The upright Lin Yuan

When Lin Yuan asked about returning to her old profession, Song Xiaoxiao did not deny it, because besides this specialty, she had no other quick ways to make money.

Song Xiaoxiao remained silent, head down, focused on eating her hamburger.

"I'm sorry," Lin Yuan unexpectedly said to her with sincerity.

"I'm truly sorry."

"Huh?" Song Xiaoxiao's open mouth still showed the white mayonnaise of the hamburger. "You... why... why are you apologizing to me? I should be the one apologizing to you."

"I misunderstood you. I was thinking habitually. Actually, if I had just thought a bit more, with your looks and conditions, if you were truly willing to abandon your principles, you wouldn't have ended up living in a small rented room before."

Lin Yuan had thoroughly reviewed Song Xiaoxiao's file through Zhang Yan. Her total savings plus her car, after deducting the unpaid car loan, did not exceed 300,000.

She had tested the waters six years ago and had been working consistently for the past two or three years, like clocking in for a job. How could she have only saved that little money? This clearly meant she only did escorts but didn't go further.

Song Xiaoxiao turned her head upon hearing this, and with a soft 'pat', a clear tear fell onto the table.

But immediately, she picked up a tissue and forcibly stopped her emotions.

"You don't need to go back to your old profession. Find a normal job and return to a normal life. Don't always be afraid of the future. With me and Xia Ye here, you won't live too badly. But the premise is that you must strive for yourself first, otherwise no one can help you."

Lin Yuan could only say so much.

"I understand what you mean."

How could Lin Yuan know how much the other party truly understood? He was merely acting on his own conscience.

"I came to see you this time for two reasons. One is to see how you are doing. In a while, you can go back to your rented room to pack up and come back with me and Xia Ye. You'll live with Xia Ye, and I'll move back to the school dorm. It saves money; there's no need to bear an extra rent anymore.

The other thing is, I need your ID information to open a stock account. This is also to raise money for you. I urgently need..."

"Okay," Song Xiaoxiao didn't listen to Lin Yuan's explanation. "Wait a moment."

She turned and rummaged through her bag, then handed over her ID card. "You can take it and use it."

Lin Yuan smiled, "You trust me that much?"

Song Xiaoxiao was expressionless, "Just take it."

"I'm going to use your ID information to max out online loans and open a stock account. I'm not kidding you; if you don't believe me, ask Xia Ye."

Xia Ye then personally explained Lin Yuan's grand plan to get rich through stock trading to the other party.

Want to get rich through stock trading? Any normal person who hears this would want to slap the person in front of them twice.

But Song Xiaoxiao seemed completely oblivious. "At worst, you'll get me sent in once too. Consider it me repaying you."

Lin Yuan shook his head helplessly. He had originally wanted to settle things with Song Xiaoxiao as soon as possible, but now it seemed it would be very difficult to do so.

So Lin Yuan couldn't help but speak up again, "Since you trust me so much, I'll give you a few good words of advice." Lin Yuan looked like he was possessed by a con artist. "Some things aren't that you can't do them, but that you need to have perspective. You can't snatch candy from a child's hand; if you're going to snatch, snatch from those already in the game."

Song Xiaoxiao clearly didn't understand.

"Forget it. In short, if you still want to live a decent life, just think less and do less. Just do whatever Xia Ye does, and you'll be fine."

Unconsciously, Song Xiaoxiao, who had repeatedly said she wasn't hungry, finished the last bite of her hamburger.

"Here, have some water," Lin Yuan handed her a cup of cola. "It's not that I won't let you eat more, but eating too much of this isn't good. Tonight, Xia Ye and I will cook personally, so you can eat your fill then."

Song Xiaoxiao's tears immediately started flowing. In truth, her current destitution was impossible to hide. Her savings were frozen; if Xia Ye hadn't helped her out, she would truly have been sleeping on the streets.

Xia Ye kept comforting her, "It's okay now, everything's fine. Be good from now on, and don't do those things anymore. The three of us will live a simple, ordinary life."

Lin Yuan picked up another cup of cola to hide his embarrassment. Xia Ye's words sounded so strange.

—

After returning to the rented room, Lin Yuan immediately pulled Song Xiaoxiao to max out online loans from various platforms. At the same time, he also showed her his salary statement.

Regardless of whether the other party wanted to see it, Lin Yuan still had to show it.

The statement showed that Lin Yuan had just received an advance of 800,000 in salary from Good Group, which thoroughly refreshed Song Xiaoxiao's worldview.

Then, he proceeded to open an account for Song Xiaoxiao. This process was actually no different from a pyramid scheme. Song Xiaoxiao cooperated mechanically throughout.

Lin Yuan even joked, "If I were a scoundrel right now, your life could come to a complete stop."

Song Xiaoxiao gave a bitter laugh, "Then consider it my dowry for Xia Ye."

"Truly Xia Ye's birth mother," Lin Yuan softly muttered.

At dinner time, there weren't actually many dishes on the table.

Lin Yuan and Xia Ye were used to cooking only as much as they would eat, so there were only three dishes and one soup.

The three dishes were arranged in a 'pin' character shape around the bowl of soup in the middle, and the three of them sat on separate sides.

Song Xiaoxiao had a very good appetite, which surprised Xia Ye, because in Xia Ye's impression, Song Xiaoxiao never ate like that to maintain her figure.

After dinner, Song Xiaoxiao and Xia Ye quickly cleared the table. After all, Lin Yuan and Xia Ye had cooked dinner.

Under the dim light, the sounds of pots and pans brought Lin Yuan's thoughts back to the distant past.

Back then, his parents were also busy in the kitchen like this, while he, in what he thought was misery, did his homework. At that time, he didn't understand that it was called "carefree."

After growing up, he searched for a long time, and only now, at this moment, did Lin Yuan truly savor that sense of ease from the past once again.

He got up and went into the room, closing the door.

The sound of the door closing made Song Xiaoxiao in the kitchen glance over. Her hands, washing dishes, paused slightly. Because she had just noticed that there was only one bedroom and one living room here.

Not long after, Lin Yuan came out of the room with his bag on his back.

"Xia Ye, I've taken all my things. Could you please put away my towel and toothbrush in the bathroom for me? If anything's missing, buy it from the community supermarket. I'm leaving now."

This small rented room wasn't big; Xia Ye didn't need to come out of the kitchen to talk to Lin Yuan conveniently.

"Okay, be careful on your way. Let me know when you get to the dorm. I'll accompany Xiao Xiao back to pack her clothes in a bit."

Instead, Song Xiaoxiao walked out of the kitchen.

She looked at Lin Yuan, "Are you leaving?"

"What else? Didn't I already tell you this morning that I'm going back to the dorm, and this place is for you and Xia Ye?"

"I'm staying quite well over there. Maybe don't bother."

Lin Yuan said while changing his shoes, "Your car has been auctioned off, and your savings are gone. Don't be stubborn, just stay here."

Although Song Xiaoxiao had been released, most of her car and savings were deemed illegal gains; after all, paid escort services were also against regulations. What's more, she still had a lot of fines to pay.

So, her livelihood was actually a problem now.

"You... you can stay. I can sleep in the living room."

"Uh... classmate," Lin Yuan gestured around, indicating that this rented room was only so big. Then he looked at the other party, "I, Lin, still have my principles."

After speaking, he left the door, leaving Song Xiaoxiao standing there alone.

"Xiao Xiao, what are you doing? Has Lin Yuan left?"

"He... he's left."

"Come quickly and help me wash the dishes!"