Refusing to Be Publicly Humiliated

[My next snarky romance, Will Cats Cry Too? The blurb is at the end. Please add it to your reading list!] Blurb: (Clueless × Grumpy) 1. On her first day at a new job, Qin Yi got caught in a downpour without an umbrella. Determined not to get soaked, she brazenly ducked beneath a handsome man's umbrella and offered him a whopping twenty yuan as thanks. But when she saw the pitiful balance of 381.25 yuan in her WeChat wallet, she made a decision that betrayed her ancestors: she'd pay him back later. Unfortunately, fate had it in for her. The man she'd borrowed from two minutes ago turned out to be her direct supervisor. She trembled with fear, but her supervisor showed no mercy. He even raised the price on the spot. "Remember to write me an IOU for the fifty yuan you owe." 2. At first, Qin Yi used her debt as an excuse to ask to add him as a contact. Xu Chengan coldly refused. "Do you have to add an auntie as a contact just because you buy two scallions from her?" "If you handled online payments, everyone would become your friend. The whole world would soon be one big village, and we'd have you to thank for world peace." Qin Yi: "..." One day, Xu Chengan was the one who asked to add her as a contact. Qin Yi, still holding a grudge, finally got her chance to hit back. "Sorry, do you have to add an auntie as a contact just because you buy two scallions from her?" Xu Chengan didn't bat an eye. He turned to an auntie on the roadside, bought two scallions from her, and added her as a contact. "Yes, I do." He nodded, then showed Qin Yi his QR code. "I hope you'll help me achieve my dream of making the world one big village and bringing about world peace." Qin Yi: "..." 3. The longest-running thing Qin Yi had ever done was tease a food blogger who only ever showed his hands, every Saturday at eight in the evening. [You, yes you. Come out and date me.] [I need a capable spouse at home. Would you consider marrying me?] [We've been married for so long. Why do you only video-call me to cook once a week, hmm?] Of course, just like all those bold, lecherous admirers, she never got a reply. Then one day, her direct supervisor showed up at her door carrying bags and bags of ingredients. Qin Yi looked a little alarmed. "Director Xu, what are you doing here?" Xu Chengan replied, "I can date you, marry you, and even cook for you right here." Coming Soon: Will Cats Cry Too? Please add it to your reading list! [Sharp-tongued, fussy, high-maintenance man × blunt, taciturn, poker-faced woman] 1. A young master from the capital had been exiled to Wutong Lane. The alley was too narrow for cars, so Lan Qi rode a tricycle to pick him up at the entrance. The young master took one look at the battered tricycle and found fault with everything. He opened his mouth with a hundred complaints ready to go. Lan Qi couldn't be bothered with him. She rode off without looking back, and by that evening, rumors that she'd abandoned her husband and child had spread all over Wutong Lane. 2. After the neighborhood's volunteer family-dispute mediator pleaded with her at length, Lan Qi brought the young master home again. The pampered young master was no more well-behaved once he got there. One day he complained that the bed was too hard, the next that the food was too sweet. Or else the walls were too thin and the old man next door had no manners. Every day, he dragged Lan Qi into finding a thousand things to criticize. Lan Qi ordered him to shut up. The young master obediently fell silent. The next day, he handed her a three-thousand-word open letter titled "A Public Condemnation of Old Man Liu for Snoring in the Middle of the Night and Violating His Neighbors' Mental Well-Being," then asked Lan Qi to help him post it on the public notice board in the alley. Lan Qi told him to get lost. A letter arrived from the capital. The young master's life sentence had been commuted to a fixed term, and he could pack his bags and head home. The young master really did leave. 3. In the middle of the night, unable to sleep, Lan Qi heard quiet sobbing outside her window. She opened it and caught sight of the young master crouched in a corner with a cat in his arms, his back shaking. She fell silent for a moment, then asked helplessly, "Why are you crying?" For once, the young master didn't make a snide remark. He only said pitifully, "I don't want to leave Wutong Lane." Lan Qi told him, "Nobody's making you leave." The young master lifted his head. Under the streetlight, two streams of tears ran down his delicate face. "But you seem pretty fed up with me..." Lan Qi closed the window and went back inside without looking at him. "I never said that." Having gotten the answer he wanted, the young master switched off the old radio beside him, which had been playing background noise, then hummed a tune and tossed the newly opened bottle of eye drops into the trash. Thesis: Face life with a positive attitude. Surprises await around every corner.