Chapter 20: You're Not Trying to Skip Out on My Rent, Are You?

As if she had never faced this kind of situation before, Lin Jianxia subconsciously cast a pleading glance at Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai gave her a simple, four-word reply: "It's up to you."

He didn't rush her or interfere; he just waited calmly for her to make a decision.

For some reason, the anxiety in Lin Jianxia's heart suddenly settled. She nodded, lowered her eyes, and spoke softly to the proprietress, "Thank you... for being willing to give me this job before."

With that said, she let out a long sigh of relief, feeling the pent-up frustration and grievances in her heart finally dissipate into thin air.

Jiang Yubai shot her a mildly surprised look before turning to the proprietress. "Since she said so... then the rent doesn't need to be as high as seven thousand. Let's set it at six thousand."

"Six thousand is really still..."

The proprietress opened her mouth, wanting to put up a fight, but as her gaze swept over the silent Lin Jianxia and caught a glimpse of Jiang Yubai's non-negotiable expression, she finally deflated. Her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head with a bitter smile. "...Fine, six thousand it is."

***

On the way home, Lin Jianxia walked with her head drooping, while Jiang Yubai strolled shoulder-to-shoulder beside her, humming a tune in a good mood.

"I'm sorry," Lin Jianxia suddenly blurted out.

"What are you apologizing for?" Jiang Yubai snapped back to reality. His gaze fell on the girl beside him, and he couldn't help but ask curiously.

Meeting Jiang Yubai's puzzled gaze, Lin Jianxia slightly averted her eyes. "Just... just a lot of things..."

Mrs. Zhao, whom she had previously thought was quite amiable, had suddenly turned hostile on payday, finding excuses to dock her hard-earned money. Meanwhile, Jiang Yubai, whom she had subconsciously pegged as a playboy, had not only agreed to delay her rent time and time again but had also gone out of his way today to help her get back every single penny of her docked wages. It made her feel that Jiang Yubai was actually...

"Although I didn't quite catch what you were muttering about, I've decided to accept your apology." Jiang Yubai shrugged, spouting nonsense with a deadpan expression. "It'd be even better if you pledged yourself to me in return."

Lin Jianxia froze for a couple of seconds before her face flushed crimson. Flustered and exasperated, she balled up her fists and pounded his shoulder. "Jiang Yubai!!"

"What the heck! Isn't he still a complete playboy?! Bastard!!" she thought furiously.

After glaring at him for a long while, Lin Jianxia was truly at a loss as to what to do with this thick-skinned guy. She pursed her lips and asked again, "Um... why did you help us?"

"Why did I help you?" Jiang Yubai glanced at her, pondered for a moment, and suddenly dragged out his words. "Because your sister and I are desk-mates! We're also su~per close friends. So it's only right that I help out her older sister while I'm at it, don't you think?"

"Where exactly are you two 'super close'? This 'sister' you're talking about never even paid you any attention at school, okay?!" she complained inwardly.

"And 'helping her older sister while I'm at it'... Do you take me for a fool? I know exactly what you're scheming!" she thought.

Lin Jianxia grumbled in her heart, but the tips of her ears quietly reddened a bit more. Walking beside her, Jiang Yubai naturally knew what she was fussing over when he saw her pouting and awkward demeanor. However... he didn't actually care much about Lin Jianxia's attitude toward him.

Fundamentally, Jiang Yubai wasn't some do-gooder who stepped in at the sight of injustice. He didn't want to use this to demand a favor in return, let alone expect this overly gorgeous desk-mate of his to view him in a new light because of it. If he had to give a reason for helping the sisters... it was probably just because he found it amusing. Besides, she was a friend and desk-mate he had been feeding for quite a few days now. Since he could easily lend a hand, why not?

Right at that moment, as if something else had turned in her little head, Lin Jianxia averted her face and muttered softly, "...Thank you."

Jiang Yubai stared at her as if she were an alien. "No, can you just speak normally? First you say 'I'm sorry', then you say 'thank you'. You're making me scared to even reply."

"What! The! Heck!" Lin Jianxia yelled furiously in her mind. She ground her teeth and quickened her pace, only wanting to leave the annoying guy behind her as far away as possible.

Meanwhile, the corners of Jiang Yubai's mouth curled up slightly as he followed behind her at a leisurely pace.

But after only a few steps, Lin Jianxia's pace suddenly slowed down again. Only when the two were walking shoulder-to-shoulder again did she speak up hesitantly. "Um, I heard everything from outside. Raising the rent like that... will there be any problems?"

"What problems could there be?" Jiang Yubai shot her a strange look. "Don't tell me you're still worried about her?"

Lin Jianxia choked on her anger. "Of course not! I'm worried about you... I mean, your landlord, okay!"

"How can this guy not tell a good intention from a bad one?!" she thought.

"It's fine," Jiang Yubai shrugged. "Believe it or not, even if I raised it to seven thousand a month, she would still renew the lease." He glanced back. "After all, that location is really good. Even if she doesn't rent it... plenty of other people will."

"I see..." Lin Jianxia nodded, seemingly half-understanding. But then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she chuckled aloud. "I say, Jiang Yubai, did you really throw all those scolding words she used on me right back in her face?"

Jiang Yubai was not polite about it at all. "If she can make up that kind of nonsense, she shouldn't blame others for using the exact same words on her. She purely brought it upon herself."

Lin Jianxia was amused into a fit of giggles. Once she had laughed enough, she pursed her lips, and her voice softened. "Actually... I'm still quite thankful to Mrs. Zhao. I was really desperate during the summer vacation and couldn't find a job anywhere. She was the one who took me in."

Jiang Yubai completely refused to play along with her sentimentality. Rolling his eyes, he said, "You sound so noble, but why did you still take that five hundred in the end?"

"That was my hard-earned money! I'd be a fool not to take it!" Lin Jianxia glared at him. Then, as if recalling something, she pulled out three one-hundred-yuan bills from her bag and handed them to him. "Here, for you."

"What does it mean?" Jiang Yubai didn't take them, only raising an eyebrow.

"It's money for the food," Lin Jianxia mumbled, humming and hawing. "That lunch alone was so lavish. Those dishes... would have been enough for me and my sister to eat for a long time."

Jiang Yubai didn't decline and straightforwardly reached out to take the three hundred yuan.

Seeing him accept it, the corners of Lin Jianxia's mouth tilted up slightly. With her hands behind her back, her footsteps became much more cheerful.

"I'm telling you, this five hundred in hard-earned pay is really what I deserve to take.

"Every day after school, I had to rush to the bookstore. That little warehouse was hot and stuffy, without even a single electric fan, and I still had to sort the books one by one..."

Perhaps she hadn't chatted this casually with anyone for far too long. Once the girl's chatterbox opened up, she couldn't stop, chattering on and on about her daily life.

Jiang Yubai didn't interrupt either. He just walked alongside her, occasionally murmuring in agreement.

Finally, Lin Jianxia finished what she had to say, and the two of them fell quiet.

Beneath the dense plane trees, the only sound was the soft RUSTLE of their shoe soles stepping over the fallen leaves.

As Lin Jianxia walked, she couldn't help but sneak glances at him from the corner of her eye, her heartbeat inexplicably quickening.

"The matter is already resolved... so why is this guy still following me?" she wondered.

"I'm heading home. Is he planning to follow me all the way? Don't tell me... he wants to mooch another meal?" she continued.

"Although... I suppose that wouldn't be totally out of the question..." she admitted to herself.

"U-Um..." Lin Jianxia finally mustered the courage to speak up, though her gaze drifted toward the tree shadows by the roadside. "Jiang Yubai, I'm going home. Why... why are you still following me?"

"Huh?" Jiang Yubai looked at her like she was an idiot. "I'm waiting for your rent! I have to say, you've been rambling on and on for ages—were you trying to bore me to sleep so you could take the chance to skip out on paying rent?"

Lin Jianxia froze in place as if struck by lightning.

Slowly, the girl's cheeks flushed crimson at a visible rate, ultimately culminating in a shout of mingled shame and fury:

"JIANG YUBAI!!!"