Chapter 1 Where's the money? Where's my money?
"Three hundred thousand for the bride price, not a cent less!"
"I don't care about money, I just want to know how much I mean to you."
"Also, your apartment cannot be in your mother's name. It has to be transferred to my name."
A window seat at the Gray Whale Cafe in Shenzhen.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jiang Qin looked at his marriage partner and suddenly felt that her face looked a little unfamiliar.
They met through a blind date and have been together for more than half a year. Since they are no longer young and don't have time to delay it any longer, they have been discussing marriage recently.
To be honest, Jiang Qin didn't have much feelings for her, and he believed that the other party had similar thoughts.
After all, he is almost 40 years old. Is it still for love that he gets married and has children?
I just don't want to end up alone...
However, he did not speak. Instead, he drank the water in the cup silently and looked out of the glass window, his ears automatically blocking out the other person's voice.
He thinks life is pretty fucked up.
Because his parents said that knowledge can change one's destiny, he studied hard since he was young, thinking that he would be rich and extraordinary in the future.
But after he started working, he realized that he was not even an ordinary person. When he first entered the workplace in 2016, he was forced to drink by a table full of clients and was admitted to the hospital. He was unable to see his grandmother who raised him for the last time.
When the project collapsed in 2019, he was forced to take the blame. He stayed in a rented apartment and ate instant noodles for five months, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality.
The job he got later was relatively stable, but it was far from where he lived. He worked so hard that he had to save up his time to pee twice just to buy a car.
After 22 years, he finally bought a car, but he found that he could not afford to fill up the gas tank and could not urinate completely.
After he turned 30, he found that the rent was rising faster than his salary, so he worked hard to save money and told his parents about his idea of buying a house in Shenzhen.
From that day on, there was no more meat on my parents' table.
But he still couldn't raise enough for the down payment, so his father kept it from him. He worked during the day and drove for Didi at night, and almost got a cerebral hemorrhage.
Is poverty really related to laziness? Jiang Qin has been thinking about this question for years.
He felt that he was diligent enough and fully lived up to his name.
But what about the money? Who made the money?
When he was a child, his parents told him earnestly that as long as he was willing to endure hardships, he would succeed.
But what he discovered when he grew up was that as long as you are willing to endure hardships, there will be endless hardships to endure.
Now, his blind date partner wants a dowry of 300,000 yuan.
"Jiang Qin, did you listen to me?"
"Yeah, I've been listening."
"Then why didn't you say anything? I've been talking for a long time and my voice is hoarse, but you don't care!"
Jiang Qin put down the cup and said after a long silence: "Why don't we not get married?"
The woman was stunned for a moment, then she flew into a rage: "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, I just feel very tired and want to go home and take a nap."
"Jiang Qin, you're such a coward, no wonder no woman wants to be with you even though you're 38!"
Jiang Qin ignored the woman's roar, walked out of the western restaurant, and walked aimlessly along the street.
When he walked to a construction site, he saw a banner hanging on the wall that read "Workers are the best."
So he lit a cigarette, took two puffs and burned a hole in it.
He actually didn't have many complaints about the woman, and even thought her request was normal.
He is already 35 years old, what's wrong with being realistic? He was just thinking about a problem.
When will this kind of life end? People who have never worked are desperately advocating that workers are the best, but people who have been working dare not say anything and can only nod and admit, ah, right, right.
But how can I be considered a superior person?
I only own two pairs of AJ shoes in my life, and they are from Putian. Do you call this a superior person?
As for love?
Jiang Qin didn't even know if this thing existed.
He had been on several blind dates and met several girls introduced by his friends. Any of them could have been okay with him, but the saddest thing was that they were just okay with each other.
Looking back on my life, I have so many regrets...
Jiang Qin sighed and took out his phone from his pocket, wanting to find a friend to drink with him, but when he opened it, he saw four text messages.
A credit card payment reminder, a phone bill arrears warning, and a message saying, "Brother, I'm nearby and no one is home today."
The last message came from his direct supervisor, who told him in earnest words that the company's performance had not been good recently and hoped that employees could voluntarily reduce their salaries and overcome the difficulties together with the company.
Jiang Qin instantly lost the mood to drink and continued smoking downstairs in the construction building.
In this era, if you want to be rich, you absolutely cannot work, because the distribution of resources in this society is inherently unfair.
But when he thought of his age, Jiang Qin couldn't help laughing.
Isn’t it a bit unrealistic to start a business at the age of 38?
His waist has been broken due to fatigue in the past two years, and his cervical spine has problems. The cross neuralgia is more frequent than frequent urination.
If I drag this broken body to start a business, even if I succeed I will be fifty years old. What is there to enjoy in this life?
If only I could start over again, I wouldn’t work for anything and would just hang out with rich women.
If you really can't do it, start your own business. Believe that you can earn money again if you lose it, but you can earn more if you lose your conscience.
Jiang Qin took a deep breath, pinched his sore neck, and couldn't help but glance upwards.
Hmm?
What's that black thing? And it's coming straight at me?
“…”
"Give him a shot of adrenaline, quick!"
“…”
"Welcome the Olympics, be civilized, and set a new trend!"
“…”
"Where's Director Liu? Ask if the operating room is vacant. Hurry!"
“…”
"My door is always open, and I am waiting for you with open arms."
Jiang Qin suddenly felt that there was some glare in front of his eyes, some noise in his ears, his skin was a little hot, and his head was a little dizzy.
Blurredly, he saw a very beautiful little girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old.
She was wearing a fluffy floral dress, revealing a small part of her white and smooth calves, a straight nose, rosy thin lips, thin and curled eyelashes, and a pair of bright eyes.
Jiang Qin smiled.
During all these years of working diligently to buy cars and villas for his big boss, he had never even dreamed of such a beautiful girl.
Such a beautiful girl would cry for a long time if she was slapped, right?
"Jiang Qin, I really don't want to have a boyfriend. I'm sorry."
Jiang Qin couldn't laugh anymore because he found that the girl in front of him became more vivid and clearer.
Her floral dress was printed with chrysanthemums, and she stood gracefully on the red plastic track, using her slender arms to slightly block the sunlight so that she would not be unable to open her eyes. However, even so, the hot weather still made this beautiful young girl look a little irritable.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your consent. We're still good friends, right?"
Jiang Qin's brows began to frown, and a hint of solemnity flashed in his eyes.
He knew this girl, Chu Siqi, the most beautiful girl in his high school class. She should be married now.
I pursued her for seven years, from high school to college, and was almost rejected by her to the point of doubting my life.
In fact, Jiang Qin is not a die-hard bootlicker, and he would not do something like clinging to someone to death.
But the problem was that Chu Siqi had been intervening in his life as a friend, asking him to do this and that, not allowing him to date other girls, and occasionally giving him some hope and throwing a few candies, which really tortured the young Jiang Qin.
"I'll consider being your girlfriend after freshman year!"
"I didn't expect the workload for sophomore year to be so heavy. I'll wait until junior year."
"I have a lot of competitions to participate in during my junior year. I don't have time for a relationship."
It wasn't until the second semester of her junior year that she came hand in hand with a tall, thin boy wearing couple outfits.
That day, her face was full of tenderness, her eyes were as bright as stars, and she asked her boyfriend with a smile whether he was handsome or not.
After that, he was set in his heart and never thought about falling in love again, which led to the story of him reluctantly finding someone to get married at the age of 38.
There was no concept of a spare tire in 2008. It was not until the Internet became well developed that Jiang Qin realized that he was a spare tire.
She just hasn't found the right one yet, so she's been so distant and close to me. When she's happy, she'll flirt with me, but when she's unhappy, she'll ignore me.
To put it bluntly, he was just a tool for her to kill time when she was bored.
The past events were still vivid in his mind, but Jiang Qin felt a little dizzy and had some tinnitus at this moment.
In my memory, I remember Seongnan High School, the class beauty of Girls’ Generation.
Is this... rebirth?
Or am I still dreaming? If I am reborn, then what about Ding? Why not Ding?
Jiang Qin stretched out his hand tremblingly and grabbed the air twice without waking up any virtual screen.
Is this a fake reborn person? He doesn't even have all the equipment?
"Jiang Qin, did you hear me? I really don't want to fall in love right now."
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Jiang Qin replied casually and then closed his eyes, wanting to try whether he could awaken the golden finger with his mind, but unfortunately, he failed, there really was no system.
Chu Siqi was unexpectedly stunned when she heard his straightforward answer. Jiang Qin's attitude was full of indifference, which made her feel like she was punching cotton, powerless and futile.
"Did you not hear me clearly? I just rejected you!"
"Yes, I'm not deaf."
"Then...then you have nothing to say to me?"
Jiang Qin accepted the reality of not having a system, and his eyes fell on Chu Siqi's hand: "What is that in your hand?"
Chu Siqi raised the envelope in her hand with a proud look on her face: "This is the love letter you just stuffed into my hand. I told you I don't want it, but you gave it back to me. Don't write to me next time."
"Then can you give it back to me? I can use it."
Jiang Qin took the love letter back without waiting for her to agree, then took out the page inside, crumpled it up and put it in his pocket. Then he unfolded the envelope, spread it flat on his knees, and quickly wrote two lines of words.
I don't work for anything, I just want to be with a rich woman if possible.
You can earn money again if you lose it, but you can earn more if you lose your conscience.
New author, new book, if you think it's good, be sure to collect it! (End of this chapter)
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