Chapter 5: Urged to Return Home

"You! Who are you calling names?" Lin Xiaofei's face flushed red.

"Whoever feels targeted, that's who I'm talking about."

Furious, Lin Xiaofei slammed a stack of documents down on Ruan Mianmian's desk. "Ruan Mianmian, fine, you've got guts. If you don't finish this today, don't even think about leaving work!"

Once again, she stomped back to her seat in high heels.

[Congratulations, Host, you have gained 10 points. Life span +1 day.]

"Yes! Ruan Mianmian, you can do it!" she cheered herself on silently.

She neatly stacked the documents Lin Xiaofei had thrown at her in the upper left corner of her desk and continued working on her current tasks.

As for sorting out those files and data—there was no rush.

Three days’ work would take three days.

Working overtime?

Out of the question!

She had no intention of dying from overwork again.

After Lin Xiaofei returned to her seat and collected herself, she pulled out a compact mirror to touch up her makeup, then took a document and, pretending to be diligent, headed to Li Hao's office.

Everyone knew she was going to complain to Baldy Li.

Half an hour later, she emerged from Li Hao’s office. As she passed Ruan Mianmian’s workspace, she shot her a smug look.

Ruan Mianmian muttered under her breath, “Lunatic.”

Xu Weiwei leaned over and said, “Mianmian, she definitely went to snitch on you to Baldy Li. They’ve probably already plotted how to deal with you. Be careful!”

Everyone in the office knew Li Hao was Lin Xiaofei’s uncle.

Lin Xiaofei was mediocre at her job; she’d only gotten her team leader role thanks to Li Hao. With his protection, she was often arrogant and overbearing, and no one could do anything about it.

Now that Ruan Mianmian had offended both Li Hao and Lin Xiaofei, who knew how those two would retaliate?

Xu Weiwei was anxious on her behalf.

Perhaps it was Ruan Mianmian’s early morning spat with Lin Xiaofei that made everyone see her in a new light. In any case, no one asked her to do anything outside her duties for the rest of the day.

Even Fang Yali, who usually loved ordering Mianmian to fetch hot water for her, left her alone.

When the day ended, Lin Xiaofei didn’t demand the data results, nor did Li Hao come looking for her.

What were those two plotting?

But she knew they wouldn’t let her off so easily.

Ruan Mianmian wasn’t afraid. If they picked a fight, it would just give her more opportunities to earn points and extra days of life.

Tomorrow was the weekend. She planned to buy herself a decent new phone.

Her monthly salary of twelve thousand barely covered her rent and living expenses, and she still had to send five thousand home every month. She barely had any money left for herself.

Her phone, which cost just over two thousand, had lasted more than three years. Now it lagged, and the screen was cracked—barely usable.

Yesterday, she’d exchanged fifty points for fifty thousand yuan. She could finally afford a good phone.

If she didn’t spend the money and ended up dying one day from not earning enough days of life, what good would it do? She should treat herself well.

The next morning, she woke up naturally, went out for a lovely breakfast, and was about to shop for a new phone when she received a call from her mother, Zhao Lijuan.

“Mianmian, come home. Your father and I have something to discuss with you.”

“If it’s something important, just tell me over the phone. It’s finally the weekend, I want to rest.”

She had no desire to go home. Every time she did, her parents either asked for money or tried to set her up on a blind date.

It drove her crazy.

“This isn’t something that can be explained in a few words over the phone. Just come home. Your father’s gone out to buy groceries, so you can eat with us. You haven’t been home in two months.”

“Fine, I’ll come by later.”

If she didn’t, her mother would call her nonstop, and if that wasn’t enough, she’d bombard her with endless voice messages on WeChat.

She dragged herself to the subway station.

It was more than two hours before she arrived home.

As soon as she walked in, her brother Ruan Jinbao complained, “Sis, you came back empty-handed? Couldn’t you have brought some fruit for me?”

“All you do is eat. Haven’t I bought you enough fruit? And whenever there’s something good to eat, you never save any for me.”

“Mianmian, how can you talk to your brother like that? He’s still in school, you’re his big sister, and you earn a salary every month. What’s wrong with buying him some fruit?” Zhao Lijuan immediately came to her son’s defense.

Ruan Mianmian couldn’t be bothered to argue with her mother—it would only go on and on.

She retreated to her room.

Ten minutes later, she heard her brother calling her for dinner.

She sat at the table, guessing that the reason her parents had summoned her home was probably another attempt to push her into a blind date.

But she said nothing, just picked up her chopsticks and started eating quickly.

If she didn’t eat now, she probably wouldn’t get much later.

“Sis, why are you eating so fast? I like the boiled shrimp too, leave some for me.”

Zhao Lijuan scolded, “A young woman should eat slowly, gracefully, with delicacy. Have you not eaten in three days?”

As she spoke, she moved the plate of shrimp closer to her son.

Ruan Mianmian had expected this. Every time her brother said he liked a dish, it would end up in front of him.

“Mom, aren’t you the one who asked me to come home for dinner? Why does it bother you if I eat a little more? If that’s the case, don’t ask me to come again.”

Her father, Ruan Jianhua, chimed in to support his wife, “Your mother means well. You’re a young woman; you should be ladylike and dignified at the table.”

“Dad, can being ladylike fill my stomach? Can dignity be eaten?”

Zhao Lijuan frowned at her daughter’s retort. “If you don’t act like a lady, what man would want you? You’re already twenty-five and still single, always making excuses to avoid blind dates. Do you really want to end up an old maid?”

“Being single is just fine. Why get married? I can barely support myself—why drag someone else down too?”

The ones with good prospects wouldn’t want her, and she wouldn’t settle for those she found lacking. Why marry at all? What guarantee was there of a decent life after marriage? If she ended up with a family like her own, she wouldn’t even be able to support her future children.

What was wrong with being twenty-five? There were people who didn’t marry even at forty. She was still young!

Zhao Lijuan’s expression darkened. “Mianmian, what do you mean by that?”

Thinking of her recent run-in with Li Hao and Lin Xiaofei, Ruan Mianmian said, “I mean, I might be out of a job soon. I can barely support myself, and I won’t be able to send money home anymore. So stop asking me for it.”

She wasn’t actually unemployed yet, but who knew what those two were plotting? She certainly wouldn’t quit on her own, but if something happened beyond her control… She was just an ordinary, powerless office worker.

Zhao Lijuan wailed, “Oh, what are we going to do! If you lose your job, what will become of us? Your brother is about to graduate and hasn’t found an internship yet, your dad’s pension is barely enough—can’t you, as the eldest, think more about your family…”

If Ruan Mianmian lost her job, the five thousand yuan she sent home every month would be gone too.