Chapter 1194: Chapter 356: [Pity?]
Chapter 356: [Mercy?]
Hu Shangke was on an IV drip in the hospital, and it didn’t finish until evening.
The chubby kid he’d hired to help was very professional—take the money, do the job. While Hu Shangke was getting his drip, he bustled around, fed him, went out to buy him water, and when Hu Shangke was groggy, he comforted him, telling him to just sleep, he’d keep watch.
Sure enough, when the IV finished, the chubby kid had been watching the whole time and immediately went to call the nurse.
Put it this way, even Hu Shangke felt kind of embarrassed—this was pretty much the level of care a son gives his own father.
"Senior, don’t feel bad, I’m getting paid for this. If you think I did a good job, next time you’ve got work, just throw some my way, yeah?" The chubby kid spoke fast and smooth. "I’m not cursing you to get sick again or anything, I mean if you’ve got any labor gigs later—errands, deliveries, that kind of thing—just hit me up."
As he spoke, he even deliberately gave Hu Shangke a little promo about their part-time Avengers squad—the services this team could provide were truly all over the place, from lining up at viral bubble tea shops to fake popularity, to running errands and deliveries, to handing out flyers and all that.
Hu Shangke sighed. "Honestly you don’t even need to introduce it. I actually know the founder of your team, Zhao Shanhe. Alright then, if I’ve got anything that needs people in the future, I’ll come to you."
Lao Hu was the thick-skinned, straightforward type. While he said that, he really did start mentally planning; he’d heard from his company that in a few days a new housing development would be opening, and they might need some people to hand out flyers and do some street marketing.
Still, it was a pity they’d missed those golden, booming years of real estate.
If it were a few years earlier, when a new development opened, they’d even hire people to pretend to be fake lottery buyers and line-uppers—that era had a huge demand for warm bodies.
Now? The bubble had long popped.
The chubby kid escorted Hu Shangke home, and the two chatted casually along the way. Hu Shangke even asked him, "You’re hustling this hard with part-time gigs—are you really that short on cash?"
The chubby kid gave a shy smile. "I wasn’t, actually. The allowance from home is okay. But last semester I got a girlfriend, so then..."
As a veteran simp, Hu Shangke instantly got it.
Relationships are a very subtle thing.
When girls get into a relationship, their quality of life usually goes up—there’s no shortage of guys willing to be simps.
When guys get into a relationship, their quality of life usually drops a big notch—because suddenly there’s way more to spend money on.
Thinking of this, Hu Shangke’s urge to preach kicked in. As someone who’d been there, he started advising his junior. "Bro, listen to me: being a simp leads nowhere..."
Then he went on and on.
He talked for a full ten minutes. Pouring his heart out, speaking from the soul, a whole moral lecture.
The chubby kid’s expression gradually dulled a bit, but he had a good temper and didn’t argue back. He just listened quietly, supporting Hu Shangke as they walked into the complex, all the way to the building. Only then did he respond, sounding genuinely grateful, "Senior, you really see through things!"
"Oh right, senior, since you understand so much and see male–female relationships so clearly, you must have a really great girlfriend who really loves you, right now?"
Hu Shangke’s face changed instantly!
This chubby kid—his way of cursing people is vicious!
Damn it, that flyer-handing gig? He’s not getting the referral anymore!
He still forced himself to act tough. "I’m not dating anyone. Your big brother here is focused on his career. Women will only slow my draw when I pull my blade!"
The chubby kid scratched his head, looking shy. "True, true. You’ve graduated and started working, focusing on your career makes sense."
"Me, I just don’t have a choice. My girlfriend bought me a new iPhone last month. I’m only working part-time to save up to get her something in return."
Hu Shangke: "..."
The chubby kid sighed. "My girlfriend is a second-year grad student. I went back to her hometown with her over the summer and met her family. Her folks live off rent—they’ve got two buildings."
Hu Shangke: "..."
"...Sigh, whenever I’m with my girlfriend, I just feel really insecure. I keep wanting to treat her a little better."
A broke kid snagged a rich woman?
No, hold up, what did this chubby kid do to deserve that?!
That sugar mommy must be really ugly! Yeah! She has to be ugly!!
With that thought, Hu Shangke felt a tiny bit better. He looked at the chubby kid. "Junior, you’re really putting in work..."
"It’s not that hard, it’s just... my girlfriend performed in the school’s freshman welcome gala before, and a bunch of juniors came to deliver her love letters and confess. It made me kind of jealous..."
Hmm?
Hu Shangke froze.
If she could get showered with love letters just by doing a performance, her looks couldn’t possibly be bad!
A rich, good-looking second-year grad sister?
I want one too! Where do I sign up?!
He glanced at this ordinary-looking chubby kid—like, bro, what on earth did you do to deserve her?
Hu Shangke almost wanted to cry. He practically felt like dropping to his knees and begging this chubby kid to teach him.
"Senior, why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, seriously, bro—your grad-senior girlfriend, how did you even land her?"
The chubby kid scratched his hair, embarrassed. "Uh, she was the one who chased me. We’re from the same hometown. My dad’s the district chief back home."
Wait, the son of a district chief, and you’re short on part-time cash?
Hu Shangke stared at the chubby kid.
The chubby kid sighed. "My family’s way of raising boys is to toughen us up from childhood. Once I came out for college, they don’t give me much money."
"..."
Hu Shangke hobbled his way upstairs, firmly refusing the chubby kid’s enthusiastic offer to escort him up.
