Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

Chapter 50: Dreams

On the third morning, Han Wenwen was woken up by her alarm clock.

She opened her eyes, grabbed the thermometer from the table, shook it, and placed it under her armpit before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

Before brushing her teeth and washing up, she checked the reading—37.5°C. A clear improvement.

Even for someone like Han Wenwen, who was well-versed in matters of love, there was still a first time for everything.

No girl wanted to show their worst side to the person they liked.

Since she couldn’t wash her hair or put on makeup while sick, she had to work with what she had—making small improvements to her appearance however she could.

For example, she took out her lip balm, gently rubbed it with her pinky, and carefully applied it to her lips.

This way, it looked more natural, as if she hadn’t done anything special, yet still had a visible effect.

She also dampened her comb and tidied her hair a little before using some facial cleanser to freshen up her skin.

After doing these seemingly insignificant tasks, she lay back on the bed, mumbling to herself,

"He should be coming soon… He did say he’d stop by this morning."

Sure enough, not long after, Lin Zhengran unlocked the door and walked in with breakfast.

The spare key he was using had been given to him by Han Wenwen.

Her reasoning? It was more convenient this way—no need for her to get up and open the door.

Of course, that excuse didn’t hold up to scrutiny.

"Awake?" Lin Zhengran stepped into the room, seeing Han Wenwen lying on the bed, watching him.

She smiled, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction.

"Mm, just woke up. What did you buy for breakfast? I feel like eating youtiao today."

"You didn’t say that two days ago. I just bought whatever."

She pouted. "Then what did you buy?"

"Youtiao."

Han Wenwen stared at him in a daze.

Was this… destiny?

How magical.

Lin Zhengran sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing that her complexion had improved and her lips were no longer dry, he asked, "How are you feeling these past two days? Did you check your temperature this morning?"

"Other than struggling to sleep at night because my mind was all over the place, I feel pretty good. My temperature was 37.5°C this morning."

"Not bad. Still, you were thinking too much at night? Were you worrying about money again?"

"If you feel clear-headed today, we can talk about your future plans."

Han Wenwen didn’t respond immediately.

Truthfully, she hadn’t spent the past two nights thinking about making money at all.

Every time she closed her eyes, she dreamed about him.

After a moment’s pause, she finally replied, a little delayed, "Talk about my future? What do you mean? I thought I was just going to follow you."

Lin Zhengran took a big bite of his youtiao, while Han Wenwen sat up slowly.

"It’s true that you’ll be following me," he said. "But if you look at Jiang Xueli and He Qing as examples, you’ll understand—I won’t force you to do something you don’t like.

"Tell me what kind of work you’d like to do, and I’ll help you get better at it and make more money along the way."

Han Wenwen was caught off guard.

This wasn’t what she had expected.

She had assumed that "following Lin Zhengran" meant helping him run a street stall or assisting with some odd jobs.

Leaning against the bed, she tilted her head and chuckled.

"Lin Zhengran, you’re really that amazing? You mean I can do anything I want, and you’ll help me make money from it?"

"Yeah. That’s why I always say, you guys are lucky to have a friend as awesome as me."

Han Wenwen laughed, hugging her knees as she thought about it.

"You know, I never really considered this before. I always assumed making money was hard, and most people don’t even have the right to choose their jobs."

Lin Zhengran leaned back against the bed beside her. Their shoulders were close enough to touch.

"Let’s reframe the question. Do you have a dream? Or something you want the most?"

Han Wenwen’s mind flashed through memories of her life so far.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer.

After a pause, she looked at him with rare sincerity.

"I’ve always wanted a real home of my own.

"To spend my life with the person I love.

"Maybe even have a few little foxes with him."

Lin Zhengran’s chewing slowed.

"…Huh?"

Han Wenwen continued smiling.

"But that was my childhood dream.

"After elementary school, I stopped thinking about it. I figured I’d never meet someone I’d actually like.

"But now that you asked, I guess… that dream is still the same."

Because only this year did Han Wenwen realize—

She could fall for someone.

Lin Zhengran met her gaze and slowly asked,

"…So… what does that have to do with my question?

"How the hell is that a job?"

Han Wenwen looked at him, utterly unimpressed by his lack of romantic insight.

She glanced up at the ceiling, holding her face in her hands as she thought.

"Okay, fine. As for work… I want a job where I can make money without leaving my house."

She grinned. "Since you said I could pick anything, I want a job where I can just play games every day and still make money!"

"Wow. Your dream is so original," he deadpanned.

"What? Is that not allowed? You might not believe it, but even though I seem outgoing, I’m actually a huge homebody."

She played with her fingers.

"I love reading novels, playing games, and watching movies. That’s why I always say I don’t have any real talents."

Lin Zhengran asked if she had a notebook and pen.

Han Wenwen pulled out her schoolbag and handed them to him.

He wrote down several job options.

Han Wenwen peeked at the paper and saw a list of different online jobs.

"I figured as much," Lin Zhengran said.

"You’ve tried all sorts of online side gigs before—boosting accounts in games, writing fanfiction, making fashion tip videos.

"But you never considered doing something like running a business.

"So I already had a good idea of what kind of job would suit you."

He passed her the list.

"I wrote down a few ways to make money online. See if any of them interest you."

Han Wenwen scanned the list and instinctively pointed at one.

"If we’re talking about what I like… this one.

"I actually tried it before, but I never made any money, so I gave up."

Lin Zhengran glanced at her choice.

"Game streamer?"

"Yep."

"Huh. That is technically a job where you get paid to play games at home."

Lin Zhengran thought about it.

"You know, this might actually suit you.

"You don’t like going out, you like gaming, and if you start streaming, your looks and voice alone will be a huge advantage."

He suggested, "We can start by posting some voice-over videos first. Once we build an audience, we’ll move to live streaming."

Han Wenwen looked at him doubtfully.

"But I suck at games.

"I tried streaming for a few days, and I realized that in the gaming world, nothing else matters—skill is the most important thing.

"If you’re bad, viewers will start flaming you."

Lin Zhengran stood up.

"That’s easy to fix. I’ll teach you how to play.

"My dad has a PC in his study.

"Get some rest this morning, and in the afternoon, I’ll take you to my place so we can practice."

Han Wenwen’s heart skipped a beat.

Going to his house…?

She forced herself to act nonchalant.

"Lin Zhengran, you’re so serious about this.

"But I just picked something random. Can we really make money from this? I don’t have much cash left."

"As you said, you might not be able to.

"But with me here, that’s another story."

Han Wenwen gazed at him in a daze.

She suddenly gripped her blanket tighter.

Then, she asked the same question again—

"Since you’re so capable, do you think my dream could come true?"

Lin Zhengran exhaled.

"As much as I don’t want to answer this… if that’s really your dream, as a good friend, I just hope it happens for you someday."

Han Wenwen covered her mouth, laughing brightly.

"If that day ever comes, I’ll be sure to thank you properly, Lin Zhengran."