I won the jackpot!

Chapter 5

We ate and drank until about 10pm, when everyone was ready to leave. Jiang Sichen drank quite a bit of wine, and although he wasn't very drunk, he still looked a little shaky when he walked. Two male colleagues supported her on the left and right, "Xiao Pang, are you okay? If not, I'll take you home."

Jiang Sichen was about to wave his hand to say that he was fine, but someone behind him laughed and said, "How can Xiao Pang be in danger? That's 160 kilograms, and the criminals would be killed by sitting on it." Several people laughed, and a colleague said, "After all, she is a girl. When a wolf is hungry, it will eat any meat."

Chu Yu, who was already walking in front, suddenly stopped at this time. She couldn't stand it anymore, and turned back and said coldly, "Are you good-looking? Do you have a good figure and eight-pack abs? How can you always laugh at others with a belly full of fat." She turned around and walked over, stopping two steps away from Jiang Sichen, "Anyway, it's on the way, I'll take you home, can you still walk by yourself?"

The colleague who was joking just now didn't expect Chu Yu to say this, "It's just... just a joke, Mr. Chu, you see Xiao Pang didn't say anything, it's just a joke, right?" He looked at Jiang Sichen as he said that.

How could she answer this? If she said she didn't care about other people's jokes, she would be embarrassed and betray Mr. Chu's kindness in helping her. If she said she cared, would it be difficult for colleagues to get along well in the future? She was in a dilemma, and felt like she would offend others no matter what. In the end, Jiang Sichen could only pretend that he didn't hear it, holding his forehead and walking towards Chu Yu, "I can walk, but I feel a little dizzy." "Yeah." Chu Yu responded, and then he didn't mean to help Jiang Sichen, and turned to enter the elevator first. Jiang Sichen hurriedly followed, and the others seemed to have discussed it beforehand, and didn't come in, waiting for the next elevator. In fact, Jiang Sichen was still quite surprised that Chu Yu still remembered where she lived. It was just that she took her car once by accident, and she didn't expect Mr. Chu to still remember it. The elevator reached the underground parking lot. Jiang Sichen followed Chu Yu to the car and then she remembered to explain, "Um, Mr. Chu, I moved. It may not be convenient for me to go there. Otherwise, I won't bother you. I can take a taxi myself."

"No problem, I called a designated driver." Chu Yu sat in the passenger seat. The designated driver came quickly and arrived in a few minutes. After Jiang Sichen told the address, she found that the two addresses were quite far apart and not in the same direction. The designated driver asked, "Who to take first?"

"Let's take Mr. Chu first." Jiang Sichen spoke first. Compared to herself, she also thought that Chu Yu was beautiful and cute, and the risk of encountering danger would be higher. "There should be a subway station nearby. I can take the subway home."

"I remember there is a subway station in front. It will be faster for you to take the bus home from there."

"It's okay. I'll take you home first." Jiang Sichen felt her ears burning when she spoke. Maybe she drank some wine and became bolder. She just didn't trust Chu Yu. After all, she was once her dream goddess. Moreover, for Jiang Sichen, she prefers to be the one who takes care of and protects others. Although she has never had a girlfriend in real life, Jiang Sichen always feels that she should be considered as the top.

Chu Yu didn't say anything. Anyway, there was a subway station next to the community, which was only more than 100 meters away. As for why Jiang Sichen had to sit two more stops, she didn't care. The restaurant was not far from Chu Yu's home. It took more than ten minutes to get there by car. The car stopped at the entrance of the subway station and Jiang Sichen got out of the car.

"Send me a message when you get home."

"Okay."

The car window slowly rose, and Jiang Sichen watched Chu Yu's car drive into the underground garage of the community, then turned into the subway station, checked the route home on the map, and estimated that it would take more than 20 minutes to walk home after leaving the subway station, but fortunately, he caught the last subway train. Jiang Sichen sighed in his heart, if he had paid a little more money to rent a house closer to the subway station, it would be much more convenient to go to get off work, and the time saved could be used to watch more new episodes.

Sitting on the subway, Jiang Sichen curiously searched the neighborhood where Chu Yu lived. The housing price was higher than she expected. Are river view houses in the city center so expensive? And they are basically large apartments. Mr. Chu is really rich. Jiang Sichen envied and felt a little disappointed. The gap between them was too big, and it seemed that she didn't even have the qualifications to be disappointed.

She patted her face. What was she thinking about? The fact that she regarded Chu Yu as an object of admiration could be regarded as having a bold heart, not to mention other things. But thinking about the way Chu Yu spoke for her at the dinner just now, he looked quite handsome. Her position in her heart suddenly rose a lot. Mr. Chu is actually a pretty good person.

After returning home, Jiang Sichen felt a little hungry. She had drunk a lot of wine just now, which took up space in her stomach. After metabolizing it, she ran to the toilet twice, and her stomach always felt empty. After taking a bag of potato chips and chocolate snacks from the snack cabinet, Jiang Sichen ate a few pieces and stopped. She looked at the food in her hand and her stomach. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind: should she lose weight?

When she was in school, Jiang Sichen had thought about it countless times. She also followed her roommates to do weight loss exercises for a while. Others lost weight to varying degrees, but she became heavier. She was a person with little willpower. After exercising for more than ten days, she gave up because she didn't see any effect. Later, she tried dieting and taking weight loss pills, but she almost ended up in the hospital. From then on, she completely lost the idea of losing weight. Maybe she just had the gene for obesity and she couldn't lose weight in this life.

So Jiang Sichen ate all the snacks without too much psychological burden, and then she washed and went to bed contentedly.

The previous project was completely finished, and there was no work assignment for the new project for the time being. Jiang Sichen had a rare leisure time, and then she remembered the bank card before. A few days ago, she was too lazy to go to the bank to change her card because she was too busy, so she bound another card with a small balance, which was also used up in the past few days.

Jiang Sichen wanted to go to the bank to change her card during lunch break. When she was looking for her bank card in her messy bag, she also found the lottery ticket she bought last time, which was already a little wrinkled. She looked at the numbers on it and sighed. It was obvious that these numbers would not win the prize. There were actually four consecutive numbers. One hundred yuan, just like that, gone. I wanted to throw it away directly, but then she thought about it. After all, she bought it for one hundred yuan. I would come back to check later. Whether I can win five or ten yuan, it can be regarded as a little psychological comfort.

When I swiped my work card and came out of the building, I heard a loud music. Looking in the direction of the sound, a small shop was set up with a huge balloon arch outside. There were banners and many flowers on the arch, as if celebrating the opening. Because it was far away, and Jiang Sichen was highly myopic, the degree of her glasses was a little insufficient. She squinted her eyes to see it, but couldn't see it clearly. She heard the loudspeaker shouting something like a buy two get one free lottery, but she didn't feel interested and turned away without paying attention.

During the lunch break, only one bank counter window was open, so there were many people queuing, and Jiang Sichen's eyelids kept twitching for no reason. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the time again. She didn't want to be late again. She didn't want to go to "Chu Yu You Yue" again. But her mentality was slightly different from before. She wanted to leave a good impression in Chu Yu's eyes. As for why, she didn't think about it in detail.

Chapter 6

Just as everyone was working overtime with gloomy faces, a man arrived at the company. He was dressed very neatly, had a straight posture, and looked very handsome. “Is Chu Yu still working overtime?” His voice was low and pleasant. Jiang Sicheng glanced in his direction. Then he saw the man enter Chu Yu's office. He didn't know what the two were talking about, but then Chu Yu started packing up his things to leave work.

　　“Wow, so Chu Yu has a boyfriend? I've never heard about this before.”

“I saw him twice last year. He occasionally came to pick up Chu Yu after work. Is he really her boyfriend? They seem to be too distant.”

“I think so. Look, he has his hand on Chu Yu's waist.”

　　As several colleagues whispered gossip, Jiang Sicheng watched Chu Yu and the man walk side by side. They were a handsome couple, very well-matched. Since Chu Yu had left, the others didn't plan to stay late either. After all, the work didn't have to be finished tonight, so they packed up their things and left.

　　Two elevators arrived at the first-floor lobby one after another. Jiang Sicheng and the others watched from a distance as Chu Yu and the man walked out together. The man was very gentlemanly, opening the car door for her.

　　Only after the car drove away did the group dare to speak aloud, “Mr. Chu's boyfriend must be a second-generation wealthy heir.”

　　“Why?”

“That car is a limited edition model from XX. Even with money, you might not be able to buy it.”

“I don’t know much about cars, but it looks pretty nice. It must be expensive.”

“Isn’t Ms. Chu 35 years old this year? If her boyfriend is both handsome and wealthy, why hasn’t she gotten married after all these years?”

“What?! Ms. Chu is 35?! I don’t believe it.”

　　“What if her boyfriend is already married with kids?”

Jiang Sicheng couldn't stand listening to her male colleagues' gossip anymore. What were they talking about? How could they accuse Chu Zong of being someone's mistress? With her personality, there's no way she’d be someone’s mistress! “Stop guessing. What if he’s her brother?”

　　“There’s no way a brother would be that nice to his sister. My sister drives me crazy every day. I just want to strangle her.” The group started discussing the topic of siblings again. Jiang Sicheng really disliked men’s gossip, which always seemed to veer toward romantic relationships. Why did women have to talk about love and romance? She thought career-oriented women like Chu Zong were pretty great too.

　　Chu Yu sat in the car, glanced at Chu Haoyu who was driving, and spoke unhappily, “I already said I have to work overtime. I don’t want to go.”

“You’re 35 years old. Why are you still acting like a child and arguing with your parents? They’re just trying to look out for you.”

　　It always came down to those three words, “for your own good,” but they didn’t even know what was good for Chu Yu, so how could they be doing it for her own good? Chu Yu didn’t ask for much—just respect. Respect for her own wishes, respect for her as a person, not as a woman who’s been married off and can’t be taken back, not as someone who “needs inheritance rights? Just give her whatever money she wants to spend,” not as the so-called “little princess” of the entire family. Yes, she was already thirty-six years old, nearing middle age, yet she still had no say in her own life?

But she had grown tired of repeating these words. Even if she said them, her brother wouldn't understand; he'd just think she was being unreasonable. To be fair, Chu Haoyu had always doted on his younger sister. In his youth, he was even called a “sister-obsessed” person, always buying the best things for his sister first. Chu Yu naturally knows her brother treats her best, but that doesn't prevent the existence of an unbridgeable gap between them. Chu Haoyu, like her parents, often asks Chu Yu what she truly desires. What she most wants is independence and freedom—she wants them to stop overly interfering in her life. Even the closest family members should maintain basic boundaries. Chu Yu no longer cared about inheritance rights. She could provide for herself and had never lacked money. She could earn her own income. From the beginning, all she wanted was fairness and equality—it had nothing to do with money.

　　When Chu Yu and Chu Haoyu arrived, the housekeeper had already prepared a full meal. Chu Yu glanced around and noticed that the man who had been introduced to her for a blind date last time was not present, which relieved her slightly. Both her brother and younger brother’s families had brought their children, each sitting on one side of the long table. Chu Yu pulled out the seat farthest from her parents and sat down. Immediately, the three children ran over, clinging to her and calling her “Auntie” repeatedly, like a noisy flock of pigeons. Actually, Chu Yu didn't like children at all, but she could only endure it and talk to them for a few sentences. The whole family seemed to be having a good time.

“Look how cute and well-behaved Baby and Bei Bei are~” Chu Yu's mother looked at the two three- or four-year-old children with affection, but she was talking to Chu Yu, “No matter how much money you make, you still need a child to inherit it.”

　　“I don’t have a throne that needs an heir. When I die, the money can go to them,” Chu Yu said with a smile, holding one child in each arm.

Her father angrily scolded her, “An unmarried woman can’t even enter the ancestral grave. Do you know that?”

　　“Just scatter my ashes into the sea,” Chu Yu said indifferently.

“Clang!” The bowl shattered on the ground. Her father pointed at her angrily, while her aunt hurried to clean up the mess. Her mother scolded her after calming her father down, “If you don't want to stay in this family, don't come back! You've ruined this family reunion.”

　　Her father stomped his foot and cursed her, calling her an ungrateful brat. After all those years of schooling, she’d gone mad, showing no sense of duty or filial piety. He said women should read less, or they’d end up like lunatics.

Chu Haoyu also rare

　　“Hmm.” Chu Yu replied briefly and said no more. However, the atmosphere at the meal had already been completely ruined. With two daughters-in-law present, the elderly couple felt they had lost face in front of outsiders, so they hurried everyone to leave after dinner.

“Sis, let Dad's driver take you home.” Chu Ran saw that her older brother was also angry, so she came over to speak to her sister.

　　“No need. I've called a car.” Chu Yu looked down at her phone.

“Are you on your period? Why are you so angry today?”

“Am I? I'm like this every day.”

“You'll never get married if you keep this up.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

　　“Are you crazy? Why are you taking it out on me? Are you going through menopause?” Chu Ran was completely baffled. Over the past few years, he had noticed his sister becoming increasingly abnormal. Besides looking like a woman, she had none of the qualities a woman should have. She was prickly all over, like she was covered in thorns. The family had never wronged her, yet every time he looked at them, it was as if they were enemies. Dad was right—women were selfish, money-grabbing, ungrateful creatures.

　　Chu Yu waited alone at the door for over ten minutes. The car pulled up, and she got in and sat in the backseat. She stared blankly out the window. The city she’d grown up in felt increasingly unfamiliar. New skyscrapers and renovated roads were replacing the memories she once had.

　　Actually, today she could have eaten quietly like usual, listened to everyone criticizing her for not wanting to marry, endured it, and finished her meal. No one would really force her to marry, and she could have avoided this heated argument. But Chu Yu was unwilling to accept it. She felt unfairly treated. Why should she have to listen to all those words without being able to defend herself? Why should she be the only one left feeling depressed and unable to sleep at night? Why should she be the only one seen as the villain? She did it on purpose, with a sense of revenge. If they wouldn’t let her be comfortable, she wouldn’t let others be happy either. Chu Yu admitted that she was a vengeful person who held grudges. Her father called her an ungrateful child, and he was right. In Chu Yu’s eyes, the kindness of raising her wasn’t that great. It was just an investment by her parents. In her family, there was a bit of the flavor of an ancient imperial family, where sons inherited the throne and daughters were married off to gain resources. Everyone had their own selfish motives. People were selfish, to varying degrees, but Chu Yu didn’t want to use her life to fulfill other people’s selfish motives. Even if her parents genuinely cared about her personal life, hoping she would marry, have children, and live a stable, smooth life, was that truly love? Chu Yu felt it wasn’t love, just wanting a doll to manipulate at will, amusing her parents’ happiness, with no one caring whether she was happy or not.

Could such love be considered true love?

　　When Chu Yu returned home, though exhausted, she still opened her computer and reviewed the recent documents. The new project had started off poorly, and the foreign company she wanted to collaborate with was still undecided between them and another competitor. Additionally, a previously completed project had recently encountered after-sales issues. In short, every single issue was headache-inducing. Though Chu Yu was already the company’s vice president, their company was merely a subsidiary of a larger group, and she was only responsible for project management, with little authority over other matters. After climbing the ranks in this industry for over a decade, she had only reached this position. Looking upward, there seemed to be no clear path for advancement.

　　A wave of fatigue washed over her. Back then, she had entered this industry out of defiance toward her family. Did she regret it? Well, a little. Given her abilities, if she had chosen a different field—one not dominated by men—might she have had better opportunities? But Chu Yu felt she was inherently rebellious. The more others expected her to conform, the more she wanted to follow her own path. “You all think women can’t handle this field, don’t you? Well, I’ll prove you wrong—not only will I do it, but I’ll make a name for myself!”

She opened her email again and continued with her work.