After dinner, Cheng Tianyuan drove her back to the small hotel.
“Now that work is settled, we need to find a place to move into as soon as possible. I’ll take a day off tomorrow to help you look around near the newspaper office,” he said.
Xue Ling felt secretly happy and replied, “Great! By the way, where did you get this bicycle?”
He answered casually, “I borrowed it from a colleague.”
Xue Ling thought for a moment and said, “I wonder if there are any second-hand bicycles for sale nearby. I’d like to buy one for commuting, it would be convenient.”
Cheng Tianyuan nodded and reminded her, “Bicycles aren’t cheap, even second-hand ones can cost around forty to fifty yuan.”
He had settled the bill at the small hotel earlier, and the landlady mentioned that she paid on time every day. A few days ago, she had even taken out two hundred yuan to help pay off Cheng Biao’s family debt and bought twenty mu of barren land for five hundred yuan.
He wondered how much money she actually had. It seemed like she was spending without restraint.
Cheng Tianyuan came from a humble background, so he was careful with his finances. Seeing his young wife spending money so freely, he couldn’t help but want to offer some advice.
“You’ve just started working, and it’s the beginning of the month. You won’t receive your salary for at least a month. Renting a house will also be a significant expense, so you need to plan carefully.”
Xue Ling laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I have it all figured out. I’ll pick up the translation materials my friend sent me the day after tomorrow and start working hard to earn money.”
In her previous life, she had managed a large company, not an international giant, but a sizable publicly traded corporation. She had already planned how to manage her finances and expenses during this period.
“Yuan Ge, you can rest assured! I’ve been through tough times before and know not to spend money recklessly. My philosophy is to spend when it’s necessary and not waste when it’s not.”
Cheng Tianyuan’s lips curled into a faint smile, and he replied with a soft “Hmm.”
Unexpectedly, their views on spending money were quite similar.
Upon reflection, even though she gave away five hundred yuan without hesitation, she was frugal in other areas. Besides her three meals, she didn’t buy anything else.
His female colleagues, on the other hand, would discuss buying new clothes and snacks whenever they had spare time. Even his little sister at home couldn’t resist buying snacks if she had a few coins in her pocket.
But she didn’t indulge in such behavior. Apart from her three meals, there were no sweets like melon seeds or green bean cakes in the house.
It seemed that he had misunderstood her before.
However, there was one thing she got wrong. She said she had been poor before. Did she mean the time when she lived in the large alley at the city gate when she was a child?
In fact, her uncle had brought her and her family to the county town to work as technical workers, and the fertilizer plant they worked at didn’t mistreat them. At that time, she was older than him and had a clearer concept of money.
Back then, her uncle’s salary was three times that of her father, and the Xue family’s living conditions were considered affluent.
It was said that after they moved back to the capital, her uncle quickly ventured into business and made a considerable amount of money.
She was born and raised in a big city like the capital, so compared to the county town, the environment made her feel like she was going through a tough period.
In reality, it wasn’t like that at all.
In her previous life, she had experienced a lot. She had gone through many hardships, and she had already shed her previous spoiled and pampered attitude.
In fact, Xue Ling felt like she was in a completely different world now, where fate had given her a chance to start over.
Feeling a sudden wave of melancholy, she couldn’t help but think of the past. She hugged Cheng Tianyuan’s strong waist, pressed her pretty face against his back, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Thankfully, he had been with her back then…
Her hand on his waist held on tightly, and she felt the softness of his back. Cheng Tianyuan felt a little embarrassed but tried to pretend that everything was normal. He continued pedaling the bicycle steadily.
What he didn’t notice was that the bicycle seemed to be much lighter, and his mood unknowingly improved…
When they arrived back at the small hotel, Cheng Tianyuan didn’t dare to look back at her. He simply said, “Get some rest earlier!” and quickly rode away.
Xue Ling, with red eyes, watched his sturdy and tall figure leave. She suppressed a smile.
That night, she slept soundly and even had a sweet dream.
In the dream, Cheng Tianyuan was riding a bicycle, carrying her along a country road, and the two of them were talking and laughing…
The next morning, she woke up a bit late and hurriedly got ready. While waiting for the bus, she bought a large sweet potato near the bus stop and ate it as breakfast, finally filling her stomach.
When she arrived at the newspaper office, several colleagues were already there, and Wang Qing had just arrived.
“Good morning!”
“Good morning!”
Everyone greeted each other with smiles and then got busy with their work.
Director Liu also arrived on time and asked how Xue Ling and Wang Qing’s handover work was going and if they could provide the materials for the English column on schedule next week.
Xue Ling patted Wang Qing on the shoulder and smiled, “Wang Qing has already handed over the materials to me and taught me several tricks. I’ve also reviewed the recent columns and made a summary. The preliminary arrangement for next week’s column is ready for your review, Director.”
Director Liu was pleasantly surprised and raised his eyebrows, saying, “Young people are full of energy. You’ve only been working for one day, and you’ve already done so much! Excellent! Very good! Wang Qing is one of the outstanding young talents in our newspaper. Learning from her is the right move.”
Wang Qing blushed and smiled shyly. She secretly glanced at Xue Ling, feeling grateful.
In fact, she only knew a few English words, and her previous columns had been somewhat lacking. She had thought that when Xue Ling, a professional English expert, joined, she would surely be outperformed. Unexpectedly, Xue Ling was so humble and even praised her in front of the director.
She was naturally timid and lacked confidence. She usually worked diligently at the newspaper office, focusing on her own tasks. The director rarely praised her, and she had thought that he didn’t value her.
She never expected the director to call her a good young talent and ask Xue Ling to learn from her. She felt a sense of unworthiness but was also overjoyed.
Xue Ling’s words not only impressed their boss but also helped her earn the boss’s favor.
For a while after that, thanks to Wang Qing’s assistance and reminders, Xue Ling was able to navigate the challenges smoothly. But that’s another story.
During lunchtime, the lunch was delivered early, and the director told everyone to eat first.
Thinking about Cheng Tianyuan’s words from the previous night, Xue Ling hesitated and lost her appetite as she looked at the two hot aluminum lunchboxes.
“Wang Qing, you go ahead and eat. I’m going out to find someone. See you later!”
She stuffed the two lunchboxes into her shoulder bag, put on her plastic sandals, and hurriedly left the newspaper office.
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