Jiang Sihan is inviting everyone to dinner and wants to invite Zhou Jianguo as well. After all, they are now neighbors.
Zhou Jianguo considered himself a discerning person. Regardless of whether Zhao Pianpian and Grandma Luo would go or not, at least Jiang Sihan possibly harbored some kind of enmity towards him, which the person himself may not even be aware of. So why should Zhou Jianguo go and invite trouble? He wasn’t short of a meal, so why bother to go and make himself unpleasant? He said, “I won’t go. I have something else to do later. Thank you, though.”
As they are good friends, Luo Bei speaks less formally to Zhou Jianguo, “You’re doing another side job? You’ve been running around all day, why don’t you take a break?”
Zhou Jianguo shakes his head, “No, a colleague asked me to come over to his house for dinner and tutor his child. I’ll be sitting there just teaching, it’s a form of relaxation for me.”
Tutoring? Luo Bei is not surprised at all, because she never believed Zhou Jianguo’s claim that he never graduated from primary school.
If someone like Zhou Jianguo has only a primary school education, then she probably didn’t even graduate from kindergarten.
“You’re tutoring now too?” Luo Bei teases him.
Jiang Sihan doesn’t understand her joke, but Zhou Jianguo does. Even though he has lost his memory, he still knows his own abilities and the knowledge he has acquired. He just doesn’t know who he is. Who can prove his education level? That’s why he made that joke to Luo Bei at first, and now she’s deliberately teasing him.
Zhou Jianguo solemnly nodded, “My coworker doesn’t have high requirements for tutoring, as long as the tutor has a higher education level than his son. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the ability to take on this job. Of course, the pay isn’t as high as regular tutoring, only thirty yuan per hour. Today, I will teach his son for two hours and got paid in cash on the spot.”
Luo Bei gave him a thumbs up, “That’s great! You get dinner, and you also get 60 yuan.”
Zhou Jianguo laughed helplessly.
Jiang Sihan silently watched their interaction from beginning to end without saying a word.
When following Luo Bei out of the rental building and headed towards the food stall, he suddenly asked, “Do you have a good relationship with Mr. Zhou? I heard that you are doing business together. What kind of business is it?”
Luo Bei nodded, “He’s a nice person and quite capable. We’re running an unmanned store for adult products. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll be able to open next month.”
At first, Jiang Sihan didn’t react, but when he realized what kind of products the unmanned store was selling, his ears turned red. He asked in disbelief, “You’re doing that kind of business?”
“Why are you so surprised? Actually, it’s not much different from opening an ordinary snack shop or convenience store.”
It’s just a matter of getting used to it. At least now, when Luo Bei looks at those products, she can keep a straight face.
Jiang Sihan said sternly : “No one around me is doing this.”
“Well, I’ve come to terms with it. Whether you make a profit or a loss in business, no one can guarantee that you will always make a profit. It’s just accumulating life experience.”
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Luo Bei is now more enthusiastic about running an unmanned store than working a regular job.
As the online comments suggested, her mood on Monday mornings is comparable to visiting a grave.
She’s bored to death.
Despite feeling bored, Luo Bei hasn’t considered resigning in the short term. If she does decide to leave her job to focus on running the unmanned store, it will at least be when her profit share exceed her salary.
As they neared the food stalls, Jiang Sihan suddenly asked, “Are you and that Mr. Zhou…?”
Although he didn’t finish his sentence, Luo Bei already understood what he was implying.
“No, no,” Luo Bei waved her hand. “We’re just good friends and business partners. But our life goals are very consistent at the moment. We have no interest in love and only want to get rich.”
Jiang Sihan: “….”
Luo Bei then asked, “What about you? I looked at your Moments, the girls on your film set are very beautiful. Is there anyone you could develop a relationship with?”
Jiang Sihan replied with a straight face, “I don’t have a stable income right now. I might not have work in the future. How can I have the energy to pursue a relationship?”
As someone who had been through tough times, he didn’t want to drag someone else down before his future was clear.
At least in his opinion, if a girl is with him, he shouldn’t let her suffer with him, not knowing if there will be food to eat next time, right?
Luo Bei agreed with him, “You’re right. You still have a high level of consciousness. Compared to getting out of being single, getting out of poverty is the most important thing.”
She really felt that Zhou Jianguo’s brainwashing ability was impressive. At least when she was with him, she had boundless motivation and felt like conquering the universe.
As for love…making money was more important.
Wait until she has a house, a car, and savings, then look for a man. Wouldn’t that be great?
The seafood stalls here are reasonably priced. After a meal for a few people, the total cost was not more than 400 yuan.
Jiang Sihan listened to Luo Bei telling him about a series of things related to Zhou Jianguo, and frankly, he felt a bit ashamed.
“Xiao Zhou is really hardworking.” Even Grandma Luo nodded approvingly. “He has been doing several jobs by himself. I haven’t seen a young person like him in a long time. I told Beibei before, don’t look down on Xiao Zhou’s situation now. He will definitely succeed in the future.”
Zhao Pianpian also praised Xiao Zhou highly. “So, some men think their girlfriends break up with them because they are poor. They should learn more from Xiao Zhou. Being poor is not the problem. After all, there are not so many rich people in the world. The key is to make others feel that there is a future.”
Jiang Sihan is not a sensitive person. He knows that they are not talking about him, but with such a sharp contrast, he cannot help but feel ashamed.
They both lived in the basement, they were both poor and had no background, but why did he let himself get so miserable back then? Even eating was a problem. On the other hand, this Xiao Zhou worked hard to earn money, at least he didn’t make life a problem.
As for him, he talked about persisting in his dreams and thought he was very great, but persisting in dreams and striving to make his life better were not contradictory, right?
Luo Bei looked at Jiang Sihan, then smiled and said, “The people in our building are all amazing, including you, Xiao Jiang. You’ve already become an actor, and you’ll definitely do even better in the future.”
Jiang Sihan felt much better after hearing this, realizing that he had awakened just in time and that he had been fortunate to have been given a chance.
“Don’t mention about getting better, at least eating is no longer a problem,” Jiang Sihan joked candidly.
But Luo Bei was serious when she said, “This is just the beginning. I believe you will succeed.”
Jiang Sihan was taken aback, he didn’t expect that Luo Bei would have such confidence in him.
For a moment, he felt reinvigorated.
The past was no longer important; what was important was the present and the future, wasn’t it?
Jiang Sihan originally thought that after the web drama wrapped up, he wouldn’t be able to find work for a while, and he was mentally prepared for it. Even though he now had money in his account, he still tried to save as much as possible. But within two days, he received a call from Brother Liu asking him to come to the company.
He didn’t dare to delay and immediately called for a car to take him to the company. After arriving at Brother Liu’s office, Brother Liu praised him, saying, “Xiao Jiang, I know I didn’t pick the wrong person. You have potential. Director Zhang of the web drama thinks highly of you, saying that although you’re not from an acting school, you’re very talented. As long as you continue to work hard in this circle, you may not become a big star, but you’ll definitely do well.”
Jiang Sihan had heard these words many times before, so he was immune to them now. “Brother Liu, it’s thanks to your promotion. Without your appreciation, I wouldn’t even know where I would be now. Even eating three meals a day would be a problem.”
Brother Liu liked to hear this kind of talk. After dealing with people like Shi Chuan, who forgot their gratitude once they became famous, he was fond of Jiang Sihan’s attitude of being diligent and reliable.
“Here’s the thing. Get ready for an audition tomorrow. This time it’s not a web drama but a TV drama. Because you’re not a famous actor yet, the roles you can get are limited.” Brother Liu paused, “I mentioned Shi Chuan to you before. He’s now a popular male actor and a traffic niche. He’s also the male lead in this TV drama. I’ve fought for you to audition for the role of male character No. 4. Perform well, and there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jiang Sihan had also been in this circle for some time.
Shi Chuan was different from other traffic niches because he had real talent as an actor, recognized by many. If he could take on this TV drama, it meant the script was good, and coupled with his appeal, there would be many people trying to get roles. Brother Liu had managed to get a chance for him to audition. Jiang Sihan knew how it was a rare opportunity, after all, he was an unknown newcomer…
Immediately, Jiang Sihan stood up and respectfully bowed to Brother Liu, “Brother Liu, thank you.”
Brother Liu waved his hand. “I signed you, so naturally I want to help you take off. But there’s something I want to talk to you about. Our company is actually quite humane. We don’t have any explicit rules prohibiting our artists from dating. After all, they’re all young people, right? But Xiao Jiang, I really think you’re a good prospect. You have talent, but if you start dating or have a public relationship right after your debut, it will have a big impact on your career. My suggestion is to put this aside for now and think about other things when your career stabilizes. Whether you want to make it public or keep it a secret, the company will support you. I’m also an employee of the company. In short, the company is not doing charity. It will try its best to help you only when you are valuable. Do you agree?”
Of course Jiang Sihan understood all of this, but he didn’t understand why Brother Liu would tell these things to him, a single guy. But then he realized that it was probably just a reminder to all new artists under Brother Liu’s management.
Jiang Sihan immediately replied : “I don’t have a girlfriend now, and I’m not thinking about dating. I just want to focus on acting.”
Brother Liu was satisfied with this answer. “Can you promise me that you won’t date for at least two years?”
This requirement was not too demanding, and Jiang Sihan understood that.
It was not for ten years, not for five years, but for a short two years.
Thinking about this, Jiang Sihan nodded firmly. “I can.”
So I was right to have shipped them before. He is the second male lead 😔 Would’ve been better if they stayed being the quiet friends, where they build their relationship through food. 😭
I feel bad for Sihan already…
Oh no. Best unfortunate mistake ever. Promise are meant to be broken eh?