Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 33

Chapter 97: Sweetcherry, Slamming People In Progress

‘sweetcherry VS KindnessPrevails’

A few big words were splashed across her live-stream channel’s comments section. One wouldn’t be able to see their profile photo on their own live-stream channel; they would only be able to see it at the leaderboard on the main face-off page.

Cherry was still just a newbie at the moment. Although she had a big boss like Sponsor Grandpa supporting her, she nevertheless only gained 200,000 fans during this period of time. She wasn’t on the same level as big-name live-streamers with millions of fans.

The photos displayed at the top of the event section on the homepage were all of the big-name live-streamers. Cherry’s photo was all the way at the back, so her first face-off wasn’t displayed at a promotional section.

However, once one entered the top ten, one would be featured on the homepage. Not only would it attract a great number of fan's attention, but it would also trend on social media for sure!

At the live-streaming platform’s company.

The supervisor was chatting with the person-in-charge of the face-off competition. He asked, “How can we liven up this year’s competition? Are there any interesting topics?”

The person-in-charge replied, “The big-name live-streamers in the gaming channels are still the same few people, but I have high hopes for sweetcherry.”

The supervisor was taken aback. He asked, “sweetcherry? How many fans do they have?”

“200,000.”

The supervisor waved dismissively. “What can you do with 200,000 fans? We have tons of such nobody live-streamers on the platform.”

The person-in-charge laughed and said, “But she’s a five-year-old child!”

The supervisor was surprised.

Intrigued, he asked, “Really?”

The person-in-charge nodded. “Yes, really. Here, I’ll show you. I saw the video of her revealing her face during her live-stream. It’s definitely worth hyping about!”

The supervisor said, “Then what are you waiting for? Put it on social media and hype it up!”

However, the person-in-charge shook his head mysteriously and said, “We can’t do that yet.”

“Why?”

“There isn’t enough attention on her yet!” He said, “Let’s wait till she’s in the top ten first!”

The supervisor immediately laughed and said, “Can an unknown live-streamer with 200,000 fans even make it to the top ten? It’d already be pretty impressive if she can make it to the top twenty!”

When the person-in-charge heard what he said, he smiled mysteriously again and said, “Do you know how much her top fan has tipped her?1.5 million dollars! That money’s already enough for her to buy a position among the top ten! Once she enters the top ten and faces the big-name live-streamers,the hype will naturally come. When that happens, if we show the charming contrast between her personality and people’s expectations of her, that little live-streamer will definitely go viral!”

The person-in-charge took out his cell phone and showed Cherry’s photo to the supervisor. He said, “Take a look at this. Do you know who she is? I really suspect she’s a kid from some wealthy family who’s just having some fun on the platform.Her top fan pampers her too much!”

The supervisor picked up the cell phone and looked at the photo carefully for a long time.

However, he shook his head and replied, “I’ve seen a few of the well-known kids among New York’s wealthy, but I’ve never seen her before.”

The supervisor took out his cell phone and watched sweetcherry’s live-stream for a while, listening to her verbally slam people online with her young, tender voice.

Just five minutes into the live-stream, Cherry had already delivered quite a few golden lines.

For example, a player in the game had complained about her not joining a team in the early stages. Even after she explained, the other party still continued to insult her, so she immediately snapped, “Is your entire family so skilled at doing nothing?”

The supervisor didn’t understand what she meant, but he found the answer in the comments.

The supervisor didn’t understand what she meant, but he found the answer in the comments.

‘Hahaha! The live-streamer is saying his entire family is full of good-for-nothings! She has such a sharp tongue!’

‘She is too cute!’

Someone also asked:

‘Where did you learn all these insults from?’

sweetcherry actually replied earnestly, “Some of them I saw on the Internet, and some of them I made up by myself, yeah!”

The supervisor laughed several times during the ten minutes he spent watching the live-stream. To think listening to sweetcherry slamming people online would actually feel so good!

He looked straight at the person-in-charge and said, “This kid is a natural Internet celebrity! She appeals to randoms especially well. She doesn’t make people feel that she’s crass even when she’s insulting others; on the contrary, it actually feels good to listen to her! She’s definitely someone who can be mega-popular!

Whether or not we can reach our required KPI this year will depend on how popular she becomes!”

“Her photo is too unclear! Find a way to make it more high-definition. We must make sweetcherry our walking billboard this year! It’ll definitely make her popular all over the country!”

Cherry, who was completely unaware that some people had set their sights on her, immediately saw that she had won the face-off after she ended her live-stream.

After all, the other party was also a nobody live-streamer with only 100,000-odd fans. On top of that, they didn’t have Sponsor Grandpa or Sponsor Daddy, so how could they possibly beat her?

After ending the live-stream and putting her cell phone down, Cherry saw the Mathematical Olympiad worksheets on the desk again. Her face immediately scrunched up.

Sob, it was time for homework again! Help, Pete!

Downstairs.

Nora was about to go upstairs after dinner.

She had only just stood up when she heard Melissa ask, “Simon, how much cash do you have with you?”

Simon answered, “About $300,000. What’s the matter?”

All the working capital in the company had gone into the Carefree Pills at the moment. It was still early, so they hadn’t recovered the production costs yet.

Melissa’s brows knitted together.

Simon asked, “How much do you need?”

Melissa sighed. “At least $3,000,000, I guess.”

Simon gasped. “Why do you need so much money all of a sudden? Did something happen, Melissa?”

Melissa hesitated for a moment before she replied, “No, it’s nothing.”

She got up and went upstairs.

Nora, who was in the stairwell, stopped in her tracks after overhearing their conversation.

Melissa went upstairs and entered her bedroom. She was staring at her jewelry in a daze when she suddenly heard footsteps at the door.

She looked back to see Nora there.

Melissa immediately concealed the sense of resignation in her and asked with a smile, “Nora, what’s the matter?”

Nora lowered her gaze, took out a bank card from her pocket, and handed it to her. “Take this.”

Melissa immediately waved and said, “Did you overhear me talking to your uncle? You don’t have to, Nora. How can I use your pocket money?”

Besides, Nora was just an ordinary surgeon. How much money could she make?

Simon had already told her in private that one-third of the Anderson's assets was Yvette’s, so it made sense to give them to Nora now.

This way, she would own some assets of her own, which would be helpful to her when she got married in the future.

Nora had become famous among mid-tier wealthy families ever since the dance party the other day.

People had been approaching them to ask about Nora lately.

While she was lost in thought, Nora placed the bank card on the table and said, “I still have some money. You can take this for now.”

Melissa’s eyes reddened as she looked at her from the back.

The young woman might look cold, but her heart was warmer than anyone else’s.

She didn’t know how many years Nora might have spent saving up that money, nor did she know whether there were tens of thousands of dollars in the card or not.

Although that bit of money was just a drop in the bucket for her, if she refused,she would be standing too much on ceremony with her own family.

Ah, well.

She just wanted the money to do some investments anyway. She would just see how much money Nora had first and treat it as investment funds. Once the dividends came in, she would also be able to earn Nora a bit of pocket money.

After thinking it through, Melissa took the bank card and rushed downstairs excitedly.

Chapter 98 : Nora Smith The Little Moneymaker

As soon as she went down, Melissa immediately saw Miranda coming over impatiently.

She had a bit of a haughty look on her face. Even though she still held the matter about Tanya against Melissa, she nevertheless asked stiffly, “Have you gotten the money ready?”

Melissa held the bank card given by Nora and smiled gently, “I only have slightly over $300,000 here. Let’s use that first.”

At once, Miranda pursed her lips disdainfully and said, “Only slightly over $300,000? How much over $300,000 is that?”

The additional money was from Nora’s bank card.

However, Melissa hadn’t gone to the ATM to confirm the balance, so she answered casually, “About $20,000, I suppose.”

Surgeons still earned quite a bit after all. However, Nora was still young, so there was no way she would have made that much. There was probably only about $20,000 in the card at best.

Miranda looked down on her even more after her reply. She said, “So little? Are you kidding me? If

it wasn’t because your elder brother was afraid that you’re having a hard time and insisted that we let you earn some money along with us, I couldn’t even be bothered to come here. Yet you’re patronizing us with just $300,000? Are you looking down on us?”

Melissa clenched her fists. “Miranda, you’re aware of the situation my family is in. We’re depending on the Carefree Pill to revive the business, so all our working capital has gone into the production costs. All we have is this $300,000 here.”

Miranda scoffed and said, “If I were you, I would mortgage the house and take out a $3,000,000 loan!”

The villa was built in an excellent location in the city center. Housing prices in New York had skyrocketed in recent years, so it was now worth 15 million dollars.

It was indeed very easy to take out a $3,000,000 loan if they mortgaged the house.

However, Melissa shook her head and said, “I’m only investing along with him to make a bit of pocket money. There’s no need to mortgage the house…”

As soon as she said that, Miranda reprimanded, “If you invest $3,000,000, you can earn at least half of that amount! $300,000? It’s too embarrassing to even bring up a pittance like that! What’s the use even if you earn $150,000?You can’t even buy a slightly better handbag with that! If you want to make money, then mortgage your house. If you don’t, then forget it!”

The slender Melissa stood tall and straight. Upon hearing Miranda’s words, she slowly said, “If that’s the case, then never mind.”

If it weren’t because her elder brother had personally called and said that he wanted to let her earn a bit of pocket money together with him and that the children would need money for a lot of things now that they were all grown up… In particular, Sheril was a girl, yet she didn’t even bear to spend on a pretty

handbag… If it weren’t because of these, she would never subject herself to her sister-in-law’s detestable attitude.

But why should she allow Miranda to come here and bully them?

Miranda actually just wanted to embarrass her and see her lower her head to beg for help. She didn’t think that Melissa would really refuse to invest.

She immediately scoffed and said, “Well done! You’re a tough one, aren’t you? Haven’t you always thought little of money ever since you were a child? The Woods may be able to support a delicate woman like you, but can the Andersons do it? I heard you can’t even bear to use premium paper for your paintings now! If it

wasn’t because your brother can’t bear to see you live in such poverty, do you think we’re that free to let you make money with us?”

It was that haughty and arrogant look again.

And that attitude and tone as if she was being charitable…

Melissa raised her head suddenly and looked straight at her. “You—”

But before she could finish, a cool voice reached them. “My aunt doesn’t need your pity.”

Both women were taken aback. They looked up to see Nora walking down the steps. She looked at Melissa and said slowly and lazily, “Aunt Melissa, you can come to me if you want to make some pocket money. You don’t have to ask others for help.”

Melissa was a little surprised.

As for Miranda, she frowned and said, “You talk pretty big for your age! Do you know what we’re investing in?”

Nora raised an eyebrow.

Well, she didn’t.

While thinking about it, she heard Miranda ask, “Have you heard of the Lowes?”

The Lowes… The family that Whitney Lowe married into?

Nora didn’t even need to respond, because Miranda had already gone on by herself and said, “It’s obvious from the way you look like you wouldn’t know them.The Hunts started up as a real estate company, but apart from them, the Lowes are also a family who started up as a real estate company!

The Lowes have bought a large plot of land in New York, but because they can’t afford it all by themselves for the time being—yet they are also reluctant to take out a huge loan from the bank—they are asking a few other families that they know, such as us, whether we are interested in joining them!

“Real estate has been a hugely profitable industry in recent years. The profits are clear for all to see! The Woods have been wanting to expand into the real estate industry for many years, but the field has unfortunately been monopolized by the Hunts and the Lowes all this time. But we finally have an opportunity to make a fortune now!”

Miranda looked at the two of them after she finished.

The real estate industry was an extremely profitable one! Those two must be full of regrets now, right?

But unexpectedly.

Melissa was already aware of this a long time ago, so she didn’t seem surprised. However, the young Nora was actually also expressionless?

Miranda frowned.

She reckoned that she probably wasn’t informed about the real estate industry.

“Miranda, I’m grateful that my elder brother is concerned for my well-being, but if you continue to be so aggressive,this will become a feud instead! I only have a little over $300,000 here. If you want to help us and let us invest, then go ahead. If

you don’t, then just take it as I’m not fated to be involved in the investment!”

After speaking, she held out both Nora’s and her bank cards to Miranda.

Miranda didn’t dare to go too far. After all, she would also be in trouble if Melissa were to complain to her elder brother.

She snorted and reached out her arm as she said, “Fine, $300,000 it is, then…”

However, a fair and slender hand suddenly snatched both cards from Melissa’s hand.

Miranda, “?”

Melissa was also taken aback.

Nora stared at the bank cards in her hand and gave Melissa a smile. She said, “Aunt Melissa, if you trust me, then let me make some pocket money for you with this $300,000!”

The real estate industry was done for.

Should they really throw the money in, they probably wouldn’t even be able to recoup their capital in the next few years.

Miranda was so furious that she laughed instead. “Fine, since that’s what you say, then forget it! I’ll just take it that our goodwill has been taken for ill intent!”

She left in a huff.

In any case, she would be able to answer to her husband when she got home. It wasn’t like she didn’t try to help, but his younger sister had been fooled by the niece whom they had just brought home. She had taken the money and gone off to do god knows what with it!

By the time Melissa wanted to ask Nora about it after Miranda left, Nora had already gone upstairs with two bank cards.

Melissa, “…”

Never mind. $300,000 wasn’t a lot anyway. If Nora lost the money, then she would just treat it as if they had given her some money to practice investing with!

At noon the next day.

Nora immediately heard the dispute downstairs the moment she woke up.

“How can you be so muddleheaded? $300,000 may not be much,but how can you just give it to her? How is she going to make you any money?”

The one speaking was a man who looked somewhat like Melissa, except that he had a stern look on his face.

Melissa sighed and said, “Farrell, Nora seems to be trading stocks.”

“Stocks?” Farrell Wood, Melissa’s elder brother, reprimanded, “Are you crazy?! Has she bought them yet?”

Farrell picked up his cell phone. “What did she buy? I’ll check how the market is today!”

Melissa was about to say that she didn’t know when the corners of Nora’s lips curled upward and she replied unhurriedly, “The stock code is 00083.”

Farrell frowned and input the stock code into his cell phone as he said, “Take the money out of the stocks immediately! Stocks have been plummeting recently. Both of you are really out of your mind…”

However, his words came to an abrupt end at this point!

Chapter 99: Profits!

Cell phones had an app that could check a stock’s fluctuations, and it showed clearly that the stock Nora mentioned had risen by 2% the day before!

In other words, the $300,000 they invested had seen a return of $6,000 in just a day!

Given how it had risen despite the plummeting stock market, this was undoubtedly very impressive.

Farrell was a mature and steady middle-aged man who bore a 50% resemblance to Melissa. Unlike Miranda’s mean and acrimonious appearance, he had an air unique to scholarly merchants around him.

His brows were tightly drawn together, but he nevertheless looked up and said, “Your profit yesterday can only be attributed to luck. The stock market is very unstable now, so it’s not surprising that the stock rose for a day. This particular stock has been falling lately. You’d best still take the opportunity to sell it today!”

Then, he looked at Melissa sternly and lectured, “The Wood's family teachings forbid us from gambling and taking drugs. Melissa, I know you’re short of money. That’s why I told Miranda to look for you and let you make some money with us. Why must you let things come to this point?”

Melissa looked at him, her expression somewhat dazed.

It seemed like she hadn’t seen her elder brother for a very long time.

The siblings had been on very good terms in the past. She could still remember how her elder brother had specially screened Simon’s character for her when she fell in love with him back then.

When did they become this distant from each other?

It seemed like it was ever since he married Miranda?

Farrell and Miranda’s marriage could be considered a political marriage between the Wood's and the Sonnet's. Farrell had a literati’s pride, and he trusted Miranda enough to leave her in charge of all the family affairs after they were married.

Miranda was a petty woman. She would get jealous and say a lot of mean things whenever Farrell was even a little nice to Melissa. She didn’t want to cause disharmony in her brother’s family, so she rarely returned to the Wood's residence in recent years after their parents passed away.

At the sight of Melissa keeping quiet, Farrell sighed, took out a bank card, and handed it to her. He said, “I know Miranda has a foul mouth, but do you really think I’ll leave you to your own devices when you’re broke, Melissa?There’s $800,000 in here. Use it to tide over for now… Don’t worry, this is my own money. Your sister-in-law doesn’t know about it.”

His heartwarming words made Melissa tear up a little.

She was still wearing a well-tailored dress that outlined her slender figure and slim waist today, making her look elegant and classy.

Apart from Simon’s lack of drive to do better, the other reason why the Andersons were in such a predicament today was that she was content to keep the status quo.

Melissa knew that there was a bit of a literati’s loftiness in her all these years. She didn’t like socializing and didn’t take money and things like that too seriously.

Thus, when Farrell called her yesterday, she had immediately agreed.

The real estate industry was in full swing.

Moreover, the Lowes were also a reliable wealthy family in New York. Everyone knew them and their background well, so nothing would go wrong in investing in them. That was why she had agreed to it.

But now…

Melissa pushed the bank card back to Farrell. She said, “Farrell, I made a wrong judgment. We actually have enough to spend. Besides, once we tide over this month, the Andersons will have money when we recoup the Carefree Pill's production costs. It’s really okay.”

At the sight of her insistence, Farrell didn’t push any further.

Nevertheless, he still warned, “Stocks are risky. There’s no harm playing a little using that $300,000, but don’t put any more into it, okay?”

Melissa didn’t approve of stock trading, either. She had given Nora the $300,000 the day before only because she appreciated Nora’s intentions to help. Thus, she nodded at Farrell’s reminder.

Nora had heard the entire conversation between the siblings, and it left a good impression of her aunt’s brother on her.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Nora suddenly said, “Uncle Farrell, please wait a moment.”

Farrell stopped and looked at her with a slight frown.

There wasn’t any disdain in his eyes but just a look of scrutiny.

The confidence and charm that only scholarly families possessed made him look like an upright man.

It was a shame that they instead produced a daughter like Rachel Wood, who didn’t inherit the scholarly aura.

Nora suppressed the regretful feeling in her and said, “Real estate isn’t going to do well in the future. Are the Woods really going to invest with the Lowes?”

Farrell was taken aback when he heard her. He didn’t refute her right away, but after some careful thinking, he nevertheless said, “The Lowes are a huge real estate company, and are one of the enterprises with the shrewdest business acumen around. Apart from the Hunts, no one else can compare to them when it comes to the real estate industry.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t have immediately gone for it the moment they offered the investment opportunity to other families.”

Then, he paused and spoke to Melissa again. He said, “Miranda might have been a little anxious when she talked to you yesterday, but there’s actually a reason for that. Real estate is lucrative, so everyone wants a piece of it. It wasn’t easy for the Lowes to finally share some of the opportunities. I only managed to grab a share worth 30 million dollars after much difficulty.”

He heaved a sigh at the thought.

His younger sister had had a hard life these few years, so he wanted to let her make some money along with him. If they really couldn’t afford it, then he would just pay for their investment capital in advance for now.

He was just thinking of that when Nora said calmly, “Uncle Farrell, the Lowes have been in the real estate industry for so many years, and they have a great relationship with the bank.If they don’t have enough funds, then why aren’t they taking out a loan? Also, why didn’t the Lowes partner with the Hunts? Both of them are in the real estate industry, so it would only be more convenient for them if they were to cooperate.Perhaps you can go and ask around—Mr. Hunt must have rejected his offer.”

Farrell became even more confused. He asked, “Where did you hear that from?”

The moment he said that, realization dawned upon Melissa and she asked, “Nora, was it Justin who told you that real estate won’t do well in the future?”

Nora, “??”

Before she could answer, however, Melissa had already convinced herself. She turned and tried to persuade Farrell, “Farrell, Nora and Justin are somewhat friends. If it’s Justin who told her that, then you must be careful.”

Farrell frowned and sank into contemplation upon hearing what she said.

A moment later, he said, “Okay.”

He left in a hurry after saying that.

Nora didn’t trouble herself over whether he believed her or not.

Neither was she concerned about whether he would go ahead with the investment or not. Whether or not the Wood's suffered a loss had nothing to do with her. She had told him what he should, so she had already done enough.

She went straight upstairs.

Farrell got into the car after he left the Anderson's.

With a solemn look on his face, he suddenly instructed the chauffeur, “To Hunt Corporation.”

They arrived at the destination very quickly.

He got out of the car and entered the building.

The Wood's and the Lowe's enjoyed similar status among the wealthy in New York.

Farrell could be considered an influential figure, so when he suddenly paid a visit, the front desk at the lobby didn’t dare to dally. They immediately reported his arrival to the top floor.

Justin was currently supervising Pete’s studies. He initially didn’t want to meet Farrell when he heard that he was here.

However, when he suddenly thought of how Farrell was Melissa’s elder brother and thus, was somewhat related to that woman, he finally allowed him upstairs.

Soon, Farrell entered his office. After the two exchanged a few pleasantries,Justin went straight to the point and asked, “What brings Mr. Wood here today?”

The man was twenty years his junior, yet even Farrell couldn’t quite handle his aura. He smiled politely and replied, “It’s like this. I heard that Mr. Hunt said the real estate industry isn’t going to do very well in the future?”

Justin immediately raised his eyebrows and asked, “Who did you hear that from, Mr. Wood?”