Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 165 - 165 162 Mermaid

Chapter 165: Chapter 162: Mermaid Chapter 165: Chapter 162: Mermaid Reading a book requires slapping yourself?

Jiang Yan’s younger brother felt terrified.

But since these words came from the mouth of his older brother, out of blind admiration for him, he believed that slapping himself might really be effective for studying.

Yang Dan, standing beside, appeared to be deep in thought.

“What I’m saying is just for starters, once you get the hang of it, you won’t find reading difficult, and of course, you won’t need to keep slapping yourself.”

Worried that his younger brother might get discouraged, Jiang Yan quickly offered him a sweet date, “Once you really get into it, you will find reading very interesting.” What a load of crap, he thought; after graduation, he didn’t want to look at another book ever again.

Yang Dan glanced at Jiang Yan and thought to herself that it really wasn’t ordinary to get into Beijing University, unlike her, who still forced herself to study up to now, purely to change her fate through education.

She remembered how back in high school, her teacher showed one of his college textbooks to Jiajia, who could also read it with keen interest and tireless enthusiasm. She must have experienced joy then, which is to say, once you reach a certain level, reading is no longer painful.

She shared this story with the younger brother, encouraging him to start with something simple. If he found high school subjects like Chinese, math, and English too difficult, then perhaps he should review middle school material again…

Jiang Yan watched Yang Dan and thought to himself how good she was at making comparisons. With Jiajia’s brains, was she someone ordinary people could compare to?

However, he didn’t expect her example to be so effective for his younger brother, inspiring him to take that first step. And indeed, he took Yang Dan’s advice and borrowed some middle school textbooks from Old Man Liu.

I forgot to introduce, Old Man Liu was a middle school teacher before he retired.

For Jiang Yan’s younger brother, this was really an alignment of time, place, and people – someone was there to teach him the basics.

“By the way, did Jiajia say she’ll come back at noon?”

Yang Dan came over today for two reasons: first, to deliver the coffee she brewed herself, and second, to repay a debt.

Thanks to Jiang Yan, she made five thousand yuan this month, not counting her commission. Excited and thrilled, she wanted to quickly repay the two hundred yuan she owed Jiajia.

Owing money didn’t feel good, and she didn’t want to owe anyone, including her own brother.

“She didn’t say; she might not return until the afternoon.”

Even Jiang Yan’s younger brother wasn’t clear about Jiajia’s whereabouts, let alone Yang Dan. It wasn’t an intentional secrecy, just uncertain how to explain it.

Yang Dan felt a bit disappointed upon hearing she would be late, “I was thinking of inviting you guys for lunch at noon.”

Jiang Yan wasn’t fussed, “When you come over here, it’s definitely on us. Otherwise, if you come across a decent thesis from a senior at your school, buy it and bring it over for us to try.”

Yang Dan’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, “Right, why didn’t I think of that? Some of the stuff is really good, I’ll buy it the next time I run into it and bring it over for you guys.”

Jiang Yan’s younger brother, listening on the side, was utterly confused. Weren’t they talking about a thesis? How could it be edible?

Seizing the moment, Jiang Yan took the chance to educate him again, “See, that’s how terrible it is to be uneducated, you can’t understand anything we’re saying.”

Yang Dan laughed out loud, wanting to explain to the younger brother but held herself back, eventually changing the subject, “Jiang Yan, I got five thousand this month, and I want to pay back the money to my second brother.”

About these messed-up family affairs, she had initially wanted to discuss them with Jiajia for advice, but since she wasn’t there, what could she do?

So now, she had no choice but to turn to Jiang Yan for advice.

Jiang Yan threw her a question, “Will your second sister-in-law’s younger sister pay back the money to your second brother?”

Of course not.

And they gave her far more than just three thousand yuan.

After a long silence, Yang Dan finally said, “I understand what you mean. From a familial perspective, I’m the same as my second sister-in-law’s younger sister. Even my second brother should be closer to me, but that’s not actually the case. He listens only to my second sister-in-law, thinking that her little sister, who’s attending a teachers college, has better prospects than me, who attends the Agricultural University. He doesn’t see investing in me as worthwhile. The only reason he eventually gave me three thousand yuan is to avoid gossip when giving money to his little sister-in-law. That’s why I don’t want to owe them any favors.”

Every time Yang Dan thought about the look on her second sister-in-law’s face after giving her money, she felt sick. At the same time, she didn’t want her parents to feel indebted to her second brother and sister-in-law.

“The favor was owed the moment they gave you the money. It’s not something that can be simply erased by paying the money back. Plus, it doesn’t make much difference whether you return it now or four years later after graduation,” Jiang Yan analyzed for her.

“You tell me, aren’t you being silly? Although it’s not obligatory for your own brother to pay your tuition, haven’t they gone out and said so in the village? Saying they’ll pay for their sister’s education, earning them a good reputation, and making your parents willingly work for them. With that being the case, why pay them back at all? You should just continue to ask them for money to pay next semester’s fees, and it would be best if there’s someone else present when you borrow.”

“Ask them for a loan again?”

Yang Dan frowned. She understood what Jiang Yan was saying, but just… she really didn’t want to ask her second brother and sister-in-law for it.

“Yang Dan, to deal with people like your second brother and sister-in-law, you need to have a thicker skin. Think about it; originally, your father’s intention was to ask them to contribute to your first year’s tuition. But after they gave you three thousand, they spread the word about funding your university education. So, if you don’t turn to them, who will you turn to?”

Jiajia chimed in from the side, “Exactly, not only should you ask them, but you should do it openly and ceremoniously. Know about the ‘damsel in distress’? It’s about acting pitiful to gain sympathy. You should act like that in front of your second brother, and then discreetly buy some thoughtful little gifts from Beijing to give him, saying you saved money from working part-time at school to buy them. I bet her little sister-in-law won’t get anything like that, but your second sister-in-law surely gives her sister money regularly. When they compare the two, as long as your second brother isn’t an idiot, who do you think he’ll favor? Then you can weakly hint about eating only a steamed bun and two pickled vegetables for each meal at school. It would be even better if you could lament being anemic…”

Damsel in distress? Weakly?

A muscle in Jiang Yan’s cheek twitched as he looked up at Jiajia and asked, “Where did you pick up all this nonsense?”

The conversation had been quite serious, but now he didn’t even know how to proceed.

Unwilling to leave it at that, Jiajia rebutted, “How is that nonsense? I got this from a book I read, and it was actually from a book Jiajia brought home from school, called ‘The Mermaid’. It was so interesting, I stayed up all night and read it in one go.”

Jiang Yan: ….

He scoffed, “Didn’t you say you can’t get through reading books? How did you manage to finish ‘The Mermaid’ in one go?”

With a sound of “Ah,” Jiajia suddenly stood up, grabbed a computer, and headed out, “So, um, those two computers are fixed. I’m going to deliver them to the students at the University of Technology.”

He hurriedly loaded the computers into the car and drove off.

Jiang Yan didn’t bother with him, thinking that once that bratty girl got back, he’d need to ask how many romance novels she still had.

Meanwhile, Yang Dan, deep in thought, felt… there might be some sense in Jiajia’s words.

But now, her biggest problem was how to act?

And what does a damsel in distress look like?

She’d have to consult Jiajia thoroughly another day!