Chapter 2: A Person Should Still Have Dreams
Although life was hard, it wasn’t as if she had no ideals or pursuits. Rather, it was precisely because reality was so difficult that she felt having ideals was incredibly important.
Of course, it was also possible that from a certain day onward, her life had become different.
Yu Linna didn’t know when she had started to deviate from her own path. Perhaps, from that day on, she was destined to be different from others…
After the weekend classes ended, Yu Linna could finally clock out. Dealing with a bunch of little brats was truly not easy. Even though she was only a part-timer, not even an official one, just taking care of the kids was enough to wear her out. It might also be because her appearance wasn’t the fierce type, and she unexpectedly gained the children’s affection.
To be fair, Yu Linna was beautiful. Delicate cherry lips, blue eyes – she looked several notches above the average schoolgirl on the street. And her face had a slightly Western look, which was undoubtedly another plus.
“Sister Qing, um, could I get an advance on this month’s salary? I’m in urgent need of money.”
“Again? You already got an advance last month. Besides, you’ve barely been here lately.”
“But I’m short on cash. Please, be kind, give me some money to spend.”
Because of the rent issue, Yu Linna had to swallow her pride. No matter what, she had to scrape together enough money this week to pay off the overdue rent.
“Alright, come find me in two weeks.”
“No, I need it now…”
“It’s closing time. We’re done.”
Zhou Xiaoqing yawned and slowly walked away, leaving Yu Linna alone, flustered in the wind.
This…
If she couldn’t get her wages, what was she going to do about the rent? Yu Linna felt very confused.
But she couldn’t blame Zhou Xiaoqing. She had been taking too many advances lately, and it was bound to annoy anyone. Even though she was still a schoolgirl, it was still a boss-employee relationship.
If one were to describe it in a sentence, it would be: employees cannot kiss their bosses… Ptooey, employees cannot talk back to their bosses.
After clocking out, Yu Linna, with her tired body, went to the convenience store on the commercial street and expertly entered the employee room to go to the changing room.
“Xiao Yu, you’re pretty early today. Hurry up and change into your uniform, the shift change is almost here.”
“Okay.”
As mentioned earlier, Yu Linna had several part-time jobs. Besides teaching at the tutoring center, she also worked as a cashier at the convenience store.
After changing into her work uniform, Yu Linna took over the shift at the front counter. The work began again.
The girl she was switching shifts with was the same age as her. Blue hair tied in a ponytail, a pair of vibrant purple eyes – unlike Yu Linna, her demeanor leaned more towards experienced and capable. Because she exercised regularly, her body had a beautiful line, unlike Yu Linna’s frailness.
Unlike Yu Linna, who had to work several jobs out of necessity, this girl worked at the convenience store just to earn some pocket money.
“You’re pretty early today. What’s up, need money?”
The girl loosened her hair tie, re-tied it, and casually asked.
As a side note, the wages at this convenience store were paid daily, calculated by the hour. Although the amount wasn’t large, it was still money. And right now, that money was extremely important to Yu Linna.
“Yeah, I’m pretty short on cash lately. Rent is due…”
“That’s a headache. My parents aren’t giving me any money, so sorry, I can’t help you much.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. This is my own problem anyway.”
Nangong Ying, as one of Yu Linna’s few friends, had already helped her as much as she could. Yu Linna didn’t want to keep troubling her. This was her own problem, and others shouldn’t have to worry about it.
Nangong Ying rested her chin on her hand, her mind turning. She came up with a good idea. She smiled at Yu Linna, who looked back at her, puzzled.
“Linna, do you have any dreams?”
“What’s with the sudden question?”
“I don’t plan on living like this forever. My life should be my own to decide. So, do you want to take a chance with me?”
The girl’s eyes were filled with ambition and defiance against reality.
From the first day she met her, Yu Linna knew that this girl didn’t want to be an ordinary person, living a mediocre life. She had ideas, and she had the ability. At least, she was much stronger than Yu Linna, who only knew how to work dead-end jobs. Nangong Ying would never be content with the status quo.
“So, what are you suggesting?”
“I’m planning to participate in the city’s singing competition. What do you think, are you interested in joining me?”
Nangong Ying handed her a flyer. Yu Linna took it and looked at it. The flyer had very conspicuous words printed on it: “Citywide Singing Competition.”
Every year, the city held a competition to select the best singers to represent the city in the provincial and even national competitions. It seemed Nangong Ying was aiming for the national competition.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Of course! If a person doesn’t have dreams, what’s the difference between them and a salted fish? I want to prove myself through this competition. I want to win the championship, the national championship, of course.”
The ambitious Nangong Ying had her sights set on the national competition trophy from the very beginning. Not to mention anything else, she knew how much weight that trophy carried. If she had it, she could choose any good university she wanted during the college entrance exams. After entering a better university, she could further her studies and make her path even broader.
Nangong Ying dared to do this because she had confidence. She had been in music classes since she was a child. In terms of singing skills and fundamentals, she was quite proficient. Moreover, she had also been on the martial arts team when she was younger and had represented the team in national competitions. In middle school, she won the national martial arts competition for girls, becoming famous overnight. In her first year of high school, although she left the martial arts team, she still represented her high school team in the national youth tennis competition and won the championship.
She was a dominant force in sports, but she hadn’t yet won any significant awards in music. It seemed that since she had studied music since childhood, it wouldn’t make sense not to win an award. This time, she decided to go to the national competition through the city competition and bring back a trophy.
“Nangong, it’s fine if you want to go, but why are you dragging me along?”
That’s right. Yu Linna never thought she could sing. She had never studied singing, nor did she have any artistic talent. What was the point of participating in the competition?
“Look, there’s prize money for placing in the city competition. First place is 10,000 yuan, and the top three get at least 3,000. You’re so short on cash, if you placed, wouldn’t that solve your problem?”
“But, I…”
“Be confident. Come with me. Even if you can’t get first place, if you can advance to the national competition with me, that would be great too!”
“I…”
“I’ll pay your registration fee!”
Yu Linna swallowed hard. She looked at the words “prize money” on the flyer. She admitted, she was tempted.
As a “gold digger” who was obsessed with money, she really wanted that money. And the higher the placement, the richer the prize. With that money, not only would her rent problem be solved, but she wouldn’t have to worry about living expenses for a month, no, two months.
“I’ve never studied singing…”
“I’ll teach you.”
Yu Linna was truly tempted. Looking at that flyer, her heart had never wavered like this before.
She stared at the flyer, her gaze never moving. Her heart was pounding. Slowly, she reached out her hand. At this moment, Nangong Ying showed a gratified smile. And Yu Linna, finally, picked up the flyer.
“When is the registration?”
Perhaps, her life began to change from this day on.
Sometimes, Yu Linna would wonder, if she had refused this seemingly unreasonable invitation that day, would her life have been different?
Who knows? Because it already happened, there’s absolutely no going back.
But one thing had to be admitted: if she hadn’t taken that flyer, she definitely wouldn’t have had that kind of adventurous life experience, and she wouldn’t have been able to go to farther places.
“Linna, you really are like me. You also don’t want to be content with the status quo, you want to climb higher and farther. You’re the same as me.”
Nangong Ying smiled brightly, but why did her smile seem so… off to Yu Linna? It was like… seeing a devil.
“Never mind, I have to work. You should go now. If the boss sees you, he’ll definitely scold you.”
Yu Linna coughed a few times and sat down obediently at the cash register. Just then, a customer came into the convenience store to buy something. Nangong Ying yawned boredly and went to the changing room to change and clock out. But her eyes still glanced at Yu Linna.
It had to be said that Yu Linna was beautiful. Wearing the employee uniform, her hair in a ponytail, expertly ringing up the customer’s order. Such a beauty was actually so poor that she couldn’t even afford to pay her rent. If men knew, perhaps many would want to keep her. There were still quite a few men in this world who liked to keep schoolgirls, especially someone like Yu Linna, who was dirt poor but had a beautiful appearance.
But to be honest, Yu Linna’s appearance was excellent. Participating in the singing competition would at least give her some extra points in terms of appearance. This was also one of the reasons why Nangong Ying wanted to drag her along.
Of course, the main reason was to help her. This girl was more suited than anyone to go to higher places. It was a waste for her to be stuck in this place.
Nangong Ying waited until Yu Linna finished her shift before leaving with her. Although Yu Linna said she didn’t need to wait, Nangong Ying insisted on walking with her. They were usually in different classes at school and rarely interacted. The only time they interacted was when the school exam rankings came down.
Like this, walking home together at night after working at the convenience store, it was quite nice. Only at times like this did it feel so beautiful.
“Nangong, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I really don’t know how to thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m doing this because I want to. Don’t worry about it.”
On Nangong Ying’s path to fame, she wanted to walk hand in hand with Yu Linna. If her best friend could be by her side, walking with her on this path, how wonderful would that be? Walking this path alone required perseverance, but with a friend, it was different.
“Linna, I believe that one day I will be second to none. I want everyone to know me, to know my name.”
She turned her back to her and spoke these ambitious words. Although it seemed like an incredibly arrogant joke now, in a year, two years, or even ten years, who could guarantee that it wouldn’t be an inspiring statement?
“So, come with me. Let’s go to the highest and farthest place together.”
Nangong Ying extended her right hand, smiling, and said these words to Yu Linna.
A car drove by, its headlights shining on her. Right now, Nangong Ying looked so dazzling, so beautiful, from any angle. Completely different from Yu Linna, who was in the dim light. At this moment, Yu Linna was so envious of this person, so admiring of this person. Looking at this person, Yu Linna also wanted to…
Fly to higher and farther places.
Perhaps, as she said, she might also be someone who didn’t want to be content with the status quo.
Her diary began to be written from this day on.
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