Chapter 71

Ji Anning and Wen Yu had reconciled, but they felt that something was amiss with Chen Hao and Bai Lu.

During a meal, Bai Lu suddenly said, “Anning, let me see your phone.”

However, Chen Hao turned his face away.

Ji Anning was puzzled but took out her phone and handed it to Bai Lu.

Bai Lu took a look, but she was greatly disappointed and couldn’t help muttering, “Why are you still using such an old phone?”

As she spoke, she gave Wen Yu a dissatisfied glance.

Wen Yu raised an eyebrow, his gaze cold.

Bai Lu had become quite familiar with them since she was Chen Hao’s girlfriend. She used to talk casually with Wen Yu. However, being stared down by Wen Yu like this made her suddenly feel a chill down her spine.

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Mblu olal pkvvkdt yv y zsdt vyczl, yde Yldt Dkduw oyp yzps ralpldv, tzyakdt yv Jyk Nw qklanlzu.

Ubld Tys jlrv bkp qynl vwadle yoyu, ralvldekdt dsv vs byhl plld yduvbkdt.

Kk Gddkdt vssj cynj bla rbsdl, qllzkdt rlarzlmle. Gqvla Eld Zw bye elpvasule bla kxkvyvksd rbsdl, pbl bye psze vbl qawkv rbsdl bl bye tkhld bla yde bye clld wpkdt vbkp rbsdl pkdnl vbld. Tsolhla, pbl ayalzu wple xsckzl eyvy yde eked’v nsdpvydvzu nblnj bla rbsdl zkjl psxl rlsrzl eke ewakdt nzypplp. Fbl sqvld jlrv bla rbsdl kd bla cyt okvbswv vyjkdt kv swv.

Jyk Nw xktbv dsv byhl dsvknle obyv jkde sq rbsdl pbl oyp wpkdt yzz vbkp vkxl.

Eld Zw tyhl bla y pwcvzl pktdyz, kdeknyvkdt vbyv pbl pbswzed’v ypj ydu qwavbla iwlpvksdp. Kk Gddkdt oypd’v psxlsdl obs zkjle vs xleezl kd svbla rlsrzl’p yqqykap, ps pbl alxykdle iwklv yde nsdvkdwle lyvkdt.

Gqvla qkdkpbkdt vbl xlyz, Eld Zw ynnsxrydkle bla bsxl yde vsze bla, “Mblu pyke vblu pyo psxlsdl tlvvkdt y dlo rbsdl yde oydvle vs tlv sdl vss.”

“Fbl byp y elnldv rbsdl dso,” Kk Gddkdt pyke. Rv’p y qawkv xselz.

“Ebyv eslp vbyv byhl vs es okvb kv clkdt sze sa dsv? Fbl oydvp vbl zyvlpv xselz,” Eld Zw pnsqqle.

Ji Anning understood now, “She wants Chen Hao to buy it for her?”

“Chen Hao doesn’t have money. She wants Chen Hao to contribute half of the money,” Wen Yu said. “She wants to buy the latest model of the fruit model.”

For the latest model of the fruit model, even splitting the cost in half…

“I remember, Chen Hao mentioned that he has a monthly living allowance of two thousand,” Ji Anning asked.

“Yes,” Wen Yu confirmed. “Recently, he was looking for part-time jobs everywhere. He found an online translation gig, translated a few pieces for someone, and didn’t get paid. The person blocked him. Then he found something else, where they asked for a thousand yuan deposit upfront. At least he wasn’t fooled. Now he wants to distribute flyers and told me it pays eighty yuan a day.”

“Why doesn’t he consider tutoring? Wouldn’t that be better for him?” Ji Anning asked.

“Let him sit quietly for an hour; he can’t even do that. He expects to teach kids? Let’s not talk about it,” Wen Yu said. “He feels like his head’s going to explode when he sees children.”

Ji Anning was speechless.

“I found a company closer to the school and arranged an internship position for him, part-time. It can give him 1500 yuan a month,” Wen Yu said.

Chen Hao still had to go to school, studying a versatile major, so the so-called internship position was just doing odd jobs in the office. Moreover, his available work hours were limited. In reality, the company didn’t need this position at all, but Wen Yu arranged it to take care of him.

After all, they were the best friends in university.

Ji Anning was surprised and chuckled, “You’re quite compassionate.”

“Tsk,” Wen Yu mocked her, “In your eyes, am I just a heartless capitalist, right?”

“I’ll talk to Bai Lu and suggest she find some part-time work too,” Ji Anning said. “Being industrious, she can save up some money.”

Ji Anning had experience with part-time jobs, but she had to support two people and cover her grandmother’s medical expenses. Her grandmother not only had chronic illnesses but also occasional health issues, making it difficult for Ji Anning to save money.

Bai Lu was different; she already had a completely sufficient living allowance. If it was just to buy something special, saving money should be quite easy – at least Ji Anning thought so, putting herself in Bai Lu’s shoes.

However, she was met with laughter from Wen Yu.

“Silly,” he said, “If she were willing to work hard and earn money for what she wants herself, Chen Hao wouldn’t be so worried.”

Ji Anning fell silent for a moment and shook her head.

“Why shake your head? Pessimistic,” Wen Yu teased, ruffling her hair. “I’d actually like you to learn from her. Do you know that crying children get candy?”

Ji Anning smiled, “You’re already very good to me.”

With bright eyes and a gentle satisfaction in her voice,

The northwest wind howled.

Wen Yu felt a strange sensation in his heart.

An inexplicable feeling, strange, left him feeling a bit powerless, and his mind was a bit hazy.

He wanted to hold her tightly in his arms and do nothing else.

Ji Anning pinched her collar, “Let’s walk faster; it’s windy.”

After just a few steps, an arm suddenly stretched over from behind, and he held her around her shoulders.

Wen Yu hugged her from behind, lowered his head, and kissed the top of her head.

This embrace was so fulfilling that he didn’t want to let go.

Ji Anning: “…?”

Her face turned red, and she quietly asked a question. “Why did you suddenly become passionate on the roadside in broad daylight?”

Wen Yu: “…”

Oops!

In the afternoon, Ji Anning returned to school, and Meng Xinyu quietly chatted with her.

“It’s my fault for being so talkative,” she said. “My fellow villager, Yu Xia, got a new model of a fruit phone. I thought she was wasting money and complained about it in the dorm. As a result, Bai Lu also wanted to change her phone.”

Meng Xinyu was holding back her anger.

“She thinks my fellow villager’s family isn’t as well-off as hers, yet she uses a better phone. She doesn’t even consider that my fellow villager works multiple jobs. At least the money my fellow villager used to buy the phone was earned herself.”

Meng Xinyu admired Yu Xia’s ability to be self-reliant.

However, Ji Anning actually knew more about Yu Xia’s financial situation. Even before she started working as a graphic model, Yu Xia didn’t earn as much as her.

But Yu Xia spent money much more extravagantly than her. She still had the living allowance provided by her family, but saving money was almost as difficult for her as it was for Ji Anning.

Buying the latest model of the fruit model… Ji Anning felt it might be somewhat challenging for Yu Xia.

Who knows, perhaps she tightened her belt and made sacrifices. But that was none of her business.

She brushed over Yu Xia and suggested that Bai Lu consider taking on a part-time job.

Meng Xinyu was one step ahead and said, “Let’s suggest she do some tutoring. Exams are coming up, and she’ll be going home during the holidays. At most, she can do it for a couple of weeks, but it wouldn’t hurt.”

Ji Anning replied, “Let’s talk about it next semester.”

Talking to someone whose values aligned with her was especially comfortable and smooth. Ji Anning and Meng Xinyu had this kind of feeling toward each other.

It could be said that they were each other’s best friends since they started college until now.

But now it was 2014. Final exams were in a week, and then this semester would come to an end.

Ji Anning wouldn’t forget about Wen Yu’s situation just because her own circumstances were improving.

She couldn’t help but ask Wen Yu, “What happened to that guy Yang Bo?”

Wen Yu didn’t like hearing that person’s name at all, and his eyebrows raised in response. “Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

His jealousy seemed to be fueled by her curiosity. She playfully replied, “He’s handsome; I can’t forget him.”

Wen Yu was irritated and pinched her face, teasing, “You dare think about him, and I’ll…”

Although he ended up kissing her, leaving her with swollen lips and a sore chest, he successfully provoked Wen Yu’s hostility towards Yang Bo.

When someone becomes hostile towards another person, they naturally become more cautious.

She also inquired about his family’s situation, which made him chuckle, “What’s the rush to meet my parents?”

Ji Anning was speechless.

Wen Yu then enthusiastically suggested, “If you don’t mention it, I wouldn’t have thought about it. After the exams, I’ll take you to meet my parents!”

While meeting his family would be a good way to learn about his background, the mention of “meeting the parents” put tremendous pressure on Ji Anning.

However, Wen Yu firmly decided, “It’s settled!”

Ji Anning was left wide-eyed and speechless.

It seemed like Wen Yu’s excitement wouldn’t easily change his mind. Well, she supposed she would have to go through with it.

Before her rebirth, she had seen more than just Yang Bo in the time vortex. There was also a middle-aged man who visited Wen Yu in prison. He had said to Wen Yu, “Perhaps we’re not fated in this lifetime.”

That statement sounded rather strange.

The concept of fate is typically associated with romantic relationships. Apart from that, it’s also used in familial connections, such as between siblings, mother and daughter, and father and son.

Wen Yu didn’t have any middle-aged friends. He occasionally mentioned others and events, but there didn’t seem to be any particular person.

What kind of person could he be referring to when he used the word “fate”?

It was hard to make sense of it through speculation, so they decided to meet, and she could find out more then.

For now, her priority was to focus on her studies.

Ji Anning began her pre-exam cramming, as she had done in her previous life. She had been too busy and tired to study regularly before, relying on last-minute cramming to avoid failing her exams.

However, as she started cramming this time, she realized there weren’t any particularly challenging topics. She had been diligent with her studies, and everything seemed solid. Cramming didn’t seem necessary.

With newfound confidence, Ji Anning immersed herself in preparing for her final exams.

After the last exam was over, Wen Yu called her. “Let’s have lunch.”

Chen Hao also called Bai Lu, saying, “Wen-ge is treating us all to lunch.”

Wen Yu also told Ji Anning, “Invite Meng Xinyu as well.”

Wen Yu could see that Ji Anning and Meng Xinyu got along well. This was a clear case of “Love the house and love the birds¹爱屋及乌 （ài wū jí wū）meaning if you love the house, then you should also love the crows on the roof of the house. It means that loving a person means that you also love people and things close to them. Like if you mtl a lot like me, you often see this idiom in the mtl, ài wū jí wū .” He enjoyed seeing them laugh and talk, their relaxed expressions far more pleasing than Ji Anning’s cold and aloof demeanor when she had first started school.

She was no longer the same girl he had seen in his dreams, who was rejected and isolated by her classmates.

The three girls walked towards the school gate together and ran into Yu Xia, greeting her along the way. Yu Xia was carrying a COACH bag.

“Hey, your bag looks great! Is it new?” Meng Xinyu asked. “Where did you get it? From Wanyun?”

Wanyun was a market known for selling imitation leather shoes and bags. It was famous, but everything sold there was counterfeit.

Meng Xinyu didn’t really understand or care about brand names. She simply thought it looked nice and reached out on impulse.

Yu Xia smiled and gently pushed her hand away, saying, “Oh, no, it’s from a boutique store.”

Meng Xinyu didn’t really grasp the difference between Wanyun’s goods and boutique store goods, so she just responded with an “Oh” and waved goodbye before going her own way.

Bai Lu asked, “Is that your friend who bought the new phone?”

Meng Xinyu replied, “Yes.”

Bai Lu chuckled and said, “Buying both a phone and a bag, she must be really well-off.”

Meng Xinyu, puzzled, asked, “What did she mean by ’boutique store’? Are they expensive?”

Bai Lu explained, “It’s not as expensive as those bags Sun Yaxian buys, but if it’s genuine from a boutique store, it can still cost several thousand.”

Meng Xinyu first expressed surprise and then sighed, “She just spends too much.” She considered this to be Yu Xia’s biggest flaw.

Bai Lu, however, said, “Can you earn that much from part-time jobs? Next semester, I’ll give it a try, and you guys can take me!”

“Sure, sure,” Meng Xinyu agreed. “But you’ll have to wake up early on weekends. If you sleep until noon, that’s definitely not going to work.”

The two of them chatted and laughed as they walked away.

However, Ji Anning turned back for a moment to glance at Yu Xia’s back, feeling slightly puzzled. Yu Xia, did she really have that much money?

But then again, what business was it of hers? Ji Anning quickened her pace for a few steps and called out, “Wait for me!” as she caught up with Meng Xinyu and Bai Lu.

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Sansukini: I mean, live within your means, right.

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Please support my new novel, coming soon. It will replace Married to the Male Lead’s Hidden Rich Brother every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It’s an ancient era genre called “Casting Nets to Catch a Husband.” It was about a beautiful girl who was sold by her family and became a prostitute.(More like a geisha because she just performs dances and sings for the men.) She died before they can sell her body to the highest bidder and woke up (rebirth) to the time before her family sold her. Here you go…

Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Liu Yu, with her exquisite beauty, was sold into a brothel by her heartless parents in her previous life and died on the night she left the pavilion in the most luxurious brothel in Yangzhou City.

When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the year she was fifteen, just one month before being sold to the matchmaker by her parents.

With her rebirth, there was one urgent matter at hand.
Within a month, she had to find a good husband for herself, escape from the Liu family, and avoid the fate of being sold in her previous life.

She took all the money she could spare, knocked on the door of the matchmaker’s house in Changfeng Town. And as soon as she left the matchmaker’s house, she met a young man. The matchmaker whispered to her, “Lu Chengxiao, the third son of the Lu family, the owner of the Lu Feng Cloth Shop.”

Liu Yu understood; he was her third target.

Recently, Lu Chengxiao had encountered a beautiful woman several times and admired her. He was thinking it was a match destined for marriage.

It wasn’t until one day when they met in the mountains, the beautiful woman twisted her foot and couldn’t move so he carried her all the way.

When he returned to deliver the medicine, he saw the beautiful woman walking lightly, with no sign of a twisted foot. The heat behind his ears receded, and his eyes grew colder. He turned and went back to Changfeng Town.

Several days later, the beautiful woman shyly handed him a purse, thanking him for his help.

Lu Chengxiao sneered, “Thanking me for helping? That day, I turned back and saw the lady walking normally. Why would I need to help?”

“I can’t accept this purse. If we privately exchange gifts, it might be hard to explain later. It’s better for the lady to keep her dignity.”

Alright, this one couldn’t work. Liu Yu took back the purse, curtsied, and walked away…

Lu Chengxiao thought it was a decisive rejection, until several days later, he saw Liu Yu drop an embroidered handkerchief in front of the bookshop where the young man, Chen Sheng, worked. The gentleman picked up the scented handkerchief, and the beautiful woman blushed and thanked him. What a beautiful encounter.

Lu Chengxiao: “…”

A wave of frustration welled up in his chest, and he clenched his teeth as he tossed and turned in his dreams.

Until later, when he saw Liu Yu about to stage a falling-into-the-water scene, Lu Chengxiao panicked. He jumped into the river before Chen Sheng, pulled her ashore, held her slender waist, and couldn’t help but feel both angry and pained. He didn’t even want to ask more questions. He just held her in his arms and almost begged, “Don’t you want a good marriage? I’ll marry you!”

【This is a story that begins with scheming, falls into love, with a heart full of sincerity, and ends up in a marriage. It is also a story of two major businesses rising, with elements of urban and farming life.]

Tag: Rebirth, Love at first sight, Sweet Romance, Ancient Era