Chapter 12. Actors, please take your place
To love or not, the poor have to decide based on money, and romantic people are only born in wealthy families.
It was almost three in the morning when Feng Xue sent Ruan Tang home. She hadn't slept for long after removing her makeup, and was woken up by Xu Wei's call at exactly eight in the morning.
Xu Wei asked Ruan Tang to accompany her to look at houses, but Ruan Tang refused in a bad mood: Shouldn't you two go to look at the wedding house?
Hearing Xu Wei say that Lin Shen was busy, Ruan Tang swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue, responded with a word and struggled to get up from the bed.
She wanted to ask if he was busy with work or dating a young girl.
How many couples have gone their separate ways within a few years of marriage, maintaining the relationship of friends and roommates? Thinking of this, Ruan Tang didn't want to hurt Xu Wei anymore, not to mention that Lin Shen was willing to buy her a house.
Because she was going to see the property today, Ruan Tang washed her hair and put on some delicate makeup.
Just as she was applying eyeliner, she heard the sound of the property management banging on the door outside, saying that there was a water leak downstairs and they needed to inspect the pipes.
Ruan Tang sighed and wiped off the eyeliner that had drawn her splits, then walked out of the room and knocked on Coco's door, asking her to communicate with the property management first.
I originally chose this house for the cheaper rent of 1,000 yuan, but less than a year after moving in, I can't remember how many times the property management and maintenance staff have come to my house. There is a water leak today and a power outage tomorrow. Last week, Ruan Tang suddenly had the urge to cook and found that the ventilation duct of the range hood was broken. She was almost choked to death by the fumes.
On the day she resigned, she received a call from her mother, who told her to work hard and find a man to settle down with quickly. He didn't have to be too rich, and her standards shouldn't be too high.
Ruan Tang dealt with it with some humming and nodding, but what she really wanted to say was that in this city, one could never find stability without money.
While she was standing on the roadside waiting for a car, Xu Wei called and said that she had to have brunch with a client and asked her to go over and take a look first.
The sales hall was decorated like a high-end club, complete with indoor fountains and rockery. A young man in formal attire walked over quickly, smiled and nodded in greeting. He then looked her over from head to toe, his gaze lingering for two seconds on the Hermès Costance bag at her waist. He asked, "Are you here to look at the house? Is your husband not here?"
Ruan Tang asked back with a bit of naivety: Can't I buy it myself?
The sales guy smiled and said: Our current phase of real estate development focuses on high-end large flats. The smallest area is 150 square meters and the selling price is 15 million. What specific apartment size would you like to know?
It's almost as if "You can't afford it" is written neatly on his face.
But Ruan Tang was not someone who would be easily angered by such behavior. She lifted her hair in a charming manner, opened her Hermès and was about to take out her lipstick to touch up her makeup, but a black card "accidentally" fell out.
The other party hurriedly picked it up and returned it to her, and there was a subtle change in the look in her eyes when she looked at her. She was applying lipstick in front of the mirror and said with a worried look: But the dressing room I want also needs to be 80 square meters, and 150 square meters may not be enough.
The guy quickly added: We have other sizes of rooms. If you want a bigger dressing room, you can choose our 300-square-meter apartment.
But if he had been a little more careful, he would have seen that the card had a man's name on it and that the expiration date had already passed two years.
"Ruan Tang!"
Before she could get enough of her acting addiction, Xu Wei arrived, and Ruan Tang had no choice but to say delicately, "Hey, the best apartment is only 300 square meters? I'd better pick a wedding apartment for my friend."
Ruan Tang turned around and walked towards Xu Wei. The sales guy followed her unwillingly and said earnestly: Miss, why don’t we add each other on WeChat? I have a lot of villa resources here and I can send them to you.
"Wait, you are... three-point sweet?" The young man looked at her profile and suddenly asked.
Ruan Tang stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the young man. It took her three seconds to search for this face. Then, with a charming smile, she denied it, saying, "You've made a mistake, haven't you? My name is Ruan, as in Ruan Lingyu, and Tang, as in A Tree of Pear Blossoms Overshadows a Begonia."
During this time, she finally remembered where the face came from: it was a match she'd made on a social media platform, but the man she met had told her he worked in real estate. She was quite moved, and if he hadn't sent her a photo of his private parts late one night, their first meeting would have happened much sooner.
Ruan Tang struggled to connect the somewhat exaggerated photo with the man before her. She frowned and, taking advantage of Xu Wei's approach, added, "By the way, I've seen people using my photos to make friends on social networking sites a few times before. Perhaps you still have that ID? I can report it."
The sales guy coughed twice and whispered: We just chatted for a few sentences and then deleted it. Sorry.
After looking at the house, Ruan Tang pulled Xu Wei to treat her to hotpot. Xu Wei said that her calorie quota for today had been used up by brunch. Ruan Tang knew that it was Xu Wei's determination and perseverance to control her weight, so she had to give up.
On the way back, Ruan Tang saw Xu Wei posted a Weibo post. It was a landscape photo taken from the perspective of the best-selling apartment in the building, with the caption: Choosing an apartment is really tiring, does anyone have any suggestions?
In just a few minutes, there were over a thousand comments:
Wow, is Teacher Xu going to buy a house for her wedding? Best wishes!
This view is like the king of buildings on the third ring road. Teacher Xu is a winner in life (thumbs up)
I am rich and pretty, sister, please take care of me.
Being a blogger is so profitable. This house looks like it costs tens of millions.
Ruan Tang complained inwardly: If these fans knew what kind of person Lin Shen was, they would probably add "respect and lock" before their blessings.
When Xu Wei looked at the passenger side rearview mirror, she noticed Ruan Tang smiling while holding her phone, and asked: I heard that you went to the suburbs with Feng Xue last night?
Ruan Tang was surprised: How do you know?
Xu Wei said frankly: Jia Yingjun told me.
Ruan Tang curled her lips and asked, "Are you still in contact with him? Aren't you getting married soon? So you and Lin Shen have agreed on an open marriage?"
Xu Wei told her not to talk nonsense and just say that Jia Yingjun was her client now. But when she said this, there was a subtle sense of pride in her tone. She changed the subject and turned the conversation back to Feng Xue, asking her if they had already developed a relationship before the store opened.
"There's no way I can be with him." Ruan Tang didn't even raise her head. After finishing her makeup, she carefully put away her prop black card.
Xu Wei said that nothing is absolute and Feng Xue is a good person.
Xu Wei asked her if she had ever truly loved someone. Ruan Tang thought about it and smiled: I love myself.
How do you define loving someone? Ruan Tang suddenly remembered that when she was in middle school, she had a crush on a boy who sat in front of her class. He wasn't very good-looking, but tall and thin. He had good grades, loved playing basketball, and most importantly, was good at telling jokes.
At that time, Ruan Tang was still a nobody who didn't know how to dress, and couldn't be picked out in a crowd. She remembered secretly going to her homeroom teacher and saying she wanted to switch seats so he could sit next to her, so she could ask him for advice.
Later, she became his deskmate as she wished. During one of their conversations, he jokingly asked, "You have such big breasts. How did you develop them?" Ruan Tang blushed, secretly thinking that he must like her too.
But one day during break, a few boys were playing around, and one of them joked to him that Ruan Tang was his girlfriend. Ruan Tang clearly saw the disgust on his face and the raised middle finger.
Since then, she seemed to have formed a self-protection mechanism in her heart. She believed in the existence of love, but she didn't think love would appear in her life.
Thinking of this, Ruan Tang smiled and said: I am not Liu Piaopiao in "The King of Comedy". As she spoke, she looked out the window and added: Besides, there is no Yin Tianchou, so don't use that theory of cause and effect to explain things. Haven't you read what is said on the Internet? The wise man does not fall in love, and the resentful man repeats the same mistakes.
Xu Wei waved her hand and said: You should watch less short videos.
Ruan Tang continued to add: And Mr. Lao She said that whether to love or not, the poor have to decide based on money, and romantic people are only born in wealthy families.
Xu Wei quipped that she had finally returned everything she'd learned to her teacher, and then stopped talking. She knew Ruan Tang had feelings, but as she got older, her emotions couldn't be soothed with words, just as you can't straighten a river. She sighed and asked, "I know a new Chongqing hotpot restaurant. Should we go there?"
Ruan Tang rolled her eyes and said: Forget it, I don’t want you to ride the exercise bike for two more hours just to accompany me for dinner.
Xu Wei smiled and said: No, I walked so many steps while looking at houses today, I have already burned several hundred extra calories.
As she spoke, she turned around and thought to herself as she drove: "I need to order two more plates of beef today. I can't buy any more milk tea. Don't mention it when the time comes. Oh, by the way, I heard that place makes really good ice jelly. I really want to eat Gongcai..."
Ruan Tang looked at Xu Wei, pinched her arm, and said: It seems that your body fat percentage has dropped a lot recently. It is indeed worth rewarding yourself with a bowl of ice jelly.
Ruan Tang knew that when they first met, Xu Wei looked down on her. There was always a condescending look in her eyes, and she looked down on her in return, despite her high education, good looks, and ability to make money. Later, she felt that Xu Wei was like a durian: despite her bad temper and the thorns that kept strangers away, she was actually soft inside.
She carefully maintains her glamorous persona, never admitting defeat, and although her words are sharp, her actions are innocent and straightforward. Ruan Tang feels a mixture of pity and admiration for her. At first, she and Xu Wei get along with each other in a half-hearted and half-perfunctory way, but she gradually gets used to this way of getting along.
But she later felt that although she and Xu Wei were poles apart, they were actually the same kind of people, and both were trying their best to play the role they had originally chosen.
Ruan Tang turned her head to look at her and said: Thank you.
Xu Wei replied: Please come back when you make money. I remember every meal. And if you only eat one bite of each dish again this time, you can forget about eating with me.
Ruan Tang: Yeah.
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