After registering some basic information, Olivia Carter smiled and said, “Mr. Carter, let me introduce the services our property management company offers…” After listing a whole bunch of high-quality services, she finally got to the topic that worried James Carter the most: “Our property fee is collected every six months, one yuan per square meter per month. Your home is a total of 648 square meters, so it’s 648 yuan per month, and 3,888 yuan for six months. Three eights is considered a lucky number.”

“What… three thousand… eight hundred… eighty… eight!” James Carter was so shocked he nearly jumped up, his voice rising higher and higher, eyes wide as if he was about to eat someone, shouting at the top of his lungs.

All four women in the room were startled, and Olivia Carter looked even more nervous as she said, “Mr. Carter, is… there a problem?”

“No… ah! There is a problem! I don’t have that much cash on me right now, I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.” James Carter reacted quickly, instantly coming up with an excuse, even pretending to check his pockets. There was only a little over a thousand yuan in there, clearly not enough to pay the property fee. At that moment, something fell out of his pocket, immediately drawing the attention of all four people.

It was that very special bank card left by James Carter’s uncle. As the four of them stared at the gold card, the room suddenly fell silent.

When James Carter put the bank card away, the four women returned to normal. James Carter, with his head down picking up the card, didn’t notice the strange look in their eyes.

At this point, Olivia Carter became even more respectful and said, “Mr. Carter, there’s no rush. I’m just here to inform you. For someone of your status, you’d never be short of such a small amount for our property company.”

James Carter didn’t quite understand Olivia Carter’s respect, but at least he knew he’d managed to muddle through today. He chuckled and said, “Of course I won’t owe it. Enjoying your property services, it’s only right to pay the property fee.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Carter. We won’t disturb you any further. Goodbye.” With that, she left with light steps.

After seeing Olivia Carter off, James Carter turned around and saw the three beautiful women heading upstairs. James Carter’s heart stirred and he quickly called out, “Wait, I have something to tell you.”

“Ah! I’m tired. Whatever it is, let’s talk tomorrow.” Grace Bennett stretched lazily, then sashayed upstairs.

“I have a mission at midnight, so I need to sleep now.” Ryan Sullivan tossed out a sentence and hurried upstairs as well.

“Big Carter, are you going to treat us to a meal to celebrate us all living together?” Liam Clark’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

Chapter 14: Paying the Property Fee, Not Flirting!

“Forget it, let’s wait until they’re done. When everyone’s here, I’ll treat you all. I’m tired too, I’ll go rest for a bit.” Who was he kidding? With the little money he had, it wasn’t even enough to pay the property fee, let alone treat them to dinner.

“All right then, school starts tomorrow, so I need to get ready too. See you, Big Carter.” Waving her hand, Liam Clark also went upstairs with light steps.

Sitting on the sofa, James Carter couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. He’d planned to ask these three beautiful tenants for some rent to solve his urgent problem, but they didn’t even give him a chance to speak. And just now, those three even sold him out—how could they be so disloyal?

“Well, you can run, but you can’t hide. You’re living here, so you can’t possibly skip out on my rent.” James Carter took out his phone and called David Foster again.

“Bro, didn’t we say I’d only have time to visit your villa tomorrow?” David Foster’s voice was as loud as ever, as if he was deliberately speaking for someone next to James Carter to hear.

“All right, David, lend me three thousand yuan.”

“Damn, bro, you don’t need to spend that much just to chase girls, do you? Even if she’s a virgin, it shouldn’t cost that much, right?”

“No… the property management just came to collect the property fee, and I don’t have enough cash right now.”

“Oh, got it. I’ll deposit the money into your account in a bit. Be careful, don’t let anyone scam you.” The last part was said more quietly. Hearing that James Carter was paying the property fee, he naturally assumed there were women around him.

James Carter felt a bit down, but this time he was determined. From now on, no matter who asked, he wouldn’t mention owning a villa. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back as soon as possible.”

“No need to be so polite with me. In less than twenty minutes, just go to the bank and withdraw the money.”

After hanging up, James Carter felt quite touched. Although David Foster was a civil servant, his salary wasn’t very high, and after his own expenses, he barely had any money left each month. But as long as James Carter asked, David Foster never refused. In this money-driven society, having a friend like this was truly rare.

After a long day, James Carter was a bit hungry, so he went to the kitchen to take a look. Besides some drinks and ice cream in the fridge, there were only some noodles and eggs—not even a single leafy vegetable.

But noodles would do. James Carter had always cooked for himself. Over the years, while he couldn’t claim to be a great chef, his cooking was at least edible. With noodles and eggs, he could make some noodles with egg sauce.