Pretty Wife Insists I Live Off Her - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: At This Time, They Haven’t Divorced Yet.

Yue Lei got up and thought for a long time, unable to understand how her low blood sugar could make her travel back in time eight years. She was deep in thought.

Until a sweet voice unexpectedly broke into her ears—

“Sisters, Little Puff is going offline! Mwah, mwah, see you tomorrow! I hope to see you in your dreams, too!”

Yue Lei lowered her eyes and realized that it was almost noon.

She pinched her forehead. The move had to happen as soon as possible.

In her last life, Auntie Zhou said on the surface that her son was coming back to get married and that she couldn’t rent the apartment to them anymore.

But in reality, it was because her son had just been released from prison.

She didn’t want to live with him, so she found him another place to stay.

In her last life, they thought the rent wasn’t due yet, so they moved a little slower. Unexpectedly, they ran into Auntie Zhou’s son.

Yue Lei hired female streamers and female operators. The atmosphere was always good, and they didn’t have their guard up around each other at the company.

Who knew that when Little Puff went offline and opened her door, she would see a sleazy-looking man sitting in the living room.

He was rubbing and sniffing a T-shirt that someone had left behind. She was so scared she almost went crazy.

Yue Lei remembered her sleep schedule being a mess at the time, and she had just woken up herself.

Hearing someone scream, she immediately pushed open the door.

In her last life, they were lucky that everyone worked together. The streamers, with courage, used the tricks they used on their viewers to coax Auntie Zhou’s son and distract him.

Yue Lei took the opportunity to use mace on his eyes and called the police. No one was hurt.

But a grudge was born between the two sides.

Auntie Zhou’s son’s eyes were almost blinded by the mace.

When it was time to take back the apartment, he naturally found something wrong with everything.

Sometimes he demanded that they renovate the apartment back to its original state. Other times he claimed that the walls were dirty or the cabinets were broken, making all sorts of demands for compensation.

Moving out on short notice was already a hassle, and with Auntie Zhou’s interference, they were delayed even more.

This caused several streamers to be unable to broadcast for several days. Their audiences left, and with their careers seemingly failing, they decided to resign.

At that time, the live-streaming industry in China was still in its infancy.

Yue Lei valued her good relationship with her streamers and hadn’t signed formal contracts with them, only making simple promises about a cut of the profits.

As a result, after this incident, the few big streamers she had worked so hard to train left without a second thought, and her previous investments were all for nothing.

Because of this move, the influencer incubation company, which had just started, was stripped of its skin and eaten away.

According to the timeline of her last life, Auntie Zhou’s son should be coming to cause trouble tomorrow.

Although in her last life, Yue Lei learned from this and, when she hired new people, she followed the procedures and signed contracts, she still ended up losing.

She grew and became stronger with the rapid development of the internet and made a lot of money.

But she still lost in the end and almost went to jail.

Yue Lei’s mind was a mess. She hadn’t decided whether to go down the same old road in this life, but she knew that gathering everyone to move out was the most important thing right now.

It would be best not to run into a disgusting guy like Auntie Zhou’s son.

With that thought, Yue Lei took out her phone, ready to send a message in the group chat.

She habitually entered her password, but it said “unlock failed.”

Yue Lei frowned and stared at the lock screen for a long time. Then she suddenly slapped her forehead. “Oh, I haven’t even met my wife yet. The password is my birthday.”

…

Two hours later, all eight streamers in the company, as well as the other thirteen non-camera-facing employees like the operators, accountants, and cleaners, were all gathered in the living room.

Yue Lei leaned on the long sofa with her legs crossed and announced her intention to dissolve the company.

“Boss Yue, are you really giving up? Why?” asked the operator who had been the fastest to run away after the accident in the last life.

Yue Lei didn’t like her much. Her tone was cold. “The doctor said my stress is too high, my blood pressure is higher than normal, and my blood sugar is lower than normal. If I continue this life of working day and night, I’ll die early. And Auntie Zhou won’t rent this apartment to us anymore. The thought of having to redecorate, restart, and start over is giving me a headache. It’s better to just quit and take care of my health.”

The people who worked for her knew that their boss was a little crazy and always spoke bluntly.

The internet industry was already high-pressure. Although their company didn’t cut base salaries, their performance and bonuses had been delayed for several months.

Many people had already been secretly looking for other jobs.

Hearing this and seeing Yue Lei’s serious expression, everyone realized that she was determined to quit and leave.

For a moment, some were happy, and some were sad.

“Can we get our salaries and bonuses today? I have to pay my rent, Boss Yue,” asked a new streamer who had just joined.

Yue Lei didn’t have much of an impression of her. She probably also ran away after the accident.

They hadn’t worked together for long.

Yue Lei nodded. “Yes, I’ll pay you all today. We should part on good terms.”

Looking at the young women discussing among themselves, with an uncertain future ahead of them, Yue Lei clapped her hands and announced her plan. “I’m going to hand over the keys to Auntie Zhou tonight. So if you like any of the decorations in your room, you can take them home. If you don’t take them, she’ll just get them for free. As for the computers, if you want them, you can take them. The specs are all the latest. I won’t charge you much, so it’s half price. You can use your salary to pay for them, and streamers get priority.”

For some reason, Little Puff, the company’s most popular streamer, burst into tears and said with a choked voice, “Boss Yue, are you really going to dissolve the company? This is so sudden. I don’t want to leave…”

Yue Lei remembered Little Puff very clearly. She was the most popular streamer in the company at this stage.

She was sweet and knew how to handle things.

Yue Lei often took her out to dinner and to negotiate partnerships.

She was still around after this incident, and she continued to stream for another five years before she left on good terms.

It was unfair to streamers like Little Puff, who had always stuck with her in her last life, for her to suddenly tell them to stop broadcasting.

Yue Lei lowered her eyes and thought. “The accounts are company property, and I have to pay operation fees, so you can’t take them. But if you want to continue streaming, I can sign a profit-sharing contract with you. The company won’t provide you with any more help, and I’ll only take a 10% cut. The rest of the money you earn from streaming will be yours.”

If a streamer signed a contract with a platform on their own, they could only get a 50/50 split.

If they went through an agency, they could get a better rate.

After taking out the company’s 10% cut, the money they got was still more than what they would get by going it alone.

The few who wanted to keep their original fans and accounts and continue live-streaming now had a plan.

“Any other questions? Now’s the time to ask. You have to move out today,” Yue Lei said, settling the matter.

After that, she answered a few more questions and, together with the accountant, started transferring money and paying everyone’s salaries.

She supervised the girls, making sure they packed their things and signed their contracts.

They were busy until ten at night. The heavy darkness of the night enveloped them, and Yue Lei invited everyone to have barbecue downstairs.

So many things had happened at once, which diluted the unease of returning to eight years ago.

Yue Lei felt very calm during the meal.

The notorious streamer assault incident from her last life didn’t happen, and her destiny with everyone had been concluded.

After sending everyone off, Yue Lei placed the keys in the apartment, sent a video to Auntie Zhou, and walked out with her suitcase.

She couldn’t find her favorite gummy candy at the convenience store downstairs and ended up buying a few bags of fruit juice gummies as a substitute.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a strange shadow. Someone was sneakily crouching by the building, doing who knows what.

Yue Lei clicked her tongue and was amused.

So Auntie Zhou’s son had started lurking around the night before. Breaking into the apartment had been premeditated.

Unfortunately, this time, Yue Lei was one step ahead and had already sent the girls away.

She thought for a moment, then hid in a dark corner, pretending to take a selfie. She recorded a video of Auntie Zhou’s son hiding in the bushes, viciously hitting their windows with a stick.

When she passed a police station, Yue Lei walked straight in.

She put on a nervous expression, constantly looking behind her, and said to the police officer on duty, “Officer, there seems to be a strange person lurking outside our company building. He was knocking on our windows. It scared me to death. I have a video here. Can you take a look?”

The police officer knew the people with a criminal record in their jurisdiction very well.

She immediately recognized the man who had just been released. Seeing that he was committing an illegal act again, she immediately took measures to intervene.

Walking out of the police station, Yue Lei felt a sense of relief.

This incident had always been a thorn in her side. Now, at least, it hadn’t tainted the girls’ eyes.

But where to go now, Yue Lei hadn’t figured out yet.

She had lost her parents early and had no home of her own.

Her only friend, Lin Zhixi, was probably studying in another city and couldn’t be counted on at all.

After all that, the only person she cared about in the entire world was Mo Yingxue, who was also attending a university in the Southwest.

At this time, they haven’t divorced yet.

Of course, they also didn’t know each other.

…

When booking a room at a hotel near the Southwest Academy of Arts, Yue Lei clutched her phone, staring at the words “insufficient balance.”

She had sounded so good when she dismissed her employees, paying them a full month’s salary before the end of the month and even transferring the bonuses she had promised.

But she had forgotten that eight years ago, when her career had just started, her life seemed glamorous on the surface but was actually very tight.

The operational costs of registering a company, rent, and equipment were all very expensive. Her income was basically just enough to break even.

It was only the middle of the month, so she couldn’t withdraw the money from the rewards she received.

She never expected that she couldn’t even afford a 258-yuan king-sized room.

I should have asked everyone to split the bill at the barbecue…

But in the end, Yue Lei was a person of character.

Even if she had known that she didn’t have much money, she probably wouldn’t have been able to ask her employees to split the bill for their farewell meal.

At most, she would have ordered a few fewer dishes.

Yue Lei took her ID back with a blank face.

She lied to the front desk without any shame. “My wife forgave me and told me to go home. Sorry for the trouble.”

Walking out of the hotel, Yue Lei seriously stood on the side of the road and checked her balance.

She had 176.48 yuan on Alipay and 22.36 yuan on WeChat. The various bank cards had basically one or two yuan, which was negligible.

Yue Lei’s lips twitched. It seemed that all her money combined wasn’t enough for a single night in a king-sized room. She had overreached.

It was a little funny to think about.

Before she traveled through time, she was on the verge of bankruptcy. After she traveled through time, she was completely bankrupt.

Today was not as good as yesterday.

Looking at her large suitcase, Yue Lei gave up the idea of spending the night on a bench.

If she woke up and her clothes were gone, she wouldn’t even know where to cry.

Yue Lei started navigating to the nearest youth hostel. No matter what, she had to find a place to stay for the night.

Her luck was good today. Although she booked the cheapest six-person room, it only had one other person staying in it, and that person was already asleep.

The room wasn’t as stuffy as she had imagined.

After a simple wash, Yue Lei quietly took out her bed sheet and put it on.

Lying on the bed, her mind finally had the space to think about time travel.

She thought for a moment and searched for Mo Yingxue’s WeChat ID.

Yue Lei knew in her heart that although she had been reborn into her younger body, her soul was eight years older than Mo Yingxue.

She was completely unworthy of her youth and vitality.

And just like in her last life, she had no capital until she became rich.

She shouldn’t provoke Mo Yingxue.

But Yue Lei told herself that she just wanted to see her wife’s ID and profile picture to ease her longing.

Mo Yingxue was very nostalgic. These personal things hadn’t changed in over ten years.

Just one look would be enough. She wouldn’t even try to add her as a friend.

Unfortunately, her wife’s privacy settings were too strong, and she couldn’t find anything.

Suddenly, Yue Lei saw a message notification from Taobao on her phone.

She clicked on it, and the customer service said, “Honey, can you give us a good review? You’ll get a small red packet for a good review.”

Yue Lei’s eyes widened. She didn’t expect such a good thing to happen.

She immediately started giving good reviews to all the shops she had completely ignored in the past to get the cashback.

Finding a job wasn’t something that could be done overnight.

A night at the youth hostel cost twenty yuan, plus food. She didn’t know how long her two hundred yuan would last.

Now, not only did she have to take advantage of these deals, but she also had to pick up bottles she saw on the street.

Yue Lei had trouble sleeping in new places and woke up around seven in the morning.

The girl in the same room woke up even earlier than her, and they didn’t even see each other.

Yue Lei thought for a moment and decided to check out directly.

If she was lucky enough to find a job that provided food and housing, she could save the twenty yuan she spent today.

After buying two vegetable buns for breakfast, Yue Lei walked down the street with her suitcase.

Anyone who saw this slender, beautiful, and well-dressed woman would think her life was going well.

They would think that she was carrying her suitcase because she had just returned from another city, not because she had nowhere to go.

They would think she was eating a vegetable bun because she liked it or to stay in shape, not because she couldn’t afford meat-filled ones.

Suddenly, Yue Lei felt a gaze on her.

She looked up and froze.

A girl with a drawing board on her back was standing across the street.

The long hair that Yue Lei was most obsessed with was tied in a high ponytail, making Mo Yingxue look with a pure and beautiful aura that she had rarely seen in her seven years of marriage.

She was wearing a light blue denim dress. There were a few irregular splotches of paint on the hem of the dress.

Chrome yellow, magenta, ultramarine. She didn’t know if she had painted them herself or if it was the design of the dress, but it looked very beautiful.

That pair of black grape-like eyes was now fixed on her.

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