A roommate offered a whopping 100,000 yuan in front of the whole class to have me wash his underwear for him.
“I bet a Lamborghini that you’d agree. Bro, do me a favor. I’ll transfer 500,000 yuan to you once it’s done.”
Just as I was about to say yes, my childhood sweetheart in the same class suddenly slapped the table and stood up. She went up and slapped him in the face.
“Just because you have money, you can humiliate people like this?!”
“Take your filthy money and get out of here!”
So the bet was called off.
But with just that slap, the childhood sweetheart became an internet sensation and a popular live – streaming product seller, raking in huge profits.
As for me, I became the clown in her mouth, a sycophant for money, almost socially dead.
I begged her not to mention me during her live – streams.
But she said righteously, “No way! I want the world to know the fate of being a slave to money.”
I was surrounded and laughed at by her fans, pushed to the middle of the road and hit to death.
When I woke up again, I was back on the day my roommate made the bet.
A pop – up window flashed on my WeChat on my phone.
My childhood sweetheart at the same table was raising her hand, about to slap out —
I yelled, “I’ll take care of all your underwear for the four years of college! Hand – washed, no fakes!”
Not only am I willing to wash them, but I’ll also live – stream the process every day.
I just love money. So what!
Washing for four years for a salary of 600,000 yuan. So what!!!
1
“Lin Cheng! How about 100,000 yuan for you to wash my underwear once?”
The arrogant voice of the rich second – generation roommate, Zhou Yang, came, mixed with the shocked gasps of the surrounding classmates.
But I was in a daze and couldn’t react for a while. At this moment, a message popped up on my phone. I looked down to check, and it was from Zhou Yang.
“I bet a Lamborghini that you’d agree. Bro, do me a favor. I’ll transfer 500,000 yuan to you once it’s done.”
The familiar scene and dialogue were repeating. I pinched my thigh, and the real pain told me that I had been reborn.
Reborn at the beginning of the first year of college.
In my past life, after Zhou Yang made this request to me, before I could even open my mouth, my childhood sweetheart, Chen Miaomiao, angrily got up and rushed up to slap Zhou Yang.
“Just because you have money, you can humiliate people like this?!”
“Take your filthy money and get out of here!”
Her actions were filmed and posted online.
Netizens flocked to like the post, praising her for not bowing to money and for being poor yet having integrity.
She started live – streaming with this wave of popularity, telling how noble she was, how she defended her dignity, and how she didn’t bow to a meager income.
She made a fortune with this popularity.
But not long after, seeing that the topic was gradually cooling down and the popularity was decreasing.
In order to make a comeback, she directly started to smear and vilify me to attract attention. In her words, I became the clown that everyone spurned.
I was spurned and cyber – bullied by netizens. My grandmother was so angry that she had a cerebral hemorrhage and was hospitalized, urgently needing 500,000 yuan for medical expenses.
500,000 yuan!
I was a left – behind child, raised by my grandmother since I was a child. Where could I get 500,000 yuan.
If I had helped Zhou Yang complete that bet back then…
I had no choice but to find Zhou Yang and beg him to save my grandmother’s life.
I begged bitterly for a week, and finally Zhou Yang agreed to lend me the money.
Just as I was happily holding the check, thinking that my grandmother could finally have the surgery.
Chen Miaomiao jumped out from some corner, holding her phone, snatched the check from my hand and tore it into powder.
“Lin Cheng, you really disappoint me! You actually bowed again for 500,000 yuan!
“If your grandmother knew that the surgery fee was earned through disgraceful means, how guilty she would be!”
Chen Miaomiao was live – streaming while tearing up my hope.
I was pushed into despair again, and she once again became the justice in everyone’s eyes.
I had no choice but to go to work to earn money.
I took a tutoring job, working 24 hours a day, using the hard – earned salary to pay for the medical expenses that could barely sustain my grandmother’s life.
But Chen Miaomiao haunted me and came to me again, saying that my private tutoring for high – school students would disrupt the educational balance.
“If high – school students all have private tutoring, then what do we need teachers for!
“We need fairness and justice!”
She deliberately said in front of the parents that I was a person who would stop at nothing for money, and condemned me for being a person without virtue who couldn’t teach students well.
In the end, I was fired by the parents and no one hired me.
And she continued to live – stream and criticize me.
I was even harassed offline after my personal information was exposed.
I begged her not to live – stream and criticize me anymore, and not to interfere in my life either. My grandmother was waiting for me to save her life.
But she said righteously, “No way! I want the world to know the fate of being a slave to money.”
When I was crossing the road, I was recognized by her fans. They chased me, taunting and frolicking.
I don’t know who pushed me onto the road.
The truck ran over me, taking my life and also taking away my grandmother’s hope of survival.
My thoughts came back. I clenched my teeth tightly.
I glanced back and saw Chen Miaomiao eager to rush out and “uphold justice”.
I stepped on her foot and stood up first, yelling at Zhou Yang, “Big shot! I’ll take care of all your underwear for the four years of college! Hand – washed, no fakes!”
2
Chen Miaomiao’s face twisted in pain from being stepped on by me.
Seeing that I actually agreed to Zhou Yang’s request, she was even more incredulous.
She was heartbroken and reprimanded, “Lin Cheng! You’re actually such a person who has no bottom line for money! You really disappoint me!
“Don’t you have any dignity?!”
I sneered in my heart. How much is the dignity in your mouth worth?
I only knew that in my past life, with that 500,000 yuan, my grandmother wouldn’t have died.
I didn’t care about the consequences and didn’t fall into the self – proof trap. “I can earn 100,000 yuan by washing underwear. Why not?
“I’m not as noble as you.”
Chen Miaomiao was so angry that her face turned red. “What you’re doing will only encourage the bad habits of these rich second – generations! We poor people also have dignity!”
Crazy!
Who wants to be poor with you!
In this life, I’m going to hold onto Zhou Yang’s thigh tightly.
I replied to Zhou Yang with an OK gesture on WeChat, with a smile on my face.
“Alright, Young Master Zhou. When do you think it needs to be washed?
“If you’re not reassured, I can even live-stream the washing.”
Zhou Yang seemed to not expect me to agree so readily. He grinned and laughed, “No need to live – stream the washing. Wash it tonight. I’ll transfer the money to your card now.”
The classmates in the classroom booed and laughed at me.
“Come on, Lin Cheng is really doing this kind of thing. He’s so shameless.”
“Yeah, he’s not afraid that Zhou Yang is just having fun with him. In the end, he won’t get anything.”
While everyone was whispering, Zhou Yang winked at those young masters and said arrogantly, “I won! The Lamborghini will be parked downstairs at my place tomorrow.”
As soon as he finished speaking, my bank card showed that 600,000 yuan had been credited!
I looked at my phone and my face broke into a big smile. “Thank you, Young Master Zhou. The money has been received.”
Zhou Yang waved his hand and left.
The remaining classmates with shocked expressions: “No way, Zhou Yang really transferred the money to him!”
Chen Miaomiao’s face turned ashen, with undisguised contempt in her eyes, as well as hidden regret and jealousy.
3
That night, I fulfilled my promise and washed the underwear.
To show that I wasn’t cheating, I held the underwear and repeatedly asked Zhou Yang if he wanted me to live – stream the washing.
Zhou Yang had a complicated expression and blushed as he stopped me.
I looked at the size of the underwear in my hand. It was quite big. What was there to be shy about?
I hummed a song and finished washing the underwear.
Zhou Yang was lying on the bed playing games.
Another roommate, Xu Haowen, hadn’t come back from the library yet.
And another roommate, Song Yuhao, was sitting on the bed, looking at me with hatred and jealousy.
I took the underwear to the balcony to dry.
Suddenly, a strong spotlight shone on me, making me unable to open my eyes for a moment.
Then, Chen Miaomiao’s voice of hating iron for not becoming steel came from the girls’ dormitory opposite.
“Lin Cheng! You actually really did this kind of thing for money!
“Is money really that important to you? You don’t even want your dignity!”
With Chen Miaomiao’s shout, the lights in both the boys’ and girls’ dormitories were turned on, and everyone stuck their heads out to watch the show.
I slowly finished drying the underwear. “I’m not ashamed of making money with my own skills.
“My making this money doesn’t get in your way, does it? You just have to keep targeting me. Could it be… you’re jealous of me?”
Chen Miaomiao was so angry at what I said that she seemed to have been greatly insulted. “Don’t talk nonsense. How could I be jealous of someone like you!”
Her eyes dodged, and she was furious. “I’d rather not have this kind of money!”
With that, she turned off the light, closed the window, and drew the curtains.
Others were still expecting to see me being humiliated and looking inferior.
I scanned around and said briskly, “Young Master Zhou, it’s dried!
“If there’s such a thing next time, come to me again. I’m really good at running errands. I’ll give you a 20% discount!”
At night, when I went to bed, looking at the balance in my bank card, I felt extremely at ease.
With this money, my grandmother’s illness can be cured in this life.
As for Chen Miaomiao, if she continues like this, she will surely dig her own grave.
4
The next day, I went to the cafeteria and added two big chicken legs for myself.
Since I entered college, except for my own part – time job money and the money my grandmother gave me from her odd jobs, I was reluctant to spend it and saved it up.
I was usually very stingy and rarely ate meat.
I was happily gnawing on the chicken legs when Chen Miaomiao appeared in front of me.
“Lin Cheng! How do you have the face to come to the cafeteria after doing such a thing!”
Huh?
I didn’t steal or rob. What did I do?
Looking at Chen Miaomiao’s accusatory eyes, I was speechless. “What are you standing in front of me for? If you can’t afford to eat, go borrow money from Young Master Zhou.”
Seeing that I was in a dispute with Chen Miaomiao, the classmates who were buying food in the cafeteria all slowed down and surrounded us.
Seeing so many people, Chen Miaomiao gained confidence.
She righteously criticized me for abandoning my dignity for money.
I was just about to take a bite of the chicken leg when Chen Miaomiao saw that I wasn’t listening to her and slapped the chicken leg out of my hand.
“Lin Cheng, how can you eat this!
“If it were me, I’d rather starve to death than sell my dignity for money!”
Looking at the chicken leg that rolled on the ground, my eyes turned cold.
“Chen Miaomiao, if you’re jealous that I got 100,000 yuan for nothing, just say so.”
I looked at Chen Miaomiao’s roommate in the crowd and said sarcastically, “If you really have dignity, don’t secretly use your roommate’s Chanel perfume.”
As soon as I said this, Chen Miaomiao’s face turned pale instantly, and whispers came from the crowd.
Chen Miaomiao’s roommate was shocked when she heard this and looked at Chen Miaomiao with a scrutinizing gaze.
Chen Miaomiao’s eyes dodged guiltily, and she shouted, “What are you talking about!
“Lin Cheng, I would never do such a thing. I’m a person with dignity!”
In my past life, it was rumored that one of Chen Miaomiao’s roommates’ high – end cosmetics and skin – care products were often secretly used, but no one was ever caught.
Just now, I just said it casually. It seems that I hit the mark. It was really Chen Miaomiao who did it.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “I did smell the Chanel perfume on Chen Miaomiao’s white dress that day!”
Chen Miaomiao was almost going crazy. Her proud dignity seemed to be about to be crushed.
Although everyone basically judged that it was Chen Miaomiao who used it, there was no solid evidence.
Coupled with Chen Miaomiao’s denial, the matter was left unresolved.
Quite a few people privately laughed at Chen Miaomiao.
“Do you think she’s just meddling in Lin Cheng’s business? Lin Cheng doesn’t steal or rob. He earns money with his ability. What’s wrong with that?”
“Yeah, what dignity or not. If I knew that Zhou Yang would really give that 100,000 yuan, I’d wash the underwear too.”
“Chen Miaomiao is so ‘dignified’, yet she still secretly uses other people’s perfume. Hahaha…”
Chen Miaomiao rushed out from some corner and pushed and shoved those two people.
“What are you talking about! I would never sell my dignity for vanity!
“I’m not like Lin Cheng. Just you wait and see. I will definitely prove it to you!”
5
Just like that, I clung to Zhou Yang’s thigh in the dormitory.
He wasn’t short of money and was also happy to have a capable and unobtrusive lackey.
And I became his personal lackey.
As long as he made a phone call, I would bring him breakfast and sign in for him at 8 am, bring him water when he played ball, bring him an umbrella on rainy days, and bring him clothes on snowy days.
I was even more attentive to him than his mother.
His brothers even jokingly said they would offer a high price to poach me, but I ruthlessly refused.
A loyal minister doesn’t serve two masters. I’m a lackey with principles.
Zhou Yang was very generous and gave money readily.
Even my tuition fees and accommodation fees were transferred from his card.
Looking at the increasing balance in my bank card, I could send a lot of supplements and money to my grandmother every month.
I grinned from ear to ear.
I also signed my grandmother up for a full – body check – up and strictly told her to only eat a light diet — perhaps, this could prevent her from getting sick again.
At noon, after I finished eating in the dormitory, I routinely helped Zhou Yang clean up the trash and was about to take it out.
Roommate Song Yuhao suddenly said in a sarcastic tone, “You’re really born to be a lackey.”
I was stunned. Was he talking about me?
Looking at the thick contempt in Song Yuhao’s triangular eyes, I remained calm and replied slowly, “That’s better than being born with a mean streak.”
Song Yuhao had been in a very bad mood recently. His girlfriend was snatched away by a rich second – generation from the neighboring Physical Education Institute.
He begged for reconciliation in vain and was labeled as a “simp”.
So now he hated all rich people, and by extension, the lackeys of rich people.
Song Yuhao was furious. “I hate people like you the most who can sell everything for money!
“Aren’t you ashamed that you washed someone’s underwear for just 100,000 yuan?”
Just 100,000 yuan.
You’re so noble then.
I heard that on his girlfriend’s birthday, he couldn’t even afford a 200 – yuan lipstick, and what’s more, he pretended to be a big shot and gave her a fake one.
In the end, the two of them quarreled, and his girlfriend was snatched away.
If you had 100,000 yuan, your girlfriend wouldn’t have left.
Now he was standing on the moral high ground, looking down on me in the name of being noble.
I was just about to retort when I suddenly saw the transfer from Zhou Yang for my running errands this week, 7,000 yuan.
My mood instantly brightened.
I cheerfully sent a voice message of thanks to Zhou Yang. Hearing that I could earn nearly 10,000 yuan just by running errands in a week, Song Yuhao’s face turned green.
I shook my phone. “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. If you want to wash underwear, line up behind me.”
6
Song Yuhao was furious and impotent in the dormitory. He didn’t dare to bully Zhou Yang and couldn’t get the better of me, so he took his anger out on Xu Haowen, who was the most honest in the dormitory on a daily basis.
Xu Haowen was a poor student. He was introverted and self – deprecating on weekdays, and was fully focused on his studies. When I returned to the dormitory at night, I heard the two of them arguing. It turned out that Xu Haowen got up in the morning to go to the library to study. Song Yuhao said that the sound of him closing the door was too loud and woke him up, but Xu Haowen always did things gently. Moreover, it was already 9:30 in the morning when Xu Haowen left the dormitory, which was the normal time for people to get up on weekdays.
Xu Haowen was so angry that his face turned red, but he was clearly no match for Song Yuhao’s unreasonable arguing. Most importantly, when he looked in the cabinet this morning, he found that Song Yuhao had thrown away all the expired bread and instant noodles he had stocked up. These were Xu Haowen’s meals for half a month! Song Yuhao insisted that there were bugs in the dormitory and it must be the dirty things brought in by Xu Haowen that caused them, so he just threw them away. But Xu Haowen had clearly sealed them in disposable bags. Any sensible person could tell at a glance that Song Yuhao was just looking for trouble.
When he saw me enter the door and looked at him impatiently with lowered eyebrows, Song Yuhao immediately lost his bravado. I walked up to him, and my 1.85 – meter height gave him a strong sense of oppression. “You’re so noble. Shouldn’t you compensate Xu Haowen for the money for the bread?” Song Yuhao stuck his neck out. “Why should I compensate?” I sneered. “Don’t compensate? Fine.” I picked up the newly – bought game console on his table and threw it to Xu Haowen. “Take this and sell it second – hand to pay off the debt.” This game console was newly bought by Song Yuhao, and he cherished it very much. Seeing me throw it so casually to Xu Haowen, his heart almost broke with fright. But he was a bully who feared the strong, and he didn’t dare to confront me directly. “Lin Cheng! Stop! I’ll compensate, I’ll compensate!”
Song Yuhao reluctantly compensated Xu Haowen the money at the original price, and glared at me viciously. At night, when Zhou Yang came back and saw the clean floor on his side, he thought I had swept it for him. “I’ll transfer the money to you later.” I raised my eyebrows and smiled. “This time it wasn’t me who swept it. It was Haowen. Song Yuhao said there were bugs on the ground, which were brought in by him, so Xu Haowen cleaned the dormitory.” Zhou Yang nodded indifferently and said to Xu Haowen, “Okay, I’ll transfer it to you later.” Xu Haowen wanted to refuse, but I smiled and thanked him in advance. I knew that Xu Haowen was short of money for the book fee recently. If he could earn some extra money from Zhou Yang, it could reduce his financial pressure. Xu Haowen looked at me gratefully with his lips pursed. Song Yuhao looked at the three of us with a gloomy gaze.
7
I knew Song Yuhao wouldn’t stay quiet. He told Chen Miaomiao that I was making extra money from Zhou Yang together with Xu Haowen. As soon as I arrived at the classroom in the morning, Chen Miaomiao rushed to me and Xu Haowen like the wind, and scolded us with a heart – broken look. “Lin Cheng, you’re so despicable! It’s bad enough that you’ve fallen, but you have to drag others down with you! Don’t you two have any dignity?!”
I looked at her indignant look and thought she was crazy. “Are you out of your mind? Have you become addicted to being a moral paragon?” Chen Miaomiao had a look of righteousness. “Thanks to classmate Song Yuhao for telling me this. I will never allow people like you to corrupt the atmosphere of our school!”
That night, Chen Miaomiao wrote a long post on the school forum, nearly two thousand words, criticizing the behavior of me, Zhou Yang, and Xu Haowen, comparing us to the cancer of the school and society. Without knowing the truth, people might really think we had done something heinous. The post was immediately pushed up by those who loved to watch the excitement. Some people scolded us for being greedy for money, while others scolded Chen Miaomiao for meddling.
“Is life too comfortable? Mind your own business. Go find a job and you’ll be quiet.”
“What does it matter to you that they earn money without stealing or robbing?”
“We should put an end to this kind of atmosphere. It’s too morally corrupt.”
I took a few glances and then quit uninterested. Song Yuhao, on the other hand, spent the whole afternoon busy criticizing us in the post. Although this post didn’t cause any real harm, it was still annoying. I rolled my eyes. I remembered that the administrator of the school forum seemed to be Zhou Yang’s brother. I sent a message to Zhou Yang.
“Young Master Zhou, are you there?”
“Speak.”
“Help me delete a post. Hehe.”
“Which one?”
“The top – trending post on the forum. Thank you, Young Master Zhou.”
“OK.”
He was handsome and concise. Soon, the post was gone. Song Yuhao and Chen Miaomiao, who had been pushing the post for a long time, were shocked to find it gone. They asked me in a panic, “What did you do?” I replied lazily, “Oh, nothing. Just the power of money.”
8
The two of them had worked in vain and quieted down for a while. But Chen Miaomiao posted another post, saying that she would never bow to the evil power of money and must fight against the unethical atmosphere to the end! I was also very curious about how she was going to fight against Zhou Yang’s powerful money – making ability.
Since then, Chen Miaomiao seemed to be possessed, attacking all rich people without discrimination. I heard that she had a quarrel with her roommate because her roommate saved money to buy an LV bag. She couldn’t stand it and gave her a lecture, saying that instead of buying these unnecessary decorations, she could donate the money to those in need. Her roommate had endured her for a long time and finally couldn’t take it anymore and had a big fight with her.
The next time I saw Chen Miaomiao was at the beginning of the junior year. The counselor organized a class meeting, and Chen Miaomiao and I were sitting in the classroom again. Chen Miaomiao stared at me and snorted, with a proud and disdainful look in her eyes. I had a faint, interested smile on my lips and looked at her desktop. On her table was a mid – luxury bag. It wasn’t a high – end luxury brand, but it wasn’t cheap either, costing more than two thousand yuan. The style was imitating a big brand, positioned as mid – luxury. She deliberately placed the bag in the most conspicuous position, slowly opened it, took out some unimportant things and put them back, deliberately showing off.
During the summer vacation, we all stayed in school for internships and didn’t go home. But Chen Miaomiao often left work early. I heard that she was making milk tea in a milk tea shop. After making milk tea for two months, she finally saved enough money to buy a decent bag. This was her so – called nobility. On one hand, she looked down on other people’s luxury goods, while on the other hand, she was desperately eager to pursue them.
The class beauty, Zhao Wenya, walked in, and exclamations and praises immediately came from the classroom. She was wearing the latest white dress from brand D, looking like a noble swan. “My god, she’s really a real rich girl, right?” “Her backpack costs more than 30,000 yuan!” Hearing the classmates’ praise for Zhao Wenya, and seeing that her bag, which Chen Miaomiao had thought would receive envy, was ignored, Chen Miaomiao pouted and said disdainfully, “Who knows how they got their money? It’s all the hard – earned money of us ordinary people!” People around her looked at her with strange eyes. Chen Miaomiao became even more confident, thinking that it was her fresh – and – refined, money – despising image that attracted everyone. “When I was working in the milk tea shop, there were often rich girls ordering takeout on rainy days. Don’t they consider the feelings of the delivery guys? I feel so heart – broken seeing the delivery guys coming and going in the wind and rain…”
“You’re crazy!” Zhao Wenya’s roommate couldn’t stand it anymore and finally interrupted Chen Miaomiao. “How can they earn money if they don’t deliver express? If no one orders takeout on rainy days, will you pay them? ” She glanced at Chen Miaomiao’s bag disdainfully. “You’re both money – craving and money – hating. You’re such a hypocrite…” Chen Miaomiao’s face turned red and then white, but since the other party’s father was a school director, she couldn’t afford to offend her and could only endure this humiliation. I almost burst out laughing when I saw this not far away.
9
I didn’t expect Chen Miaomiao to come to me to borrow money. She sat down opposite me while I was eating, with a look of awkwardness and arrogance, and asked me to lend her 20,000 yuan right away. I raised my eyebrows.
“I’ve taken a fancy to a bag and I’m still short of 20,000 yuan…” I tried not to laugh. I couldn’t believe that Chen Miaomiao had become so obsessed that she had to borrow money to buy a luxury bag. “You’ve made a lot of money being Zhou Yang’s lackey. I’m different from you. I’ll definitely pay you back this money.”
In my past life, Chen Miaomiao often borrowed money from me but never paid it back. “Sorry, I don’t have any money either.” I refused her slowly. Chen Miaomiao’s eyebrows shot up, and she said unhappily, “Impossible! Zhou Yang gave you so much money!” I said calmly, “Yes, I just bought a car recently, and I’m a bit short on cash. I still have to keep running errands for Zhou Yang.”
Hearing that I had gone from being penniless to buying a car, Chen Miaomiao’s face turned green, and jealousy and regret were about to overflow from her eyes. I thought Chen Miaomiao would disappear from my life for a while, but two days later, when I passed by the girls’ dormitory building, I saw my roommate Song Yuhao massaging Chen Miaomiao’s ankle. Soon, gossip spread in the class group. It turned out that during the PE class, Chen Miaomiao sprained her ankle while playing volleyball. Song Yuhao, who was playing basketball on the adjacent court, came to the rescue like a hero and volunteered to carry Chen Miaomiao back to the dormitory.
Sure enough, a few days later, news came that the two were together. When other people got together, there were gifts and a sense of ceremony, but Song Yuhao didn’t have anything when he confessed. And on Chen Miaomiao’s birthday, he only gave her a 3.9 – yuan necklace bought online. Chen Miaomiao looked at the boys on the playground confessing to girls with flowers and lights all over the place, suppressing the jealousy in her heart, and said resentfully, “What’s the use of this wasteful sense of ceremony? I never ask boys for things.” She put on an act of being a good girl, as if other girls were vain and shallow. Song Yuhao put his arm around her affectionately. “Miaomiao, you’re so different from those vain gold – diggers. There are so few good girls like you left.”
10
I went home to accompany my grandmother during the National Day. Because I was reborn in this life and had my grandmother examined early, her condition didn’t deteriorate. Her body was getting better, and she was becoming stronger. I told her that I started a business with my senior and made some money. My grandmother was both pained and proud, telling me not to send her money anymore. She said she didn’t need it and that I should save it for myself. I looked at her gray hair, and there were tears in my eyes.
Chen Miaomiao’s arrival shattered this peace and warmth. My eyes turned cold. Chen Miaomiao’s home was just a street away from mine. We grew up together, and my grandmother treated her like a granddaughter, taking good care of her. But in my past life, she tore up my grandmother’s life – saving money despite her being critically ill.
Chen Miaomiao exaggeratedly told my grandmother about me running errands for Zhou Yang at school, saying that I was morally corrupt for money and even sold my body. At dinner in the evening, my grandmother was worried. “My dear grandson, although we’re poor, there are some things we definitely can’t do… Grandma still has some savings. You don’t have to wash someone’s underwear or do such things for money…”
I hugged my grandmother and smiled to comfort her. “Grandma, I know. Chen Miaomiao is lying to you. Which rich second – generation is so stupid to give so much money just for running errands?” Sorry, Zhou Yang is exactly this stupid rich second – generation. My grandmother had never seen rich people in her life and also thought it was impossible to earn hundreds of thousands of yuan just by running errands. “Don’t worry, Grandma. This money is really earned from our joint business. I’ll earn more money to take care of you in the future!” My grandmother was so moved that her eyes turned red. The way she tried to hold back her tears made my heart ache. In this life, I will never let the tragedy happen again.
After the National Day, I heard that Zhou Yang and I were reported, and the whistleblower was Chen Miaomiao. In the elective course, Chen Miaomiao stood up openly and reported that I helped Zhou Yang write the practical report for the elective course. “The teacher painstakingly lectures and assigns homework, but some people don’t take it seriously and just casually ask others to help! I think this is a contempt for the teacher and education! The teacher must severely punish this behavior!”
Classmates: “…”
Elective – course teacher: “…”
Even Zhou Yang and I were stunned. This elective course was Film Appreciation. In simple terms, it was an easy – going course where you just watched movies. The teacher assigned a film – review assignment to be handed in two weeks later. In fact, you just had to copy a template, fill in enough words, and the teacher would give a high score. In short, the teacher wouldn’t fail anyone in this elective course. This kind of ghost – writing was an open secret, and Chen Miaomiao was the first one to expose it.
11
The teacher calmly pushed his glasses. “Okay, classmate, please sit down first. The teacher will deal with this matter after class.” Who knew that Chen Miaomiao wouldn’t let it go and insisted that the teacher deal with it on the spot. “Zhou Yang and Lin Cheng should be severely punished. Give them a formal notice of punishment!”
Teacher: “…”
The teacher’s temples were throbbing. He didn’t expect that Chen Miaomiao couldn’t understand his hidden meaning and was still shouting for him to punish me and Zhou Yang. The teacher looked embarrassed. Zhou Yang was playing games and didn’t have time to scold her. I smiled and stood up. “You said I wrote it for Zhou Yang. Do you have any evidence?”
Chen Miaomiao smiled triumphantly. “Song Yuhao in your dormitory saw it. Can it be fake?” I shook my head, thinking she was incredibly stupid. “If Song Yuhao said I wrote it for Zhou Yang, then I can also say that I saw you write it for Song Yuhao.” Chen Miaomiao glared at me viciously, looking as if she wanted to eat me. I added slowly, “I saw it with my own eyes. Can it be fake?”
I then said to the teacher, “Teacher, this assignment was written by Zhou Yang himself. You can compare our handwriting.” The teacher breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and compared the handwriting. It was indeed Zhou Yang’s. “Classmate Chen Miaomiao, you really misunderstood Lin Cheng and Zhou Yang.”
Chen Miaomiao was on the verge of a breakdown and was about to shout something. Finally, Song Yuhao took her out of the classroom on the pretext that she was not feeling well. I had sent Zhou Yang a draft of this assignment, and he wrote it himself. This was a trivial matter, but who knew Chen Miaomiao would be so brainless as to make a fuss about it.
After this farce ended, unexpectedly, Chen Miaomiao didn’t give up and continued to make trouble. She started live – streaming and cyber – bullying me, just like in her past life. She used the label of our school to attract many indignant netizens, saying that I was a sycophant, had no dignity in front of the rich second – generation Zhou Yang, and was flattering and fawning on him. “Lin Cheng washed the underwear of the rich second – generation in full view of everyone for money…” She also said with a heart – broken look that I didn’t listen to her advice and was willing to degenerate. She exaggerated these things and told them over and over again in the live – stream.
The popularity of the live – stream room was getting higher and higher, and more and more netizens came to watch the show. In order to attract attention and retain traffic, she even fabricated some false rumors about me. A few days later, sure enough, a small yellow shopping cart appeared in the live – stream room. She sold some cheap cosmetics, snacks, and even pure – cotton underwear of the same style as the rich second – generation Zhou Yang.
When Zhou Yang saw this, his face turned green. He threw the phone in his hand and gritted his teeth. “Send me her live – stream room number.” Chen Miaomiao and Song Yuhao made a fortune by live – streaming and exposing our “scandal”, and their quality of life improved rapidly. Chen Miaomiao also proudly carried her first luxury bag in her life. She changed all her cosmetics and even pretended to ask in the group which of the two high – end foundations was better. “My skin is very delicate. I’m afraid of getting allergic, so I can only use expensive ones.” There was no response in the group. She played a one – man show for a while. “Well, I’ll choose the foundation from Chanel for now.”
12
When I saw Chen Miaomiao in the cafeteria, I almost didn’t recognize her. The eyes of the people around were all focused on her. There was no other reason; she was just too eye – catching. She was wearing a mismatched set of clothes, with big logos printed on them, and her whole body was screaming “I’m rich”. She had two mismatched necklaces around her neck and was wearing all kinds of messy accessories on her hands. People who didn’t know might think she had brought out all her possessions. What was even more ridiculous was that she was carrying a backpack and a shoulder bag at the same time. She just came to the cafeteria to buy food, but she was dressed up like this, for fear that others wouldn’t know she had money. She had a proud smile on her face.
Zhao Wenya, who had been taunted by her, said in a sarcastic tone, “Didn’t Chen Miaomiao hate rich people the most? Why is she also making money by spreading rumors about Lin Cheng? It’s really laughable.” Chen Miaomiao’s eyebrows shot up, and she regarded herself as a symbol of justice. “What do you know! I’m exposing their darkness! Let everyone see their ugly faces and take warning!” Chen Miaomiao walked away with her head held high. She thought her good days had just begun.
Unexpectedly, when she started the live – stream again at night, she found that her live – stream room had been blocked! At the same time, the assistant called Zhou Yang. “Young master, it’s done.” Chen Miaomiao’s live – stream room was blocked, and she couldn’t do live – commerce anymore. But because of their greed, she and Song Yuhao had taken on too many advertising collaborations, so they had to pay a huge amount of liquidated damages. The two of them instantly lost all the money they had earned and were back to square one.
Chen Miaomiao broke down and cried in the dormitory building, and quarreled with Song Yuhao on the phone. The whole dormitory building could hear them. Just like that, the two of them went bankrupt. But Chen Miaomiao’s desire for money and high – consumption had been aroused, and her noble pretense had been torn to pieces. How could she be willing to live a frugal life with Song Yuhao again? The two of them quarreled more and more frequently.
On Valentine’s Day, Chen Miaomiao forced Song Yuhao to give her a necklace worth more than 3,000 yuan and transfer 520 yuan and 1314 yuan to post on Moments. Later, the two of them had a big fight over a trivial matter. It was just because Song Yuhao asked her to go Dutch. When they first started dating, they split the bills for meals, taxis, and hotels. But after living a relatively wealthy life for a while, now Chen Miaomiao didn’t have enough money for herself, so how could she be willing to go Dutch again? The two almost broke up. In the end, Song Yuhao took the initiative to make up. He thought Chen Miaomiao was still useful and wanted to use her recklessness and stupidity to make money.
13
After a while, the live-stream room was unblocked. Song Yuhao used Chen Miaomiao to stir up the heat again. After the account’s traffic came back, Song Yuhao kicked Chen Miaomiao out and did the live-streaming alone. Because the account was initially registered in Song Yuhao’s name, Chen Miaomiao had no right to regain control of the account and could only swallow this bitter pill.
For this reason, Chen Miaomiao came to the boys’ dormitory building several times to make trouble with Song Yuhao. Song Yuhao simply ignored her. Some people who saw Chen Miaomiao taunted her, “Hey, isn’t this the moral paragon? I thought you didn’t care about this traffic and money.” Chen Miaomiao immediately got angry. “I’m not for the money at all! I just want to expose these money – crazy worms who stop at nothing in front of more people!”
Chen Miaomiao went back and registered an account to start live – streaming on her own. Besides exposing me and Zhou Yang, she also added accusations against Song Yuhao. But there was almost no traffic. Even if there was a little bit of traffic, it was immediately blocked for violations. After live – streaming for a few days, Chen Miaomiao didn’t even earn back the electricity and internet fees.
And I had indeed seized the opportunity with the experience from my previous life, started a business with a graduated senior, and made a fortune during this boom. Even when I was short of working capital, Zhou Yang generously lent me a large sum of money. I was deeply moved and was just about to squeeze out a few tears when Zhou Yang waved his hand. “Even if I didn’t lend it to you, I would have spent this money on a sports car.” I was speechless. Damn rich people.
After graduating from college, I got a girlfriend, and my assets exceeded ten million. Although I was still a bit behind compared to real wealthy people, I could make my grandmother live a good life. On the contrary, Chen Miaomiao was too eager to take shortcuts, was deceived by scammers both financially and emotionally, and finally could only live by borrowing money. She was destitute, but her ridiculous ideas hadn’t changed at all. She still thought my money was obtained disgracefully by flattering rich people.
Every time I met her when I went back to my hometown, she would look at me with a gloomy look. “Lin Cheng, don’t you have any dignity? You’ll get your comeuppance!” Dignity? If I remembered correctly, Chen Miaomiao contacted a friend last year and wanted to work in a nightclub, but she didn’t pass the interview because of her poor appearance. It was really ridiculous. Didn’t she claim to be a noble and self – respecting person who would never earn money in this way?
14
After I parked my Lamborghini at the door, I went to clean the attic in my hometown. This was the place where I grew up. Standing on a high place, I saw Chen Miaomiao secretly taking a lot of photos with my car, with affected postures as if it was her own car. I didn’t pay much attention. But the next day, when I was about to drive away, I heard several surprised voices.
“Wow, is that your boyfriend, Miaomiao? He’s so handsome!”
“Sure he is. And he’s driving Miaomiao’s car.”
I: “…”
I didn’t expect that my car couldn’t escape the fate of being slandered by Chen Miaomiao. Chen Miaomiao’s face froze when she saw me, and she quickly dragged her little sister away.
The last time I met Chen Miaomiao was when I was having dinner with a client. I saw the crazy – looking Chen Miaomiao outside the restaurant. She was unkempt, her clothes were in tatters, and there were bloodstains on her face from being scratched. She was hugging the leg of a middle – aged greasy upstart, refusing to let him go.
It turned out that Chen Miaomiao couldn’t bear that kind of life and went to Song Yuhao to get back together. Song Yuhao, in turn, used her as a favor and introduced her to one of his middle – aged business partners. Just like that, Chen Miaomiao became the mistress of the business partner. A few days ago, she was discovered by the business partner’s wife. Today, when the business partner was having dinner with Chen Miaomiao, his wife came to the door and there was a fight in the restaurant.
Chen Miaomiao clung tightly to the business partner, but the business partner was eager to go home and persuade his wife to stay, so he abandoned her. Song Yuhao got out of a car and slapped Chen Miaomiao hard. “Bitch, is this how you do things for me!” Chen Miaomiao completely broke down and fought with Song Yuhao. She pushed Song Yuhao down, got into his car, and stepped on the gas pedal towards Song Yuhao. There was a loud bang, and the two of them died together.
I looked at this with a sigh. Those who can’t control their desires can only harm themselves and others. But this was all her own choice, wasn’t it?
A long time later.
The pomegranate flowers in my hometown bloomed.
My grandmother was enjoying the cool under the pomegranate tree.
She was over ninety years old, but her body was still strong.
My grandmother was shaking her fan. “I haven’t seen that girl Miaomiao for a long time. I wonder how she’s doing now.”
I didn’t answer and just served my grandmother a cup of mung bean water.
My grandmother smiled and squinted her eyes, sighing. “Chengcheng, you’ve really made it. Grandma’s life has been worth it.”
I nodded.
My life has been worth it too.
– End –
