Chapter 10: French Cuisine or Big Meat Buns?
Elias's scrutiny is calm and precise, yet it contains the meticulousness of a connoisseur and the love of an investor for a promising product.
Her skin wasn't a pure ivory white, but rather a warmer, creamy texture. Her cheeks and forehead had a perfect, unblemished natural fullness, a testament to the care she had received from her parents.
Her eyebrows were naturally thick and gracefully arched, tapering sharply at the ends, exuding an air of arrogance. Her most striking feature was her pair of black eyes, full almond-shaped with a slight upturn at the corners, their irises a pure ebony black that shone exceptionally bright when she was focused on her work.
Elias rarely appreciated Eastern women, or rather, he had never been in contact with any Eastern women.
Asian women in New York City are used to dyeing their black hair blonde, but the girl in front of me didn't.
Black hair is so noble; Van der Berg's ancestors had black hair, and Elias acquired golden hair through generations of intermarriage.
But he has always preferred this pure black.
Her thick, long black hair had clearly been meticulously cared for.
He began to admire her facial bone structure, which was equally perfect; it was a classic heart-shaped face.
Wynne is a beautiful young lady.
“For the luncheon at Sutton College, I recommend TW-04,” Yuan Ning said, pulling up Elias’s wardrobe code book. “That dark blue three-piece suit, with its wool fabric and classic peak lapel, is perfect for the occasion.”
He noticed that when she focused on her work, her dark ebony eyes would narrow slightly, and her thick, arched eyebrows would gather together, presenting a charm that combined innocence and charisma.
She was clearly very confident in her taste and her near-perfect GPA.
"For the afternoon meeting, I suggest you forgo the suit jacket and opt for the charcoal gray casual trousers from PT-12, paired with the dark blue turtleneck cashmere sweater from KN-11."
Elias could quickly recall which code Yuan Ning was referring to without needing to consult it.
His new dress consultant gave him a bold suggestion, and Elias's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. In Wall Street in 2000, giving up a suit jacket and tie was almost tantamount to giving up authority.
Yuan Ning turned the computer screen toward him: "To me, a turtleneck represents minimalism, a sense of technology, and intelligence. And," she leaned forward slightly, her bright black eyes sparkling, "the fact that you wear it is itself a sign of confidence, indicating that you no longer need to rely on a sharply tailored suit to emphasize your authority."
Elias gazed at her silently. He watched as her beautifully shaped lips articulated her point of view clearly and powerfully. Her lips were the classic Cupid's bow, naturally upturned at the corners, rose-colored, and appeared soft and full.
Elias might have refused. To be honest, he couldn't fully trust his dress consultant. The reason she was called a consultant was simply to provide him with a reference, not to imply that he would dress exactly according to her suggestions.
He was appreciating her with the eyes of a connoisseur, from her dark eyes to her rose-colored lips, which fostered a sense of indulgence in him.
“The evidence is very convincing. We will proceed with your plan, Ms. Wynne.”
"I will make sure everything goes perfectly." Yuan Ning closed her laptop and nodded gracefully.
She actually had a bolder idea, such as dressing Elias in frameless glasses with gold rims, but that wasn't the right time to bring it up.
As Yuan Ning was preparing to leave the Van der Berg mansion, Theodora reappeared.
"It seems Elias likes you very much."
Yuan Ning turned around, her high heels sinking silently into the soft Persian carpet. She smiled and said, "Of course, I'm very confident in my taste, Theodora."
“We raised Elias from childhood according to the strictest aristocratic etiquette. While this has made him the most gentlemanly man on the East Coast of the United States, it has also given him some out-of-place habits. Wynne, I hope you can get used to him.”
Yuan Ning thought of that man, her smile remained unchanged, but the professional sharpness in her eyes faded, replaced by a docile look.
“What you call ‘out of place’ is precisely what makes the boss so charming.”
Her voice was gentle and soft; when she praised someone, it didn't sound like flattery, but rather like a compliment of favor.
In other words, if a lady praises a gentleman in this way, the gentleman should come forward and thank her for the compliment.
“That’s great that you can get used to him. I guarantee you two will get along very well from now on,” Theodora finally said.
A maid opened the mansion gate for Yuan Ning and asked her to take her time.
"Thank you." Yuan Ning nodded slightly and stepped out of the door that separated the two worlds.
The chill of early winter evening instantly enveloped her, and she subconsciously pulled her coat tighter around her. Unfortunately, Galliano hadn't considered the warmth of the coat when he designed it; the thin silk and wool blend fabric was almost useless in the cold wind.
The obedient mask that had been on her face slipped away quietly, and Yuan Ning's expression turned to one of quiet contemplation.
She was thinking about what to do for dinner tonight.
She didn't have much cash left.
“Elijas, you should ask her if she needs a car to take her home.”
Theodora appeared behind Elias, who turned around from the arched window and gently shook his head: "No, Mother, she wouldn't want anyone to know her address."
Theodora was puzzled, but she didn't press the matter. She trusted her son's gentlemanly manners and never worried that he would fail in his duty to be considerate of ladies.
On her way to the subway station, Yuan Ning remembered that last week she had overheard a Latina girl from her college mentioning a supermarket near her apartment that offered discounts on prepared foods and salads after 8 p.m. She decided to check it out tonight.
The Meng family promised her $500 a month for living expenses, and there were still three days until the first month's payment was due. Yuan Ning had no choice but to look forward to the money arriving, even though she now wanted to ignore it.
She clutched the hard outline of the iBook in the leather case and the folder containing Elias's complete clothing codes.
This is a truly absurd sense of disconnect.
She wrapped herself in a gray coat in a secluded spot and walked quickly toward the subway station. Standing there, she was different from the other poor people rushing by; there was no confusion on her face, she had a clear purpose.
The cold wind swept across her bare calves, but she felt no stinging pain, only an increasingly determined resolve.
Female celebrities use ice packs on their calves to achieve a slimming effect, so let's just assume she's doing the same thing now.
Sitting on the subway to Williamsburg, surrounded by the strong smell of fast food and tired faces, she pulled herself closer and closed her eyes to rest.
She used to have to go to lunch with Emily and the others from Monday to Friday, but now she can make an excuse to work for Elias and not go to lunch with them.
She could easily sell that classic black and gold Chanel handbag, which had slipped through the cracks, to a secondhand dealer; that would be enough to cover her living expenses for six months. But if she sold it, she wouldn't have a single presentable handbag left.
Thinking of this, Yuan Ning's ambition was suddenly dampened.
It's absurd that a girl who can't even afford to eat spends all her time dreaming about the fashion world and the pursuit of fame and fortune. If she didn't insist on such pursuits, she could have lived a "good" life, without Chanel or French cuisine, but with an endless supply of meat buns.
What she should do now is not to act tough, but to go back to China, actually see her father, and see if he can give her a larger share of the inheritance. Any normal person would do that.
But she thought that not only should she not go back to beg the Meng family, she should also rely on herself and live a hundred times better than she did in the Meng family.
She hated that man's shamelessness and heartlessness, and refused to go back to beg him.
She should not let people think that she, as an illegitimate child, is so shameful.
Sometimes she really wonders about herself, where does her confidence come from?
The beautiful faces reflected in the dark windows of the New York City subway seem out of place in this place.
Life is truly a series of ups and downs, a blur of confusion, and you never know when things will turn around.
At 8 p.m., Yuan Ning arrived at the supermarket where she had heard there would be a discount.
With a clear goal in mind, she headed straight for the deli and salad counter. Sure enough, boxes labeled with a yellow 50% off discount tag were piled together, priced at half the daytime price.
Her eyes lit up with excitement. For the first time, she realized that the cost of living could be reduced to an almost unimaginable level according to the lifestyle of the poor. This gave her some confidence, and she firmly believed that as long as she could survive in New York City, things would get better one day.
She quickly scanned the plastic boxes, then picked up a mixed vegetable salad and carefully examined the edges of the lettuce leaves to see if they were yellowed or wilted.
In the end, she chose the two best-looking boxes: a quinoa salad and grilled salmon chunks. The total price was only $3.50, lower than her initial budget of $5 for dinner, a discovery that eased her mind considerably.
It's great that I can enjoy relatively fresh and healthy food at such a low cost.
The only bad thing was... she went to pay for her food and bumped into the two Latina girls.
It took the other party some time to confirm that she was indeed Wynne, the Wynne that "campus prince" Jasper was pursuing!
No way, what's Wynne doing here, holding a discounted salad??
The other person stared in surprise at the discounted salad in Yuan Ning's hand, but Yuan Ning didn't have time to hide it.
In that instant, countless possible solutions and their consequences flashed through her mind...
"Wynne? What are you doing here?"
“My cat loves to eat this, I just can’t do anything about it.” Yuan Ning blinked, revealing a charming and innocent expression.
The Latina girl's gaze fell on the yellow discount tag on her salad box. Yuan Ning was dismayed to find that next to these discounted salads, there was a box of regular-priced salads that looked perhaps a little fresher, but were essentially the same thing.
Yuan Ning immediately put down the box with the yellow label in surprise, as if it were something dirty, and picked up the box with the original price instead.
She smiled at her two female classmates, holding the salad at full price, and said, "I'll go pay now."
Wynne never buys discounted items, even though the two boxes were exactly the same, even made at the same time.
When it came time to pay, Yuan Ning felt a pang of heartache, but this pretense was something she had to put on.
It wasn't until she was walking back that she realized she was wearing the gray coat she had designated for the slums, the gray coat that would allow her to blend completely into Williamsburg and the subway station...
A note from the author:
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