Where's the Money? Where's My Money?

"Thirty thousand for the bride price, not a penny less!"

"It's not about the money. I just want to know how important I am to you."

"Also, that apartment of yours can't have your mom's name on it. It needs to be transferred to my name."

Shen City, a window seat at the Gray Whale Cafe.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jiang Qin looked at his prospective marriage partner and suddenly felt like her face was unfamiliar.

They had met through a matchmaking service and had been seeing each other for about half a year. Since neither of them was young anymore, and they didn't have time to drag things out, they had been discussing marriage recently.

To be honest, Jiang Qin didn't have much affection for her, and he believed she felt the same way.

After all, at their age, were they really getting married and having children for love?

Wasn't it just to avoid dying alone...?

However, he didn't say anything, but silently drank the water in his glass, turning his gaze to the glass window outside, his ears automatically filtering out her voice.

He felt that life was a pretty shitty thing.

Because his parents said that knowledge changes destiny, he had studied hard since he was a child, thinking that he would definitely become rich and noble, extraordinary.

But after he started working, he realized that he wasn't even an ordinary person. In early 2016, when he first entered the workplace, he was forced to drink with a table full of clients and ended up in the hospital, unable to see his grandmother, who had raised him, one last time.

In 2019, the project went bust, and he was forced to take the blame, holed up in a rented room eating instant noodles for five months, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality.

The later job was relatively stable, but it was far from where he lived. He worked so hard that his liver was failing, so diligent that he saved up his pee twice before going to the bathroom, all to buy a car.

In 2022, he finally bought the car, but he found that he couldn't afford the gas, and he couldn't pee properly anymore.

After the age of thirty, he found that the rent was rising faster than his salary, so he desperately saved money again and told his parents that he wanted to buy a house in Shen City.

From that day on, his parents' table never saw meat again.

But he still couldn't save enough for the down payment, so his father secretly drove a DiDi at night after work during the day, almost suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

Is poverty really related to laziness? Jiang Qin had been thinking about this question for years.

He felt that he had been diligent enough, completely living up to his name.

But where was the money? Who exactly had earned all the money?

When he was a child, his parents had earnestly told him that as long as he was willing to work hard, he would definitely make a name for himself.

But the fact he discovered after growing up was that as long as you are willing to work hard, you will definitely have endless hardships to endure.

Now, his matchmaking partner wanted a bride price of 300,000.

"Jiang Qin, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I've been listening all along."

"Then why haven't you said a word? I've been talking for so long, and my throat is hoarse, and you don't even care!"

Jiang Qin put down his water glass, and after a long silence, he said, "How about we don't get married after all?"

The woman was stunned for a moment, then immediately flew into a rage: "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, I just feel so tired, I want to go home and get some sleep."

"Jiang Qin, you coward, no wonder you're thirty-eight years old and no woman wants you!"

Ignoring the woman's roar, Jiang Qin walked out of the Western restaurant and walked aimlessly along the road.

When he walked to a construction site, he saw a banner hanging on the fence, which read: "Working people are the masters of the country."

So he lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and burned a hole in it.

He didn't have much resentment towards that woman, and even thought her request was normal.

She was already thirty-five years old, what was wrong with being realistic? He was just thinking about a question.

When would there be an end to this kind of life? People who have never worked a day in their lives desperately tout that working people are the masters of the country, but people who have been working all their lives dare not say anything, and can only nod and admit, "Yeah, right, right, right."

But how exactly was he like a master of the country?

He had only ever owned two pairs of AJs in his life, and they were still Putian fakes. You call that being a master of the country?

As for love?

Jiang Qin didn't even know if such a thing existed.

He had been on several blind dates and met a few girls introduced by friends. He could make do with any of them, but the most tragic thing was that it was only limited to making do.

Looking back on his life, he had too many regrets in this life...

Jiang Qin sighed, took out his phone from his pocket, and wanted to find a friend to have a drink with, but when he opened it, he saw four text messages.

One was a credit card overdue notice, one was a phone bill arrears warning, and one was, Brother, I'm nearby, no one's home today.

The last one was from his direct leader, who used earnest words to tell him that the company's performance had not been good recently, and he hoped that employees could voluntarily reduce their salaries and tide over the difficulties with the company.

Jiang Qin instantly lost the mood to drink and continued smoking a cigarette downstairs at the construction site.

In this era, if you want to be rich, you must never work for others, because the distribution of resources in this society is inherently unfair.

But when he thought of his age, Jiang Qin couldn't help but laugh.

Wasn't it a bit unrealistic to start a business at thirty-eight?

His back had been breaking for the past two years, his cervical spine was also having problems, and his crossed neuralgia was more frequent than frequent urination.

Starting a business with this broken body, even if he succeeded, he would be fifty years old. What was there to enjoy in this life?

If only he could do it again, he wouldn't work for anyone. If he could find a sugar mommy, he would.

If that didn't work, he would start a business, firmly believing that money could be earned again, but more could be earned without a conscience.

Jiang Qin took a deep breath, squeezed his sore neck, and couldn't help but glance upwards.

Huh? What was that dark thing? And it was coming right at him?

"..."

"Give him an adrenaline shot, quick!"

"..."

"Welcome the Olympics, promote civility, and establish a new style!"

"..."

"Where's Director Liu? Ask if the operating room is free, hurry up!"

"..."

"My house is always open, waiting for you with open arms."

Jiang Qin suddenly felt a little dazzling in front of his eyes, a little noisy in his ears, his skin was a little hot, and his head was a little dizzy.

Blurrily, he saw a very beautiful little girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old.

She was wearing a fluffy floral dress, revealing a small section of her fair and smooth legs, a straight nose, red and thin lips, slender and curled eyelashes, and a pair of bright eyes.

Jiang Qin smiled.

In these years of diligently working to help the big boss change cars and villas, he had never dreamed of such a beautiful girl.

Such a beautiful girl, would she cry for a long time if he slapped her?

"Jiang Qin, I really don't want to be in a relationship, I'm sorry."

Jiang Qin couldn't laugh anymore because he found that the girl in front of him was becoming more and more vivid and clear.

The floral dress she was wearing was printed with Yano chrysanthemums, and she stood gracefully on the red plastic track, slightly shielding the sunlight with her snow-white arms so that she wouldn't be unable to open her eyes. But even so, the scorching weather still made this youthful and beautiful girl show some irritability.

"If you don't speak, I'll take it as you agree. We're still good friends, right?"

Jiang Qin's brow began to furrow, and a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes.

He knew this girl, Chu Siqi, the class beauty in high school, who should be married now.

From high school to college, he had pursued her for seven years and was almost rejected to the point of doubting his life.

In fact, Jiang Qin wasn't a die-hard simp, and he couldn't do things like pestering her to death.

But the problem was that Chu Siqi kept interfering in his life as a friend, asking him to do this and that, and not allowing him to date other girls, occasionally giving him some hope and throwing him a few candies, which really tormented the young Jiang Qin.

"I'll consider being your girlfriend after my freshman year!"

"I didn't expect sophomore year to be so demanding. Let's talk about it in junior year."

"I have a lot of competitions to participate in during junior year. I don't have time for romance."

It wasn't until the second semester of her junior year that she came hand-in-hand with a tall, thin boy, both wearing matching outfits.

That day, her face was full of tenderness, her eyes as bright as the stars, and she smiled as she asked if her boyfriend was handsome.

After that, he sealed his heart with cement and never had the thought of falling in love again, which led to the story of him reluctantly finding someone to marry at the age of thirty-eight.

In 2008, the concept of a 'backup' didn't exist yet. It wasn't until the internet became developed that Jiang Qin understood that he was just a backup.

She just hadn't found the right person yet, so she kept him at arm's length, teasing him when she was happy and ignoring him when she wasn't.

To put it bluntly, he was just a tool for her to pass the time when she was bored.

The past was vivid in his mind, but Jiang Qin felt a little dizzy and had some tinnitus at this moment.

Chengnan High School in his memory, the class beauty of his teenage years.

Is this... rebirth?

Or is he dreaming? If it's rebirth, then where's the ding? Why isn't it dinging?

Jiang Qin tremblingly stretched out his hand and grabbed twice in the air, but didn't awaken any virtual screen.

Is this a fake reborn person? They didn't even give him the equipment?

"Jiang Qin, are you listening to me? I really don't want to be in a relationship right now."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Jiang Qin casually replied, then closed his eyes, wanting to see if he could awaken his golden finger with his mind, but unfortunately, he failed. There really was no system.

Hearing his straightforward answer, Chu Siqi was unexpectedly stunned. Jiang Qin's attitude was full of indifference, which gave her the feeling of punching cotton, utterly powerless.

"Didn't you hear me clearly? I just rejected you!"

"I heard you. I'm not deaf."

"Then... then don't you have anything to say to me?"

Jiang Qin accepted the reality of not having a system and focused his gaze on Chu Siqi's hand: "What's that thing in your hand?"

Chu Siqi raised the envelope in her hand with a proud look: "This is the love letter you just stuffed into my hand. I told you I didn't want it, but you still gave it to me. Don't write them next time."

"Then can you give it back to me? I have a use for it."

Jiang Qin didn't wait for her to say yes and took the love letter back on his own. Then, he took out the page inside, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket. Next, he unfolded the envelope and spread it flat on his knees, writing two lines on it.

I'd rather do anything than work. If I can latch onto a rich woman, I will.

Money can be earned again, but you earn more when you lose your conscience.

New book by a new author, please be sure to collect it if you think it's okay!