Chapter 135: Is the Curse That Before Marriage, She’s Already Imagined the Wedding Night?
Was it really necessary to get that excited just for returning a gift?
But thinking more carefully, Xia Changyu’s reaction actually makes sense!
What guy wouldn’t be thrilled to receive a gift from the girl he likes?
The scary part is when the gifts feel endless, like there’s no finish line, and no response either. Like falling into a deep hole… with no way out?
Lin Yibai wondered if she should calm down her overly excited love rival. She quietly explained, “I saw that you don’t even have a proper keyboard and mouse at work. I remember you were still using A4Tech, right?”
Xia Changyu nodded with a silly smile, “Yeah, when we were buying computers for the company, they gave us a lot of A4Tech keyboards and mouse.”
Lin Yibai turned her head and asked, “You don’t think the gift I gave you is too cheap, do you? I actually wanted to get you a mechanical keyboard, but the ones that look good and work well are way too expensive. It’s not that I didn’t want to give it to you, it's just really expensive, and I can’t afford it.”
A mechanical keyboard?
Even just getting a nice and useful mouse already made Xia Changyu so happy he could laugh in his sleep.
To him, the mouse Lin Yibai gave was much more than just a tool. He didn’t even want to use it. It was too special.
It should be treated like a collectible figure you love. When he gets home, he’ll build a display case for it.
Xia Changyu was in an extremely good mood. He said, “I didn’t expect you to know so much about computer accessories!”
Lin Yibai proudly replied, “Are you kidding? I may not know lipstick colors, but I really know my tech gear.”
“Then do you have any recommendations for a mechanical keyboard?”
Lin Yibai answered without thinking much, “Even though the local brands are getting better, the ones under 500 yuan are hit or miss in quality. So it’s best to go with a well-established brand, Cherry keyboards are pretty good. Make sure it’s white or ivory white, and it has to have lights. If you're past the hardcore gaming phase, then just go for the brown switches. They work for everything.”
Cherry, white, RGB lights, brown switches, Xia Changyu quietly memorized all of it.
If a girl didn’t really care, how could she know so much about computer gear?
So what Xia Changyu could do in return was to take action. She likes it so much, why not give her one too?
Xia Changyu had already made up his mind. She gave him a return gift, so he’ll just give one back, right?
Looks like this gift exchange could go on forever.
What, you're saying it'll stop once I win them over?
Can't you give gifts after you start dating?
Can't you give gifts after you get married?
Wait… why am I thinking about marriage?
Then he reached the familiar street corner.
Sigh, time to say goodbye again.
Lin Yibai never let him walk her all the way home. After the traffic light, she disappeared into the glowing lights of the night.
The summer night wind was a bit warm. Lin Yibai checked her phone balance.
“Made 360 from my side job, minus the mouse and hotel money, and I still have 30 to 50 yuan left. Nice!”
But still, why give such a nice gift to a love rival? For a regular guy, a 200 yuan mouse is already a great gift.
And after giving the gift… It seemed like there was a little bit of happiness and joy?
Lin Yibai used to give gifts to her ex-girlfriend, Gu Xiaoxue, too. But the feeling back then was completely different.
It was like, ‘When I gave Gu Xiaoxue gifts before, I always worried about running out of money. I’d wonder, where can I get more money to make her happy? But now, giving a gift to Xia Changyu…’
Lin Yibai didn’t fully understand what was happening now. She could only say that the feeling really was different. This time, giving the gift felt natural. It felt joyful and cheerful.
She couldn’t help but grab her chest, feeling the strong beating of her heart, thump thump thump, her face turning slightly red.
Then she spat lightly and muttered, “Ugh, what a stupid thought. What am I thinking?! Gross~”
Back at the hotel, she took a cold shower to calm down. After coming out wrapped in a towel, she threw herself onto the bed and buried everything that happened tonight into her dreams.
Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any more nightmares.
No more dreaming about that annoying love rival.
No marrying him.
No...
The next morning, she woke up suddenly, staring at the white curtain glowing under the bright morning sun.
It looked… kind of like the bottom of a wedding dress. Did she dream again?
The weather at around 8 or 9 a.m. was really pleasant. It made Lin Yibai suddenly not want to move at all.
But guys don’t get to rest, right? At the very least, she had to make enough money today to cover the hotel stay.
“Ahh~~ I don’t want to work, I don’t want to do side jobs. If only a rich woman could fall from the sky and take care of me.”
Lin Yibai sighed a little. Maybe this was one of those moments of laziness and confusion?
Of course, there was no rich woman. But what about a tall, rich, handsome guy who's been waiting for her?
Anyway, she should think about what part-time job to do today.
Hand out flyers at Century City? Help with a store event at Taihe Plaza?
Or maybe...
Just as she was getting bored of all these part-time gigs and wanted to take a break from everything, that annoying love rival sent her a work document.
[Here’s your work for today. If possible, have a meeting online with the new department. If not, just write down the tasks and assign them in the document, that’s fine too. Everyone’s waiting for you!]
After reading the message, Lin Yibai’s eyes lit up.
Even though she had been feeling lazy and unmotivated, this job didn’t seem so bad?
She thought about the people she met in the online meeting last night. They were all technically her team members!
That’s when Lin Yibai suddenly realized she wasn’t really lost or lazy. She was just tired of random, unstable part-time jobs. She really wanted something more steady and reliable.
Of course, she was still stubborn with her words. She refused to admit that it was that annoying love rival who made her feel safe and steady.
Even though Xia Changyu had already made things clear, he sent a message saying,
“It’s still a job, after all. I don’t know why you don’t really want to work part-time with me directly, so how about being an online consultant instead? You can help arrange tasks for the new department. But the pay might not be that great.”
Lin Yibai typed and asked, “How much?”
Xia Changyu thought for a moment and gave a reasonable rate.
“150 yuan per day. That’s the normal daily wage for regular staff. I can’t openly pay you more than that. But if you come work in the office, that would be a different story.”
Lin Yibai asked again, “How much for working in the office?”
Xia Changyu replied, “Management gets 200 yuan per day, and there’s extra commission based on the department’s performance.”
It wasn’t Xia Changyu being strict with the rules. He just really wanted Lin Yibai to come work at his company so they could spend time together every day.
Unfortunately, she chose the first option.
Xia Changyu sighed softly and typed, “You really won’t come work here in person?”
Lin Yibai typed back, “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I naturally feel distant from teachers and bosses. If I work in your office, then you’d be my boss. Don’t tell me you want to be like those drama CEOs who act all powerful and do weird things to their female employees?”
“What weird things?”
“You know, like slamming your hand on the wall next to her, or on a chair, or a desk, or pushing her onto the sofa, or against a big glass window... slam!”
Xia Changyu: “???”
He had seen the classic “wall slam” move in many cheesy romance dramas. But chair slam? Desk slam? Sofa slam? Slamming someone against a floor-to-ceiling glass window?
Oh my god! Where did the girl I like even learn this kind of strange knowledge?!
Brothers, I swear, she's definitely flirting with me in the weirdest way, and I have proof.
Meanwhile, back in the hotel...
Lin Yibai was furiously hitting the “unsend” button. But sadly, the time limit for deleting the message had already passed.
She let out a loud wail. “What am I doing?! I actually hinted at some weird stuff to a guy who likes me?!”
Aaaaah! So tired of everything, just let the world end!
She could only try to comfort herself. “It’s a good thing I definitely won’t marry that annoying guy in the future. Otherwise, everything I just said... He might actually try to do all of it someday!”
They weren’t even officially dating yet and she was already talking like she had “pre-ordered” their future bedroom scenes?
So this must be a curse, the most evil curse she had placed on herself since becoming a girl!
“Ugh, why do I keep thinking about these strange things lately? I can’t believe I typed out words that hinted at doing that with him? This is not normal at all!”
Lin Yibai scratched her head, looking around her hotel room.
Everyone knows some hotels are rumored to be haunted or have weird stories.
So clearly, she must be possessed!
That’s the only reason she would think about such strange things, right?
She said out loud. “Yep, definitely possessed.”
It’s definitely not my fault. It’s this cursed hotel room!