53: Chapter 53: Frequent Incidents, Undercurrents

In the blink of an eye, it was ten-forty. The pre-set alarm rang, waking Chen Sheng from his swim in the ocean of knowledge.

He sat up quickly, gathered his things, got out of the car, and hurried toward the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store.

To be honest, regarding this kind of intelligence that required precise timing, he had absolutely no confidence that he could actually secure any benefits from it.

However, even without confidence, he had to do his best.

That was why he had arrived at the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store nearly half an hour early.

He did not go inside, nor did he even get close. Instead, he stood at various vantage points, silently calculating everything in his mind.

Would entering from the left be faster?

Or would entering from the right be faster?

Among the passing crowds, who was just passing by? Who would enter the Jewelry Brand?

From which direction were there more customers?

These inconspicuous factors would all influence whether he could successfully secure the "Encounter" necklace in the end.

Of course, things seemed simple, but in reality, they were not simple at all. However, he would not refrain from acting just because it was difficult; he would do his utmost so that even if he failed, he could proudly say he had no regrets.

It was just like that popular piece of toxic chicken soup online—you might succeed or fail if you try, but at least you tried; if you don't try, you will never succeed.

Unfortunately, reality was no longer a place where effort always guaranteed a harvest.

Without a background or connections, relying solely on oneself and one's abilities, all one ever received was praise, while promotions and raises went to others.

However...

He had a system!

Time passed quickly while he was busy, and in the blink of an eye, the minutes ticked past the eleven-twenty mark. Chen Sheng moved his position to the left side of the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store.

On the left side stood an abstract sculpture similar to a billboard. Standing behind it allowed him to block the line of sight of the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store staff, avoiding their attention from being drawn to him due to lingering in their field of vision for too long.

At the same time, because the sculpture itself had many curved surfaces and hollow areas, he could observe the situation inside the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store through these features.

Soon, the time reached twenty-five minutes past the hour. Chen Sheng, who was intently observing the Jewelry Brand and the pedestrians outside, suddenly widened his eyes. "Holy shit!" he blurted out. "Why did I run into this asshole again?"

The person who arrived was the beautiful woman he had carpooled with earlier... Pfft! The Cross-dresser.

At this moment, he was mingling with a group of beauties who were also dressed in very kawaii outfits. The group walked arm in arm, and when someone told a joke, they all laughed brightly, frequently attracting the gazes of passersby.

Chen Sheng couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, wondering if this group of beauties was original, modified, or a counterfeit product.

At the same time, Chen Sheng thought with a twisted sense of humor that if the horny guys around them, who were drooling while looking at the group of kawaii "beauties," knew that the "beauties" could pull out something that would scare them to death, he wondered if they would actually be scared to death.

"Tsk tsk~" The corner of Chen Sheng's mouth curled up involuntarily.

However, this arc was fleeting.

At this moment, he was on the verge of tears.

Just when he thought this group of "beauties" was just passing by and would soon disappear from his sight, they suddenly stopped when they reached the entrance of the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store.

After the "beauties" huddled together and whispered a few words, the group split into two. One group left first, while the other stayed behind.

And the "beauty" who had taken the ride-share that day just happened to be in the group that stayed... No! To be more precise, if he hadn't been the first to stop, this group wouldn't have suddenly split into two.

"Damn it, I definitely didn't check the almanac before going out today," Chen Sheng couldn't help but complain again.

At the same time, a realization dawned on him.

After binding the system, besides the initial welfare intelligence, the higher the value of the intelligence, the more difficult it was to execute—either it was time-consuming, relied on luck, or depended on fate.

Take the previous blind box gift pack, for example.

That was about luck.

If he hadn't happened to meet an unlucky streamer opening blind boxes, that Curry card wouldn't have been so easy to sell, and he wouldn't have been able to sell it for so much money.

After all, the system had given a price range of $500 - $3000.

Just from this price range, one could infer that the water here was deep enough to drown someone.

Take, for example, the intelligence he had previously obtained about crude oil rising within the next three months.

This belonged to the time-consuming category.

If he wanted to profit from this intelligence, he would need to constantly monitor crude oil and related news for the next three months.

Because of the time difference, he even had to get up at night to watch the so-called K-line charts.

As for the final one, depending on fate?

Take the current situation: a Cross-dresser, a Cross-dresser who most likely coveted your body—would you dare to actively approach them?

You would most likely say you dared to, but in actual practice, you would be incredibly timid.

Take Chen Sheng, for example.

Leave? That was definitely impossible. It was just a Cross-dresser; he wouldn't give up a diamond necklace worth 19,999 yuan that was within his reach just because of a Cross-dresser.

But when it was time to actually go up, Chen Sheng, hiding behind the sculpture, took several deep breaths, but ultimately still lacked the courage to take that crucial first step.

Until...

Time edged closer to twenty-seven minutes past the hour. He saw a few stylish aunties walking over from not far away... No, judging by the sunny little boy toy beside her, calling her "auntie" was simply an insult. At this moment, she should perhaps be called "Old Baby!"

As everyone knew, "Old Babies" were very generous to their little boy toys. What if the little boy toy went crazy and wanted to buy a gold collar for himself...

He didn't dare to gamble.

Seeing that the time node marked on the intelligence was getting closer and closer, and thinking about everything he had done before, Chen Sheng gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, immediately stepped out from behind the sculpture, and headed straight for the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store.

At the same time, he gripped his phone in his hand, keeping the screen lit. As he walked, he watched the time and adjusted the frequency of his steps accordingly, timing it so that he stepped into the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store the moment it hit twenty-seven minutes past.

As it turned out, he had really overthought it this time; the "Old Baby" and the little boy toy did not enter the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store, but instead turned and entered the Armani store not far away.

However, his actions were not in vain. The moment he stepped into the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store, the two female Shop Assistants who had been standing at the door—ostensibly acting as greeters, but actually recording the number of people entering—the one on the left, seeing Chen Sheng enter, showed a momentary look of astonishment and ferocity on her face.

The next second, the Shop Assistant returned to her professional, fake smile.

She looked at the other Shop Assistant, and seeing the other nod, the two tacitly took out the party poppers they had hidden at the door in advance, aimed the barrels above Chen Sheng's head, and with two bangs, the party poppers exploded, instantly engulfing Chen Sheng.

The sound of the party poppers also instantly attracted the attention of everyone around.

This was also the effect the Zhou Fufu Jewelry Store wanted.

At the same moment, after the party poppers exploded, the store manager, who had been waiting in the store for the ninety-ninth customer to arrive, walked gracefully in front of Chen Sheng under the gaze of everyone inside and outside the store, and said with a standard smile:

"Sir! Hello! Thank you for your support of the Jewelry Brand. As the ninety-ninth customer to enter our Zhou Fufu Taikoo Li store today, we will present you with an 'Encounter' necklace from the yet-to-be-released 'Passionate Love' series, valued at 19,999 yuan."

...