2 Chapter 1: Crossing over Before Mou Bei's Due Date

Shu Guan time-traveled.

It happened the night before his Mou Bei repayment day.

Sure enough, time-traveling exists to save the world's failures.

So at first, Shu Guan was very happy.

Of course, he soon fell into despair.

What is despair?

For example, you win a lottery of 5 million, only to find out you have cancer.

That is despair!

Despair is what lays on hope and screws it up royally.

...

Shu Guan time-traveled to November 1, 2045, at 11:30 p.m.

The location was his tiny rented room of less than 10 square meters.

At that time, Shu Guan was leaning against his bed, chatting with Xiaoyi.

On the table next to his bed, there were leftover food, spilled beverage cans, an ashtray filled with cigarette butts, and a torn small package.

"Tomorrow is the Mou Bei repayment..."

Shu Guan sighed and then reached out with one arm to put the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray.

"Yes, to be precise, in 30 minutes, your monthly debt will be due," Xiaoyi sweetly spoke in his ear, her voice carrying the gentleness of a 30-something woman and a touch of 18-year-old girl's cuteness, soothing Shu Guan's agitated mood.

"The total debt is 6,500 Hua Yuan, and Xiaoyi has already checked for you. The total balance of your bank accounts is 36.85 Hua Yuan."

"... Uh, is it that much?"

"Are you sighing about the debt or the balance?"

"... "

Shu Guan rolled his eyes at Xiaoyi and then continued:

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"There are three methods."

"So many, let me hear them."

"The first method is to sell me. My current value is about 1,300 to 1,500 Hua Yuan, enough for you to pay the minimum repayment."

Shu Guan's fingers gently slid over Xiaoyi's shell, which he had owned for three years. The sensation from his fingertips was still smooth, without a single flaw.

"Uh... next."

"Really not considering this method? It's the best."

"No, I can't bear to part with you."

"The second method is to borrow money from someone. Xiaoyi has just reviewed your chat message records with others in the past three months. Among your contacts, two people are 90% likely to lend you money, and three others are over 80% likely."

Shu Guan fell silent again.

If he was willing to ask someone for money, he wouldn't have been chain-smoking all night in frustration.

Besides, Shu Guan was skeptical about Xiaoyi's conclusions.

Would anyone really lend him money?

Although Xiaoyi's IQ was definitely higher than his, the real relationships between people couldn't be analyzed by intelligence alone.

"And the third one?"

"Borrow some money from other lending platforms."

"Do you know that if I continue robbing Peter to pay Paul, my life will be even more of a mess?"

"Yes, so it's just a suggestion. But let me remind you that now your credit allows you to borrow from other platforms. After tomorrow, if your debt defaults, your credit rating will fall three levels, and it will be nearly impossible for you to get a cent from any legitimate platform."

"Are there any other methods?"

"...Shu Guan, I'm just a cell phone."

Shu Guan sighed, took off his disposable gloves that he had put on earlier to eat a duck neck, and placed the phone next to his pillow.

Yes, this is Xiaoyi.

A cell phone.

More precisely, it was the built-in artificial intelligence AI in his phone that he was chatting with.

And the main personality Shu Guan had set for his AI combined the mature charm, wisdom, innocence, and naivete of an older sister figure and a teenage girl.

After listening to Xiaoyi's three suggestions, Shu Guan didn't say anything for a while.

He had used this phone for three years, but the black alloy shell was still as shiny as new, and the phone operation was still smooth. So, earlier, AI Xiaoyi said that she could be worth at least 1,300 Hua Yuan in the second-hand market.

Should he sell this phone for now, and think about how to deal with the immediate situation later?

Shu Guan hesitated, and several times he opened an app and pressed his thumb on the screen.

But he still didn't hit that start button.

That was the button to erase the AI's data. As long as he pressed it, Xiaoyi would be wiped clean of the last three years of data, restored to the factory settings.

AI Xiaoyi knew too much about his private information, so if he wanted to sell the phone, he naturally had to erase all of her data memories.

For an AI, it was like destroying their life.

Of course, AI wasn't real life, but such a growable AI did give people the feeling of raising a child.

A few seconds later, Shu Guan sighed again and made up his mind, moving his finger away from that button.

"...Alright, then help me check which platform has the lowest interest rate and the longest repayment period."

For the next three seconds, there was no sound from his phone.

Was it touched by his decision?

Isn't an AI supposed to be emotionless?

When Shu Guan was slightly puzzled, Xiaoyi's sweet voice rang again.

"Okay, I've screened three suitable lending platforms for you. Shall we apply now?"