"Got paid?"
"Yesterday." James gave her a wink, "I'll book the restaurant and send you a message when it's done. You have to come."
"Alright, I'm off work this morning but have to work this afternoon. I'm leaving."
James waved his hand and turned into the hair salon.
The hair washer in the store approached and asked, "Bro, is that girl your girlfriend?"
"No, she's a childhood friend."
"I see she looks for you often. I thought she was your girlfriend. She's really pretty. Does she have a boyfriend?"
"No, why?"
"Could you introduce her to me, bro?" The hair washer chuckled, "She's pretty tall, those long legs—she looks amazing."
James shot him a sideways glance and then smacked him on the top of his head, "Are you dreaming about Lucy? You're looking to get yourself killed, get lost and play somewhere else!"
...
Lucy met up with James after work, and they went to a downtown western restaurant together.
Once there, they ordered steak sets and also a bottle of red wine priced over three hundred. It was the cheapest in the restaurant, but to James and Lucy, it was quite a luxury.
Just after ordering, James pointed at a figure outside the glass window, "Hey, isn't that Jacob Green?"
Lucy looked and indeed recognized him.
"Who's that woman with him?"
"Her name is Stellan Quinn, the daughter of Benjamin Quinn and Autumn Fletcher, and the woman Jacob Green is infatuated with."
James was astonished, "So, she's your half-sister?"
Lucy gave no definite answer.
"Why is he bothering you if he has someone he likes?"
"I didn't ask, and I don't want to know."
Lucy watched the pair walk in, clearly there for a meal too.
From the moment they entered, Lucy subconsciously covered her face with her hand, clearly not wanting to be seen.
But it didn't go as she wished, even though she covered her face, Stellan still noticed her.
"You're Nathaniel Green's girlfriend, right?"
What was once an excuse turned into a lie she had to keep up with. She awkwardly glanced at Jacob and said, "Yes, Miss Quinn and Mr. Green are also dining here?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, please have a seat."
Stellan nodded and took a seat with Jacob right behind Lucy.
They sat back-to-back, very close.
So close that Lucy could hear their conversation clearly.
"Let's order a bottle of wine; I feel like having some."
"I'm driving, so I won't drink." Jacob started ordering.
Since James was seated where he had a clear view of Stellan, he couldn't help but glance over a few times.
"Not like you."
"What?"
"In every aspect."
"Don't flatter me just because we're close."
James whispered, "I'm not flattering you, really. She looks about five-foot-five. How tall are you? You're taller than her, your skin is fairer, hers is slightly yellowish, and even though you share a mother, you two don't look alike at all. You're prettier."
Lucy laughed, women are always happy when complimented on their looks. Her laughter drifted to the neighboring table, making Stellan comment, "Why is Nathaniel's girlfriend dining alone with a guy? Isn't she afraid her boyfriend might misunderstand?"
"Normal male and female friends dining together, why not?" Jacob knows that James is a childhood friend of Lucy's and doesn't find it unusual.
"How do you know they're just normal friends?"
"If they weren't normal, why would they be so open about dining together and act naturally when running into us? Clearly, they have nothing to hide."
"What does that woman do? She's so tall. Is she a model?"
"I heard she's a funeral director at a mortuary."
Stellan widened her eyes, "Oh my God, dealing with the dead?! That's so creepy!"
Over here, Lucy's smile diminished by half as she took a large gulp of wine to mask her feelings.
Although James drank less, Lucy consumed about seventy percent of the bottle.
After finishing, her face turned red.
They ate quickly and left by the time Jacob was halfway through his meal.
Back at Blossom Haven, she took a shower, dried her hair, and lay on the bed browsing forums in her sleep dress.
A hot post caught Lucy's attention.
The subject was a recruitment event by a well-known adventure club in the country.
The spectators were just there to watch, and rarely anyone signed up.
Reading through the recruitment conditions, Lucy found them too harsh.
They were intimidating.
The club was called Life-and-Death Challenge.
The recruitment conditions were:
1: Only four people, two men, and two women, will be recruited. Once spots are filled, recruitment ends.
2: Sign a life-and-death agreement, undergo various extreme capability training for four months, and after four months, participants will undertake a challenge task.
3: Successfully returning alive from the challenge earns a prize of one million, failing the challenge yields no compensation, and the agreement is voluntary with no liability held.
Lucy read for a long time and realized this Life-and-Death Challenge club had around twenty high-level members interested in this type of thing.
To be precise, it was a group of wealthy second-generation kids treating life as a game.
If you failed the challenge and died, one million was the cost of a life—cruel yet realistic.
Yet, such a life-or-death training intrigued Lucy.
She looked at the training programs and felt an impulse to sign up.
Not for the prize money.
But for the various trainings.
Rock climbing, deep diving, fighting, aerial, outdoor, etc.
She pondered for half an hour, then dialed the registration phone number from the post.
She learned she would be the second female participant to sign up.
When asked if she confirmed her registration, not knowing why, she confirmed.
The other party said they would contact her with specific meetup times once four participants were recruited.
After hanging up, Lucy set her phone aside.
She didn't know if she was going mad; she just wanted to do this.
Moreover, she would go to any lengths to survive.
Because she knew all too well, living is a real blessing.
The message notification sound chimed at that moment.
[Stellan is heading to the bedroom, tidy up.]
Seeing this, Lucy hurriedly organized her things and was just about to leave when Stellan was already close to the door.
She had to run to the balcony to hide and put her phone on silent.
Just as she crouched down, she heard voices from outside.
"When did you renovate your bedroom? It looks different from the last time I came."
"It was renovated a couple of years ago." Jacob glanced around, texting Lucy to ask where she was, and she replied with two words: [balcony.]