“Two…two million?!”
Shi Jiayi screamed in surprise, and the silver fork in her hand that was used to cut meat hit the edge of the porcelain plate with a clang and almost slipped out of her hand.
This number exploded in her mind like a ball of boiling lava! Her family was poor: her father worked odd jobs at the docks, and her mother sold fish at the Yau Ma Tei market.
My mother gets up early and works late to look after the fish stall, enduring the fishy smell and the stuffy heat. Her hands are red, swollen and rough from being soaked in ice water all year round. She works hard every day but can't earn more than 30 or 40 Hong Kong dollars.
Her father's shoulders were scabby from carrying heavy bags, and he earned just over HK$50 a day. The family lived in a cramped tenement building in Sham Shui Po. Her parents scrimped and saved to support her education, and the family's monthly living expenses... probably didn't even reach HK$2,000!
Two million? How many bags would her father have to carry? How many years would her mother have to sell fish? It was an astronomical figure she couldn't even imagine, an astronomical figure she couldn't even reach in her lifetime!
In this one meal, she had swallowed up a huge sum of money, enough to change the fate of hundreds of low-income families like hers! The huge shock made her face pale slightly, and her heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand. She almost forgot to breathe.
Yu Qixia, who was sitting next to Shi Jiayi, had her chin, which was usually slightly raised, stiffen instantly after the initial exclamation.
She tried hard to maintain a calm smile that showed she had seen the world, but now it was like a shattered mask that was difficult to put back together. She was born in Kowloon Walled City. Her father ran a small tailor shop and her mother worked as a laundry worker. They lived a tight life.
Her biggest wish in participating in the Miss Hong Kong pageant was to change her fate. But hearing the cost of this meal, especially the phrase "a glass of wine cost three thousand Hong Kong dollars," completely shattered her understanding!
Three thousand Hong Kong dollars! The profits from my father's painstaking efforts to make a dozen high-end suits? Months of carefully saved savings for my family? And here, it was barely enough to buy a thin sip of red liquid in a goblet?
The confidence that I had pretended to have in "knowing how to enjoy life" disappeared in an instant, leaving only embarrassment and powerlessness as if I was torn apart by the stark contrast between the reality of poverty and the extreme luxury in front of me.
The knuckles of her fingers gripping the wine glass were slightly stiff, fearing that if she exerted even a little force she would crush this precious object, which was worth several months' income for her father.
Zhu Lingling's fingers gripping the wine glass tightened at that moment. The cold touch of the glass couldn't dispel the turmoil in her heart.
Her family background is considered good among the beauties. Her father is a returned Chinese from Myanmar who runs a small business. She believes that she has seen money from her father.
Yet, the figure of two million Hong Kong dollars was like a hammer, shattering her fixed understanding. Perhaps the family fortune her father had worked so hard to build over half his life was just this? And this was just the value of a single meal?
The tranquility and composure that she had cultivated since childhood was severely torn apart, and for the first time she felt so directly what the real "difference between heaven and earth" meant.
She lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes covering the violent vibrations deep in her pupils. She felt that the liquid in her hand, which was worth thousands of Hong Kong dollars, was now as heavy as a block of lead.
She wanted to appear as calm as Liu Rumeng, but behind that elegant posture, she couldn't hide the brief dizziness and feeling of weightlessness brought about by her worldview being reshaped.
Lu Ruirong, the quietest of the four, also fell into deep silence at this moment.
She was born into an ordinary working-class family in Hong Kong Island. She was brought up in a strict family. Although not wealthy, she was considered well-off and well-mannered. She originally thought that the extravagant spending of Hong Kong's wealthy businessmen was only on jewelry and real estate.
But when this suffocatingly large number was blatantly linked to a meal, the huge sense of absurdity and the shock of reality still shocked her heart.
The value of this "meal" even far exceeded her understanding of the annual profit of a medium-sized factory!
The vast chasm between rich and poor lay so starkly before her eyes, beyond the scope of her usual calm contemplation. She silently put down her knife and fork and gazed at the exquisite food on the table. For the first time, she felt that this environment, symbolizing the pinnacle of taste and enjoyment, exuded a tremendous, almost cold, tension.
It's not that she doesn't envy him, but the shock brought by this luxury has exceeded the scope of her easy attempt to understand and imitate by "learning to rinse her mouth with red wine". It has become a heavy experience that requires her to recalibrate the yardstick of life.
Meanwhile, Liu Rumeng and Lin Huowang took advantage of a brief pause while a waiter approached to explain the meal details to the four women. Lin Huowang picked up his wine glass, leaned slightly towards Liu Rumeng, and gently touched the wall of his glass against her hand, also holding the glass. He lowered his voice, a hint of helplessness and doting in his eyes. Only the two of them could hear:
"Mengmeng, look, didn't I tell you on the phone yesterday? I'll be able to date you openly soon. But... your 'surprise' is a bit too big, isn't it?" He glanced meaningfully at the other four women, "This is a rare moment for us to be alone... It feels a bit wasted."
Upon hearing this, Liu Rumeng's lips curved gently, and her eyes flashed with heartache and seriousness.
Taking advantage of the moment she raised her glass to drink, she spoke quickly in an almost imperceptible whisper, "How is this a waste? Ah Wang, look at them... I carefully selected them all. What's wrong with them? They are all the most popular beauties this year! I'm starting treatment now, and the doctor said I need to rest. At least... at least I can't have sex for a long time. You're all alone in Hong Kong Island... It must be so uncomfortable. This is Hong Kong Island, and you're Xiaolin Tianwang... This isn't the custom of our mainland. I'm helping you..."
Lin Huowang looked at the genuine persistence and faint uneasiness in her eyes, the worry about not being able to have sex and have children, and his heart felt warm and helpless.
He reached out his hand very naturally and gently pinched the tip of her small, upturned nose, just like a real couple playing around. With a tone that seemed intimate and doting to outsiders, he sighed softly in a voice that only she could hear clearly:
"You... you've only been in Hong Kong for a few months, how come your mind has been corrupted to this extent? I only want you..."
Liu Rumeng's cheeks flushed instantly, her heart a mixture of sweetness and bitterness, more so because of the touch of his kindness and the guilt she felt for not fulfilling her duty. She lowered her eyelashes to hide the complex emotions in her eyes.
at the same time.
In the heavy study of the Huo family mansion, the phone rang suddenly, interrupting Huo Zhenting's meditation as he sipped red wine while gazing at the night view outside the window. The housekeeper knocked on the door and came in, his face looking a little strange, even with a hint of subtle panic:
"Master... TVB is bustling with activity... News just came in. Xiaolin Tianwang... He personally drove to the TVB building and took Miss Liu away."
Huo Zhenting's hand, which was shaking the wine glass, paused slightly, but his face did not show much emotion. He hummed softly, as if he felt that this was something to be expected.
Kobayashi Tianwang had just taken over the Jardine Matheson Group and was in high spirits. With his high-profile and arrogant attitude, how could he hold back and not show off his power at this time and personally go to TVB to invite Liu Rumeng to dinner!
The butler swallowed his saliva, and after raising his voice a few notches, he added, "Not only Miss Liu was picked up by Xiaolin Tianwang, but also four other beauties. The five women got into Xiaolin Tianwang's Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and were reportedly headed to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel..."
…
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