Invitation Card
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A day’s work came to an end.
Although Chen Yao didn’t work at some big shot company, anything related to games seemed to have a natural affinity for the phrase “overtime.”
As he took the elevator to his front door, it was already nine in the evening.
The management in this neighborhood was decent; after living here for half a year, he hadn’t encountered any major headaches, except that the building was too tall—standing in the elevator made his legs sore every time.
Using his fingerprint to unlock the door, a slightly tired Chen Yao instantly broke into a smile, cheerfully pushing the door open as he called out, “Nan Nan, I’m back! Did you make dinner?”
However, instead of the expected response, three parrots flapped their wings and landed evenly on his left shoulder, right shoulder, and head.
He casually closed the door, shook his body to shoo away the three parrots, and scanned the room. Soon, he spotted Lin Nan sprawled on the sofa, looking gloomy.
He immediately realized what had happened. Frowning, he kicked off his sneakers and walked toward the sofa, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Nan looked up at Chen Yao with mild effort and sighed dramatically.
“Spill it,” Chen Yao said, plopping down on the sofa and glancing down at Lin Nan. He couldn’t help but reach out to stroke her smooth, coffee-colored hair.
To be honest, after dyeing and perming her hair, Lin Nan looked even more charming than before.
Lin Nan sat up with some effort, her necklace swaying back and forth before she quickly grabbed it and tucked it into her collar. With a slightly sullen demeanor, she finally replied, “First day on the job, and they fired me.”
“Ouch. That bad?” Chen Yao blinked. “Weren’t you accepted after the interview?”
For a school interview, one had to teach a class in front of the school leaders. Since she passed the interview, it meant they recognized Lin Nan’s teaching abilities; so how could she be fired on the very first day?
“The principal said I wasn’t suitable,” Lin Nan mumbled, sounding a bit sheepish. “It’s just because I dismantled the podium on the first lecture!”
“????”
“That group of students drove me nuts! Just a bunch of slackers from the worst middle school in the city, smoking during class!” Lin Nan complained, feeling quite justified in her actions. “If I don’t intimidate them now, how am I supposed to teach them in the future? All I did was dismantle the podium, I didn’t beat up any students!”
“Those students were sitting quietly, and then they fired me right after class.” Lin Nan gritted her teeth.
Chen Yao couldn’t help but chuckle, gently grabbing Lin Nan’s hand to comfort her. “No worries! We don’t need this lousy school.”
But outside of this lousy school, there wouldn’t be another one willing to hire such an inexperienced teacher who didn’t even have a position yet.
Public schools required qualifications, and private schools valued experience and capability—something Lin Nan lacked completely.
Deep down, she knew her own strengths; her lessons weren’t anything special. If it wasn’t for the magic effects that worked well, she wouldn’t have lasted long at the training institution.
So frustrating! Last time she left proactively, even though it was annoying, she had a final showdown with her boss. That was a happy exit.
This time, she was completely blindsided.
Watching her cheeks puff up in frustration, Chen Yao couldn’t resist poking her, earning himself a dramatic eye roll.
Well, that was more of a ‘playful eye-roll.’
“Let’s not get upset. How about we order takeout and play some games?” Chen Yao said, bending down to grab a game controller from under the coffee table and stuffing it into Lin Nan’s hands. “I’ll play whatever you want with you.”
“Not interested, no mood.” Lin Nan tossed the controller away, staring up at the gigantic TV in the living room.
Thanks to their mothers—the renovation overseen by his mother and funded by her aunt—their marriage residence was almost perfect. The appliances were mostly mid to high range, and the layout was quite reasonable. But that colorful TV wall? Unbearable!
Once they got married, they could plaster over that TV wall with wallpaper.
After they made some money, they could redo the whole place.
“Oh right, you got paid today, right?” Lin Nan suddenly remembered the money.
“Yeah, I got over four thousand five hundred, including overtime pay,” Chen Yao replied, nodding and promptly transferring four thousand to Lin Nan’s account.
He spent money like water—new games, new skins; if he saw something, he wanted to buy it. Lin Nan, while greedy, always considered every expense deeply. So it was clear who was managing the finances.
Keeping him on a budget would also keep Lin Nan happy.
“Is it okay if I keep five hundred for spending money?” Chen Yao asked with a grin.
“Is that enough for you?” Lin Nan frowned, anxiously checking her bank account on her phone. “Should I grab another five hundred?”
“Plenty! I just eat lunch out every day; extra cash can be saved for games.”
Four thousand plus was not a lot in the provincial city, but since they didn’t have to rent or deal with a mortgage, even with Lin Nan temporarily out of work, that money was enough for their expenses.
Before, when they both had jobs, they saved up more than ten thousand in half a year. If it weren’t for Chen Yao’s extravagant spending, they probably would have had twenty to thirty thousand saved up.
As for their internship period, since they had to return to school occasionally, they rented a place in that city for work, and their salaries were lower than now, so no money was saved.
“I’m looking for a job tomorrow. Until then, I’ll handle all three meals,” Lin Nan leaned back on the sofa, “Tonight, let’s just have takeout, I’m not in the mood to cook.”
Chen Yao leaned in, his face getting uncomfortably close to Lin Nan’s. “So what are we in the mood for?”
“Gross! Go wash your face!” Lin Nan wrinkled her nose, pushing his face away. “With all that time spent thinking about this, you’d think we’d come up with a list of who to send invitations to!”
Their mothers would take care of invitations for relatives, but they needed to handle those for their friends.
She sat upright, taking out the hundred wedding invitation cards they had set aside, quickly jotting down Tu Junhui and Xiong Da’s names, then biting her pen as she frowned in thought.
Li Na and Lilith? They hadn’t seen each other for years, so sending them an invitation would be pointless.
As for college classmates… Big Dog could get one, Liu Kexin too, and Lin Yuan could, along with Zheng Qian.
Could they invite Zheng Qian? He might still count as Chen Yao’s love rival, which could be awkward.
Chen Jiang? This guy was also a rival, and honestly, they weren’t really close.
Pan Maoxin? Better not invite someone who once had a weird crush on her. That would be so awkward if they ended up at the same table!
She wrote the names of the three confirmed people and pondered as she stroked Cola, who had just jumped into her lap.
Chen Yao peeked at the five invitations and asked, “What about Zhu Yong Wen?”
“Definitely inviting him,” Lin Nan nodded. “Li Ya can be invited too, and what about all your high school buddies? Anyone you’re tight with from college?”
Now that Zhu Yong Wen knew Lin Nan was female, their relationship was more like that of regular friends, and they occasionally ran into each other, but it had become increasingly awkward over the years.
Years passed, and besides her college roommate, Lin Nan had no real close friends.
“Dong An?”
“That guy? Sure, do you still keep in touch with him?”
“Yeah, we often game together.”
