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Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Where\'s the Money? Where\'s my money?

Chapter 1: Where\'s My Money?

"Dowry of 300,000, not a penny less!"

"It\'s not that I care about money; I just want to know how important I am to you."

"Also, that apartment can\'t be under your mom\'s name; it has to be transferred to me."

In Deep City, at a window-side table in the Gray Whale Café, thirty-eight-year-old Jiang Qin looked at the woman sitting across from him and suddenly felt that her face was somewhat unfamiliar.

They had met through a matchmaking service and had been dating for over half a year. Neither of them was getting any younger, and there was no time to waste, so they had recently been discussing marriage.

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

After all, they were almost forty. Was marriage still about love at this age?

Maybe they just didn\'t want to end up alone...

However, he didn\'t speak. Instead, he silently sipped the water from his cup and looked out the glass display window, tuning out her voice.

He felt that life was quite a mess.

His parents had told him that education would change his destiny, so he had worked hard at his studies from a young age, believing that he would either be wealthy or extraordinary in the future.

However, when he started working, he realized that he wasn\'t even average.

In his early career in 2016, he ended up in the hospital after being forced to drink excessively by clients, missing the chance to say goodbye to his grandmother who had raised him.

In 2019, a project he was on went under, and he took the blame. He hid in his rented room eating instant noodles for five months, unable to distinguish dreams from reality.

His subsequent job was more stable but far from his residence. His health was deteriorating from the grind, yet he persevered just to buy a car.

In 2022, when he finally got the car, he realized he couldn\'t afford the fuel.

After turning thirty, he found that rent was increasing faster than his salary. So, he started saving again and told his parents he wanted to buy a house in Deep City.

From that day on, meat disappeared from his parents\' dining table.

Even then, they couldn\'t afford the down payment. His father secretly started driving for a ride-hailing service after work and almost had a cerebral hemorrhage.

Is poverty really related to laziness?

Jiang Qin had been pondering this question for years.

He believed he had been diligent enough, fully living up to his name.

But where was the money?

Who had taken all the money that was supposed to be his?

When he was a child, his parents earnestly told him that as long as he was willing to endure hardships, he would surely succeed in life.

However, as he grew up, he found that the reality was different: as long as you\'re willing to endure hardships, there will always be more hardships to endure.

Now, the woman he\'s being set up with expects a dowry of 300,000 yuan.

"Jiang Qin, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, I\'ve been listening."

"Then why haven\'t you said anything? I\'ve been talking for ages and you don\'t even care that my voice is getting hoarse!"

Jiang Qin put down his glass of water, paused for a moment, and finally spoke, "Maybe we shouldn\'t get married after all."

The woman was stunned, and then exploded in anger, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, I\'m just feeling really tired. I want to go home and sleep."

"Jiang Qin, you coward! No wonder you\'re 38 and still single!"

Ignoring the woman\'s shouting, Jiang Qin left the restaurant and began to wander aimlessly down the road.

As he passed a construction site, he noticed a banner hanging on the wall that read, "Working-class people are the best among us."

So, he lit a cigarette and, after taking a few puffs, burnt a hole in the banner.

He didn\'t actually have any grievances against the woman; he even thought her demands were reasonable.

After all, she\'s 35. What\'s wrong with being realistic?

He was just pondering one question: When will this kind of life come to an end?

People who have never worked a manual job praise the working class as the best among us, while those who do such jobs have no choice but to nod in agreement.

But how am I the best among us?

All I\'ve got in my life are two pairs of knockoff sneakers. Does that make me the best?

As for love?

Jiang Qin wasn\'t even sure it existed.

He\'d been set up a few times, met a few women introduced by friends. Any of them would have been passable, but that\'s just it—merely passable.

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

Jiang Qin sighed and took out his phone, wanting to find a friend to have a drink with, but saw four text messages instead.

One was a credit card overdue notice, another a warning about unpaid phone bills, the third saying, "Bro, I\'m nearby, nobody\'s home today."

The last message was from his direct supervisor, using heartfelt words to tell him that the company was not doing well and asking employees to voluntarily take a pay cut to help it through tough times.

Jiang Qin instantly lost the mood to drink and continued to smoke beneath the construction site.

In this era, if you want to be wealthy, you absolutely can\'t be a worker, because the distribution of resources in society is inherently unfair.

But thinking about his age, Jiang Qin couldn\'t help but laugh.

Isn\'t it a bit unrealistic to start a business at 38?

These past couple of years, he had been working so hard that his back was breaking, his cervical spine was acting up, and his cross-neuralgia was even more frequent than his need to urinate.

Dragging his broken body to start a business, even if successful, he\'d be 50 years old. What\'s left to enjoy in life then?

If only he could start over, he\'d do anything but work for someone else. He\'d marry a rich woman if possible.

If all else fails, he\'d start a business, believing that money lost can be earned back, but a lost conscience can never be regained.

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

Hmm? What\'s that dark blob coming straight at him?

"..."

"Inject him with adrenaline, quick!"

"..."

"Welcome the Olympics, uphold civility, set new trends!"

"..."

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

"..."

"My home\'s doors are always open, waiting for you with open arms."

Jiang Qin suddenly felt a piercing brightness in his eyes, a din in his ears, a burning sensation on his skin, and a dizzy spell coming on.

In his blurred vision, he saw a very pretty young girl, probably around 17 or 18 years old.

She wore a puffy floral dress that revealed a short length of her smooth, fair legs. She had a perky nose, rosy lips, slender and curled eyelashes, and a pair of captivating eyes.

Jiang Qin smiled.

In all the years he\'d worked diligently to help his boss upgrade cars and houses, he\'d never even dreamed of a girl this beautiful.

Would such a beautiful girl cry for a long time if slapped?

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

Jiang Qin couldn\'t smile anymore, because he realized that the girl in front of him was becoming more vivid and clear.

The chrysanthemums printed on her floral dress stood in stark contrast to her poised figure on the red rubber track. She used her arm to shield herself from the sun, preventing her eyes from squinting.

Even so, the hot weather still seemed to irritate this beautiful young woman.

"If you don\'t say anything, I\'ll take it as a yes, we\'re still good friends, okay?"

Jiang Qin\'s brows furrowed, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes.

He recognized this girl—it was Chu Siqi, the most beautiful girl in his high school class. She should be a married woman by now.

He had pursued her for seven years through high school and college, almost losing faith in life due to her rejections.

Actually, Jiang Qin was not a blind follower, nor the type to cling desperately to someone.

But the problem was that Chu Siqi constantly involved herself in his life as a "friend," asking him to do this and that. She even disallowed him from dating other girls while giving him occasional hope and sweeteners. This left young Jiang Qin tormented.

"Once I finish my first year of college, I\'ll consider being your girlfriend!"

"Who knew that the workload in sophomore year would be so heavy? Let\'s talk about it in junior year."

"I have a lot of competitions to participate in during junior year, so I don\'t have time for a relationship."

By the second semester of his junior year, she showed up hand-in-hand with a tall, skinny guy, both dressed in couple\'s attire.

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

After that, he sealed off his heart, never contemplating love again, and at 38, reluctantly considered marrying someone.

The concept of being a "backup" didn\'t exist in 2008. It wasn\'t until the internet became prevalent that Jiang Qin realized he had been just a backup.

She had only been stringing him along because she hadn\'t found anyone suitable, sometimes warm, sometimes cold, sometimes joking, and other times ignoring him.

In essence, he was just a time-killer for her.

Memories flashed before his eyes, but at this moment, Jiang Qin felt a bit dizzy and heard a ringing in his ears.

Was this...reincarnation?

Or was he dreaming?

If it was reincarnation, where was the "ding" sound? Why no "ding"?

Jiang Qin shakily stretched out his hand, clawing at the air, but failed to activate any virtual screen.

Is this a fake rebirth? Even the equipment isn\'t complete?

"Jiang Qin, did you hear what I said? I really don\'t want to date right now."

"Okay, whatever you say."

Jiang Qin replied casually, then closed his eyes, trying to see if he could activate some cheat code through his thoughts. Unfortunately, he failed; there was no system.

Chu Siqi was somewhat surprised by his indifferent response. His attitude made her feel like her punch had landed on cotton—ineffective.

"Did you not hear me clearly? I just rejected you!"

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

"So... don\'t you have anything to say to me?"

Jiang Qin accepted the reality of not having a system, his gaze falling on Chu Siqi\'s hand, "What\'s that you\'re holding?"

With a proud face, Chu Siqi raised the envelope in her hand, "This is the love letter you just gave me. I\'ve already said I don\'t want it. Don\'t write anymore."

"Can you give it back? I need it."

Without waiting for her agreement, Jiang Qin took back the love letter, removed the paper inside, crumpled it up and stuffed it into his pocket. He then flattened the envelope on his lap and wrote two lines.

Don\'t work for a living, latch onto a rich woman if you can.

You can always make more money, but if you lose your conscience, you\'ll earn even more.

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