Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Good thing no one picked it up.

See?

I told you it was pretty.

The bow’s tied beautifully, too.”

It was already ten at night.

I stood under a streetlamp, holding the flowers I’d just picked back up.

My voice was bright with surprise.

The System answered with nothing but a cold laugh.

[Five yuan for a rose, eight yuan for a bunch of jasmine, and ten yuan for that wrapping.]

[Cheap trash that cost under a hundred total, and you still snuck down in the middle of the night to dig through a dumpster for it.]

[At this point you might as well climb into the trash can yourself.]

I went quiet for a beat.

Then I murmured, “System, you really know how to talk.”

The System let out another sneer.

But I didn’t have much conviction saying it.

Because not long ago…

I’d said something just as ugly to Zhou Chi.

Right in front of him, I’d slammed the flowers to the ground.

The male lead bent over to pick them up.

I snapped at him before he could.

“Other people get nine hundred and ninety-nine roses.

What about you?

If you’re broke, don’t copy other people and give gifts.

It’s ugly, it’s in the way, and it’s humiliating.”

“Can’t you make more money?

You’re this poor-marrying you was the worst luck I’ve had in eight lifetimes.”

And it wasn’t just the flowers.

There’d been a box of fresh strawberries, too.

His boss had handed them out when he came to inspect the construction site.

Zhou Chi didn’t eat them.

He brought them home.

The System rolled its eyes, thoroughly disgusted with my sneaking back to retrieve the bouquet.

[Can you stop caring about meaningless crap?!]

[Maintain your persona!]

[You’re a domineering, vicious supporting female lead-your only purpose is humiliating the male lead.]

[I’m so sick of you looking this stupid.]

It sounded irritable, and it kept rushing me to go back upstairs.

I pretended I hadn’t heard.

I crouched down.

Carefully leaned in.

Pressed the jasmine flat to make bookmarks.

Only then did I stand and walk back slowly.

Strawberries he couldn’t bear to eat.

Flowers he went out of his way to buy.

All the things the System sneered at-

if those were meaningless…

Then what counted as meaningful?

[Next mission: Before Christmas, force the male lead to buy you a coat.]

And that was the System’s answer.

At that moment, Zhou Chi had gotten off work early for once.

He was standing on a stool, replacing a burnt-out lightbulb.

The place was old.

The wiring was bad.

It was always the same-fix it, break again, fix it again.

“I bought a little desk lamp,” Zhou Chi said.

“I’ll fully charge it every day before I leave.

If the ceiling light breaks again, don’t touch it.

Turn on the lamp and wait for me to come home.”

I stood behind him, holding a cup of hot orange juice.

My face looked soft and pale, almost delicate.

Zhou Chi’s hands, though…

Those fingers that once lived an easy life were now stained with grime.

Tiny cuts had started to creep across his palms, one after another.

“I…”

I swallowed.

Hesitated for a long time.

Then I delivered the line I was supposed to say.

“Christmas is coming.

You have to buy me an expensive coat so I can dress up properly.

Otherwise how am I supposed to celebrate?”

I shoved my phone toward him.

A screenshot.

I put on an intentionally fierce face.

“This one.

You have to buy it.

If you can’t, then don’t come home, you useless piece of trash.”

Zhou Chi went to wash his hands.

Only after that did he come over and take the phone.

He stared at it for a long time.

Then he lifted his head.

There was no emotion in his voice.

“Just this one?”

At the exact same time, the System shrieked so sharply it felt like my skull rang.

[What the hell-800 yuan?!]

[Are you out of your mind?]

[Where did you even find a coat at that price?]

The brand the plot demanded was way too expensive.

So I’d gotten smart.

I went hunting in a secondhand marketplace.

Sure enough, someone was dumping a four-thousand-yuan coat at a ridiculous discount.

Eight hundred.

And shipping included.

If it was only eight hundred, Zhou Chi could work a few fewer days.

Sweat a little less.

“Just this one?” Zhou Chi asked again.

Much later, I would finally understand what was hidden in his eyes that night.

Back when he was at his peak,

eight hundred yuan couldn’t even buy a single button on the clothes he wore.

But for me-

squeezing in a broken-down basement with him-

an “expensive coat” I could dress up in was something I’d look forward to with my whole heart.

When he had everything,

I received not a single gift.

When he fell,

I followed him into every hardship.

I didn’t understand any of it then.

I thought he was saying it was too expensive.

That I was bullying him too much.

And when people feel ashamed,

they say things without thinking.

“Oh.

Uh.

Then… then I’ll go haggle a bit more.

Maybe it won’t even be eight hundred.”

I almost forgot to keep up my persona.

My head was full of nothing but bargaining and panic.

All at once, my hand went empty.

Zhou Chi took my orange juice.

Warmed it again.

Then placed it back into my hands.

“Lipstick.

A hat.

A headband.

A Christmas tree.

Peace apples.

A little cake.”

Outside, the wind cut through the night.

Inside the tiny room, everything felt calm.

Before I knew it, someone had guided me to the sofa.

I sat down in a daze.

Zhou Chi crouched in front of me.

I met his eyes-dark, clear, and striking.

“And those,” he said softly.

“Only with those…

can you really have a proper Christmas.”