Gu Yan had grown up seeing her with that kind of expression almost all her life.
"No," she said softly, her eyes slightly dim.
"Hmph." Mrs. Gu snorted coldly on the other end, "Have you received your salary this month? Why hasn't it been transferred back yet?"
"How could it not be?" Mrs. Gu's voice grew sharp, "You used to send the salary back on the 15th, and now are you thinking of not giving it to me? Gu Yan, I've raised you to this age, do you have any idea how much it cost? Now that you're capable, you turn ungrateful. How did I raise such a thankless wolf!"
Gu Yan moved the phone slightly away from her ear, waiting quietly for Mrs. Gu to finish scolding before putting it back.
"The hotel laid off staff last month. I spent half a month looking for a job and only found one a few days ago, so I don't have a salary yet."
Instead of understanding, Mrs. Gu became even more sarcastic upon hearing this.
"Useless thing, why did they lay off you but not others at the hotel! Surely, you've had a bad relationship with colleagues and offended your boss. Gu Yan, use your brain and stop pulling that dead face. Either way, I don't care, you must send me the two thousand by the end of the month!"
Mrs. Gu hung up the phone, and Gu Yan blinked, looking at her phone with a bitter expression.
No matter her previous job or the ones before that, regardless of her salary, Mrs. Gu always demanded she send two thousand back every month.
As someone without a degree, what high-paying job could she find? At most, it was three thousand, sending two thousand back left her with never more than one thousand. After paying rent of eight hundred, there was hardly any money left for food.
She usually found a part-time job that paid daily, but they weren't always available, so she had to save carefully to avoid having irregular meals.
Xue Xianglan knew her situation and often invited her out for meals, quietly helping her, for which Gu Yan was very grateful.
Being able to get that five-thousand-a-month job from Tang Yuxiu made her ecstatic!
As long as she could do it long-term, she could send two thousand back each month and still have three thousand left, enough to pay rent and afford three meals a day, thus Xue Xianglan could also worry less about her.
With a deep breath, Gu Yan was relieved that Mrs. Gu didn't demand the money by tomorrow. There was still half a month until the end of the month, so she could focus on work and think about it later.
Gu Yan put down the phone and returned to the kitchen to continue cooking.
That day, Gu Yan took some time to pick up the suit and pants she sent to the dry cleaner last time, settled the bill under the store assistant's puzzled gaze, and left.
It's true, she looked so ordinary, dressing in street vendor clothes, yet repeatedly taking such expensive handmade suits to be dry cleaned, who knew what others thought?
Gu Yan shook her head, not caring about others' thoughts and looks.
The next day, she carried the bag containing the suit, along with the shoes and socks she washed at home, to Luoshui Apartment.
Tang Yuxiu wasn't there, so she stealthily placed them in the spot that belonged to her.
In the wardrobe, the clothes Gu Yan had hung last time were still in the corner, untouched.
Anyway, his clothes and pants all looked the same. After hanging in the corner for long, would he even remember which ones she dirtied?
In fact, Gu Yan underestimated Tang Yuxiu's infamous obsession with cleanliness!
Tang Yuxiu was such a meticulous person, he knew exactly how many sets of clothes he had in his wardrobe, and he wore them in rotation from left to right.