Chapter 65 - 64: Song Jianye’s Paranoia

Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Song Jianye’s Paranoia

On Monday morning, Chen Yuan shot up in bed as a new notification flashed in his mind.

[Mission Complete: Reward 1,500 yuan cash, Balance Doubler Card x1]

[Your baby, Song Jianye, spent 186 yuan this week, with 314 yuan remaining. Balance Doubler Card activated, rewarding 31,400 yuan cash.]

Initially, Chen Yuan hadn’t paid this mission any mind.

With Song Jianye’s spending habits, 500 yuan a week wasn’t even enough for her snacks. Completing the mission seemed incredibly difficult, so he had already given up on it.

But Tongzi wouldn’t lie to him. Her spending for the week was exactly 186 yuan.

’What did she even eat on so little money?’

’That’s not even enough to live on air, is it?’

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Song Jianye.

Chen Yuan: "Let’s get breakfast together."

Song Jianye: "Okay!"

Song Jianye: "Get ready. I’ll message you when I’m heading downstairs."

Chen Yuan: "Okay."

After washing up, Chen Yuan didn’t leave with his three roommates. He waited another five minutes, only going downstairs after getting Song Jianye’s message.

She was wearing loose, black, wide-leg pants and a pair of Gucci distressed sneakers. Standing at the base of the apartment building, she was backlit by the sun, looking like an iris in an ink wash painting.

"Anything you’re in the mood for? My treat."

"We can talk about that later. How much did you spend last week?"

"I have to check my records. It’s definitely under 500."

Song Jianye took out her phone and opened her little budgeting app.

"I spent 209. I’m pretty amazing, right?"

’Tongzi said she spent 186, which is a little different from her own record. A discrepancy of twenty-something yuan is within a reasonable range, though.’

"First, tell me how you managed to spend so little while still eating properly."

"I didn’t buy anything else last week. I only ate breakfast and lunch. I had dinner for two days when I was with you, and I spent an extra 20 yuan on a carousel ride. Otherwise, I could have saved even more."

Chen Yuan did some mental math. ’At cafeteria prices, just breakfast and lunch, choosing the cheapest options... that’s about 15 to 20 yuan a day. So, 105 to 140 for the week. Plus a few other expenses... it seems to add up.’

"Didn’t your roommates ask why you were skipping dinner?"

"They did. I just said I was on a diet."

When other people said they were on a diet and skipped dinner, it was often a sign they were short on cash. But that wouldn’t be the case for Song Jianye.

’When she said she was on a diet, she meant it. Her roommates would never have guessed she was undertaking an absurd challenge to spend only 500 yuan a week.’

The two of them went to Cafeteria No. 3. It had more options, higher quality, and the food tasted a level above the others, though the prices were a bit steeper.

A single bowl of seafood congee cost over ten yuan. It did have a large shrimp in it, but even so, Chen Yuan still felt it was a bit expensive.

"That’ll be 79 total," the guy serving the food said.

"79 for all this? Isn’t that a bit too expensive?"

"What do you mean, expensive? It’s been this price for years, okay? Don’t stand there with your eyes wide open and..."

’Dammit!’

’He’s about to launch into that famous spiel.’

"Okay, okay, stop. It’s not expensive, not at all."

"Alrighty then. Thanks for your business, my friend."

They took their food and found an empty table to sit down.

"Did you eat anything last night?" Chen Yuan asked.

"I did, but not until after midnight."

At the mention of food, Song Jianye deflated like a punctured ball, her lips forming a dejected little pout.

"I guess I was just too hungry. After midnight struck, I ate a bunch of snacks. It felt so sinful. I’m sure I’m going to get fat."

Song Jianye’s obsessive persistence was beyond anything Chen Yuan had imagined.

This past week, she hadn’t gotten cut fruit from Uncle Zhang or sent her clothes out for laundry. Besides her meals, she had zero extra expenses. She even waited until after midnight, when it was officially Monday, to eat her snacks. She had controlled the one-week timeframe with the precision of a time machine.

’Her single-mindedness was far beyond what I imagined. She’s just so damn stubborn.’

"After this week, I’ve realized that spending only 500 yuan a week is actually really hard. I didn’t dare buy anything. Good thing I didn’t get sick—if I’d had to buy medicine, I might not have had enough."

’She’s the type of person who could easily spend 500 a day, yet she insisted on making 500 last a whole week. Of course it wasn’t enough.’

"You’ve experienced it, and that’s enough. You don’t have to do this anymore."

"No, it’s very necessary. One must always learn to be frugal and prepared for danger, even in times of peace," Song Jianye said earnestly.

"Our breakfast alone cost 79 yuan. If I buy any other daily necessities, it’ll be impossible to keep my spending under 500 for this week."

"It’s fine. I’ll just cook the books. No matter how much I actually spend, the records will show it’s under 500."

Chen Yuan: "..."

"You could have spent more. You only used 209 yuan. You could have spent the rest of your budget on Saturday and Sunday and still been well within the 500-yuan limit."

Chen Yuan felt a little uneasy. Something about her state of mind wasn’t right.

"But didn’t you say you’d give me a huge reward if I saved a lot of money? So I wanted to spend as little as possible to earn that reward from you."

Her charming, almond-shaped eyes, clear as autumn pools, held a lively gaze that dropped like a boulder into the calm lake of Chen Yuan’s heart.

’She wasn’t trying to save money. She just wanted a reward...’

"So that’s what you were thinking."

"Yep. I just want a reward."

Song Jianye was completely open, making no effort to hide her motives. It seemed her entire week of hardship had been in anticipation of this very moment.

’It would be great if we could go on the kiddy rides,’ she thought. ’But he doesn’t seem to like them. He probably wouldn’t agree even if I cried my eyes out, would he?’

’Sigh... Such a proud man...’

’I wish I could just give him a million yuan to buy all his pride from him. But he probably wouldn’t sell. I wonder if ten million would work?’

"Why go to all this trouble? Even if you’d gone over budget, I would’ve taken you wherever you wanted to go."

"Kiddy rides excluded, of course."

"Will you go on a kiddy ride with me?"

The two of them spoke at almost the exact same time, their rapport so perfect it was as if they were synchronized.

"I went hungry for a whole week! Can’t that at least get me one kiddy ride?"

"You can ride on my shoulders and I’ll rock you back and forth, but I am not getting on a kiddy ride with you."

"Fine, then anything else is okay. You have to be the one to think of it."

"Give me some time. You were frugal for a whole week, so the reward can’t be something careless."

"Okay! Is there a deadline? That’ll give me something to look forward to."

Chen Yuan thought for a moment. "How about this weekend? We’re VIPs, after all. Taking a day off won’t be a problem."

"Okay, sounds good."

After they finished eating, Song Jianye headed to Academic Building 2, and Chen Yuan went to Academic Building 1.

Chen Yuan didn’t hurry on his way to the academic building.

He had just made over thirty thousand yuan, bringing his total balance to more than forty thousand. For an ordinary family, this was an absolutely huge sum of money.

But Chen Yuan couldn’t bring himself to be happy about this income. It felt like it hadn’t come from an honest place.

Chen Yuan felt like there was something wrong with him, a feeling that was only cured when he saw the pale legs of a young married woman.

As for what kind of reward to give Song Jianye, he had a pretty good idea now.

’I could take her to the zoo.’

When English class ended, he moved to the back row for his next class, Advanced Mathematics, and took a nap.

Just before class ended, he received a message from Jiang Wanyi.

Jiang Wanyi: [Image.JPG]

Jiang Wanyi: "A new record! 300 ml."

Chen Yuan: "You have that much left over after a feeding?"

Jiang Wanyi: "No, I have to go out for a bit, so I just pumped it beforehand."

Chen Yuan: "Who’s watching the baby?"

Jiang Wanyi: "I had my mom come over, so..."

Chen Yuan: "So what?"

Jiang Wanyi: "Guess."

Even for an old hand like Chen Yuan at playing the straight man, he couldn’t guess.

Chen Yuan: "My empress, your humble servant cannot guess!"

Jiang Wanyi: "Idiot!"

Jiang Wanyi: "My mom is helping with the baby tonight, so I’m free! I can come home a little later."

Jiang Wanyi: "I need to unwind!"

Chen Yuan: "Am I to understand that you’re asking me out?"

Jiang Wanyi: "Hmph. Who knows. [Goofy_face.JPG]"

Jiang Wanyi: "I’ve got to pack my things and head out. Talk to you in a bit."

Chen Yuan: "Okay."

By the time they finished their chat, class was letting out.

After lunch, Chen Yuan called Comrade Li and made up a story, telling her he’d won thirty thousand yuan from a scratch-off ticket.

Luckily, his performance was convincing enough that Comrade Li didn’t suspect a thing.

"Just transfer 27,000 to me and keep 3,000 for yourself. Winning is a good thing; you should treat your roommates to a meal."

"Mom, this is a windfall. Give some to Dad, too. He used to be a ’Grand Cloud’ man, but now he’s smoking Liquns."

"Isn’t that to save money so you can get married? What difference does the brand make? As long as it makes smoke, it’s fine."

After a few more words of instruction, Comrade Li hung up.

Chen Yuan thought for a moment. ’I might have just screwed over Lao Chen.’

’I gave Comrade Li 27,000. In my ideal scenario, Lao Chen would get 2,000 of that as spending money.’

’But it’s also possible he’ll be forced to cough up another 3,000, just so she can make it a nice, round thirty thousand in the bank.’

’Sigh...’