He thought for a moment, then opened QQ and found an ID named John Thompson in the “Roommates” group. Seeing that the other person’s avatar was lit up, he immediately sent a message: “John Thompson, are you there?”

Very quickly, the “di di di” message notification sounded, and John Thompson’s reply appeared in the chat window: “Did you see my new display, bro?”

Only then did William Carter notice that under the other’s ID, it showed John Thompson was currently “iPhone7 online.” No wonder he was showing off by staying online.

The iPhone7 was a brand-new model released just this month, only out for a few days, with a sky-high price and very few people owning one. John Thompson had already gotten his hands on it so quickly—no wonder he sounded so smug.

“That phone costs seven or eight thousand,” William Carter sighed. He couldn’t afford such an expensive phone. Who would have thought the world was ending and he still hadn’t used a new model phone.

John Thompson replied proudly, “How could you get the first batch for just seven or eight thousand? I had someone help me snag it, paid an extra two thousand!”

A phone for ten thousand! William Carter could only marvel. Since his parents died young and he had to take care of his sister, he’d always lived frugally. That shopping spree just now was already the most carefree spending of his life. A ten-thousand-yuan phone—just thinking about it was scary.

But it seemed John Thompson was pretty well-off. William Carter quickly typed, “Let’s talk business first. I need to tell you something. You don’t have any plans next Tuesday, right?”

“Next Tuesday? Let me think… Oh, right! There’s this chick I met on WeChat a few days ago. I’m taking her to a bar next Tuesday. After drinks, you know, just waiting for me to score!”

William Carter felt a headache coming on. He hesitated, but still braced himself and said, “Um, next Tuesday I want to get everyone together to play games. Can we just stay in the dorm and not go out, lock all the doors and windows?”

“What?” John Thompson didn’t react for a moment.

Give up a girl to play games with a loser like you? Am I crazy?

“No way, I’m busy!”

“Alright…” William Carter sighed and shook his head. He’d already given the warning. Actually, even if they stayed in the dorm and locked the doors and windows, it wouldn’t prevent the virus outbreak. John Thompson, like everyone else, was already carrying the virus. Whether he’d mutate into a monster in ten days depended entirely on his own constitution.

Locking the doors and windows was just to make sure that, if John Thompson could survive the ordeal, he wouldn’t get killed by those mutated monsters.

Now that John Thompson wouldn’t listen, there was nothing William Carter could do. He continued, “John Thompson, I really need money right now. Can you pay back the two thousand you borrowed from me earlier?”

“Money? Oh… don’t worry, I remember. I’ll pay you back in a couple of days,” John Thompson replied.

William Carter frowned. “I need it urgently right now. It’s literally life-saving money.”

“You’re in such a rush? Hold on, that chick is calling me. I’ll take the call and talk to you later,” John Thompson replied.

William Carter waited with his phone for a while, but John Thompson never replied again, and his avatar went dark.

William Carter shook his head, thought for a moment, and clicked on another roommate’s avatar: “Brian Harris, can you lend me two thousand yuan?”

“I’m broke lately, spent all my living expenses on games. I was about to ask you for money for food. Why do you need to borrow money?” Brian Harris replied.

“Never mind, it’s fine.” William Carter knew Brian Harris was a gaming addict. Even though his family was fairly well-off, he rarely kept cash on hand. He was just trying his luck.

“Brian Harris, listen to me. Next Tuesday, stay in the dorm and play games, lock the doors and windows, don’t go out, got it?”

“What? What’s up?” Brian Harris was stunned.

“Just remember!” William Carter said, then hung up. He’d done all he could.

The people who owed him money wouldn’t pay, and he couldn’t borrow any either. As for the others, either William Carter wasn’t close to them, or they didn’t have much money—after all, they were all just students. A few hundred was possible, but a thousand or more was out of the question.

“Looks like I’ll have to think of something else…”

Chapter Two: The Money’s in Hand!

William Carter scrolled through his phone and suddenly spotted a very flashy avatar, and his eyes lit up.

The guy with slicked-back hair and sunglasses was called David Clark, a pretty well-known figure at school. But he was famous not for any talent, but for his strong connections. You could tell just by the fact that even William Carter had him on QQ.

He and William Carter weren’t exactly opposites, but close. William Carter was the most ordinary type, not active at all, and besides his classmates, hardly anyone knew him.

William Carter vaguely remembered hearing from John Thompson that David Clark had a friend who did campus loans. Some girls, in order to borrow money, not only sent photos of their ID and student cards to his friend, but even some indecent photos.

If they didn’t pay back the money, those photos and identity info would be made public, sent to their classmates, teachers, even family.

When William Carter first heard about this, he was speechless. Most of those girls just wanted to buy things to satisfy their vanity, and ended up doing something like that.