Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

The Nanchang destroyer, in a special care ward.

The sound of the waves was blocked out by the heavy portholes.

Su Ming held the specially made bank card in his hand, looking at the text message notification that had just popped up on his phone screen.

【华夏银行】您尾号8888的帐户于09月11日10:20完成转帐交易，金额：10,000,000.00元。备注：技术顾问费（税后）。

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands..."

Su Mingzai carefully counted the zeros twice, and his shoulders, which had been tense all the way, finally relaxed completely.

They've won so much they're numb, that's it.

That hard drive that nearly cost him his life on the high seas brought him not only national security, but also this string of solid figures. The old man was very meticulous in his dealings; what he called a consulting fee was actually a disguised form of paying the bounty, and he even went through the compliant procedures—and it was even after taxes!

"Grandpa, you only charged five dollars to repair that broken chair back then. If I told you I made ten million dollars on one trip to sea, you'd probably plane me and say I did something heinous."

Su Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly, but his fingers trembled slightly as he dialed a number he knew by heart.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

A noisy background sound came through the receiver, like many people arguing, followed by an old but strong voice: "Hey? What's your nickname? Why are you calling at this hour? Are you short of living expenses? I still have some..."

"Old Zhao, turn off that lousy loudspeaker!"

On the other end of the phone, Dean Zhao seemed to be covering the receiver, lowering his voice as he said, "Don't listen to the noise over there, that's...that's the renovation crew."

Su Ming felt a lump in his throat.

Renovation my ass.

His ears were so sharp that he could tell from the phone call that the voices of the contractors on the other end were coming to collect debts. The orphanage's new building was half-built, but the funding chain had broken down, and those guys had been blocking the entrance every day lately.

"Uncle Zhao, I have something to tell you." Su Ming took a deep breath, but deliberately made his tone casual. "I won the lottery."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"You won? How much? Five dollars? Ten dollars? Just add a chicken leg for dinner, don't spend it recklessly."

"Ten million."

"Beep...beep...beep..."

The phone hangs up.

Su Ming was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, the phone started ringing frantically again.

The moment the call connected, Dean Zhao's roar nearly shattered Su Ming's eardrums: "Su Ming! Did you go drug trafficking?! Or did you get your kidneys cut off in northern Myanmar?! Let me tell you, we may be poor, but we can't take this dirty money! You'd better turn yourself in right now, I'm going to the police station to bail you out!"

Su Ming held the phone a little further away, rubbing his temples helplessly. "Uncle Zhao, what are you thinking? I did a... well, a very big summer social practice project for the country. The money was a government bonus, completely legal. You can check the remittance source if you don't believe me."

"Given by the government? What kind of project can get ten million?" Dean Zhao clearly didn't believe it. "Building an atomic bomb?"

"More or less." Su Ming thought about the weight of the core component of the deep-sea drilling rig. "Anyway, it's legitimate money. I've already transferred it to the institute's public account. Please check it. Let's settle the project payment first, and then use the rest to buy some computers and books for my younger siblings."

There was complete silence on the other end of the phone.

After a long time, Su Ming heard the sound of someone blowing their nose, and Old Zhao's trembling voice saying, "You brat... you've made something of yourself... you've really made something of yourself..."

After hanging up the phone, Su Ming looked at the undulating sea outside the window and felt as if the heavy stone that had been pressing on his heart for half a year had finally broken.

He didn't cry when his life was hanging by a thread, and he didn't get arrogant when he was worshipped by the whole internet, but right now, he really wants to find a secluded place to let out a few loud cries.

"Knock knock knock".

The knocking interrupted his thoughts.

The female military doctor who had entered earlier pushed open the door, her expression somewhat strange: "Comrade Su Ming, how is your recovery?"

"Almost there, he can run and jump." Su Ming immediately put away his expression and returned to his harmless student demeanor.

"That's good." The female medic stepped aside. "Because... the people who came to pick you up have blocked the deck. If you don't get out soon, our captain will be driven crazy by them."

Su Ming was taken aback: "The person who's picking me up? Who?"

The female military doctor pointed outside, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice: "Besides your school, who else could it be? Oh, right, there are a few who claim to be from the National University of Defense Technology, 'arguing' with your school's teachers right now. Looks like it's about to break out into a fight."

Su Ming's heart skipped a beat.

It’s over.

Is this the legendary "when gods fight, mortals suffer"?

Meanwhile, a brief news report was being broadcast on the television in the ward.

"Breaking news from this station: In the early hours of this morning, the national security department launched 'Operation Thunder,' successfully dismantling a commercial espionage network that had infiltrated our country's scientific research system, and arresting 37 suspects..."

Su Ming glanced at the news and a smile played on his lips.

That was a gift he gave to the "chess player," so it seems the old man acted quite quickly.

Whether it was the money for the orphanage or that list, he did everything he was supposed to do.

Now it's time to go back and face the troubles that belong to "college student Su Ming".