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"You dare say you've never desperately wanted a girlfriend?" Luo Xiyun stared at Chen Xu, as if trying to spot a lie on his face.
Chen Xu put down his chopsticks, took a napkin to wipe his mouth, and started talking about something unrelated, "In high school, I was determined to get into a prestigious university, so I studied extraordinarily hard. By senior year, I was working on exercises until midnight and getting up at five in the morning to memorize vocabulary. So, guess what score I got on the college entrance exam?"
"520. Forget a prestigious university, it didn't even meet the regular college admission line. Everyone around me said, 'You're so close; it's such a pity. Why not repeat the year?'"
"But I didn't agree. Many relatives and friends felt sorry for me, and my parents understood how hard I studied during my senior year. Actually, I wasn't afraid of hard work. If repeating a year would get me into a top university, I'd have done it without hesitation."
"But I knew I had reached my limit. Even if I repeated a year, there would be no progress."
Luo Xiyun opened her mouth as if to say something, but Chen Xu didn't give her the chance and continued speaking to himself, "Later, I graduated from university and, luckily, joined a company."
"In my first year at the company, I worked diligently and tried my best to maintain good relationships with my colleagues. One year, two years, and now it's almost three. Among those who joined with me, the ones who didn't quit have either been promoted or have gotten raises."
"As for me, only my basic salary went up a little. Even colleagues who joined the company a year after me were promoted faster."
On saying this, Chen Xu waved his hand, not giving Luo Xiyun a chance to interject, and said, "One must have self-awareness. You need to know where your capabilities' limits lie."
"Just like studying and working, I gave one hundred percent of my efforts to score 520 and to see my basic salary rise by a few hundred. So, even if I gave it my all, at most, I could only increase my score by a few points or see my salary rise by another hundred or two."
"But what's the point? The input and output are completely disproportionate. Once I understood this, my days got a lot easier."
Chen Xu took a breath before continuing, "Finding a girlfriend is the same reason. In today's society, in the realm of relationships, men are naturally at a disadvantage. If you don't have looks, money, a house, or a car, and you don't know how to please, it's really very difficult to win over the woman you fancy."
"It means you have to win that woman over in other ways, sacrifice your dignity, spend all your money on her, give all your time and energy, practically carving out your heart for her to see."
"Even so, she'll most likely just see you as a backup."
"You finally wake up, accept reality, and decide to find a woman who's practical in all aspects."
"Then you find that she loses her temper at the drop of a hat. Whenever she's mad, you have to sweet-talk her, because women are emotional creatures."
"If you argue with her, no matter who's in the wrong, you're the one who should apologize first. Because she's the woman, and you should give way to her."
"Those important holidays, never forget to give gifts; otherwise, the consequences are severe. If your gift isn't to her liking, she'll even call out your 'lack of taste.'"
"When two people are together, it's either eating out or ordering takeout. She doesn't cook because she's a modern woman, and isn't it perfectly normal not to know how to cook?"
"Eventually, when marriage comes up, her parents put forward demands: a dowry, the man has to buy a house, a car, and hand over the salary card after marriage."
"To marry this woman, you not only have to give up everything you have but also spend your parents' life savings."
Chen Xu spread his hands and said, "Having a girlfriend would make my already low living quality plummet. It's truly better to remain single. As for marriage, I really can't afford it."
After listening, Luo Xiyun's gaze flickered, and she didn't speak for a while.
After a brief silence, Chen Xu slightly smiled and said, "Of course, you definitely wouldn't understand this kind of frustration. If you want to date, there are tons of men lining up for you to choose from."
Luo Xiyun's expression softened considerably; she said, "I think you may just not have met the right person."
Chen Xu couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"What are you laughing at?" Luo Xiyun frowned, sounding somewhat displeased.
"Nothing." Chen Xu realized being like that was a bit disrespectful and stopped laughing, getting up to clear the table.
What he said were his true feelings. In reality, there were no outlets to pour out his thoughts. Only here in the dreamscape could he speak without reservation. He wasn't looking for sympathy.
Particularly from someone like Luo Xiyun, who could never truly understand such a predicament, hearing comforting words from her seemed entirely off the mark, making him involuntarily laugh out loud.
.......
Luo Xiyun saw Chen Xu take the dishes into the kitchen, so she followed him, "In the end, you're just too complacent. To put it harshly, you lack ambition. You aren't much worse than anyone else; as long as you work hard, in a few years, you can also get promoted and get a raise."
While speaking, Chen Xu had already washed the dishes, removed his rubber gloves, and turned to look at her, "First, I'm not your subordinate now. Second, we aren't even friends. We're just two grasshoppers tied together on the same rope. When we have free time, we can chat, open up a bit, but please don't interfere with my matters. That's the most basic respect between us."
After saying that, he walked out of the kitchen and returned to his room.
Luo Xiyun was left standing there, her chest heaving violently, clearly furious.
.......
Half an hour later, Chen Xu put on a thick winter coat, slung a backpack over his shoulder, and went out.
Just as the door clicked shut, Luo Xiyun's room door opened. She peeked out, saw Chen Xu was gone, and slipped out.
She went to his room door, turned the handle, and it opened easily since he never locks it. She headed straight for the computer, turned it on, and quickly reached the password login screen.
Having seen him type it before, a simple four-digit password, she remembered. So she typed the digits and successfully entered the desktop.
She grabbed the mouse, gritting her teeth, "This bastard, I'll make sure you never forget this lesson."
She clicked on each drive on the hard disk, opening any folder that exceeded 1 GB. A few minutes later, she found her target, a folder with several hundred gigabytes. Right-clicking, she deleted it, then emptied the recycle bin.
After doing all that, she shut down the computer and left the scene of the crime.
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