Chapter 189: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 189: Not Earning Enough Money, No Qualification to Return and Marry You

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"You can doubt my motives, and I don't want to hide it either—I do want to pursue you. As long as you're willing, my time is at your disposal, and we can handle the relevant procedures at any time."

"Before that, I have one request: please serve as my Personal Financial Advisor and help me manage my current assets."

"As you know, I've just returned to the country and don't understand the current state of domestic economic development. I dare not lightly attempt investments to make my assets appreciate quickly. With your help, I'll be much more at ease."

"Of course, I won't let you work for nothing. I'll give you appropriate compensation—half of all investment returns will go to you."

——

"Personal Financial Advisor?"

It must be said that Guben knew how to win people's hearts, especially Lin Xiyu's heart.

Hearing about a fifty percent split, her heartbeat accelerated, and her eyes instantly brightened.

"Yes."

Guben's clear pupils held a hint of a smile: "My private assets will all be entrusted to you to manage."

"How much money is in the card?"

Lin Xiyu was somewhat tempted.

"Five million."

Guben spoke plainly.

"Five million?!"

Lin Xiyu felt the bank card was burning her hand.

Thinking of her own hard work and meager savings, an indescribable bitterness welled up within her.

"Xiyu."

Guben's gaze was sincere: "If I can't earn this much money, I have no qualification to return and marry you."

"Do you really want to marry me?"

Lin Xiyu didn't believe him: "It's been five years. Haven't there been other women by your side?"

"No."

Guben looked deeply into her eyes: "The one I've liked from beginning to end is only you."

"What about Liu Rushi?"

Lin Xiyu still harbored resentment.

Even over the phone, she could tell that person was unwilling to accept it.

"Are you jealous?"

Guben loved her sour, jealous little expression so much that he couldn't help but, like many years ago, want to reach out and pinch her cheeks.

"You trust me that much? Let me manage such a large sum of money for you?"

Lin Xiyu noticed his movement and subconsciously turned her head away.

"Apart from you, I trust no one."

Guben's gaze dimmed, and he withdrew his hand with some disappointment.

"Really half the returns?"

Lin Xiyu's thoughts were entirely occupied by the split.

"As long as you agree to marry me..."

Guben spoke with conviction: "Not only the returns, but half of the principal investment can also be divided to you."

Half of the principal investment?!

Two hundred fifty wan!

Lin Xiyu didn't want to admit it, but at this moment, she was fiercely tempted.

"Someone with my conditions is very popular on the Marriage Market and could be snatched away at any moment."

Guben seized the opportunity to throw out bait: "If you don't want to miss this chance, you must lock it down now and solidify your married couple relationship."

"Without a certificate, who's your spouse?"

Lin Xiyu instantly understood his meaning, and both shy and annoyed, she spat at him.

"We can get the certificate tomorrow."

Guben's gaze was sincere.

"I have to go to work tomorrow."

Lin Xiyu slightly furrowed her brows.

"Ask the Leader for leave."

Guben offered his advice.

"You think you can just ask for leave? The school isn't yours to run..."

Lin Xiyu gave him a white eye and was about to jab him with a few more sentences.

"Don't want the house anymore?"

Guben's one sentence shut her down: "Welfare Housing has huge appreciation space. Miss this chance and there will never be such an opportunity again."

In the cramped, narrow space, there was suddenly no movement. Lin Xiyu had been caught in his deadlock, and she helplessly admitted defeat.

－－

The house renovation policy clearly stipulates that a married couple can only enjoy one welfare housing unit. Someone exploited a loophole to take advantage of both sides; once discovered, one unit was forcibly returned.

Their school's house renovation policy was just announced at the end of 1998; teachers who met the policy requirements had already been allocated a house once.

This reallocation consists of the three units that were found to be non-compliant and forcibly returned.

Housing sources were tight, with many people watching them.

Lin Xiyu had only been at the school a short time, with short work seniority and no advantage, but fortunately she had a high degree, which was a bonus item.

She calculated it herself: teachers who were already married all had houses, so as long as those three older unmarried youth with over six years of work seniority who hadn't married didn't rush into marriage, she still had hope of being allocated a house.

－－

"The bed is too small for two people to sleep comfortably; you should go back."

Guben's words were too straightforward, a bit heart-piercing; Lin Xiyu became angry from embarrassment, her eyes tearful, glaring at him resentfully as if with hooks.

Clearly a tone of blame, yet it made one's heart itch in a stirring way.

"Wash up and go to sleep."

Guben suppressed the palpitations in his heart, ignored her provocation, and brought a basin of warm water from the bathroom for her to wash up.

"I'll do it myself......"

After Lin Xiyu wiped her face with a towel, seeing him squat down to wash her feet, her ear roots involuntarily heated up.

Guben said nothing, looking at her jade-white, pink feet soaking in the water, and was stunned for a moment.

Lin Xiyu felt uncomfortable all over being looked at by him, hastily scrubbed twice, dried herself with a towel, rolled onto the bed herself, and shrank into the quilt.

"Sleep."

Guben found it amusing, turned off the wall lamp, and carried the basin back to the bathroom.

After a while, the sound of splashing water came from the bathroom.

Lin Xiyu pricked up her ears to listen for a while, then had a thought, turned over on the bed, and looked toward her closet.

In her closet were men's change of clothes.

Unworn, hung on the balcony for anti-wolf use, bought referencing Guben's size; he should fit if he wore them.

Should I send them over to him?!

Her heart was very conflicted, but her body was very honest.

After not being conflicted for long, she climbed up from the bed, hopped on one leg to the closet, took out a set of men's clothes, and sent them to the bathroom.

The bathroom light was not on, the door was ajar, and moist steam seeped through the crack.

Lin Xiyu gripped the clothes and knocked lightly on the door twice.

The sound of water stopped abruptly.

Guben seemed not to have expected someone outside the door, was a little startled, and tentatively coughed twice.

"I brought you two sets of change of clothes......"

Lin Xiyu's ear roots heated up, thinking to hang the clothes on the door handle, her nervous hand trembled, and the pants fell to the floor.

She limped on one leg awkwardly and bent down with difficulty.

"Let me do it."

Guben suddenly opened the door and picked them up for her.

A vivid and fragrant bath scene thus entered her eyes with a strong visual impact.

Water seeped from Guben's hair, flowing from his neck all the way to his ankles.

"Ah!"

Lin Xiyu shyly covered her face with her hand.

The next second, tragedy struck.

With her eyes closed and poor balance on one leg, her body tilted and she slid to the right.

Guben was quick-eyed and quick-handed, catching her; a hint of teasing flashed in his eyes: "Want to peek at me bathing that badly? How about together......"

"No no no, I'm not bathing."

"I didn't peek."

"I really wanted to bring you clothes......"

Lin Xiyu struggled to get down, hopping on one leg quickly, ran back to the bedroom, then rolled back onto the bed wrapped in the quilt.

"Hehe."

Guben watched her back, letting out a pleasant laugh from his throat.

——

Lin Xiyu dove back into the quilt, stunning images flashing nonstop in her brain, her ear roots burning hot.

She wailed once, helplessly lifted the quilt, and covered her head with it.

The water sound gradually stopped; Guben came out of the bathroom and saw the big cotton quilt bulging on the bed at a glance.

He smiled teasingly, reached out and pulled, yanking the quilt open and diving in.

Lin Xiyu's spine stiffened, and her breathing became disordered.

Guben embraced her from behind, smelling her intoxicating fragrance, and closed his eyes.

Scorching breath sprayed beside her ear, burning her nerves; Lin Xiyu's spine was stiff and she dared not move.

"Be good, sleep......"

Guben sensed her tension, gently patted her arm, and closed his eyes.

After a while, light snoring came from behind; Lin Xiyu's brain nerves were abnormally active, and after a long time she still had not a trace of sleepiness.

She was terribly depressed, irritably turned over, and curled up in his arms.

Guben slept very soundly, breathing evenly, his exquisite eyebrows and eyes within reach.

Five years without seeing him, he was a bit darker than before, his fair skin turned into a healthy wheat color.

The sparse beard stubble on his chin and the bluish tint under his eyes made him look somewhat tired.

He must be tired, right?!

Flying back from the United States, without adjusting to the time difference, he went straight to a banquet after getting off the plane, and then spent a long time fussing over her at the hospital.

Her heart, at this moment, involuntarily throbbed once.

She gazed at him foolishly, unable to resist reaching out to gently trace his eyebrows and eyes from his forehead to the tip of his nose.

She did not know how long had passed before extreme drowsiness surged, her eyelids gradually growing heavy.

She found a comfortable spot, leaned against his warm chest, and closed her eyes peacefully.

—

At noon the next day, Lin Xiyu was woken up by her mobile phone ringtone.

The clock had already pointed to 11:30, and the school's Academic Affairs Director called to ask why she had not come to work.

She annoyedly slapped her forehead and had to use her foot injury as an excuse.

Fortunately, the morning news had already reported the stampede accident, and the Academic Affairs Director believed her words without doubt, and in a burst of kindness, granted her three days of sick leave so she could rest well.

Lin Xiyu felt a bit strange, thinking that the Academic Affairs Director today seemed like a different person, unusually easygoing.

She did not have time to think too much, expressed her thanks and ended the call, then weakly fell back onto the bed, too tired to keep her eyes open.

It was all that person's fault; he insisted on staying over, causing her to be unsettled all night, sleep poorly, and be exhausted in body and mind.

Where was he?

Where did he go?

Why wasn't he in the room?

Thinking of that culprit, she gritted her back teeth and felt the urge to bite him.

"Crack."

The door lock made a slight sound, Guben pushed open the door, carrying a plastic bag containing a lunch box, and walked in from outside.

He was wearing sportswear for his morning run, refreshed and energetic, completely different from her listless appearance lying in bed.

Lin Xiyu's teeth were a bit itchy, and she wanted to bite him again.

"Gurgle."

A rich aroma of food wafted over, and her pitiful stomach expressed protest before its owner.

"Hungry? Get up and eat."

Guben heard it, and a hint of joking flashed in his eyes.

"Where did you buy the food?"

Lin Xiyu could not resist the temptation of the food and involuntarily swallowed her saliva.

"The school canteen."

Guben took out the lunch box from the plastic bag and placed it on the book desk.

"Which school's canteen?"

Lin Xiyu's heart trembled, and she suddenly jumped up from the bed.

"Your school's canteen."

As expected, the next second, Guben's words made her completely panic.

"You went to our school's canteen?"

"There are no restaurants nearby......."

Guben said as a matter of course: "Only your school has a canteen; if not going to the canteen to get food, where else would one go?"

"Used whose meal card?"

Lin Xiyu was so nervous she stuttered a bit.

"Besides your meal card, whose else could be used?"

Guben took out a meal card with a photo from his pants pocket and smiled meaningfully: "The photo is very beautiful; as expected of a campus belle-level great beauty, wherever she goes, there are people pursuing her."

"Cough cough."

Lin Xiyu covered her mouth and coughed twice, glancing away with a bit of guilt.

Her beauty was beyond doubt; not long after she came to teach at the Secondary Vocational School, a male teacher expressed affection for her and wanted to develop further, and male students secretly gave her flowers, shyly expressing their love.

She did not want to cause controversy just after arriving, so she rarely appeared publicly in the canteen; for her daily three meals, she cooked some noodles in the dormitory to make do.

"I not only went to the canteen......"

Guben's eyes still held joking, and he leisurely dropped another bomb: "I also went to the Academic Affairs Office to submit the medical certificate issued by the doctor for you."

"Ah?"

Lin Xiyu was indeed frightened a second time: "You went to the Academic Affairs Office to submit the medical certificate? Doesn't that mean all the teachers in the school know?"

"More or less."

Guben raised his eyebrows slightly smugly: "After all, my conditions are not bad either; wherever I go, I am an eye-catching existence, and it's hard for people not to notice."

"What did you tell the director?"

Lin Xiyu's heart sank; no wonder the Academic Affairs Director was especially easygoing today—it was because of him.

"Didn't say anything, just chatted a few sentences."

Guben said righteously: "Incidentally, I helped you ward off many peach blossoms; now I estimate the whole school has heard that Teacher Lin's fiancé is handsome and well-matched with her."

"You said......."

Lin Xiyu was quite speechless: "Is he my fiancé?"

"Isn't he?"

Guben asked back, his gaze somewhat cold.

"This is too overbearing..."

Lin Xiyu was about to retort, but he had her deadlocked.

"Don't forget that registering now gives you a chance at a unit dormitory."

Lin Xiyu: "......."

A single "I haven't promised" was swallowed back.

"Eat first. I'll go take a bath and change clothes."

Guben found it amusing, patted her head dotingly, then took a change of clothes into the bathroom.

—

"Dong dong dong."

Not long after he entered the bathroom, an impolite knocking came from outside the house, the sound especially sharp in the quiet building corridor.

Lin Xiyu put down the lunch box and frowned displeasedly.

"Dong dong dong."

The visitor seemed to bear a grudge, and seeing no one answer, knocked even louder.

"Who is it?"

Lin Xiyu seethed with anger and hopped on one leg to the doorway.

"Are you Teacher Lin?"

The security door opened, and a middle-aged woman with exquisite makeup and a slightly mean look came into view.

"What do you want?"

A flicker of panic crossed Lin Xiyu's eyes; her first thought was that a student from her class had caused trouble again and someone had come to the door.

"I am Ge Jie's mother."

The visitor introduced herself with obvious disdain and contempt.

"Teacher Ge?"

Hearing that name, Lin Xiyu visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn't a student, she was truly afraid something had happened to a student and she couldn't bear that responsibility.

"I already know about you and Ge Jie."

The middle-aged woman sized her up from head to toe, snorting cold air from her nose: "Although my son likes you, but you should understand yourself—with your conditions, marrying a Shanghai local is already reaching high, and besides, you have a younger brother. My husband and I don't want Ge Jie to marry you, so you'd better give up early."

"You seem to have gotten something wrong."

Lin Xiyu, restrained because the other party was a colleague's mother, swallowed her anger and explained: "Ge Jie and I are just colleagues, with no other relationship. Him liking me is his business; I haven't promised him, and I certainly won't marry him."

"You don't like my son?"

The middle-aged woman felt insulted, her face looking even uglier: "My son graduated from a name brand university, has a house and a car, his conditions are who knows how many times better than yours, and you actually say you look down on him?"