Xu Jiaojiao sat on the seat next to her as she covered her face and cried. "Why? Why?! All I want is to find a man with stable finances who treats me well. Why can others find one but I can"t?"

Dai Huimin patted her back helplessly. "Okay, that"s enough. Let"s not harbor this kind of thought anymore. You don"t have anything worth contributing, so do you think a man from a rich family would choose you without considering other potential suitors? How silly would he be? Do you think that true love can be found everywhere? If you find it, then you"re lucky. If you can"t find it, you can"t force it. This is the result of you trying to force something that isn"t right. Now that you ended up on the losing side, just remember this lesson, okay?"

Xu Jiaojiao nodded as she cried. She still did not feel better.

Dai Huimin did not care that it was embarra.s.sing to say this in the café as she continued, "Just live an honest life and you"ll naturally meet the right person. I"ve never asked for you to get a rich man, and I"ve never thought that I"m living a bad life with your father. Our family conditions may not have been that great before this, but your father and I have managed to slowly turn things around. Our days are getting better and that is a blessing for us. A good life should be earned and not gotten through short cuts. Lin Chu might seem to be living a good life but you have no idea how much she has gone through and how hard she worked."

"She never thought about marrying into a rich family. All she wanted was an ordinary man who was responsible and worked hard to lead a better life together. The more you work toward it, the closer you will be to meeting the right person. If you force it like you are now, it will only make things worse for you. Now that you"ve experienced it, just think about it."

Xu Jiaojiao"s sobbing got quieter. Lin Chu knew that she had finally seen things clearly, but that she still felt terrible because she was unable to let it go.

She had such high hopes for Cheng Ziming, it had all been replaced with disappointment and hatred. It was not something that one could let go in a day - she needed some time.

Thus, Lin Chu said, "Once you"ve resigned, don"t go rus.h.i.+ng out to find another job. Stay at home to calm yourself down first. I think that if you want your life to get better, you should always depend on yourself and not others. What you earn with your own two hands is the most reliable reward. You can only rely on a man for a short time. If a man likes you, everything you do looks good to him. When they stop liking you, they"ll just throw you to the side. If you always rely on a man and he leaves you, then you"ll end up with nothing and come back to square one."

What she said managed to get through to Xu Jiaojiao. She wiped away her tears and looked up at Lin Chu.

Her eyes were still red and bulged out like a fish, and she could not stop sniffling.

Lin Chu gave her the whole pack of tissues as she said patiently, "Your ident.i.ty and family status won"t help you. There"re only so many rich people in this world. Not everyone is lucky enough to be born rich. Most people will still need to work hard on their own. If you could get into B University through your own efforts, then it"s more than enough proof of your capability. Since you have the capability, why do you want to take short cuts?

"You can carve out a career for yourself with your own capabilities. When a woman has her own career, she will have enough money to live a good life. You can buy anything you want and travel anywhere you like. If you want to continue studying to enrich yourself, you can go ahead and do it at anytime. You don"t need to rely on a man to have all these. When that time comes, you"ll realize that it"s okay to not have a man. You can follow your own desires to have anything you"d like, even if this desire is to be in a relations.h.i.+p with a man you really love. When that time comes, you will be the one to pick your man, and it won"t be the way it is now, with you losing your dignity waiting around for a man to pick you.

"You"re a smart girl, but you need to use your brains to go down the right path and constantly enrich yourself. Use your own capabilities to carve a better life for you and your family. That way, your parents won"t need to work so hard at an elderly age. They have less than ten years left to retirement, right? Yet they"re still working so hard at an old age. Who do you think they"re doing this?"

Xu Jiaojiao"s lips twitches, and her expression changed slightly as she began looking apologetic.

Lin Chu pressed her lips together and continued, "They know that you are prideful and ambitious, which was why they worked so hard to try and earn more money for you to have a better life. Do you really want your elderly parents to be burdened because of you?

"If you had used your smarts on the right path and enriched yourself by working hard to get into higher circles through your own capabilities, it would have been enough. You don"t need to compare yourself with those entrepreneurs and big bosses. There are many out there who are much more capable than you are, so you can"t compare yourself to all of them. You should pay attention to what you can do and move forward one step at a time. That will be enough. If you use your smarts on the wrong things, then you will never win. Do you know who many cunning people there are in the social circles you are eyeing? Your so-called intelligence will pale in comparison to their shrewdness. Cheng Ziming was not wrong about you when it came to that."

"Stop it, stop talking! I know, I really do understand!" Xu Jiaojiao cried as she exclaimed.

Lin Chu looked at her. She wondered if she really did understand.

"You claim you do understand, but it"s difficult for us to believe you right now. It all depends on your future performance," replied Lin Chu.

She gave it a thought and said to Dai Huimin, "Let me see you home."

"It"s okay, it"s really okay. You don"t need to bother yourself with us. We"ve wasted so much of your time today. We can go home by ourselves," Dai Huimin quickly waved "no" with her hands.

She was worried about causing more trouble to Lin Chu.

Lin Chu was a kind person, but the kinder she was to Dai Huimin, the worse Dai Huimin felt. She was the one that had let Lin Chu down in the first place, so how could she accept her help now?

"Let"s go, I"m out now anyway. It won"t hurt to give you a lift home," said Lin Chu as she started to leave.

She noticed that Cheng Ziming did not even pay before leaving. Her lips curved into a cold smile and she went to settle the bill at the counter.

Dai Huimin quickly ran up to stop Lin Chu, "We"ve already bothered you enough today. How can we allow you to pay? Let me."

Dai Huimin quickly took out her purse. She was serious about it and not putting up an act.

Lin Chu thought it would be better for Dai Huimin to feel better about things. Since the amount was pretty low, she did not object and let Dai Huimin pay for their drinks.

She led Dai Huimin and Xu Jiaojiao to the car. As they were on the road, Xu Jiaojiao suddenly voiced out in dissatisfaction, "You advised me not to take the short cut and rely on myself. But look at you now, aren"t you relying on Yan Beicheng?"

"I am, but he"s different. Our fate was tied together when I was just seven years old. We"ve known each other since we were young. When we met again, I didn"t recognize him, but he knew who I was. I wasn"t looking for some rich man. Besides, I know myself enough to understand that I would never match up to someone like Yan Beicheng. I may not earn much, but I genuinely believe that with some hard work, things will get better. I"ve always wanted to be with an ordinary man, where we"d work together toward common goals. Otherwise, I wouldn"t have been in a relations.h.i.+p with Cheng Ziming during my university years, when he had nothing to his name. Even when Cheng Ziming betrayed me, I wasn"t too sad. All I needed was to believe that I couldstill live a good life," Lin Chu did not go into detail.

Lin Chu glanced at Xu Jiaojiao. "I am dependent on Yan Beicheng right now. He gave me everything I have, but that is because I truly believe he will love me my whole life. I did get lucky, but you didn"t. So, stop thinking about striking some sort of relations.h.i.+p jackpot and live an honest life."

Lin Chu knew that her life really was not the best example to give her, so all she could do was advise Xu Jiaojiao on her att.i.tude toward life.

Xu Jiaojiao, "…"

Even if that was the truth, it sounded like Lin Chu was showing off by talking about this with such thick-skin!

Xu Jiaojiao did not feel good at all. On one hand, she felt that Lin Chu"s words were reasonable, but on the other hand, she felt unfair about the cards that life had dealt them.

Lin Chu drove them back to their house by following Dai Huimin"s directions.

Dai Huimin looked at the time. It was already 1pm. So, she carefully asked, "Just look at the time. You haven"t had your lunch yet. Why don"t you come up to our place? I"ll make a few dishes and we can eat together."

Dai Huimin felt that Lin Chu would reject her, but decided to try anyway.

Lin Chu gave it a thought and asked, "Will it be too much trouble?"

"No trouble, no trouble at all! Both of us need to eat too. Our house is small and the dishes are simple. I hope you are okay with it," Dai Huimin said.

Lin Chu pulled out her key from the ignition, "I"m fine with it. The three of us can"t have too much anyway so it"s okay to make something simple."

"Oh, good, good!" Dai Huimin nodded enthusiastically and followed Xu Jiaojiao out of the car.

The Xu family lived on the third floor and there was no elevator. Lin Chu practiced pilates quite often and was quite fit so she did not feel tired climbing the stairs up to the third floor. If she didn"t exercise regularly, she would have been tired out as she was always taking the car when she went out. Not to mention, her office and home had elevators.

The Xu family was not big. The house had one bedroom and one living room, which was not easy for them to maintain. This was, after all, B City.

They part.i.tioned a small room out for Xu Jiaojiao to stay in, which was only big enough for one bed and one simple clothes hanger. There was a chest of drawers next to the single bed, which doubled as a dressing table, and there was a small mirror on top alongside Xu Jiaojiao"s daily cosmetics.

In the living room was a squashed three-person sofa. The TV console looked aged, and even the television was quite small. It was around 30 inches wide.

Beside the sofa stood a folding table propped up against the wall. It must have been where the Xu family usually had their meals.

The house may have been small and looked cramped, but it was clean and tidy. It was apparent that Dai Huimin took great care of it.

She had to help out at the restaurant as well. When it came to the restaurant business, it did not matter what job one had, they would have to wake up early and go home late. It was a physically challenging job. Yet, she was still able to keep her house so clean. It did not take a genius to figure out that she was a hardworking person.

Dai Huimin was a little uneasy, so she said with some embarra.s.sment, "Take a seat, Lin Chu. Our house is a little small."

"It"s not that bad. The house I used to rent with my friend was really cramped as well," Lin Chu smiled.

She really did not feel that a small house was bad. It may be small, but it felt cozy.

If she could live like this with her parents and her family, and grow up in a warm, happy environment, then even if life was tough and their house was cramped, she would have been just as happy.

Dai Huimin"s smile suddenly disappeared as she felt a pang of sadness. She remembered Lin Chu"s past suffering and started blaming herself again.

However, she quickly smiled again. She did not want to show her sadness all the time and let Lin Chu see the sorry look on her face. It would be too much and would probably seem like she was just trying to gain Lin Chu"s sympathy.

"Take a seat first. I"ll fry up two dishes. It will be quick! Jiaojiao, put out the table," Dai Huimin said.

She hurried into the kitchen.

Xu Jiaojiao was still feeling upset. She did not have much enthusiasm while doing anything, so Lin Chu helped her out with the folding table that was propped against the wall.

Xu Jiaojiao looked around her and felt a little embarra.s.sed about it. When they put the table out, there was hardly any room to walk.

"I really do think that as long a family can sit together to have a meal, it doesn"t matter where you are or what the environment is like. As long as your family is willing to support each other, you can overcome any difficulty without worrying about being abandoned," Lin Chu said casually.

Xu Jiaojiao lowered her head shyly and did not say a word. Lin Chu wondered if it was because she felt ashamed of what Lin Chu said.

Dai Huimin walked out to get her ap.r.o.n. As she held the ap.r.o.n in her hands, she heard Lin Chu"s words. Her eyes went red and tears started to well up in them. She covered her mouth and quickly ran into the kitchen. Then, she closed the kitchen doors and leaned against the fridge as she cried.

Not long after, she sniffled and used her ap.r.o.n to wipe away the tears, then she put her ap.r.o.n back on and started peeling the potatoes.

It was awkward for both Xu Jiaojiao and Lin Chu to sit together alone. Xu Jiaojiao"s eyes were red when she suddenly asked hesitantly, "Do you really think that hard work is a measure of success?"

Lin Chu took a deep breath. "You"re not stupid. Otherwise, you wouldn"t have gotten into B University. I am well aware of your family"s condition and know that you must have relied on yourself since young when it came to studies. It"s not easy for your family to pay for your university fees so they wouldn"t have had the extra funds to pay for your tuition or recreational cla.s.ses. I know that children nowadays will often get outside help for tutoring when their children are unable to catch up or if their results are suffering, but that you didn"t get any external help. You got into B University all by yourself."

Xu Jiaojiao puffed up with pride a little at her words. "Also… I"ve gotten quite a number of scholarsh.i.p.s. They"re not full scholarsh.i.p.s, but they were enough to take some burden off my parents so they wouldn"t have to pay the full fees."

Lin Chu nodded as she smiled lightly. "Since you"re able to get into B University via your own efforts without relying on anyone for help, you"ll definitely be capable enough to carve out your own career. You don"t need to compare yourself to those rich people who got their names high up on the results board. You can rely on your brains to honestly move up step by step to maybe become the boss of a smaller company, right? Don"t depend on men, just depend on yourself to move out into a bigger house. Your parents will be able to happily say to everyone that their daughter was the one that bought it and that their daughter is very capable. When you are capable and become someone who earns her own keep and is pretty to boot, you"ll attract men on the same level on you. They won"t think that you want anything from them when you are equals, and you won"t feel inferior to him."

"Do you have that same sense of satisfaction now?" Xu Jiaojiao asked boldly.

Lin Chu raised an eyebrow and said, "I know you"re envious of me. There was once a girl who grew up with me in the same orphanage, and she thought the exact same way as you. She felt that if I can be so lucky as to land someone like Yan Beicheng, then she would be able to do the same because she and I were on the same level. She thought that she could do no worse than me. So now, she ended up with Lu Weining"s older brother, and is living with no recognition of the relations.h.i.+p from his face. That man has never admitted to the outside world that she is his girlfriend. Even if modern relationsh.i.p.s can"t guarantee that they will end up in marriage, at the very least, she should be recognized as a girlfriend, right? But because she wanted to do better than me, she ended up just like you did. She gave up that last shred of dignity."

Xu Jiaojiao pursed her lips and lowered her head in shame.

"Not every man out there is like Beicheng, who is serious with his relations.h.i.+p. He took our relations.h.i.+p seriously and put marriage on the books when we were together. He didn"t care about my status or my background, and he really liked me for me. He didn"t bully me or treat me like a plaything because of who I was. But you should be aware that most men out there are much more like Lu Zhenghang and Cheng Ziming. Even I don"t believe that there are men out there as kind and good as Yan Beicheng. But even if there were outstanding men out there who were equal or better than him, they wouldn"t even look at me twice, am I right?"

Xu Jiaojiao paused before nodding. She finally accepted Lin Chu"s words.

"Beicheng treats me really well, which is why I feel that I can"t be so useless. I can"t stand around and not better myself, and I shouldn"t take it for granted that he shoulders the burdens in our relations.h.i.+p and treat him like some kind of slave. I would also need to find a way to work hard. Even if I can never reach the same level as Yan Beicheng"s, at the very least, I can"t let others badmouth him and say that he found himself a useless wife."

"Xu Jiaojiao, when you find a man who is so much better and outstanding than you are, one who is capable of giving you everything, you would be faced with a similar burden, do you understand? That is why I"m advising you to enrich yourself and then find a man who can match you. When that time comes, you will truly love a man, and it won"t be because of his money. Even if that man is not as capable as you are, you can still proudly live a worry-free life. Even if you are the one that needs to take care of him, the important thing is that you will love him and that you"re happy. If you meet an outstanding man whom you love, you won"t feel that you"re unworthy of him."

"I didn"t have a chance to better myself that much before I met Yan Beicheng, but I"ve never regretted meeting him. As long as I work hard, it"ll never be too late," said Lin Chu.

Xu Jiaojiao kicked off her slippers and hugged her legs as she placed them on the sofa. Her hands played around with her pant legs as she replied, "No one… No one has ever said all these things to me before."

Lin Chu was taken aback. Xu Jiaojiao looked like she was embarra.s.sed as she lowered her head and continued, "My parents are always working because they want to give our family a better life. They work from morning to night and never have the time to tell me all these things. Before you appeared, I was the only daughter in the family. My parents were unaware that I was going about life the wrong way and no one was there to guide me. I had never shared my thoughts when I"m with them, so they"ve always thought that I was a good and obedient girl. When I started going to university, I met many cla.s.smates who were just as poor as I was. Some were worse off than I was, while others were really rich. I watched as those second-generation rich kids found themselves girlfriends. They didn"t care about the girls" wealth status, all they cared about was how pretty they were. They changed girlfriends every few days and I watched them spend money like it was nothing. I remembered thinking that I never want to find myself such an irresponsible man.

"Besides, they were just rich brats who spent their parent"s money. Why do they feel the need to show off? Later on, I saw many girls who had come from poorer families start to dress prettily. They were going in and out high-end shopping malls and restaurants, and were using branded cosmetics. There some who used handbags worth millions of Yuan. I knew how they did it. I really did look down on them because all they wanted was that temporary moment of monetary fulfillment. They didn"t even feel disgusted that they were with these pot-bellied men. After seeing them for awhile, I decided that even though I may not want to be like them, I didn"t want to continue being poor. I didn"t want to be a plaything either. What I wanted was to marry a rich man.

"But I didn"t have any close friends in school. How could I share this thought with just anybody? No one told me how stupid these thoughts were. The only person I"ve seen who married well with my own eyes was you. That was why I naively thought that since I"m not that much worse than you are, I could find someone like that too. No one told me how difficult this was. No one told me how difficult this route would be. No one told me how these men would look down on people like me. All they wanted was a plaything, they would never treat me seriously."

Lin Chu sighed. "At least now you are aware."

Xu Jiaojiao nodded, "I… I still want to marry well. I don"t want to spend my life with someone who labors his life away with hard work. But I"ll think things through. I won"t just be wishful anymore and find myself someone that I"ll never have a chance of marrying. I will enrich myself and push myself to improve by working honestly. Just like you said, when I"m at a level where I can confidently make a decision, I won"t let others treat me like a plaything or look down on me. I will do my best to marry well, and even though I don"t wish to marry into a rich family, I won"t want to live a hard life and suffer either."

Lin chu lowered her eyes and thought about her words. She felt that there was nothing wrong with Xu Jiaojiao"s thoughts. "That"s right. W want to marry well, don"t we? So, lift your head up and stop walking down the wrong path. Find a good bachelor for yourself, don"t go destroying another"s marriage. A man who seduces a young woman behind his wife"s back is nothing great anyway."