually realized the truth. In reality, during his university days, he had been busy with the Tang Song Group's business, essentially portraying the in-game progress in real life.

He wasn't playing games in the dorm every day but working remotely. Perhaps during holidays, he went to discuss development strategies with the company's executives.

He should be a low-key and introverted person, but also an astonishingly talented one. The development of his Tang Song Group in this world was traceable, and every step he took was solid and firm.

He was constantly striving and working hard.

For the sake of the group's development, he devoted his heart and soul, dedicating all his free time to this meaningful cause.

Now, with financial freedom, he had returned to a simple life, setting an example of not forgetting one's initial aspirations.

Tang Song: "Ah, didn't expect you to find out. Since you rejected me, I haven't been the same person. During university, I closed off my heart, had strained relationships with classmates, lost interest in everything, and didn't even manage to get a girlfriend. Now, after graduation, life is even more bleak. You have to take responsibility for this, you know."

Ouyang Baoyue: "Well... I can lend you 5,000 yuan, and you don't have to pay it back."

Tang Song: "Hey hey hey, I'm not that kind of person. I'll definitely pay you back; this weekend, for sure. What I'm talking about now is about emotions. You have to take responsibility for the emotional damage you've caused me."

After a brief pause, Ouyang Baoyue replied, "Okay... I'll introduce a close friend to you as a girlfriend."

Tang Song: "Do you want to consider being my girlfriend? I think this way, it can heal the scars in my heart."

This time, he waited for a long time without receiving a response from the other side.

Tang Song sighed, as he had anticipated, and exited the chat interface.

Over the years, every time he teased Ouyang Baoyue about this matter, it would trigger a period of silence.

It should be noted that in their conversations, even topics like underwear colors and physiological cycles were discussed without reservation, but once the topic shifted to romance, she would become reserved. Tang Song no longer had the mood to relax at this point and decided to quickly complete his tasks and focus on self-improvement.

As long as he became outstanding enough, Ouyang Baoyue and Bai Xiaomeng would not be able to escape.