While Donna Walters was full of suspicion about Debbie, Debbie introduced her to Alex.
"Hello, I'm Debbie's friend, Alex," he politely greeted Donna.
"Hello, Debbie and I are from the same town," Donna said. She didn't like talking to this guy, but she still didn't know his background. If Alex was a rich man, wouldn't she regret ignoring him?
"Alex, what does your family do?" Donna asked with a smile. She wanted to get to the bottom of his situation as quickly as possible.
Just when Alex was wondering how to reply, an arrogant voice sounded.
"Donna, you don't need to talk to him. It'll only waste your time," said a domineering man with a golden chain around his neck. He walked up to Donna and hugged her waist before patting her on the butt.
Alex's eyes narrowed when he saw the man. The person who had walked up to Donna was none other than their hedonistic classmate, Darren Rogers. The last time they had been in contact had been in Minnie Jones's live stream room.
"Darling, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you," Donna said flirtatiously before looking at Alex. "Darling, do you know this student?"
"Of course, I know him. He's the one I've always told you about. The poorest person in our class is famous in the entire department!" Darren exclaimed.
"When he's not studying, he spends the rest of his time either working in the cafeteria or the convenience store. As long as you give him money, he'll keep working, no matter how dirty or smelly he is." Donna couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. She held her stomach and pointed at Alex, "Don't say it—look at his clothes—they said he was a beggar on the street. I don't doubt that at all!"
"Donna, you're right. I heard that this guy recently begged for money in the city. Tsk—a university student who can swallow his pride and ask others for money has no dignity," Darren agreed.
"But today, he bought a set of clothes for Debbie at Autumn Beauty Boutique. Darling, when the time comes, take me there to buy some as well," Donna said sweetly.
"How could a poor loser like him—who only knows how to work, study, and eat—afford to buy clothes at that boutique?" Darren didn't believe it at all, but, after seeing that Debbie's hand was indeed holding onto an Autumn Beauty Boutique bag, he said, "This guy doesn't have money at all. If he has enough money to buy clothes at that boutique, then there's only one possibility—he has the wrong kind of money! It has to be stolen. Oh… right, or it might have been him begging in the city for it!"
"Alex, oh Alex. You're a fool, aren't you? You can hardly afford to buy food for yourself, and even so, you still try to pick up girls," Darren said as he smiled sinisterly.
"So that's how it is!" Donna realized that her mood had become very cheerful.
"Debbie, did you hear what my boyfriend said? He stole all the money he used to buy your clothes. It's not his own money at all! Do you dare to accept this kind of man? Perhaps one day, when he gets tired of playing with you, he will sell you out," Donna said viciously.
Although she and Debbie had gone to the same high school, the two of them only got to know each other later. If it weren't for the fact that they were from the same town, Donna wouldn't even bother to look at Debbie.
Donna was usually the one who was the centre of attention, but, that day, Debbie was wearing a dress that was even more expensive than hers. This threw her off, and, now that she found the chance, she felt that she must properly ridicule her.
"Debbie, I know that your family's situation is bad, and I can understand the urgency in your heart if you want to pull your family out of poverty. But this is ridiculous!" she exclaimed.
Donna continued to say to her, "It's hard for a poor person to work hard and study hard. He always wants to gain wealth by being close to the money. How can this be a good thing?"
Donna leaned towards Debbie and advised, "If you don't have money, don't get used to wearing Autumn Beauty Boutique clothes—just wear the clothes you can afford. That's what suits you. Why are you so conceited? The better your clothes, the more it shows how cheap you are."
Debbie had heard even more malicious words in the past few years. If she were alone, she would have completely endured it. But since Donna scolded Alex, Debbie could not accept this.
Debbie's face turned red from anger. Normally, she wouldn't scold people, but now she was facing the sharp-tongued Donna. Even if she wanted to retort, she couldn't make a scene, and, even if she could say something, she didn't know how to respond.
Alex, who was sitting to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. He was about to teach Donna and Darren a lesson when loud music came from the stage.
As the lights in the restaurant's main hall came on, the host, who was dressed in formal attire, walked onto the stage and began his opening speech, "Guests, good afternoon, and thank you for coming today. We all know why we're here—it's to celebrate the successful conclusion of our school's donation campaign for the poor mountain village. Of course, we will also pay tribute to the donors today to praise their good deeds."
So, this is to recognize the donors, Alex thought to himself. He had casually donated 130 thousand dollars. That amount of money was nothing to him.
After listening to four or five speeches, it was time for the main event.
"Next up—we will reward the donors. Let me first report on the status of this donation to everyone. A total of over 300 thousand dollars was donated! We have ninety people who donated over one hundred dollars, thirty-eight people donated over five hundred dollars, twelve people donated over one thousand dollars, and five people donated over five thousand dollars!" the host exclaimed.
After hearing the host's report, the audience applauded and cheered.
"Some people donated more than five thousand dollars. Our school is awesome!" said one person.
"I only donated five dollars. Compared to these rich kids, I'm too far behind!" said another.
"Me too. I had to add up my living expenses before I managed to take out ten dollars. These people are rich, so five thousand dollars is nothing to them. That's so infuriating!" said yet another.
"Everyone, please calm down. I haven't finished announcing this," said the host. "Other than the aforementioned, there's another person who has contributed over 100 thousand dollars!"
After the host finished speaking, the entire audience was in an uproar. To them, twenty thousand dollars was a huge sum of money, but someone had donated much more than that. Was it a student?
Everyone was enthusiastically discussing this person who had donated such a huge amount. They were certain that it must have been a millionaire, and they all wanted to get a good look at him.
"Darling, how much did you donate?" Donna asked Darren sweetly.
"Not much. Just three hundred and fifty dollars," Darren said casually. He hadn't wanted to donate. With that amount of money, he could have taken a girl out on the town.
It was only because he had committed a crime in the city and had used the money to protect his life that he had been forced to work or do good deeds. So, he had reluctantly donated three hundred and fifty dollars.
"Three hundred and fifty dollars is not a small amount. You already rank among the top one hundred donors," Donna said and then turned to Debbie and asked her intentionally, "Debbie, how much money did you donate? Your family has no money, but I want to see how kind you are."
"I donated five dollars," Debbie said with embarrassment.
"What? Did I hear you right? You just donated five dollars? God, you are something. I remember you telling me that after graduating from university, you were going to be a teacher in a poor area. I think you're lying. Otherwise, why would you be willing to donate five dollars at this time? This is too hypocritical!" Donna mocked her.
Debbie felt wronged. She didn't have any spare money, so the five dollars that she had donated meant that she had gone without dinner that night.
"Debbie donated so little, but I think he must have donated it for her," Donna said to Darren with an evil smile.
"Him? Donna, don't joke with us on purpose, okay? He's the biggest loser in our class and lives off a part-time job. Do you think he can afford to donate anything?" Darren said and laughed.
Donna licked her lips, looked at Darren, and said, "Do you think I believe Alex donated? I was deliberately mocking him."
"You're not going to confess that you didn't donate money?" Donna raised her eyebrows and slyly asked Alex.
"I did," Alex shrugged and said lightly.
"Oh… how much did you donate?" she asked. Alex's donation would be well beyond Donna's expectations. If Alex said how much, Donna would mock him and Debbie because she wouldn't believe it.
"Not much." Alex wanted to say that he had donated 130 thousand dollars to shut Donna and Darren up, but it would lead to a lot of trouble if this was leaked. He decided to not say it.
"Not much? Haha. I got it. Alex, you must be the same as this girl, donating five dollars. No, you poor guy, you didn't even want to donate five dollars—you just donated one dollar. How shameless!" Donna said.
Darren laughed out loud.
"You say I'm shameless? Alex couldn't hold back anymore as he listened to their high and mighty laughter, but he still maintained a smile on his face.
"What did you say? Do you want to die?" Darren said angrily.
"I remember the last time I watched the live stream, there was a person called Ghost Rider who boasted about giving five money guns, but then Esteemed Admirer outdid him and banned his from the chat..." Alex chuckled.
"Alex, you ass!" Darren clenched his fists in anger, but he didn't dare to hit him. He usually asked for help in fights. At this moment, he could only look at Alex in anger.
"A moment of silence, please. Now, we will invite all the students that have contributed over one hundred dollars to come up, give a speech, and have their photo taken," the host on stage said loudly.
Darren cooled down a little. He was going to have his picture taken on stage, while Alex remained seated. Wasn't this proof that he was ahead above Alex?
No matter what a smooth talker you are, Alex, you are just a poor, penniless loser. You are way below me! As he thought of this, the corners of Darren's mouth curled up into a smile.