Envy, Jealousy, and Resentment

The other two boys merely gave Wang Ye awkward smiles and said nothing.

Wang Ye stepped forward, took a fifty-dollar phone card from his wallet, and said, "Here, forty-five dollars."

Zhang Ke reached out, picked up the phone card, and turned it over in his hands for a long while. Yet instead of paying, he asked, "You're selling it this cheap. It isn't fake, is it?"

That was clearly picking a fight.

But Wang Ye did not get angry. He simply answered calmly, "Guaranteed genuine. I haven't sold these cards to just one or two people. You can ask around and see how they work."

Zhang Ke was momentarily speechless, but then he asked again:

"Everyone else sells cards at the original price. How can you sell yours so much cheaper? Hey, we came abroad to study. How much can you make selling phone cards anyway? A dollar or two per card? That's not even enough for a bottle of beer. Isn't that pathetic? Hahaha..."

Wang Ye understood now.

This guy held a grudge against him, but did not dare actually make a move.

For one thing, he could not beat Wang Ye. For another, he was afraid of getting into trouble.

He had probably seen Wang Ye's promotional poster today, or heard about him selling phone cards, and deliberately used the card purchase as an excuse to disgust him and gain a little verbal advantage.

It seemed rather childish...

Then again, they were all teenage students. Their methods could hardly be that sophisticated.

Perhaps Zhang Ke had wracked his brains to come up with this idea. He was probably still quite pleased with himself, thinking he had finally "gotten revenge" on Wang Ye.

Wang Ye smiled calmly and replied, "No matter how much I make, I earn it myself. Even if it's only a cent, there's nothing pathetic about it!"

Zhang Ke shook his head repeatedly. "Pathetic! Fucking pathetic! Hey, it probably wasn't easy for your family to send you abroad. Why can't you just study properly? Why insist on doing this kind of small business, making a little money while delaying your studies? What's the point? Is your family really so poor that they can't even afford to support you studying abroad, so you have to make money yourself?"

His words sounded as though he was concerned for Wang Ye and urging him to study hard.

But everyone could hear that he was really just mocking Wang Ye.

Wang Ye was getting impatient. Frowning, he asked, "Are you buying the card or not? If not, I'm leaving. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

The smile on Zhang Ke's face froze. He seemed not to have expected Wang Ye to be so blunt.

He was the "customer," the one paying for the card. What kind of attitude was that?

Just as he was about to argue some more, Wang Ye's phone rang again.

Wang Ye ignored him and answered it himself.

Whatever was said on the other end, Wang Ye gave two acknowledging hums, then said he would be there right away.

After hanging up, he snatched the phone card from Zhang Ke's hand and said, "If you're buying it, pay up. If not, forget it. Why are you dragging this out like a woman? Fine, someone else wants a card. I'm going to deliver it. I don't have time to waste here."

With that, he turned to leave. Zhang Ke hurriedly stood up. "Hey, hey, don't go! I want it. Of course I want it."

Although Wang Ye had snapped at him a few times, Zhang Ke did not feel that he had lost out. After all, he had been the one to mock Wang Ye first.

Besides, he could summon Wang Ye with a single phone call. That sense of psychological superiority was hard to describe...

He even wanted to buy phone cards several more times in the future, just so he could call Wang Ye over a few more times.

You think you're so cocky? One call from me and you still come running over, all for one or two lousy dollars. Hahaha...

As he handed the money to Wang Ye, he asked curiously, "Business is pretty good, huh? Someone else is looking for you to buy a card?"

Wang Ye took the money and casually said, "Yeah, that Qi Gege asked me to bring her a card. She lives on this floor too, right? It's on the way, hehe."

Zhang Ke froze, then quickly said, "It's so late. Isn't it inappropriate for you to go into a girl's room?"

Wang Ye gave him a surprised look and asked in return, "The girl herself doesn't care. Why are you so worked up? What's it got to do with you?"

An awkward smile appeared on Zhang Ke's face as he explained, "It has nothing to do with me. I'm just kindly reminding you."

Wang Ye put the money into his wallet, turned, and left without paying him any attention.

Seeing Wang Ye leave the dorm room, Zhang Ke hurried forward to the doorway. He did not go out, but leaned against the doorframe and secretly peered outside.

He saw Wang Ye walk to the other end of the corridor, knock on a room door, and enter.

That dorm room was Nalan Yaqi's!

Though they lived on the same floor, Zhang Ke had never entered Nalan Yaqi's room. It was not that he did not want to, but she would not let him...

Yet Wang Ye had gone in so casually. Zhang Ke could not help feeling envious, jealous, and resentful!

In Nalan Yaqi's room, Wang Ye saw Nalan Yaqi and her roommate squeezed together on one bed, watching a drama on a portable DVD player.

There were only the two of them in the room. Their third roommate was probably out.

When she saw Wang Ye enter, Nalan Yaqi put down the DVD player, stood up, and said with a smile, "You're doing pretty well now. You've started being a boss. You've got potential!"

The same words, coming from Zhang Ke, might have been irritating and sounded like mockery.

But coming from Nalan Yaqi, they did not feel unpleasant at all.

Wang Ye smiled and replied, "A friend happened to be doing this. I had nothing better to do, so I thought I'd treat it as some practice. It's convenient for everyone, and I can meet more new friends at the same time."

Nalan Yaqi gave Wang Ye an approving look and nodded. "It really is a good thing. You can't just bury your head in studying after coming here. Even if you study well, what kind of future can that give you? You need to meet more people, make more friends, and seize opportunities quickly when they come. There are still plenty of opportunities here. As long as you put your mind to it, maybe you'll become a wealthy tycoon someday too!"

Nalan Yaqi's feelings toward Wang Ye had been quietly changing day by day.

When they had first met, Wang Ye had shown no interest in her at all, which had somewhat offended Nalan Yaqi.

At the time, she had wanted to find an opportunity to embarrass Wang Ye and vent her frustration.

In fact, when she invited Wang Ye to go shopping with her that morning, she had wanted to find a chance to tease him—for example, by deliberately taking him to a women's lingerie store...

Unfortunately, Wang Ye had not "taken the bait."

Then, when she returned to the dorm that evening, she saw the promotional poster Wang Ye had put up in the lobby. She was surprised to discover that this guy really knew how to keep himself busy!

He had only been in Moscow for a little over half a month, and he had already started doing business?

Though he was only selling phone cards, just a small-time venture that probably would not make much money.

It represented an attitude!

An attitude of refusing to settle for obscurity, striving and pushing forward!

That was truly rare...