For a moment, the landlord was stunned. After a while, he finally said, “Kid, you actually have such a beautiful girlfriend! Fine, I’ll come back next time. Hmph, you’d better find a job soon, or I really won’t be so polite!”

The landlord was quite straightforward—he closed the door and left.

At this moment, Ashley Carter had already slept for about seven or eight hours and was long since sober. She blinked her eyes, looked at me, and suddenly said, “I want some water…”

I rolled my eyes, but somehow, as if under a spell, I went to pour her a cup of hot water. This must be the power of a beautiful woman—making you do things without even thinking!

Ashley Carter took the cup, gulped down all the water, then glanced at me again and suddenly smiled, saying, “Your name is Brian Cooper?”

I felt a bit awkward and said, “It’s Brandon Cooper—‘舒’ as in comfortable, ‘升’ as in promotion and prosperity, not ‘书生’ as in scholar!”

Ashley Carter smiled slightly, reached up to brush her hair, and said, “It doesn’t matter what your name is. The key thing is, right now, I’m hungry… Can you find me something to eat?”

I was stunned: “It’s so late, where am I supposed to find food? Even the convenience stores are closed!”

Ashley Carter frowned slightly and said, “I drank so much alcohol. If I don’t eat something, it’ll hurt my stomach!”

Honestly, whether she ate or not, her stomach was going to be in trouble anyway.

So I said, “Why is a girl like you drinking so much in the first place?”

“None of your business!” Ashley Carter said a bit loudly, but then turned her face away and muttered softly, “How would you know if I’m really fine or not…”

Speechless, I walked to the kitchen, scooped a bowl of that vegetable porridge, and slammed it down on the dining table. “This is all I have. If you want it, eat some. If not, you can drive out and find somewhere to eat—your car is still downstairs!”

Ashley Carter looked a bit surprised, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the bowl of porridge with a strange expression.

“This is what you eat?” she asked cautiously.

I didn’t feel embarrassed and nodded. “That’s right, this is all I can afford!”

Just then, my stomach growled loudly. Ashley Carter looked at me in surprise, and suddenly, a charming smile blossomed at the corner of her lips. She asked with a laugh, “You haven’t eaten either? Is there any more? If not, let’s split this bowl of veggies between us, okay?”

I was a bit taken aback—there was nothing left in the pot, it was all in the bowl!

As if she could read my mind, Ashley Carter gave a gentle smile, walked lightly into the kitchen, took another bowl, and split the small bowl of vegetable porridge into two. Then she pushed one bowl in front of me and smiled, “Come on, don’t be shy!”

For a moment, I could hardly believe what I was seeing—a little beauty who drove a BMW and wore all name brands, willing to share a bowl of porridge that even a beggar would turn down with me?

Volume One: The Comeback

Chapter 4: Rent

I still sat down, took a big gulp of the porridge with both soup and vegetables. Honestly, I was starving!

Ashley Carter sat across from me, picking out the vegetable leaves one by one and chewing them slowly.

In less than a minute, the midnight snack was over!

Ashley Carter cutely licked her lips and smiled, “It actually tasted pretty good, but remember to use less salt next time…”

I was speechless. Judging by her look, she didn’t seem sleepy anymore.

“You look so silly. From now on, I’ll call you Dummy, okay?” Ashley Carter suddenly said with a laugh.

I replied firmly, “That’s a derogatory term—no way!”

Ashley Carter smiled with dimples, “Come on, sometimes those words are actually terms of endearment, like ‘little rascal’ or ‘silly goose’…”

“Oh, come on…” I was speechless. By that logic, wouldn’t ‘little turtle’, ‘little airhead’, or ‘little stick’ all become affectionate nicknames too?

Ashley Carter glanced around the living room and noticed the virtual reality game helmet was already turned on. She was startled, quickly bent down to pick up the helmet, and saw that the blue chip had turned yellow. Instantly, Ashley Carter’s face turned cold as she looked at me. “Is this your doing?”

I froze for a moment and explained awkwardly, “It was a total misunderstanding. How was I supposed to know that once you put it on, it locks to you?”

Ashley Carter stared at me blankly, biting her lip. “You big dummy! Do you know how much effort it took for me to get this treasure, and you used it first? Ugh…”

She looked up at the big clock and pouted, “Great, now there are only 14 hours left until Ling Tong opens. I really don’t want to line up to buy a new helmet!”

I wished I could crawl into a hole, so I said softly, “Um… I’ll pay you back for it in the future, but for now, I really can’t afford it…”

Facing me, Ashley Carter suddenly pushed the helmet into my arms.

I caught the helmet and asked in surprise, “What’s this for now?”

“Hmph! I’m giving the helmet to you, of course. Now it’s only useful for you, so why should I keep it?”

Ashley Carter huffed and asked, “Do you have a place to shower here? I feel really uncomfortable and want to take a bath!”

I couldn’t help but say in surprise, “Forget it, you’d better drive out and get a hotel room to shower. It’s really not convenient here, and besides, I don’t have any girls’ clothes…”