Success

Lin Yuan and Zhang Yan chatted in the car for a long time without realizing it.

Before Lin Yuan got out of Zhang Yan's car, he was still held by her, reluctantly, and kissed for quite a while.

When he returned home, the dining table had already been cleared, and there was no one in the living room.

Lin Yuan followed the sound into the bedroom. Xia Ye was lying on the bed with her back bare, and Song Xiaoxiao was rubbing her with a bottle of medicated wine.

"Why are you working so hard? You must have strained a muscle again," Song Xiaoxiao muttered as she rubbed.

Hearing Lin Yuan's footsteps, the two of them turned to look, and then Song Xiaoxiao seemed a bit awkward. "How about you do it?"

Lin Yuan naturally took the medicated wine, and then Song Xiaoxiao tactfully left the room, closing the door behind her.

Lin Yuan skillfully poured the medicated wine into his palm, rubbed it open, and then patted it onto Xia Ye's back, massaging her in circles.

Dancing seems to be done with the feet, but in reality, all muscles throughout the body are used, which is why Xia Ye often has muscle strains. She can handle injuries on her feet herself, but muscle strains on her back require someone else's help.

Lin Yuan often helped her like this on a daily basis.

As he kneaded Xia Ye's smooth, soft back, Lin Yuan's palms uncontrollably began to heat up, and his hands started to become restless.

"My muscle strain is on my back, not my chest," Xia Ye said, pulling Lin Yuan's hand out from under her.

"Must you treat me like this?" Lin Yuan sighed.

"Do you really want to?"

"What do you think?"

Xia Ye then flipped over, acting as if she had no intention of resisting, and lay spreadeagled on the bed.

"You're doing this again, making it seem like I'm forcing you into something.

"Then what do you want me to do? You're covered in her scent, and I lose all interest just smelling it." The scent Xia Ye referred to was naturally Zhang Yan's perfume on Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan sniffed his clothes. "Am I?"

"You even have a hickey on your neck from her."

Lin Yuan then remembered Zhang Yan's passionate outpouring when they parted in the car just now.

"That..., Zhang Yan is going home for a few days. She was a bit enthusiastic before leaving. The next few days will be just us two."

Xia Ye heard this and averted her gaze. "I don't know how we ended up like this. I often think about the day I met you at the maid café. You gave me a thousand yuan, which was all you had left, and I'm still grateful for it.

But Lin Yuan, I've realized I've always been one-sided. I thought that thousand yuan was out of pity for me, but now it seems that thousand yuan was the beginning of you buying me. I'm just a canary you've raised now."

Lin Yuan had a headache. "Here we go again. Can we not bring this up?"

Xia Ye had brought up this topic with him many times. It had to be said that Zhang Yan was much more straightforward on such issues.

Zhang Yan was always decisive; if she said she could tolerate Xia Ye, she could, and she wouldn't bring Xia Ye up at every turn. Even if she occasionally mentioned it, it was only to tease Lin Yuan.

But Xia Ye was different; she often put psychological pressure on Lin Yuan now.

"Are you annoyed with me?"

"Not exactly," Lin Yuan sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the quilt to cover her. He had already lost interest.

"Why do you keep bringing these things up? Xiao Xia, do you really hate being a canary?"

Xia Ye thought for a moment and said faintly, "Not really, it just feels uncomfortable."

"See, you can't even answer such a question directly. Let me say it for you: you enjoy the benefits of being a canary, but you hate the lack of freedom from being confined in a cage."

Xia Ye did not deny it.

Lin Yuan continued, "What do you want me to do? I can raise you like a child, but I can't worship you like an ancestor. You need to grow up."

Lin Yuan's words were calm, containing his expectations for Xia Ye.

Xia Ye sat up abruptly. "You're right. That's why I need to practice dancing hard. Lin Yuan, I want to leave you. Leave you, this scoundrel." Xia Ye's tone was also calm, and as she spoke, two lines of clear tears slid down her face.

"No, that's not right. It's not you who's a scoundrel, it's my problem.

Xiao Xiao was right, my efforts aren't part of your success; I'm just a taker. Always have been.

But I just can't stand sharing you with others.

Lin Yuan, I'm a selfish person. Xiao Xiao, she was right. Actually, I'm much more selfish than her.

Am I lacking the harsh realities of life?"

Lin Yuan looked at the bruises on Xia Ye's body. "You certainly are lacking the harsh realities of life. Leave me? Who do you plan to marry? I've raised you for so long, put in so much effort, only for you to say such things?

But thankfully, you're not waking up too late now.

These injuries on your body are nothing. How many people work hard and still get no results? Do you think you can get into Purple Arts' graduate program on your own?"

Xia Ye whispered, "I know I can't."

"Isn't it good to be a happy freeloader? Zhang Yan won't abuse you, and besides, I won't let anyone bully you. I'm just a bit more broad-minded."

"How can you say such things so righteously? My heart has always only held you."

Lin Yuan stood up and thought for a long while. "Xia Ye, I've always wanted to ask you a question. If I were really just a delivery driver, would you marry me? Don't rush to answer me. After you marry a delivery driver, you'd have to go to work every day, because one delivery driver's income can't support an entire family.

Just imagine, the life difficulties you'd face would be several times greater than your daily dance practice now.

You'd have to worry about daily necessities, you'd even have to go to work while pregnant, and the meals you'd eat during your confinement period would certainly be far inferior to your current high-end private coaching class's customized nutritional meals.

Have you thought about it? Can you accept these things?"

Xia Ye's lips trembled, and she hesitated for a long time before slowly speaking, "That's why I feel guilty, so I can't hate you. Xiao Xiao asked me the same question a long time ago. I should break up with you sooner or later. Xiao Xiao said that if I could have persevered, I wouldn't have actively suggested working part-time at the maid café in the first place.

It's because I realized I'm a selfish person; I don't deserve you.

I even feel that Xiao Xiao is more suitable for you than I am."

Lin Yuan was a bit exasperated. "It seems Song Xiaoxiao is a good comrade. She's been correcting your values. So what do you plan to do next? Is it okay to be a willing canary?"

"I... I've been trying to convince myself."

"Okay, it seems you can't. But at least you're honest."

"Won't you feel sad that I'm actually someone who prefers wealth over poverty?"

"No," Lin Yuan said readily. "I never look at problems in extremes. At least your material demands aren't that high. If I just had a monthly salary over ten thousand and a place to live, you wouldn't cause trouble for a lifetime. With your conditions, this demand isn't high at all.

I can't expect to be a good-for-nothing and still have beautiful women madly in love with me.

Zhang Yan clearly told me that it's because she sees something unique in me.

Strictly speaking, Zhang Yan's vision is higher. Xiao Xia, actually, your demands are much, much lower than Zhang Yan's."

"Really?"

"Yeah. At my level, your material needs are just a drop in the ocean. I do hope you can settle down a bit, but then again, if you're too settled, it's boring. Because then you'd completely succumb to material things. That kind of Xiao Xia wouldn't be cute anymore.

It's the conflicted Xiao Xia, like you are now, who is the cutest."

"Really?" Xia Ye hugged her legs and looked up, asking.

"Of course. You'll make a fuss, but you won't make a hysterical fuss. Zhang Yan, on the other hand, is too rational. You two just complement each other."

Lin Yuan looked at Xia Ye's flushed little face and momentarily lost control.

"Do you feel it now?"

After a conversation, many of Xia Ye's emotional knots were untied. Because she found that Lin Yuan was still that sincere Lin Yuan, although this sincerity was somewhat shameless.

Xia Ye answered Lin Yuan with her watery eyes.

Lin Yuan took the opportunity to lean forward...

...

Song Xiaoxiao in the living room listened to the sounds from inside, rubbing her temples.

"Ah~~, it's finally come to fruition.

Sister, I really thank you. You finally didn't overdo it.

Otherwise, I really would have had to go back to our old profession with you."

Song Xiaoxiao's words were half-joking.

But now, her little life was really not bad.

In her twenty-three years of life, it was the first time she had lived a life free from worry about food and clothing.

Lin Yuan entrusted her with looking after Xia Ye, paid for her high-end private coaching classes, and even gave Song Xiaoxiao the daily living expenses, citing Xia Ye's poor financial management. Song Xiaoxiao was now the de facto housekeeper of the home.

Every single expense of this household had to go through her hands.

Lin Yuan never questioned it, nor did he ask her for any reimbursement receipts. Anyway, he gave her thirty thousand yuan every month. This thirty thousand yuan didn't include large expenses like rent, it was only for the daily food and drink of the family.

How could four people eat thirty thousand yuan a month? Lin Yuan simply pretended not to know about it.

So, Song Xiaoxiao began living her dream life as a freeloader, and such a freeloader's life didn't require any cost.

Therefore, Song Xiaoxiao feared more than anyone that Xia Ye, this little ancestor, would mess things up. She didn't want her own rice bowl to be ruined. Thus, she often worked on Xia Ye's mindset on a daily basis.