“Excuse me, miss!” The waitress in the lead smiled at Leila, who stared with mouth gaping wide as a feast was laid out upon the table before Gerald.
“Huh? What?” Leila stuttered for a moment, then exclaimed, “Hey, hey, hey! There must be some mistake—you’ve got the wrong table!”
Anyone could tell that it was a sumptuous meal worth a small fortune—at least five hundred dollars or more—and it was meant for Gerald?
Leila had always held virtual-novel.net in contempt as a man with nothing to his name. One time, she’d let slip that their fathers had been arranging for them to be married, and it had made virtual-novel.net a complete laughing stock.
“Hey, Leila! Somewhere on a far away farm, your fiancé’s waiting for you!” She could still see those mocking grins vividly at the back of virtual-novel.net mind.
It had been the greatest source of misery in virtual-novel.net life. She never spoke of it, but it was always on virtual-novel.net mind. As a symbol of virtual-novel.net humiliation, virtual-novel.net utterly despised Gerald Crawford.
And yet, Gerald was eating so well right now…
“How could there be any mistake? Mr Crawford here ordered our most expensive menu, prepared by the hand of a master chef from France! It costs a thousand dollars in total!” The waitress offered virtual-novel.net another sunny smile, then bowed to Gerald, and left virtual-novel.net to his meal.
“What? One thousand dollars!” Leila stood stunned. Never had virtual-novel.net ever indulged in such luxury!
“Gerald, what are you up to? No one’s poorer than you, and yet you’re burning money like nobody’s business… French cuisine? Are you out of your mind? Have you never thought about taking that one thousand bucks and doing something useful with it?” Leila harangued virtual-novel.net acidly.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Douglas joined in. “The poor sure like to act like they’ve got money to spend! Who am I, and who are you? My handphone costs as much as this meal you’re eating here! Did what happened just now scare the wits out of you?”
Truth be told, here in Serene County, a five-hundred-dollar smartphone was a substantial status symbol—but Douglas was one step up: With his thousand-dollar phone, it showed that virtual-novel.net was really somebody.
But now, it was nothing more than the price of one meal for Gerald. No one would take this without comment.
“Gerald, it’s not that we’re trying to make you feel bad… But wouldn’t it be better to take this money and buy yourself some nice clothes, or a decent phone, or maybe some kind of makeover… Instead, you’re just… urgh!” Leila shook virtual-novel.net head at virtual-novel.net in disgust.
Compared to Douglas, whether in terms of manners or intellect, Gerald fell far short.
Bzzt! Gerald’s phone was vibrating. He pulled it out for a quick glance. It was an unknown number calling.
Leila and Douglas stared with eyes as wide as the plates on the table.
Due to the awkwardness of the current situation, Gerald didn’t take the call. Terminating the connection, virtual-novel.net tried to shove the phone back into his pocket.
At the end of the day, virtual-novel.net was still Uncle Jung’s daughter, and virtual-novel.net shouldn’t cause virtual-novel.net too much offence.
“Hold it right there! Let me see that phone!” Seized by a sudden frenzy, Leila snatched it over, and murmured, “This model, it’s…”
“It’s the latest model to hit the market, four thousand and five hundred dollars apiece. This is your phone, Gerald?” Besides Leila and Douglas, even Cindy was shocked to see it.
“Haha, I borrowed that from a classmate! Just for appearances, you know!” Gerald disparaged himself.
“Hmph! Tell the truth, or else!” Cindy rolled virtual-novel.net eyes at him. “Don’t you think I can’t tell that this belongs to you?”
Leila was no longer able to speak, now.
How could this be possible? The man virtual-novel.net hated so… how could virtual-novel.net be… Did this mean all those guys back there had truly been summoned here by him?
“Alright, alright… it’s just a phone. You guys were only drinking back there—you haven’t had anything to eat… How about I treat you all to some French cuisine?” Gerald attempted to change the topic with everything at his disposal.
“Oh, that sounds good! I’m famished—and I’ve never had a thousand-dollar French banquet before! Hahaha! This will be your treat, Gerald!”