Financial Independence through Cracked Apps-Chapter 105 - 102: First Day

SPLASH—!

In the steamy, hazy bathroom, Qin Yuenan closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting the warm water cascade over her smooth, delicate skin.

Her mind was completely filled with the image of Lin Shen and the romantic scenes of their intimacy just moments before.

Qin Yuenan’s right hand caressed her moist, soft red lips. She was starting to understand why Zhao Jianing loved having boyfriends so much.

A healthy relationship really could make a person feel happiness and sweetness, and forget the worries of life and work.

The corners of Qin Yuenan’s lips couldn’t help but curl up.

*

Half an hour later.

Wrapped in a bathrobe, Qin Yuenan slowly walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, drying her soaking wet hair as she went.

She found Lin Shen standing motionlessly before the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring outside. Curious, she couldn’t help but ask.

"What are you looking at?"

"The city skyline."

Lin Shen turned around, swirling the wine glass in his hand, and gestured with his chin toward the bar not far away.

"Want a drink, Nan?"

"No, thanks."

Qin Yuenan waved her hand. Once she started drinking, she couldn’t stop.

’If I got drunk and something happened with Lin Shen, that would be terrible.’

It wasn’t that Qin Yuenan was unwilling, but she felt something like that should be savored with a clear mind.

’Giving myself to him in a daze? What would that even be?’

Besides, she had work tomorrow, so she definitely couldn’t drink too much.

So, Qin Yuenan decisively refused the temptation of alcohol and went into the study with her laptop to get some work done.

Tomorrow was her busiest day.

In the morning, she would visit the pet expo; in the afternoon, she had a business meeting with a partner; and in the evening, she was going to do some market research.

Thus, Qin Yuenan began to work with her full concentration.

Seeing this, Lin Shen didn’t disturb her. Instead, he had the butler send up two custom fruit platters.

Yang Mountain honey peaches, Neon Shine Muscat grapes, Australian Black Finger seedless grapes...

These were fruits that would sell for hundreds or even thousands in a supermarket, but now he could eat them for free.

Lin Shen suddenly felt that the 12,000-a-night suite at the Ritz-Carlton was quite a bargain.

He sat on the sofa, popping washed grapes into his mouth while he opened his phone to check the task completion status on his various hacked apps.

Evidently, only the task from [GoGo Maps] was complete.

[Upgrade Mission: Check in at a hotel (Complete).]

[GoGo Maps Lv. 12 → Level 13]

[Reward: Startup Fund accumulated per Red Point passed increased from 130,000 → 140,000. Current total: 2,980,000]

[Reward Item: Random Scratch-Off Ticket x1]

[Upgrade Mission: Check in at a scenic spot with a daily visitor flow of over 20,000.]

?

When Lin Shen saw his startup fund suddenly jump from over a million to nearly three million, he was completely stunned.

’When did it get so high?’

Lin Shen carefully checked his travel history in GoGo Maps and discovered he had passed 10 Red Points in Jinling in a single day!

That was more Red Points than he had passed in two days in Modu.

’Looks like I really do need to get out and travel more.’

Lin Shen mused to himself. He suddenly felt that when he got back, he could meet with Shen Mingchuan and talk about acquiring the property.

He had previously decided to lease simply because he thought he should keep a portion of the startup fund for emergencies.

But now, it seemed keeping a backup plan was completely unnecessary.

The startup fund was growing way too fast!

It was increasing by hundreds of thousands, or even a million, a day. There was no need to worry about saving money at all.

He could be much more lavish with his startup spending in the future.

Lin Shen thought to himself and tried tapping the Random Scratch-Off Ticket.

[Congratulations, you won the first prize! Reward: 28,888!]

’Not bad!’

Lin Shen was overjoyed.

The nearly thirty thousand yuan just about covered the cost of the two-night stay, basically letting him recoup his losses.

Lin Shen closed the GoGo Maps app and started to consider how to use the startup fund to find influencers on Douyin for advertising.

After all, he now had a startup fund of three million. He could take out a million for advertising to generate some initial buzz.

Just as Lin Shen was about to search for targets, a message came in from Jiang Wan.

[Jiang Wan: How’s your trip to Jinling?]

[Lin Shen: It’s great.]

Lin Shen sent Jiang Wan a photo he took today on Nanjing East Road, earning her praise.

[Jiang Wan: So pretty! Are you with a girl?] 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

[Lin Shen: I’d rather be here with you.]

Lin Shen didn’t answer Jiang Wan’s question directly, cleverly changing the subject instead.

She didn’t press the issue and went along with his reply.

[Jiang Wan: I’m about to get busy with work, you know. I probably won’t be able to go traveling with you.]

[Lin Shen: Is it because the semester is about to start?]

[Jiang Wan: Yep.]

[Lin Shen: That’s a shame.]

After chatting idly with Jiang Wan for a while, Lin Shen steered the conversation to the main topic.

[Lin Shen: Say, do you know any popular bloggers on Douyin?]

[Jiang Wan: What? Am I not pretty enough for you? You’re already looking for other girls to take pictures of?]

[Jiang Wan: angry.jpg]

Seeing Jiang Wan’s cute, angry emoji, Lin Shen couldn’t help but smile and quickly typed out an explanation.

[Lin Shen: You’ve got it all wrong. I just want to find them to help advertise my Cat Cafe.]

[Jiang Wan: Oh, so that’s what it is. I met a few influencers at a traditional-style fashion event, maybe two or three. They have around one to two million followers each. Would that work?]

[Lin Shen: Of course, that’s perfect. Could you ask them how much they charge for a sponsored post?]

[Jiang Wan: Okay, I’ll contact you once I find out.]

[Lin Shen: Mhm.]

After finishing his chat with Jiang Wan, Lin Shen suddenly felt that two or three people weren’t enough.

’I need to find a few more.’

’But where am I going to find them?’

Lin Shen was momentarily stumped. He opened Douyin and started looking through the bloggers he followed to see who caught his eye and also had their location set to Modu.

Just then, he scrolled past someone he didn’t follow.

[Y Xiaofei]

She had a few hundred thousand followers, and her video style was mostly sharing her daily life, leaning toward a socialite aesthetic.

You could tell from her exquisite makeup that she was probably very pretty, but because her video content was too monotonous, and she didn’t Photoshop or "enhance" her figure, it was hard for her to compete with the "Hex-Tech" bloggers.

As a result, her pinned, most popular video only had a little over a hundred thousand likes, while the rest were mostly in the thousands or tens of thousands, which wasn’t a lot.

She might get popular if she got a push from an MCN company, but it seemed she had no intention of signing with one.

Lin Shen pondered this silently.

He was certain that this "Y Xiaofei" was the Zheng Yanfei he had met at the Chanel counter!

One of her videos had been filmed at the Bund during a rain shower, and Lin Shen recognized the chic, mature outfit she had been wearing.

’I can’t believe she’s a minor influencer.’

Slightly surprised, Lin Shen decisively hit the follow button.

However, he had no intention of asking Zheng Yanfei to do an ad. After all, a few hundred thousand followers was a bit too few; the results wouldn’t be very good.

But this "green tea" girl might be useful for other things.

For example, completing the mission from [Shuaiyang].

Lin Shen had a faint feeling that the Shuaiyang mission would be closely tied to Douyin.

Maybe he could "fleece" Zheng Yanfei when the time came.

Lin Shen yawned. Seeing it was already ten o’clock, he got up, intending to go to bed.

As he passed the study, he saw that Qin Yuenan was still working. Her serious, focused expression gave off the air of a female CEO you’d only see in a TV drama.

Illuminated by the desk lamp, her perfect, coolly beautiful side profile was softened by a gentle curve of light.

Seeing this, Lin Shen warmed up a glass of milk, walked into the study, placed it by Qin Yuenan’s hand, and chuckled softly.

"Staying up late is a woman’s greatest enemy when it comes to her looks. I’m heading to bed."

"..."

Qin Yuenan’s expression froze for a moment. After watching Lin Shen leave the study and gently pull the door shut, an endless warmth suddenly surged in her heart.

She held the warm milk, her beautiful eyes filled with a deep tenderness, and the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curl upward.

’My choice was right after all.’

’Lin Shen is the best man in the entire world!’

*

*

「Tuesday, August 19, 2025.」

24°C–32°C, sunny, level-3 southeast wind, 31% humidity.

[Construction Bank: Your account ending in 7946 received a deposit of RMB 23,000 on August 19 at 00:01. Current balance: 1,587,000]

"Ultraman, open your eyes, I am Sha Fulian..."

At 7:30 in the morning, the familiar ringtone sounded once again.

Ever since quitting his job, Lin Shen hadn’t set an alarm clock.

But this time, because he was accompanying Qin Yuenan on a business trip, his strong sense of time management prompted him to set it again, afraid he would miss something on the schedule.

Waking up in the unfamiliar, soft, king-sized bed, Lin Shen stretched and immediately pulled open the curtains.

’Luxury hotel beds really are comfortable.’

Gazing at the scenery outside the window, Lin Shen marveled silently and was suddenly struck by the importance of a home.

’Maybe I can move out of that rental apartment full of sad memories and find a new "home."’

’Nan’s neighborhood is pretty nice.’

The idea of moving began to form in Lin Shen’s mind.

He left the bedroom and happened to run into Qin Yuenan, who had just woken up at the same time.

Dressed in a silk nightgown, the graceful and gentle curves of her figure were on full display.

Even with a completely bare face, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.

Lin Shen finally realized just how perfect Qin Yuenan was.

Putting her personality aside, her figure, face, education, and work abilities were all top-notch.

’Absolutely perfect!’

Lin Shen smiled smugly and greeted her.

"Morning, Nan."

"Mhm."

Qin Yuenan covered her mouth as she yawned and said softly.

"You don’t have to accompany me today, you know. You can just stay at the hotel."

"What’s the fun in that? We’re on a trip, aren’t we?"

Lin Shen shrugged, then contacted the butler to have breakfast and his suit, which had been ironed yesterday, brought up.

"Mr. Lin, shall I arrange for housekeeping?"

"Yes."

Lin Shen instructed the butler.

"Remember not to go into the master bedroom. Just clean the other areas."

"Understood."

The butler bowed and took his leave, while Lin Shen and Qin Yuenan began to enjoy their breakfast.

Freshly sliced Iberian ham, eggs Benedict, and pine cone pastries.

It was all very delicious.

At least, it made Qin Yuenan, who had never had such a luxurious breakfast, nod repeatedly. She then thanked Lin Shen in a quiet voice.

"Thanks."

"Nan, if you keep being so formal, I’m going to get angry."

Lin Shen pretended to be angry, which made Qin Yuenan a little embarrassed.

She pursed her thin lips, seemingly conflicted about something, then suddenly leaned in and planted a light peck on Lin Shen’s cheek.

"You like this ’thank you’ better, don’t you?"