On the seventh day of Lin Bei’s stay at Emerald Bay, she reached a significant milestone in her life—the day to pay her rent for the first time.

To be precise, it was the night before the rent was due.

Her bank account balance showed exactly RMB 18,423.

The monthly rent was RMB 2,000, so after paying that, she’d still have over RMB 16,000 left. In theory, that should be enough to get by, but Lin Bei’s principle is simple: save every penny you can, and delay every payment you can.

So she decided to settle the rent with goods instead.

“Are you out of your mind?” Wang Tangtang screamed on the phone. “You’re going to pay rent with strawberries? Do you think you’re an ancient farmer paying land tax?”

“These aren’t just any strawberries,” Lin Bei said, crouching by the supermarket entrance, a shopping cart piled high with six boxes of strawberries in front of her. “They’re clearance strawberries from the supermarket before closing tonight—originally RMB 25 a box, now only RMB 10. I bought six boxes for RMB 60.”

“And then what? You’re planning to use RMB 60 worth of strawberries to cover RMB 2,000 in rent?”

“Of course not directly,” Lin Bei replied, neatly arranging the strawberries into a pretty tote bag she’d picked up outside a boutique downstairs—someone had thrown it away, but after a quick wash it was still good to use.

“This is emotional investment. I’ll give him the strawberries first to put him in a good mood, and then bring up the rent. Once he’s eaten my strawberries and his mouth and heart have both softened, I can say, ‘Brother Su, do you think we could delay this month’s rent by two days?’ The chances of success will go up by at least 30 percent.”

Wang Tangtang was speechless. “Have you considered that he might not even eat the strawberries?”

“Impossible,” Lin Bei said confidently. “Strawberries are the universal language of humanity. No one can refuse strawberries—just like no one can refuse bubble tea.”

“…What kind of twisted logic is that?”

“Just based on experience,” Lin Bei said, standing up and slinging the bag over her shoulder. “Just you wait—tonight I’ll have the rent settled.”

Wang Tangtang was silent for a couple of seconds. “Didn’t you say you had money to pay the rent?”

“Having money to pay and wanting to pay are two different things,” Lin Bei replied as she walked out of the supermarket. “If I can solve it with strawberries, why use cash? Cash should be saved for bigger things.”

“What kind of bigger things?”

“Like buying bubble tea.”

When Lin Bei returned to apartment 2201, Su Chen was sitting on the living room sofa.

That wasn’t the point.

The real point was—he was wearing a deep-blue silk robe.

Not the kind of cotton pajamas grandpas wear, but the kind you see in TV dramas, where the domineering CEO puts on after a shower, the belt loosely tied to reveal a bit of collarbone.

Lin Bei was taken aback.

Not because it looked good—well, maybe a little because it did.

It was more that she was carrying strawberries in her hands, her mind full of cost calculations—RMB 10 for six boxes—and suddenly seeing this scene gave her a strong sense of disconnect.

It was like walking into a vegetable market and stumbling upon a Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

“You’re back,” Su Chen said without even looking up, still staring at his phone. “There’s leftover food in the kitchen—heat it up yourself.”

“How did you know I hadn’t eaten yet?”

“Every time you come home from outside, the first thing you do is check the fridge—it’s become a habit.”

Lin Bei wanted to argue, but she realized she really did have that habit.

Oh well, if she’d been caught, she’d been caught. When it comes to obsessive cleanliness, everything is transparent.

“Brother Su,” she said, changing into slippers and walking over to the sofa, setting the strawberry bag down on the coffee table. “I brought you something.”

Su Chen finally lifted his head and glanced at the bag.

The brand logo on the bag belonged to a luxury label—but the bag itself was clearly old, with some fraying at the edges.

“Where did you get this bag?”

“I picked it up downstairs,” Lin Bei admitted. “But the strawberries inside weren’t picked up—they were bought with money.”

Su Chen’s lips twitched as he opened the bag.

Six boxes of strawberries, neatly stacked. Although the packaging had a “special offer” sticker, the berries themselves were bright red and looked quite nice.

“Strawberries.”

“Yeah, strawberries,” Lin Bei said, sitting down beside him—keeping a safe distance of about one meter; she’d already figured out Su Chen’s social radius. “I saw the supermarket had a discount, so I grabbed them on the way. You don’t eat sweets, right? I thought fruit isn’t really a sweet, so it should be okay.”

Su Chen looked at the strawberries, then at Lin Bei.

“How much did they cost?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking how much you spent—I’ll reimburse you.”

“No, no, no!” Lin Bei waved her hands frantically. “This is a gift for you—no charge!”

Su Chen narrowed his eyes.

As someone who’d grown up immersed in the business world, he had an instinct: when someone gives you something for no reason, there’s always a bigger agenda behind it.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing, really—just feel like thanking you for being so nice to me lately,” Lin Bei said with an innocent smile.

“But how have I ever been nice to you?” Su Chen thought hard about the past seven days. He’d confiscated her spicy gluten snack strips, thrown away her overnight tea, made her mop the floor every day, and even scolded her for ten minutes because she hadn’t washed the pot.

Was that being nice?

“Look, you let me live in such a cheap place, let me use your fridge, even let me piggyback on your Wi-Fi,” Lin Bei counted off on her fingers. “What else could that be but kindness? You’re a true benefactor!”

Su Chen’s brow furrowed even tighter.

He wasn’t buying it. From childhood to adulthood, countless people had said similar things to him, all with the same goal: to curry favor, get close, or take advantage.

“Just be straight with me, Lin Bei. What do you want?”

Lin Bei was caught off guard by his direct approach.

She’d planned to build rapport first and then bring up the rent, but this guy wasn’t playing by the rules at all.

End of Chapter 5: The First Rent Payment—I Paid It With a Pound of Strawberries