New Roommate

When Jessica Jones arrived at her boss's home with all her belongings, she was more than a little surprised. Based on what she had imagined, she had expected to see a typical bachelor's apartment—messy, with the trash can stuffed full of takeout containers and a musty, foul smell filling the living room.

But to her surprise, when she stepped inside, all she saw was a clean, bright, neatly organized living room. The windows gleamed, the floors were spotless, and the furniture was arranged in perfect order. For a moment, she even wondered if she had entered the wrong apartment.

Richard walked in as if nothing was unusual and looked at her strange expression. "What? What kind of reaction is that?"

"No, I just thought your place would be... messier," Jessica said. "I figured single men's apartments were usually like that."

"I prefer to keep things tidy. It helps me find what I need faster when I need it." Richard shrugged. "Besides, not every single man is like what you described. By that logic, is your room always spotless just because you're a girl?"

Jessica recalled her bedroom before her landlord had kicked her out. For a brief instant, images of clothes scattered across the floor, rumpled sheets, and an overflowing trash can flashed through her mind...

"You have a point." She was immediately convinced.

After that, Richard showed Jessica her room. Jessica had to admit that her boss really was looking out for her when it came to renting the place. The room he had cleared out was quite spacious and received plenty of sunlight. More importantly, the price was genuinely cheap. Jessica knew that renting a bedroom like this nearby would cost her at least twice as much—assuming the owner was even willing to rent it out.

That made them roommates, more or less. Richard thought it was pretty good for him too. A place this big felt rather lonely when he lived in it alone, and having someone to talk to every day was nice. Besides, although Jessica never cared much about her appearance and was a little sloppy, she was naturally gorgeous. She was easy on the eyes.

But now that they were roommates, they had to discuss some practical matters. Such as...

"Can you cook?" Richard asked.

Jessica shook her head like a rattle drum. "No."

"Then what have you been eating all this time living alone?"

"Takeout..."

"What else?"

"Pizza, corn chips... that kind of thing."

"..."

Were superheroes really so busy saving the world that they had no time for the mundane details of daily life?

So Richard had no choice but to cook dinner for the two of them himself. Fortunately, he had already maxed out his cooking skill before crossing over, and once he had the means after arriving here, he immediately got himself a full set of Chinese cooking equipment. Although he had grown accustomed to American tastes not long after crossing over, he still felt they were lacking compared with the flavors of home. When it came to food, he really had to make it himself.

Tonight's menu was sweet-and-sour ribs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a pot of seaweed egg soup.

When Jessica saw the two dishes and steaming rice placed before her, she froze. "Chinese food?"

"Yeah." Richard sat down across from her. "Can't get used to it?"

Jessica shook her head. "It's fine."

She still owed rent, yet here she was mooching food off her landlord. Even Miss "Don't Mess With Me" would feel a little embarrassed about being picky on top of that.

It was not until they started eating that Richard realized he had overlooked one small problem.

Jessica did not know how to use chopsticks.

But she did not say anything. She watched Richard skillfully pick up his chopsticks and start taking food, studied them for a moment, then stubbornly tried to pick them up and imitate him.

She picked up a rib... and dropped it.

She picked up a slice of egg... and dropped that too.

She did not say anything, and Richard did not mention it either. He happily ate while watching her struggle. Jessica's beautiful dark eyes were wide open, fixed unblinkingly on the tips of the chopsticks as she slowly tried to pick up another rib... only for it to fall back onto the plate.

After watching her stubbornly fail several times, Richard finally felt that letting this continue might be a little too cruel. He smiled and said, "Forget it, I'll get you a spoon..."

"No!"

Jessica refused. I can lift a truck with my bare hands. Am I really going to be scared of two little sticks?

She refused to believe it.

Richard shrugged and said no more. Still, he went into the kitchen, found a spoon, and placed it beside Jessica. But Jessica ignored it completely and continued practicing with intense concentration. Those two chopsticks gradually drove her emotions out of control. Her anger rose, and her fingertips unconsciously exerted a little more force...

Snap!

Jessica Jones possessed immense strength. She could stop a car with one hand—how could two mere chopsticks possibly withstand such monstrous power? With a crisp crack, the poor chopsticks finally gave out and broke neatly in half.

Jessica blinked her beautiful eyes blankly, then asked somewhat guiltily, "This... wasn't very expensive, right?"

Richard's face remained expressionless. "Your bonus next month is gone too."

Jessica's eyes widened.

Don't try to fool me just because I didn't go to school. I may not have used these things before, but aren't they just two sticks? How could they possibly be worth that much money?

Oh no, oh no. If this keeps up, won't I just end up owing more the more I work? She suddenly felt that one day, she would rack up so much debt that she would not be able to pay it off even if she sold herself.

"Just kidding." Richard smiled. "They're not worth much. But seriously, you should just use the spoon."

"Oh."

This time, Jessica obediently listened.

Hmph. A grown woman doesn't stoop to the level of a pair of tiny chopsticks. I won't hold it against you.

After all that fuss, Jessica finally got her first bite of sweet-and-sour ribs in a long time. She nodded and said seriously, "Delicious."

Richard was quite pleased to be praised by a beautiful woman. He smiled and nodded. "Glad you like it. Eat more. From now on, the food expenses will come out of your salary too..."

Jessica froze again. Even the teeth that had just bitten into a rib stopped moving. She stared at Richard with wide, shining eyes, as though she did not know whether she should finish this bite or not.

She had just thought her boss was actually a pretty decent person. Now it seemed she had been far too naive. How could there possibly be a decent boss? Sure enough, all capitalists had the same ugly face!

But after thinking about it a little, she felt that it was actually reasonable. She could not cook, and the boss was already taking special care of her by renting her the room so cheaply. It really would be hard to justify mooching food and drinks from him every day too...

Fine, fine. She would pay, then. She did not care.

It was just that Jessica Jones vaguely felt as though she was getting farther and farther down the road of "selling herself"...