My Virtual Girlfriend

The game opened, and what came into view was the main interface.

Compared to before, the main interface had changed a bit.

The entire screen was still a pixelated chibi-style map, with Yu Qiao Qiao's adorable chibi character at the very center.

She, with a tag reading "Brewing sleepiness..." above her head, lay foolishly flat on the pixel bed, looking both silly and cute.

Above the pixel map, where there had only been the sections for "Affection" and "Wealth" at the top, there was now an additional category labeled "Player Assets."

Chen Yan lightly tapped it, and it displayed Chen Yan's current assets: 60,100+.

This must have been one of the new functions added in the game update.

Chen Yan moved his gaze from "Assets" and looked towards the bottom of the game interface.

The original bottom sections for "Girlfriend" and "Store" had shifted aside, and on the far right, there was a new section called "Fixed Assets," which also seemed like a new feature.

Chen Yan curiously clicked on it.

"Locking in progress..."

Great. Another locked feature. It seemed he had not yet met the conditions to unlock it.

After experimenting with the changes post-update, Chen Yan lastly clicked on "Store."

Unlike the "Locking in progress" message before, this time the store opened quite easily.

Upon opening it, what appeared in front of Chen Yan was a pixel art store scene, with three rows of shelves, but only the first row was lit up.

There were two items on the first row of shelves.

One was a card the size of a bank card.

The other looked like an instant camera.

Chen Yan gently clicked on the first item.

Immediately, a prompt appeared on the game interface.

[Luxury Car Dream Card (One-time use)]

Function: When purchasing a vehicle with this card, as long as the single transaction does not exceed one million, you will receive a full cashback.

Value: 1 happiness point.

Note: Which man doesn't dream of luxury cars? With this, you can own a luxury car for free!

Chen Yan eyed the item before him, musing.

He didn't care about whether the car was luxurious or not, what he was interested in was the additional "information" the card brought with it.

That was... this game could actually be used to "nurture" oneself.

Previously, raising Yu Qiao Qiao in the cloud made Chen Yan feel as if he was a tool, and Yu Qiao Qiao was the "main character" of the game. He had to spend money on her to progress in the game.

But now, looking at this item, it seemed likely that in the future, there would be items that involved spending money on oneself.

That's more like it.

After all, you have to take care of yourself first before nurturing a girlfriend!

If you don't care for yourself, how can you care for a girlfriend!

After reviewing the first item, Chen Yan then looked at the second one.

[Xiao Ha's Instant Camera (comes with a sheet of photo paper)]

Function: Use this instant camera to take a picture of the item, plan, or project you want to appraise, and you can get the intrinsic value and evaluation of said item, plan, or project.

Value: 2 happiness points.

Note: I hope to capture every moment of Janet with this instant camera. Woof.

Chen Yan: ...

Who is this Xiao Ha, and what's with Janet?

Why does it feel like the style is a bit off?

However... Although this item looked a bit quirky, Chen Yan found it to be more useful than the [Luxury Car Dream Card].

He wondered if he could take a picture of his "Hidden Guardian" project to see its true value.

If he could use it, then he could better understand the level of "Hidden Guardian" and make targeted adjustments, which would be more conducive to success.

Then, Chen Yan checked how the happiness points needed to purchase these items were obtained.

To his surprise, it was related to Yu Qiao Qiao, or rather, the Virtual Girlfriend.

Each Virtual Girlfriend would generate 1 happiness point every "natural month."

And for every 10 points increase in affection, the minimum monthly happiness points would increase by +1.

This meant that previously, Yu Qiao Qiao could bring Chen Yan 1 happiness point per month, but now since the affection level had reached 20, from the next month on, she could bring Chen Yan 1+2=3 happiness points.

It was the end of the month right now, and in a couple of days, it would be the next month, when Yu Qiao Qiao's happiness points would be credited again. Thus, Chen Yan was not in a rush to purchase these special items.

One thing at a time, first get that 100,000-yuan party handled, then go from there!

After the party was over, the next day would be the next month, and that's when... he could buy these items to experiment...

....

Overall, the opening of the Game Store left a deeper impression of the game on Chen Yan: it seemed that only a small part of the game was presented, and as he "conquered" the virtual girlfriend, perhaps it would reveal more content.

But...

What did this have to do with him!

He just wanted to make money!

Once he made money, he would make his own game!

Who needs a girlfriend when you've got games!

As for raising her affection... just do it while making money. Don't push too hard. Things might just fall into place naturally.

After roughly understanding the game's upgrade, Chen Yan closed the store page.

Yu Qiao Qiao's chibi pixel character was still lying obediently on the bed.

But unlike before, she now had a blue teardrop at the corner of her eye.

And her status had changed to "Insomnia..."

Chen Yan laughed "haha" twice, feeling that this girl was actually quite cute at times.

No wonder the system had chosen her.

Spending money on her, Chen Yan felt quite happy about it.

Turning off the game, Chen Yan opened his notebook and ruminated over the plan for inviting Yu Qiao to the dormitory for a meal on Saturday.

He had already spent 40,000 yuan. There was still 60,000 yuan to go toward the target.

Chen Yan's idea was... to prepare return gifts.

Return gifts are the gifts that the "host" provides to guests at a gathering.

Generally, they are attractive-looking items, but not expensive.

And Chen Yan planned to start with these return gifts with the remaining 60,000 yuan...

So he opened a web page, and began searching for suitable return gifts...

...

[Yu Qiao Qiao Affection: 20] (Watching movies +1, feeding +5, all sorts of wild thoughts +13)

[Player Wealth: 230]

[Player Assets: 60,100+]

...

A silent night passed. The next day at 10 am, Chen Yan got up and, as usual, opened the game for a look.

Yu Qiao Qiao's chibi pixel character was already in a classroom, sporting a tag that said "Meticulous, but always dozing off in class..."

Chen Yan smiled and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

After freshening up, he returned to his desk, opened his bag, and checked his money.

Then he grabbed his backpack and headed to Wanxiang City, the largest mall on Qin Island.

Arriving at Wanxiang City, Chen Yan didn't browse aimlessly but headed straight for the Montblanc Flagship Store.

Montblanc is a subsidiary of the Lifeng Group, based in Germany, and is a world-renowned manufacturer of pens, watches, and accessories. In the realm of pens, it is undisputedly number one in the world.

Although its price is not as expensive as many high-end luxury brands, it still symbolizes quality and expensiveness.

Chen Yan had chosen it not only for its price but also because, compared to other luxury brands... it was low-key.

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For plot development and to prevent censorship, some real-world settings have been modified. It's a parallel world, and my setting is the standard. Four updates today. Vote for recommendation.