After I Found Out My Boyfriend Was Pretending to Be Poor - Chapter 1

I was catching up on sleep in my rented apartment over the weekend when Zhou Xinglan arrived with two woven plastic sacks, looking for somewhere to stay.

He looked ashamed. There was a nervous edge to his voice.

“Baby, my family kicked me out because of you. They’ve frozen all my bank cards. I haven’t got a cent left. You wouldn’t break up with me and abandon me at a time like this, would you?”

Looking at those two crumpled sacks, I wanted to tell him he was overacting.

Zhou Xinglan and I had been together for over a year. It wasn’t the love of the century, but there was something there.

Besides, he’d only been kicked out. His family hadn’t actually gone bankrupt. And he’d supposedly done all of this for our love. By any reasonable standard, I couldn’t just turn on him and toss him aside.

Except a few days earlier, I’d caught his best friend, Huo Yanchuan, encouraging him to pretend he was poor and test me.

That put an end to the guilt trip.

I rested a hand on my waist and absentmindedly rubbed my stomach. My last meal hadn’t quite settled yet.

Then I opened my mouth and started making things up.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your best friend Huo Yanchuan just offered me ten million yuan to be with him.”

“He says love follows the money. I think he makes an excellent point.”

“To save him getting the wrong idea, you’d better call me sis-in-law from now on.”

It was too much information for Zhou Xinglan. He froze on the spot.

His face turned greener by the second, and his eyes kept flicking toward my stomach.

What? Was a girl not allowed a little belly?

Indignant, I thrust it out even farther. Before he could question me, I slammed the door.

No matter how much he knocked and begged, I ignored him. Soon, the sound outside resembled a kettle coming to a boil.

Not wanting him to disturb the neighbors, I called building management and had him escorted out.

Wanted an explanation?

Go ask your best friend for one.

Zhou Xinglan and I had met online.

At first, I hadn’t wanted to date him. I was busy picking up part-time jobs wherever I could and had no time to waste on a relationship.

I was under a lot of pressure then. He kept sending me mouthwatering photos to tempt me.

He was young, wild, and never knew when to stop. Whenever the mood took him, he insisted on showing me. Anywhere was fair game. He’d even take requests.

Most importantly, when I needed help the most, he transferred me two hundred thousand yuan without a second thought.

Grandma had raised me. We’d always had only each other. She’d been rushed to the hospital with an acute heart condition, and I was still a student. Even after borrowing from every relative I could, I was nowhere near the amount we needed.

That was the only time I’d asked him for money.

I was so touched I immediately agreed to be his girlfriend.

Then, a few days ago, I’d been helping my boss entertain clients when I happened to see him and Huo Yanchuan partying in the private room next door.

Any bottle he casually opened cost several hundred thousand yuan. That night, they opened five.

Only then did I realize that the two hundred thousand I’d borrowed from him was a fraction of what he spent in a month.

To his best friend, though, it was conclusive proof that I was vain, calculating, and after his money.

Huo Yanchuan had disliked me from the first time we met. He took every opportunity to bad-mouth me to Zhou Xinglan.

I’d told Zhou Xinglan plenty of times that Huo Yanchuan didn’t seem to like me. Every time, he said I was overthinking it and asked me to get along with his friend.

“Yan’s a good guy,” he’d tell me gently. “We were kidnapped together as kids. He even took a knife wound for me.”

Once he put it like that, any more complaints would make me the woman trying to come between two lifelong friends. All I could do was avoid Huo Yanchuan so I wouldn’t put Zhou Xinglan in a difficult position.

That night, Huo Yanchuan had plied him with alcohol and urged him to break up with me. Zhou Xinglan got so angry he grabbed him by the throat and demanded he wish us a lifetime of happiness together.

Pale-faced, Huo Yanchuan had no choice but to retreat and try another angle.

“Xia Ran’s only with you for your money. Don’t believe me? Pretend you’re poor and test her. I guarantee she’ll demand a breakup straightaway.”

Zhou Xinglan was sitting in the shadows. I couldn’t make out his expression.

I hadn’t given it much thought. After over a year together, I had complete faith in him. I’d put it out of my mind.

Until today, when he came to my door begging for shelter with two Balenciaga sacks.

Before this, I’d been scrimping and saving however I could to repay his two hundred thousand yuan. I’d lived on instant noodles, and he’d assumed I liked them.

What a joke.

His best friend wanted to test my feelings for him?

Fine. Let’s see how well their friendship held up under a test.