Minnie had been broadcasting live for more than two months and had gradually gained some popularity on Trist. She was currently ranked among the top one hundred online streamers, and she had also been invited to participate in the Trist Night—the celebration of the top one hundred online celebrities held at Alex's villa.
She had stayed in New York since the end of term and lived in a rented apartment in Manhattan.
"Minnie, don't talk nonsense," Uncle Bo, the person in charge, said as he looked at her. "He's got the key to the villa. Of course, he's the owner."
"Hey, Uncle Bo, I'm telling you the truth. He's not the owner of this villa," Minnie said adamantly. She looked at Alex and added softly, "Alex, tell Uncle Bo yourself—is this house yours?"
Alex thought to himself, I don't want Minnie to know that I own the most expensive villa here.
"No," he replied casually.
"Oh, no?" On hearing this, Uncle Bo shoved Alex and patted his heart. "What's going on? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Minnie glanced at Alex contemptuously. That month, she had already earned more than three thousand dollars, which made her gradually start to look down on the other students. Especially Alex, who she knew was poor. She said, "I told you I know him. He's a poor loser in my class. He's so poor that everyone knows who he is. He's made friends with a few other losers, but most people stay away from him."
"Alex, it's summer vacation, and you haven't gone home. Why have you stayed in New York, and how can you do this kind of garbage picking job?" Minnie asked as she glanced at the boat docked on the artificial lake. She thought, now I'm earning thousands of dollars, and you're doing this kind of menial work. You are worthless.
Garbage picking? Alex turned his head and realized that Minnie had just seen him fishing for garbage on the lake. He nodded his head with a smile.
Uncle Bo was completely relieved. "Damn it, I understand. You're the community garbage picker. You should have explained who you were. It gave me a fright." He assumed that he had mistaken this cleaner for the owner of the villa. But he still wasn't satisfied.
He took the keys from Alex's hand and asked, "How did you get the keys?"
Alex quickly thought of a plausible explanation.
"Well, the owner was in a hurry to get to work, so he gave me the key and asked me to bring it to you."
"Well, this man is something else. I waited for him for over an hour, and he didn't even come himself. Arrogant bastard." Uncle Bo spat on the ground. He stared into the distance and swore bitterly.
"Okay, Minnie, tell the others. We'll go into the villa now to start shooting." Then Uncle Bo took the key and went to open the door. Minnie was about to call the other internet celebrities when she glanced at Alex, who was standing on the side and accidentally dropped her empty cola bottle on the ground.
It amused her to make Alex bend down to pick it up.
Minnie turned around and walked triumphantly over to the other celebrities who were waiting by the lake.
Alex shook his head and picked up Minnie's cola bottle from the ground. Then he watched the group of young people walk into his villa. He was about to leave when he realized that he was still wearing the old man's life jacket and that the old man had now gone home. He took it off and put it beside the villa for the time being. No one would steal it. When he saw him tomorrow, he would return it to him.
**
A few hours later, Alex returned to the villa. By this time, the group had loaded the cameras, props, clothes, and so on into the van and were ready to leave.
When Alex saw Uncle Bo, he went over and asked him for the key. He told him that he would pass it on to the owner of the villa when he returned. Uncle Bo didn't even look him in the eye but threw the key in his general direction and walked away.
Alex sat on the side, waiting for everyone to leave. When they had gone, he took the key and slowly walked to the door, opened it, and entered the villa.
Although Uncle Bo had said that there was no damage in the villa, he wanted to check it for himself.
He had a good look around and found a few cigarette butts, but no real damage. He was relieved.
He rarely came to this villa, even though he knew that it was much better than his other villa. He sat in the living room and looked out through the French windows. In the distance, he could see ducks swimming among the water lilies that were quietly blooming on the lake. His hands rested gently on the armrests. It was rare for him to enjoy peaceful moments such as this.
He was feeling so calm that he almost fell asleep. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of the French windows, and he became alert. He was startled and almost fell off the chair. When he looked again, he realized that it was Minnie.
"What are you doing here?" Minnie asked, peering through the window. She looked at him with confusion. She couldn't understand what he was doing in the villa.
"Hannah, come with me," Minnie called to a girl who was standing back. She looked at Alex doubtfully, and then she and Hannah walked away. Soon, there was a knock on the front door.
Alex opened the door to find Minnie and Hannah standing outside. Minnie stared at him in bewilderment.
The girls had not left with everyone else. The house Minnie rented was near Preston University, not far from there, and they were in no hurry to get back. After filming, she and Hannah decided to go for a walk together around the artificial island. Minnie d shocked when she returned to the villa and saw Alex through the French windows.
Hannah recognized him and whispered in Minnie's ear, "Isn't that the man who was fishing rubbish out of the lake this morning?"
Minnie stared at Alex, shoved him out of the way, and pulled Hannah into the villa.
"Why are you here?" she asked him while looking around inside.
"Well, I—I—This is my villa—" Alex mumbled. Finally, he thought of an excuse and said, "Yes, the owner of this building has been away for a long time. He asked me to clean it for him and said that I could stay here for a while, so—"
Minnie listened to what Alex said and was surprised. She said, "Damn it, now you're sleeping in a luxury villa, and I bet you're making a lot of money." She couldn't believe his luck, and she was a little envious of him at that moment. Not everyone gets the chance to sleep in a villa this luxurious.
"Did you say that the owner of the villa is away?" She asked him tentatively. Alex didn't know why she was asking, so he nodded in agreement. Minnie grinned and asked, "How about Hannah and I stay here with you today?"
Alex was taken aback by her request. He answered, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Minnie demanded, wrinkling her nose. "The owner of the villa is away. As long as you don't tell him, he'll never know. Will you tell the owner?"
"it's not that, it's just-"
"If you're not going to tell him, there's no problem. So, that's settled. Hannah and I will stay here tonight."
Then, she turned to Hannah, smiled, and said, "Hannah, let's go upstairs and find a room." The two girls ran upstairs excitedly.
"You—" Alex could only shake his head.
After checking out each room, the two girls finally found one they liked. Lying on the soft bed, they felt very satisfied. They agreed that the lives of the super-rich were extremely comfortable.
Hannah said, "Minnie, let's go and get something to eat. You're doing a live broadcast later. Can we go out for dinner together now?" Hannah's live broadcast was not yet as popular as Minnie's, and she looked up to her friend.
"I don't want to go out. I'm tired after the day's shooting, but I really fancy eating some Chinese takeaway," Minnie replied. She didn't want to get up from her big, comfortable bed.
"I fancy Chinese too, but the restaurant won't deliver here. We'll have to go there to get it," Hannah said in a dejected voice.
"It's really annoying," Minnie mumbled, and suddenly thought of something. "I know," she said.
By this time, Alex had also decided to stay in the villa for the night. He noticed that he had missed a call from Grandma and remembered that he had forgotten to take her a live chicken that day. He sent her a message telling her that he would bring her one immediately.
As he was about to leave, he was stopped by Minnie calling, "Alex." She walked up to him and said, "I want you to go to the Chinese takeaway and buy beef chow mein for me and sweet and sour chicken for Hannah. Go on, hurry up."
He knew that the Chinese restaurant was on his way, so he agreed, and then he left the villa.
"He's very obedient," chuckled Hannah.
"I know. He's just a loser from our class. In his freshman year, he did a part-time job delivering takeout and cooking in the school restaurant. He had to work all the time just to cover his living expenses," Minnie said and laughed with Hannah.
Minnie opened the live broadcast channel on Trist. She was planning to watch the broadcasts of other more experienced and successful streamers to learn some new tricks. To be successful in the world of live broadcasting, she knew that she had to keep herself up to date.
"Eating, broadcasting, walking, making friends, playing games, watching sports. Why isn't there anything new?" Minnie threw her cell phone onto the bed, looking irritated.
Her number of fans had not increased since it reached three hundred and sixty thousand last month. It seemed to be a bottleneck for her. Experienced broadcasters had told her that if she couldn't find a way to attract new fans, her fanbase, and therefore her income, would not increase. Minnie wasn't satisfied with that. She was desperate to find a new angle to attract new fans, but she just couldn't think of anything. Hannah looked at her friend and frowned. She understood her frustration. Then her eyes suddenly brightened, and she nodded excitedly to Minnie.
"Minnie, I've come up with an idea that might help you," she said. Minnie turned to her, expectantly.