Dad, Please Try a Little Harder

Chapter 22: Chapter 22 I'd Like Some Ice!

Qian Quan bought a bottle of iced green tea for Song Xi.

Occasionally browsing short videos himself, he naturally caught the teasing and even flirtatious intention behind Song Xi's "iced" comment, but he had no interest in engaging with this boring joke.

"Go ahead, what's up with Ding Linlang?" Qian Quan got straight to the point.

"You really care about Ding Linlang. To be honest, I envy her," Song Xi said leisurely.

"Song Xi, I suggest we not beat around the bush."

"Alright, it seems you really hate me now, not even willing to spend an extra minute with me," Song Xi chuckled self-deprecatingly. "But I understand you. After all, I did what I did to you."

Qian Quan remained silent.

"However, Qian Quan, you might not know that I copied your poem a hundred times as a form of self-punishment."

"Does saying this now even make sense?"

"It does," Song Xi took a step forward, "I will probably break up with Sun Shaokang before November."

Qian Quan wasn't interested, but he recalled Ding Linlang's warning, wondering what exactly Song Xi was up to.

"Don't misunderstand. My breakup with him has nothing to do with you. I'm not seeking your forgiveness tonight. In fact, I don't regret being with Sun Shaokang now. We're both using each other."

Qian Quan couldn't help but let out a cold chuckle.

"Is there a bit of contempt in your heart for me?" Song Xi chuckled softly. "Actually, it's not as sordid as you guys might think. At least I haven't had that kind of relationship with him. He pursued me to win against you, to strike you down. And I agreed because I'm about to study at the most bustling university in the country, and I need the latest iPhone and a decent handbag. I don't want to be sidelined by new classmates and roommates."

"I'm not interested in these things," Qian Quan straightforwardly remarked. He now understood that Song Xi had been influenced to some extent by the works of some mediocre writers.

"Be patient. I'll get to Ding Linlang later," Song Xi scolded lightly. "Do you remember when I told you before that my favorite city is Azure Bay, and my ideal university is Azure Bay Foreign Language University?"

"And then?"

"It's because I came to Azure Bay when I was twelve. I stood in that spot right over there, facing the Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Shanghai Jinmao Tower. I was so awed and overwhelmed."

"After that, I couldn't forget about this place. As I grew up a bit more, I was determined to come to Azure Bay and eventually have my own place nearby..."

Gazing across the river, Song Xi softly expressed her grand aspirations, "I hope to see those buildings every night before I sleep and when I wake up."

In Qian Quan's thoughts, generally, only those young men who hadn't been tempered by society would set such ambitions while strolling along the Bund - flipping the city's fortunes, purchasing a residence in "Tomson Riviera," elegantly observing the flow of the river, and becoming tycoons.

Now, he realized he had underestimated Song Xi's ambition and imagination.

"But I checked. The properties around there cost over 20,000 per square meter. Do you realize the significance of this?"

"It means people like us, without special circumstances, could never afford to live in such places even if we worked hard our entire lives."

Song Xi took a sip of her iced green tea and continued, "For instance, you and I, if we pursue a normal university education, graduate, and then start working, how many years do you think it would take for us to buy a property in Azure Bay? Not to mention this vicinity, even for the entire Azure Bay, to afford a decent house within a good school district and location, how many years would that require?"

"Does this have anything to do with me and Ding Linlang?" Qian Quan furrowed his brows.

"It has everything to do with it! Qian Quan, have you heard the saying that in our society today, men can choose to be 'downward compatible,' while women can only choose to be 'upward compatible'? Especially in the current situation of gender imbalance, being compatible at the same level is already a sign of true love."

"What exactly do you want to say?" Qian Quan felt Song Xi was incredibly unfamiliar, even more so than the day she announced her relationship with Sun Shaokang.

"What I want to say is, after we graduate and step into society, what will you and Ding Linlang do?"

"How is that any of your concern?"

Song Xi didn't answer directly and continued, lost in her thoughts, "Ding Linlang's qualifications are outstanding, in certain aspects, even better than mine. If she's willing, her future could also break through barriers and achieve personal social mobility."

To give credit where it's due, this was the first time Qian Quan had heard the term "social mobility."

They say girls mature two years earlier than boys of the same age, but Qian Quan felt Song Xi was 20 years ahead of him in maturity-this phrase had turned her into someone else.

"If you're only here tonight to tell me all this, I think our conversation can end here."

Qian Quan had lost his patience. Even though Song Xi was making some valid points, they had nothing to do with him now.

At eighteen, there are eighteen things to worry about; at thirty, there are thirty aspects of life to contemplate.

As for Ding Linlang, she would have her own choices to make.

"You're here already, so what does it matter if I finish speaking?" Song Xi glanced at Qian Quan, "And I'll be done soon. It won't take up much of your time."

"Fine, go ahead."

After a brief hesitation, Song Xi took a light breath and said, "I won't beat around the bush anymore and get straight to the point..."

Pausing for a moment, she continued, "In order to integrate better into the university, into this city, I chose Sun Shaokang. He was my first investment, yet I clearly liked you in my heart. But I gave up on you, and you became my price to pay."

"However, Sun Shaokang is only a good investment in Riverside. Once I enter a truly international metropolis like Azure Bay, he won't be sufficient anymore. So, I'll break up with him..."

Qian Quan felt like his beliefs were shaking a bit and blurted out, "Do you have a new investment target?"

"That's not something you need to worry about. In any case, Qian Quan, I want you to remember this: For people of our background, without extraordinary talent that defies the odds and aligns with the times, merely relying on conventional methods won't break through the solidified class barriers to achieve personal upward mobility."

"Take my idol, Deng Wendi, for instance. While enhancing her personal capabilities, she read the trends and interacted with and invested in the most successful men. Through this, she executed a glamorous turnaround, breaking free from her original social status and rising to the upper echelons of society. After reaping the investment returns, she decisively withdrew and sought true love."

Qian Quan was stunned for three seconds before saying, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Song Xi shot him an exasperated glance and explained, "Successful men are undoubtedly the best investments, but they also come with the highest risks. They are cunning, dangerous, ruthless. A single misstep might allow them to consume you entirely, leaving nothing behind. Such people aren't who you'd want to spend your entire life with, nor could you.

"Ultimately, once you've gained the investment returns, you need to find your own anchor. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I don't understand, and I'm still not clear why you're telling me this," Qian Quan said.

Suddenly, Song Xi laughed and said, "Then let me be more direct. Qian Quan, I'm giving you seven years. You're free to date, chase after girls in these seven years, and enjoy yourself. But don't get married. After seven years, if I have a place of my own across the river, I hope that at that time, you'll be willing to leave everything behind and move in with me. From then on, we'll live together in happiness... Now, do you get it?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Quan was frozen for a full five seconds, presenting a non-static image of disbelief in motion!

After all her roundabout talk, she was proposing to financially support him after seven years!

This twist made him feel absurd to the point of wanting to cry.

Could her thought process be any more bewilderingly absurd?

How did she manage to intertwine logical reality and childish hilarity so self-assuredly and coherently?

"The sun is setting. I am your fishing boat, your anchor... Qian Quan, it was during the process of repeatedly copying your poem that I realized everything is destined. I need you as this boat and even more so as my anchor!"

"I copied it from the internet," Qian Quan interjected.

"But the emotions behind it are real, aren't they?"

"Song Xi, let me be straightforward too. I won't be with you even if you buy all the buildings across the river. I do not intend to meddle in your future plans or interfere with individual destinies. As for all my feelings for you, they were destroyed along with the balloon that day. I won't bother you from now on, and I hope you won't bother me either. Good luck to you. Let's end it here today. Goodbye."

With that, Qian Quan turned and left.

"You will change your mind, for sure," Song Xi softly uttered as she watched Qian Quan's receding figure.

At that moment, on the Huangpu River, a large ship slowly sailed into view from the distance and then gradually departed.

Following the crowd, Qian Quan descended the stairs and spotted a familiar slender figure standing under a streetlight.

Ding Linlang!

"Why are you here?" Qian Quan was momentarily surprised, hastening his steps.

"Why can't I be here?"

"When did you arrive?"

"When you were buying her green tea, oh, when you were buying her iced green tea."

When Ding Linlang emphasized the "iced" part, she deliberately accentuated her tone.

Qian Quan chuckled softly and said, "Let's go back."

"I'm thirsty too. Get me something to drink."

"Sure, what do you want?"

"I'd like some ice!"

Qian Quan was speechless.