Yvonne Wright touched her hair. She used to like wearing a little hair clip, but she couldn’t remember exactly when Andrew Clark had casually remarked that hair looked better left plain, and after that, she never wore one again.

Maybe Mr. Clark doesn’t even remember saying it.

The girl in the mirror was at the age when flowers bloom, her whole being radiating the beauty of youth. She was already twenty; back in her hometown, she would have been married by now.

Yvonne Wright’s eyes shimmered, as if they could overflow with tears.

Thinking of home, she sighed quietly, then opened a drawer and pulled out a small notebook to keep her accounts.

The thick notebook was already more than half used, with every income and expense recorded in meticulous detail.

Last month she earned eight hundred, sent four hundred home, spent one hundred and twenty-three on herself, and had two hundred and seventy-seven left.

What surprised her this month was that the factory’s performance was getting better and better. Halfway through the month, she had already earned over five hundred, and she estimated she could break her record and make a thousand by the end of the month. She hadn’t spent much this month either; if she kept saving, she could at least keep four hundred.

That number put Yvonne Wright in a great mood, her smiling eyes curving like willow leaves bent by the warm spring breeze.

Of course, there was something else that made her even happier: it had already been a month and a half, and Mr. Clark had said he’d be back in at most two months.

She circled the days again and again on the calendar with a pencil.

“Knock knock knock!”

“Xiaoying! Hey, the door’s not locked, I’m coming in!”

Just as she was lost in thought, someone spoke outside the door, and before the words had faded, a girl a few months older than her had already rushed in.

This was Old Bennett’s daughter, Yvonne Bennett, a college graduate who was already working. She was lively, friendly, and had hit it off with Yvonne Wright right away. She always joked that since both their names had the character “颖,” they must have been sisters in a past life.

Yvonne Wright liked this chatty older sister too. They hadn’t known each other long, but their bond was already very close.

“Hey! How did you get in here?”

Yvonne Wright was startled by her whirlwind entrance and scolded her playfully.

“What? Do you have some secret you don’t want me to see?”

Yvonne Bennett paid no attention to her mock annoyance, plopped down on the bed, and before Yvonne Wright could say anything, she said, “What are you writing? A diary? Let me see!”

She snatched the little notebook, glanced at it, and said, “An account book!”

She flipped through it and exclaimed, “Wow, Xiaoying, you really keep track of everything! You even write down when you buy a roll of toilet paper? Aren’t you tired?”

Yvonne Wright shot her a look and snatched the account book back. “Easy for you to say when you’ve never gone hungry. Don’t make fun of me!”

Yvonne Bennett knew about her family situation, so she never pushed too far on these topics, careful not to hurt her pride. She laughed, “You keep talking about men, are you missing a man or something?”

She tapped her forehead dramatically and said, “Ah, I remember now, your lover boy is coming back soon. What, can’t wait any longer?”

Yvonne Wright blushed and said, “What lover boy? It’s Mr. Clark.”

“Oh come on, lover boy, Qing-ge, what’s the difference!”

She hadn’t stopped chattering since she came in, and Yvonne Wright couldn’t outtalk her, so she just asked, “So why did you come over here?”

“Oh, I came to invite you to dinner. My mom made a few special dishes today,” said Yvonne Bennett.

“I’ve already eaten, so I won’t go. Please thank Auntie for me.”

Old Bennett’s wife was a retired librarian and a great cook. Seeing the young girl out working on her own, she often invited her over for meals out of kindness.

Yvonne Wright had gone a couple of times, but felt embarrassed to keep eating at their place, so she’d turned them down a few times, and now she was making another excuse.

“Yeah, right! I didn’t say anything the last two times, but you think I really believe you? Come on, come on! Stop dawdling!”

Seeing her still sitting there, Yvonne Bennett raised her eyebrows and said, “Hey, you’re really pushing it, huh!”

She suddenly reached both hands under Yvonne Wright’s arms and started tickling her.

“Ah! Stop, stop… I’ll go! I’ll go…”

Yvonne Wright couldn’t stand being tickled and had no choice but to go with her to the main house.

The table was already full of dishes, the aroma mouthwatering.

“Xiaoying, come, come, sit here!”

The old lady greeted her warmly and sat her down in a chair.

“I’ve called you before and you never came. Today, Old Cheng’s student brought us some crabs, really fresh. I said you had to come try them!”

Yvonne Bennett clearly took after her mother. Old Bennett was cheerful too, but in a sly, understated way, different from the bold style of the mother and daughter.

“That’s right, Xiaoying, you’re still so young, don’t carry too many worries. While you’re staying with us, it’s livelier with more people at the table, so don’t be shy! And besides, there’s Andrew Clark too. If he knew I was treating you badly, he wouldn’t go easy on me when we play chess!”

Old Bennett set his pipe on the coffee table and sat down at the table at a leisurely pace. He clearly knew it was always Andrew Clark letting him win, and he didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed about it.

“You’ve got some nerve saying that! Here, have a crab!” The old lady shot him a look and handed a fat crab to Yvonne Wright, saying, “By the way, that boy’s coming back soon, right?”

“Mm, he said the filming would be done in at most two months,” Yvonne Wright replied.