BH (QT) – Phoenix Man (13)

Chapter 13 – Phoenix Man (13) *edited

After being formally out to his grandmother, Jiang Pingxiu was clearly very happy, but he still refused to take Yan Jingze’s card.

Seeing this, Yan Jingze laughed and said, “In other families, the wife usually manages the money… You don’t want to take it because you don’t want to be my wife?”

Jiang Pingxiu immediately responded, “No!”

“Then take it,” Yan Jingze said. “When men have money, they can turn bad. You need to keep a close watch on me.”

Jiang Pingxiu nodded seriously and accepted the card.

Yan Jingze couldn’t help but kiss him again.

Previously, Yan Jingze hadn’t actually given Jiang Pingxiu any money.

He simply didn’t have the means; he was short of money. The money he initially earned from part-time jobs was spent on paying off family debts and buying some necessities. Later, the money he earned had to go towards living expenses for his family, as well as rent and living expenses here… He never had much money on hand.

He couldn’t give Jiang Pingxiu a card to manage their finances if there was nothing in it, could he?

However, recently, he had a little more financial flexibility, so he could afford to give this card. Besides, soon he wouldn’t have as much time to manage everything at home.

Luckily, Jiang Pingxiu and his grandmother had already adapted to life in the city, so going forward, they could handle some of the daily chores, like buying groceries.

It wasn’t good for Jiang Pingxiu to stay at home reading all day; going out to buy groceries would be good exercise.

“Oh, just giving you my card isn’t much fun… I’ll transfer the money to your card,” Yan Jingze said. As he spoke, he transferred 30,000 yuan from his card to Jiang Pingxiu’s card.

Previously, Jiang Pingxiu had given him his card, so Yan Jingze gave Jiang Pingxiu his card in return. But in reality… it was more practical to transfer the money directly.

Jiang Pingxiu didn’t refuse. He just promised, “I will definitely manage the money well.”

“I believe in you,” Yan Jingze said with a smile. “I’ll be busier in the future, so you’ll need to handle things like buying groceries. Don’t be too frugal; make sure we eat nutritious food, okay?”

Jiang Pingxiu nodded earnestly, remembering everything Yan Jingze said.

Yan Jingze was going to be busy because he planned to start his own business.

Starting a business as a college student is quite challenging. Many fail due to a lack of experience, and the money invested often goes to waste. Therefore, Yan Jingze didn’t plan to invest much money.

He intended to develop small apps and games to sell to big companies.

There is a lot to learn in programming, typically requiring years of study to become proficient. However, Yan Jingze had a photographic memory, and his current knowledge level was already comparable to that of graduates from their school.

Using his persuasive skills, he convinced a few senior students to join him, and together with these upperclassmen, he started a business.

Starting a business was tough, leaving him no time for part-time jobs, resulting in a lack of income for a long time. This made him somewhat anxious, but as soon as he returned home and saw Jiang Pingxiu, he could relax completely.

Jiang Pingxiu unconditionally supported him and could always calm him down quickly.

Explaining various high school problems to Jiang Pingxiu also inexplicably gave him a lot of inspiration!

After a few months of hard work, Yan Jingze finally developed a product. Unlike some people who seek investment to start their own company, he sold the product instead.

After splitting the money with his classmates, Yan Jingze and these classmates established a small studio and continued to develop products.

Of course, he didn’t forget to transfer his share of the money to Jiang Pingxiu.

Growing up in poverty had instilled a deep-seated sense of inferiority in Jiang Pingxiu, which Yan Jingze understood needed to be changed gradually. The way to change it, of course, was by giving him money.

Once their financial situation improved, the marks left on Jiang Pingxiu by poverty would naturally fade away.

Thinking this, Yan Jingze received a message from Jiang Pingxiu asking what he wanted to eat.

Yan Jingze smiled and replied, “I want to eat you.”

Jiang Pingxiu responded with a string of ellipses.

Now, when chatting with him, Jiang Pingxiu was no longer so reserved and even joked with him!

After Yan Jingze’s studio produced one successful project, they quickly followed it up with a second, making him famous at school even earlier than the original timeline. This newfound fame led to another encounter with Li Weiwei.

In the original storyline, the original Yan Jingze pursued Li Weiwei after discovering her wealthy background. At that time, the original Yan Jingze had some unlikable traits, which made Li Weiwei hesitant to accept him initially. However, as the original Yan Jingze became more accomplished, Li Weiwei eventually grew attracted to him.

But now, Li Weiwei took the initiative to approach Yan Jingze. Yan Jingze’s rejection was very apparent, though. For instance, even after Li Weiwei had introduced herself during their first meeting, Yan Jingze acted as if he didn’t recognize her during their next encounter.

Li Weiwei, being a rich young lady, was not the type to persistently chase after someone, especially when she had other options. She eventually paired up with a very handsome man who matched her social status.

Yan Jingze realized that this girl was simply a face-con, attracted to looks.

Regardless, he and this girl were now completely unrelated.

At the end of Yan Jingze’s sophomore year, his sister, Yan Damei, took the high school entrance exam and was admitted to the best high school in their county, the same one Yan Jingze had attended.

His younger sister and brother, Yan Ermei and Yan Xiaodi, had previously been average students, but their grades had improved by this time.

As for Jiang Pingxiu, he took the exam at his regular high school. His results were not outstanding, even below average, but considering the years of schooling he had missed, his performance was quite commendable.

By the end of Yan Jingze’s junior year, Yan Damei, had turned her academic performance around spectacularly. Starting with a ranking near the bottom of her class, she managed to place in the top ten by the end of the term.

Yan Ermei’s grades improved once again, but Yan Xiaodi’s grades did not get better; in fact, they even declined compared to the previous year. When Yan Jingze contacted Yan Damei, he learned that after she started high school, Yan Xiaodi was left unsupervised by their parents and Yan Ermei. As a result, Yan Xiaodi, who previously used his tablet for online classes, was now using it primarily to play games.

To make matters worse, Father Yan didn’t see a problem with this.

In Father Yan’s view, Yan Jingze was already very capable, making money while still in college and likely to earn even more in the future. Given this, he thought that Yan Xiaodi wouldn’t have to worry about money when he grew up and got married. Additionally, even if his youngest son didn’t study, he could still find a job to support himself and stay with them, which Father Yan found desirable.

Father Yan’s attitude, combined with his preference for sons over daughters, led him to indulge Yan Xiaodi excessively. Whenever Yan Xiaodi showed reluctance, they couldn’t bear to make him study hard.

Upon learning about this, Yan Jingze returned home during the summer vacation.

Previously, he only went back home for a few days during the New Year, usually returning around the tenth day of the new year and leaving before the Lantern Festival.

His emotional bond with the Yan family wasn’t very strong, and he felt quite uncomfortable staying in that house.

However, they were still his family, so he cared deeply about the education of his three younger siblings. During this visit, he found a private elementary school in the city and enrolled Yan Xiaodi there, even placing him a grade lower to ensure he could keep up.

Father Yan was very unhappy about this, but Yan Jingze never listened to him. Since he couldn’t control Yan Jingze, he eventually had to accept the situation. Then, he turned to the villagers and boasted about how his eldest son was very wealthy and had even sent his youngest son to study in the city.

Yan Jingze didn’t just send Yan Xiaodi to study in the city; he also enrolled Yan Ermei, who had average grades, in several tutoring classes.

In fact, it would have been best for Yan Ermei to switch schools as well, but since she was already in junior high, transferring to a good junior high school wasn’t easy.

Public junior high schools required local residency permits for admission, and the better private junior high schools, focused on their graduation rates, didn’t accept students with poor grades. As for the less prestigious ones… by junior high, kids were already comparing themselves to others, and most students in private schools came from wealthier backgrounds. Given Yan Ermei’s personality, she would likely be b*llied there, so Yan Jingze didn’t dare send her.

Yan Xiaodi, on the other hand, was still in elementary school, and that school had strict rules, so there wouldn’t be as many issues. Moreover, growing up in a family that favored boys over girls, Yan Xiaodi had developed quite a domineering personality and wouldn’t be easily b*llied.

Of course, Yan Xiaodi didn’t want to attend the strict and good school, but Yan Jingze didn’t pamper him. He even told him very clearly that he would support his education, but if Yan Xiaodi ever decided to stop studying, he wouldn’t give him a single cent.

As a brother, Yan Jingze felt that supporting his siblings through school was already going above and beyond; he had no intention of giving them money indefinitely.

In fact, he wasn’t even obligated to support their education.

The original Yan Jingze was able to pursue his studies mainly because of Jiang Pingxiu’s support. If he had relied on Father Yan… unless Father Yan sold his daughters, there was no way the original Yan Jingze could have continued his education. But when the original Yan Jingze started high school, Yan Damei was still too young to be “sold.”

Sometimes, Yan Jingze felt fortunate that his partner was Jiang Pingxiu. If it had been someone else, they might not have been able to tolerate him giving so much money to his family.

Yan Jingze cared deeply about his younger siblings’ education, but his primary concern was always Jiang Pingxiu.

Jiang Pingxiu was quite smart, but he had missed too much schooling. During the recent end-of-term exams, he only managed to score slightly above average. His high school was very poor, and with his current grades, he could only hope to attend a vocational college.

Jiang Pingxiu was already very satisfied with this, as he had never imagined he would reach this point. However, Yan Jingze wanted him to do even better, so he enrolled Jiang Pingxiu in tutoring classes and a cram school for an intensive final push.

Whenever he had free time, Yan Jingze would help Jiang Pingxiu with his studies or reinforce his basic knowledge.

Jiang Pingxiu wasn’t unintelligent; he just had too many gaps in his foundational knowledge.

At this time, Jiang Pingxiu was already an adult, and Yan Jingze couldn’t help but feel a bit of desire. However, since Jiang Pingxiu was a busy high school senior, Yan Jingze felt guilty about acting on those feelings and ultimately restrained himself.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Jiang Pingxiu was about to take the college entrance exam.

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***TN

Got addicted to Baekhyun’s Love Again. ♥♥♥