Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After the movie, I deliberately "forgot" to turn my phone back on and walked back to the apartment building with Lydia Lin.

When Mrs. Lin saw us coming back, she clicked her tongue. "Why are you two so late? The food’s already cold!"

"Mom, where else would I go?" Lydia Lin rolled her eyes at her mother, then gave me a look to signal me to say something. "Janie finally treated me today – she bought me a movie ticket and even treated me to KFC."

"We did have KFC, but it wasn’t enough to fill us up. What a great chance to mooch a meal!" I went to wash my hands on my own initiative, then handed my phone to Lydia Lin. "Quick, charge this for me!"

I’d guessed Sam Yates would try to contact me, so I’d deliberately given my phone to Lydia Lin.

"Mooch all you want – how much can a young girl like you eat?" Mrs. Lin filled my bowl with a heaping serving of rice, then did the same for Lydia Lin. "KFC isn’t real food – you need to eat properly!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Lin. I feel bad mooching meals off you all the time, and I don’t have extra money to pay for board," I offered. "From now on, when I’m home, I’ll cook. I can cook, and I’m pretty good at it too."

I knew how to live a refined, bourgeois life, but I could also roll up my sleeves and cook in the kitchen.

Mrs. Lin looked at me with pity. "Oh, you sweet child – what’s the big deal about mooching a meal? I’m happy to feed you. Eat up!"

Lydia Lin, who was turning on my phone and plugging it in to charge, spoke in a jealous tone. "Why do I feel like you two are the real mother and daughter? Janie, didn’t you say you were going to butter me up? When did you switch to buttering my mom?"

"I’ll butter both of you up," I replied smoothly. But this kind of "buttering up" wasn’t the manipulative kind – it wouldn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable, and it was the truth. "A tenant needs to butter up their landlords, right? That way, if I run out of money someday and need to delay paying the water or electricity bill, Mrs. Lin and Mr. Lin won’t be too hard on me."

"You’re buttering us up just for a little water and electricity money?" Lydia Lin’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. She couldn’t understand why I wasn’t taking the chance to hook up with Sam Yates, who had clearly shown interest in me.

I bowed my head and kept eating, but the corners of my mouth lifted slightly. "Don’t overcomplicate things. My goals are simple: save money, get good deals, and mooch whenever I can."

"Look how thrifty Janie is – and then there’s you, spending over a thousand on a single pair of shoes!" Mrs. Lin tapped Lydia Lin on the forehead. "Your mom’s been wearing the same pair of cloth shoes for twenty yuan, and they’re still fine!"

"Mrs. Lin, if I had money, I’d buy shoes covered in gemstones, the most expensive bags, and the biggest abalones," I held up my fingers. "I’d wear rings on all ten of my fingers – and even on my toes!"

Mrs. Lin burst out laughing. "Oh, you silly girl – you’re too funny! Even newly rich people wouldn’t be that tacky!"

Even newly rich people wouldn’t be that tasteless, of course. I’d just said it in jest. All the while, I was waiting for Lydia Lin to turn on my phone.

The charger was right next to the dining table, and my phone was in Lydia Lin’s hand. As soon as she turned it on, several messages popped up – just as I’d predicted.

"You’ve got messages – aren’t you going to check them?" Lydia Lin called out to me. The charging cable wasn’t long enough, so I’d have to walk over to see.

"The only person I know well here is you – no one else would message me. They must be spam messages. Eating is more important right now," I said confidently. If there were any messages at this hour, they were either spam or from Sam Yates, who’d just gotten my number.

Messages from my family? Impossible. My dad was probably drowning in alcohol right now, too drunk to remember he had a daughter living far away.

My mom was too busy working to support my moocher of a brother to message me.

Lydia Lin glanced at my phone screen. "It’s a friend request from Sam Yates."

"If I reject it, it won’t affect my salary, right?" I paused for a moment. Sam Yates was definitely not as innocent as he looked. "Just pretend we didn’t see it."

"You can’t not add him," Lydia Lin tapped the screen and accepted the friend request for me. "Normally, employees would be eager to add their boss, right? If you don’t add him, he’ll think you’re playing hard to get."

"Is that so? I have no experience with this kind of thing," I said. "I thought ignoring it would be the way to go." But I knew Sam Yates wouldn’t give up that easily.

The next day, Sam Yates announced at the company that he’d be holding a welcome party for the new colleague at his villa over the weekend.

Some of my colleagues had mentioned that at the welcome party, there was a good chance we’d get to meet Mr. Yates (Sam’s father) and the Yan family’s eldest and second sons.

I knew – this was my chance.

Like I’d said before, my target had never been wealthy second-generation kids like Sam Yates.