Chapter 14: Making Big Money by Being a Girl
[Dear smart friends, is there any way to make money fast? It’s urgent, I’m waiting online.]
Lin Yibai posted this question on an online forum. He heard that the people there are really talented and speak nicely.
Ding dong~
[There are many ways to make money, but you're still young, you can’t handle them.]
[All the fast ways to make money are written in the criminal law.]
[My income is over a million a year, but when it comes to fast money, let’s just say, those who know, know. And for those who don’t, I won’t explain. It’s too complicated and knowing won’t help you anyway…]
Lin Yibai made a tired face while looking at his phone on the subway.
Forum? More like a place to show off fake stories, still warm from the imagination.
People there definitely don’t speak as nicely as the folks on Tieba (another forum).
But one thing’s for sure, they’re really good at bragging.
After thinking about it, he just deleted the question. Instead of asking strangers, he figured he might as well ask his roommates.
Yang Chenjun, the other two roommates, and Lin Yibai himself (who used to suffer from the "money-sucking monster" that is dating), all had experience doing part-time jobs. So this kind of thing wasn’t new to them.
Making money the honest way? Sure, no problem.
But fast money? They didn’t really have a good way.
The problem was that Lin Yibai urgently needed to make a decent amount of money before May Day, to go to Binhai and stop his love rival from doing something bad.
He cleared his throat, stuck his head out from behind the bed curtain, and asked, “Hey brothers, do you know any good way to make a lot of money fast? Like, get-rich-in-one-night kind of fast.”
“Yes,” one roommate answered.
“Oh really?!”
“I figured out the schedule for the cash transport truck.”
“Get out of here! I’m serious!” Lin Yibai laughed and cursed playfully, then put his hands together in a begging pose. “Please, my good brothers, use your clever brains. I really need money right now!”
Seeing that he was serious, his roommates didn’t waste time. They started searching through all the part-time job groups online, even on local classified sites.
They were all experienced with part-time jobs, so they were good at spotting scams.
Soon, they found a few that looked okay.
Yang Chenjun forwarded one and asked, “Wanna go unload trucks at the warehouse? Twenty yuan per truck. Ten trucks gets you two hundred. A hundred trucks is two thousand. A thousand trucks and you’re rich…”
Before he could finish, the others quickly stopped him. Don’t be fooled by how “good” it sounded.
Twenty yuan per truck, ten trucks for two hundred, sounds easy. But what if every truck is full of bottled drinks? Then what?
“Brother Yang, those medium-sized trucks can carry four pallets of drinks each. One pallet is at least 600–700 pounds. You’re saying we carry several thousand pounds and only get 20 yuan? That’s worth it?!”
“Brother Chen, think twice!”
“Brother Chen, did you forget the last time we unloaded trucks? It was drinks, and we nearly died doing it!”
“......”
Clearly, they were all still a little traumatized. That kind of job just wasn’t worth it!
Never overestimate how kind those companies are. They won’t spend 200 yuan to hire one real worker. But they will spend that same amount to get four college students to work like donkeys unloading ten trucks.
“Well, what else do you expect? It’s hard to make money these days.” Yang Chenjun shrugged, saying he tried his best.
“Yeah, there’s no shortage of labor.”
“No, the problem is, they don’t want male workers anymore.”
“To be honest, Chenjun’s not wrong. This society isn’t nice to us guys. Damn those capitalists.”
Soon, the whole dorm room was in agreement. Everyone angrily started complaining and criticizing.
Lin Yibai knew the topic had reached its peak, but it also gave him a brand-new idea.
In regular jobs, as long as a girl doesn’t mess around, it really is easier for her to find better-paying and easier work compared to guys.
While talking with his roommates about how unfair society and greedy companies are, he also started browsing his phone for jobs.
【Store Sales Assistant: must look good, be talkative and good at communicating. 200 yuan/day. Requirement: female.】
【Cafe Waitress: 30 yuan/hour. Requirement: female.】
【Customer Service: 150 yuan/day. Requirement: female.】
“……”
Once he removed his “male” identity from the equation, Lin Yibai felt like the world suddenly became much kinder, no longer beating him down like before.
Looking at these jobs through the eyes of a guy pretending to be a girl, the world suddenly looked… easy.
30 yuan/hour for working at a cafe? Can guys even dream of that?
At most, guys get 12 yuan/hour to carry plates in a hotel, and sometimes those plates have 12 cans of heavy soup weighing dozens of pounds. Lin Yibai and his roommates had actually done that before.
Finally, Lin Yibai found what he was looking for:
【Expo greeter, receptionist, and guide. Some height and appearance requirements. Please don’t apply if you’re not serious. Pay ranges from 500–1000 yuan per day.】
Lin Yibai clenched his teeth and made a tough decision, “Alright, I’ll go with this one.”
Taking high-paying part-time jobs by pretending to be a girl. This was the “bad path” he was about to take.
They all made me turn into a girl anyway. From a practical point of view, Lin Yibai thought.
Why can’t I flip the situation and use being a girl to earn quick money instead?
This expo was government-sponsored and very legit, plus the pay was great.
Even though the job said “greeter,” it also involved being a guide, or even a front desk worker.
So Lin Yibai had to go!
He glanced at the date. There were less than three days left before the Fucheng Expo started.
“So that means I have to turn myself into a girl in three days?”
“Alright, alright!”
“For Binhai, for Xiaoxue, to keep an eye on that stupid rival and make sure he doesn’t do anything bad.”
Lin Yibai clenched his fist. He had no other choice, right?
He kept telling himself.
This isn’t because I want to change into a girl. I really just need the money. It’s all that stupid rival’s fault. I really want to corner him and shame him hard.
And so—
A mission to “turn into a girl” with a purpose began.
Current “female value” progress: 29%
“Last time it was because of relationship problems. I acted like a girl, got emotional, cried, and my progress shot up fast. But now?”
Lin Yibai tried to make himself cry again. He believed one thing girls often do is cry when watching sad shows.
So he opened a video app and picked the most tear-jerking anime people recommended.
“Your Lie in April”
“Hotarubi no Mori e”
“A Silent Voice”
“Angel Beats?”
“Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day”
...
After watching all the recommended shows...
Lin Yibai disagreed with one review that said, “If you don’t cry after watching these, are you even human?”
Excuse me, why wouldn’t I be human? Are they really that sad?
“Damn it, I wasted a whole month’s VIP subscription. This sucks!”
Lin Yibai wasn't even trying to cry anymore. He knew that instead of getting a few fake tears, his eyes would probably just feel like they were giving him a hard time.
Cry cry cry...
Cry your damn tears, you idiot.