Guest house.
Ethan Coates came out of the bathroom and saw Len Hawthorne dressed up and walking out of the gate. He was just about to call out to him when he saw the girl standing quietly outside the door.
"Damn! She took the bait so quickly!"
He hurriedly hid and peeked at them.
Len Hawthorne threw the cigarette butt at his feet and crushed it with his military boots.
His eyes were filled with laughter, "Are you willing to talk now?"
Chloe Stephens realized he was talking about the mutated dog incident and reached out her hand expressionlessly, "I need to borrow money."
"..."
Len Hawthorne's handsome smile seemed a bit frozen.
After a while, the wicked smile reappeared on Len's face, "How much?"
"USD 500,000."
"..."
Quite a bold request.
"Don't have the money?" Seeing that he didn't react, Chloe turned to leave.
The little girl looked at him with a "poor ghost" glance and left, which was quite a blow to his pride.
"Wait a minute, you need to tell me what you're going to use such a large sum of money for if you're borrowing it."
"Do you have it?" Chloe asked for confirmation.
"I do."
He was curious about what the girl wanted to do with this amount of money.
Not USD 500 or USD 5,000, but USD 500,000.
Chloe said, "To buy medicine, rent a house, and cover living expenses."
Len Hawthorne stared at her up and down, "Didn't the Stephens family give you any money?"
It was not difficult to find out about Chloe being from the Stephens family in Sheffield City, not even needing the effort to inquire.
"My mother doesn't want to use the Stephens family's money."
"Is she sick?" Len Hawthorne was quite concerned about the girl.
"Prevention is better than cure."
Len Hawthorne raised his eyebrows, "Are you cursing yourself?"
"I saw on the Internet that money can make even demons work for you."
"...Little girl, don't believe everything on the Internet."
"Will you lend it or not?"
The little girl didn't have much patience.
"Wait a moment."
Len Hawthorne returned to the guest house and quickly brought out a card.
Chloe took the card.
"There's USD 1,500,000 in it."
Chloe paused, "I'll pay you back."
"I have a condition." Len Hawthorne squinted his eyes and moved closer to the girl's face.
Chloe looked into his eyes as the person leaned close.
From a distance, the two under the night lamp looked like they were about to kiss.
"Damn! Damn! You beast!"
Ethan Coates, holding onto the door, bulged his eyes in shock.
*
As soon as the little girl left, Ethan Coates rushed out and stared at Len Hawthorne with disdain.
Len Hawthorne glanced at him.
"You're crazy."
"Pah, you're the crazy one. Young Master Hawthorne, you're such a beast, taking advantage of a little girl!"
Len Hawthorne's mouth twitched, "When did I take advantage of her?"
"What were you doing just then?"
Who would believe that he didn't take advantage of her with that posture?
Len Hawthorne raised the corner of his mouth with a delighted smile, "What's going on between me and the girl is none of your business."
Ethan Coates: "..."
Is there something wrong with Len Hawthorne?
*
After Yvette Foster suggested moving out, the family's attitude towards the mother and daughter changed as well.
Fred Foster didn't know about this yet, but he would find out sooner or later.
Wilbert Foster thought of using Fred to keep Yvette and her daughter in the family.
Not in the mood to work during the day, he decided to take the day off and go to his partner's office to gather some information.
During the noon break, Chloe Stephens searched for nearby housing options on her mobile phone.
Having USD 1,500,000 in her hand, renting a place was less reasonable than buying one.
She went to the sales office of Elegant Garden, the top-class residential area in the county town.
When a young saleswoman who was filing her nails inside heard the door, she glanced at Chloe and went back to her conversation, dismissing the underage girl.
Chloe found a rack with advertising brochures and briefly scanned them.
Although it was just a county town, the housing prices in the mountain county were outrageously high.
Without money for monthly installments, Chloe could only randomly buy a house.
Yes, she wanted to buy a house.
A detached small villa.
Living in a high rise, people were defecating and urinating overhead, which was bad luck.
Most of Elegant Garden consisted of villas, with only a few high rise buildings.
"Excuse me... Do you need any help..." A stuttering salesman brought her a glass of water.
Chloe took a brief look at him and pointed at the smallest villa in the brochure in her hand. "What's the price for this?"
"This, this small villa, the total price comes to... almost USD 4,000,000..."
Four million - nowhere near what she had on hand.
After putting the brochure away, Chloe nodded to the salesman and turned to leave.
A group of salesgirls laughing at their failed colleague let out teasing snickers.
As Chloe left, she brushed shoulders with a beautiful girl who entered.
Another girl in a plaid shirt followed behind her, and they passed Chloe one after another.
The beautiful girl stopped and looked at Chloe as she walked away.
"Kate, who are you looking at?"
"I think I just saw Chloe Stephens."
"That braindead one?"
"Sandra, don't talk about her like that. Although she's not very smart..." Kate Williams defended Chloe.
Sandra Griffin disdainfully said, "She is simply braindead. And she even dared to chase Oliver Gordon. Her brain must be broken. Kate, you're too kind, defending anyone. You're the real campus belle.Some people even said that Chloe Stephens was the top campus belle recently - how could she be? I bet she used some means to make people think she deserves Oliver Gordon."
Kate gently said, "Let's go in first. My sister is waiting for us."
"Kate, your sister is amazing - she got promoted to manager in no time..."
Kate's mouth curved into a smile, somewhat proud.
*
Unsuccessful, Chloe chose a restaurant by the roadside to eat.
As she was halfway through her meal, she caught a glimpse of someone.
A figure came down from the second floor and passed in front of her.
A white ribbon slipped from the young man's hand and fell into hers.
The man wore a baseball cap and a mask. Chloe saw a pair of slender peach blossom eyes under his sword-shaped eyebrows. When hez looked sideways at others, he had an attractive sensuality that could unintentionally make people fall for him.
The man was about to take back his white silk ribbon when his friend hurriedly pushed him outside.
Suddenly, a huge commotion erupted both inside and outside the dining hall!
"My God! It's William!"
"William, I love you!"
"Hurry up, get the mobile phone..."
"Davin, can we take a picture with you?"
"Don't push, give Davin some space!"
Some fans spontaneously kept the out-of-control scene under control.
Chloe didn't pay attention to the commotion.
When the white ribbon floated to her arm, her eyes flickered with a silvery-white flash.
It felt like a distant memory.
She wished to see the face next to the silver-white flash once more, but something prevented her.
She could only glimpse the sudden, breathtaking silver-white strands from the corner of her eye.
The only thing she knew for certain was that it belonged to someone's hair.
Who was it?
She couldn't remember this particular memory.
Chloe got up and quickly walked out, opposite the excited crowd.
The man who had just gotten in the car noticed that the end of the white ribbon was still sticking to Chloe's arm, and he frowned slightly.
Chloe walked away and noticed the annoying white silk ribbon hanging on her hand.
She tore it off and let it fly away with the wind.
She walked straight to school, unable to forget the sight that she was forced to see earlier.
"Chloe, Chloe ..."
As she walked, someone was calling her.
Chloe looked up and saw Mason Sullivan standing in front of an internet cafe, waving at her.
Oliver Gordon, who was standing next to him, was a bit impatient, "What are you calling her for?"
"Now that you're out of the hospital, it's perfect timing, I just want to celebrate with a buddy."
"What's there to celebrate?"
Because Chloe pushed someone into the water, it had erased all the goodwill from before.
Oliver was also reluctant to see her now.
Chloe stood in front of the two of them.
"Chloe, where are you going?"
"Back to school."
"The school gate doesn't open until after two o'clock, let's go in and play for an hour together!"
Chloe looked up at the internet cafe.
Internet cafes nowadays were very different from those in the past, with quite luxurious amenities.
Students liked to visit internet cafes to play games because the atmosphere was better than playing at home.
For some reason, Chloe nodded and walked in first.
They asked for three computers at the front desk.
Chloe specifically chose a corner seat, in the same row as Oliver and Mason.
Once seated, she observed her surroundings, learning to turn on the computer, and then opened a webpage, searching for ways to make money quickly.
Then she followed the information provided and applied for a Weibo, QQ number, and other accounts.
Followed the sequence provided by the webpage.
On Weibo, Chloe saw a live chess match.
She found the live streaming App, and at the same time searched for how to enter the competition.
It wasn't without reason that she went looking for these things, but because the other side had a large title on top, "National Online Free Tournament Prize - 2 million."
She wanted to make money.
Seeing that the knockout was still open for entry, and the deadline was just at 9 pm tonight.
Chloe registered according to the rules and then entered her own nickname.
Hiding Ghost.
As soon as the two characters appeared, she was immediately pulled into the season.
With Reversi, Chloe easily defeated the first opponent, and the live broadcast only showed the chessboard, not the real person, which was undoubtedly a good thing for her.
In just over ten minutes, "Hiding Ghost" defeated three opponents and successfully attracted the attention of the public.
Reversi's game rules are simple, easy to learn, but its variations are extremely complex.
Perhaps you only need a few minutes to learn it, but you need a lifetime to master it.
Chloe killed decisively.
She emphasized speed.
So it was easy to knock out opponents in one match.
"Chloe, let's go." Mason came over to call her.
The girl opened the mobile phone, clicked on the App, and then logged in.
She could also enter the live broadcast on her phone.
Thousands of people were watching the live broadcast, and there were more people joining in.
It seemed that a famous chess player had entered the live broadcast knockout match, attracting a large number of fans to watch.
"Hiding Ghost's" name gradually moved to the front.
Chloe, controlling her phone with one hand, followed Mason out.
"When did you buy a phone?" Mason asked gossipingly.
Chloe didn't answer him.
Oliver urged her, "Class is in 20 minutes."
Mason slung his backpack over his shoulder and urged her, "Hurry up."
"Chloe, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school at this time?" As soon as they left the door of the internet cafe, a man's voice came from in front of them.
Chloe made a move on the chessboard and looked up at the person.
It was Wilbert Foster.
Wilbert Foster and his partner were about to invite someone to dinner to get their help, so the two of them had to be generous.
"These are your classmates, huh."
Wilbert Foster frowned slightly.
This Chloe, her brain is not great, and now she's following her male classmates to internet cafes.
She's becoming a total delinquent youth.
Mason hurriedly said, "Uncle, we're just going to the internet cafe to look up some information."
"I'm Chloe's uncle, so once you've looked up your information, hurry back to school."
"Uncle Foster, we're just about to head back to school, Chloe, let's go."
Mason dragged Chloe away.
With this pull, Chloe made a wrong move in her game.
Now she had to waste two more moves to fix it.
Wilbert Foster watched the three of them leave and shook his head. He would have to talk to Yvette about this problem later. They would be living together in the future, and he didn't want Chloe to have a bad influence on his child.
*
"Oliver..."
Kate and Sandra had just run back from outside of the school and saw Chloe following them. Kate could barely maintain her smile.
Why would Chloe be with them?
Sandra whispered, "What a shameless girl, sticking to them like that."
Kate's eyes flickered, and she maintained her sweet smile, "You guys went to the internet cafe again?"
Seeing the campus belle Kate, Mason nudged Oliver in the waist and raised his eyebrows.
Oliver's father and Kate's father were acquaintances, and the two families used to visit each other quite often.
Kate's father worked in a certain bureau and was in charge of some medical affairs, which was why Mr. Gordon had contact with Mr. Williams.
"We're running out of time, let's go first."
Oliver nodded at Kate.
Kate glanced at Chloe, who was focused on her mobile phone, and swallowed back the words she wanted to ask.
"Oliver, let's go home together after the evening self-study period. Aunt and my mother have arranged dinner at our house tonight, so we should go together after school."
Oliver hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Kate's smile deepened, and she looked at Chloe, who was still engrossed in her phone. She wanted to assert her dominance, but Chloe didn't even notice her and walked right past her towards the classroom.
Kate's smile became a bit rigid.
Watching them walk away, Sandra scoffed, "Kate, look at this idiot, she got close to Oliver and doesn't even care about you."
"Sandra, let's go, we're going to be late."
Kate pressed her lips together and looked in that direction.
*
Throughout the morning, Chloe covertly played her game under the desk.
Luckily, her seat was a single table in the back row, and as long as she blocked her screen with a book, there was no risk of being reported by the classmates next to her.
After the evening self-study period.
It was nearing the end.
Since the prize money was so high, many amateur players had joined in.
As a result, they were all ruthlessly eliminated by a player called "Hiding Ghost."
On social media, there were heated discussions about "Hiding Ghost" everywhere.
A "Hiding Ghost's Amazing Moves" trending topic rose to the sixth place.
[Watching Hiding Ghost slaughter enemies is so exciting. I suspect the opponent is a computer, calculating every move so precisely. It's terrifying.]
[The newly emerged 'Hiding Ghost' can't be compared with our elegant beauty Kelly Stephens. Kelly has participated in several regular competitions consecutively. This time she condescends to participate, and she's bound to take a dive.]
[It's funny that people like you think only your Kelly is a chess deity, and the others are trash.]
The fans of the chess deity Kelly Stephens immediately retorted.
[Our Stephens Godfrey is a beautiful and kind-hearted lady from a good family. When it comes to chess, she's ranked second, and no one dares to rank first. You should review Stephens Godfrey's amazing battles before you comment. Comparing an unknown 'Hiding Ghost' with our Stephens Godfrey is laughable.]
Below are numerous crazy fans insulting and driving away those who support "Hiding Ghost."
Anyway, it's just crazy.
*
Chloe didn't pay any attention to the heated arguments on social media.
After the evening self-study period, she continued to play her game while walking.
She didn't check on the school's handling of Shella and the others' situation for a whole day.
She was quite satisfied with the teaching director's effectiveness and believed that he wouldn't be lenient this time either.
The moment she stepped through the door, she could hear the sharp voice of the old hag from inside.
"She already knows about going to internet cafes. What's next? Are you going to follow some thugs outside? Yvette, I don't mean to criticize, but this girl isn't very bright and will only be taken advantage of outside. If all else fails, send her to a closed-off school. She doesn't learn anything outside but comes back and ruins the good atmosphere at home."
Just as Yvette was about to speak, she saw Chloe walk in and quickly managed to squeeze out a smile, "Chloe, are you tired from class today?"
Megan's face darkened, "How could she be tired from sitting and playing games in internet cafes? We should have spent that money to buy groceries for the house instead. Yvette, it's been a long time since you gave us money for grocery expenses, hasn't it?"
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