Chapter 22: Chapter 22: 22, perseverance will pay off as the clouds part and the moon shines through

Wangjiang Neighborhood.

Sun Xinyi finally finished work after teaching the public body sculpting class.

She had a public class in the afternoon and evening, plus two private sessions in the afternoon, which really tired her out.

However, once she got back to her rented room, she didn’t rest immediately, but impatiently opened the Prada shopping bag.

At the fitness center, she was too embarrassed to fully admire the bag Yang Hao gave her, but now at home, she didn’t need to worry about her colleagues’ gazes.

“Xinyi, you’re finally back.”

“I’ve been so annoyed by my aunt…”

Just as Sun Xinyi was about to take the bag out of the shopping bag, her roommate Zhao Yingying walked out of her room.

“Huh, did you buy a bag?”

“Wow! Prada!!”

Zhao Yingying was originally planning to vent to her friend about a blind date, but the moment she saw the Prada shopping bag on the coffee table, her eyes lit up: “Xinyi, you’ve struck it rich!”

“As if I could afford it, a friend gave it to me!”

Sun Xinyi casually replied, thinking to herself whether she and that Mr. Yang could be considered friends now.

“A friend?”

“It’s not that creepy man who bought fifty private classes, is it?”

Zhao Yingying asked with a gossipy look on her face.

“It’s not him!”

“If it really was from him, I wouldn’t accept it!” Sun Xinyi shook her head in denial.

“Then who is it?”

“When did you get such a wealthy friend?”

“Could it be that school senior who’s been pursuing you??” Zhao Yingying continued to guess.

“It’s none of them, just stop guessing.”

Sun Xinyi shook her head, then took the Prada handbag out of the dust bag and held it up to the mirror to see how it looked.

“It’s this bag!”

“I remember you said you liked it when we went to Starlight City last time!”

Zhao Yingying also moved closer to the mirror, eyeing the handbag in Sun Xinyi’s hands with envy.

Sun Xinyi kept changing angles in front of the mirror, genuinely liking the bag’s design, and of course, her appreciation was undoubtedly bolstered by the Prada brand; if it had been a one or two hundred dollar bag, she wouldn’t be so concerned.

“Xinyi, tell me the story of your wealthy friend.”

“A bag worth over twenty thousand, just given away like that, he must be quite well-off!”

Zhao Yingying was very interested in the mysterious benefactor who’d gifted her friend a Prada bag. She was already 27 years old and her goal was to land a wealthy husband. She’d done a lot of research, even spending a lot on golf lessons, all with the intent of moving up the social ladder through marriage.

There were many women like her, but very few ultimately succeeded in ‘reaching the shore.’ It wasn’t just about marrying a rich man; even being kept as a mistress was considered a very decent outcome.

In truth, Sun Xinyi also had the urge to share, especially since Zhao Yingying was quite savvy in analyzing men, and Sun Xinyi was curious to hear her take on Mr. Yang.

So, Sun Xinyi recounted her day’s experiences.

“A hundred private classes, two Prada handbags!”

“Spent over eighty thousand in one day!”

“Xinyi, you’ve really met a tycoon, and he’s a freshly-divorced tycoon at that. People need emotional comfort at such times, this opportunity is literally once in a lifetime!”

After hearing the story, Zhao Yingying’s eyes sparkled with excitement — this was precisely the target she’d been eagerly searching for.

“I think Yang doesn’t seem to have any other intentions, he probably just wanted to thank me,” said Sun Xinyi.

“Do you have any intentions then?”

Zhao Yingying rubbed her hands together and asked, her expression one of eager anticipation.

“Yingying, you’re not thinking about him, are you?”

“He has a daughter.”

Sun Xinyi knew her friend all too well; Zhao Yingying always talked about marrying into wealth and clearly had designs on Mr. Yang.

“Having a daughter is not a problem, a man like him definitely longs for a son. If I could give him a son, my position would be secure.”

Zhao Yingying said with a laugh.

“You don’t mind becoming a stepmother?”

Even though she knew her friend was set on marrying into wealth, she didn’t expect that she would be willing to step into the role of a stepmother right away.

“Xinyi, you must have some misconceptions about stepmothers!”

“It’s tough to be a stepmother in a poor family, but with someone as well-off as Yang, being a stepmother is quite cozy, especially since his daughter is still very young and at an age where one can build a good relationship. If I can win his daughter over as well, my position will be even more secure!”

Zhao Yingying became more excited as she spoke, “Xinyi, if you really don’t have feelings for him, then sis here is going to make her move.”

“Then you go ahead and try.”

Sun Xinyi gently shook her head. She merely had a good impression of Yang Hao, after all, they had only met for a day. Besides, she wasn’t as materialistic as Zhao Yingying. In her view of choosing a partner, financial stability was a bonus, but not a requirement. Moreover, she wasn’t ready to become a stepmother right off the bat.

Thus, she currently saw Yang Hao as nothing more than a nice and wealthy big brother.

“That’s what you said, no regrets now.”

Zhao Yingying, smiling, linked arms with Sun Xinyi, “I happen to have a day off tomorrow. I was planning to go to your place for a swim anyway, so it’ll be the perfect opportunity for a ‘chance’ encounter with Yang!”

Zhao Yingying was a counter salesperson for Lancome, routinely engaging with customers who had significant spending power, including many wealthy individuals. Indeed, ordinary folks wouldn’t readily splurge on a several-thousand-dollar skincare set.

Her job operated on a rotating schedule, working on weekends and choosing one day off between Monday and Thursday.

“By the way, Xinyi, I need to vent to you about my aunt!”

“She’s been acting crazy lately, constantly setting me up on blind dates, as if terrified that I won’t get married!”

“Today topped it all off—the man she introduced is divorced with a kid, which I could overlook, but he doesn’t even own a house, only a single car, and it’s a BYD.”

“I simply cannot understand her logic. Have I really fallen to the point where I would marry that kind of man!!”

Zhao Yingying started to rant about the frustrating experiences she encountered that day.

“Yingying, aren’t you being a bit hypocritical? Yang is also divorced with a child!” Sun Xinyi pointed out.

“How many times have I told you not to call me ‘sis’?!”

Zhao Yingying pouted, emphasizing her point. Having passed the age of 25, she had begun to sense a crisis about getting older. Even though she was three years older than Sun Xinyi, she firmly refused to let her call her ‘sis’.

“Alright, Yingying…” Sun Xinyi shrugged helplessly.

Zhao Yingying cleared her throat and spoke earnestly, “Xinyi, you haven’t changed your way of thinking yet, comparing Yang to that old man my aunt introduced!”

“Yang is a diamond bachelor, while the man my aunt introduced is just a greasy old man, there’s no comparison at all!”

Sun Xinyi nodded with a smile, “Okay, whatever you say is right!”

…

Midnight.

Xixi had already fallen asleep beside him.

Yang Hao, however, lay with his eyes wide open, staring at the time displayed on his phone screen.

57, 58, 59…

He counted down silently in his mind, and the next second, midnight arrived on the dot.

Ding!

Task progress update.

Host detected to have successfully lost two pounds, current weight 189 pounds.

Reward accrued: Two hundred thousand yuan.

The system notification arrived as expected. In fact, Yang Hao had already weighed himself before going to bed, and the electronic scale showed 189.3 pounds—apparently, the system rounded to the nearest pound.

Beep!

The phone screen lit up with a message from the bank, a deposit of two hundred thousand yuan. Adding to the one hundred sixty thousand he had left after his daytime spendings, his bank account balance now stood at three hundred sixty thousand yuan.

He searched for the contact labeled “Feng” in his Weixun communicator, and directly transferred fifty thousand yuan to him, with the message: “Cut down on the dating a bit, take care of yourself.”

After repaying Liu Zifeng, Yang Hao opened the ICBC banking app and transferred one hundred thousand yuan to his uncle’s account.

Having finished all this, he turned off the phone, silently got out of bed, walked to the balcony, and gazed at the night sky, at the moon half-obscured by clouds, and took a long sigh of relief.

Life feels light without debts.

After the clouds part, the moon shines bright!

Who understands this feeling?!