Meeting Lily(3)

Could this be the chance that the opportunity card presented to me? It certainly seems that way.

Seizing the opportunity that presented itself, Shane spoke up.

"Hey, let me cover the payment for you."

"Oh no, please don't inconvenience yourself," Lily protested.

"I'll just get these things when I come back to the store next time."

"Don't worry, it's not much. I insist on paying,"

Shane reassured her.

Aunt Lin chimed in from the side.

"Don't worry, Lily. I know this young man, he's a good person."

"Um, okay," Lily reluctantly agreed, swayed by Aunt Lin's words.

"How much is it, Aunt Lin?"

"$41.5 for your items and $10 for Lily's items.

The total comes to $51.5," Aunt Lin replied.

"Okay, the payment has been made."

In a rush, Shane swiftly departed from the store, paying no mind to Lily.

His anticipation to witness the outcome of his gesture towards her consumed him.

Rather than approach Lily directly and risk appearing too abruptly, he chose to let her take the initiative in getting to know him.

However, there lingered the question of whether she would simply walk away without making a move.

Nonetheless, offering her a small gift worth a few dollars seemed like a harmless gesture to Shane.

He didn't currently envision a romantic relationship with her; rather, he felt it was important to establish a good rapport.

This motivated him to pursue an introduction. Meanwhile, Lily remained standing at the convenience store, lost in her thoughts.

Aunt Lin cleared her throat, interrupting Lily's reverie. "Don't worry, dear. I know that young man well, and he's a good person. You'll be fine," Aunt Lin assured her.

"However, it would be best for you to go and thank him. After all, he did help you."

Lily snapped back to reality upon hearing Aunt Lin's words.

She swiftly gathered her belongings, nodded respectfully to Aunt Lin, and expressed her gratitude with a heartfelt "Thank you, Auntie."

With that, she hurriedly set off after Shane.

Aunt Lin observed the graceful figure of the girl and couldn't help but hum a triumphant tune.

As Shane strolled along, he was suddenly startled by a girl's enthusiastic cry from behind, "Hey there, hold on for a sec!"

Startled, Shane halted in his tracks and turned around, feigning surprise. "Well, what brings you here?"

Lily dashed ahead of Shane, coming to a stop, and a delicate essence of Jasmine wafted from her presence.

Perhaps due to her jog, her face was flushed, her breath was ragged, and her chest rose and fell with each inhale and exhale.

After taking a couple of deep breaths to steady herself, Lily quickly spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

"Hi. I just wanted to thank you for earlier."

Shane smiled and casually waved his hand. "No problem at all."

Lily hesitated for a moment before speaking again,

"Would it be convenient for you to give me your WhatsApp ID? I can transfer the money to you once I get back."

Once again, Shane waved his hand dismissively.

"Honestly, it's not necessary. I don't really need that small amount of money."

Lily bit her lip and insisted, "Please, let me do this. I don't like owing money to others."

Observing the girl's earnestness, Shane pretended to contemplate for a moment.

He then set down the bags of instant noodles he was holding, retrieved his phone, unlocked it, opened WhatsApp, and handed it over to Lily.

"Alright then."

Taking the phone, Lily wrinkled her nose slightly and earnestly tapped away at the screen.

Gazing at the girl's adorable expression brought a sense of delight.

Once the operation was over, Lily handed the phone back to Shane, offering a slight bow and expressing her gratitude.

"Thank you. I've already added it. I'll return the money to you when I get back."

With a nod and a smile, Shane accepted the phone and picked up the instant noodles from the floor, preparing to leave.

However, just as he was about to turn away, he halted in his tracks, as if struck by a thought.

He turned his head and inquired, "By the way, what's your name?"

Caught off guard by Shane's sudden question, the girl paused for a moment, but managed to respond, "I'm Lily Adam."

Shane smiled, nodded, and introduced himself, "I'm Shane Silva."

After the introductions were complete, Shane smiled and nodded once more, then resumed his walk.

Upon arriving home, Shane closed the door, set the instant noodles down, and retrieved his phone. Eager to see if he had received the promised cashback, he opened the app and was greeted by the game's main interface.

There have been some notable updates, particularly in the upper right corner.

Previously, both the "favorable degree" and "wealth value" were at a mere zero.

But now...

[Lily Adam's Favorability: 3]

[Player wealth points: 10]

This...

Shane proceeded to select the Favorable Degree, which revealed a new detail.

[Acquaintance: Favorability +1]

[Aiding in the resolution of the siege: Favorability +2]

He then clicked on the wealth value, which presented an additional piece of information.

[Wealth value +10, allowing for 10x withdrawals.]

Upon seeing this, a surge of emotion overwhelmed him, causing his hands to tremble slightly.

After a brief moment, he managed to contain the excitement within and lightly pressed the [Withdraw] button.

A while later.

His cellphone chimed, signalling the arrival of a notification, "Flyers Bank account credited with $100...