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Xu Ye regretted it.
Popcorn and soda didn’t fill his hunger at all.
He had been in the store less than two hours when his stomach started growling.
Leaning against the counter, he took out his phone and sent a message to Chen Qingqing: “I regret not letting you treat me to dinner this evening. I’m starving now.”
Chen Qingqing, who was eating cake with Chen Hansong and Jiang Meilin, heard her phone ring. She guessed it was probably Xu Ye. In front of the two, she deliberately unlocked her phone and replied to Xu Ye.
“Serves you right~”
Xu Ye angrily texted back, “Your boyfriend is hungry!”
Chen Qingqing’s cheeks flushed. “Shut up!”
Chen Hansong saw the little expression on his daughter’s face and almost rolled his eyes out of their sockets.
He had already imagined the chat log between Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing:
Fool: “Baby, are you home yet?”
Dear daughter: “I’m eating cake.”
Fool: “I’m hungry too.”
Dear daughter: “Do you want some?”
Fool: “I don’t want cake.”
Fool: “I want you.”
“…”
Chen Hansong’s scalp tingled.
Chen Qingqing quickly typed back, “Do you believe I’ll block you right now?”
Xu Ye: “Forget it, a guest just arrived. Not chatting with you anymore.”
Their conversation ended there.
Seeing Chen Qingqing put down her phone, Chen Hansong inexplicably let out a long sigh of relief.
Jiang Meilin noticed that half the cake on the table was untouched, so she said to Wang Ruxue, “Ruxue, why don’t you take this cake home?”
Wang Ruxue hesitated slightly, “Director Jiang, I’ve been trying to lose weight lately. Eating something so sweet at night, I’m afraid…”
“Aunt Wang.”
Chen Qingqing suddenly interrupted, “Then help me take the leftover cake to the tavern we went to last time.”
Chen Hansong and Jiang Meilin looked puzzled.
Wang Ruxue was surprised, “You want me to take it… to that Xu Ye?”
“Yes.”
After hearing this, Chen Hansong stood up straight from the sofa, tightened his belt, and said grimly, “I’m going to the restroom.”
Jiang Meilin glanced at Chen Qingqing, then finally nodded slightly at Wang Ruxue.
Wang Ruxue wrapped up the cake and drove to the tavern.
…
Around ten o’clock.
Wang Ruxue walked into the tavern carrying the cake.
Pei Youwei was very surprised to see Wang Ruxue, since she usually only came by every so often.
“Ruxue, looks like you’re not busy lately?”
Wang Ruxue shook her head with a bitter smile. “I’m here on a mission.”
“A mission?”
“Where’s Xu Ye?”
“That kid was just here a moment ago.”
Zhang Xiaonuan, standing nearby, reminded them, “Boss, he just went into the restroom.”
Pei Youwei asked curiously, “Are you looking for him because of something?”
Wang Ruxue nodded and held up the cake in her hand. “Qingqing asked me to bring this cake to him.”
Pei Youwei was stunned.
Women would always be interested in gossip, whether they were eighteen, twenty-eight, or thirty-eight.
She quickly stepped out from behind the counter, her face full of curiosity. “Are they… together now?”
“It’s complicated.”
Wang Ruxue was about to explain when Xu Ye came out of the restroom. She stepped forward and handed him the cake.
Xu Ye looked a little confused. “What’s this?”
Wang Ruxue answered simply, “Qingqing asked me to give this to you.”
“Ah?”
Xu Ye really hadn’t expected it. He reached out to take the cake, and the confused expression on his face quickly turned into a smile. “Looks like she has some conscience after all.”
Wang Ruxue wanted to ask a few more questions but held back.
This kind of thing wasn’t her place to interfere with. Anyway, Director Jiang already knew about it and would handle it.
With that thought, Wang Ruxue said goodbye to Pei Youwei and then turned to leave.
Xu Ye carried the cake to the counter and saw it was a Black Forest cake. Having never eaten such an expensive cake before, he quickly cut himself a large piece, ready to fill his empty stomach.
Just as he was about to take a bite, he looked up and noticed three pairs of eyes staring at him.
“What are you all staring at?”
“Be honest—what’s going on here?”
Xu Ye was puzzled. “What do you mean, what’s going on?”
“The cake. Didn’t you say dating was pointless? Why did Chen Qingqing send you cake?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Then make it short!”
Xu Ye sighed and explained, “I helped her out with something, so she owes me a favor. I just sent you a message saying I was hungry, and then she had Aunt Wang bring the cake over.”
“What kind of help?”
“Well… that’s a secret for now.”
“Hmm~~~” Pei Youwei clicked her tongue repeatedly, her little look clearly saying: Look at all the messy things you get yourself into.
Xu Ye, already dizzy from hunger, didn’t bother explaining further. He grabbed his fork and started devouring the cake.
After two pieces, he finally felt somewhat ‘alive’ again.
“There’s a little left. Do you want some?”
Zhou Ying snorted softly, crossing her arms. “This is a heartfelt dinner meant for someone special. I’m not touching it.”
“Exactly.”
Xu Ye slapped his forehead. “You guys are unbelievable.”
…
11:20 p.m.
After work, Xu Ye ran all the way home. By the time he finished showering and lay down on the bed, it was already past midnight.
Despite being exhausted from the day, Xu Ye didn’t go straight to sleep.
First, he downloaded a stock trading app and went through the whole process: registration, login, identity verification, linking his bank card, and so on. Finally, he had his own stock trading account.
He transferred all the money he currently had—exactly nine hundred yuan—into that account.
Five hundred yuan was pocket money his Mother had given him; he had already deposited the cash into his bank card that afternoon when getting it.
The other four hundred yuan came from the red envelopes Pei Youwei had sent him.
Although it wasn’t much, it was a start.
Xu Ye had already decided that, aside from necessary living expenses, all his money would be saved in his stock account for the time being.
The current A-share market index was just above 2,000 points, still far from 5,000. For Xu Ye, this meant that in the coming year, there were unlimited possibilities waiting for him in the stock market.
Which stock should he buy first with this money?
The Belt and Road Initiative had been proposed last September and October. After this policy was introduced, many related sectors were expected to grow…
Xu Ye casually browsed through the options and finally picked a trade sector stock priced a little over three yuan. He invested all his 900 yuan into it.
After finishing this, Xu Ye put his phone on the bedside table to charge, turned off the light, and went to sleep.
…
The next morning, just past ten o’clock.
“That Stone guy is such a noob. We’ve been behind a few times already. Damn it, if I’d known you were this bad, I wouldn’t have picked Yasuo.”
Qin Zhiwei sat shirtless in front of his computer, angrily typing and arguing with the top-lane Stone player.
The top-lane Stone player didn’t back down either, and the two exchanged insults back and forth in the game’s public chat.
The match ended exactly at twenty minutes with a surrender.
Looking at the stats:
Stone: 2 kills, 9 deaths, 3 assists
Yasuo: 1 kill, 7 deaths, 5 assists
Both were equally bad. Just as Qin Zhiwei was fuming and ready to solo Stone, his computer’s QQ icon blinked.
It was a message from Gu Mengyao.
Rose Girl: Are you there?
…