After breakfast, Evelyn cleaned up. Then she got ready to head back to school.
“I’ll go back to school now and move in on Sunday.” Evelyn carried her bag and spoke to Alexander.
Alexander nodded. He turned off the TV, got up, and walked into the study to grab his briefcase.
When he came out, Evelyn was no longer in the room.
Alexander frowned again. He picked up his phone and called Evelyn.
Evelyn had just stepped out of the building when she heard her phone ring. She pulled it out of her bag and saw an unfamiliar number.
“Hello?” Evelyn hesitated for a long moment before answering.
“Where are you?” Alexander asked impatiently.
“Who is this?” Evelyn asked, confused.
“You didn’t save my number?” Alexander sounded annoyed.
“Ah? Oh! I forgot to save it! I was just heading back to school. I told you a moment ago!” Evelyn finally realized it was Alexander’s voice and quickly explained.
“Where are you now?”
“I just came downstairs!”
“Wait for me downstairs.”
Alexander finished speaking and hung up.
Evelyn stared at the phone, which was now beeping. She pouted and muttered to herself.
“I’m almost late for class. What else does he want?”
But no matter how frustrated she felt, Evelyn didn’t dare to just walk away. She had to wait patiently for Alexander to come downstairs.
Luckily, after a short while, Alexander came down.
Just then, a car pulled up and stopped beside them. The driver got out and opened the door.
“My wife, Evelyn. Evelyn, this is Daniel Reed.” Alexander made a brief introduction.
“Hello, Mrs. Sterling. I’m Daniel Reed, Mr. Sterling’s driver.” Daniel was surprised, but he greeted her first.
“Hello, Daniel.” Evelyn replied awkwardly.
“Daniel, take Evelyn back to school first.” Alexander instructed.
“Sure, Mr. Sterling.” Daniel said, closing the door.
Evelyn lowered the window, looked at Alexander, and asked.
“Aren’t you coming along?”
“Don’t you want to leave me?” Alexander looked at her and asked half-jokingly.
Evelyn’s face turned red. She wanted to tell Alexander not to be so flirtatious.
“I have a meeting later, so I won’t see you off. I’ll call you if something comes up. You know my number now, right?” Alexander continued without waiting for Evelyn’s reply.
“Yes, yes.” Evelyn nodded.
If she didn’t save it this time, after forgetting last time, Alexander would probably strangle her.
Daniel drove Evelyn out of the neighborhood.
Evelyn felt the car was too quiet, and she wasn’t used to it. So she tried to make conversation.
“Daniel, have you worked with Alexander for many years?”
“Almost five years now. I started working with Mr. Sterling shortly after he returned home.” Daniel explained.
“That’s a long time.”
“Mrs. Sterling, Mr. Sterling has kept you well hidden. This is my first time seeing you!” Daniel said with a smile.
“Actually, we just got the marriage license.” Evelyn explained awkwardly.
It wasn’t about hiding at all. They were just two people forced into this situation.
Well, that analogy sounded a bit strange. But it was the truth.
“Mr. Sterling must love you very much to protect you so well. I’ve been driving for him for years, and I’ve never seen him bring a girl back to the apartment. You’re the first one!”
“What about Assistant Miller?” Evelyn blurted out.
“Assistant Miller is Mr. Sterling’s personal assistant. That’s different. To put it this way, Mr. Sterling’s apartment still needs to be cleaned by an hourly worker.”
Evelyn laughed, thinking Daniel’s words were humorous.
“Mr. Sterling is a truly good man. He’s capable, brave, good-looking, modest, polite, and never causes trouble.”
Evelyn was speechless. She wanted to tell Daniel that his Mr. Sterling didn’t mess around with girls, only with men. He was gay, and he liked men. It was normal that Daniel had never seen him bring a girl back to the apartment, because he only brought men back.
But since it was their first meeting, she didn’t dare say anything more. Besides, she didn’t know if Daniel knew about Alexander’s homosexuality. It was better not to talk nonsense.
Daniel dropped Evelyn off at the school gate and then turned around and left.
Evelyn went back to the dormitory first to get her textbooks.
Emily had just woken up.
“How did you sleep until now?” Evelyn asked in surprise. It was already nine forty.
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I didn’t fall asleep until dawn.”
“Were you too excited from shopping?” Evelyn asked with a smile.
Last night, all the girls in the dormitory had gone shopping. Because Evelyn had an appointment with Ethan’s mother, she hadn’t gone with them.
“Excited? No way. I was heartbroken. My wallet was stolen!” Emily said, looking depressed.
“No way!” Evelyn’s eyes widened.
Emily was obsessed with money. Usually, other people could lose their wallets, but she couldn’t. How could she suddenly lose it?
“I don’t know where I lost it. Anyway, when I wanted to buy something, I found my wallet was missing. But luckily, I only had a few dozen dollars and my bank cards yesterday. Otherwise, I’d be crying to death right now.” Emily comforted herself.
“It’s such a hassle to have to reapply for the cards.”
“It’s better than losing cash.”
“A few dozen dollars is still money.”
“That’s why I couldn’t sleep all night.”
“Forget it. I’ll treat you to lunch at noon to make up for it.” Evelyn comforted Emily again.
“Evelyn, you’re the best. I’ll go brush my teeth and wash my face. Wait for me, and I’ll go with you.”
“Hurry up, or we’ll be late.” Evelyn urged her.
Because she had to wait for Emily, Evelyn sat down at her desk and recited some English words.
Finally, the two of them rushed to the teaching building by running. Almost as soon as they sat down, the professor started taking attendance.
Evelyn and Emily looked at each other, grateful they had made it just in time.
After two classes, they went to the cafeteria for lunch.
Evelyn was still thinking about the preliminaries when a hand waved in front of her eyes. She looked up and saw Stella looking at her with a smile.
“Thinking about a handsome guy?”
“No, I’m thinking about the preliminaries for the school celebration.” Evelyn shook her head and said.
She wasn’t thinking about handsome guys right now.
“You’re not ready yet?” Emily said.
“There’s no time to prepare.”
“You only have two classes this afternoon. After they’re done, go back to the dormitory and practice. Then you can go straight to the competition. You don’t want to be ranked anyway. But you can’t be too bad either. As long as you can sing the whole song, it won’t be too bad. Anyway, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It’s not easy to sing well. Your goal now is to sing the whole song. It doesn’t matter if you’re off-key, just don’t forget the lyrics.”
“I guess that’s the only way.” Evelyn sighed and said.
After class in the afternoon, Evelyn hid in the dormitory to practice her song. She had originally wanted to sing an English song, but Stella later said it wasn’t good enough. Although they didn’t want to be ranked, they couldn’t make their class look too weak and incompetent, could they? So they suggested singing a Cantonese or Minnan song to show some personality. The key was that the judges would understand less.
Evelyn was stunned for a long time. In the end, she was bewildered and chose a Taiwanese song, “Umbrella Love.” The key was that she liked the melody of this song.
So she started learning it in a certain way. She was quick to learn as long as she was willing to work hard. She didn’t speak Minnan dialect, but after practicing for two hours, she had a bit of a grasp. Even the picky Emily thought Evelyn sang well.
“That might be too good. I might suddenly make it to the semi-finals!” Evelyn said loudly.
“You think too much. Our school is full of talented people. Do you think you can make it to the semi-finals with your non-professional level?” Emily directly despised her.
Evelyn was relieved to hear Emily’s words. She kept listening and practicing.
There were two lyrics in the song that Evelyn thought were very artistic.
“Sending you this umbrella, you hold it up. Over your head is my loneliness. Unwilling to mention the pain in your heart. This relationship is more devoted to practice because you like it.”
When Ethan called Evelyn that night, she was practicing the song. When Ethan heard the accompaniment, he asked with great interest.
“You’re listening to a song?”
“Practicing a song.” Evelyn answered.
“What song are you practicing?” Ethan was more curious.
“Umbrella Love.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s a Minnan song.”
“You can speak Minnan?” Ethan was surprised.
“No.”
“Then why are you practicing a Minnan song?”
“For the competition.”
“What competition?”
“The preliminary screening for the school celebration activities. What can I do for you?” Evelyn asked.
“Nothing special. I just want you to treat me to a meal.” Ethan said with a smile.
“No money!” Evelyn said directly.
“Your little aunt is too stingy. You didn’t even take the initiative to invite me to dinner. Now I’m asking myself. And I didn’t ask you to treat me to a big meal. You even refused me on the grounds of having no money!” Ethan complained.
“I really have no money. Of course, if you don’t mind me inviting you to the cafeteria, I’ll treat you.” Evelyn said.
“Yes, treat me to the cafeteria. I’m almost at the gate of your school now.”
“Ah? What are you doing at our school?” Evelyn asked in dismay.
She had thought Ethan was joking with her.
“I just wanted to come here and let you treat me since I had nothing to do.” Ethan said triumphantly.
“…” Evelyn was speechless for a long time.
But a guest was a guest. Ethan was almost at the school gate, and he was willing to eat in the cafeteria. She was too embarrassed to delay any longer. She had to turn off the computer, grab a change of clothes, and go to the bathroom to change. Then she went downstairs to invite Ethan to eat in the cafeteria.
“Why is the school gate so far from the cafeteria? I knew I should have driven the car in.” Ethan complained directly when he saw Evelyn at the cafeteria door.
“You still shouldn’t drive in. Your car is too flashy. You’ll be despised!” Evelyn said tightly.
“Really?” Ethan said with a smile.
“Of course it’s true! The most fashionable way to travel in our school is by bike, no other way. It’s environmentally friendly and good for fitness!” Evelyn said with conviction.