“I don’t know you, but I know your sister.” Eric Carter said something shocking.

The girl, startled, instinctively shrank back, her delicate body tense as she nervously said, “You know…”

“That’s right, I know Emily Baker, and I know her very well, because she’s my first love and current girlfriend.”

At the sudden mention of “Emily Baker”, the girl trembled as if struck by lightning, her face turning pale as she said, “You’re Brian Cooper…”

“Oh? Little Emily has mentioned me to you…” Eric Carter smiled knowingly and said, “Neither Little Emily nor your family probably knows you’re working here, right?”

Although Sophie Baker now clearly knew that the boy in front of her was just a ninth grader, under the intense gaze of Eric Carter’s deep eyes, she couldn’t muster even the slightest intention to lie or resist.

“Please, I beg you, don’t tell anyone about today. If Little Emily finds out, I… I really won’t be able to go on living…” Tears were already streaming down the girl’s cheeks.

“I can tell you’re a good girl. If you didn’t have no other choice, you wouldn’t be working in a place like this. Tell me the reason—maybe I can help you.” After realizing that the “hostess” he had randomly chosen was actually Emily Baker’s older sister, Eric Carter had already made up his mind to help her.

Sophie Baker nervously glanced at Jason Reed and the others, who were currently drinking and having fun, and only after making sure no one else was paying attention did she timidly say, “Please don’t ask me, okay? Little Emily has been mentioning you a lot lately. I don’t know why you’re here, but I trust Little Emily’s judgment. You’re a good boy. If you really want Little Emily to have a good life, then please don’t ask me anymore. Everyone has their own hardships…”

“If you don’t want to say, I won’t force you. Maybe I can learn the truth from Little Emily. Of course, don’t worry—I won’t mention seeing you here.”

“No, Little Emily doesn’t know anything. Don’t ask her.” Sophie Baker blurted out almost instinctively.

“Oh? That makes things a bit difficult. Given my relationship with Little Emily, it’s only natural for me to help you. But you’re unwilling to tell me the reason, and you won’t let me ask Little Emily, so there’s only one possibility left—you don’t believe I have the ability to help you out of your predicament.”

“Is this really the way a middle schooler thinks?”

At this moment, Sophie Baker had completely stopped seeing Eric Carter as a minor. She bit her lip, her elegant brows furrowed for a long while, then suddenly picked up the glass of Chivas Regal on the table, tilted her head back, and downed it in one gulp. Not being able to hold her liquor, a flush quickly appeared on her pretty face. She then said, “Fine, if you want to know, I’ll tell you. But you must swear that you absolutely won’t let Little Emily find out about this, okay? I… I’m afraid she won’t be able to handle it…”

“Go ahead, there’s no need for me to swear—I wouldn’t tell Little Emily anyway. As long as it’s something that could negatively affect her, I’ll always shield her from it.” Eric Carter said firmly.

Sophie Baker’s psychological defenses crumbled, and she began to pour out her story like a flood. The burdens and pressures she had carried as a sophomore in college for nearly two months were simply too heavy, and it was a weight she couldn’t share with anyone. After being questioned several times by Eric Carter, once she started talking, Sophie Baker could no longer control her emotions, and the tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally fell one by one.

Emily Baker and Sophie Baker are four years apart. When Emily Baker was only two months old, their father died in a car accident, and the enormous burden of raising two daughters and supporting a single-parent family fell on their mother, Megan Wright.

At that time, as a textile factory worker, Megan Wright managed to raise her two daughters on a meager salary, gritting her teeth through the hardest times. She even worked three part-time jobs at once, working eighteen hours a day, and didn’t hesitate to sell her blood several times to raise money so her daughters could go to school.

The immense pressure of life caused Megan Wright, who was just over forty, to go gray at the temples. Years of overwork left her with chronic illnesses, and two months ago, Megan Wright collapsed at her loom and was rushed to the hospital. The factory management immediately notified Sophie Baker, a sophomore at the School of Economics and Management at East China Normal University in Shanghai, to come to the hospital.

Despite the doctor’s advice, Megan Wright insisted on being discharged. Two days later, when Sophie Baker went to the hospital to pick up her mother’s medical report, she was stunned by a merciless diagnosis. Upon learning that her mother had leukemia, Sophie Baker knelt before the attending doctor, pleading, “Please… my mother has suffered so much, she hasn’t had a chance to enjoy her children’s care yet, she can’t have anything happen to her, please save my mother…”

The girl’s plea moved many people present. The attending doctor told her that only the U.S. National Cancer Center might be able to cure Megan Wright. Although she hadn’t reached the late stage of leukemia yet, if she couldn’t go there for inpatient treatment within six months, even the best doctors and medicines in the world would be too late.

At that moment, Sophie Baker felt as if she had grabbed onto a lifeline and began searching for information online everywhere. But after compiling a thick stack of materials, she was overcome by a sense of helplessness.