Chapter 12: Sponsoring the Phone Bill

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It seemed she noticed Chen Xiao looking at her, and she nodded slightly in acknowledgment. Chen Xiao felt a bit embarrassed—surely she didn’t think he was dodging the debt? After all, he hadn’t gone to repay last night, but now wasn’t the right time to explain. Watching her dine with two other young women, all dressed in matching uniforms, Chen Xiao guessed they must be colleagues. Each was beautiful, but sitting beside her, the others suddenly seemed less radiant.

“Don’t even look,” Wang Jing whispered to Chen Xiao. “A woman that stunning isn’t someone like us can even dream of.” Chen Xiao dared not glance again, feeling guilty and wondering what they might think of him.

Unbeknownst to him, the beautiful women were also talking about the two men nearby.

“Did you hear those two handsome guys at the next table? Office workers with a base salary of 4,000 yuan, and they’re men. That income probably barely covers their own living expenses. Making money these days isn’t easy.”

“Yeah, sitting in an office doesn’t mean you earn more than us sales assistants. Take Xiangjun, the sales champion—she pulls in over 10,000 yuan a month.”

The prettiest girl remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

“Bro, I wanted to give you some advice when we were at the company earlier. When we’re out handling business, we need to pay attention to our attire. Look at you—still wearing those casual sports clothes from your school days. It doesn’t really suit a business setting.”

Chen Xiao nodded. He had realized that before—he hadn’t had money to care, and recently, no time. Today, however, he could finally spare some time to pick out a few outfits. Now that he was shopping in Jiangzhou’s malls, as long as it wasn’t a luxury store, he could pretty much buy without checking the price tags—blindly paying, since his wallet was full and his confidence restored.

The neighboring ladies finished their meal and prepared to leave. Chen Xiao told Wang Jing, “Wait for me, I have something to do.”

Then, he hurried after them. Wang Jing was stunned. “Wow, is Chen Xiao really that smooth?”

“Hey, wait up!” Chen Xiao called out from the restaurant’s entrance, but not knowing her name, he could only shout “Hey, hey!”

Fortunately, they turned around and saw him. One of them said, “Here comes another guy asking for WeChat. Don’t bother, he’s definitely after Xiangjun. Let’s go before we become a third wheel.”

“Absolutely. When she’s with Xiangjun, who even notices us?”

The woman called Xiangjun also saw Chen Xiao and stopped while her two colleagues left ahead.

Chen Xiao caught up with her, and she waited, her bright eyes fixed steadily on him without blinking.

Embarrassed, Chen Xiao said, “Um, sorry about yesterday. I got home late and didn’t want to bother you.”

She nodded silently.

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“May I ask your name?”

“Zhao Xiangjun.”

Chen Xiao gave her a meaningful look. Sensitive, she said, “My parents gave me this name.”

“Nothing else meant by it, really. Honestly, you’re even more beautiful than the historical Xiangjun,” he added.

Zhao Xiangjun looked at him oddly, as if to say, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Um, could I add you on WeChat? I want to transfer the money to you.”

“Aren’t you short on balance?” Zhao Xiangjun asked curiously. Yesterday he said he didn’t have enough balance and needed to withdraw cash, and today he wanted to pay via WeChat.

“Oh, I’ve linked my bank card now.”

“Okay, no need to add me on WeChat. I’ll just show you my payment code.”

She seemed reluctant to add strangers on WeChat, so she opened her payment code, entered 2,000 yuan, and handed the phone to Chen Xiao to scan.

Chen Xiao scanned and attempted to pay... but the transaction failed.

“...”

“...”

Chen Xiao was dumbfounded, and Zhao Xiangjun looked at him as if to say, “I knew it.” She must have thought he was pretending to be unable to pay, making a show but without money.

“Chen Xiao, right? Maybe your bank card isn’t properly linked. It’s okay, next time. I’m not in a hurry. Just pay me back after you get your commission.”

She put away her phone, not exposing him but giving him a graceful way out.

But I’m not like that! Chen Xiao felt wronged. Seeing Zhao Xiangjun turn to leave, he quickly looked for the problem and discovered his phone service was suspended due to insufficient balance—he had received a notification that morning that his phone credit was depleted, so his caller service was paused and the network cut off.

“Uh, Zhao Xiangjun, wait a minute!” Chen Xiao hurriedly called out to her as she walked away.

She turned, her bright eyes full of question, as if saying, “What else do you want? I already gave you a way out. Why play games?”

“Well, it’s because my phone balance is out, so...”

“Oh, I know. That’s fine. Just pay me back after you get your commission. No rush.”

After all, whether the excuse was phone balance or bank card linking, it was all the same story.

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Seeing her turn to leave again, Chen Xiao quickly said, “Um, could you help me top up my phone credit? Once the network’s back, I can pay you right away.”

Zhao Xiangjun suddenly turned back, staring at Chen Xiao in shock. Chen Xiao immediately understood her meaning: “Is there really someone so shameless? Not only not repaying money, but also tricking me into paying their phone bill?”

“Don’t misunderstand. My phone really is out of credit!” Chen Xiao hurried to explain.

“No need. I believe your phone’s out of credit,” Zhao Xiangjun said, though she wondered how someone could be so broke that he couldn’t even pay his phone bill. No wonder a grown man couldn’t pay 2,000 yuan in property fees. Now it made sense—if he couldn’t even pay 200 yuan for phone credit, how could he possibly come up with 2,000.

“Your phone number?”

“138……”

“Okay, I topped up 300 yuan. That should be enough! Chen Xiao, everyone faces hardships, but they’re temporary. With effort, you’ll see the light beyond the clouds. Work hard. Pay me back after your commission comes in. Consider this phone credit as a little support from me.”

What did she mean? Chen Xiao was stunned, then realized she thought he was tricking her into topping up his phone. He hurried, “Zhao Xiangjun, don’t go yet—I have money, I can pay you now!”

But this time, Zhao Xiangjun left without a backward glance.

Chen Xiao was left feeling frustrated, the misunderstanding had grown.

After restarting his phone, the network was back, but the beauty was gone. Chen Xiao thought, “Forget it. I’ll pay her back when I get home.”

Wang Jing laughed as Chen Xiao returned dejected. “So, did you get that beauty’s WeChat?”

Chen Xiao shook his head.

“I told you. Women of that caliber aren’t for people like us. Countless rich men chase them. We’re not even worth a glance.”

Chen Xiao shook his head again. Zhao Xiangjun really wasn’t that type. Though she seemed distant on the surface, her actions over the past two days showed she was kind-hearted. The coldness was merely an exterior.

“You still don’t get it. We barely make enough to support ourselves this month. How could we possibly afford their high lifestyle? We can’t expect to be with them and have the women pay for us.”

Chen Xiao thought to himself, “You know, she actually just gave me money.”