Chapter 10: Owing Money

Chen Xiao was mentally disoriented. He said sternly, "Ladies, I only moved in today!"

One of the ladies replied, "We certainly know you moved in today. We never see anyone here, but you moving in today has nothing to do with whether or not you owe property management fees!"

"No, what I mean is that I just transferred the title of this house!"

"Pfft, keep making it up. Do you think we’re all idiots, Chen Xiao? The property registration information is right here. When we occasionally got through to your phone before, you never said the house had just been transferred. Every time, you said you didn't have money. The property fees must be paid today; if you don't pay, we’re going to take legal action!"

Seeing that they didn't seem to be faking it, Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask the system: "Big Brother, what's going on?"

After a long pause: "There was an error when modifying the program. The previous owner was also named Chen Xiao. Some details were omitted when changing the information. Even the wisest can make a mistake. You will be compensated, Host."

Damn it, that’s it? Are you reliable at all? And how exactly are you going to compensate me?

Chen Xiao felt helpless. He looked at the two ladies and said, "Fine, fine, how much is it? I'll pay you. Don't be so anxious; how much could property fees possibly be?"

The lady looked at him with contempt and muttered, "Not much money? You've been dragging it out for years!"

She then opened her WeChat payment QR code: "2,000 yuan. Scan it to pay me."

Chen Xiao couldn't defend himself. It was the system's mess, and he had to take the fall. He took out his phone and scanned it, but the result was embarrassing: insufficient balance!

Before getting the system, Chen Xiao was a conservative consumer. He had always been skeptical about the security of linking bank cards to his phone, so he usually carried some cash for small expenses and kept only a few hundred yuan in his WeChat wallet.

His income hadn't been high before, and he didn't have any major expenses. He rarely spent over a thousand yuan, and if he did, it was planned in advance, and he would withdraw cash early.

"Um, the balance is insufficient..."

The lady glanced at it and said with a bit of disdain, "More than insufficient, it's severely insufficient. 12.8 yuan. Forget property fees, that's not even enough for the water bill!"

She then added, "Cash is fine too!"

Chen Xiao rummaged through his pockets, but he only had about 300 yuan. Finally, he said sheepishly, "Could I trouble you to come back tomorrow? I'll go withdraw the money tomorrow!"

"That won't work. If we don't settle it today, who knows if we'll already be retired at home by the time we see you again!"

How much distrust could one have? Chen Xiao felt like a scholar meeting a soldier—he had reason, but he couldn't explain it!

Just as he was feeling frustrated, a crisp voice came from across the hall: "How much is it? I'll pay it for you first. You can pay me back after you withdraw the money. It's late, and the noise is too loud; it's quite disturbing!"

Chen Xiao looked toward the sound and saw the girl across the hall, her large, dark, bright eyes quietly watching them. It was she who had just spoken.

With someone willing to help out in a pinch, Chen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Thank you, I'll pay you back as soon as I get back tomorrow."

The girl took out her wallet and counted out 2,000 yuan in cash for the property management lady, saying, "I just happened to withdraw some cash today!"

Seeing someone paying, the property management lady beamed and said, "Young lady, you have a kind heart, but I suggest you get his contact information so you don't end up unable to find him later."

Chen Xiao quickly took out his phone and said, "Right, let's exchange contact info so I can pay you back tomorrow!"

The girl said, "No need. Tomorrow at 7:00 PM, just knock on the door. I'm home every night!"

Is she that cold? She doesn't even want to exchange contact info, and I'm just trying to pay her back. Chen Xiao didn't want to make a fool of himself further, so he nodded, said thank you, and they both returned to their rooms.

The next day, as soon as Chen Xiao arrived at the company, he was met with one happy event after another, sweeping away the frustration of the previous night!

Today was payday. Chen Xiao’s monthly salary was 8,000 yuan, with a 2,000 yuan performance bonus. Originally, he wouldn't have received the full bonus, but in light of his outstanding performance, Feng Feifei had notified HR to issue the full amount!

[Ding~! You have received a performance bonus of 2,000 yuan this month. The Dedication Reward coefficient is 4. The Dedication Reward amount of 8,000 yuan has been deposited into your Huaxia Bank card!]

[Ding~! Your transportation subsidy of 400 yuan from last month has arrived. The Dedication Reward coefficient is 4. The Dedication Reward amount of 1,600 yuan has been deposited into your Huaxia Bank card!]

Chen Xiao roughly understood the system's definition of a bonus: everything other than his base salary was classified as a bonus!

Looking at the continuous notifications of incoming funds on his phone, Chen Xiao had never felt so wealthy and confident. Thinking of the embarrassment from last night, he quickly linked his bank card to his WeChat to avoid similar awkward situations!

The company was clearly much livelier today because new employees were constantly joining. With Feng Feifei having solved the funding issue, and given her decisive personality, recruitment and project R&D were all accelerating!

Chen Xiao didn't follow up on the equipment for Bai Lu anymore; Feng Feifei had already arranged it. Bored, Chen Xiao looked around, wondering if he should move his workstation to the very corner. If he didn't move now, it would be inconvenient once new people arrived!

As for why move? It would be convenient for playing games occasionally. It didn't matter that there were few people in his current spot, but once the company was full of people, it wouldn't look good.

He acted as soon as he thought of it. As he was packing his things, Xia Yun happened to pass by and asked curiously, "Chen Xiao, what are you doing?"

"Changing spots. The corner doesn't have good lighting, so I'll sit there and give the spot with good lighting to the new colleagues!" Chen Xiao said without blushing or skipping a beat.

"Oh, you're thoughtful. You already know how to care for new colleagues, not bad! But you know, you'll probably have to move again before long!"

Chen Xiao didn't know what she meant. Xia Yun smiled mysteriously and went back to the finance office.

Just after moving his desk, Chen Xiao's phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was his mom calling.

"Hey, Mom!"

"Chen Xiao! Your dad and I came to Jiangzhou today. Let's have dinner together after you get off work!"

"Oh, okay!" Chen Xiao hung up the phone, wondering why his parents had come at this time. Since they were meeting in the evening, he didn't ask further.

After work, Chen Xiao headed straight to the Jinji Hotel. Jinji was considered a mid-to-high-end budget hotel—simple and clean. His parents liked to stay there every time they came to Jiangzhou.

Entering the room, his father was drinking Kung Fu tea alone. Seeing his son arrive, he said, "Xiaoxiao is here. Are you tired from work?"

Chen Xiao felt helpless. His dad loved calling him "Xiaoxiao." He wasn't a child anymore, but his dad was stubborn about this, so he just had to accept it!

"It's alright, just a bit sore in the arms!"

"Look at you, child. Aren't you working in an office? How did you get sore arms? Work is work, but you should get up and move around occasionally, stretch your limbs. Don't just bury your head in your work like that!" his mother complained with a motherly heart.

Chen Xiao smiled and didn't explain. How could he get up and move around? He was in the middle of a group PK! Everyone was focused, and if he got up to stretch his limbs and the team got wiped out, wouldn't he get scolded?

Fortunately, he didn't explain. Otherwise, given his parents' lifelong spirit of working diligently, he didn't know if they would "eliminate their kin for the sake of righteousness"!