It was 100 degrees during freshman orientation, so I paid out of pocket to treat the whole class to boba tea. The scholarship student my brother sponsors immediately lost it. "I know your family is rich, but that's your brother's hard-earned money. What right do you have to waste it?" With that, she slapped the drink out of my hand, spilling it everywhere. "I'll let it slide this time, but if it happens again, I'll teach you how to be frugal on your brother's behalf!" I looked at the spilled boba, then slapped her right back. "From today on, my family stops sponsoring you!" "You like being frugal, right? Go ahead and be frugal on your own dime!" 1 The drill instructor had just dismissed us. I immediately rounded up a few guys to help carry boba tea from the shop across the street. The weather had been brutal lately. Several students in our formation had already passed out from heatstroke. So, I decided to treat everyone. Honestly, I mostly just wanted one myself. But drinking alone felt rude. Plus, my brother had specifically told me to make friends at college, so I figured this was a perfect opportunity. Also, the boba shop across from campus? My brother invested in it. Since I love boba but he hates all the additives in most places, he had his secretary open a "healthy" shop right there just for me. It was family-owned, safe, and delicious. After the guys brought the drinks over, I started handing them out. First dibs went to the guys who helped carry them. But as I started passing them to the rest of the formation, a cold sneer cut through the air. "Buying drinks just to seek male validation? Pathetic." I frowned, looking for the source. But with so many people crowding around, I couldn't pinpoint who said it. I sighed. Whatever. Haters gonna hate. After the small interruption, I continued handing out drinks. Everyone was thrilled. "Vivian, you're an angel!" "Vivian for President! I'm following you for the next four years!" I laughed and joked with them. Suddenly, that sarcastic voice rang out again. "College students? Please. You're just a bunch of shallow simps who can be bought with a drink." This time, before I could even get mad, my classmates snapped back. "Calling us simps? What are you? Hiding in the crowd like a coward. Come say it to my face!" "Exactly! Vivian saw we were dying in the heat and bought drinks out of kindness. What's your problem? Stop acting morally superior while getting a free drink!" I stood awkwardly by the boxes. I remembered my brother's warning: "Vivian, make friends, but don't stand out too much. People get jealous. Sometimes doing good deeds gets you punished." He was right. The diversity of human stupidity never ceases to amaze me. I patiently addressed the unknown voice. "I'm not trying to buy anyone. I genuinely want to be friends, and it's incredibly hot today. This is just a sincere gesture." As soon as the words left my mouth, the person laughed louder. "Sincere?" "Spending your parents' hard-earned money to show off? You call that sincere?" A thin girl stepped out of the crowd. She walked straight up to me and slapped the drink out of my hand. 2 The cup hit the ground and cracked open. Caramel-colored milk tea splashed all over the rubber track and my camouflage uniform. Sticky. Gross. I was stunned. It happened so fast. "Vivian, I know your family is rich, but that money comes from your parents' blood and sweat. What right do you have to enjoy it without working, to waste it like this?" "I hate princess-syndrome girls like you who enjoy unearned blessings!" "Orientation is meant to build willpower! But you? Disrupting discipline! Dragging everyone into your gluttony! Don't you think you're just grandstanding?" "Sincere? You just want to flex!" With that, she kicked over the remaining boxes of boba. Then, she pulled a piece of paper from her bag. It had the counselor's signature. "The counselor is sick and can't come in. She appointed me as the temporary class monitor." "From today on, everyone in this formation listens to me." "No one is allowed to drink Vivian's boba!" "If you do, I'll report you for disrupting orientation!" The whole formation was stunned. Everyone stared at the spilled drinks with heartbreak in their eyes. But the girl was deep in her own world. She even started introducing herself. Her name was Sarah. She was a scholarship student from a remote mountain village. She had suffered a lot, so she despised people like us who spent money like water. "You guys can't handle a little heat? Farmers back home work in 104-degree weather all day! You don't see them drinking boba!" "If schools produce pleasure-seekers like you, this country is doomed!" "I can't control others, but since I'm the monitor, I'm taking responsibility! I won't let this culture of extravagance infect our class!" "Vivian, you started this. Go write a 5,000-word self-reflection essay. And however much you spent on these drinks, pay that amount into the class fund." "You like showing off? That money will cover everyone's water for the week. I will personally ration out water bottles to everyone!" Sarah's speech left everyone speechless. I bought some drinks, and she escalated it to the downfall of the nation. The moral kidnapping was too strong. The guys who took drinks silently put them back. Everyone returned to their spots. I turned to go back too. As I passed her, our eyes met. Instantly, I remembered a photo. It was an ID photo in a file on my brother's desk. He had mentioned it specifically. "Vivian, this girl got into the same university and major as you. I'm planning to sponsor her. Once school starts, I'll ask her to look out for you." So, Sarah is the girl my brother sponsors? 3 At lunch in the cafeteria, I sat with my roommate, Quinn. Quinn pouted, complaining about the morning's disaster. "I swear, you were just being nice! What is Sarah's problem?" "Acting like a dictator just because she's 'temporary monitor.' Holding a chicken feather like it's an arrow of authority. Who knows if she'll even keep the position?" "So annoying! My boba!" Quinn tilted her head back, pretending to cry. I stuffed a piece of sweet and sour pork into her mouth. "Okay, okay, I'll treat you next time." "Maybe she's just really straightforward. Different backgrounds, you know? We can't empathize, so let's just avoid her." While talking, my chopsticks slipped, and a piece of pork fell onto the table. Quinn and I looked at each other. "Three-second rule!" Just as Quinn was about to pick it up to wash and eat, Sarah appeared. She slammed her tray onto our table. CLANG! It attracted stares from the entire line. Quinn and I looked at her, confused. Sarah started her lecture. "Vivian, was my speech this morning not clear enough?" "Do you think having money makes you exempt? Do you know how much effort goes into raising a pig? Farmers work day and night for us to have food, and you throw away perfectly good meat just because it has a little fat? Are you human? Do you deserve to be here?" I take back what I said about her being straightforward. She's mentally ill. Why does she hallucinate so much? I stood up. I wasn't having it. "First, we didn't throw it away because of fat. We dropped it by accident and were about to wash it and eat it. You're the one who started screaming." "Second, I may not know farm life, but I know not to waste food! Unlike you, who kicked over 35 cups of boba this morning. Do the staff who made those not count as workers? Is their labor free for you to trample?" "Finally, you spilled rice when you slammed your tray down. Since you're so frugal, please pick it up and eat it!" Quinn immediately washed the dropped pork and ate it. Chew chew chew. She swallowed and pointed at the rice grains on the floor, raising an eyebrow at Sarah. "I ate mine. I didn't waste food." "Your turn." 4 Sarah's eyes turned red instantly. She swept her arm across the table, knocking all our trays onto the floor. Grease splattered everywhere. Quinn and I were covered in sticky oil stains. Sarah looked at our mess with a sneer in her eyes. But when she spoke, she went full victim mode. "Vivian, Quinn, don't go too far!" "You wasted food first! So what if I said something? I know you rich people look down on us poor people, but do you have to humiliate me in public?" I laughed out loud. We didn't actually expect her to eat off the floor. We just wanted to vent. But she kept morally hijacking the conversation. She constantly tried to create class conflict. We are all students. We are equals. Who walks around broadcasting their background like her? Is being born rich a crime? Even a saint couldn't handle her constant attacks. "How did we humiliate you? You're the one screaming about waste! Quinn ate the pork, she didn't waste anything. But when it's your turn, your principles suddenly don't apply?" "Sarah, I wasn't going to make a big deal about this morning. But since you insist on pestering me... sorry." "This morning, you destroyed 35 cups of boba. At $5 a cup, that's $175. Plus my shoes, $1,500. They're covered in grease because of you. I won't make you buy new ones, just pay the cleaning fee. My usual place charges minimum $50. I'll round down. You owe me $200." Since she insists I'm a spoiled princess, I'll act like one. Quinn followed my lead. "Oh right. Me too. My shoes aren't as expensive as Vivian's, but they aren't cheap. Cleaning fee: $30." If I recall correctly, my brother sent Sarah her first month's stipend. He gives her $300 a month. Given her frugal nature, she should still have plenty left. It was enough. Of course, I was doing this to get my family's money back. Since she's so noble and loves suffering, she doesn't need our sponsorship. I don't have many virtues. But I love helping people achieve their dreams. Sarah loves hardship? I won't stand in her way! I looked at Sarah and used her own weapon against her. "A class monitor should lead by example. You wouldn't renege on a debt, would you?" The surrounding students started chiming in. "Yeah, monitor! Set an example!" "Poor but proud, right? Does that stop when you have to pay up?" "Exactly! Vivian and Quinn's money didn't fall from the sky. You destroyed the drinks and ruined their clothes. That's all money. If you don't pay, they should call the cops." Under the pressure, Sarah was speechless. She took out her phone and, wincing in pain, transferred the money to us. I smiled at the notification. I raised my phone to the crowd. "I'm buying boba for everyone this afternoon!"
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