Unforgettable Lesson

"Do you dare say there's never been a time when you especially wanted a girlfriend?" Luo Xiyun stared at Chen Xu, as though trying to find traces of a lie on his face.

Chen Xu set down his chopsticks, took a tissue to wipe his mouth, and brought up something unrelated. "Back in high school, I was determined to get into a Key University, so I studied incredibly hard. By my senior year, I did problems until midnight every day and got up after five in the morning to memorize vocabulary. In the end, guess how many points I got on the National College Entrance Examination?"

"520 points. Forget a Key University—I didn't even meet the cutoff for an ordinary undergraduate program. Everyone around me urged me to repeat the year. They said I was only a few points short, that it was such a shame."

"But I refused. A lot of relatives and friends felt sorry for me, and my parents understood how hard I'd worked in my senior year. Actually, I wasn't afraid of hardship. If repeating a year meant I could get into a Key University, I would've gone without hesitation."

"But I knew I'd already reached my limit. Even if I studied for another year, I wouldn't improve much."

Luo Xiyun opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but Chen Xu gave her no chance and continued on his own. "Later, after graduating from college, I was lucky enough to get into this company."

"In my first year there, I worked hard and did my best to get along with my colleagues. One year, two years, and now it's nearly been three. Of the people who joined at the same time as me, aside from those who quit, the ones who got promoted got promoted, and the ones who got raises got raises."

"As for me, only my base salary went up a little. Even several colleagues who joined a year after me have been promoted faster than I have."

At that point, Chen Xu waved his hand, not giving Luo Xiyun a chance to interrupt. "A person has to know their own limits. You have to know where the limits of your abilities lie."

"Take studying and working, for example. I had to give one hundred percent just to score 520 points, just to get a few hundred more in base pay. So even if I worked myself to death, at most I could raise my score by a few points or get another one or two hundred added to my base salary."

"But what would be the point? The effort and reward are completely disproportionate. Once I understood that, life became much easier."

After saying that, Chen Xu let out a breath before continuing. "Finding a girlfriend works the same way. In today's society, men are naturally at a disadvantage in relationships. If you don't have looks, money, a house, or a car, and you don't know how to smooth-talk or please women, then it's really, really hard to win over the woman you like."

"You have to move her with something else. Give up your dignity, spend every bit of money you have on her, devote all your time and energy to her, practically tear out your heart and show it to her."

"Even then, she'll probably only treat you as a Spare Tire."

"Eventually, you wake up and see things for what they are. You decide to be practical and find a woman who's reasonably acceptable in every respect."

"Then you discover that she gets angry at the drop of a hat, and whenever she's angry, you have to coax her. Because women are emotional creatures."

"When you argue with her, no matter who was wrong, you have to apologize first. Because she's a woman, and you should give in to her."

"On those important holidays, you absolutely can't forget to give her gifts, or the consequences will be serious. If the gift isn't to her liking, she'll say you have the aesthetic sense of a clueless straight man."

"When the two of you are together, you either eat out or order takeout. She can't cook, because she's a modern woman. Isn't it perfectly normal for a modern woman not to know how to cook?"

"Finally, when it comes time to talk about marriage, her parents make their demands: Bride Price, the man has to buy a house and a car, and after marriage, he has to hand over his salary card..."

"To marry that woman, you not only have to give up everything you have, but also most of your parents' lifelong savings."

At that point, Chen Xu spread his hands. "Getting a girlfriend would make my already low quality of life plummet off a cliff. I'd honestly be better off staying single. As for marriage, I really can't afford it."

After hearing him out, Luo Xiyun's gaze flickered. She did not speak for quite a while.

After a brief silence, Chen Xu smiled faintly and said, "Of course, you definitely can't understand this kind of trouble. If you wanted to date, there'd be plenty of men lining up for you to choose from."

Luo Xiyun's expression softened considerably. "I think maybe you just haven't met the right person."

Chen Xu could not help bursting into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Luo Xiyun frowned, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure.

"Nothing." Chen Xu realized that it was somewhat rude as well, so he stopped smiling and stood up to clear the dishes.

Everything he had said was from the heart. In reality, he had no one he could confide in. Only in this dream could he say it all without reservation. He was not seeking comfort.

Especially from someone like Luo Xiyun, who could never understand such a predicament—hearing comforting words from her felt completely off the mark, and he could not help laughing aloud.

When Luo Xiyun saw Chen Xu carry the dishes into the kitchen, she followed him in and said, "When all's said and done, you're just too content with the status quo. To put it bluntly, you lack ambition. In my opinion, you're not much worse than anyone else. As long as you're willing to work hard and fight for it, in a few years you can still get promoted and get a raise..."

As she spoke, Chen Xu had already finished washing the dishes. He took off his rubber gloves, turned to look at her, and said, "First, I'm not your subordinate right now. Second, we don't even count as friends. We're just two grasshoppers tied to the same rope. When we have free time, we can sit together and chat, talk about what's on our minds. But please don't tell me what to do with my own affairs. That's the most basic respect between people."

With that, he walked out of the kitchen and returned to his room.

Luo Xiyun was left standing there, her chest heaving rapidly. She was clearly furious.

Half an hour later, Chen Xu put on a thick winter coat, slung a backpack over his shoulders, and left the apartment.

The moment the front door closed, the door to Luo Xiyun's room opened. She poked her head out, saw that Chen Xu had already left, and quickly stepped out.

She went to Chen Xu's door and twisted the knob open. He never locked his room. She went straight to the computer, turned it on, and soon reached the password login screen.

She had seen Chen Xu enter the password before. It was a simple four-digit number, and she had remembered it. She entered the four digits on the keyboard and successfully reached the desktop.

She grabbed the mouse and gritted her teeth. "That bastard. I'm definitely going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

She clicked through the hard drive partitions one by one, opening every folder larger than 1G. Within minutes, she found her target: a folder several hundred gigabytes in size. She right-clicked and deleted it, then emptied the recycle bin.

Once she was done, she shut down the computer and left the scene of the crime.