But Audrey Collins was getting impatient. She grabbed Jack Carter's hand and pulled him to the center of the dance floor, complaining, “Why are you dawdling? Don’t worry, I often help out at my uncle’s place after work. I won’t mind if you smell fishy.”

“I smell fishy?” Only then did Jack Carter realize.

No wonder they all wrinkled their noses. So I have a strange odor. Oh, right, in my previous life, there were a lot of people competing with me for pearls and coral, so the smell on me wasn’t that obvious. In this life, no one’s competing, so I over-harvested, and it’s inevitable I smell. As for Oswald, he’s been in this business for so long that he’s used to the smell and doesn’t notice it anymore. As for the clerk, since he and Oswald both smell, he naturally can’t tell that Jack Carter smells different.

A thousand-mile levee can be destroyed by an ant’s nest! My wonderful life as a transmigrator is actually being ruined by this odor. Why didn’t I think to go to the bathhouse first—uh, but in real life, I’m too lazy to bathe even when I’m itchy, so how would I have the awareness to bathe in a game?

After figuring it out, Jack Carter felt a mix of emotions.

“Hey, you stepped on my foot.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Jack Carter, distracted, snapped back to attention and quickly apologized.

“It’s fine. With your poor dancing skills, it’s lucky you didn’t dance with those other girls. If you’d stepped on them, you’d be in real trouble.”

“Ah, sorry, thank you for looking out for me, miss.” Jack Carter was feeling miserable. If I’d danced with them, my dancing would have been great!

Audrey Collins said softly, “Actually, I felt bad hearing them make fun of you. If it weren’t for you working so hard for my uncle, you wouldn’t have to put up with this. You know, if a man can’t find a partner to dance with at a ball, he’ll lose face when he leaves.”

“I’ve really made a fool of myself in front of you, Miss Audrey Collins...” Jack Carter couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. So she was just sympathizing with me. Good, good, I don’t have to delete my account. My sugar mama can still be saved. It’s just a week’s delay, no big deal. I’ve already lost a week this month, what’s one more? Jack Carter would rather wait another week than delete his account and go back to dredging the sea for three days. Pulling all-nighters like that is just too much.

Nine o’clock arrived, the dance ended, and the crowd dispersed.

Audrey Collins was nowhere to be seen. Jack Carter came out early and waited by the car for Oswald.

Oswald came out, looking at Jack Carter with a strange expression.

Jack Carter broke out in a cold sweat and quickly opened the car door. “Boss, please get in.”

Oswald said, “Get in the car. We need to talk.”

Is he going to ask about me and Audrey Collins? There’s really nothing between us. Okay, I’ll just be honest.

Sure enough, Oswald asked, “You and Audrey Collins, when did you two…”

Jack Carter quickly said, “Boss, you’ve got it wrong. There’s nothing between us. She just saw that no one was willing to dance with me and didn’t want me to lose face, so she danced with me.”

Oswald said angrily, “Nonsense! I watched her grow up. Don’t I know her personality? There have been plenty of guys ignored at the ball. She’s interested in you, otherwise she wouldn’t have danced with you.”

Jack Carter said anxiously, “Boss, you’ve misunderstood. She really just didn’t want me to be embarrassed, that’s why she danced with me.”

Oswald chuckled, “I saw it all. When she came over to you, she deliberately swayed her skirt. She must have asked you if her skirt was pretty, right? She only cares about her appearance in front of someone she likes. Kid, do you get it now?”

So what if I get it? So what if I don’t? Is he telling me to stay away from her, or to accept her? Neither is possible! If I stay away, our relationship will cool off, and my rocket-leveling plan will be ruined. If I accept her, the sugar mama is gone, and the rocket-leveling plan is still ruined. If I ignore everything and don’t respond, I’ll anger Oswald, and the rocket-leveling plan will still be ruined. There’s nothing I can do—my whole strategy depends on this uncle and niece, and the sugar mama!

Jack Carter’s mind was a tangled mess, not knowing what to do. At that moment, Oswald patted him on the shoulder. “Come to the shop tomorrow and see me.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.” Jack Carter, not knowing what else to do, hurriedly agreed.

The next day, Jack Carter nervously arrived at the jewelry store. How would this plot develop?

Oswald asked, “Jack Carter, do you want to learn jewelry processing skills?”

Huh? He’s offering to teach me jewelry processing? I’m back on the strategy route? Of course I want to! I have to! The second phase of my rocket-leveling plan depends on you teaching me skills first. The problem is, learning jewelry processing burns money like crazy at the start, and the returns are low. Without a sugar mama, it’s impossible. Now the sugar mama’s gone, and I don’t know what you’re thinking. Sigh, whatever, I’ll just take it one step at a time.

So he answered honestly, “Of course I do, but I’m just a poor kid. I can’t afford to support this skill.”

Oswald laughed, “Don’t laugh at a young man for being poor. You’re young and hardworking—why be afraid of being poor? Once you learn jewelry processing, you’ll be rich.”

With things said to this point, Jack Carter had no choice but to accept. Otherwise, with this NPC’s impatient personality, he’d definitely think Jack Carter lacked ambition and lower his favorability. Jack Carter could only bite the bullet and say, “You’re right, boss. I’ll learn it!”

Oswald laughed, “Good, that’s the spirit of a promising young man.”

System prompt: You have learned Basic Jewelry Processing and Basic Ore Selection skills.