“Oh…”

That was indeed the reality. The original host really hadn’t been interested in this at the time. Otherwise, during those three years of high school, he would never have had to worry about not having a girlfriend—though the school certainly forbade students from dating early, but someone like him, would he ever care about the school’s opinion?

However… faced with a girl who knew all about his past, the current David Brooks couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.

He really thought the original host’s past wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

“Hey, I was young then, didn’t know a damn thing, haha.”

After awkwardly making an excuse for himself, David Brooks suddenly found himself at a loss for words—how was one supposed to date, again?

Damn, he’d spent the last few years before transmigrating just going on blind dates, and had almost forgotten what it was like to interact normally with a regular girl, what it was all about, and how it felt!

So he decided to just be direct. “I ran into your brother downstairs. He doesn’t seem to like me much?”

She pressed her lips together in a shy smile, looking a little embarrassed but also amused. “He didn’t agree with Dad letting me come. He thinks I’m still too young!”

David Brooks spread his hands. “Honestly, I’m puzzled too, but your dad seems to like me a lot.”

The girl lowered her head and smiled shyly. After a while, she said, “My dad was really good-looking when he was young.”

That seemed to be… a compliment.

But suddenly, his mind short-circuited for a moment, as if a thought flashed by.

He hurriedly tried to recall it, and it didn’t take much effort to find it—right, he’d just been thinking that relying solely on his own resources, even if he borrowed from all his relatives and friends, he wouldn’t be able to scrape together much capital. It would be a shame to waste such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as the ’92 Get Rich Certificate’. He needed to borrow some momentum—how could he have forgotten about the The Carter Family?

Henry Carter was impressive, but his son was a total loser!

His father had poured over ten million into him, but Charles Carter just wasn’t cut out for running a factory. The beverage factory he managed was already on the verge of bankruptcy!

It was only because his father was still backing him, constantly injecting funds, that it hadn’t closed down already.

Apparently, there were four advanced production lines in total, but now only one was running. The sour plum juice drink that had been all the rage in the county a year or two ago had long since stopped production. Now they were just making some orange soda and other low-value products, barely keeping up appearances.

The guys in the car pool had talked about this more than once. David Brooks himself had once driven a leader to inspect the beverage factory. It was said the leader was helping to make connections, and apparently the The Carter Family was in talks with Coca-Cola and Pepsi to sell the factory. But the other side was only willing to offer two million, basically buying it as scrap, so Henry Carter hadn’t agreed.

But for him, wasn’t this… the perfect shell?

Chapter 9: What Makes This Little Bastard So Special

“What are you… thinking about?”

He’d zoned out for too long and got caught, but David Brooks reacted quickly. “Ah, I was just thinking, how does one go about pursuing a girl? The teachers never taught us that, and honestly, I’m not very good at it.”

She pressed her lips together in another shy smile, but didn’t avoid his gaze. Looking at David Brooks, she said, “Actually, I’m a bit surprised. You’re a little different from what I heard and what I saw of you at school. Is it because you started working after graduation?”

“Am I? Maybe!”

David Brooks said with a casual smile, “You know, the county government’s car pool is full of old hands… uh, of course, they don’t teach you how to date either!”

The girl smiled again, tilting her head suddenly. “But I heard you got into a fight this time because of a girl, right?”

Hmm… a little sharp.

David Brooks half-jokingly sighed, “Yeah! But honestly, I’ve said… no more than ten sentences to her in total, can you believe it?”

“Oh, I see!”

It seemed as if a major concern had been cleared up, and she visibly relaxed. Then she said, “Here’s the thing—no matter what comes of our blind date, I’m definitely going to college. I want to tell you that up front, so… I won’t be marrying you in the next few years.”

“Ah… I understand, no problem.”

“And also… my dad really wants both my sister and me to stay by his side. Now that my sister has already made him very angry, I don’t want to upset him further. Plus, I really don’t dislike you, so if you don’t mind, I’m ready to agree to my dad’s wishes. But… I know you basically repaid the favor by coming over yesterday, so if you ever fall for another girl, please just tell me. I can tell my dad that I don’t want to marry you anymore… Would that be okay?”

David Brooks was stunned for about a second.

But there was really nothing to argue about. “Of course! Of course that’s fine!”

She was being humble, polite, considerate, rational, and calm in discussing this with him, and her proposal had basically taken both their situations and needs into account. There was really nothing to criticize.