Chapter 3The $5 Wonton

The crowd went silent. The owner stared, then burst out laughing.

“You? Three million? Are you insane?”

People in the crowd started whispering again. “Kid, don't do something crazy. It’s not worth it.”

I sighed and opened my banking app, showing them the balance. Just over $3 million.

“My brother has a limit on my main accounts. This is just what’s in my checking.”

If I hadn't just bought that bracelet for Jessica, it would have been more.

The silence was deafening. The owner’s face went pale, then red, then pale again.

“Th-three million isn't enough! This is prime real estate! It’s worth eight million!”

The customer who had spoken up before scoffed. “Susan, you bought this place thirty years ago for eighty thousand, tops. Eight million?”

“You shut up! Property values are through the roof! I say it’s eight million!”

But my attention was on what the customer had called her. Susan.

Jessica’s mother’s name is Susan Zhang.

She's "Susan," she has a $300,000 emerald bracelet, and a daughter... The coincidences were piling up.

I asked, “Ma’am, is your name Susan Zhang?”

“None of your business!” she snapped.

I kept going. “Is your daughter’s name Jessica Jiang?”

She suddenly sneered. “What? Are you one of her pathetic admirers?”

“You look decent enough. If you’re really that obsessed with my daughter, I guess I could let you be her side-piece.”

I couldn’t believe it. This woman was actually my future mother-in-law. I wasn’t even married to Jessica, and her mom was already calling some other guy “son-in-law.”

“Side-piece? Ma’am, I’m your daughter’s boyfriend.”

She looked at me like I was something she’d scraped off her shoe.

“Kid, if you’re crazy, go get help! My daughter’s boyfriend is the heiress to the Gu family, a real big shot. Not some loser in a KFC uniform.”

Note: The user's original text has a gender-swap for the girlfriend/boyfriend. I will stick to the original's final intention: The protagonist is male, the girlfriend (Jiang Ruyan) is female. The owner's line about "Gu family heiress" (顾家大小姐) seems to be a mistake in the original text, as the protagonist (顾清风) is male. I will correct this in the adaptation to "heir."

I sighed and crossed my arms. “I am the Gu family heir, Alex Gu. Want to see my ID?”

“Plenty of people have the same name! Stop trying to fool me! My son-in-law is probably on a date with my daughter right now!”

I shrugged. “Why don’t you call her and ask?”

“Fine, I will!”

She dialed again. This time, it connected.

Jessica’s voice came through the speaker. “Mom, what’s up? I’m on a date with my boyfriend!”