Yao Mingyue’s biggest flaw was her overwhelming confidence.

After all, she had every reason to be—her beauty and figure were unmatched among her peers. On top of that, her mother was a shrewd businesswoman, destined to become the silent empress behind a future publicly traded company. Their wealth had already placed them in a different league from ordinary people.

She and Xu Musen had fought before, but every time she threatened to cut ties, he would come running, knocking on her door with an apology.

That had always been her trump card.

It was like those relationships where some girls used the threat of a breakup as a weapon—but such a tactic only worked on someone who truly loved and cared for them.

Against someone who didn’t, such a threat was laughable.

Yet, Yao Mingyue refused to believe that Xu Musen had changed.

Then, her phone chimed.

A triumphant smile curled her lips. As expected, he must have sent a flurry of messages by now—perhaps even standing outside, begging her for another chance.

But the phone remained silent after that single notification.

A strange sense of unease crept into her heart.

She picked up her phone and opened the chat.

“Deal’s a deal!”

Four simple words. But they brimmed with an unmistakable sense of joy.

Yao Mingyue stared at the screen, frozen in place.

Smash!

Her phone hit the floor with a resounding crack—officially retired from duty.

“Xu. Mu. Sen!”

She gritted her teeth, her phoenix eyes gleaming with a dangerous light as she locked onto the direction of his house.

Her bare feet sank into the plush carpet, and her delicate toes curled in frustration, gripping the soft fibers beneath them like they were digging into his arrogance.

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to stomp on his face and see if he was really this stubborn.

But her pride held her back.

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw.

“You won’t get away from me…”

---

Meanwhile, Xu Musen had no time to care about any of this.

His program had completed its first test run.

He had developed a simple tile-matching game, similar to Sheep a Sheep or White Carrot—easy to play, appealing to all ages.

The sound effects and some of the in-game assets had been pulled from open-source libraries to keep costs low.

In essence, it was just an upgraded version of LinkLink, which was why he could build it so quickly.

When skill alone wasn’t enough to break into an industry, sometimes being small and nimble was the best way to slip through the cracks.

This was just the first step.

While mini-programs weren’t yet available on WeChat, QQ already had a selection of casual games.

These weren’t built to rake in money but to attract new users.

Think back to the golden era of QQ Farm—how many people created accounts just to play that game?

Xu Musen browsed QQ’s official site and, sure enough, found a “Game Partner Incentive Program.”

It worked just like any other business partner recruitment model.

The platform would provide hosting and server slots, but developers had to compete against each other.

Only those with the best performance metrics would receive additional rewards and long-term support.

Without hesitation, Xu Musen signed up and secured a domain name—just in case someone tried to snatch it later for leverage.

While waiting for approval, he glanced at his phone, still on Yao Mingyue’s chat.

Given her temper, she was probably fuming by now.

Which was exactly what he wanted.

Then, he sent the game to He Qiang.

“Qiangzi, I’ve got something for you. Try it out and tell me what you think.”

He Qiang: “Damn, where’d you get this from?”

Xu Musen: “Can you think about anything other than p***?”

He Qiang: “Hey, I’m just being cautious. Downloading random files can get you viruses, you know?”

Xu Musen: “It’s the latest release from teacher Jizawa.”

“HOLY SHIT! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!”

“…”

Xu Musen ignored him. Curiosity would get the better of He Qiang anyway.

A few minutes later, He Qiang’s message popped up.

“WTF, man! I had my pants halfway down, and this is what you give me?!”

Xu Musen laughed. “So? How is it?”

“It’s actually fun. No registration needed, only like 10MB. How the hell did I not know you could do this?”

He Qiang was genuinely shocked. He had just teased Xu Musen about making money that morning, and by nightfall, the guy had already built a working game.

It was simple but addictive.

More importantly, it barely took up any storage, and players could jump in instantly—perfect for students like him.

Xu Musen told He Qiang to share it around.

Then, he sent it to his parents.

If even middle-aged folks could enjoy it, then the general audience would be a sure bet.

Not long after, his mom messaged him.

“So this is what you’ve been working on? It’s actually pretty fun! But why does it stop at level eight?”

His dad added, “Son, we don’t mind you messing around with this stuff, but school comes first. Oh, and how do I clear level six…?”

Seeing their responses, Xu Musen felt even more confident.

The next morning, he woke up early to find his game partner application had been approved.

He sent in the first version of his game.

The platform reviewed it quickly and sent over a digital contract.

Fifty-fifty revenue split.

Not a bad deal for using their servers and distribution channels.

After confirming everything, he signed without hesitation.

Now, he had access to a platform and hosting.

All that was left was to attract players.

Most of these casual games were created by small independent developers, all trying their luck.

The platform only provided hosting—marketing was up to them.

Xu Musen checked his savings—between his allowance and stashed-away New Year’s money, he barely had a couple thousand yuan.

That wasn’t even enough to print flyers, let alone run ads.

He thought for a moment and came up with another plan.

He texted He Qiang: “Got time this afternoon? Come with me somewhere.”

He Qiang: “What, not spending the weekend glued to Mingyue anymore?”

He teased. Before, every Sunday, Xu Musen would be practically inseparable from Yao Mingyue.

“Screw romance. I only care about making money now! Let’s go—your big bro will show you how to strike it rich.”

Throwing on his jacket, Xu Musen grabbed all his money and strode out the door.

As he passed through the villa district, a gate slowly creaked open behind him.

A pair of narrow, fox-like eyes watched his every move.

She wore a flowing lavender dress, her figure as elegant as a budding violet, exuding an air of delicate mystery.

A waffle hat cast a shadow over most of her face, but beneath the brim, her gaze remained locked on Xu Musen’s retreating figure.

“I’d like to see just which little vixen you’re running off to meet…”