Chapter 55: Wanting to Spend Money on Her

Hearing Meng Xingzhe’s sincere praise for his colleague, Yao Bingkun nodded, a faint smile appearing on his stern face.

He wanted to ask more about what made this Customer Service Representative so exceptional, but worried that too much attention might reveal his true intentions. So, he suppressed his curiosity.

The two men, one old and one young, each held a cigarette between their fingers. Neither smoked, letting the cigarettes burn slowly on their own, while they savored the thin, rising wisps of smoke.

When two people engage in the same peculiar activity, it often creates a unique harmony between them.

In this moment, the old and the young didn’t seem like a boss and an employee. The boss had shed his authority and airs, and the employee showed no fear or flattery. They were at ease, like two friends who had stumbled upon each other by chance despite their age difference.

Yao Bingkun, holding his cigarette, asked Meng Xingzhe, “And what about you? Do you think you’re exceptional?”

Meng Xingzhe raised an eyebrow and replied, “Not exceptional, but not a burden either. Just average.”

“Average,” Yao Bingkun nodded. “That’s a good standard.”

After a pause, he added, “Your Customer Service Department staff rarely see senior management, and the chance to meet me directly is even rarer. Why not take this opportunity to showcase yourself?”

Meng Xingzhe thought about it. Since he wasn’t truly a Customer Service Department employee and his future wasn’t in Yao Bingkun’s hands, there was no need to impress him.

He smiled and said, “I think you prefer average.” This was evident from how the refrigerator repair fee issue was handled.

He noticed another faint smile on Yao Bingkun’s stern face, indicating he was right.

As work hours approached, Meng Xingzhe extinguished his cigarette and prepared to go upstairs, bidding farewell to Yao Bingkun.

To his surprise, Yao Bingkun said, “You can come again next time to enjoy the smoke with me.”

He gestured to the cigarette, now mostly burnt.

Meng Xingzhe was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, “Alright.”

As he returned to the building and entered the elevator, Meng Xingzhe couldn’t help but think that Yao Bingkun, as the head of such a large enterprise, indeed had a commanding presence. He was imposing without anger. However, it seemed he often relied on anger to assert authority, as the deep furrow between his brows suggested a habit of frowning in anger.

Previously, Meng Xingzhe had only known Yao Bingkun through news and pictures, aware of his iron-fisted, decisive nature.

But now, what could he say? The real Yao Bingkun seemed different from the reports and images.

He had thought Yao Bingkun was distant and hard to talk to. But in reality, this elder wasn’t as unapproachable as he appeared.

So he realized that appearances could be misleading, and effective communication was necessary to truly understand someone.

That evening after work, Yao Jia took advantage of Tian Huasheng cooking in the kitchen and Tong Yumo watching a show in her room to sneak her quilt and pillow back to her own room from Meng Xingzhe’s.

She was very nervous throughout, worried that if Tian Huasheng or Tong Yumo saw her, she wouldn’t be able to explain and would lose her reputation.

She vaguely felt something was off with Meng Xingzhe today, but couldn’t pinpoint what.

It wasn’t until she lay in bed, lights off, ready to sleep, that the darkness seemed to sharpen her senses. She realized that what was off was that Meng Xingzhe hadn’t spoken much to her all day.

Not only did he not speak, but he also seemed to avoid eye contact.

???

Yao Jia felt inexplicably puzzled.

On the night of the power outage, she had kindly made him a makeshift lamp to dispel the darkness, yet now he was acting cold and aloof. What was this sudden change about?

Yao Jia tossed and turned, unable to figure it out. But as she tossed and turned, she kicked the quilt off completely. In the middle of the night, she woke up from the cold.

Deciding to go to the bathroom, Yao Jia got out of bed, rubbed her eyes, and sneezed as she passed through the living room.

After using the bathroom, she sneezed again.

Back in her room, she wrapped herself tightly in the quilt like a mummy and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Meng Xingzhe stood in his room, by the door, holding a water cup.

He had intended to go to the living room to get a drink of water. But hearing movement, he realized Yao Jia was going to the bathroom, so he waited by the door.

During this time, he heard Yao Jia sneeze several times.

The sound made him uncomfortable.

He suddenly thought that if he hadn’t switched rooms with Yao Jia, she wouldn’t have had to walk so far to the bathroom and wouldn’t have been chilled by the autumn air, causing her to sneeze all the way.

Gripping the doorknob, a thought arose in his mind—he wanted to give the master bedroom with the private bathroom back to Yao Jia.

The thought surprised him as it formed, seeming absurd even to himself.

When had he ever cared so much about someone else’s feelings? When had he ever let a few sneezes sway his pursuit of comfort?

So people do change. They can become foolish, foolish enough to have a soft heart.

The next evening after dinner, Yao Jia received a call from Yue Xuran.

Yue Xuran told her that Four Dot Technology would hold a new product launch over the weekend at the convention center, and he wanted to formally invite her, their investor, to attend.

Yao Jia agreed.

After the call, she went to knock on Meng Xingzhe’s door.

When Meng Xingzhe opened the door, Yao Jia held out her hand and got straight to the point, “Pay up!”

Meng Xingzhe glanced at her, then looked away, as if her presence was too intense for him.

He stared at the doorknob and said, “Pay what?”

Yao Jia met his gaze, “The money you owe me!”

Meng Xingzhe turned to look at the door frame, “Didn’t we agree to hold off on that?”

Yao Jia leaned against the door frame, trying to catch his eyes, aiming for a direct, heartfelt financial discussion, “I need it urgently.”

Meng Xingzhe looked at the wall above the door and said, “Urgent for what?”

Yao Jia was puzzled. Why was it so hard to talk to him today? Did she need to jump up to meet his eyes?

She raised her hand and pinched Meng Xingzhe’s chin, like grabbing a mischievous potato, and tilted his face down.

“I want to treat Yue Xuran to dinner!” Yao Jia released her grip, “What’s with you today, avoiding my eyes like this? Do I hurt your eyes?”

Meng Xingzhe focused on her previous statement, “Your boyfriend needs you to treat him? He doesn’t lack money, does he? Why not let him treat you?”

“No way,” Yao Jia said, “Just because he’s a guy doesn’t mean he should always be the one paying. Enough talk, give me the money.”

Meng Xingzhe steeled himself, “I don’t have any money left, can’t pay you back.”

“???” Yao Jia was shocked, “It’s not long after payday. What did you do with it all?”

Meng Xingzhe shamelessly said, “What I did isn’t important. The point is, I don’t have the money. You can either kill me or let me keep washing dishes and renting out the massage chair to repay you.”

Yao Jia pointed at him, “Wait here, I’m getting a knife from the kitchen!”

She pretended to leave, and Meng Xingzhe quickly grabbed her, “Hey, how about this? I really can’t pay you back, but I can give you the master bedroom with the private bathroom as compensation!” He sounded sincere.

Yao Jia stared at Meng Xingzhe for at least ten seconds, making him start to feel nervous.

“You’d actually give up the master bedroom with the private bathroom? You must be plotting something!” Yao Jia was wary, “No, I won’t switch. I want the money!”

“…” Meng Xingzhe thought that being a good person more often might help, as no one believed him when he tried to do a good deed.

“I really don’t have the money,” he said, “Let’s switch rooms.”

“No, no switch! I want the money!” Yao Jia insisted firmly.

Meng Xingzhe pleaded, “I’m begging you, can we switch rooms?”

He felt like he had gone mad. Just over a month ago, his self-indulgent self would never have imagined that he would be begging Yao Jia to switch rooms. What had a month brought him besides a few thousand in wages? Just a sense of “cheapness.”

But Yao Jia wasn’t swayed by his “cheapness.” “No way! I’m not switching! If you don’t pay me back, I won’t switch. Once we switch, our accounts are settled, and how would I continue to make you work for me? You can just keep washing dishes to pay off your debt!”

Yao Jia failed to collect the debt and turned to leave.

Meng Xingzhe was left speechless.

He wondered what kind of world this was. He couldn’t even give away his private room.

Back in her room, Yao Jia felt something was off.

She was the creditor. She had gone out to collect money. She had been determined not to return empty-handed. Yet now, she had come back empty-handed so easily?

She realized she was too easily influenced by Meng Xingzhe, and that had to change!

Determined, Yao Jia marched back to Meng Xingzhe’s room.

She knocked on his door.

Meng Xingzhe looked everywhere but at her. Yao Jia felt he was deliberately ignoring her, and anger swelled within her. Was there any other creditor in the world who was treated like this, not even worthy of a direct look?

“Today, you must pay me back, or we’re not done here!” Yao Jia threatened.

Meng Xingzhe opened the door wide and leaned against the doorframe, looking over Yao Jia’s head but not at her eyes.

Lately, whenever he met her gaze, he felt like he was having a heart attack.

Falling for a woman with a boyfriend was truly foolish. He needed to control himself.

He opened the door and his heart, saying, “Paying you back is impossible. How about we switch rooms? That way, you won’t have to shiver through the living room and dining room to use the bathroom at night. Don’t you think that’s a great deal for you?”

Yao Jia almost fell for his words again, her focus blurring.

She shook her head to clear it and said fiercely, “I’m not switching rooms! If you’re suddenly suggesting a switch, something must be broken in there! No, I won’t switch. I just want the money!”

“…”

Meng Xingzhe shook his head, looking up at the ceiling, feeling utterly defeated. “I’m not giving you money. I only want to switch rooms.”

Yao Jia was almost too worn out to get angry. The more he refused to pay, the more determined she was to get money from him, no matter what it took! Her rebellious spirit wouldn’t let her give up!

“Fine, maybe you can’t pay it all back at once. How about starting with a thousand?”

Meng Xingzhe shook his head.

“Okay, I’ll give you a discount. How about five hundred?”

Meng Xingzhe continued to shake his head.

“Fine, fine, you don’t want to repay. How about this, lend me five hundred?” Yao Jia took a deep breath. “You can at least lend me five hundred, right?”

She never imagined she would fall so low as to borrow money from Meng Xingzhe! That they would end up borrowing from each other! She couldn’t help but mentally unleash a herd of alpacas on the vast plains of her mind!

Meng Xingzhe thought for a moment and surprisingly said, “Lending you five hundred isn’t impossible.”

Yao Jia felt something was off…

Meng Xingzhe added, “But I don’t think taking Yue Xuran out for a meal would cost five hundred.”

Suddenly, Yao Jia realized what was wrong—

When she asked him to repay, he said he had no money; when she asked to borrow, he suddenly had money.

So if she borrowed his money, would she still have to pay it back? Wouldn’t that count as him repaying her?

…What kind of muddled accounts were they dealing with?!

“Meng Xingzhe, you bastard, you do have money!” Yao Jia pointed at his nose, furious. “If you don’t repay me five hundred today, I’ll fight you!”

In the end, Yao Jia managed to squeeze two hundred and fifty yuan out of Meng Xingzhe.

Meng Xingzhe said, “Forget five hundred, two hundred fifty suits your boyfriend better. You can have a great meal at Pizza Hut for two hundred fifty. Trust me, I know.”

Yao Jia thought, I don’t believe a word you say.

But the amount didn’t matter in the end. What mattered was that she managed to get some money back, which gave the competitive Yao Jia a sense of victory.

The day before the weekend, Yao Jia pondered what to wear to Four Dot Technology’s new product launch. She didn’t want to go home to find clothes. Although she had decided to face her family with a new attitude after Meng Xingzhe’s advice on a stormy night, she hadn’t yet found the right way to open up or the right conversation point for effective communication. She needed more time.

She remembered that Ling Xiaoxin had borrowed a little black dress from her for their office’s annual meeting, so she immediately contacted Ling Xiaoxin.

After work on Friday, she met up with Ling Xiaoxin, got the dress back, and they had dinner together.

During dinner, Ling Xiaoxin’s phone rang, and Yao Jia casually asked who it was. Ling Xiaoxin blushed.

Even Yao Jia, with her thick nerves, sensed something was off. When Ling Xiaoxin returned after taking the call, Yao Jia quickly interrogated her, “Come on, are you secretly dating some guy?”

Ling Xiaoxin blushed even more, looking like a bashful pink dumpling, making Yao Jia want to pinch her cheeks.

Ling Xiaoxin stammered, “It’s not official yet. We’re just in the ambiguous stage. You know, during this stage, you don’t have to think about things like family background or the future, so there’s no need to worry. Just enjoy the feeling of ambiguity. Once things become official, I’ll tell you everything.”

Yao Jia found her words particularly meaningful. It sounded like once they got past the ambiguous stage and established a relationship, there would be many worries about family and the future.

“So, this ambiguous guy, he’s not a good match for your family?” Yao Jia asked.

Ling Xiaoxin sighed and nodded, “Yes.” The guy was just a small technician.

Yao Jia knew that although Ling Xiaoxin’s family wasn’t extremely wealthy, they were a genuine scholarly family. She was the cherished only daughter of the Ling family, and if her partner’s status and conditions were too different, her family would likely oppose it.

But Yao Jia thought—

“Hey, what era are we living in? Who cares about matching family backgrounds? That’s so feudal. Besides, in modern society, people can even choose to marry inflatable dolls. You’re choosing to marry a real person. Even if he’s poor and his job isn’t great, your family should be satisfied.”

Ling Xiaoxin seemed encouraged by her words, “You’re right! As long as he’s wholeheartedly good to me, willing to spend all his money on me, even if he starves himself, I’ll fight my family for his sake!”

“…” Yao Jia wanted to say, can’t you spare him five bucks for bread instead of letting him starve?

But thinking about how silly the conversation was getting, she opted for an eye roll instead.

The next day at noon, Meng Xingzhe sat on the living room sofa, listening to the midday financial news on TV while texting Bei Luonan.

Tian Huasheng was nearby, stretching himself on a yoga mat.

Meng Xingzhe asked Bei Luonan, “Are you going to Four Dot Technology’s new product launch later?”

Bei Luonan quickly replied, “Yes.”

Meng Xingzhe asked, “Do you have any extra tickets?”

Bei Luonan replied, “Hmm? Why, do you want to go? Didn’t you say before that you couldn’t stand events where you’re not the center of attention? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to see Yue Xuran showing off on stage?”

Meng Xingzhe endured Bei Luonan’s teasing and asked again, “Just tell me if you have extra tickets. Why so much talk?”

Bei Luonan replied, “Tell me why you want to go, and I’ll tell you if there are extra tickets.”

Meng Xingzhe thought that if Bei Luonan were right beside him now, the guy wouldn’t live to see the sunrise tomorrow. No, he wouldn’t even see tonight’s stars and moon!

Meng Xingzhe: [We’re both entrepreneurs and young talents. Although Yue Xuran’s good looks fall slightly short of mine, I’m generous enough to give him some face and see how his product turns out.]

Bei Luonan retorted on WeChat: [Let’s not argue over who’s more handsome between you two, but when it comes to showing off, you win hands down! Even if all the show-offs in the world were stacked together, they wouldn’t match you, King of Show-offs!]

Meng Xingzhe: [Enough nonsense. Do you have a ticket or not? If not, give me yours and don’t go in.]

Bei Luonan quickly replied that he had one, while angrily calling Meng Xingzhe overbearing, selfish, and inhumane.

As they chatted, there was a noise from Yao Jia’s room.

After lunch, Yao Jia washed her face again, returned to her room to apply makeup, and used a curling iron on her hair. She then changed into a formal dress.

She had ordered a pair of shoes online with express delivery. Once dressed, she sat waiting for them to arrive.

After a while, there was finally a knock at the door.

Yao Jia quickly opened her room door to get the shoes.

As she stepped out, Tian Huasheng was in the living room, practicing yoga with urgency. Since returning from the neighboring city, he had been diligently working on his physique, aiming to be in shape for a matchmaking event next spring.

Meng Xingzhe was sitting on the sofa, listening to the TV while fiddling with his phone. Noticing Yao Jia coming out, he turned his head and casually glanced her way.

That glance left him utterly stunned. He didn’t even notice his phone slipping from his hand, nor did he realize his conversation with Bei Luonan had abruptly ended.

He had never seen Yao Jia like this before.

Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, soft and loose, with playful curls at the ends that seemed to hook onto one’s heart. Her makeup was so striking that it was impossible to look away.

She wore a strapless dress, revealing a fair shoulder. Her collarbones, enviable to all girls, were distinct and alluring.

The dress hugged her chest and cinched at her waist, accentuating her slender and graceful figure. The skirt’s hem slanted irregularly from left to right, with one leg wrapped in the long skirt and the other exposed by the short slanted hem.

Her legs were evenly proportioned, glowing white, slender, and straight.

In this dress, she seemed like a different person, exuding an elegant and sophisticated charm, cool yet undeniably sexy.

She ran in small steps toward the entrance. His eyes, as if enchanted, followed her every move.

He watched her open the door and receive a box.

She crouched at the entrance, bending down to open the box.

Her long hair slid down her shoulders, revealing her fair and delicate shoulder and back, as smooth as jade, captivating his eyes and heart.

She opened the box and took out a pair of high heels.

She slipped her feet into the shoes.

Her aura instantly elevated to another level.

She turned to face the living room, smiling as she asked, “These shoes aren’t ugly, right? Money’s tight lately, so I couldn’t buy anything too expensive. I had to settle for these!”

He met her gaze, seeing her smile like a blooming flower. His heart pounded wildly, as if a mischievous spirit were drumming inside his chest.

Behind him, Tian Huasheng exclaimed “Wow” dozens of times, followed by “Jia, you’re absolutely stunning.”

But at that moment, Meng Xingzhe had only one thought in his mind. He wished he could have repaid all the money he owed her before, wished he could give her all the money he had, even willing to sell a limited edition watch he had collected—

He wanted to buy her the most beautiful shoes in the world.