Chapter 40 Bubbles
The morning in the depths of winter was frosty and chilly. As soon as she stepped downstairs, a biting cold permeated the air. Xia Zhiyu wrapped her scarf tighter, clasped her hands together, and breathed out warm air, silently planning her day's itinerary.
First, I'll go to the store to help out. After that, I'll go to the procuratorate to apply for access to the village's surveillance footage. In the afternoon, I'll interview several college students applying for part-time jobs, and in the evening, I'll edit out all the stockpiled goods from Wangcuo.
With a list of events to list, it was going to be another busy day. Xia Zhiyu sighed softly.
As Xia Zhiyu stepped out of her apartment building, her peripheral vision inadvertently swept over the parking lot downstairs, where an unfamiliar Cullinan stood out incongruously next to her beat-up little car.
This car has a high chassis and a large body. When it's placed next to her car, it looks like a giant standing next to a child, making her little old car look even more drab and dusty, as if it's covered in a layer of dirt.
What kind of person is so rude, parking in front of her family's old donkey that has been pulling a millstone for ten years when there are so many empty parking spaces?
Don't they know cars have self-respect too?
Xia Zhiyu's face fell, and she immediately decided to give her family a full-body pampering treatment that very night.
How much does it cost to maintain a car? Xia Zhiyu frowned and made good use of the search.
Doubao quietly popped up, "It usually costs between several hundred and several thousand yuan."
Once that sentence is uttered, there's no need to read the rest.
Xia Zhiyu: ...
Thinking of money, Xia Zhiyu touched her phone with worry. The old phone that had been with her for three years responded with a jolt. The familiar frequency and date seemed to be telling Xia Zhiyu from afar that her social security and medical insurance deductions had arrived.
Xia Zhiyu had just checked all the deposits in her three bank cards last night.
Xia Zhiyu relied on a salary card for all her daily expenses, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Last night, when she checked her balance, she nearly fainted.
These few measly coins are best ignored; they're practically useless.
The other two are a savings account of 30,000 yuan that her parents had set aside as a reserve, and a fixed deposit she made herself, totaling 30,000 yuan, which came from her New Year's money when she was a child and the forced savings she made after starting work.
This 60,000 yuan represents Xia Zhiyu's entire fortune.
The social security payment is 1,500 yuan per month, and the end of the year is approaching. The renewal fee for the critical illness insurance that her parents and she bought will be more than 10,000 yuan.
Not to mention the red envelopes she has to give to the younger generation when visiting relatives during the Lunar New Year, and the two or three weddings of friends for which she has to give gifts, which will cost another three thousand yuan. Xia Zhiyu has been working for two years now, and she is too ashamed to take her parents' money to repay favors.
For car maintenance...
Xia Zhiyu silently glanced at her own car next to the high-end and stylish Cullinan.
It's not that I can't afford to maintain it now, but it would be more cost-effective to maintain it after I become rich overnight through the lottery.
When she has money, she'll first replace the rumbling engine, then the car cover, and if she can afford it, she'll also get a smart massage seat.
Xia Zhiyu was happily dreaming of herself, then turned around to the passenger side, opened the car door, and stuck out her rear end to rummage for the bread that Old Xia had forgotten to take upstairs last night, intending to have a little something to eat.
Tearing open the packaging, the blueberry cheese was frozen like an ice pop, and biting into it left a mouthful of icy bits. It wasn't even as good for her stomach as the oatmeal she had just made for middle-aged and elderly people.
Xia Zhiyu stretched her neck and swallowed the dry bread. She couldn't understand why Old Xia, who was nearly fifty, would buy such hard bread. Did the old man have such good teeth?
There were two soft knocks on the driver's car window, and Xia Zhiyu turned her head to look at the sound.
Jiang Zhiyan looked down at her quietly, his expression somewhat haggard. The front of his coat was unbuttoned, and the creases on the hem of his suit were clearly visible.
Xia Zhiyu inexplicably hallucinated the long-haired Maine Coon that had sneaked out of the neighbor's house and gone missing for three days. When it was found, its long fur was all matted, and it looked at its mother with longing eyes, looking as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant. It was said that it had lost three pounds of weight because it couldn't compete with stray cats for food when it went out to eat. It was both pitiful and hateful.
The dry tobacco smell mixed with the scent of sea salt wafted over, and Xia Zhiyu glanced discreetly at the Cullinan ashtray behind him, which was crammed full of cigarette butts of varying heights.
Tsk, she doesn't understand the world of capitalists.
Jiang Zhiyan visibly slumped down. "The hotel I booked last night was pissed on by a dog. I sat in my car all night and took care of some work while I was at it."
No wonder he smokes so much, Xia Zhiyu suddenly realized. So he can't get coffee at night, so he's using cigarettes to keep going.
How pitiful! Sitting in the car working all night, Xia Zhiyu couldn't help but feel sorry for Jiang Zhiyan.
However, if you spent the night sitting in a Cullinan for tens of millions of dollars...
Xia Zhiyu glanced at the Cullinan, which was twice the size of her family's car.
It doesn't seem to be that painful.
Xia Zhiyu remembered that she had less than 60,000 yuan in her bank account and decided to suppress her excessive sympathy.
A slightly chilly breeze blew, and her phone vibrated in her pocket. Xia Zhiyu slowly took out her phone; Song Yue had messaged her saying that all the steamed buns in the shop had been contracted out to a factory today, and they couldn't handle the business from individual customers. He told Xia Zhiyu not to go to the shop and to stay home and sleep.
She lowered her head and typed away at replying to her mother's messages, her chin tucked into her scarf.
Jiang Zhiyan lowered his eyes and quietly looked at her long, soft hair falling down, feeling the exhaustion of not having slept all night.
After dealing with Liu Han's matter last night, he inexplicably drove to Xia Zhiyu's apartment building. He didn't dare go up, and even if he did, he wouldn't know what to say. So he simply sat on a bench downstairs and stared at Xia Zhiyu's room for half the night.
The rest of the evening was spent handling the follow-up matters of the shareholders' meeting. Secretary Song should be able to see more than twenty work emails in her inbox when she opens her eyes this morning.
Xia Zhiyu slowly looked up and said goodbye to him, "Then you continue with your work, I'm going home to catch up on some sleep."
"Also, smoke less."
She's not a capitalist; she needs to sleep.
Jiang Zhiyan watched as she covered her mouth and yawned, two drops of water spilling from the corner of her eyes. Her gaze swept over the ashtray he had deliberately placed outside, and her tone of advising him to smoke less was as if she were reciting a slogan that could be seen everywhere on the street.
It naturally carries a sense of nonchalance.
The way she looked at him was no different from that of a slightly familiar friend; all the excitement and heartbeats she once felt were gone.
The morning wind was biting cold, and sparrows chirped incessantly on the branches.
Xia Zhiyu turned around lightly, waved to him without looking back, and her long hair, tied in a high ponytail, swung nimbly in the air like a little fish tail.
The little red-tailed carp wobbled and chose another river, moving further and further away from him with ease and liveliness.
All the bitterness and heartache that Jiang Zhiyan had deliberately ignored during the breakup surged up at this moment.
Fragments of memories, scattered and chaotic, swept in like deep-sea treasures swept up by ocean waves.
When 19-year-old Xia Zhiyu confessed her feelings to him, her eyes were moist and bright, sparkling with shy affection.
22-year-old Xia Zhiyu followed behind him, carrying documents, and secretly hooked her pinky finger with his fingertip when no one was around.
...
Memories layered upon layered before his eyes, Xia Zhiyu's departing figure without looking back was like foam on the sea, about to evaporate and drift into the clouds the moment the sunlight diffused.
It was as if he was about to disappear from his world.
He couldn't let her leave; no matter the reason, he had to keep her.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Jiang Zhiyan tried to keep his tone calm and composed, "There are still some unresolved issues with the client you were working with before. I've come to ask you to revise the plan and also to inquire whether you want to finish this case."
If I remember correctly, she should have already resigned.
Xia Zhiyu's smile gradually disappeared.
"I'll pay you overtime at the hourly rate of 3,000."
Whether she leaves the company or not is not important; what's important is that the client needs her!
Xia Zhiyu's eyes lit up instantly when she looked at Jiang Zhiyan, as if she were looking at a money-giving boy.
"Send me the specific requirements of the plan, and I'll get to work on it right away!"
"Get in the car and we'll talk."
It might be because of Chen Yue's phone call, or it might be because she was ovulating and found even the stray dogs on the street somewhat cute.
Of course, the most important reason was that Xia Zhiyu was short of money.
She calmly got into the passenger seat next to Jiang Zhiyan and asked with a smile, "Is it the same client from Dubai? Or the one from France?"
In the IPO industry, a single case can involve hundreds of millions of dollars. An hourly wage of three thousand is nothing, but it's still quite good for a nobody like Xia Zhiyu.
Xia Zhiyu had carefully cultivated relationships with clients in Dubai and France for a long time. The French client was notoriously difficult to please and communicate with, but he was very wealthy. Xia Zhiyu devoted just as much effort to him as she did to dealing with Ms. Song Yue, who was going through menopause.
However, Xia Zhiyu was only trying to prove herself and make Jiang Zhiyan not look down on her. Who knew that before she could even finish proving herself, her relationship with Jiang Zhiyan would end first.
But none of that matters now. What matters is that her efforts weren't in vain. And here she is, Jiang Zhiyan has come to find her.
Xia Zhiyu leaned back on the leather cushion with a smile, letting out a long sigh of relief. All the effort she had put into her clients had been worthwhile.
"That client from the French luxury brand," Jiang Zhiyan said, taking a gift box from the back seat and handing it to Xia Zhiyu.
"What is this?"
"You left it at home before."
Jiang Zhiyan rested his wrists loosely on the steering wheel. The car's air conditioning blew out a comfortable warm breeze. He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his temples. The warm, watery fragrance emanating from Xia Zhiyu filled his nostrils, and a long-lost sense of peace briefly enveloped Jiang Zhiyan.
Xia Zhiyu let out a shout and opened the box. She was so forgetful that she couldn't even remember what she had forgotten to take.
The gift box contained a set of extremely rich jadeite; the familiar design and the exaggeratedly large, clear raw stones instantly evoked Xia Zhiyu's memories.
Xia Zhiyu had seen this set on Xiaohongshu before. It was said that the auction price soared to tens of millions, and it was purchased by a big shot in the industry to prepare for a marriage proposal.
The comments section was filled with people saying, "God, please let me live this kind of good life in my next life. I'd be willing to drive luxury cars and live in villas."
Xia Zhiyu silently liked, saved, and copied a comment to let God know that she was also in line.
It turns out that this industry bigwig is actually Jiang Zhiyan.
Proposal……
Xia Zhiyu slammed the lid shut, glanced around nervously as if she were doing something wrong, and even lowered her voice unconsciously, "How can this be mine? Are you crazy, Jiang Zhiyan?"
"But that's what you want."
"I'd rather have ten million RMB fall from the sky and hit me on the head. Is that something I can just ask for?"
Jiang Zhiyan glanced at her indifferently, his eyes seeming to say, "Why can't this be?"
hateful.
Xia Zhiyu clenched her fists.
Damn capitalism, damn rich people, I, Hu Hansan, will fight you to the death!
"Wait, how did you know I wanted this?"
Xia Zhiyu didn't remember telling Jiang Zhiyan that she liked this set of jadeite.
A thought flashed through her mind: "You've been looking at my Little Red Book favorites!"
That's a shared bookmark folder.
"Then you can't look either!"
Jiang Zhiyan readily agreed, "Then I won't watch it next time."
The question-and-answer session flowed exceptionally smoothly, and the atmosphere in the car inexplicably took on a slightly inappropriate ambiguity.
Xia Zhiyu abruptly stopped speaking, neatly put the gift box away, and solemnly began to ramble on.
"My parents recently had someone calculate my birth chart. My birth chart indicates that fire is favorable, while jade belongs to water and wood, which are incompatible with me."
Jiang Zhiyan is also associated with the water element, which also counters her.
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