Chapter 32: My Young Girlfriend Comes to Deliver Money

"What is this?" Chen Fan looked at the envelope in front of him, puzzled, and then at Su Ruochu.

Su Ruochu opened the envelope and pulled out a bank passbook.

"Guo Shuai told me everything."

"He said you built a website yourself and are currently promoting it, which requires a lot of money."

"He also said that you two have been trying to find ways to make money during this time..."

Chen Fan couldn't help but curse, "That jerk, he sold me out completely!"

Su Ruochu glared at him. "I'm very unhappy."

"Why didn't you tell me about something so important?"

"I am your girlfriend, yet I had to hear about you having difficulties from someone else."

Chen Fan panicked and quickly explained, "This... I didn't mean to keep it from you. It’s just that I didn't think you’d be interested in these kinds of things..."

Su Ruochu looked at him earnestly. "Anything that concerns you, I am interested in."

Chen Fan was completely stunned, left sheepishly not knowing what to say.

Su Ruochu continued, "I only heard from Guo Shuai that you are in urgent need of money right now. I don't know exactly how much you need, but this passbook contains the pocket money I’ve saved over the past few years, along with my red envelope money from Lunar New Year."

"There is a total of 6,782 yuan in it. Take it and use it first. If it's not enough, we will figure something out together."

Chen Fan stared at Su Ruochu, deeply touched, but he didn't reach out for it. Instead, he shook his head with a smile. "I can't take this money."

Su Ruochu became anxious. "This is money I saved myself, not from my family."

"I know. But I still can't take it..."

"Chen Fan!" Su Ruochu glared at him again. "If you do this again, I’ll be angry. Tell me, am I your girlfriend?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Of course you are. And one day you will be my wife."

Su Ruochu blushed, looked around, and glared fiercely at him. "Then why must we draw lines between us?"

Chen Fan gave a bitter smile. "I didn't mean it that way..."

"You clearly did!" Su Ruochu's eyes reddened, looking somewhat aggrieved. "You say you don't, but you’ve always acted like that."

"Why can you use Guo Shuai's money, but not mine?"

"Is it just because I'm a girl? Does using a girl's money hurt your pride?"

Chen Fan shook his head quickly. "Ruochu, you’ve misunderstood. Listen to me first."

Su Ruochu turned her head away indignantly. She seemed truly angry at Chen Fan this time.

Chen Fan, caught between laughter and tears, had to explain softly, "It’s not that I’m intentionally refusing your money. It’s just that I don't need it right now."

Seeing Su Ruochu look back at him, Chen Fan hurriedly added, "If this were last week or last month, I would have taken it immediately without a second thought. But right now, I don't need money for the time being, which is why I didn't accept it."

Chen Fan reached out and held her small hand. "It’s definitely not what you think. While I, Chen Fan, care about my pride, I have never felt the need to act proud in front of my own girlfriend..."

Su Ruochu stared at him for a moment. "Is that true?"

"It’s true."

"Then... Guo Shuai clearly said you were in urgent need of money."

Chen Fan smiled bitterly. "I do need money, but it’s a huge amount. If I only relied on what you gave me, it would be like trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a single cup of water—it would be meaningless."

Su Ruochu suddenly asked, "Chen Fan, what are you actually doing with this money?"

Chen Fan smiled. "Do you want to know?"

"Yes." Su Ruochu nodded. In truth, she had been interested in what Chen Fan was doing for a long time, but because he didn't bring it up, she felt too shy to ask.

"Come here!" Chen Fan pulled her to sit beside him and pointed at the website on the computer screen with his mouse.

"I built this website myself."

"A domain network?" Su Ruochu looked confused, not understanding what it meant.

Chen Fan opened another website. "This one was built by someone else. The situation is that, in order to promote our respective websites, we are both pouring money into advertising."

Su Ruochu was bewildered. "Why spend money on promotion?"

Chen Fan smiled and patiently explained, "It’s like raising piglets. We each bought a piglet and bought plenty of feed early on. Once the pigs are fat and healthy, we sell them and naturally make a profit..."

Su Ruochu immediately understood. "You want to sell this website?"

Chen Fan nodded. "To be more specific, I can only sell my website once I've crushed the competitor's."

"Why?" This was clearly beyond her knowledge. Chen Fan enjoyed the innocent, inquisitive look in her eyes; it made him feel "accomplished" in front of this young girl.

"Because in any industry, only the leader matters, and only the leader is truly valuable. His website and mine are the same type. To be acquired by investors in the future, we have to beat the other side and capture the most traffic; that’s what attracts capital..."

Chen Fan pointed to the page of the Yiyu Network. "The reality is that the person on the other side is very wealthy; they have deep pockets, and their advertising campaigns are completely overwhelming us."

"That’s why I said I don't need money right now—because even if I threw in tens of thousands, it would be a complete waste. Unless we can throw in hundreds of thousands to completely crush them, the money spent isn't worth it."

Su Ruochu began to understand. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. Honestly, this was the first time she had heard these things from Chen Fan. Especially when he spoke those technical terms she didn't understand, she felt like he had become a different person.

She saw a light in his eyes, a sense of focus. Indeed, a man focused on his work was at his most handsome.

After a moment of hesitation, she said softly, "Why don't you take it anyway? You should at least try; you can't just admit defeat before it's even over."

Chen Fan shook his head with a smile. "It's useless. We simply can't compete with their financial power."

Su Ruochu couldn't help but feel anxious for him. "So... are you just going to give up?"

She knew how hard he had been working on this website since before the college entrance exams, often staying up late into the night. It contained so much of his hard work.

Seeing her worried expression, Chen Fan smiled and held her hand. "Of course, I won't give up easily. I just meant I wouldn't compete with them by burning money on advertising, but we can find another way."

Su Ruochu looked expectant. "Have you thought of another way?"

Chen Fan gave a bitter smile. "Not yet."

Su Ruochu thought for a moment, then suddenly thrust the passbook back into his hand. "Since you haven't thought of another way, just take this for now."

"Whether it's a drop in the ocean or not, it's better than doing nothing at all." She looked at him with sincere eyes. "Consider this money a loan from me."

"If you don't take it, I... I won't talk to you ever again."