There are several levels to saving money by staying hungry.

One way is reducing three meals a day to two – this is most effective, saving an entire meal daily.

The next level up is when cutting to two meals isn’t enough, so you have to substitute the food itself. Removing deliciousness is the highest requirement, choosing instead what fills the stomach cheaply.

How can a hamburger cost the same as a meal at the student cafeteria’s cheap buffet?

Boiled potatoes are certainly cheaper than fried chicken.

When it comes to saving money, the Huaguo students who studied abroad in the 1980s didn’t need special training – they’d had plenty of practice back home. “Frugality” was a natural talent of Huaguo students. Some impressive individuals even managed to save their scholarships and allowances to buy equipment for their work units back home.

Their moral character was noble, and their ability to save money was excellent.

Zhou Yi was different from others.

She never had a consciousness about “saving money” since childhood.

Others might not understand it as children but would figure it out after starting work. Zhou Yi didn’t understand it as a child and still hadn’t figured it out after work. She thought not spending money recklessly meant being frugal, not realizing that truly frugal people calculated every penny carefully.

Who would treat others to a $30-plus dinner?

Classmate gatherings should be a Dutch treat!

One extravagant meal meant having to eat pickles and porridge afterward – why put yourself through that?

Zhou Yi thought she was living frugally, but $100 disappeared so quickly. After drinking too much tap water, her stomach would make embarrassing noises during class. Zhou Yi wanted to sink into the ground from embarrassment… When she couldn’t physically handle it anymore, her psychological defenses crumbled at the slightest touch. After enduring until class ended, she finally couldn’t resist calling Xia Xiaolan.

She remembered then that it was Xia Xiaolan’s birthday, but unfortunately, she was so poor she’d been surviving on tap water and couldn’t possibly afford a gift.

Instead, she had to borrow money from Xia Xiaolan – Zhou Yi’s psychological torment exceeded her physical distress.

When Xia Xiaolan saw Zhou Yi, she was truly shocked: How long had she been without food? How did she get so thin?

“Sister Zhou Yi, how many days haven’t you eaten?”

Zhou Yi’s growling stomach answered Xia Xiaolan’s question.

She weakly held up two fingers, and Xia Xiaolan held back her laughter: “How did you end up like this… Never mind, let me take you to the cafeteria first.”

Xia Xiaolan led Zhou Yi to the cafeteria, ordered her a hamburger and drink, and pushed them in front of her:

“People who’ve been hungry for a long time shouldn’t eat too much at once, it’ll upset your stomach.”

Zhou Yi, who had just given birth, had been quite plump – she’d lost her previous proportionate figure since late pregnancy. But now, after just two days without food, the Zhou Yi that Xia Xiaolan saw had already lost considerable weight.

She looked pale and lacking energy.

This effect couldn’t be achieved by hunger alone – otherwise, those beauty-conscious ladies on diets would be overjoyed!

Was it due to psychological pressure causing poor sleep at night?

Xia Xiaolan understood but didn’t press further.

After Zhou Yi ate the hamburger and drank the beverage, her stomach no longer felt empty. She took a few minutes to catch her breath:

“…I haven’t eaten for two days, no, three days counting today. If you hadn’t appeared, I thought I might starve to death.”

Xia Xiaolan pretended to be puzzled: “What happened to your living expenses? When you left a message about borrowing money, I found it strange. I didn’t expect you’d let yourself get to this state.”

Zhou Yi had prepared an explanation:

“I lost my living expenses before I could deposit them in the bank. I had no choice but to ask to borrow money from you, Xiaolan, look—”

Zhou Yi herself never imagined there would be a day when she’d have to borrow money from Xia Xiaolan!

Who was Xia Xiaolan?

Before Zhou Cheng brought her home two years ago, everyone thought she was just a country girl trying to take advantage of the Zhou family’s background.

Only after she was brought to the Zhou household did they realize Xia Xiaolan wasn’t as poor as imagined – her family ran their own business.

Back then, Zhou Yi was still the carefree young miss of the Zhou family, treating her monthly salary as mere pocket money. When did she ever take small business owners seriously?

Now—

Now Zhou Yi didn’t know the full extent of Xia Xiaolan’s family business, but they certainly had cars and houses in Beijing, and Liu Fen ran several clothing stores!

As for Xia Xiaolan’s business in Pengcheng, not everyone in the Zhou family knew about it, so naturally, no one had told Zhou Yi.

But Xia Xiaolan was definitely not short of money – just look at how she bought a car shortly after arriving in America as an exchange student. A new car must cost at least three to four thousand dollars, right?

Zhou Yi never knew money could be so important. In her short half-month in America, she’d received quite an education.

Many people in Huaguo looked down on private business owners – considering them undignified and opportunistic… In America, hah, a hamburger meal costs $3, and see if anyone will sell it to you if you’re short by even one cent!

Zhou Yi was mortified.

Xia Xiaolan was her only option for borrowing money.

If she had a choice, she would rather borrow from her Middle Eastern roommate, but unfortunately, they didn’t get along. Her roommate would be doing well just to stop cursing at her, let alone lend her money!

“Oh…”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t continue, and Zhou Yi felt like a defendant awaiting sentencing.

Her relationship with Xia Xiaolan wasn’t particularly good either – what if Xia Xiaolan refused to lend her money?

Wait, leaving aside whether she’d lend the money or not, what if Xia Xiaolan told everyone back home about this? Zhou Yi didn’t think her father would be easy to fool.

Just as she thought of this problem, she heard Xia Xiaolan ask:

“Sister Zhou Yi, do Uncle Zhou and the others know about this?”

“No, no they don’t. I don’t want them to worry! Please don’t tell them!”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Alright, I understand what you mean. Look, even close siblings keep clear accounts. Don’t blame me for being blunt, but if you want to keep the lost money a secret, that means the amount you’re borrowing from me needs to last until Uncle Zhou sends you money next time… The amount isn’t a problem, but how do you plan to pay it back?”

“Ah?”

Zhou Yi only thought about borrowing money to get through the crisis. It wasn’t that she planned to default on the loan, but she hadn’t actually planned out specific repayment terms.

When Xia Xiaolan asked this question, Zhou Yi’s mouth moved, but she couldn’t come up with a concrete, feasible repayment plan.

She was abroad, so her work unit naturally wouldn’t be paying her salary.

As for savings, neither she nor Yuan Han had any.

Yuan Han did have a salary, and after his new work arrangement, his salary was even higher than before. Although he had to travel to remote areas for business trips, he made over a hundred yuan monthly.

It sounded like quite a bit.

But Yuan Han had to support himself and said he would support Zhou Ke too.

Over 100 yuan in Huaguo currency converted to how many dollars? Even if Yuan Han didn’t eat or drink anything, it wouldn’t be enough!

Zhou Yi couldn’t bring herself to say she’d repay it after returning home when she had money.

She didn’t have that kind of face with Xia Xiaolan. Her blood relative was Zhou Cheng, and Xia Xiaolan was just Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend, a dating partner – they weren’t married or even engaged, so she wasn’t part of the Zhou family… Zhou Yi’s face alternated between hot and cold, her cheeks flushed:

“Then what do you suggest? I heard some international students work part-time jobs in America to earn money. I could find a job and save the wages to pay you back, would that work?”