Chapter 10: Can’t Afford to Pay Me with the Salary I Give You?

Chapter 10: My Salary for You Is Barely Enough to Survive On?

"To your place."

???

Song Jiang was driving Fu Zhichen to the company.

The CEO had just ruthlessly rejected Ye Qingqing at home, showing no mercy.

When he came out, Ye Qingqing was still sobbing.

After hearing Fu Zhichen's words, Song Jiang, sitting in the driver's seat, was dumbfounded.

To his place?

Why? Did the CEO suddenly grow a conscience?

Did he notice Song Jiang's back was killing him and let him go home to rest?

Aww, so touching.

Song Jiang looked at the CEO in the rearview mirror, impeccably dressed in a suit, hair neatly combed.

His features were sharp, eyes deep, his monolid eyes gave a cold, distant look, and his nose was so high you could slide down it.

Plus the CEO's signature chiseled jaw.

Look at that—that's the CEO class right there.

No wonder Tian Tian and Ye Qingqing fell for the CEO.

"President Fu, I'm fine. This little pain is nothing. I can keep working."

Fu Zhichen was surprised. "Steward Song, what are you thinking?"

Song Jiang cautiously asked, "President Fu, don't you mean to let me rest for a day?"

"Steward Song, are you planning to go to the company in that crap?"

"If others see a slob standing behind me, what do you think they'll think of me?"

Heh.

He was flattering himself.

A capitalist like the CEO wouldn't give a damn about a worker, let alone let him go home.

And calling me a slob? What kind of description is that?

Calling his clothes crap.

F*ck.

What was wrong with the discounted suit he bought on Pinduoduo?

Who does he think he is, looking down on me!

It cost several hundred bucks too!

"Sure, President Fu."

When the multi-million-dollar car pulled into Song Jiang's run-down neighborhood,

it instantly attracted envious stares from a bunch of broke workers downstairs.

It was his turn to show off.

One word: dope!

"President Fu, wait for me ten minutes. I'll be fast."

"Twenty minutes. Get yourself cleaned up and come back."

Song Jiang puffed out his chest, choosing to ignore Fu Zhichen's slightly contemptuous words, and strutted as he got out of the car.

It satisfied his vanity for once.

Most people in this neighborhood were broke workers and some elderly folks living out their retirement.

The building was so old that the walls were peeling. He lived on the top floor because it was cheap.

Every time he took the elevator, his heart raced. He'd seen plenty of elevator horror stories.

The sudden plunge or ascent was terrifying; one wrong move and he could kick the bucket.

Song Jiang used to take the stairs whenever possible.

Even though today the CEO generously gave him twenty minutes,

but taking the stairs up and down would definitely take too long. So Song Jiang got into the elevator, listening to its groaning noise, and silently recited a hundred times: 'Bodhisattva protect me, Buddha protect me.'

What could he do? He valued his life that much.

If he didn't, on the very first day he transmigrated into this book and learned he had to earn a hundred million to get back to the real world, he might have already committed seppuku.

Song Jiang went home, washed up and changed clothes as quickly as possible, then entered the elevator.

"Oh, isn't this Xiao Song?"

"Oh, isn't this Aunt Li from next door?"

Their conversation was a bit sarcastic.

On Song Jiang's floor there were two units: one was his, and the other belonged to this Aunt Li.

Song Jiang didn't know her real name.

But he had heard stories about her though.

Loud-mouthed, petty, loves to mooch, and could curse someone out for a whole morning over a few cents.

She was a force to be reckoned with.

Her reputation had spread far and wide.

Rumor had it that her son and daughter-in-law didn't like her, so they bought her the place and let her live alone.

Every time they met, they would go at it.

"All dressed up in a suit and tie, I wonder where you're working." Aunt Li, holding her bag, looked Song Jiang up and down with a weird look.

Song Jiang raised his chin proudly. "It's not a big shot job, only about ten grand a month, nothing worth mentioning."

Pfft, that's way more than your pension. Doesn't that make you mad?

Aunt Li sneered. "Oh, ten grand a month? Blowing it that big these days, aren't you afraid you'll bite your tongue?"

"No need for you to worry, Auntie. My tongue is just fine."

Song Jiang barely refrained from making a face and sticking his tongue out at Aunt Li.

Aunt Li's mouth was on par with the CEO's.

Song Jiang decided to wait until she left before going out.

If Aunt Li and the CEO, both sharp-tongued, were to meet...

Unthinkable—it'd be a complete massacre.

Standing inside the unit door, Song Jiang acted busy.

He checked his reflection in the door, adjusting his tie first, then smoothing the creases on his suit, and finally spitting on his palms to slick back his hair.

Honestly, he still hated wearing suits.

All serious and proper, looking like a professional, but he always felt like a kid playing dress-up in his dad's suit.

It just felt off.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Steward Song, two minutes left."

"I can't stand people who aren't on time."

The moment he heard the CEO's voice, Song Jiang could imagine how dark his face must have turned.

Song Jiang laughed. "CEO Fu, I'm just doing what you said, trying to look sharp. Coming right up!"

After hanging up, Song Jiang figured that enough time had gone by, and with Aunt Li's little short legs, she must be far away by now.

Humming a happy little tune, he walked briskly toward the car and was about to open the door.

"Oh, oh, oh, I was wondering who owns this car. Xiao Song, have you hooked up with some sugar daddy?"

Song Jiang froze. Damn it.

This Auntie hadn't left yet.

What kind of eyesight does she have?

"Hooked up with some sugar daddy"??

With a loser like him???

He wouldn't mind being a kept man, but who would even want him?

Gritting his teeth, Song Jiang warned her kindly. "Auntie, if you don't get to the store soon, all the discounted items will be gone."

Hmph, he couldn't handle everyone, but dealing with Aunt Li was a piece of cake.

Aunt Li wasn't letting it go. She knocked on the car window. "Hey, you in there, listen to Auntie's advice. Xiao Song isn't honest—he's a little liar."

"At the supermarket, last time he tricked me into thinking vegetables were on sale just to grab the last pack of discounted toilet paper." She pointed at Song Jiang, fuming.

"And another time, I ran out of soy sauce while cooking. They say neighbors should help each other, but when I asked him to lend me some, he flat-out said he didn't have any."

"Don't be fooled by his fair skin and clean look; he's actually stingy and petty..."

Aunt Li's mouth was like a machine gun, rattling on endlessly.

Song Jiang couldn't take it anymore! What would the CEO think of him? His image was ruined!

"Stop!"

Song Jiang yelled, quickly got into the car, slammed the door, shifted gears, and started driving in one smooth motion.

Deny, deny, deny it all!

He wasn't like that!

Alright, fine, that wretched Aunt Li was airing his dirty laundry.

If it weren't for work, he'd go back to the market and fight it out with Aunt Li right then and there.

Song Jiang's face all puffed up with anger.

Fu Zhichen overheard the entire conversation.

In the rearview mirror,

Song Jiang's fair face was flushed red, his little canine teeth biting his lower lip, and his round almond eyes stealing glances at him, as if he was afraid of something.

He found it even more amusing.

"Steward Song, don't I pay you enough to make ends meet?"

"Are you so desperate that you have to fight for deals with women in their fifties and sixties?"

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