As the two were chatting, someone knocked on the door.

“Teacher Zhang, I’m sorry I’m two minutes late. On the way, my shoelace broke.”

Pei Qian instinctively glanced at his watch—it was just past 4 PM.

The college office often arranged for students to be on duty, mainly to run errands for counselors and other teachers, doing whatever odd jobs they could handle.

This student was probably helping out in Zhang Wei’s office.

Zhang Wei didn’t mind at all, as if he’d been mentally prepared: “It’s fine. Next time, if you encounter any special circumstances, don’t rush. Being a few minutes late is okay; the main thing is to ensure your safety.”

Pei Qian turned to look and saw a tall girl entering from outside. She was wearing a thick winter school uniform. Judging by her height, she was almost but not quite 1.7 meters tall. She wore a pair of faded jeans and sports shoes, with one shoelace broken.

Many universities don’t have uniforms, and Hangdong University was no exception.

This girl was wearing her high school uniform. Now it was almost December, winter had already arrived, and many people had started wearing thin down jackets. The warmth-retention capability of this school uniform was quite concerning.

The girl’s hands and face were indeed red from the cold, but from her appearance, she had clearly gotten used to it.

“Oh, perfect timing. Yishu, this is the senior who deposited 500 yuan into your meal card.”

The girl became a bit flustered and quickly bowed slightly: “Thank you, senior!”

While Pei Qian was saying “no need,” he looked uncertainly at Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei introduced her: “This is a freshman from our college, named Tang Yishu. She’s also in your aid program. Hey, hey, hey, no need to water the plants, no need to water the plants…”

Tang Yishu had picked up a spray bottle nearby, intending to water the plants, but Zhang Wei stopped her.

Tang Yishu seemed a bit at a loss, fidgeting with her fingers as she asked: “So, Teacher Zhang, is there anything else you need help with…”

Zhang Wei handed her a document from his desk: “Run an errand for me, please. Take these to get stamped. Be careful on the way.”

Tang Yishu nodded, took the document, glanced at it, and then left with her head down.

Pei Qian was a bit puzzled: “Why did you specifically emphasize being careful?”

Zhang Wei laughed with some helplessness: “Didn’t you hear what she said? Her shoelace broke on the way here. Who knows what kind of mishap might happen while she’s running this errand?”

Pei Qian: “?”

Zhang Wei said: “The first day she came on duty, she watered a pot of money plant on my desk, and for some reason, the next day the leaves turned yellow. I put in a lot of effort, adding nutritious soil and giving it sunlight, and it finally revived.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with this child. Strange things are always happening to her, like stepping on a stone while walking and falling, or hanging clothes out to dry only to have them blown away by the wind. These are just everyday occurrences for her.”

“The most outrageous thing was when she called a restaurant to make a reservation for a class gathering. We all heard the waiter say it was booked, but when we got there, we found that the waiter had forgotten about it. Although the restaurant compensated with a fruit platter, we never dared let her do this kind of thing again.”

“But she’s very conscientious in her work and studies very hard.”

“Her family’s financial situation isn’t very good, which is why I arranged for her to work here, so she could earn a little salary. However, I don’t dare let her do too much work now. I just have her run errands, and I still worry about her getting bumped or bruised.”

Pei Qian was shocked: “There’s someone like this?”

Zhang Wei nodded: “Yes, and some classmates tease her with the nickname ‘Tang Yishu’ (which sounds like ‘lying down and still losing’ in Chinese). Although it sounds a bit harsh, from a scientific perspective, it’s indeed difficult to explain all this…”

Pei Qian righteously declared: “Teacher Zhang, we are all people who have received higher education. How can we believe in such mysticism?”

“Ahem, if you don’t mind, I could consider giving her a part-time job.”

Zhang Wei was pleasantly surprised: “Really? That’s great! There’s not much money for her working here with me. I’ve tried to slip her some extra money privately, but she refuses to accept anything.”

“If you have a suitable part-time job for her, that would be perfect. Don’t worry, she just has a bit of bad luck. In terms of both studies and character, she’s one of the most reliable among our college’s freshmen.”

Pei Qian wasn’t interested in any of the latter parts; he was only interested in the luck aspect.

As the two were talking, Tang Yishu returned with the stamped documents.

Except now there was a small red bump on her forehead.

Zhang Wei took the documents: “What happened to your forehead?”

Tang Yishu said somewhat embarrassedly: “I was running a bit fast and accidentally hit a glass door…”

“Don’t worry, Teacher Zhang, the door is fine, and I’m fine too.”

Zhang Wei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Who cares about the door? As long as you’re okay. What’s that in your hand?”

Tang Yishu was also holding a paper bag, which she handed to Pei Qian with both hands: “Senior, this is for you. Thank you.”

Pei Qian took it with some confusion and found a scarf inside.

Although it was a solid color, it was handmade, very different from scarves sold in department stores.

Pei Qian looked down at what he was wearing: a high-collar sweater and a thick down jacket left open because the office was too warm. He also thought about the business car waiting for him at the west gate of the campus.

Then he looked at Tang Yishu, whose cheeks were red from the cold despite wearing a thick school uniform…

Pei Qian sincerely said, “I think you need this scarf more…”

Tang Yishu hurriedly waved her hands: “No, no, no, senior, please keep it. I’ll knit another one in a few days.”

Zhang Wei smiled: “Just accept it, Pei Qian. She’s just like that—she doesn’t like to accept others’ kindness.”

“Yishu, you don’t need to come on duty here anymore. Your senior will find you a part-time job, and you can earn more income.”

“Huh?” Tang Yishu’s big eyes were full of confusion.

“What are you standing there for? Go on, listen to your senior about work arrangements. You don’t need to come on duty here anymore.” Zhang Wei waved his hand and continued with his work.

Tang Yishu had been inexplicably sold out by her counselor and could only silently follow behind Pei Qian as they left the college office building.

As he walked, Pei Qian considered what kind of work he should arrange for Tang Yishu.

Although theoretically, he was just bringing her back to the company as a mascot, he still had to find something for her to do on the surface. She couldn’t just sit around in the company all day, could she?

What kind of work would be suitable?

Pei Qian was deep in thought when suddenly his foot slipped, and he almost fell flat on his face.

Tang Yishu reacted quickly, grabbing Pei Qian in time to save him from the fate of eating dirt.

Pei Qian was a bit shaken: “Thank you.”

Tang Yishu’s face reddened: “No need to thank me. I’m used to it. I’m sorry, senior.”

Pei Qian looked down and found that his right shoelace had come undone at some point. Just now, while walking, his left foot had stepped on his right shoelace, which was why he almost fell.

Pei Qian fell silent.

Could such mystical things exist in this world?

Was there someone born with bad luck that could also spread to affect those around them?

Tang Yishu held Pei Qian steady, and after he was stable, she silently moved to the side, very consciously keeping a distance of more than a meter from Pei Qian, probably afraid that he would be affected by her again.

Pei Qian wasn’t angry at all; in fact, he was quite pleased.

“Come, come, follow me.”

The two walked toward the west gate of the school.

Outside the west gate, there were many small shops, one of which sold scratch-off lottery tickets—the kind where you pay ten or twenty yuan for a ticket and can scratch off many prizes.

Pei Qian took Tang Yishu to this small shop and, without hesitation, pulled out two hundred yuan: “Boss, give me ten tickets.”

After getting the scratch cards, Pei Qian looked at Tang Yishu, who was standing awkwardly at the door, and fell into brief contemplation.

After thinking, Pei Qian decided not to hand the scratch cards to Tang Yishu first but to scratch them himself.

Good or bad luck needed a reference point.

Seeing that Pei Qian was about to scratch the tickets, Tang Yishu instinctively stepped back, keeping a distance of more than two meters from him.

Pei Qian didn’t say anything and began silently scratching.

Five yuan.

Ten yuan.

Fifty yuan.

As Pei Qian continued to scratch, his face grew darker.

Indeed, he was a lucky bastard!

From two hundred yuan worth of scratch cards, he had forcibly scratched out more than three hundred yuan—he was making a profit!

Pei Qian had long felt that his luck was problematic. No wonder it was so hard to lose money!

He directly handed these scratch cards to the shop owner: “Exchange all of these for more scratch cards.”

Prizes under 5,000 yuan could be redeemed directly at the sales point; if it exceeded 5,000 yuan, one would have to go to the welfare lottery distribution center.

Pei Qian exchanged the money for more scratch cards and then called Tang Yishu over.

“You scratch them.”

Tang Yishu shook her head vigorously: “No, senior, I… I can’t do this. My luck is very bad.”

Pei Qian directly stuffed the scratch cards into her hands: “It’s fine, listen to me, just scratch them.”

Tang Yishu pouted: “Senior, this is more than three hundred yuan…”

However, under Pei Qian’s gaze, she could only reluctantly start scratching on the counter.

Pei Qian watched carefully on the side.

One, two, three…

Since Tang Yishu started, the winning rate has begun to plummet. Often, several consecutive cards would yield nothing.

After scratching a few cards, Tang Yishu would stop and look at Pei Qian, tears in her eyes.

Pei Qian made a “keep going” gesture, indicating that she should continue.

By the halfway point, there were only a few winning scratch cards, and each was only worth 10 yuan. It could be said to be a significant loss.

“Alright, stop,” Pei Qian said.

Tang Yishu was greatly relieved and quickly stopped.

Pei Qian took the remaining scratch cards. Tang Yishu was about to retreat three meters from Pei Qian’s vicinity again, but was stopped by him.

“You stand right here.”

Pei Qian continued to scratch silently.

This time, after scratching seven or eight cards in a row, not a single one was a winner!

Tang Yishu instinctively wanted to step back, but every time she made the slightest movement, Pei Qian would give her a look, and she wouldn’t dare move.

Finally, all the scratch cards worth more than three hundred yuan were used up. Pei Qian counted the winning scratch cards—a total of one hundred and twenty yuan, and more than half of them had been scratched out after Pei Qian took over.

This luck was declining visibly!

After scratching this large pile of scratch cards, Pei Qian was also quite tired. He handed them to the shop owner to redeem the prizes.

Tang Yishu stood to the side, anxiously fidgeting with her fingers, looking very distressed.

Pei Qian originally didn’t believe in mysticism, but now he did.

Spending two hundred yuan and getting back 120, although the 80 yuan difference had contributed to the welfare lottery cause, Pei Qian was overjoyed.

“This is for you.”

Pei Qian handed the remaining 120 yuan to Tang Yishu, but she pouted and shook her head.

“You are stubborn, not accepting others’ kindness without reason.”

Pei Qian had no choice but to put the money away and take Tang Yishu away from the small store.

Five minutes after they left.

The shop owner collected a pile of non-winning scratch cards, preparing to throw them away.

A Hangdong University student passed by, wanting to come in and buy a bottle of water, and happened to see the large pile of discarded scratch cards on the table.

“Scratch cards?”

“A tax on stupidity.”

“Can’t believe someone bought so many…”

The guy muttered, expressing his disdain for the matter.

However, after buying water, he hesitated for a long time and eventually pulled out twenty yuan to buy a card.

As soon as he scratched it, his eyes widened.

“Holy shit, one hundred thousand yuan!!”