Chapter 16: When Life Turns to a New Page
Alright, it was finally time to lay the cards on the table.
Before he even had time to reply, Xiong Yaqian on the other side sent another string of question marks.
Even through the screen, he could feel her embarrassment and anger.
"Actually… how about we just be friends for now? What do you think?" Zhang Yang had been rejected by girls many times before, but this was the first time he had taken the initiative to reject one.
"Why?" The other side seemed somewhat unable to believe it, as if she had never expected to be politely rejected.
"I'm the type who warms up slowly. Right now I'm also not very interested in putting my energy into this, so…" Zhang Yang replied again.
"Then why did you even go on a blind date? I even had a pretty good impression of you. Let's just delete each other!" The girl completely lost her composure.
After a while, there was no more response from the other side. Zhang Yang casually sent an emoji, and sure enough, a red exclamation mark appeared.
She deleted him?
Good.
"Got deleted?" Xiang Youde had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the red exclamation mark. "Don't be discouraged, brother. We'll definitely meet someone better. Getting rejected is no big deal. Keep trying, fall down and get back up."
He began talking about his own romantic history, saying that back in university he had also been a carefree young man.
"Too bad, time spares no one, youth is gone. In this lifetime, the only thing left for me is making money-making a lot of money!" Xiang Youde took off his glasses, and a few strands of hair on his head fluttered in the wind.
Zhang Yang glanced at the chat window with Xiong Yaqian and casually deleted it.
This time, once it was deleted, there was truly no follow-up.
As for his parents, he would just explain it to them later. After all, they had only met once. She had unknowingly helped him complete the task, and he had treated her to a big meal. There was no such thing as either side wasting the other's time.
The meal continued until after nine. After eating and drinking their fill, Xiang Youde prepared to leave, thoroughly satisfied.
By the roadside downstairs from the apartment, Zhang Yang called a taxi for him.
"Brother, I won't be polite about taking those things." Before getting into the taxi, Xiang Youde said with an oily, satisfied face.
"No need to be polite. Go back and get some more nutrition. And by the way, stop rewarding yourself all the time." Zhang Yang opened the car door and looked at Xiang Youde's early male-pattern baldness. Usually that kind of thing was a sign of excessive male hormones.
Xiang Youde's face immediately flushed. He lowered his head, hurried into the car, and shouted for the driver to drive quickly.
Zhang Yang stood where he was and shook his head with a smile, watching the taxi disappear into the distance.
~~~~~
Early the next morning, Zhang Yang sold all the old items in the apartment.
They were sold at scrap recycling prices, not worth much. At best, it was a small consolation-at least nothing was wasted.
In the blink of an eye, the apartment was completely empty.
Holding the money that hadn't even warmed in his hands yet, Zhang Yang grabbed some breakfast on the way. Then he packed up his personal belongings, drove his Cayenne, and headed to his new residence-Regal Edge Executive Apartments.
The environment of the new apartment was quiet and refined.
A spacious parking garage, a hotel-style entrance lobby, a front desk providing 24-hour service-everything reflected its positioning and professionalism.
There were three apartment buildings, each with 25 floors. Zhang Yang lived on the 20th floor of the front building, with an extremely open view.
"What a world of difference." Inside the new residence, Zhang Yang walked around to take a look.
Although 93 square meters wasn't large, it had been designed as a single-bedroom unit. Since it only needed to accommodate him alone, compared to his previous place, his comfort and sense of happiness skyrocketed.
After simply putting away his personal belongings, Zhang Yang lay back on the soft bed, comfortably enjoying the softness enveloping him.
Although the six months' rent had emptied his wallet, early this morning another twenty thousand had been credited.
This was what a sense of security felt like.
The new apartment already had most of the appliances, furniture, and kitchenware one would need. But there were still many things left to buy, and the refrigerator was empty as well. After staying in the new place for only a short time, Zhang Yang set out to shop.
This trip turned into another major shopping spree.
From bedding to daily necessities, and then food and clothes-by the end of the day, the newly received twenty thousand in cashback had mostly been spent.
What he gained in return was returning home fully loaded.
The big refrigerator was filled with food, the bed had new sheets, and all kinds of toiletries had been replaced. While busily arranging everything, Zhang Yang suddenly felt as if he were decorating a new home.
"Oh right, it's time for an update."
After all, going from twenty thousand daily cashback to fifty thousand was a huge leap. Twenty thousand a day was already a lot, but Zhang Yang had to admit that the human heart could never be satisfied. The more he obtained, the more he wanted.
Just thinking about it wasn't enough.
After all, he still needed a full twenty-four experience points to reach level four.
While waiting for dinner, he spent quite a while trying on the several outfits Bei Wei had helped him choose earlier. Then he took photos and posted them on RedNote.
Each of the photos had its own charm.
Zhang Yang wasn't 1.8 meters tall, but at 1.78 meters, paired with carefully selected outfits, the results turned out surprisingly good.
[Picked out a few outfits. Everyone, please give me some suggestions.]
The benefit of rising popularity was that every time he posted something new, the response speed kept getting faster.
'Retro, minimalist, Hong Kong style… Blogger, you've got an expert guiding you behind the scenes!'
'Nice, nice… I can actually feel the fashion!!'
'The outfits are fine. Why not try more styles?' 😏
'They're all good-looking, but if I had to choose, I'd say P1 is really great!'
'Light mature style is the best!'
'Blogger, I'm a guy, but I want to learn from you. I'm going to start changing from today.'
'Ding!'
[The system has adopted a new suggestion.]
[Task]
Outfit Expert
[Rewards]
3 experience points; Outfit appreciation
Zhang Yang skillfully glanced over the new task.
The task was simple. To put it bluntly, it meant changing his outfit. The usual commuting clothes he wore to work wouldn't work anymore. As for the reward, experience points went without saying. Without these small accumulations, how could quantitative change lead to qualitative change?
And outfit appreciation ability-simply put, fashion sense-was naturally one of the most basic qualities an excellent man should possess.
The rewards weren't dazzling, but they were essential.
Based on the suggestions from netizens, Zhang Yang chose a set of everyday commuting clothes for himself. The outfit was clean and neat, and people online also felt that it made him look capable and sunny.
"All done."
Today was the first dinner in his new home, and Zhang Yang made it quite ceremonial.
There was glossy, slightly sweet Wuchang rice, tomato-braised beef brisket stewed until tender and falling off the bone, and a pot of old hen soup.
Zhang Yang from a month ago wasn't without strengths either-for example, he was quite skilled at cooking.
Before going to bed, Zhang Yang tried out the bathtub in his new apartment.
"At this size, it must at least be meant for two people, right?" Zhang Yang thought as he looked at the bathtub bubbling with steam.
Taking a bath in the large tub felt great. Drinking a cup of hot milk before bed felt even better. Even though he was living in an apartment that didn't truly belong to him, Zhang Yang could genuinely feel the gradual changes in his life.