It was actually quite easy for males to feel inferior when they truly loved a girl. Perhaps their understanding of girls was somewhat lacking, but they were, in fact, not that much better than underaged girls that had their minds full of fantasies.
For example, at this moment, Lu Ze stood outside a Givenchy showroom, looking at the red bag through the glass, thinking how beautiful his girlfriend would look while carrying it.
Often in such delusions, he would achieve these simple targets. Last year, he gave her a Gucci bag on her birthday. It was not too expensive, so he'd managed to save enough by living frugally for a few months. It had only cost him about 8,000 yuan. However, up to this moment, she had not taken that bag out with her once, and it was simply rotting away in a corner of the house.
"What are you looking at?" She walked over holding two matcha-flavored milkshakes and kicked Lu Ze's butt.
"Eh? I'm looking at this bag and wondering how good it will look on me!"
Lu Ze flicked her forehead, then assumed a coquettish pose. Holding the milkshakes, she burst into giggles, laughing so hard that she went out of breath.
"Alright, I think this bag will look really good on you. Let me see how much it costs. When I have some savings, I'll buy it for you."
She also looked through the display window, but at this moment, Lu Ze retracted his gaze in a slight embarrassment as his inferiority complex started to haunt him. It was hard for a boy from the village to not show some male chauvinism. However, his thinking and worldview were directly in conflict with the high-maintenance city life, creating huge sparks.
Not being able to fulfill his male chauvinism by gifting his girlfriend expensive gifts and making her happy caused his self-esteem to drop, creating even more disappointment in his heart.
"Babe…"
"Hm?"
"Nothing…"
He originally wanted to promise her that once he signed this big deal, he would certainly buy her a luxury product, but on second thought, he didn't dare promise anything. After all, at this point, nobody could say for sure if the deal would go through.
Pulling her hand, Lu Ze walked with her on the pedestrian sidewalk. His bruised knee was faintly aching, causing him to walk with a slight limp. Moreover, the fabric of his trousers rubbing against the wound was further aggravating the pain.
The two watched a movie, but it was not as good as they imagined. The fantasy genre amongst the domestic films was still quite lacking in terms of plot, acting, and special effects, causing the viewers to feel that it was a bit lackluster.
After leaving the theater, they went for teppanyaki, one of the few times they had the opportunity to have such luxurious food. Although it was not very expensive, it was the best meal they had in a while.
...
On Monday morning, Lu Ze turned off the alarm on his phone and got out of bed. By the time he washed his face, rinsed his mouth, and had breakfast, she had still not left the bed. Since Lu Ze's workplace was much farther than hers, he didn't have much time left, thus he could only drag her out of the bed and hurriedly change his clothes.
"I'm leaving. I've made breakfast, so don't forget to eat."
"Then, give me a hug, just one hug! Hug me! Muah! Alright, get lost."
After the kiss, the girl, who had barely woken up, narrowed her eyes and kicked Lu Ze, causing him to pedal back several steps. Thereupon, she again crashed back in bed, not willing to get up.
Carrying a shoulder bag, he took the public bus. Changing three buses and spending two hours on the road due to the high traffic, he arrived at the office just before the official time to start work.
He greeted the familiar employees after placing his bag on his seat and turning on the computer. Then, he took out an instant coffee sachet from the drawer and mixed it in the coffee mug, making himself comfortable in his seat and enjoying the seven minutes of leisure before the rush hour began.
"Lu Ze, come with me for a bit."
Upon hearing Director Liu's call, Lu Ze stood up and followed him out of the office. When he saw his grave face, his heart also jumped. The two began talking in the corridor.
"What's going on, Big Brother Song?"
"Sigh...President Tang's deal failed. He signed with some other company last night. President Zhang is really angry right now and has called us over. We'll certainly be blamed. After such expenses, if the client gets away...Alright, come on. We can't escape this disaster."
Lu Ze's heart thumped, and his face turned unsightly. With a faint nod, he followed him to the CEO's office. As expected, President Zhang flew into a rage and chewed them both out. Just for this client, even they themselves had spent a lot of money to strike up a good relationship. Alas, what was the result? He had gotten away!
Coming out of the CEO's office, their faces were quite ashen. Their bonuses for this month had been written off. They originally thought that they would be able to close a sizeable deal this time, but who would have expected that the fellow with the surname Tang would have changed to a different company after eating and drinking to his fill at their expense. Lu Ze truly couldn't swallow it.
However, what he didn't expect was that from this moment, he began running into a series of misfortunes.
His planned sheets didn't pass, the talk with the clients didn't succeed, and the ideas were pushed aside. All his plans and ideas were smashed apart in the next few days.
For the whole month, he didn't earn a penny aside from his basic salary. Moreover, his basic salary could barely meet his rent. He was shouldering a lot of pressure. To support his family, his own expenses, his rent...at this moment, he needed to rely on his girlfriend to support him.
...
"Have a little to eat. You didn't have anything tonight. You should at least eat something."
"No. I've got to complete this plan and submit the document tomorrow. You can eat first and go sleep after eating, alright?"
"You haven't eaten for so long. Come on, eat a bit! Don't smoke. Hive that to me!"
"I told you that I'm not eating! Can't you leave me alone for a bit? I'm really busy right now. Can you not bother me right now?"
She came over and scrambled for the cigarette on Lu Ze's desk but was forced back by him. His mood had been quite sour in recent times. After being provoked by her a little, he couldn't control his anger and vented it out on her.
Although the very next second after uttering these words, Lu Ze knew that he shouldn't have done that. However, he couldn't take it back, and the air in the room froze.
"I...shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. But right now, I really have to work. I need to submit this planning document tomorrow. I'm really short on time. This document has been rejected and returned back to me several times. This is my last chance," Lu Ze apologized to her. When he noticed her red-rimmed eyes, he didn't feel good himself. Although the pressure he was facing was huge, he shouldn't have vented it out on her.
"You can decide whether you want to eat or not."
For the first time, her voice carried a trace of coldness. Upon hearing her dismissal, Lu Ze assumed silence. Once she left the bedroom and went to the drawing room, Lu Ze smoked the cigarette and cooled down a bit. Having given up on comforting her, he chose to continue with work.
Upon finishing dinner, she came back into the bedroom and was about to take a quilt out to the drawing room, causing Lu Ze to blank out for a moment.
"Where the hell are you going? Just sleep right here on the bed."
"No need. Aren't you working? I won't bother you. I can just sleep on the sofa. I'm not as busy as you, and I don't want to suffer your wrath."
These words made Lu Ze feel uncomfortable. Sometimes, trivial matters could cause sharp conflicts between couples. At this point, any slightly excessive words from either party could really end up being seriously taken.
"Alright, go then."
This time, Lu Ze didn't stop her. She stared blankly at him for a moment before fiercely nodding, folding the quilt, and leaving the bedroom.
Lu Ze suddenly recalled a line: 'countless troubles of poor couples'. It seemed like no matter how much a couple loved each other, the lack of money would always create misunderstandings, just like both of them at this moment. This was a curse that was hard to expel.