After being chosen through a lottery for a full scholarship at an elite prep school, my parents gave me thirty dollars a month for living expenses. The following year, my younger sister tested into the same school. My parents gritted their teeth, sold our house, and bought her a whole new wardrobe. Just so she could have the confidence to make friends there. After she enrolled, my sister saw me neglecting my studies, spending every day running errands for the rich kids. Furious, she accused me: "Mom and Dad work so hard to pay for your schooling, and you're letting them down!" "I will never embarrass them like you do!" I silently glanced at the bank card in my wallet. It held the hundreds of thousands of dollars I had earned at this school. "It's a deal. You must focus on your studies, and whatever you do, don't try to steal my business." 1 Chloe transferred here today. Her school uniform was brand new and pristine. The material was completely different from mine, which I had bought second-hand from a previous scholarship student. Before she transferred, my parents specifically warned me. They said my sister was highly sensitive, unlike me, who had thick skin. So I should try my best not to reveal our relationship. To prevent the other students from viewing her through tinted glasses. So, as I listened to Chloe's impassioned self-introduction, I just glanced up briefly before putting my head back down on my desk to catch up on sleep. The rest of the class ignored her as well. Everyone was doing their own thing. Chloe froze for a few seconds. Realizing the awkwardness, she let out a few dry laughs. Then she walked straight toward the empty seat in the front row. The classroom suddenly fell eerily quiet. As Chloe wished, everyone's gaze was now focused on her. But she seemed completely oblivious. She simply started arranging her things on the desk. It wasn't until the silence became too much even for her that Chloe curiously asked, "What's wrong?" A girl sitting behind her, busy touching up her makeup, gently warned her: "The person who sits there is a lunatic you can't afford to mess with. You'd better find another seat." Hearing this, Chloe's eyes visibly brightened. She turned her head. "I'm here to study hard. I don't care who my desk mate is." "But I care." Liam's figure suddenly appeared in the doorway. He glanced disdainfully at the slightly cute and childish stationery that had suddenly appeared on his desk. He frowned and clicked his tongue. Chloe stiffened her neck and met his gaze. Putting on a fearless front. "But this seat is empty. Isn't it a waste for you to have a double desk all to yourself?" "You don't need to pay attention to my existence. I'll just quietly study and won't say a single word to you. So, don't look at me with that condescending look." Liam let out a cold laugh. "You're talking quite a bit right now." "Three..." He didn't give Chloe any more chances. "Two..." Before Liam's countdown finished, I sighed and resignedly stood up. I walked over to their desk, swiftly packed all of Chloe's things, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her to my seat. My desk was near the back row, and Chloe was clearly unhappy about it. She shook off my hand. And questioned me in a low voice: "I was having a perfectly good conversation with my new classmate, what are you doing?" Saying that, she tried to grab her backpack and return to the front. I slammed my hand down on her bag. "Considering you're my sister, I'm going to stick my nose in your business just this once." "Listen to me. Don't provoke people you shouldn't provoke." I had experienced Liam's foul temper firsthand. He hated anyone getting close to him. He didn't give face to anyone. Everyone kept their distance from this untouchable god. Even I wouldn't take any commissions related to Liam. Hearing this, an inexplicable confidence appeared in Chloe's eyes. "That's just because you guys don't have what it takes to provoke him." My eyelid immediately twitched. It seems you really should mind your own business if you want to protect your sanity. So I let go. I wasn't going to stop her from hitting a brick wall. Chloe, having gotten her way, grabbed her bag and was about to head back to Liam when she heard him dial a number, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "Bring me a new set of desk and chairs immediately." "Some idiot dirtied mine." Chloe's expression froze, her footsteps halting dead in their tracks. Under the watchful eyes of everyone else, she struggled to turn her head. Gritting her teeth, she reluctantly sat back down next to me. 2 During the first academic class, I almost fell asleep with my eyes open. When I finally made it to the end of the period, Chloe couldn't help but mock me: "It's only the first class and you're already this sleepy. Are you even here to learn?" I slapped my cheeks a few times to wake myself up. "I was busy doing business last night and didn't sleep well, that's all." There was a pair of childhood sweethearts in the upper grades who were destined to be arranged in marriage. They had recently gotten into a huge fight. Neither was willing to be the first to apologize. So I was busy setting up a surprise party for them last night, constantly acting as a mediator and saying good things to both sides. I finally managed to coax the young master and miss into making up. I was so exhausted I felt like I was falling apart. But thankfully, the payout for this job was generous. I was one step closer to my savings goal. But as soon as I finished speaking, Chloe looked at me with an indescribable expression. "You..." "Have you always had so little self-respect?" I was still half-asleep. For a moment, I didn't even understand what she meant. Until she moved her chair slightly further away with a look of disgust. "Don't give me any diseases." I suddenly realized what she meant. I was so speechless I wanted to laugh. I just slapped her on the shoulder. "Well, now you're infected. Guess we'll die together." Seeing her actually panic, I rolled my eyes, packed my things, and got ready to leave. Chloe stopped me, looking surprised. "You're skipping class?" I pulled out my phone. And shoved the class schedule in her face. "There's only one academic class today." "The rest are equestrian and golf." Chloe was confused. "So go to them." I put my phone away. "For equestrian class, you need your own horse and riding gear. For golf, you have to bring your own clubs." "Mom and Dad only give me thirty dollars a month, so I can't afford any of it." Hearing this, Chloe's gaze unnaturally dropped to her brand-new school uniform. 3 This school offers a few spots to the general public every year. They randomly draw from students with outstanding grades, offering them full-tuition scholarships. They're called "scholarship students." During my sophomore year, I was lucky enough to be drawn. When I excitedly shared the good news with my parents, they just looked at me with extreme seriousness. "You're this happy just because of pure luck?" "This lottery system is so flawed. Your sister is smarter and sharper than you. She even skipped a grade in elementary school, and now she's the youngest student in your grade. Based on IQ, they should have picked your sister, not you." "So don't get too arrogant, or you'll fall even harder later." They heard that the cafeteria at this school was also free. So they proposed giving me only thirty dollars a month for living expenses. Under the guise of "enduring hardship to become a better person." But when I enrolled, I realized. Tuition was just the cheapest admission ticket. The curriculum at this school was very unique. Academic classes geared toward standard standardized testing made up a very small percentage. Because very few students here take the traditional college entrance exam route. Even if they did, paying top dollar for one-on-one private tutors was the smarter choice. The rest of the classes were mostly electives. From equestrian, baseball, and golf to SAT and TOEFL prep, they had it all. But if you wanted to take the equestrian class, you had to have at least your own horse. The hidden costs behind these classes were something I couldn't bear. I once tried bringing this up with my parents. I had no intention of touching those expensive sports. But the SAT prep was very practical. But they just gave me a cold look. "What kind of background do those people have, and what kind do we have?" "Just stick to your academic classes and behave yourself. Don't think about things you shouldn't think about." "So young, yet already worshipping foreign things." That was the only time. After that, I never mentioned anything about the school to them again. But a few days ago, my sister was drawn as a scholarship student for this year. My parents threw a massive celebratory banquet at a five-star hotel. It was only when the banquet ended and we were heading home that my parents told me. In order to give my sister the confidence to make friends. The moment they got the news, they sold our house. All the money was used to buy my sister a new wardrobe and provide her with living expenses. Now, the three of us had to live in a cramped, rented apartment. Despite this, my parents' tone was still incredibly sweet. "Things are a bit tough now, but once your sister makes something of herself, our whole family will have a good life." Listening to their words, I felt surprisingly calm. I just asked: "What about my room?" They probably didn't expect me to ask that. They froze for a moment. And stammered an explanation. "Since you went to that school, you rarely come home. Plus, you'll be going to college out of town when you graduate, and then you'll find a job and rent your own place. So we didn't factor in a room for you." "You also know that a three-bedroom apartment is much more expensive than a two-bedroom. Given our family's special circumstances right now, you can understand Mom and Dad, right?" I couldn't even cry. My smile was incredibly ugly. "Yeah, I understand." "It's not like I'll ever be coming home again anyway." 4 "...Even if you can't afford it, you can still audit the classes, right? That's no excuse to skip." I didn't expect this sister of mine to understand my situation. But I also didn't expect her to be this stupid. So I let out a cold laugh. "Because I'm someone with no self-respect." "So I'm skipping class to trade my time for money." "What are you going to do about it?" Chloe didn't expect me to admit it so openly. She laughed out of sheer anger. "Whatever. I definitely won't be short-sighted like you, only caring about what's right in front of me." "I will study hard, turn all the students here into my network, and change my life in the future." I silently glanced at the bank card in my wallet. It held the two hundred thousand dollars I had earned at this school. Retaking a year of school or studying abroad—both require a lot of money. I had no one to rely on. I could only rely on myself. But I had no intention of telling her any of this. So I earnestly shook her hand. "It's a deal. You must study hard, and whatever you do, don't try to steal my business." ... I did a beautiful job last night. Mrs. Wang invited me to a café and handed me a check for forty thousand dollars. "My Evie came home and told me she made up with the Zhou family boy." "This is the final payment. Take it." I silently accepted the money. But my gaze landed on the unfamiliar woman sitting next to Mrs. Wang. "I forgot to introduce you. This is Mrs. Sterling. She has a commission for you." Hearing this, I immediately sat up straight. My business covered a wide range. Running errands and doing odd jobs was just for pocket money. The real money-maker was my "Friendship Bonding" business. These rich kids were used to being accommodated and indulged since childhood. But here, everyone was a rich kid. A small conflict could lead to a severed friendship, or worse, affect the relationship between two powerful families. I keenly spotted this blue-ocean market. From best friends to soon-to-be-engaged childhood sweethearts. I could smooth over any relationship. Once successful, I would receive a "thank you fee" from both sets of parents. The amount ranged from six to seven figures. To date, I had a zero-failure rate. There was also an unspoken rule in this circle— When discussing unresolved matters, no third party could be present. After Mrs. Wang grabbed her bag and left, Mrs. Sterling handed me her business card. Black background with gold lettering, a low-key, luxurious "Sterling." Inside and out, it conveyed one message: wealth. She looked very young. And spoke softly. "I have a matter here that's a bit more difficult than smoothing over classmate relations. I wonder if you can take it?" "Please, tell me." "It's my son, Liam..." Hearing that name, I almost choked on my own saliva. "Liam? Which Liam?" Mrs. Sterling smiled but didn't say anything. I realized it was a stupid question. In our school, if you threw a brick, you'd hit a dozen kids named Smith. But Liam Sterling. There really was only one. I gave a dry laugh, just wanting to run away. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Sterling. I really can't take a job related to Liam." I was just about to leave when Mrs. Sterling took a slow sip of her coffee and said, "Name your price." If there are three words in this world that no one can refuse... It's definitely not "I love you." It's "Name your price." I sat back down, completely lacking any backbone. "What are your instructions, Ma'am?" Mrs. Sterling said she used to do business abroad with her husband. She basically let Liam run wild. Now that the business was stable, she wanted to return to family life. Only to find that Liam had turned into a complete demon child. He was moody every day and had absolutely no friends around him. If he didn't always have bodyguards following him, he probably would have been beaten to death by now. So she wanted to hire me to help him improve his relationships with his classmates at school. By any means necessary, just make his life a little smoother. At that moment, I felt that not everything in the world could be solved with money. At least, getting Liam good popularity couldn't. Seeing my hesitation, Mrs. Sterling added: "I can also offer you an additional condition. Whatever you want, you just name it." But then again... Even the worst person has the right to make friends, right? I immediately nodded. And held up two fingers. "Sure. Two hundred thousand." That was the sum total of everything I had earned so far. Mrs. Sterling blinked at me. And suddenly sighed in relief. "You scared me to death. I thought you meant two hundred million. I would have actually had to discuss that with my husband." As if afraid I would go back on my word, she quickly pulled out a check and paid me in full. Before leaving, she smiled brightly and genuinely. "Ms. Sarah, thank you so much." I looked at the check in my hand and fell silent. ... Did I ask for too little?
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