Chapter 39: If you threw him onto a construction site to pour concrete for two days, there wouldn't be so much trouble (Please bookmark, please vote)
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By the time they returned to school, it was already past eight.
Chen Yuan reviewed Subject One again, then went to play basketball.
After a while, Song Jianian arrived, carrying a bottle of chilled lemon water.
At noon, the two of them went to the cafeteria together. Song Jianian said with utmost seriousness, “I’ve made up my mind. From now on, I’m going to be careful with money and not spend a single penny unnecessarily.”
“Did something happen to you? I can’t believe you managed to make a decision that goes against your family’s ancestral ways.”
Just be your usual rich girl. Why imitate Doflamingo’s father? Look how miserably he ended up.
“I feel that thrift is one of our traditional virtues. Uncle is right, too. Uncle Zhang secretly gives me money and spoils me too much. That isn’t good.”
What kind of outrageous statement was that?
Song Jianian took out her phone and pointed at an app.
“This is a budgeting app I downloaded. From now on, I’m going to record every penny I spend.”
Girls seemed to love these things that looked useful but were actually pointless. Even heiresses from wealthy families were no exception.
“Let me see.”
Song Jianian handed him the phone. Chen Yuan frowned as he looked at it.
“You spent 3,179 in eleven days, and you call that being thrifty?”
“My monthly allowance is ten thousand. That comes to 330 a day, or 3,630 for eleven days. I only spent 3,179, which is within the allotted amount. If that doesn’t count as thrift, what does?”
“Let’s not make life difficult for ourselves. You’re just deliberately putting yourself through hardship.”
“Uncle and Uncle Zhang both say that it’s good to suffer a little. I can’t indulge myself too much either.”
Song Jianian looked at Chen Yuan. “How much have you spent this month?”
Chen Yuan thought about it. He really hadn’t spent much these past few days. During the National Day holiday, he had eaten most of his meals at Jiang Wanyi’s place. He hadn’t made any major purchases, either. In fact, he had barely spent anything.
“A little over six hundred. It should be less than seven hundred.”
Song Jianian stared straight at him.
“You’ve spent so little?”
She felt embarrassed. Just moments ago, she had been secretly pleased with herself and had wanted to show off a little, only to discover that he had spent even less.
It seemed she was useless at everything.
Sob, sob, sob…
She was really going to live up to the title of “useless female college student.”
“Just eat all three meals in the cafeteria. Three meals cost around forty a day, which comes to 1,200 a month. Add another eight hundred for miscellaneous expenses, and two thousand should be enough.”
Song Jianian propped her cheek up with one hand and sighed like a beautiful woman burdened by sorrow. Her expression was dejected.
“I think I’m kind of hopeless. Every one of you is better than me.”
“How are you hopeless?”
“I ordered coffee and yogurt online this afternoon, and it cost more than seven hundred. I don’t seem to have any concept of money.”
“Your family works hard so you can spend money, not so you can worry yourself sick. Hurry up and eat.”
“But…”
Song Jianian rested her cheek on her hand. She had taken only a few bites of the noodles in her bowl before leaving them there, speaking absentmindedly.
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“Last night, I thought of something. What would we do if one day my family ran out of money?”
Preparing for danger in times of peace—this was indeed a good quality.
[System Mission: Your baby is now three years old. She has developed some bad habits and learned to spend extravagantly. You must teach her thrift and frugality. During the coming week, limit Song Jianian’s spending to no more than five hundred. No outside assistance may be used. Reward: 1,500 in cash and one Balance Doubling Card.]
A new mission, and a new reward.
[Balance Doubling Card: The remaining amount will be multiplied by one hundred and returned to your account in cash.]
The explanation was very clear and easy to understand.
Her spending for the coming week had to be kept within five hundred.
If she spent only four hundred, the remaining one hundred would be multiplied a hundredfold, earning him a ten-thousand cash reward.
That was absolutely a fortune!
In other words, the more frugal she was, the more money he would make.
But this mission was seriously ridiculous.
If he wanted to complete it, she could only eat in the cafeteria and would not be allowed to buy anything else.
For him, the mission would be no problem at all. His living expenses were two thousand a month, which averaged out to five hundred a week. It was nothing difficult.
But she was a rich young lady. There was no way she could manage that.
That damn system really treated him like her father. What right did he have to control someone like her?
“Why did you stop talking? Do you also think my concern is reasonable?”
“It makes some sense.”
“So I want to try living on two thousand a month and see what it’s like…”
Song Jianian looked at her phone, opened the calculator, and spent quite some time calculating back and forth.
“But…”
After she finished, her head drooped again.
“It’s nowhere near enough.”
“How is it not enough?”
“Underwear, socks, sanitary pads, and other necessities cost more than a thousand a month.”
The gap between him and the rich really was impossibly vast.
“Socks are four pairs for nine ninety. You don’t need to buy underwear every month, do you? And sanitary pads should only cost a few dozen, right?”
Song Jianian tilted her head. “What kind of stockings are that cheap?”
Chen Yuan froze. “Stockings?”
“These.”
Song Jianian exposed her leg. Sure enough, she was wearing a pair of flesh-colored pantyhose, though he had not noticed them before.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never even seen these?”
Miss, I feel like you’re trampling all over my dignity.
“I’ve seen them. I’ve just never torn them…”
Torn them?
That seemed to have touched upon a blind spot in her knowledge.
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“You can tear these.” Song Jianian moved her leg closer to him.
“How much did the pair on your legs cost?”
“Eighty.”
Good grief. That was two days’ worth of meals—one leg costing a day’s allowance.
“But I don’t wear pantyhose very often, so they don’t cost much. Underwear costs more than eight hundred a set each month. I also want to get my nails done. Once I add in all the other expenses, I’ll need at least fifteen hundred. That leaves only five hundred for living expenses. This is so difficult.”
More than eight hundred for one set of underwear?
Was the bra made of gold? Or the straps? How could it cost that much?
Let me see what kind of design it has.
“Actually, none of that is particularly expensive for you.”
Looked at from another angle, Song Jianian had truly been raised very well.
Her family owned hotels, she rode around in Maybachs, and she spent only ten thousand a month. She was practically the model of thrift and frugality.
“But you only have two thousand a month, and you can still treat me to dessert. That’s really impressive,” Song Jianian said. “Yueyue and the others are very frugal too. I’m the only one who can’t do it. I want to become a little better as well.”
Chen Yuan listened with a deeply furrowed brow.
The worries of the rich were truly bizarre.
Send her to a construction site for two days to shovel dust, and she wouldn’t have so many problems.
“This mission is a little difficult, so take it slowly. Starting next week, try to keep your living expenses under five hundred.”
“All right. I’ll listen to you.”
Song Jianian was delighted. Her large, dark eyes shimmered like sunlight dancing across a lake, while her dimples seemed to hold clouds stretching across a thousand miles and clear skies reaching ten thousand.
“If I manage it, will there be a reward?”
Chen Yuan glanced at her. He had intended to brush her off with some casual answer, but she looked completely serious.
“What kind of reward do you want?”
“Anything is fine, but there has to be one. I need a little motivation. Preferably something that doesn’t cost money. Otherwise, doing this would lose its meaning.”
“No problem. If you perform well, you’ll receive a generous reward.”
Chen Yuan had not yet thought of what to give her, so he casually fobbed her off with that answer.
“What if I don’t do well?”
“There’ll still be a reward, but it won’t be nearly as generous as the reward for doing well.”
“All right.”
Looking at Song Jianian’s beaming face, Chen Yuan had no intention of actually completing the mission. He did not think she could stick with it, anyway.
It wasn’t as though failure would make anything shrink. He would merely lose a little money. Who the hell cared?
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