Chapter 8 – Very Poor, Looking for a Job

If the first time was a coincidence, it’s hard to say the same for the second time.

Whether Li Ting hadn’t returned home for two days in a row, or where he had gone and what he was doing, he wasn’t interested in any of that. He just wanted to quickly get a hold of Li Ting’s weakness and get a divorce.

Especially since he worked intensively for two consecutive days, the thought of Li Ting living in his house, using his money to go out and have fun made him extremely unhappy.

Exhausted, Xu Ji pinched his nose and rubbed the skin where the mole was until it turned red. The filming work was completed, and what was left was the most important post-production. He is accustomed to moving a chair behind the post-production process, watching it and providing timely feedback on editing or differences in the interpretation of aesthetics.

Chu Qi collapsed in exhaustion and lamented, “I really want to marry into a wealthy family… so I don’t have to work anymore.”

The words “marry” and “don’t have to work” reminded Xu Ji of someone, making him even more unhappy.

“Ah…” Chu Qi continued to add fuel to the fire. “There’s clearly a wealthy guy sitting next to me, but I didn’t take advantage of it… if only I had acted boldly and taken the opportunity while I had it… I’m so unlucky!”

Xu Ji felt his temple twitching, and closed his sore eyes, he couldn’t bear it anymore, “Shut up, stop disgusting me.”

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Kwpv yv vbyv xsxldv, Nk Mkdt nyzzle, bl lmbyzle yde pyke kd y zso hsknl, “Tlzzs.”

Rv oyp hlau iwklv sd Nk Mkdt’p lde, yde yzz vbyv nswze cl blyae oyp vbl qykdv, abuvbxkn pswde sq calyvbkdt. “Ebld okzz usw cl nsxkdt cynj?”

Dw Kk zkqvle bkp lulzkep kd yd kdpvydv yde pzsozu nwazle vbl nsadlap sq bkp xswvb. “Msdktbv.”

“Xjyu, R’zz oykv qsa usw. Jl pyql sd uswa oyu cynj,” Nk Mkdt pyke yde oyp ycswv vs bydt wr. Tl ds zsdtla ypjle Dw Kk kq bl oydvle bkx vs nssj bkx ekddla, clnywpl kv oswze cl rskdvzlpp. Dw Kk bye ds kdvlalpv kd lyvkdt okvb bkx.

“Eykv,” Dw Kk’p qynl pbsole y ayal bkdv sq kdvlalpv. “Yyjl xl ekddla vss.”

Mblal oyp y alqzlmkhl “yb” pswde qasx vbl svbla lde, qszzsole cu y zsdt rywpl. Nk Mkdt ypjle pjlrvknyzzu, “Zsw oydv vs lyv yv bsxl?”

Dw Kk ydpolale okvb yd “xd”.

Gqvla y xsxldv sq pwarakpl, Nk Mkdt iwknjzu alynvle yde ypjle, “Xjyu, obyv oswze usw zkjl vs lyv?”

“Anything will do,” Xu Ji lazily crossed his legs. “I’m not picky.”

What happened to being not picky? Li Ting really wanted to ask. As he thought, people who claimed not to be picky were actually the pickiest.

Xu Ji sat expressionless, holding his chopsticks and not picking up any side dishes for three whole minutes.

The dishes in front of him looked very appetizing, with perfect plating – perilla leaves braised duck, scrambled eggs with chives, and okra in sauce, three dishes one soup. Unfortunately, they were all things Xu Ji didn’t like eating.

Xu Ji even began to suspect that Li Ting was deliberately trying to disgust him with this new trick.

Li Ting swore to the heavens that he wasn’t, he asked, “…You don’t like any of it?”

Xu Ji looked at the coriander on top of the okra and reluctantly replied with an “mn”.

Li Ting said, “Then how about I make you some noodles? Will egg noodles do?”

“No need,” Xu Ji replied, he had only come back to see how Li Ting would react, and the idea of having dinner at home was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.

He had already seen what he wanted to see: the natural innocent expression on Li Ting’s face was enough to indicate that it wasn’t the first time.

In fact, Xu Ji doesn’t completely dislike all the food on the table, at most he just has preferences. He picked up a piece of duck meat and put it in his mouth. He could tell that it was tasty, with tender meat and a strong flavor of purple perilla that masked the gamey smell of the duck.

Li Ting sat opposite and smiled gently. “Then tell me what you don’t like to eat? I’ll remember for next time when I go grocery shopping.”

“No need,” Xu Ji refused to share his private menu of dishes he blacklisted.

Li Ting leaned on the table with his elbows, hands crossed under his chin, laughing helplessly and indulgently, “Okay.”

Seeing that expression, Xu Ji almost spat out his food, his brow frowned so much it could kill a fly. “Stop disgusting me.”

Li Ting laughed even more, seemingly amused.

Originally, Xu Ji only had doubts, but from this moment on, he was convinced that Li Ting was doing it on purpose.

After dinner, Xu Ji changed his usual routine and didn’t immediately go back to his room. Instead, he sat in the living room and watched TV.

Li Ting put the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen. When he looked up, he saw that Xu Ji was still sitting on the sofa. He couldn’t help but look puzzled and gestured toward the room, “Then I’m heading back to my room first?”

Xu Ji didn’t even look at him, “Mn.”

It was another Wednesday. Li Ting asked him if he was coming back and if he wanted Li Ting to cook for him.

This time, Xu Ji directly ordered the dishes, “I want sweet and sour ribs, soy sauce chicken, stir-fried pork with shiitake mushrooms, and green-braised soup.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then Li Ting laughed again and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Sure, if my husband wants to eat it, of course I’ll make it. I’ll wait for you at home~”

Xu Ji hung up with a grim face.

But it couldn’t be denied that Li Ting’s cooking was really delicious. After two weeks of eating it twice a week, Xu Ji felt like he had gained a few pounds.

The reason why he didn’t confront the other directly was that he didn’t want to startle the snake by hitting the grass¹idiom to describe a situation where one’s actions might cause a disturbance or alert someone else, revealing their true intentions or making them defensive. He wanted to observe to see if there would be any different discoveries during this period of time. Ideally, he wanted to know directly Li Ting’s purpose for approaching him.

But Li Ting was like a real wife, there was always delicious food when he came back, and everything in the house was in order. Their clothes were washed separately, and one time when he forgot to hang them, he found them neatly folded on the sofa with a faint fragrance when he returned home.

So, without waiting any longer, on Tuesday, Xu Ji went straight back home.

When he arrived, as expected, Li Ting was not there. He felt that just like himself, Li Ting only came back on Wednesdays and Sundays. Who knows where he went to fool around during the rest of the time.

Before, he really did think that Li Ting was a pure and good person, at most a little pretentious, but he didn’t expect him to be just acting for show.

There was a water sofa in Xu Ji’s room. He had a high body temperature and easily feels overheated. After taking a shower and lying on it, the coolness felt really good.

Perhaps because he was too tired recently, he didn’t know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, the sky was already up.

It was still quiet outside, without any sound, indicating that Li Ting hadn’t returned yet.

Very good, Xu Ji sneered. After a simple wash, he changed into a casual suit and went out to look for food.

There’s a really delicious rice noodle rolls shop outside the community, which was his must-eat before going to work. But now that he moved away, he hasn’t had it for so long that he’s practically craving it to death.

He ate two plates of rice noodles rolls and slowly walked back home. As soon as he opened the door, he came face to face with Li Ting, who was changing shoes in the hallway.

Both were caught off guard. When Li Ting turned around, his black hair swayed half a circle with the movement, and the upturned corners of his eyes looked even more alluring from the side. One glance seemed capable of taking away a person’s several lives.

Xu Ji was the first to react. He straightened his body, lifted his chin, and said nothing.

Li Ting really didn’t like Xu Ji’s expression. It wasn’t exactly insolent, but rather the arrogance and conceit that come naturally to children of wealthy families.

Very annoying.

His eyes curved, “You’re back so early today?”

Xu Ji casually replied, “Not early, I came back last night.”

Li Ting, “…”

Li Ting fell silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes covered his desolate gaze as he asked softly, “You already know?”

No shit? Xu Ji let out an “mn”.

“Then are you angry?” Li Ting squeezed his lips into his mouth.

Xu Ji asked in confusion, “Why would I be angry?”

Li Ting looked very sad, “You’re right, how could you not be angry… I really embarrassed you.”

Xu Ji leaned against the door with crossed arms, “…?”

“As the daughter-in-law of Wanyue Group and the wife of the Xu family’s only son,” Li Ting’s voice was trembling, “my husband is so outstanding, yet I can’t even pass an interview even though I have been looking for a job for so long.”

Xu Ji thought this was ridiculous. Either Li Ting’s mind was working really fast, or he had been prepared for this for a long time.

Xu Ji asked coldly, “What kind of job requires staying out overnight?”

As soon as he spoke, Li Ting knew that this was not the first time he had been caught. But he didn’t panic at all and just revealed a bitter smile. “The place where I’m looking for a job is too far from here. The cost of transportation is more expensive than staying at a cheap hotel. So I…didn’t come back. Don’t be mad.”

Xu Ji had great patience and wanted to see what else he could say.

Li Ting furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes flickering, and tears almost fell, “I told them I was already married, and the interviewer asked me how I would balance family and career. I said that of course, family comes first. I didn’t lie, I was very sincere, but they all wouldn’t hire me.”

Xu Ji’s heart was as calm as water, without any waves.

Li Ting really did look very sad. He patted his own empty pocket, “I really have no money, I’m very poor.”

First of all, it’s impossible for Li Ting to have no money. Secondly, if the transportation fee is that expensive, it means that he usually takes a cab to get around. If he can afford to take a cab every time, he is even less likely to be poor. Finally, if he can’t take a cab, can’t he take the subway? During rush hour, the subway is often even faster than the cab.

The two looked at each other and both knew the truth in their hearts. Li Ting was lying, or perhaps he was just giving up and didn’t want to pretend anymore. He just made up some nonsense to get through this and didn’t care whether Xu Ji believed him or not. After all, Xu Ji had no power over him.

Xu Ji took a step forward and asked, “Looking for a job?”

Li Ting nodded, “Yes.”

Xu Ji raised his eyebrows, casually curved his lips, and said slowly, “Then why don’t you come to work at my company? We happen to need an on-site worker.”

Li Ting stared at him.

Xu Ji chuckled softly, “What do you think?”

Looking at the unexpected crack on Li Ting’s face that had remained unchanged for 800 years, Xu Ji finally felt a sense of satisfaction in winning.