Ashley had been walking for such a long time, his face turned pale and both his legs were trembling uncontrollably. He huffed and puffed, telling James with a trembling voice, as if there was nothing stable on his body now.
“S-stop, James! I-I need to take a rest! I can't walk any longer!” Then he bought an icy beverage from the vending machine, and started complaining after drinking a bit, “Screw it! Why the hell does Michael tell us to find that beggar? He is just a scammer coming to fool us and Michael trusts everything he said? What happened?” “And the last name Eswaranski? Damn, why the fck did my uncle sell the diary to pay for his debt? Why didn't he sell one of his kidneys? Fuck!!!” “Now the diary is gone and it's possible that the scammer has seen that name and pretended to be noble!” Ashley couldn't hold back his bad words. After Ernest left, he had gone back home to look for the name Eswaranski in his great grandfather’s diary. But who the hell could expect that his uncle had already sold the diary to pay for his debt? No one! The first time ever, Ashley had scolded his uncle badly. Why hadn't he sold his belongings—his house, his furniture, and even his kidney to solve his own problem? Why had he sold the ancestor’s diary? And what Ashley had got was just a stupid sentence from his uncle. “Ahhh, Ashley, don't be angry. Your great grandfather just wrote silly things and the diary is valued just because it was written two centuries ago.” Fck! Fck! Fck!!! Meanwhile, James was neither tired nor understanding what Ashley was complaining about. He just stood there, confused. James had been absent when Ernest arrived and gave lots of advice to the film crew, which the director Michael found logical and made him want to cooperate with Ernest. James himself couldn't imagine that he had just gone to eat lunch for thirty minutes, and the film crew had completely changed. The man had been confused since noon, and his confusion became bigger and bigger as he saw Michael always asked the main actor, Kelvin, to act again and again but never satisfied though Kelvin had tried so hard. And Kelvin, yeah, he had been weird too. James remembered how proud that guy had been when he and Michael came to his luxurious apartment, asking if he wanted to join their film project. Kelvin had rejected it three times, and when his noble head nodded, he asked for innumerable things to be treated as a king. For instance, his coffee must be cold at noon, and warm at night. But what had James just seen? That guy had agreed to act one scene twelve times without a word! He had even told Michael that he could act for another hour before dinner. They had worked crazily this afternoon, following some advice that the person called Ernest left, but the result they got after all was just one word: inappropriate. It didn't mean that Ernest's words were inappropriate with the manuscript, because James could see Kelvin's acting techniques improved a lot—at least James would give Kelvin some money if Kelvin kept on throwing the bread into his mouth with his dirty hands. The problem was the manuscript. After Kelvin had eaten twelve pieces of bread, Michael realized that the manuscript was no longer suitable with the acting techniques which Kelvin had shown. Michael had told James, “Now I understand why Mr. Eswaranski shook his head while reading our manuscript. It's just inappropriate. We have to find him and make a better plan.” James had gone to find Ernest Eswaranski, but deep inside his mind, James completely agreed with Ashley. The person called Ernest just pretended to be a rich guy so that he could take the others’ money. Suddenly something drew James's attention. He narrowed his eyes to see what it was. Oh, a crowd? What was happening there? He tried to stare at the crowd's center. There was a man, but not look like a celebrity. James didn't know why, but he abruptly asked Ashley while focusing on the man over there. “Ashley, what does Ernest Eswaranski look like?” “Fck, that's what I'm gonna complain about!” Ashley threw the empty bottle into the trash bin nearby, “His outfit is just something that cockroaches won't be pleased to bite. He wears a-” “Tattered hoodie and faded pants?” “Correct!” Ashley clapped his hand, “But how do you know that?” James pointed at the crowd, “I see him standing right there.” Ashley's eyes opened wide. The crowd? What was Ernest doing there? Trying to scam someone and be caught red handed? He looked at James, “Go, we have to see what happens there.” Back to the crowd, the employee took her phone out of the pocket and started calling the police. “Are you threatening me? Are you thinking that I don't dare to call the police? Okay, I'll call. Just stand here and wait for the police who will bring you to their office!” “Good, take your time.” Ernest nodded, “But what are you gonna tell them? That I'm someone trying to disrupt your business by pretending to be a beggar? Then please check the camera over there and show the police how I discontinued your activities.” The employee stopped. Not until that moment did she realize that Ernest had actually done nothing wrong there. But it couldn't ease the anger inside Ernest but made him more furious. Now Ernest didn't care if he could complete the mission in time to survive. He just felt annoyed, and angry. His life had been once taken away by the one he trusted, now it was about to end just because of this stupid employee? What wrong thing had he done to be treated like this? Ernest stood at the center of the crowd. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for everyone to feel how upset he was. “All the words you use to call me—beggar, man with suspecting behavior, someone trying to disrupt your business—are just what you put on me! Who sees that I actually do any of them?” “I came here, and this woman just chased me away without letting me say a word! Now you guys come to scold me just because of me standing there? What do your skulls contain for exact? Huh?” “Now miss, you wanna call the police? Okay, do it. And remember to call this shop’s owner too. Let them see what the standard behavior of the people who work for a deluxe brand looks like.” The employee was a bit scared when Ernest mentioned her boss, this brand’s owner. But she didn't trust that this young man could be someone but a beggar. A wealthy man? Tch, please don't kidding. She had worked for this brand for a decade and seen lots of rich people. Those wealthy customers could be weird, but no one wore tattered clothes and walked around the area of the rich as if they would sit down on the ground and beg for money anytime. Thinking so, the employee was braver. Her attitude changed, and she called the security before pointing at the street. “Please don't lie anymore, sir. You're wasting our precious time and causing unnecessary troubles. Please go, or our security team will do that for you.”Ernest raised his eyebrows. His anger vanished as fast as the way it showed up, and Ernest was conscious enough to realize his problem. He couldn't stand there and argue while the precious time was flying. He had another plan, but before leaving, he had to do something. “Fine, now I understand the way you guys do business.” He looked at the big, sparkling banner on the rooftop, “Friesta? Good, this is the first brand that I have to keep in mind.” “We will meet again.” If I couldn't survive tonight. Ernest left that sentence with a mysterious smile before he turned away, heading to another shop. Ernest wouldn't give up! He had six hours left, and there must be some shop where he could spend all his money! But when Ernest was about to leave the crowd, he heard someone calling him. “Sir. Please, sir. I have something to talk about.” Ernest was surprised, and so did the crowd. Since they all knew that Ernest had done nothing wrong, no one dared to scold him badly. Just look at his
“You have one hour and one million dollars to prepare. Got it?”Ernest's words pulled Steven back to reality. He nodded immediately.“Yes, sir. We'll have done everything by the time you arrive!”Now Steven wasn't the only one to be shocked. Everyone was, too, including Ashley and James, who had been standing in the crowd and witnessing from the beginning to the end of this event.Ashley was recording that scene with his phone, intending to show Michael that he had trusted the wrong person. But, please, how the hell could the story twist this way?James and Ashley looked at each other, seeing the same message in the eyes.Ernest Eswaranski wasn't a scammer? Not kidding?Ernest was a scammer, and Ernest himself admitted that in his mind. But he was satisfied with what he had just created. It was face-slapping, right? Just look at the woman employee’s regretful expression, as if she had thrown one million dollars away. Ah, yes, it was actually one million dollars, ha ha.Though the mone
Yes, the bank officer knew what the black card actually was.There were some mysterious clans in the world who were richer and more powerful than the other half of the world. They lived and worked in secret, wandering among ordinary people, contributing a lot for the world. As a result, they took the right to enjoy special privileges, which no one else could imagine.One of those privileges was the black card. It was recognized widely in the world, according to what the bank officer had learned, the card’s owner could pay and withdraw the money anywhere in the world, no matter what country they were in, or which ATM machine they wanted to use.Their black cards were just simple. The background pattern, the name, and sometimes there was a number.The pattern was their clan's symbol, engraved with some special techniques so that the card was unique and recognizable. They had their own symbol, and all the bank officers had to learn them properly so as not to cause any trouble with those
Yes, sir. I'll bring it to you.”Hannah stood behind Ernest, so he didn't know how focused she had been since the moment he stepped into the shop. Now she smiled in silence, going to the opposite area to prepare an icy water cup, as if she had pretended Ernest's choice.Unlike the employee who had scolded Ernest, Hannah was conscious and smart enough to figure out who the real VIP was.Aniston Stella had been unmarketable for about a year—the moment when Friesta had launched and taken away all their ‘loyal’ customers. Hannah had to know exactly who her customers could be.There had been lots of people wearing fancy clothes, showing how wealthy they were, but they had just tried to find more reasons to buy the shop's clothes cheaper and cheaper.But who the hell would sell a silk skirt for just three dollars?Hannah had to learn the differences between the actual wealthy people and the fake ones, but not based on the appearance. Their expressions, their attitude, and even the way they
In the other corner, Hannah realized that the situation, despite its weirdness, was worse than expected. She stepped out, thinking of some way to ease Ernest’s anger, because they couldn't provoke this wealthy (and weird) customer. But right at that moment, the poor employee heard Ernest shouting.“Screw it, Steven! Twenty thousand dollars is not even enough for a tiny meal, why the hell are you always refusing as if it's a big amount?”Hannah stopped. Ernest's words echoed in her ears like a curse.‘Twenty thousand dollars is not even enough for a tiny meal’?So that's a corner revealed of the rich’s life?Hannah looked at her colleagues, seeing the familiar bewilderment reflected in his eyes.It’s enough bewilderment. Hannah stepped back. She would never poke her nose into this argument. She—the woman who couldn't even buy a tiny meal costing twenty thousand dollars—was not deserved. Hannah's better go back, or else she would not be able to look straight at her dinner.The argument
However, five minutes had gone since Ernest bought a huge load of clothes, and his brain just thought of only one thing.A machine gun.If you were going to be dead tonight, why wouldn't you buy a machine gun and go back shooting the damn shop owner—Steven Smith? Ernest himself would go to hell for murder, but Steven would be there for indirectly killing him!!!Fuck.Once again, Ernest sat on the street with money, but was not even able to blurt out a bad word with his mouth, because he was still muted for another ten minutes.Though all the words above were just a moment of complaining, maybe he should buy a gu-“Thanks God, finally we found you, Mr. Eswaranski!”Ernest looked up, seeing the comer. Oh? That was the director Ernest had met in the morning, and his name was, hmm, Matthew? Morris? Or Miller?There were two people coming with him, all of whom were exhausted, breathing as if they had just a running contest.One was Ashley, yeah, Ernest remembered his name thanks to his arr
The first time ever, Michael felt how hard it was in negotiation. Though the legendary last name Eswaranski had turned twenty thousand dollars into something more realistic than just a daydream, it's still a dangerous investment.Thirty percent was high and safe enough for both investor and the project manager, right?Didn't he think that it was still… low? Was he crazy?Thinking so, Michael asked. “So, you mean 40% would be better?”Ernest glanced at Michael without a word, but this time, Ernest’s emotion was not good as it was at the beginning. He put the black card on the table, right on the contract, finger started scratching the table.Forty percent? What the heck was that man saying? There had been thirty and Ernest just wanted to remove it, so why the hell did he think that forty would be better?Fck the damn punishment! Why muting him? Why???Now Ernest could neither say that he refused this contract nor gesture that he was temporarily dumb! He could do nothing, and Michael—ye
On the way looking for Ernest, James had been complaining that he had to pay the bank officer five hundred dollars but received just one sentence: that Ernest came from the Eswaranski family — which had already shown in his full name.Michael remembered how he had replied to James with a gentle look—exactly what his grandfather had done in his memory.“Do you know what the ratio is to give birth to a genius, raise them to be a good person, and make sure that they would do something big to help this world?”“It was about zero, because most of us can't even imagine that, let alone taking it into action and solving all the possible problems to reach that goal.”“But in the Eswaranski clan, that ratio was ninety-nine to one hundred. Do you know what it means?” Michael looked at Ashley and James’ bewildered faces, “99% to be geniuses, and the other 1% were… monsters.”“But what is a monster?” Ashley had asked him that, but Michael just shook his head in silence.A supernaturally smart guy?