Don’t Pretend to be Poor with Me - Chapter 37

The person I like is a boy

He had been economizing on food and clothing, living frugally, and even gave his remaining money to Xia Zhiye. As a result, this asshole bought such a thing back here.

For a while, Song Yan also didn’t know whether to mourn the loss of the money that he had donated to the other, or to be angry with Xia Zhiye’s speechless straight male aesthetic. Anyhow, he had been in a bad mood today, so he might as well first beat the other up and then discuss it.

So, Xia Zhiye, who had originally been leaning against the door to the balcony waiting for Song Yan to emotionally turn around and give him a hug, but ultimately, in the next second, he saw a pale, resolute fist.

Xia Zhiye raised his hand to block the other’s wrist with a conditioned reflex, and hadn’t had time to ask when another fist rushed forward. He could only grab the other wrist while simultaneously dragging Song Yan, then pulled the other forward.

Song Yan’s entire person was forced into Xia Zhiye’s arms, and after unsuccessfully struggling to get free, he coldly said: “Let go.”

“First tell me why you want to beat me up.”

“First tell me why you brought this thing back? Did you think you had a lot of money or was it that you don’t want to buy a confession gift anymore?”

His tone was both cold and vigorous, but Xia Zhiye also wasn’t angry. He just looked at the other, then chuckled: “I bought this thing because a certain pampered young master hates doing laundry.”

“……”

“I really don’t have much money, but as long as you find a way, you can gather the money so as not to let a certain someone’s golden precious fingers burn and peel from the laundry detergent again.”

“……”

“As for the confession gift, the gift has already been sent out, and is only just missing a confession.”

“……”

“So is our classmate Song Yan satisfied with this answer?”

Classmate Song Yan who led a pampered life and had golden precious hands: “……”

So this person recently sold learning materials and took the initiative to accompany others to play wasn’t because the confession gift he wanted to buy was particularly expensive, but because he wanted to buy a laundry machine for Song Yan.

Xia Zhiye had unexpectedly remembered the things that Song Yan didn’t care about and had even put things into action, but as a result, Song Yan didn’t even ask and just wanted to beat the other up first.

Song Yan suddenly felt both moved and guilty in his heart. Once he raised his head, he met Xia Zhiye’s indulgent, smiling eyes, and he hurriedly avoided the other’s gaze: “Don’t try to coax me like you would a little girl, I won’t fall for your tricks.”

“Then what would our Yan ge fall for?”

Xia Zhiye laughed lazily and relaxedly.

But Song Yan’s face was indifferent: “Mind your own business, it’s not like you’re confessing to me.”

“That’s hard to say.”

“?”

“Haven’t you found out that you’re just missing a pink refrigerator or a pink television set, and then you can immediately pull together the three big betrothal gifts1.”

“……” Song Yan, “Do you want to die?”

Xia Zhiye: “No……hsss——”

He didn’t finish answering when Song Yan immediately raised his knee to forcefully stab into Xia Zhiye’s inner thigh, and was so painful it caused Xia Zhiye to take in a breath of cold air. Then he seized the opportunity to pull his wrist away, then turned around and left, as if he were a cold, heartless killer.

Then when the killer turned around and glanced at the incomparably bright pink in the corner of the balcony, the killer’s heart softened: “That trick you used just now is probably useful.”

Xia Zhiye: “?”

“So just use the trick you used before to confess, it’ll probably be useful. Also, thank you.” After he finished speaking, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Xia Zhiye was dazed for a moment, then he lowered his head to laugh.

Some people really looked smart on the outside, but were actually silly and foolish. He hinted so clearly, but the other hadn’t reacted. How could the other be this slow to react.

Also, the other had no expression at all upon seeing such a big gift.

He had just thought this when the bathroom door was suddenly pulled open.

Xia Zhiye raised his eyebrow: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Song Yan still had a blank expression, “Just wanted to say thank you.”

After saying this, the door shut again.

He didn’t give Xia Zhiye any opportunity to say anything.

Xia Zhiye: “……”

So were Song Yan’s ears red just now?

Fuck.

It was a little bit cute.

He hadn’t had time to ponder over the gap moe of the expression of a certain someone’s wooden face and red ears, when a knock came from the door to the room: “Is Song Yan here?”

Xia Zhiye opened the door, and found that it was a boy from the class next door: “He’s showering, what’s up.”

“Oh, nothing, just that a girl in my class wanted me to give this to him.” As the boy said this, he handed a letter over.

It was a light blue envelope with a heart-shaped stamp on it, and there was even a faint fragrance. One look and you could tell that it was up to something.

“A love letter?”

“Yep.”

“Take it back, he won’t accept it.”

“Why?”

“He has a partner.”

“No, she asked just today. He’s single.”

“He’ll have one soon.”

“?”

“Take care, I won’t see you out.”

Without waiting for the boy to react to what he had just said, Xia Zhiye sent the other off without accepting the letter.

Before, he hadn’t discovered that Song Yan had so many admirers, but now, after playing basketball, they all popped out of nowhere. Clearly, a certain someone was slow-witted, that person liked him but didn’t say it, and he liked that person, but that person also couldn’t see it.

It seems that it was no good unless he directly confessed.

But seeing as he was going to confess, then he definitely needed to have roses, and he also couldn’t forget a candlelit dinner, and hiding a ring in the cake was also a pretty good idea. After they got together, they still needed couple’s outfits, couple’s shoes, and couple’s necklaces. Anyway, he had to give Song Yan what other people had, so as not to wrong Song Yan.

As a straight male that just recently became bent, Xia Zhiye relied on the knowledge reserves of confessions in countless idol dramas to make a rough estimate, then pulled out his phone, and opened up Xie Yu’s Wechat: [Jie, lend me 10,000 yuan]

[This Lady is Beautiful and Wild]: ?

[Wild]: I urgently need it for something

[This Lady is Beautiful and Wild]: Same rules

[Wild]: Sure

[This Lady is Beautiful and Wild]: I’ll transfer 5,000

[This Lady is Beautiful and Wild]: If the service is good, I’ll give the remaining balance. Don’t say jiejie doesn’t care about you. Get online

[Wild]: I don’t have a computer nearby

[This Lady is Beautiful and Wild]: No problem, LoL doesn’t suit me, I’ve already switched to King’s Glory, I’m at the King of Glory rank

[Wild]: ……Okay.

Thinking of Xie Yu’s lack of self awareness for her vegetable-like skills, Xia Zhiye felt that he really sacrificed too much for love.

He put on his earbuds, accepted Xie Yu’s voice call, opened up the game, then stared at Xia Yu’s Diamond 1 rank and sank into silence.

After a moment, he said: “Didn’t you say you were in King of Glory?”

“My King of Glory was because your brother-in-law helped me play. I fought with him recently and don’t want to bother with him, but as a result, I was hammered down. Or else why would I need you.” Xia Yu spoke self-righteously.

Xia Zhiye unexpectedly could not refute: “But haven’t you realized a problem.”

“Say it.”

“I’m in King of Glory.”

“……”

In King’s Glory, the double row2 mechanism has certain restrictions in the gap between rankings. If the gap between rankings amongst the two players is too large, they can’t play together. So, thanks to Xia Yu’s excellent ability, the gap between the two of them couldn’t be complemented by family affection.

Xia Yu: “Then return the money back to me.”

“……”

If he returned the money, then what about his boyfriend.

For the first time, Xia Zhiye expressed a respect for his work that one should have: “I’ll go borrow an account.”

After saying this, he opened up Wechat, then sent out a post on Moments: [Does anyone have a King’s Glory account in Diamond or Master Star, I’ll help you level up]

He had just sent out the post when a second later, a delicate pink profile picture popped up.

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Gege! Gege! Look at me! Hurry and look at me! You deserve to have a V10 account with all the skins and all the heroes3!

Shen Jiayan added his Wechat before the other had left, and his goal had been to inspect Xia Zhiye and ensure he wasn’t bullying Song Yan.

But Shen Jiayan also didn’t want Song Yan to know that Xia Zhiye knew that Shen Jiayan was [The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World], so he didn’t tell Song Yan.

And it was clear that Shen Jiayan’s desire to level up had already made him completely forget about this matter.

So Xia Zhiye deleted the post in Moments, then opened up Shen Jiayan’s profile.

[Wild]: Account.

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Right away, right away. I’m Diamond 1, is that ok

[Wild]: Mm, it’s fine. But I thought you were almost at King of Glory, Zhou Ziqiu didn’t help you level up?

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Don’t mention it. I had a fight with him and I don’t want to bother with him. I’ve been playing alone, but as a result, the entire time I kept losing points until I had to stop

Xia Zhiye: “……”

Indeed, it seems that the stories behind noob players are all identical.

[Wild]: Then send over the account and password

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Okay, okay, thank you gege, then I’ll sleep first. I hope that when I wake up tomorrow, the 16 stars that I lost while playing all pulling an all nighter will come back. Gege you’ve worked hard

[Wild]: No problem, we’re family

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Okay, thank you sister-in-law

“……”

For a moment, Xia Zhiye didn’t know whether to praise Shen Jiayan for having a strong sense of comprehension, or to praise him for having an excessively strong sense of perception.

Forget it, sister-in-law is fine too.

Or else, if he called himself brother-in-law, and Song Yan heard this, he would probably die without a corpse.

Xia Zhiye entered Shen Jiayan’s account.

Then sent Xia Yu the ID: “Add this account.”

“Your efficiency’s not bad, looks like you’re really lacking money this time.”

Xia Zhiye had always had a leisurely temperament, and had never bowed down for five buckets of rice4. And since he rarely ever formally brought her to level up, Xia Yu’s tone of voice would inevitably be a bit teasing.

Xia Zhiye would also not admit it: “I’ll pay you back later.”

“Who needs your money.” Xia Yu rolled her eyes, “I’m more curious as to what exactly happened to make someone like you, who views money as dirt, willingly want to help level me up.”

“A major event in one’s life.”

Xia Zhiye lightly tossed out a sentence.

Xia Yu was stunned, then slowly reacted: “What the fuck! Xia Zhiye! You have someone you like?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s amazing! Didi, you’ve finally been enlightened! Any longer and I would have thought you liked boys!!!”

“……” Xia Zhiye, “I actually do like a boy.”

“?” Xia Zhiye could even feel Xia Yu’s sluggishness through the radio waves, “What did you just say? Say it one more time?”

“The person I like is a boy.”

“……”

Xia Yu suddenly had no interest in play games, exited from the preparatory stage, and after a long silence, asked, “Then are you sure that the other party can accept it?”

“I’m sure.”

“Are you sure you’re sure?”

“I’m sure I’m sure.”

“Break it down for me.”

“The first time we ate together, he took the initiative to serve food for me. The first time he came to my house, he wore a sockpuppet and added me as a friend to play games with me. He even printed out learning materials for me, wore a couple’s bracelet with me, secretly bought shoes and gave them to me, saying it was from a person who had a crush on me, and even said if someone dates me, it’s because the person I like, likes me, and not because they like the gift I gave them.”

Xia Zhiye leisurely said this, and directly made Xia Yu fall into a daze.

Whose family’s little boy is this?

It sounds like he simply loves Xia Zhiye to death.

“Then are you sure you want to confess?”

“Mhm.”

Song Yan likes him so much, and he likes Song Yan so much, then why would he not confess, and just wait for someone else to take Song Yan away?

“But……”Xia Yu

On the other end of the call seemed as if she wanted to say something else, but the door to the bathroom opened.

“I’ll hang up first.”

Xia Zhiye disconnected the call.

Song Yan wiped his hair as he walked out: “Who were you calling?”

Xia Zhiye stared at his freshly washed, pretty boyfriend, and lazily laughed while replying: “I didn’t call anyone, it was a voice chat in the game.”

Usually, other than when [This Lady is Beautiful and Rich] takes the initiative to invite him, Xia Zhiye would usually call him to play. How come the other wordlessly played games without waiting for him.

Song Yan suddenly thought of something, and his voice grew a bit indifferent: “The jiejie who often called you before?”

“Mhm, it’s her.”

Xia Zhiye was very magnanimous.

But Song Yan’s face immediately grew colder.

Scumbag.

Someone who already had someone he liked would still go off to have an intimate relationship with a rich woman.

Song Yan forcefully tossed aside the towel, then laid down on the bed with an expression of ‘laozi is unhappy’.

Then he opened up WeChat, and discovered that Shen Jiayan hadn’t replied to the message he sent before. He thought for a moment, switched to the account, [This Lady is Beautiful and Rich], and discovered that Xia Zhiye was unexpectedly not online, so he once again switched back to his WeChat account.

At once, he saw [The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World] was currently in a team.

No wonder he didn’t respond to his WeChat, turns out he was playing games.

Song Yan directly sent the other a message: “Are you there?”

Xia Zhiye just wanted to invite Song Yan to play, when he saw Song Yan send a message, and he responded with: [Yeah]

[YAN]: Have you sold the watch I asked you to help me sell?

Selling a watch?

Could it be that Song Yan was lacking money?

Xia Zhiye knew pretending to be Shen Jiayan and chatting with others truly wasn’t good, but if he directly asked Song Yan, the other definitely wouldn’t say anything. But the other was already at the point of selling his watch, and he definitely encountered some kind of situation.

So he thought of a plan, and still replied: [What about it]

[YAN]: Xia Zhiye bought a washing machine for me, I want to return the money to him

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: ?

[YAN]: He’s already lacking money, I don’t want him to waste it on me

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Maybe he isn’t lacking money at all, also how can you say that he’s wasting it on you

[YAN]: If he isn’t lacking money, why would he find a rich woman to accompany her to play

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: ? Rich woman?

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Wait, could it be you’re jealous

[YAN]: What the fuck are you talking about, why would I be jealous

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: Don’t you like him?

[YAN]: Are you sick?

Xia Zhiye turned to look at Song Yan’s expression. The other’s face had no trace of bashfulness or panic that came with having their feelings punctured, and only had the irritation of ‘what kind of huge idiot am I speaking with’.

Xia Zhiye: “……”

Could it be that Song Yan was always such a tsundere?

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: If you don’t like him, why are you wearing a couple’s bracelet with him?

[YAN]: Isn’t it because you insisted on buying one?

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: ?

[YAN]: Buy one get one free, then he wouldn’t need to spend money

Xia Zhiye was a bit at a loss.

[The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World]: What do you mean?

Song Yan felt that Shen Jiayan was a bit strange today. His questioning was very purposeful, and his previous question was followed up with another statement, which was a bit unlike his usual messy blabbering.

But this ugly way of thinking that he and Xia Zhiye are engaged in some kind of adultery was no different.

So he didn’t think too much, and only replied: [It’s a bit complicated to explain. If I have to summarize it simply, you can just understand it as designated poverty alleviation]

Designated, poverty alleviation?

Xia Zhiye stared at the three words that popped up on his phone screen, and fell into a deep, deep, silence.

1. The three betrothal gifts are figuratively used to ‘conclude a marriage’

2. Not sure what the English equivalent is but double row is 2 people playing together. King’s Glory is a 5v5 game, and ‘double rowing’ together means the two players enter a team of 5 together

3. A V10 account is a type of account you purchase, and I believe it comes with a legendary hero. Skins are different costumes you can equip a hero with, and it changes the look of both the hero, and their attacks.

4. Meant to describe someone who is lofty and upright, one who has a backbone and unbending to those who are powerful