I started as a spirited young man, and the system made me a male god.

Lin Jingyi did not answer immediately, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the seatbelt repeatedly.

In fact, she knew in her heart that after Meng Sixian asked, "Will the distance between him and me grow further and further apart?", the light in Shen Shaoting's eyes dimmed a little.

She was reluctant to answer Chen Fei's question.

How could she possibly reveal the secret that she and her best friend both liked the same person but kept it to themselves?

She pursed her lips, her gaze still fixed straight ahead, and said softly, "Maybe I'm just drunk and it reminded me of some sad things."

After saying that, she couldn't help but add, "Maybe you were just really too fierce..."

Chen Fei saw her slightly pouting lips in the rearview mirror, looking a little aggrieved, and couldn't help but feel apologetic.

"It's my fault. I mainly thought that Sixian had never been to a place like this before, and she was so drunk. There were three of you girls, and I was afraid something might happen. In my anxiety, I spoke too harshly."

"Yes, I understand." Lin Jingyi's voice softened; she could feel Chen Fei's subconscious concern.

Chen Fei was silent for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "What kind of sad thing are you talking about? Can you tell me? I saw her like that, and it was really hard for her."

Lin Jingyi slowly turned her head and looked at the sleeping Shen Shaoting, her eyes filled with struggle and hesitation.

The flickering light from the streetlights danced across her face.

Chen Fei suddenly noticed that her eyes were also filled with a similar melancholy as Shen Shaoting's.

Could it be that they... encountered the same problem?

After a long while, Lin Jingyi finally made up her mind and slowly said:

"Actually, Tingting used to have a boy she really liked. At that time, she didn't have any romantic feelings for him; she just thought it was enough to have fun together."

Later, that boy went to a good university and made new friends. We, on the other hand, had to drop out of school and start working because of our poor family circumstances.

Chen Fei listened quietly without interrupting.

"Gradually, he contacted us less and less. Once, Tingting mustered up the courage to ask him out, but he said he felt they didn't have much in common anymore. We just played around all day and didn't have any plans."

Lin Jingyi's voice trembled slightly, "He also said that he felt like he and Shen Shaoting were no longer from the same world."

Her emotions seemed to be affected by the story she was telling, and her tone became increasingly somber:

"On the surface, Tingting seems to be doing nothing, still laughing and joking as usual, but I know that she has a hurdle in her heart. She is particularly afraid that her good friends will drift further and further away, while she is still stuck in the same place, and in the end, she will be abandoned."

Finally, Lin Jingyi couldn't help but shift her gaze to Chen Fei's face.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated who "the person next to you" referred to, the silence that filled the carriage said it all.

Chen Fei gave a soft "hmm" and cautiously pressed on, "Then why not find a more stable job and try to change things up? At least... you could be closer to the person you want to be with?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jingyi gave a bitter, slightly sarcastic smile.

"Brother Fei, do you think we haven't tried?" she asked rhetorically, her voice carrying a weariness beyond her years.

"Right after we dropped out of school, we looked for jobs with high hopes. We worked at bubble tea shops, restaurants, clothing stores... we did everything."

As Lin Jingyi spoke, she turned back and looked out the window.

"Tingting is beautiful and hardworking, but her weakness is that she is very stubborn."

She couldn't stand the atmosphere at work, so she argued with her supervisor, fought with customers who tried to touch her hand, and even beat up the boss who wanted to keep her as a mistress.

The result was either being given the cold shoulder or being fired on some random pretext. The longest I ever stayed in a job was less than three months.

She let out a long sigh, her words filled with helplessness:

"Brother Fei, you know, for people like us, without education or background, and whose families are a drag on our lives, these are the only decent jobs we can find."

But I don't know if it's just bad luck, but I always encounter bad people at work.

So later, we simply came to terms with it: being a so-called "spiritual young lady" was great; even though we couldn't save much money, we felt carefree.

After hearing this, Chen Fei was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

The driver, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, chimed in:

"Young people these days really have it tough, unlike us back then, where we did a lot of work and got paid a lot of money, sigh..."

The driver freed one hand, skillfully opened the cigarette pack with one hand, picked out two cigarettes with his fingers, and waved them twice at Chen Fei in the back seat.

Chen Fei shook his head and said politely, "Thank you, Master, but I won't smoke."

"Then I'll smoke it." Lin Jingyi took the cigarette from her master, took out a lighter from her pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.

The driver watched Lin Jingyi skillfully smoking, chuckled twice, and lit a cigarette himself.

However, both of them tacitly blew their smoke out the window, trying not to affect the people in the back row.

"I think," the driver said, with a cigarette dangling from the window with one hand while driving, "that young people these days are already doing well as long as they don't break the law and can support themselves."

Lin Jingyi glanced at the driver and said, "Sir, if every parent saw things as clearly as you do, that would be great."

After saying that, she exhaled a large puff of smoke towards the window, seemingly enjoying watching it being blown away by the wind.

"Of course! I'm exhausted right now, let alone you guys!"

The driver responded indignantly, and seeing that there were more cars ahead, he immediately took a deep drag on his cigarette and then stubbed it out in the ashtray.

After doing all that, he steadied the steering wheel and continued:

"I could understand why you used to work so hard for a car and a house. But now, many young people can't afford a house even if they work their whole lives, so what's the point of working?"

"Yes, so Tingting told me that she would rather be happy in poverty than become timid and despise herself for a little money."

At this point, Lin Jingyi's tone was full of heartache and understanding for her best friend. "It's not that she doesn't want to improve. She has tried to learn something, but she can't sit still. She gets a headache as soon as she looks at a book, and no one really has the patience to teach her."

"How about this: I offer you a fashion modeling job, and I'll also be the instructor? What do you think?"

Chen Fei's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into Lin Jingyi's heart, stirring up ripples.

She turned her head sharply, so fast she almost twisted her neck, her moist eyes widening in disbelief.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had misheard.

The word "fashion model" felt like something from another world to her.

"Is what you said... true?" Her voice trembled involuntarily, carrying a humble expectation.

I'm afraid that if I make even a slightly louder sound, I'll scare away this wonderful bubble.