Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A few more days passed. I was drinking while tearing my hair out over the proposal when I saw a message from Ning Hanzhou.

Ning Hanzhou: “Are you still busy lately?”

I answered honestly.

Ning Hanzhou: “There’s no rush on the project. It’s almost wrapped up. You’ve been running yourself ragged for a whole week, so go relax properly. Work-life balance.”

He sent me a screenshot of a movie ticket.

It was for a movie that had just come out.

I replied with an ellipsis.

Ning Hanzhou: “Didn’t you say you wanted to see it before?”

Fine.

I guessed the point probably wasn’t the movie.

There was likely a gift waiting for me at the theater, ready to be unwrapped.

When I arrived, sure enough, I spotted a face in the crowd so pretty it hit my aesthetic preferences dead-on.

He looked a little familiar. He had probably attended one of those parties before.

He sat right beside me, and the moment he did, I caught a whiff of a scent that made me feel utterly refreshed.

I yawned, then fell asleep as soon as the movie started.

When it ended, I stretched and walked straight out.

At the entrance, I ducked off to one side, and then I heard the handsome guy complaining as he walked out.

“Didn’t you say I was her type? She didn’t fall in love with me at first sight at all. She fell asleep. She didn’t open her eyes the entire time. She didn’t even look at me once. I got dressed up for nothing.”

“I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t interested in my face.”

“Is she even a woman?”

The bullet comments said Ning Hanzhou had calculated that I spent the longest amount of time looking at him.

Maybe so. That face really was good-looking.

A few days later, that handsome guy and I had our second meticulously planned chance encounter.

I went to my usual bar for a drink. There was a bartender there with excellent skills, and I really liked the strange, throat-choking flavor of his cocktails.

In the past, Jiang Zhiyan often caught me at this bar, always convinced I had come here to meet some lover.

But I really did just like drinking.

I was a country girl. Where would I even get that many schemes and twists?

The bartender knew me well by now. He threw me a flirtatious wink and said a few teasing things.

I didn’t respond.

After a while, there was a commotion behind me.

A man suddenly threw himself onto the seat beside me, looking utterly panicked.

In an extraordinarily casual way, he revealed his fragrant shoulder, along with an expression pitiful enough to make anyone’s heart ache.

A group of people behind him grabbed him.

He grabbed me.

Me: ?

The handsome guy said, “Please, save me. My dad owes them money, and they want to take me as repayment.”

“Help me. I’ll do anything.”

Like I said, if something happens, go to the police. Do I really need to teach kindergarten-level common sense?

I was a little amazed. So this time, they had even added a script.

The people grabbing him looked at me. “Do you know him?”

I flung the handsome guy’s hand away. “No. Take him.”

The handsome guy froze.

His expression cracked a little.

After I had refused to follow the script again and again, he was starting to get irritated.

If this went on, he would lose this job too.

So he simply went all in and stopped following the script as well.

“She’s my sugar mommy. She keeps me. She’ll pay my debt for me.”

?

Are honest women like us really that easy to slander?

Amused, I said, “Little brother, I’m from the countryside. Where would I get the money to keep you? I’ve got two hundred bucks in my pocket at most. If that makes me your sugar mommy, you’re pretty cost-effective.”

The handsome guy’s expression went blank.

Then he gritted his teeth and said, “If you don’t have money, why are you drinking something this expensive?”

I said, “The bartender has a crush on me, so I’m drinking for free.”

Handsome guy: “…”

The bartender said happily, “You’ve finally noticed my feelings? Is it my turn to rise to the top this time?”

I said, “Think it through. If you rise to the top, your bartending skills won’t be worth anything to me anymore.”

The handsome guy was furious. He had probably never suffered this kind of crushing defeat before.

He was pretty, and since he was young, he had benefited from his looks more times than anyone could count.

Besides, that person had also said his looks were exactly the type she liked.

Yet I ignored him again and again. I would rather flirt with a bartender who wasn’t as good-looking as him than spare him another glance.

He really did want to climb up through me, cross class barriers, and solve his current troubles.

The people behind him who had come to grab him started getting impatient. One of them seized his collar directly.

He said, “Since she doesn’t know him, take him away.”

The handsome guy panicked and grabbed me again.

“Wait. What I said is true. They really are here to take me. They’ll beat me. Please help me.”

The pity in his eyes didn’t look fake.

It was possible this really was true.

He had simply gone with the flow, hoping I would heroically rescue the beauty.

Then he could naturally create a connection with me.

But I didn’t say anything.

The light in the handsome guy’s eyes gradually dimmed.

Just as they were grabbing him by the collar and about to drag him away, security arrived in time.

I said, “These people aren’t here to spend money. If things get ugly later, I’m afraid it’ll be hard for you to explain it to your boss.”

The security guards all recognized me.

I came here often to drink, and I also knew their boss.

Security promptly restrained the men and escorted them out.

The handsome guy stood beside me, still badly shaken, his pretty face pale with fright.

I said, “This is a civilized bar. Next time you run into trouble, go straight to security. Isn’t that easier than asking a stranger for help?”

The handsome guy mumbled and said nothing.

But for the rest of the night, he sat beside me and refused to move away.

When I finished drinking and left, he followed right behind me, step for step.

At the bar entrance, I turned to look at him. “Why are you following me? I’m really not rich. I don’t have the money to keep you.”

I had thrown all my money into starting a business and investing. As for drinking, other people were genuinely paying for it.

Even the places I stayed were borrowed from whoever I could impose on.

If I hadn’t had some social finesse, I probably would have ended up living in a basement.

The handsome guy looked a little pitiful as he said, “I-I’m scared they’ll come back.”

I said, “Oh. I’m scared too.”

“Then you should really stay farther away from me. What if they think we’re together and beat me up too?”

Handsome Guy: “…”

With heartfelt sincerity, I said, “Young man, you’re still so young. You’ve got hands and feet. Why take shortcuts? Wouldn’t it be better to find a proper job and work hard?”

Shortcuts, of course, were best taken with as few people around as possible.

That way, my own path would be much smoother.

The handsome guy curled his lip and muttered, “With a face and body like mine, I was born to marry up.”

“You saying all that just means you look down on me. I saw you making friends with all those rich and powerful people. How bad off could you possibly be?”

His eyes reddened. “Either way, today is almost over. At least let me die knowing why. What exactly about me is not good enough for you? Am I not pretty?”

I said, “You are.”

“But I can’t afford to keep a tender young thing like you.”

He wanted to marry up, but I wanted to marry up too.

After mooching off Jiang Zhiyan for so long, the truth was that he had been the one spending money to support me. Food, drinks, housing, all of it depended on him.

If I got together with this handsome guy, I might even have to spend money supporting him.

I couldn’t bear to part with the cash.

Although, from the look of things, Ning Hanzhou would probably cover our living expenses.

But poor men like this really couldn’t be provoked lightly.

Just like poor women like me couldn’t be provoked lightly either.

Maybe because our family backgrounds were similar, our mindsets were a little similar too. People who were too alike couldn’t be together.

Our character classes overlapped.

As we were talking, another familiar, exasperated voice rang out behind me.

I turned around. Why was it Jiang Zhiyan again?

We had already broken up. Was he still coming to the bar to catch me?

Jiang Zhiyan shoved the handsome guy away.

“Who are you? What filthy thing crawled out of whatever gutter to come cling to someone above your station?”

After pushing him aside and insulting him, he turned and glared at me.

“You can even bring yourself to kiss trash like this? Aren’t you afraid of catching something?”

The handsome guy’s expression turned awful.

Through gritted teeth, he said, “Don’t spread rumors about me. I’m so clean I haven’t even given away my first kiss.”

That, I believed.

The bullet comments said everyone Ning Hanzhou picked was a one hundred percent pure man.

If they didn’t keep themselves clean, I could watch them as many times as I wanted and he still wouldn’t send them over.

The handsome guy then moved weakly closer to me and said, “Miss, who is this person? His temper is so violent. Were you with someone like this before? That must have been exhausting.”

“If I were with you, I could never bear to lose my temper at you.”

Jiang Zhiyan exploded.

He lashed out without thinking. “What are you playing innocent for? Dressed so disgustingly, spraying on that foul perfume, just waiting to come out at night and solicit customers, huh? Shameless slut.”

“Jiang Zhiyan, shut up.”

I called his name to stop him.

The handsome guy pressed closer behind me.

His eyes were red. “Miss, is he insulting me because I’m standing too close to you? It’s fine if he insults me. Please don’t fight because of me.”

Why did I have to be dragged into this chaotic scene?

If this were someone else’s drama, I would have bought popcorn and sat down to watch.

But when I was the person involved, it made my scalp tingle.

Jiang Zhiyan stared in disbelief, unable to accept that I had actually told him to shut up for an outsider.

“Qian Yunuo, you’re really something. You told me to shut up for some cheap slut.”

His eyes were red. “You’ve found someone willing to play all those tricks with you, haven’t you? Someone with self-respect buried all the way in the dirt. Of course he’d be more willing than me to play along to the end.”

“I’m so glad I broke up with you. You fickle, loose, wicked woman.”

“Don’t even think about making me turn back. I never want to see you again. I hate you. I hate you!”

Then he ran off again.

Throughout the whole thing, I had only said one sentence.

Was that really necessary?

When we were playing those tricks, I hadn’t felt Jiang Zhiyan had all that much self-respect either.

The handsome guy watched him leave with a smug look.

Then he turned to me, eyes sparkling.

His hand was still clutching my sleeve.

I tugged it free.

I couldn’t even be bothered to call a cab anymore. I would wait for Ning Hanzhou to pick me up. If I could avoid spending money, I would avoid spending money.

In the early stage of a startup, every penny had to be spent where it mattered.

While he hadn’t arrived yet, I chatted idly with the handsome guy to pass the time.

“You saw it yourself. I’m friends with those rich and powerful people because I dated a rich young master.”

“So if you’re trying to marry up, you’ve really got the wrong person. My registered hometown is a village so remote even delivery services can’t reach it.”

“Run a background check on me if you don’t believe it.”

The handsome guy’s face flushed slightly. “Oh. But after tonight, I feel like you’re really interesting. I really want to be with you.”

I said, “Even if I only have two hundred yuan?”

He nodded excitedly.

I was puzzled. Exactly how much money had Ning Hanzhou given him?

And why didn’t he give that money to me?

I said, “You need to stay true to yourself. Since you want to be a vain, status-climbing gold digger, you absolutely cannot find a poor woman and live a hard life. Even if you’re taking a shortcut, you can’t give up halfway.”

The handsome guy said, “But you were the one who just told me not to take shortcuts. I’ve thought it through now. I want to live a grounded life with you.”

I said, “…Shortcuts are fine once in a while.”

Could they please stop using this kind of top-tier man to tempt honest women like us?

Besides, what exactly was he pretending for?

Would being with me really mean living a hard life?

Wasn’t he getting wages from Ning Hanzhou?

If we actually dated, wouldn’t Ning Hanzhou still be supporting the two of us?

Why was he acting like a devoted, righteous good boy who wasn’t vain or money-grubbing?

Unlike me. I was greedy for money and beauty, and I didn’t pretend otherwise at all.

After all, my surname was Qian. Who would believe I was indifferent to fame and fortune?