บท 187: Ch 187 - New Beginnings!
Alex stood outside the door for a moment and listened to Nelly weeping in her room. He felt awful. He sighed and went back to his room to have a rest.
The next day, when he saw her, she seemed back to her usual self. He didn't know what to
say, so he didn't mention their conversation from the previous evening. They worked together in the food truck as usual.
Three days later, it was his last day working with her before he started at the university the following day. That evening, he returned to his rental room and started packing up his
things. Later, he was cooking himself some chicken soup when he heard someone banging on the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to find Nelly standing there holding a plate of pancakes.
"Hey," he said.
Nelly put the plate on the table and said with a smile, "Please eat them. I made them for
you."
Alex was pleasantly surprised and realized that she had brought them to celebrate their
last day working together. He felt very touched as he sat down to eat the pancakes with his
chicken soup. To him, the food tasted delicious. He looked at Nelly and said, "Your pancakes taste wonderful."
She answered, "I know." She had been carefully watching Alex as he ate, and she thought to herself, he really is a lovely boy. His heart is as sweet as honey. She looked at him again, and with a small smile, she said tenderly, "Alex, I was wrong the other night. Please don't hate me."
"Of course, I don't hate you. You think too much," he replied with a smile. "I know you really like that man you told me about. The only thing stopping you is—" He wanted to say "an inferiority complex", but didn't want to anger her again, so he stopped himself. Instead, he said, "I believe that we make our own happiness. I think you should take the initiative to find him and tell him how you feel. I think there's still reason to be hopeful."
Nelly had spent the previous two days giving serious consideration to what Alex had said.
She replied, "But I'm so worried that if I find him, he'll laugh at me again for being ugly and for thinking I could be with someone like him."
Alex responded, "But at least then you'll know how he feels toward you, and then you can
stop thinking about him. It would still be better than not knowing. But don't be too
pessimistic. You also said that you knew him when you were both children. You've both
grown up since then. Maybe if you meet him now, he will like you."
"Do you really think so?" she murmured.
Alex replied, "Of course, I do. Unfortunately, I can't help you look for him right now, but
when things are sorted out with Miss Marvel, I'll go with you to find him. If he is polite, then I'll leave you to it. If he's rude to you like he was when he was a child, I'll beat him up for you."
Nelly was very moved. In her whole life, no one had ever defended her in this way. She tried to hold back the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
With a small smile, she said, "Well, thank you. But don't say any more now. Eat your dinner,
there's plenty left."
The next day, Alex got up early. He had bought a suitcase, and he packed all his clothes into
it, with the garbage bag full of euros safely hidden in the middle. He put his backpack onto
his back, picked up the suitcase, and walked out of his room. He planned to say hello to Nelly, who had slept on the sofa, and then report to Richmond University.
However, Nelly had already gotten up. She asked Alex to eat some pancakes that were leftover from the previous night. When he finished eating, she gently patted him on the
shoulder. When he turned around, he found her holding out a stack of dollar bills toward him. She said, "This is your wage. It was one thousand two hundred dollars in total. I didn't
deduct a single dollar from you."
Alex now had a huge amount of money in his suitcase, so he said, "No, please keep the money."
Nelly was bewildered. She asked, "Why did you work for me if you didn't want the money? I know you need it. I'm leaving now. You take the money." As far as she knew, he was as poor as she was.
Alex hesitated. He had no way of proving his real identity to her, so he took the money. He
thought, "I have her bank details. If she looks like she's struggling, I can always transfer it to her."
Nelly drove Alex to the university in the food truck.
Outside the front gate, they climbed out of the truck. All around them, students were
walking past with their suitcases.
A girl approached Alex and said, "Alex?"
He saw that it was Phillipa.
They chatted, and it turned out that Phillipa was also studying at Richmond University. She
had been feeling a little guilty, but also grateful to Alex since they had last met. However,
she hadn't had the nerve to call him. She was surprised but pleased to bump into him again.
"Have you come to Richmond University to do business?" she asked him.
"Leave him alone," Nelly said sternly as she glared at Phillipa. She remembered that the last time they had met, Phillipa and Myriam had laughed unkindly at Alex. Phillipa smiled and didn't say anything.
Alex said softly to Nelly, "It's okay, we're old classmates, and now we're studying at the
same university." Although Phillipa was a little confused, she remembered how Mr. Stokes
and the beautiful woman had helped Alex in the Ruby Hotel the last time they met. They
had both left an impression on her.
Phillipa took Nelly's hand and said, "I was wrong the last time we met. I feel terrible. I will never look down on anyone again."
Nelly looked back at her suspiciously but didn't say anything else. She turned to Alex and
said, "I'm hoping to make a lot of money here today with the truck. I better go and set up."
"Well, in the future, when you're parked here at the university, let me know, and we'll eat lunch together in the cafeteria," Alex said. Then he watched Nelly go back to the food truck
and start selling pancakes to the students. He and Phillipa walked through the gate to the
university.
As they went through the gate, they heard a lot of talking and laughing coming from behind them. Alex turned his head and saw a young man surrounded by beautiful women. He was tall and athletic and stood very straight. He was well-dressed in an expensive shirt and pants, and designer shoes. He also wore Prada glasses, which made him look like a movie star.
Two beautiful women stood at each side of him, obviously flirting outrageously. The young
man held a bottle of Evian in his hand and looked very relaxed. The women giggled at his
jokes, complimented him, and occasionally clapped their hands. It was clear that the four girls were trying to persuade the young man to put his arms around their waists, but he
didn't seem to be interested in cuddling them.
The man and the beautiful girls were very eye-catching, and they quickly became the center of attention. Everyone passing by stopped to look at them with envious glances.
As Alex watched, the man and his friends arrived at the gate. They stood side by side and
blocked a car from entering. It was a very expensive sports car. Alex guessed its value to be at least a few hundred thousand dollars. He assumed that the car belonged to someone rich and powerful, but it appeared that the driver didn't even dare to sound the horn.
Phillipa noticed Alex looking curiously at the tall man and explained, "That's Colin
Patterson. He's in the music department. His family is very rich, and all the girls in the school fancy him."
Alex understood what Phillipa had told him, but still had some doubts.
"Oh, okay," he nodded, and then said with a puzzled smile, "I can see that he has some
pretty girls following him around, but they're blocking that car from getting in. They're
lucky the owner of the car is so relaxed. He isn't even sounding the horn to get them to
move. No matter how rich his family is, I'm surprised that the driver isn't doing anything."
As Colin and his friends approached them, Phillipa pulled Alex to the side, out of their way.
One of the beautiful girls said with a smile, "Colin, I love it when we walk with you.
Everyone moves to make way for us."
Colin replied with a smile, "They're giving way to me because you four are with me. The
fact is that they are ashamed of themselves and can't help but get out of my way."
"Colin, you can really make us happy. You're so sweet that I really don't want to leave you
for a moment." The four girls laughed.
When Colin passed Alex, he didn't even notice his existence. He saw straight through him.
The five of them walked down the road with the car slowly driving behind them. When they reached a fork in the road, the driver rolled down the window. He didn't look like a student. He called out to Colin, "Colin, I'll wait for you at Ocean building later."
Colin just glanced at him and then continued to walk with the four girls.
Phillipa and Alex looked at each other with a smile. They realized that the car belonged to
Colin and that the man driving it was his valet. That was why he hadn't dared to sound the horn.
Phillipa showed him the way to the dormitory building of the Department of Life Sciences.
"What happened that day has always bothered me. Alex, do you still blame me?" she asked
as they walked together.
Alex shook his head and said with a smile, "If I had blamed you, would I have let you go that day?"
That put Phillipa's mind at ease. She asked, "How do you know Mr. Stokes? Who was that
beautiful lady and why did they help you?"
"Er—" Alex knew that he couldn't tell Phillipa his true identity. Even if he did tell her, he
knew that she wouldn't believe him. He quickly invented an explanation, and said,
"Actually, I was just lucky. Mr. Stokes brought the lady to buy two pancakes from the stand.
She thought that the pancakes I made were delicious, and she gave me a lot of praise. She
knew that I was a poor college student and couldn't go back to New York, so she persuaded Mr. Stokes to help me switch to Richmond University. It was a coincidence that I saw them again in the Ruby Hotel that day. I don't know anything else about them."
"Oh, is that all?" Phillipa had never imagined that Ken had helped Alex simply because of two pancakes. When she saw him nodding, she asked, "Do you still have contact with them?
If you have any more difficulties and want them to help, will they?"
He replied, "No, I don't even have their contact information. Besides, they've already helped me once. I'm not related to them. Why should they help me again?"
"That's what I thought," Phillipa said. She was a bit frustrated. She still had her plans and thought that if Alex could talk to Ken, maybe he could convince him to help her find a good
job in the future. Now, it seemed that it was not possible.
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