Chapter 10: Debt

Chen Xiao was on the verge of a breakdown. He stated sternly, "Ladies, I only moved in today!"

One of the women retorted, "Of course we know you moved in today. We haven't seen you here in ages, but moving in today has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you owe property management fees!"

"No, you don't understand. I just had the title transferred to my name!"

"Pfft, keep making up stories. The property records say Chen Xiao... do you take us for fools? Whenever we managed to get through to you on the phone, you never mentioned the title was just transferred. You always claimed you had no money. You must pay the fees today; if you don't, we’ll be forced to take legal action!"

Seeing they weren't bluffing, Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask the system, "Hey, what’s going on?"

After a long pause, the system replied, "A glitch occurred during the program update. The previous owner was also named Chen Xiao. Some details were omitted during the data migration. Even the wisest suffer a slip; you will be compensated."

Damn it, that's it? How unreliable can you be? And what kind of compensation are we talking about?

Chen Xiao felt helpless. He looked at the two women and said, "Fine, fine, tell me how much it is and I'll pay. No need to be so worked up. How much could the fees possibly be?"

The woman looked at him with disdain and muttered, "Not much, yet you've been dragging it out for years!" She then opened her WeChat payment QR code. "Two thousand. Scan here."

Chen Xiao was speechless. He had to take the fall for the system’s mess. He pulled out his phone, but the result was mortifying: insufficient funds!

Before acquiring the system, Chen Xiao was a financial conservative. He had always been skeptical about the security of linking bank cards to phones, so he usually carried a bit of cash and kept only a few hundred in his WeChat wallet.

His income hadn't been high, and he rarely had major expenses. If he did, he would plan ahead and withdraw cash.

"Um, it says insufficient funds..."

The woman glanced at his screen and said with a sneer, "Not just insufficient, it's severely lacking. Twelve yuan and eighty cents—forget the property fees, that’s not even enough for the water bill!"

She added, "Cash is fine too."

Chen Xiao checked his pockets and found only about three hundred yuan. He said sheepishly, "Could I trouble you to come back tomorrow? I'll go withdraw the money then."

"That won't do. If we don't settle this today, who knows if we'll even be retired by the time we see you again!"

Chen Xiao felt like a scholar trying to reason with a soldier—it was impossible to get his point across.

Just as he was feeling dejected, a crisp voice came from across the hall: "How much is it? I'll pay it for you first. You can pay me back when you get the money. It's night, and the noise is quite disturbing to the neighbors!"

Chen Xiao looked over and saw a girl with bright, dark eyes watching them quietly. It was her who had spoken.

Relieved that someone was willing to help in his hour of need, Chen Xiao quickly said, "Thank you, I'll return it to you tomorrow."

The girl took out her wallet, counted out two thousand in cash, and handed it to the property manager, saying, "I just happened to withdraw some cash today."

Seeing the money, the property manager’s face lit up. "Young lady, you have a kind heart, but I suggest you get his contact info, or you might never find him again."

Chen Xiao hurriedly pulled out his phone. "Right, let's exchange contact details so I can pay you back tomorrow!"

The girl replied, "No need. Just come by at 7:00 PM tomorrow and knock on my door. I’m always home in the evenings."

How cold was that? She didn't even want to share contact info, even though he was trying to pay her back. Chen Xiao didn't want to make a fool of himself further, so he nodded, thanked her, and they both returned to their rooms.

The next day, Chen Xiao arrived at the office to a string of good news that swept away last night's frustration.

It was payday. Chen Xiao's monthly salary was 8,000 yuan, with a 2,000-yuan performance bonus. Normally, he wouldn't get the full bonus, but given his outstanding performance, Feng Feifei had notified HR to pay it out in full.

[Ding! You have received a monthly performance bonus of 2,000 yuan. Professionalism reward coefficient: 4. A sum of 8,000 yuan has been deposited into your Huaxia Bank card!]

[Ding! Your transport allowance of 400 yuan from last month has arrived. Professionalism reward coefficient: 4. A sum of 1,600 yuan has been deposited into your Huaxia Bank card!]

Chen Xiao finally understood the system's definition of "bonus": every bit of income outside his base salary was classified as such.

Watching the continuous stream of deposit notifications, Chen Xiao felt wealthier than he had ever been. Recalling last night's embarrassment, he quickly linked his bank card to his phone to avoid any similar awkwardness.

The office was noticeably livelier today. With Feng Feifei having solved the funding issue, her decisive nature meant that recruiting and project development were moving forward at full speed.

Chen Xiao stopped tracking the equipment for Bai Lu, as Feng Feifei had already handled it. Bored, he looked around and considered moving his desk to the corner. If he didn't move now, it would be inconvenient once new employees arrived.

Why move? It would be easier to play games, of course. Since his area was currently empty, it didn't matter, but once the office filled up, it wouldn't look good.

He started packing immediately. As he did, Xia Yun walked by and asked, "Chen Xiao, what are you doing?"

"Moving to a different spot. The corner doesn't get much light, so I'll take it and leave the brighter spots for the new colleagues," Chen Xiao said without blinking.

"Oh, how thoughtful of you, caring for new colleagues already! That's nice. But you know, I suspect you'll have to move again before long!"

Chen Xiao didn't understand what she meant, but Xia Yun just smiled mysteriously and headed back to the finance office.

Just after he finished moving, Chen Xiao's phone rang. It was his mother.

"Hello... Mom!"

"Chen Xiao! Your father and I are in Jiangzhou today. Let's have dinner together after you finish work!"

"Oh... alright!" Chen Xiao hung up, wondering why his parents had come at this time. Since he’d see them that night, he didn't ask further.

After work, Chen Xiao headed straight to the Jinji Hotel. It was a mid-to-high-end budget hotel—simple and clean—and his parents always liked staying there when they visited.

Inside the room, his father was drinking tea. Seeing his son, he said, "Xiao Xiao is here. Are you tired from work?"

Chen Xiao sighed. His father loved calling him "Xiao Xiao," even though he wasn't a child anymore, but his father was stubborn about it, so he just accepted it.

"It's alright, just a bit of soreness in my arms."

"Look at you. You work in an office, how do you get sore arms? Work is work, but you should get up and stretch occasionally. Don't just bury your head in your work all day!" his mother chided with concern.

Chen Xiao smiled but didn't explain. How could he get up and stretch? If he did that while everyone was focused on a group PK, he’d get wiped out and cursed at by his team!

It was just as well he didn't explain. Given how hard-working his parents had been their entire lives, he wasn't sure if they would disown him for his "non-productive" habits!