Three minutes later, William Carter caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a fair, slender hand quietly reaching out from behind the book "The Girl with the Magic Eye," grabbing that bottle of Qoo juice, and then just as quietly pulling back.

Over the next few days, whenever William Carter had time, he would come to the library, and each time he would run into Ethan Foster.

It was as if the two of them had an unspoken agreement: every time, they would sit at the same table, face to face, but neither would say a word, each just focused on their own book.

However, William Carter never came empty-handed.

Sometimes he would bring snacks, like bear-shaped cookies, salted rice crackers, or shrimp chips, and after dividing them in two, he would push one share in front of Ethan Foster.

After a couple of times, Ethan Foster also started bringing some snacks.

Things like macarons, truffle chocolates, Jenny cookies—and each time, she would place them closer to William Carter's side.

Although the two of them never spoke, it was as if they were interacting through their taste buds, and there was a strong sense of tacit understanding between them.

During this period, William Carter finished reading a book called "The Rich Lady Files" and another called "Gentlemanly Details," while Ethan Foster finished "The Blue Dog Era" and "The Magical Zoo."

June 13th, the sixth day of summer vacation.

William Carter closed the last book about rich ladies, rested his hand on the table, propped up his chin, and his gaze gradually grew deeper.

"In books, there are houses of gold; in books, there are beauties like jade."

He had looked it up online—this saying wasn't by Mr. Lu Xun, but by Zhao Heng, the third emperor of the Song Dynasty, from a piece called "On Encouraging Learning."

But William Carter felt he only got it half right.

There really are beauties like jade in books—like Ethan Foster sitting across from him, who was simply pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at her.

But there were no houses of gold in books—at least, he hadn't found any.

William Carter couldn't help but look at Ethan Foster, who was nibbling on shrimp chips like a hamster.

She no longer hid her face completely behind a book, but the coolness in her eyes remained, and she still showed almost no desire to speak.

Wait a minute...

A black sedan with wings?

A dedicated driver for school runs, plus a bodyguard in tow?

Macarons, Jenny cookies, truffle chocolates...

William Carter's eyes widened slightly, thinking to himself that he must have been out of his mind—he'd been thinking about how to meet a rich lady, but had forgotten that the one sitting right in front of him was a rich lady!

At that moment, Ethan Foster suddenly noticed William Carter looking at her, so she froze, and slowly put the shrimp chip she had just picked up back into the bag.

"I'm not saying you can't eat—go ahead."

"Oh."

Ethan Foster picked up the shrimp chip again and popped it into her mouth, but noticed that William Carter was still staring at her, so her eyes gradually filled with confusion.

"Feng, can I borrow some money from you?"

William Carter sat up straight, trying to make his expression look as sincere as possible.

Without enough initial capital, none of the possibilities he was considering would be possible. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been thinking about bank loans these past few days. Since it was all borrowing money, there was no real difference between borrowing from a bank and borrowing from a classmate.

Of course, he had just met this girl, and no matter how rich she was, it wasn't like she would just lend him money right away. But he could always negotiate terms.

A businessman always tries his luck, right?

Ethan Foster blinked in confusion, then fell silent for a moment. She took the small black leather bag hanging on her chair, pulled out a pink wallet with a metal clasp, and placed it squarely on the table.

William Carter was completely thrown off by this—her manner was absolutely that of a rich lady, but the amount he wanted wasn't just a few hundred, it was a lot.

"I'd like to borrow a bit more."

"How much?"

William Carter originally wanted to just say a number, but hesitated, thinking that too much would make things awkward for her, but too little wouldn't be enough: "How about this—just lend me however much you have. I'll pay you back very soon, I promise I won't run off with your money."

Ethan Foster thought for a moment, then nodded obediently. "Got it. I'll bring it for you tomorrow."

"..."

William Carter was thrown off again. Since when was borrowing money such a simple thing? Was the world he was reborn into really the same as before?

Chapter 9: You Can't Spend Money Recklessly

Warm sunlight streamed through the library's huge floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on Ethan Foster, making her smooth long hair and thick eyelashes seem to glow with a faint golden sheen.

She sat upright, proper and quiet, well-behaved and gentle.

Her slender fingers pinched the corner of a page, gently turning it, her lively eyes full of purity.

After finishing a page, she picked up a shrimp chip and popped it into her mouth, making a crisp crunching sound, then turned to the next page.

After repeating this cycle a few times, the bag of shrimp chips gradually emptied.

It wasn't until Ethan Foster reached out again that she realized this was the last chip, so she looked up at William Carter.

"I'm done, you can finish the rest."

Ethan Foster's eyes sparkled with delight. She picked up the last chip, ate it, and turned to the next page.

William Carter watched her for a while, realizing that Ethan Foster really wasn't joking with him.

She had truly agreed to lend him the money.