After graduating, I couldn't find a job for a while. Lauren Harris even gave up the opportunity to study further in France for his sake, and now Lauren Harris hasn't yet steeled herself to go work as a showgirl at a nightclub just to make money.

It was only after her biological mother suffered heatstroke on a bus and had to go to the hospital that she was spurred to want to make money, to get rich, and became anxious about it.

But whether it was Brian Carter or Lauren Harris, they were truly poor.

Eric Bennett stuffed 1,000 yuan into the other’s pants pocket. “Don’t push it back and forth. You may not need it, but you can use it to buy Lauren Harris a new phone.”

“Otherwise, it feels like I earned this money too easily—I’d feel embarrassed.”

“Let’s go. I’m going to buy groceries. Why don’t you call Adam Clark, Ryan, and the others? Let’s eat together tonight. Take the money and buy more beer.”

Brian Carter glanced at Lauren Harris a few times, didn’t refuse anymore, and smiled, “Alright, I’ll buy a few more cases. Tonight, we won’t go home until we’re drunk.”

It wasn’t until Eric Bennett turned and headed toward the market that Brian Carter held the 1,000 yuan and sighed, “If we’d known making money was this easy, David Cooper definitely wouldn’t have killed himself.”

“He just kept searching, sent out dozens of resumes online, and couldn’t even find a job that paid 800 a month.”

Lauren Harris exclaimed, “Did we pick the wrong major? Like you said, now is the era when tens of millions of computers are sold every year.”

“The assembled computer market is so deep—profits of several hundred or even a thousand or two per unit. It’s just like those scalpers who first went into business in the 1980s.”

Brian Carter agreed deeply, “In the 80s, people resold goods from the south to the north in China. In the 90s, it was the Moscow international trade... At the start of the millennium, people opened internet cafes and played online games like Legend.”

“And then in recent years, those coal bosses who got rich overnight...”

“It really feels like we’ve found a small, similar opportunity. If I put in more effort and find a few more big spenders like that Liu family girl, wouldn’t I make a tidy sum?”

Lauren Harris took a deep breath, “I can find classmates too. I study fashion design, and I need a computer for design work.”

“It’s just that I couldn’t afford one before, but a lot of my classmates, and even future underclassmen, have this need.”

Brian Carter laughed, “Not just that, we’re in architectural design. What architect doesn’t need their own computer? At least until we find our ideal jobs.”

“We could try working with Mr. Bennett... The job Adam Clark’s dad found for him is as a customs declarant at an import-export company, basically an apprentice. He still has to study, get certified, and during the internship period, the monthly salary is only a thousand yuan.”

“He works hard for a month and still doesn’t make as much as we do helping Mr. Bennett buy two computers.”

Brian Carter had a network of contacts. The family compound where Lu Yaxun had lived for over twenty years was a powerful institution, and there was no shortage of colleagues like Uncle Liu who had moved out to live in big villas and drive luxury cars.

From 2008 to 2017, in just nine years, the average housing price in Beijing increased by more than 500%, from just over 10,000 yuan per square meter to nearly 70,000...

By the 2020s, high-end residences costing over 100,000 yuan per square meter were commonplace.

………………

Some time later.

Room 802, a residential building in the Xuan Special Zone. Eric Bennett brought out eight dishes and two soups from the kitchen one after another. The cost of ingredients alone exceeded 100 yuan, and the four meat dishes were quite a bargain.

But what made him happiest was his own cooking skills—ordinary, (437/500)—and he felt that with this level, he was close to leveling up.

In the room, Brian Carter, Adam Clark, and Ryan were all opening beers, getting ready to feast, when the little Christmas reindeer suddenly sniffed and said, “Wait, Eric Bennett, why does it feel like your cooking today smells even better than last time?”

“It’s not even been a month—did your cooking skills improve again?”

“Could it really be that fast? Are you a genius or something?” Adam Clark, who had just opened a beer, said in surprise, “Seriously? Let me try...”

After putting down his beer, Adam Clark picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of vegetable tofu, tasted it, and commented, “It does seem tastier, but maybe not.”

Brian Carter picked up some stir-fried pork with green peppers with his chopsticks and tasted it. “It really is better than last time. Wow, I thought you always said you liked cooking just to pick up girls, but your skills are legit and improving fast.”

Eric Bennett smiled, “As long as everyone likes it, let’s drink.”

The rewards of hard work after transmigrating were just this sharp. Before transmigrating, at age 40, his home-style cooking was at an ordinary level, with 297 out of 500 experience points—mid-level among home cooks.

In just over half a month, he’d improved to 437/500, which was already top-tier among amateurs.

The increase in experience points represented improvements in knife skills, heat control, timing for adding seasonings, and so on—all steadily advancing.

It’s definitely not the case that 1/500 and 499/500 are exactly the same skill, and only after breaking 500 do you jump to a new level. Rather, from 1 to 499, you’re always making steady progress.

Whether it was cooking, working out, or assembling and repairing computers, Eric Bennett was always mindful of every little change and improvement.

Everyone ate and drank, the atmosphere was great. In the midst of it, Emily Thompson glanced at Eric Bennett a couple more times and smiled, “You really are impressive. If you ever switch careers to become a chef or open a restaurant, remember to give us friends a discount.”

Brian Carter laughed, “What, Emily, are you interested in Eric? Then you’d better make your move early.”