Chapter 201: Relationships Are About Working Things Out, Can You Handle Me, Love Rival?
Dear Mr. Xia Changyu,
Did you get her message?
In a big apartment downtown, he of course saw the message from the girl he loved.
Xia Changyu couldn’t sleep. He kept tossing and turning. When he finally opened the message Lin Yibai sent him, he stared at it for a while and thought…
“Is she asking for money?”
Haha, just kidding.
Xia Changyu knew very well what kind of person Lin Yibai was. And if money could really solve everything, he wouldn’t be this troubled right now.
He quietly said to himself, “Money, huh…”
Then he fell deep into thought. He had never really thought about money before. It wasn’t until Lin Yibai brought it up that he realized how serious the problem was.
He admitted to himself, it was his fault for not thinking things through.
He thought that just because he didn’t have money problems, no one else did either. But is that really true?
If she had money, would Lin Yibai still be living in that old apartment?
If she didn’t need to save, would she still be comparing taxi prices to save a few bucks?
The rich students at their university had already used the summer to get their driver’s license, just waiting for school to start so they could show off their new cars.
Xia Changyu realized this was a real issue. So he tried to come up with a solution and said,
“It’s true I don’t lack money. If Baiyi needs it, I can send her thirty or fifty thousand right now.”
That’s what trust means, when you care about someone, giving them money doesn’t feel like a big deal.
But the real problem is, would Lin Yibai accept the money?
From what he knew about her, she probably wouldn’t.
If she was okay with taking money, she would’ve moved into his place already. If she was okay with that, he could be buying her gifts every day.
To put it simply, sending money is easy. Getting her to accept it is hard.
“Ugh…” Xia Changyu sighed and looked worried.
“I’ve been wanting her to come work at my company. But she just won’t agree. If she did, I could pay her a good salary, at least 10K per month. That would be the only proper way I could give her money.”
Still, there was no need to overthink it.
Why not just ask? Giving money directly is the simplest way, after all.
The clock on the wall showed it was already 1 a.m. But Xia Changyu still sent Lin Yibai a message.
“You know me. I mean no harm by this. I just wanted to say… if you don’t mind, can I send you some money?”
Excuse me, what the heck does “if you don’t mind” even mean??
In the old apartment building, Lin Yibai stared at her phone with that same face you’d see on old people looking at weird news on the subway.
Who would mind getting free money??
But then again...
If...
But...
Because...
What if...?
“Damn!” After all those thoughts, all that came out of Lin Yibai’s mouth was one word full of feeling.
She scratched her head, totally confused, and muttered, “That stupid love rival is really messing with me!”
Let’s be honest. Not being tempted by money? That’s a lie.
But this definitely felt like opening Pandora’s Box, once it’s open, you can’t go back.
She wanted to become the kind of girl she had in her heart. She wanted to gain respect and value from society by being true to herself. That had been her goal from the beginning.
But suddenly getting handed money from above? That was not part of the plan.
Her logic told her. No. Don’t accept it.
And since her annoying “love rival” was still awake…
Lin Yibai started a voice call with him on WeChat, put on her in-ear headphones, and after a few seconds, they could hear each other.
She curled up lazily in her computer chair by the desk and said softly, “Oh, so you’re still awake?”
Xia Changyu replied, “Yeah, couldn’t sleep.”
Lin Yibai hesitated, then asked, “Was it because of my message? Did that keep you up?”
Xia Changyu shook his head and said,
“Not just that. There’s also what I messaged you earlier. Have you thought about it? If you need money, I can send you thirty or fifty thousand right now.”
Lin Yibai shrugged, and after a while, she spoke seriously.
“I know you didn’t mean anything bad by it. That’s why I’m not going to argue with you about that part. But after thinking for a long time… I still can’t say yes.”
Xia Changyu asked, confused, “Why not?”
Lin Yibai said directly, “If we switched places, and you didn’t have money because you were dating me, and I wanted to send you some money, would you take it?”
Xia Changyu replied, “No, I wouldn’t.”
Lin Yibai smiled, “Then try to put yourself in my shoes!”
Xia Changyu said, “But—”
Lin Yibai let out a breath and interrupted him,
“No ‘buts’! This is a very easy example to understand. The main problem is that I’m not making as much progress in life as you are, so I can’t keep up with the way you spend money. If we switched roles, then you’d be the poor guy worrying about next month’s rent, and I’d be the rich girl spending thousands without a second thought. How could you ever keep up with me?”
Xia Changyu took a deep breath, a little shocked. He quickly explained,
“Baiyi, listen to me, I never, ever looked down on you. It’s just… your example kind of caught me off guard.”
Lin Yibai gave a small smile and said,
“I know what kind of person you are! A relationship is about working things out together. So as soon as I realized we had a problem, I came to talk to you about it.”
She already spoke using “we” and “us.” If she didn’t care about her “stupid love rival,” would she really bother having this talk?
When two people care about each other, the right thing to do isn’t to hide the problem. It’s to bring it out into the open and work together to find a solution.
That’s how a healthy relationship grows.
Xia Changyu thought for a moment and finally said,
“How about this, why don’t you come work at my company? I’ve said it before, the new department really needs someone like you to manage things, and the employees already respect you.”
You come work for me, and I’ll pay you a high salary, how about that?
It wasn’t a bad idea at all. She could improve her skills and earn money at the same time.
But if Lin Yibai really wanted to do that, she would’ve already said yes.
She didn’t have a problem with the high salary. She just didn’t like working under someone she was close to. That’s all.
And don’t bother asking why. She just didn’t like it. That’s it.
So, she immediately turned down Xia Changyu’s suggestion. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated and asked, “Then… do you have a better idea?”
Lin Yibai answered, “Of course I do!”
Xia Changyu’s eyes lit up. He quickly asked, “Tell me!”
“First,” Lin Yibai took a deep breath and sank deeper into her computer chair. “I will quickly improve myself and catch up to your spending level.”
Xia Changyu: “How about you just skip to the second one…”
Lin Yibai: “You jerk! You don’t believe in me?”
Xia Changyu shrugged and relaxed a little. “It’s not that I don’t believe in you. It just takes too long. Like you said, by the time the poor guy is good enough for the goddess, the goddess might already be old!”
“Second,” Lin Yibai hesitated a bit, but still said, “If I can’t catch up to your spending level yet, then… maybe you could just lower your spending a little?”
Xia Changyu raised his eyebrows, “Give me the details!”
Lin Yibai sighed and said,
“1. You don’t have to spend thousands on gifts for me. Even a plush toy from a street shop for just a few bucks would make me happy. If you win a gift from a claw machine or ring toss game, I’ll think it’s amazing. I can also buy you a 10 or 15 yuan shirt or T-shirt in return.”
“2. You don’t have to take me to fancy restaurants or trendy cafés. If you give me an extra big chicken leg in the cafeteria, I’ll feel really loved. I’ll get you a dish of steamed eggs with minced meat to thank you too.”
“3. Shopping isn’t always about buying stuff. It’s about spending time together, walking and looking around. Milk tea isn’t very healthy anyway, how about you buy one for me one day, and I buy one for you the next? Every two or three days is enough.”
“4. I’ll add more if I think of anything.”
She was so sweet…
Xia Changyu swore that if he were right next to her now, he would have already picked her up and spun her around out of joy.
Yes, Xia Changyu’s family was rich. But his parents never taught him to waste money. And as the saying goes, “Marry a wise woman.”
The more he got to know her, the more grateful he felt that he was the one chasing after her.
He didn’t know how to describe how he felt right now. But it was probably something like pure happiness?
This feeling of liking someone, of chasing after her...
It was a really joyful thing!
But brothers, what do I do now? I want to spend all my money on her even more than before!