Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Thank you for your cooperation, ma’am. Next, we have one more special performance-one I dedicate to Miss Q.
“I spent an entire year carefully preparing this gift. Miss Q, please come up to the stage.”
Yamada made an inviting gesture, and the whole room erupted. Everyone clapped in excitement. Beside me, Sōta even rose onto his tiptoes, craning his neck as he looked around.
“Oh my God, the mysterious Miss Q is finally going to appear!”
The audience began buzzing with eager discussion.
“I heard she turned them down for three years in a row. This time, she finally agreed to join the cruise.”
“I came just for her. I really want to see what kind of incredible woman this mysterious lady is.”
“Rumor has it she’s from the Song Family-the family of the richest man.”
“Impossible. The Song Family’s cash flow is only so-so. They don’t have that kind of capital.”
Everyone was in heated discussion. Hua Yuling looked curious.
“Who’s Miss Q?”
“Tch. You don’t even know Miss Q? Then what are you doing on this ship?”
“Exactly. If you came here to snag a rich man, at least keep your head down. Acting cute by pretending to be ignorant? Disgusting.”
Several women in the front row turned around and shot us vicious glares.
Even Sōta curled his lip in faint disdain and shifted a little farther away from Hua Yuling.
“Miss Q is the person who has donated the most to the Shangshan Association over the past few years.”
“In just three short years, she donated 3.7 billion in cash!”
“You have to understand, most wealthy donors use donations to legally reduce their taxes, but Miss Q is different. She pays real money out of her own pocket. She won’t even leave her name, and she’s never used the media to promote herself.
“Only people inside the Shangshan Association know anything about her. That kind of noble character is truly admirable.”
“Exactly. A lot of rich people also have charitable foundations under their names. On the surface, they’re doing charity, but in reality, they’re using those foundations to launder money. Someone like her, who hands all the charitable funds over to the Shangshan Association and takes no benefits for herself, is incredibly rare.”
“Right? I wonder which great family she’s from. I really want to meet her.”
Everyone chimed in, one after another, praising Miss Q to the heavens.
Feeling awkward, I brushed my bangs aside, hiding my achievements and fame.
“Well, she’s really not all that. She’s just an ordinary person.”
“Ordinary person?!”
The girl in the front row could not take it anymore and let out a shriek.
“You call someone who donated 3.7 billion an ordinary person? Then what are you?”
“Exactly. Forget 3.7 billion-you probably couldn’t even come up with 370,000. Look at the bag you’re carrying. Tch. Is it even worth 370?”
I was just about to speak when Hua Yuling reached out and stopped me.
“No. Her bag is only worth twenty-eight yuan. I even helped her get a discount on Pinduoduo.”
Everyone froze for a second. Then Hua Yuling pinched the hem of my T-shirt between her fingers.
“Shirt, sixty-nine. Sweatpants, thirty-nine. Her shoes are the most expensive at a hundred and eight.
“Everything she’s wearing put together doesn’t even add up to three hundred yuan. Compared to all of you, she really is an ordinary person.
“Because she has to save her money for more important things.”
The crowd went silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Pfft-hahahaha-what more important things? Did she spend all her money on the ticket?”
“Exactly. Looking that broke, and she still wants to snag a rich man?”
“Right? Did you see her eating caviar just now? She scooped up a huge spoonful, swallowed it in one bite, then spat it right out. I nearly died laughing.”
Amid everyone’s mockery, Hua Yuling’s eyes reddened. She gripped my hand tightly.
“Yes, she’s never eaten caviar before. She barely even gets to eat meat. At the university cafeteria, she only orders two yuan’s worth of vegetables every meal. So what? Does that mean she doesn’t deserve to have dreams?”
Huh? I have two meat dishes with every meal. Hua Yuling was getting more and more ridiculous.
“What dreams? Dreams of being a gold digger and snagging a rich man?”
“Exactly. How did someone like her even get on board? Can the foundation stop selling tickets next year? I seriously can’t stand this!”
Amid the crowd’s jeers, an old man with graying hair finally came through the crowd with a cane, trembling as he walked toward us.
“All of you, shut your mouths!”