Since there were no live streams these past few days, Gu Yueji calculated her income and expenses for the month.
She keeps a record of all expenses every month, including the cost of goods, shipping costs, and fees for live streaming, and finally calculates the profit.
Profits have increased in the past two months, but after deducting monthly debt payments, rent, and funds prepared for the next month, there isn't much left.
A few days ago, during a live stream, she was so distracted that she started changing clothes without stepping out of the camera's view. The platform flagged this as pornographic content, and she was forced to stop streaming for a few days. It's uncertain how much of the popularity she had painstakingly built up will remain in a few days.
The internet makes people's love and patience extremely short-lived and fleeting. So since she started live streaming, she has hardly stopped for a single day. Even just a few days of interruption has made her uneasy and anxious.
Feeling frustrated, Gu Yueji habitually opened the live streaming platform. Unable to stream, she could only open her personal profile and start replying to long-neglected private messages.
Ye Zurong used to check the messages every day to see replies, because there would occasionally be inquiries about collaborations. Now, Gu Yueji is too busy to handle everything herself and hasn't checked them in a long time.
Most of the private messages were about trivial things, but Gu Yueji had nothing better to do, so she read through the replies one by one.
Until I saw a message asking if we could meet offline and how much it would cost for one night.
Despite the disgust and insult, Gu Yueji only paused for a moment, then smiled.
This wasn't the first time she'd received such a private message. She remembered how angry she was when she first saw it and wanted to yell back, but Ye Zurong said it was better to avoid trouble and that she should just pretend she hadn't seen it and quietly close it.
Now, seeing this, she felt it was better to avoid trouble, but after thinking for a moment, she asked curiously, "How much do you think I'm worth?"
The private message was sent yesterday, and Gu Yueji didn't expect the other party to reply so quickly: "How about 3000 yuan?"
Gu Yueji burst out laughing when she saw the number.
It was higher than she had expected.
3,000 yuan a month, several times a month, is more than the amount she records in her notebook after working diligently for more than ten hours a day.
After logging out of the platform, Gu Yueji picked up her keys and went out. She didn't have anywhere in particular she wanted to go; she just wanted to get some fresh air.
Finally, she went to a nearby supermarket. She likes shopping at supermarkets because she finds them a great way to de-stress. With a wide variety of goods to choose from, and being able to afford everything, she feels like she owns the entire supermarket.
Being able to afford it and being willing to buy it are two different things.
"Beautiful lady, would you like to buy some strawberries? These are authentic Dandong strawberries, with a rich flavor, purely sweet and no sourness. We have a promotion today, buy two boxes for only 320 yuan!"
Gu Yueji looked at the strawberries in front of her, wrapped like a gift in a box. These used to be her favorite fruit, but now they were something she couldn't afford. The small box cost 168 yuan. She carefully counted them; there were 12 strawberries in total. She always looked at them again and again, unable to bring herself to buy them.
Gu Yueji recalled one of her college roommates who often posted pictures of these strawberries on her WeChat Moments.
In college, both she and her roommate were from impoverished families. Gu Yueji had to rely on student loans and scholarships to work and study in order to complete her studies, while her roommate was luckier, as she had received financial aid for her tuition and living expenses since high school.
My roommate was also hardworking and diligent. She received scholarships every year during her four years of university and was an outstanding graduate of her class.
Just before graduation, she suddenly agreed to marry a wealthy man 13 years her senior, and immediately after graduation, she became a full-time housewife.
Her roommate cried to her, saying that the person who sponsored her called and scolded her for being unambitious and wasting her good intentions. But she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she did. There are many ways to strive for a better future, and her choice was just one of them.
Faced with her roommate's tearful complaints, Gu Yueji couldn't say anything. Just like now, looking at that box of strawberries, she was confused and didn't know what she was persisting in by working so hard.
When she finally checked out, her shopping basket still only contained a few household items and a few bottles of beer. She doesn't drink much and doesn't usually like to drink, but remembering that today was a special day, and given her current mood, she felt it was appropriate to have a little.
I had just gotten home and hadn't even turned on the lights when the phone rang.
In the pitch-black home, the phone screen was the only light, and the name on it was clearly and glaringly obvious.
Gu Yueji answered the phone without turning on the light, sitting on the floor with her back against the door.
"Yueyue."
The familiar and intimate tone made it seem as if nothing had changed.
Gu Yueji swallowed hard, suppressing the soreness in her throat, before asking coldly, "Why did you call?"
"sorry."
"Apologize for what?"
"I know Ma Chao called you a few days ago, but I couldn't answer your call," he paused, his voice lowering, "because..."
Gu Yueji deliberately chuckled, letting him hear her mockery, "Because you're afraid your wife will find out, is that it?"
Ye Zurong fell silent again, as was his habit.
"Why are you calling if it's inconvenient? I don't want to answer your calls either. Just don't give my number to your creditors again and say that your money is with me. I will never contact you again in my life."
Ye Zurong initially offered to share more of his debts, but Gu Yueji never contacted him again because she preferred to pay off her own debts rather than have anything to do with him anymore. However, she never expected that he would push even more unknown debts onto her.
"Tell me yourself, what money do you have here with me!" Gu Yueji shouted angrily into the phone.
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