Chapter 7: An Exquisitely Poor Girl

Yang Chen wasn’t really interested in Wang Jiayi and didn’t want to know about her identity.But Wang Jiayi was very interested in Yang Chen and kept asking questions.

"What does your family do?"

"My parents passed away in an accident many years ago. I’m just a ride-hailing driver now."

"Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to remind you of unhappy memories. But, I think your parents were amazing, leaving you quite a bit of wealth."

"Haha... Perhaps, a bit."

...

With more conversation, Yang Chen was no longer so reserved.

He also asked Wang Jiayi a few things about herself.

According to Wang Jiayi, her hometown is Su City, and she has parents and a younger brother there.

She works at a fashion store and earns about 15,000 yuan a month.

Out of that, 5,000 yuan is regularly sent home to help reduce her parents’ financial burden.

With the remaining 10,000 yuan, she uses 7,000 yuan for rent.

This means she only has about 3,000 yuan left for herself.

Yang Chen was a bit confused upon hearing Wang Jiayi’s situation.

Earning 15,000 a month is actually quite good.

Sending 5,000 to her family shows she’s a filial girl.

But spending 7,000 on rent is hard to understand.

Any normal person, with a consistent remainder of around 10,000, wouldn’t spend 7,000 on rent each month.

According to Wang Jiayi, she doesn’t want to treat herself poorly, hoping to live comfortably, and she particularly loves that the apartment she rents now has a large balcony where she can view the nightscape of Ming Pearl Tower every day.

This also means that her apartment is near Ming Pearl Tower, no wonder it costs 7,000 a month.

To put it bluntly, she’s living the "exquisite poverty" lifestyle.

Even though her personal income isn’t enough to support such a lifestyle, she insists on maintaining it.

However, comparatively, she’s much better than Zhao Feifei.

Zhao Feifei dreams of living a good life but lacks the capability, doesn’t want to work hard, and only wants to rely on men, yet still denies it.

Wang Jiayi earns her own money to sustain her "exquisite poverty" lifestyle. Whether or not her approach is reasonable, at least she’s relying on her own ability, and no one can criticize her.

Yang Chen then asked, "So, are you planning to fulfill your wish of settling in Hai City through marriage?"

Wang Jiayi downed a glass of red wine and replied with a smile, "Am I really that unambitious?"

Yang Chen smiled and kept silent.

Wang Jiayi poured herself another glass, drank it in one go again, and continued, "I’m 28 years old now. I’ve long lost the ambition I had when I first came to Hai City. To put it simply, life has smoothed my edges, and I’ve accepted my fate. You’re right; I lack the capability, so I can only hope to achieve my wish of settling in Hai City through marriage. The city is so vibrant, much better than my hometown, which turns pitch black at night. Do you look down on me?"

Wang Jiayi seemed a bit tipsy, with much more expressive body language.

Yang Chen replied with a smile, "How should I put it? I believe everyone has the right to pursue a better life. If one’s own ability is limited, pinning hopes on a partner isn’t wrong. But if you rely on a man yet go around claiming to be an independent woman, then I can’t agree. There’s nothing shameful about a woman relying on a man; globally, no one would think so. But to do one thing and say another, that’s not right."

Wang Jiayi finished her wine, and Yang Chen gestured to the waiter for more.

"Cheers!" Wang Jiayi said with a smile.

Yang Chen nodded, raised his glass, and drank with her.

The waiter opened another bottle of red wine and poured it for Yang Chen and Wang Jiayi.

With flushed cheeks, Wang Jiayi clearly showed the effects of alcohol.

"You’re right, doing one thing and claiming another is wrong. But I also won’t allow others to take advantage of me. Do you know why I was biased against you when I got in the car?" Wang Jiayi asked.

Yang Chen shook his head.

Wang Jiayi then explained her reason.

It turned out Wang Jiayi had two blind date appointments tonight.

One at five o’clock, another at eight o’clock.

She first had dinner with the guy and then went to watch a movie together.

Everything was fine until the guy, taking advantage of the darkness in the cinema, tried to kiss her.

She couldn’t accept it and immediately slapped him, got up, and left.

As a result, the guy chased her, calling her shameless, saying that after dinner and a movie, she wouldn’t even let him kiss her, questioning her sense of propriety.

Wang Jiayi felt they were just on a blind date, not in a confirmed relationship. Kissing on the first meeting was out of line; would the next meeting mean sleeping together?

So, in anger, she insisted on splitting all the expenses with him and took a taxi to the Peninsula Hotel for her second date, fuming all the way.

She still had resentment toward the first date, which is why she initially had such an attitude towards Yang Chen.

Especially after overhearing Yang Chen’s call with Zhao Feifei, she felt even more that men were unreliable, increasing her bias against Yang Chen.

After finishing, Yang Chen teased, "I think you just weren’t interested in him. If you had been, you wouldn’t have refused his kiss."

Wang Jiayi immediately retorted, "How could that be? It’s not about whether I’m interested. Even if I were, it’s just the first meeting; how could I let him kiss me? Then the next meeting would be about sleeping together? What a joke."

"Kissing, sleeping together, it’s not about which meeting it happens on; it’s all about the atmosphere and the feeling. If the atmosphere is right and the feeling is there, these things can happen even on the first meeting," Yang Chen said with a smile.

Wang Jiayi scornfully curled her lips, saying, "I don’t believe it. Who could kiss or even sleep with someone on the first meeting?"

Yang Chen smiled, stood up, walked to Wang Jiayi, gently pinched her chin, and as their eyes met, Wang Jiayi’s face instantly turned red.

Yang Chen leaned down and kissed her, and Wang Jiayi felt a jolt of electricity sweep through her body, leaving her completely rigid.

Yang Chen straightened up and said with a smile, "You take your time. Put the bill on my tab, and I’ll settle it all in the morning. I’m feeling a bit dizzy now and heading up to room 1208 to rest."

With that, Yang Chen shook his head slightly and left.

Indeed, the red wine had a strong after-effect; Yang Chen was feeling a bit groggy.

Wang Jiayi sat there like a statue, her mind a complete mess.

"Did he just kiss me? Why didn’t I resist? How embarrassing, being kissed on the first meeting. But he’s a jerk; he even forced me to call him ’daddy,’ have I forgotten that grudge? So strange, why didn’t I resist? It shouldn’t be. He’s gone to sleep now, should I go? Would that be inappropriate? Oh, how embarrassing, why am I even thinking about this? How could I even consider going to his room? Sleeping with him on the first meeting, do I even have any shame left? But he really is handsome, and it felt good; I really want to go to his room. What should I do?"

In that brief moment, Wang Jiayi was flooded with hundreds of questions.

She was very conflicted at that moment.

Should she go to room 1208 to find Yang Chen?

Just as Yang Chen said earlier, things like kissing and sleeping together depend on the feeling and atmosphere. If all external conditions are met, then it happens naturally, unrelated to how many times they have met; now Wang Jiayi finally believed those words.

Yang Chen was feeling dizzy and definitely couldn’t drive home.

The hotel room was already booked, so he might as well spend the night here.

After showering, Yang Chen flopped onto the bed, preparing to sleep.

After a while, the doorbell rang.

Yang Chen quickly got up to open the door, and suddenly a figure rushed in, hugging him and kissing him...