Chapter 133: Strange, Really Strange… Is This Also a Plot from My Love Rival?
It was just a photo where we made a heart shape with our hands.
No big deal.
Lin Yibai kept telling herself it was nothing.
But when they took the picture, they stood pretty close. Her cheeks turned a little red, and she could smell the love rival’s scent. Weird thing is… it actually smelled kinda nice!
Yep, something’s definitely off! She felt really strange today.
At the top of the couple’s boardwalk, above the shining lights of the city, her face got even redder. Thankfully, the walk was over now!
Xia Changyu saved 60 yuan and said with a smile, “How about we grab some spicy hot pot together? Or let's go to the supermarket together to buy groceries, and you can make a feast.”
Wow, he’s really using my own words against me. Didn't I say that kind of thing earlier?
What's next? Are you going to ask me to cook for you every day like a wife serving her husband?
Not happening. Never.
Feeling confused about her own behavior and unable to explain it, Lin Yibai shook her head and politely said, “No, thanks. My mind’s a little messy right now… I want to go rest alone.”
Xia Changyu offered, “I’ll walk you home.”
But she quickly refused, “No need, really. I just want to be alone and calm down, okay?”
And with that, she walked away by herself.
She found a cheap hotel for the weekend and checked in. Maybe she was really tired, because her head was spinning and she quickly fell asleep.
Then she had nightmares all night.
In the dream, she was doing the love rival’s laundry, cooking for him, taking care of his kids, being a housewife, teaching their child?!
In the dream, she was hitting the kid’s butt with a hanger and shouting. “Ugh, why did I marry your stupid dad, my stinky love rival?! I can’t deal with him, but I can still deal with you!“
Right then, Xia Changyu came home from work. That night, he threw Lin Yibai on the bed and said something like, “Oh, you’re tough on our kid? Then let me be tough on you~ I want another child~”
Things got wild. Very wild.
The battle was intense, the “fireworks” never stopped.
Early next morning, sunlight came through the window. Lin Yibai suddenly woke up in shock.
“AAAAHHH! Stupid love rival, I’m gonna kill you!”
Then she realized it was just a dream?!
Oh… good...
Wait, NO! That’s not okay!
She had dreamt about doing it with that guy all night long, and that guy was her love rival!
No need to think about it, it was definitely that date last night that caused this crazy dream. Otherwise, how would she have a dream like that?
Ugh, what is happening with her life?! Luckily, it was only a dream.
Lin Yibai took a cold shower to cool down, and told herself.
“Dreams are usually the opposite of reality. If I did that much in the dream, then in real life, maybe I won’t do it even once, right?”
After that, she dried off, changed clothes, lit some calming incense, cleared her mind, and started looking for a part-time job.
No more wild thoughts, the goal was to make more money before summer break, so she wouldn’t feel bad when renting a place.
She searched: “Part-time jobs for women.”
Very quickly, a lot of jobs for girls popped up. Some of them looked fun and easy, but sadly, they were all a bit far away.
In the end, she chose one. A part-time job wearing a mascot costume in front of a bubble tea shop to get customers.
She didn’t really understand why a job that needs strength, patience, and wearing a heavy costume all day…
…would still say “girls preferred”?
Was it because the HR manager was a woman and liked hiring girls?
Lin Yibai didn’t get it. She was even a little shocked. After all, this kind of job seems more suited for guys, right?
But, whatever. She didn’t want to think too much about it.
Since she was a girl, and this was a “girl benefit,” she decided to just take the job.
After all, it was close to campus, and the pay wasn’t bad either.
It was a newly opened bubble tea shop chain. Her work started at 4:00 in the afternoon and lasted until around 10:30 at night.
As soon as Lin Yibai put on the ‘bear’ mascot head, a wave of heat rushed over her. She couldn’t help but say to herself.
“Good thing this job starts in the evening. If it was during the day, I’d get heatstroke for sure!”
The costume itself was okay, but the headpiece was a little heavy. Also, people kept patting the mascot’s head.
Ouch, it hurt!
There were also lots of people taking pictures with her. Before long, sweat was already dripping down her chin, but she had to keep going.
During her break, Lin Yibai checked her phone. She saw that Xia Changyu had sent a bunch of messages.
Meanwhile, the guys from her dorm? Barely any.
She pouted and said, “Hmph! And they call themselves my brothers? In one whole day, they don’t message me as much as that annoying guy does in just an hour!”
But honestly, the messages from her dorm mates weren’t very exciting. They just asked her to bring back some local snacks.
Like she has that many hometown specialties lying around! Since she just started working at this bubble tea place, maybe she could bring them a few cups instead?
Xia Changyu’s messages were different, he was asking her to go shopping or eat together.
Seriously though, who has time to go out with him every day? Don’t you need to make money too, dude?
You gave me a rose yesterday. I haven’t even figured out what kind of gift I should give back yet!
So maybe we don’t need to go on dates all the time, alright? My wallet is crying!
Wait, what? You say she’s a girl now? So what if I’m a girl now?
Just because I turned into a girl, doesn’t mean I can go out and eat for free all the time, like some guy is my walking wallet!
Still, she found time to reply to Xia Changyu. “What is it? I’m working right now, so no shopping or meals, okay?”
The next second—
Ding-dong!
A message from Xia Changyu. “Where are you working part-time?”
Lin Yibai replied, “Can’t you just say what you want directly? Is it that hard?”
Geez… why is it so hard to just ask someone out on a date?
After yesterday, Xia Changyu felt really confident. He thought now was the perfect time to act, he should take the chance while things were going well.
But clearly, this girl was still hard to deal with. If she could say no, she absolutely would. Obviously, a date wasn’t going to work right now.
So, he changed tactics.
Xia Changyu typed, “It’s about the project from before. I need your help with something.”
Lin Yibai: “?”
Wait a minute, did something go wrong with that project? Was he going to ask me to pay for the damage?
For a second, Lin Yibai almost blocked him. She even thought of replying, ‘The project is already finished. There’s no after-sales service, okay?’
But… she had taken money for that job.
If it was just a question, maybe she could answer.
She took a deep breath and replied, “Okay, what’s the problem?”
Xia Changyu quickly wrote.
“After you finished the project, we had a meeting and everyone thought it turned out great. So we officially decided to expand our domestic business department. We’ve already picked the first group of staff. Could you help manage things a bit?”
Lin Yibai answered honestly. “Manage their work? I’m not the leader of this new team. Isn’t that kind of weird?”
Xia Changyu replied, “But this project started with you. In a way, you’re the founder of the whole department. Right now, the new team members are all trying to fight for leadership, and no one wants to listen to each other. But if it’s you, who would dare say no?”
Lin Yibai: “……”
That message felt a little suspicious.
Why does it have to be her? Was this some sneaky plan to keep her close?
And honestly, all this talk about a new department left Lin Yibai kind of lost. She felt like she hadn’t really done that much, yet somehow she suddenly had subordinates?
Wait, what? I became a team leader?!
I have people working under me now?!