Soon, Zara and the others surrounded Alex with mocking smiles on their faces.
The group chatted amongst themselves.
"This kid has quite a business head. He knows that the people who come here are all white-collar workers, so he'll be able to get some money here."
"He seems to have asked for two dollars just now. Two dollars for one person. That's not a small amount. Alex, tell me—how much money do you have now?"
The group continued with the insults. They all treated Alex like he was a beggar.
Zara looked at Alex, who was picking up some money that someone had dropped on the floor and thought, I didn't misjudge Alex. He's been getting worse and worse these days. He's even thought of asking for money this way!
Thinking of the conspiracy between her and her cousin, the corner of Zara's mouth curled up into a cold smile.
If my cousin fell in love with this kind of loser, it would give Robert Miller a huge shock! This way, Robert will pursue my cousin more actively, she thought.
"Alex—that's enough. I'll give you ten bucks. You can pack up your stall for today and come back tomorrow to ask for more money." Zara asked for ten dollars from the boy next to her and passed it to Alex.
Alex accepted it without thinking, but he was cursing on the inside, I have over a billion dollars. How could I possibly ask for money from someone else? Is the universe just joking with me?
However, Alex didn't have any intention of leaving after taking Zara's money.
"Why aren't you leaving? Was that not enough money for you?" Zara looked at Alex angrily.
Alex wanted to leave, but his car was still parked there.
If they saw him drive a Mercedes Benz, it would be a huge problem for him. His identity as a super-rich kid might be exposed. This was not something Alex was willing to do.
"Get lost!" Zara was so angry that she kicked Alex in the butt.
Zara was used to commanding Alex around and didn't take him seriously at all.
Would she dare speak to me like that if she knew that I had more than a billion dollars in assets? he wondered.
Alex was too lazy to bother with Zara.
Just when Alex wanted to leave, another person walked over from the roadside. It was Rachael O'Connor, whom he had seen at the practice field before.
"Alex, you came as well," Rachael greeted him with a smile.
"Yes," Alex nodded.
"Oh, Rachael. You're here." Stated Dean Marshall, who was on the basketball team. He looked at Rachael with a silly smile.
Rachael acted as though she didn't hear him and completely ignored him.
Rachael and Zara had eaten together these past few days, and Dean had shamelessly joined them twice. His frivolous manner had disgusted Rachael.
This was a huge blow to Dean. Rachael took the initiative to greet Alex but ignored him. Did this mean that he couldn't even compare to Alex? he wondered.
"Rachael—actually his name isn't Alex at all. He just stands here and asks for money," Dean snickered, trying to put down Alex's image.
"Is that so?" Rachael looked affectionately at Alex and said to Zara, "Anyways, Alex is on the cheering squad. Let him eat with us."
Rachael spoke a few words of praise for Alex, and Zara reluctantly agreed to let him eat with them.
Alex didn't reject Rachael's invitation, and he walked into the restaurant with her and the others.
Dean was at the back of the group. He gritted his teeth in anger as he watched Alex and Rachael walking in front of him.
As they entered the restaurant, there were already quite a few people around. Seated in the middle was a tall, large boy with permed hair who was dressed very stylishly, Harry Hamilton. He was the captain of the Preston University basketball team and also Zara's boyfriend.
"Zara, you're here. Sit down and let's see what they have to eat." Harry walked to Zara's side and naturally held her hand. A trace of desire flashed in his eyes.
"Huh?" Harry then noticed Alex and frowned, "Isn't he cheerleading crews' nanny? Why is he here too?"
The basketball team often trained with the cheerleading team, so Harry often saw Alex but never had any dealings with him.
A loser who was only fit to carry stuff for the cheerleading team—what was there to socialize with? thought Harry.
Zara sneakily glanced at Rachael with a hint of complaint in her eyes.
Zara told Harry that she had seen Alex outside asking for money, so she had called him in. If it was annoying, she would ask Alex to go.
"Haha—this guy was asking for money outside. There's no one else but him that would do such a thing," Harry laughed out loud after hearing this, "Never mind—this time it's cheap. Just let him have a free meal."
"Everyone—take a seat. My brother's coming too. Just leave a spot for him," Harry said as everyone started to sit down.
Zara naturally sat together with Harry.
Alex was about to sit down when he heard Zara say, "Alex—take a seat by the door. There's a breeze when the waiter goes in and out. You'll help us block the wind!"
"Right—Zara's idea is pretty good!" agreed one person.
"Alex—sit by the door and block the wind," chimed in another.
Alex didn't care as it was the same no matter where he sat.
But Rachael's face turned red, and she couldn't help but shout, "Aren't you guys going a little too far? We're all friends here—do you need to be so hostile toward Alex?"
The mood turned somewhat awkward.
"We didn't ask him in the first place. He shamelessly followed us," Dean muttered.
Rachael glared at him and stood up from her seat beside Alex.
"Why did you sit over there? If the wind blows, you'll get cold," Dean said with concern.
Rachael completely ignored him.
"Rachael—stop messing around. Come sit beside me," Zara said as she walked to Rachael's side and pulled her to sit beside her.
Alex was deeply touched. He looked at Rachael with gratitude.
The waiter brought out plates and dishes.
At that moment, the room's door was pushed open once again.
"Hello everyone!" A smartly-dressed young man came in.
"Howard, you're finally here!" Harry walked up to his brother, Howard Hamilton, and hugged him. "Let me introduce you to everyone. Everyone—this is my good brother Howard. He went to Switzerland after graduating from high school and has been getting over jet lag the past few days."
When Harry made the introductions, he looked at Rachael for a long time as if he was introducing her.
"You can sit here," Rachael suggested. Harry and Howard walked to Rachael's side and gestured for the others to give up their seats.
Howard sat beside Rachael, giving her a good look up and down. He could not help but feel nervous.
Rachael was beautiful, with a white face, thin lips, and ample chest.
The previous night, Howard asked Harry to introduce him to a beautiful girl. The photo that Harry sent him was Rachael's. As a result, he didn't sleep well.
Howard tried to strike up a conversation with Rachael. He subtly tried to reveal his family's power to Rachael. He thought that this would help win her over.
But Rachael ignored him, and it made him even angrier when she paid attention to Alex, who was sitting by the door.
That kid looks so cheap. Why would he get this gorgeous girl's attention? Howard thought.
"Harry, you haven't introduced that guy to me," Howard whispered as he pointed his fork at Alex.
"Oh—he's the babysitter of the cheerleading squad. He was just at the entrance asking for money," said Harry with an evil smile.
"Look at him dressed as a beggar—he's not like us at all. We didn't ask him to come—he only came because Rachael pitied him. It was lucky for him to come with us; otherwise, he never would have been able to come here." Dean took the opportunity to step on Alex's leg.
"Begging?" Howard showed a very surprised expression and said, "He's already into begging, but he hasn't even tried to work hard. Sigh, this kind of guy is not ambitious—in the real world he's just a walking corpse—there's no saving him."
"Exactly—that's all he'll ever be," the others agreed.
Alex wasn't really angry, but he did feel it was ridiculous as he thought to himself, I'm a super-rich person—you guys aren't even fit to carry my shoes—but now you're shamelessly making fun of me.
"Let's not talk about this trash anymore," Harry continued, "Oh right—Howard—why are you so slow today?"
"Isn't this good timing for dad to buy me a new car? I just randomly picked out a car from the lot before coming over," Howard said casually.
"You bought a car!" Harry glanced at Rachael and said, "Tell me—what kind of car did you buy?"
"It's not a good car—it's only an E-class Mercedes. I'll drive it for a couple of years, then get a better one when I get married," Howard said.
The friends chatted with each other.
"Heh—Howard is awesome—he's already over E class! He doesn't even think it's a good car."
"To some, it might be a good car—but who is big Howard? He's been making a splash!"
The others started to clap their hands. From the looks of it, Xie Ning was richer than Harry. They followed Harry's lead to adore Howard even more.
When the group urged him to go see his car, Howard happily agreed. This was a good opportunity to try and impress Rachael.
The group got up and walked out to the restaurant's entrance. Howard was the centre of attention.
"Everyone wait—I'll drive out right now and take you guys to karaoke," Howard said as he jingled the car keys in his hand.
"Doesn't the parking attendant have the car key?" A question came up from the crowd and the others turned to all look at Alex. Alex had asked himself this question quietly, so he wasn't expecting everyone else to hear it. He felt rather awkward at that moment.
Howard looked at Alex with an unfriendly gaze and sneered, "Idiot—do you think any random parking attendant will park it for you? Look at this place—it costs a ton of money to park here!"
Howard felt that very few customers would pay to park their cars, so he didn't feel embarrassed at all.
"That's right. When I drove here, there was no one to park my car for me anyways. If you don't understand, then don't speak!" Harry said to Alex. "Ignore him—he's just a fool who's never seen the world before. Yo bro, hurry up and drive!"
"Hmph—ignorant!" Howard cursed as he chatted, laughed with Harry, and walked to the car.
The others stayed at the entrance to wait for them, but, five minutes later, Zara called Harry before they could even get out of the car.
"Hey—why isn't he out yet?"
"Hey—my idiot brother—he dented some guy's G Mercedes," Harry whispered into his phone as he walked away from Howard in the parking lot.