Chapter 263: Are You Trying to Get Me Drunk and Do Something Bad?
Lately, Lin Yibai has been busy going back and forth between school and the local police station.
This added some life to her otherwise boring daily life. It was definitely better than just waking up every day worrying about how others had already found jobs or internships, while she was still being lazy at her apartment.
There wasn’t much to say about her work at the police station. Mostly just patching things up here and there. But the things happening at school really surprised her in a good way.
She had filled out a bunch of forms, but was still unsure and asked, “All these funds from school, the awards for outstanding students, scholarships, bonus money and such. Are you sure I’m allowed to take them?”
Her counselor immediately gave her a look and said, “Don’t you count as one of our outstanding students? You were chosen as the city’s legal publicity ambassador! Some students get called ‘excellent’ just for winning some tiny ‘civilized student’ award. Why shouldn’t you qualify?”
Lin Yibai said, “But... me?”
The counselor tried to comfort her, “Don’t look down on yourself.”
Lin Yibai: “……”
The counselor took a deep breath and added in a serious tone, “If I weren’t worried it might hurt your image, I was even thinking of putting you down as a financially struggling student.”
Lin Yibai was shocked and quickly stopped him, “Ah! No no no, please don’t. I may not have found a job yet, but I’m not that desperate!”
The counselor shook her head and sighed, “It’s not what you think. Since you’re about to graduate, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
Lin Yibai: “?”
The counselor continued, “Do you really think there are that many truly poor students in a school? Of course, we can’t dig too deep into that. But it's kind of like company budgeting, you know? If you don’t use the budget approved this year, next year they’ll cut your budget. Same thing with the school. If our department doesn’t use up the number of spots for financial aid, they’ll take those spots away and give them to other departments. Get it?”
Lin Yibai nodded, “I get it.”
Here’s a simpler example, let’s say your parents give you 1,000 yuan a month for living expenses. Then you tell them you didn’t use it all this month, and you don’t need that much. Next month, they cut it down to 800 yuan and give your sibling an extra 200 yuan.
Can you live with that?
Going from 1,000 yuan to 800 yuan doesn’t need any reason. But to go from 800 yuan back to 1,000 yuan, you’ll need to explain yourself in a hundred different ways. Understand?
The counselor patted her on the shoulder and said kindly, “Anyway, no need to stress too much about job hunting. I heard you're planning to take the civil service exam? Then just focus on preparing for that. Even if it doesn’t work out, just give me a call. I have a few former students doing pretty well, I can introduce you to them.”
Lin Yibai said sweetly, “Thank you, teacher.”
Soon after, she left the school.
The money from the school really helped her out. After all, she had been staying in her apartment every day without going out to work. Her little savings stash had almost run out.
The money she earned from her part-time jobs had long been spent on rent and living expenses.
She had actually thought about just letting Xia Changyu support her, he did seem happy to do that...
But unfortunately! Lin Yibai just couldn’t bring herself to cross that line!
As the weather got colder, she continued preparing hard for the exam. At the same time, the new promotional booklet from the district office was finally ready.
Seeing her confident and cool photo in it...
Lin Yibai was so excited she almost shared it in the group chat. Luckily, she held back and said with a sigh.
“I just hope people don’t ask if I’m working in a government office now. Then I’ll have to explain that I was just a model for the photos. That would be so embarrassing!”
But this only made Lin Yibai even more determined to take the civil service exam. After all, this was the cold reality. If you can’t become super rich, then being a government worker is still a very respectable job.
As for making a lot of money for their future... She figured she could just leave that to Xia Changyu.
As the date of the national exam got closer, Lin Yibai, for once, started to feel a little anxious.
Meanwhile, Xia Changyu was finally having some free time. Since his business dealt with foreign trade, mostly overseas, it meant that the busiest time was before holidays like Christmas and New Year’s, when foreigners had time off.
He had already shipped out everything he needed to, and most of this year’s work was done. The rest could wait until next year.
Now, he focused all his attention on the girl.
He did the laundry, cooked meals, cleaned the apartment, and even gave her pep talks. "Baiyi, just relax! Treat it like a regular end-of-semester test. It’s nothing that serious."
Lin Yibai rubbed her temples and sighed, "But a regular exam doesn’t have 700 or 800 people fighting over one position! Do you think I aimed too high? Maybe I should’ve chosen a job with less competition."
Xia Changyu shrugged, “Given that this is a position at the subdistrict office, it’s unlikely there’s a role with lower competition than this."
Lin Yibai glared at him, "So what, are you calling me dumb now?"
Xia Changyu quickly defended himself, "No, no, I didn’t mean that at all! I swear, Baiyi, you’re always the best in my eyes… ah, never mind… anyway, we’re out of that hot pot seasoning at home. How about hot pot tonight?"
Lin Yibai frowned, clearly thinking about something, "Hot pot, huh? Are you trying to stay over again tonight?"
Xia Changyu pounded his chest and said proudly and seriously, "Baiyi, don’t you trust me? I, Xia Changyu, am a true gentleman!"
Lin Yibai: "Hmph~"
As if she didn’t already know what he was thinking. Ever since his work had become more relaxed, he had been showing up at her apartment every day, whether there was a reason or not.
He even started treating it like his own home.
Whenever they went out, he’d casually say things like, "Let’s go home," and "home" always meant her apartment.
And he was staying longer and longer. Wasn’t he going a bit too far?
The day before yesterday, his excuse was that the electricity went out in his luxury apartment downtown.
Come on… that place is in the city center. Power might go out in some parts of the city, but definitely not there. OK?
Yesterday’s excuse? His car broke down. Come on! Ever heard of ride-hailing apps?
At the very least, he could’ve called a tow truck. And besides, this morning he drove to the north side of the city just to buy breakfast. Clearly, the car was fine!
So what excuse would he use today?
Lin Yibai watched as he busily prepared ingredients for hot pot. Soup base, lamb slices, beef rolls, and all kinds of delicious food.
She quietly muttered to herself, "Don’t tell me today’s excuse is going to be, ‘We ate hot pot too late, and it’s unsafe for a guy to go home alone at night’?”
But clearly, she underestimated her boyfriend’s determination.
Xia Changyu brought out a whole box of alcohol, downed a couple of drinks right away. Well then, guess he really couldn’t drive home now.
That’s a lot of alcohol.
My boyfriend, let me ask you…
What do you want to do here?