“Mom, why don’t you let sis and her husband come back, or let Ranran come stay at home? Sis actually likes it here quite a bit.” Ethan Bolton said calmly.

“She? Would she really be willing to leave her husband!” Diana Parker sounded a little displeased.

“If you’re the only one at home now, there’s internet, and at the beginning of the year I even bought her a laptop. She can get online here, so she’ll come. Isn’t Ranran supposed to start school too? It’s pretty good here.” Ethan Bolton said with a smile. He knew his sister quite well.

“Alright, I’ll give her a call and ask. You should also go out and get some fresh air. After a while, I’ll find someone nearby for you to meet, and you can come back then and go on a blind date with a nice girl.” Diana Parker clearly didn’t want Ethan Bolton to feel too down, so after a brief silence, she agreed.

Hearing this, Ethan Bolton could only give a helpless, bitter smile and said, “Don’t worry about this, Mom. With your son’s abilities, there’s no need to rush in this area. If Dad’s health hadn’t failed back then, I wouldn’t have gotten married at just twenty-four.”

“What do you mean, don’t worry? Of all the unfilial things, not having a child is the worst, you know? Your mom is getting old, and of course I want to have a grandchild…”

Diana Parker started nagging again. Ethan Bolton could only smile wryly and vaguely agree to his mother’s request to come back for a blind date in a while.

……

That night, after packing his luggage, Ethan Bolton sat down at his computer desk.

On the desk was a classic Thinkpad t61 laptop, bought back in 2007 when the IBM T61 had just come out. It cost 15,800 yuan, and in terms of performance and specs, it was top-notch at the time. But now, in 2010, it was just average.

He turned on the computer and logged directly into the online banking system of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to check his balance. When he saw there was only 281 yuan left, he couldn’t help but give another bitter smile.

This month’s salary wouldn’t be paid until the 15th, and today was only the 6th. Over the past few days, he’d been immersed in practicing that “third eye” technique, and with his novel “Destined Archmage” having poor subscription numbers, he hadn’t written much. So this month’s income was a rather tragic less than 2,000 yuan.

“281 yuan. At the ATM, I can withdraw 200 yuan, and the remaining 81 yuan can be used with the card for a bit. 200 yuan isn’t even enough for travel expenses. To get by from the 7th to the 15th—eight days—I’ll need about 300 yuan. After deducting travel costs and some special expenses for job hunting, I’ll probably need to spend around 600 yuan.”

Ethan Bolton did a quick calculation, then frowned. If he wanted to go out, he couldn’t even get through the next few days?

He didn’t want to ask his mother for money. Even though his mother Diana Parker still had over ten thousand yuan, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask. It would only make her feel even more upset.

“Maybe I’ll ask some friends to pay back a bit—just 1,000 yuan. If they’re having trouble, I can let them wait until the 15th to pay me back. Those guys have borrowed from me plenty of times, and a few still owe me several thousand. Might as well ask now.” Ethan Bolton thought for a moment, then opened QQ.

As an online writer, Ethan Bolton had a lot of friends on QQ, organized into ten detailed groups, with 497 friends in total. Of those, nearly 30 were online, not counting readers, editors, and so on.

After thinking it over, Ethan Bolton decided to contact his friend Shawn Young, whom he’d once supported with nearly ten thousand yuan when Shawn Young was down and out. At that moment, Shawn Young happened to be online.

“Xiangzi, can you spot me 1,000 yuan? I recently got divorced, my novel flopped, and I’m about to go out and find a job but I’m broke.” Ethan Bolton thought for a moment. Xiangzi was a friend he’d helped for a year and a half. When the guy was down, he could only sleep under bridges in the big city, but when he stayed at Ethan Bolton’s rented three-bedroom apartment, there was always plenty of cigarettes, booze, fish, and meat—he’d lived it up for a year and a half.

He waited about five minutes, but Shawn Young still hadn’t replied. Not only that, but his avatar went dark.

Ethan Bolton frowned slightly, then thought for a moment and sent a slightly manipulative message: “Why aren’t you replying? If you’re having trouble, just explain—I’m not unreasonable, am I?”

Soon, the previously dark avatar lit up and started flashing: “Bro, I don’t have any money right now. I was hoping you could help me out. I mean, I’m doing business, but I’m losing money. Business is bad, not making anything…”

Seeing the reply, Ethan Bolton gave a sarcastic smile. Two months ago, when you got engaged, I gave you a 2,000 yuan gift, and you were laughing, saying you’d made over 200,000 and were planning to buy a car. Now you can’t even come up with 1,000? You’ve got to be kidding me!

Thinking about it, Ethan Bolton suddenly realized that most of his circle were born in the 80s, and the pressure of marriage and housing was real. They’d only graduated a year or two, so they probably didn’t have much money. Maybe 1,000 really was a lot for them.

With that thought, Ethan Bolton felt a bit more at ease. As for those friends he knew well, he didn’t plan to say anything. As long as he understood in his heart, that was enough. A little money was all it took to see someone’s true colors.

“Dizai, are things going okay for you lately? Bro, I’m in a bit of a bind—can you lend me 500 yuan to get through this? I’ll definitely pay you back on the 15th!”