You hidden in my heart - Chapter 52.3

Chapter 52.3

The graduation ceremony finished, ending the students’ high school life.

This summer break felt super chill—no college stress, no mountain of homework, and no rush to get back to school. It was pretty much a breath of fresh air. 

But Lu Yuling and Li Xining were busy. 

As she promised, Li Xining started her apprenticeship at Zhou Xiaolei’s studio. 

She shifted her address from “Auntie Zhou” to “Teacher Zhou.” 

Since Li Xining didn’t have any experience in designing, Zhou Xiaolei didn’t appoint her to do the heavy stuff right away. Instead, she had her start with the basics—serving tea and water to guests, chatting with them when the designer was away, and listening in on discussions when the designer was around. Additionally, she learnt how to take body measurements. 

After three days of going to the studio, Li Xining realised it was really important to know how to draw to be a designer. So she signed up for a sketching class in her free time. It was from 6 to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

 On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, she headed to the Green Shade Bar to watch Lu Yuling’s performances. 

 During the day, Lu Yuling was at driving school—he already knew how to drive but just needed to enroll in a driving school to get his license. At night, he performed as a resident singer, but only four nights a week. He chose Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday nights so he could pick up his girlfriend from the drawing school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Colleague entrance examination results would be released at midnight on June 24th, which happened to be a Monday.

At 8 p.m., Li Xining wrapped up her class. As soon as she stepped out of the classroom, she spotted Lu Yuling. With excitement, she dashed over towards him. 

“The results will be out soon!”

Lu Yuling let out a dramatic sigh. “Seriously, look at you! You’re totally uninterested. Your boyfriend has been waiting for you for ages, and you come over to chat about your exam first. Is there even a girlfriend like you?”

Li Xining rolled her eyes. “So annoying.”

Lu Yuling shot back. “You really don’t like me, do you? I’m upset, and it’s the kind of upset that’s hard to coax!”

Li Xining was used to these words now, so she didn’t take it to heart. “How about I take you out to eat? Sounds good?” she asked with a playful smirk. 

Lu Yuling grinned. “Are you loaded or something?”

Li Xining puffed up with pride. “I’m getting my pay cheque soon.” Even though she was just an apprentice, she still earned a salary. Usually, Lu Yuling picked up the bills, but this time, she wanted to treat him.

Lu Yuling teased. “How much can you actually give me? Let’s see if you can keep me happy. If not, I might need to find a new boss.”

Li Xining laughed in disbelief. “You’re so shameless!”

Lu Yuling shrugged while saying, “Shouldn’t a gorgeous princess like me be spoiled? How can you take care of me without cash?” He casually grabbed the easel from her shoulder and slung it over his back.

As they headed down the stairs together, Li Xining shot him a sideways glance and played along. “I honestly didn’t think you were this type of person. Can money really buy your soul?”

Lu Yuling replied earnestly, “Listen, Li Xining. My soul will always belong to you, but my body… it’s not easy.”

Li Xining quickly retorted, “I don’t want your body!”

Lu Yuling raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Not now, and not ever?”

Li Xining’s face turned red with a mix of embarrassment and anger, and she chose to ignore him.

Noticing her discomfort, Lu Yuling decided to switch gears. “By the way, the score cutoff dropped this afternoon. The first-tier score for science is 524.”

“I get it. I checked the estimated score for Xifu University, and it’s 654, which is 130 points above the first-tier line.” She then turned to Lu Yuling, adding, “I also saw that the Department of Music’s estimated score is 30 points higher than the first-tier line. You should feel pretty confident, right?”

Lu Yuling felt sure about it but decided to play along, asking, “What if I’m not so sure?”

Li Xining paused for a moment, then sighed dramatically, pretending to be upset. “Well, I guess we should break up then. I…”

“Li Xining!”

She was just trying to tease him, but Lu Yuling cut her off, looking serious and not in a joking mood at all.

Seeing the serious look on the boy’s face, Li Xining was taken aback.

Lu Yuling locked eyes with her and said firmly, “Don’t ever joke about breaking up with me again, not now or ever!”

Realising why he was so serious, Li Xining felt a laugh bubbling up. His intense demeanour reminded her of a kid arguing with their parents. Yet, she was also touched by how seriously he took their relationship, protecting it fiercely and not allowing any jokes about it.

She nodded earnestly, replying, “Okay.”

Lu Yuling let out a sigh of relief but added, “This is just a one-time thing, so don’t let it happen again!”

To lighten the mood, Li Xining tugged at his shirt, looking up at him with a playful smile. “Got it~”

He then relaxed, took her hand gently, and intertwined their fingers as they walked down the stairs. Once outside the office building, he asked, “What do you feel like eating later?”

Li Xining shot back, “I’ll treat you! What do you want?”

Lu Yuling chuckled, saying, “With the little money you have, you should save it for yourself.”

Li Xining knew he earned quite a bit from his performances. She took Lu Yuling’s wallet from his pocket and opened it to have a look. She was almost blind to what she saw inside the wallet. 

Although there were only three bank cards, one of them was an unlimited overdraft card. There was also a thick stack of red RMB in the wallet. It was estimated that there were at least three or four thousand in cash alone.

Li Xining stared at Lu Yuling and asked, “Where did you get so much money?”

Lu Yuling: “The cards belong to my uncle, and the money is from the salary I just received yesterday.”

Bar singers got paid weekly, making a grand per show, which was decent. 

Pondering for a while, Li Xining pulled out all the money from Lu Yuling’s wallet, took out just two bills, and shoved them into Lu Yuling’s hands. “I don’t care about your uncle’s cards, but I’m managing your money.” Then she gave the empty wallet to the boy. 

Lu Yuling stared at the two Mao Zedong notes and asked, “What’s this two hundred for?”

Li Xining replied, “Your pocket money for the week.”

Lu Yuling was in disbelief. “Two hundred?!” He was raised to be independent and knew exactly how much he needed. Usually, he didn’t touch his uncle’s card and only spent what he earned.

So, being left with just two hundred felt like a death sentence.

Li Xining shot him a deadly look. “Is that too much? Should I take another hundred away?”

Lu Yuling quickly shook his head. “…No, no, it’s fine.”

Li Xining declared, “Great! From now on, you’ll hand over your salary to me.” She then opened her purse, stuffed all the remaining cash inside, and zipped it up without hesitation.

Lu Yuling was still in a panic. “What if I want to buy shoes or clothes? Two hundred won’t cut it!”

Li Xining said, “Then you’ll have to come to me for approval.”

Lu Yuling’s head was spinning. Why was he suddenly facing these financial restrictions? But he didn’t dare to fight back. “Okay…”

 He couldn’t believe that he had become a poor man from a rich man just in the blink of an eye. 

Seeing the face of Lu Yuling, Li Xining couldn’t help but curl up the corners of her lips. “What are you going to buy me now?” she asked in a leisurely manner.

This time Lu Yuling couldn’t stand it any longer. “Li Xining! I only have 200 yuan! 200 yuan! And I still have a week to spend it! And you want me to treat you to a meal?”

‘Humph, if you had been so obedient earlier, you wouldn’t be left with only 200 yuan!’

With a proud smile on her lips, Li Xining took Lu Yuling’s arm and said generously, “Let’s go; I’ll treat you to whatever you want to eat.”

Lu Yuling: “I’m not in the mood to eat now.”

Li Xining just kept pulling his arm and moving forward. “Man is made from food. If you don’t eat, you will be hungry. You have to eat.”

Lu Yuling replied very seriously, “I have to save money, so just buy me two steamed buns and let me eat them on the roadside.”

Li Xining burst out laughing instantly. “Hahahahahahahahahaha.”

Lu Yuling looked miserable, and he felt life was hopeless. He squinted at her and said, “Oh, just laugh, landlady.”

Li Xining was not angry this time. “Look at you. Why are you so negative about life? Two hundred yuan a week is not a small amount. Besides, I didn’t say that two hundred yuan is fixed. If you perform well, I can reward you with ten or twenty more yuan.”

Lu Yuling sighed. “You might as well not comfort me.”

“You have to have a correct attitude. A dozen or twenty yuan is not a lot of money, right?” 

Lu Yuling also replied seriously, “Landlord, can I sell my body to you? I’m a young man; the price is not high, just one hundred per time.”

“No, a harmonious society prohibits money-for-sex transactions.”

Lu Yuling looked at her without saying a word. Two seconds later, he sighed again. “I know, you want to get something for free.”

Li Xining was silent for a moment. “Twenty deductions next week.”

Lu Yuling: ‘Why the hell are you still deducting money?’

Li Xining narrowed her eyes. “Will you dare to talk back again in the future?”

Lu Yuling clenched his teeth and shook his head—he wouldn’t dare to do it again, never again.

End of chapter 52

Have a nice day!