Chapter 3: Paying the Phone Bill (Part 1)
“Hello, I’m President Jiang’s assistant. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I…” Jiang Bao’s words were stuck in her throat.
She paused for a while and said, “Can you give the phone to President Jiang? I’m… his sister’s friend. There’s a very important matter I would like to discuss with him.”
“Is that so? Please tell me your name and I will pass it on,” the man replied flatly.
“My name is Lin Can.”
Jiang Bao was irritated. She couldn’t explain herself clearly with just a few words… it would be difficult to gain his trust this way, too.
Unsurprisingly, the other side hung up after two seconds.
Alva put the phone away. He often received similar calls, without a clue of where these people got his number from. Some were asking for investment funds, while others were begging for mercy to let them off the hook.
He then quickly put the phone call from China in the back of his mind.
Jiang Bao stared at the phone screen.
She couldn’t log in to Facebook in China… but she could still contact Second Brother via Skype!
The phone didn’t have this application, so she had to download it.
When the download progress reached 89%, it suddenly stopped.
It took Jiang Bao a long time to figure out the reason, and when she finally understood… the phone bill was out of credit and had stopped working.
This was because she used internet data to download the app.
The Mobile Service Provider had sent a message to inform her of her debt amounting to 23 yuan, but all she had on her right now was only 14 yuan.
Jiang Bao was at a loss about what to do.
She never thought there would be a day when she would fall into such a predicament.
This body had not eaten for many days straight and had been relying on IV drips to sustain the nutrients needed.
Now, she was famished.
Jiang Bao walked forward along the small path, the sky getting dark. She didn’t know where she was supposed to go.
Would she need to sleep on the streets tonight?
When Jiang Bao passed by the Internet cafe, she stopped in her tracks.
She had no ID, and she was currently underaged. She also didn’t have enough money on her, so she could only dismiss the idea of going into the Internet cafe.
Jiang Bao started pondering.
If she was Lin Can, where would she go now?
Of course! Lin Can is still a high school student! She normally lives in the school dorm!
Jiang Bao picked herself up. At least she had a place to stay tonight. She asked a passerby on the way to Ning City’s Fourth High and took two bus transfers.
40 minutes later, she had arrived at the school entrance.
Jiang Bao had just gotten down from the bus when she saw someone selling jianbing[1] on the roadside.
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The aroma was tempting.
She was so hungry right now that she felt like she was stepping on air. She immediately took out some money and bought one.
Unexpectedly, the taste wasn’t so bad.
Jiang Bao didn’t wear the school uniform, but the security officer recognized her. So, she entered the school without hassle.
Ning City’s Fourth High was a private high school. The physical conditions[2] were quite good, and the enrollment rate was 15%.
Lin Can had good grades during middle school. She got in by her own efforts, passing the entrance exam.
After turning around the corner, she arrived in front of the girls’ dormitory.
Jiang Bao stopped in her tracks.
She didn’t know which building and on which floor Lin Can lived.
Lin Can’s phone didn’t have any contacts saved either. Seemingly an act of defiance against the world, she didn’t take the initiative to contact anyone.
Jiang Bao was unsure about what to do when she suddenly heard a burst of laughter coming from behind her.
“Wow, the big star is back, huh?”
“Haha, she’s got guts. She skips even more classes than us.”
“She’s so full of herself. The people in room 402 despise her a lot.”
Jiang Bao turned her head and saw several people standing behind her, both boys and girls. They cast a nasty gaze toward her.
Lin Can had severe depression and PTSD. Her symptoms worsened when she was in high school.
The Lin family treated Lin Can as a cash cow and often made her take time off from school to go to work, which resulted in countless missed classes.
There was always a reason that someone got bullied in school. But this reason did not mean it was a sin someone else should bear.
Lin Can had grown up in such a bad family environment, her becoming a timid person wasn’t surprising at all.
Once, Lin Can rushed back to school and didn’t have time to change out of the clothes she wore for an event. When she came out from the shower at night, she saw her roommates trying out the dress.
Lin Can was afraid it would tear, which she would have to compensate for, so she gave them a small reminder.
It was then that the other girls started ridiculing her in sarcastic tones. They went around spreading rumors about how her dress was worth more than 10k and they weren’t even allowed to touch it for a bit.
Lin Can was extremely thin. Her body was the rare “size zero figure”. The dress that fit just right for her was something her roommates wouldn’t even be able to squeeze into. But the girl in the lead didn’t seem to think so.
She talked behind her back and told others that Lin Can’s legs couldn’t close completely, not because Lin Can was too thin, but actually because she submitted to the unspoken rules.[3]
Lin Can wasn’t good at arguing with others, so she pretended to be clueless. But the situation had gotten even worse.
Sometimes, once something has happened, ignorance couldn’t erase its existence.
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Footnotes:
[1] Jianbing (煎饼) is a traditional Chinese street food similar to crêpes. Often eaten during breakfast.
[2] 硬件条件: The physical condition meant the school facilities and environment. It can also mean that the school is financially well-off.
[3] 潜规则: In this case, it’s the unspoken/hidden rules of the entertainment industry. Mostly to do the ahem ahem with the ‘big shots’ to get cast for some role or to get better resources. ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(;￣▽￣)┘