Reborn with Consumption System

On Sunday morning at 9 o'clock, Han Lie had just come downstairs when he ran into Xi Luting at the dormitory doorway.

Queen Xi, upon seeing Han Lie, tilted her chin up high with an air of indifference. However, a closer look at her outfit revealed she had evidently put a lot of thought into it.

She wasn't wearing the same style of coat as Pan Ge. Instead, she sported a fashion-forward ensemble: a beige short puffer jacket, black shorts, flesh-colored tights, and pure white, knee-high boots.

In fact, this combination wouldn't be out of style even in 2018, but in Han Lie's eyes… it felt quite dated.

It was like suddenly finding the trendiest clothes from over a decade ago in your wardrobe, holding them up to the mirror, and then feeling utterly cringeworthy, even questioning life a bit. Do you know the feeling?

However, Xi Luting had top-tier legs, so the outfit really shone on her. She was stunning enough that, metaphorically speaking, even dogs on the street would drool at the sight.

She had also deliberately put on some light makeup—applied a bit of foundation, defined her brows, curled her lashes, and added a touch of lipstick.

That was the extent of her skills.

In her past life, even as graduation approached, Xi Luting only knew how to apply the most basic makeup for going out.

She outshone makeup masters from three cohorts with her natural beauty alone; talent like that was just ridiculously unfair.

"You look beautiful!"

Han Lie started with a compliment. Then, just as a small, proud smile touched her lips, he added a teasing remark—

"However, I think you'd look even prettier without makeup. If you insist on wearing some, you should learn how to do a 'no-makeup' makeup look!"

Xi Luting's mood instantly soured.

"Why are you so nosy? If you like what you see, then look. If not, go find someone else!"

"Sigh!" Han Lie heaved a dramatic sigh. "Where else could I find legs as gorgeous and commanding as yours? Alright, alright, I'll make do with looking at you!"

Was that even a compliment?

Xi Luting was momentarily stunned, unsure how to react, feeling a mix of annoyance and a subtle sweetness.

"Shall we go?" Han Lie asked, standing ahead and tilting his head towards her.

Xi Luting decided not to dwell on it and followed, maintaining her proud demeanor.

A dog can't spit out ivory, after all. She was used to his ways, so she'd just let it be.

Passing by the administration building, Han Lie noticed many girls heading inside. It was much more bustling than usual, and he couldn't help but take an extra glance.

"What's going on today? Why is it so lively?"

Xi Luting rolled her eyes at his question.

"Are you an idiot? Your department is holding its initial interviews today. Didn't you know?"

"Oh!" Han Lie smacked his forehead as realization dawned. "I genuinely forgot… How many people showed up?"

This guy is hopeless, Xi Luting thought. How can anyone just drift through life like this?

But then again, didn't Han Lie's lack of concern about these "tryouts" also suggest he was relatively simple-minded and straightforward?

With this thought, Xi Luting's annoyance dissipated.

She replied with a smile, "I heard there are over 400 people. Everyone's very interested in that 'Special privilege' of yours: taking leave without penalty and guaranteed passing grades on exams."

"It's more than just guaranteed passing grades now…" Han Lie raised his eyebrows, proudly showing off his new accomplishment. "I can even secure guaranteed postgraduate admission spots and opportunities to study abroad!"

Instantly, Xi Luting's eyes widened in astonishment. "Seriously?! That's outrageous!"

Her voice almost cracked from shock.

"Don't believe me? Just wait and see," Han Lie said, hands in his pockets, shoulders shaking with a cocky twist of his waist. He looked incredibly smug. "Hey, are you thinking about postgraduate studies?"

Xi Luting, however, paid no mind to his teasing and hurriedly asked, "What do you mean? Doesn't our school lack the qualifications to offer postgraduate education?"

"Our school might not, but our partner universities do…"

Humanities only had 22 four-year undergraduate programs, but it boasted numerous international cooperation programs with institutions like UC Berkeley, New York University, the University of Cambridge, UCL, and Waseda University in Japan. Every year, these partnerships provided one to two hundred spots for 'watered-down' master's degrees.

The ironic part was that pursuing postgraduate studies at their own university was often harder than going abroad.

The intricacies of this situation were rather complex to detail.

Some people in Huaxia might not be aware, but Western countries had a Special educational industry chain catering exclusively to students from Huaxia, spanning from high school to doctoral programs, with even Ivy League schools participating.

Calculated by multiplying the annual number of students studying abroad by their average yearly expenses, this constituted a market worth over a trillion RMB.

Of course, among them were many genuine students seeking further education, such as the roughly 30,000 sponsored by the state and the over 20,000 sponsored by enterprises, mostly in good programs at reputable universities.

However, the number of self-funded students exceeded 500,000.

This figure was increasing exponentially each year, becoming rampant.

Just imagine how many of those were for 'watered-down' bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees.

Therefore, in reality, most of the study abroad and postgraduate spots offered by Humanities weren't particularly valuable.

To put it differently, one could pay for those spots, but they wouldn't necessarily yield a return on investment.

Only a very small fraction held genuine value.

These included, for example, cooperative programs with lower tuition and better prospects, programs offering partial tuition waivers or reimbursements, the extremely limited spots in mid-tier majors at prestigious universities, or reciprocal exchange programs.

Han Lie's explanation opened up a whole new world for Xi Luting.

"My goodness! So there are so many complicated aspects and hidden details!"

Xi Luting was so engrossed in his explanation that when they sat in the car sent by the hotel, she barely reacted when that rascal Han Lie took the opportunity to pull her into his embrace.

"So, the spots you mentioned earlier are…?"

"Naturally, they're the best ones available!"

Han Lie was deliberately showing off. However, for a nineteen-year-old freshman girl like Xi Luting, such boasting wasn't off-putting at all. Instead, it exuded a potent, masculine Strength.