Chapter 213: Chapter 213: Breakfast

“I brought a lot of coffee from home. I was picturing a leisurely country life—waking up, brewing a cup of coffee, and watching the clouds drift by in the yard, but…” Joanne Warren gave a wry smile.

It wasn’t that her fantasy was impossible, it just meant she’d have to watch the clouds drift by on an empty stomach.

Jessie Sterling asked, “So, you hauled all this out here to sell at the market?”

“Yeah.” Joanne nodded. “A couple of hot buns for breakfast is a little better than a cup of coffee, don’t you think?”

For some reason, Jessie Sterling suddenly let out a laugh.

“What are you laughing at?”

Jessie shook her head. “I just didn’t expect to be selling off my worldly possessions on the very first day.”

Joanne hadn’t thought much of it at first, but after hearing what Jessie said, she couldn’t help but laugh too.

It was a way to make the best of a bad situation.

After walking two kilometers, neither of them complained about being tired. Instead, they’d worked up a sweat and didn’t feel too cold anymore.

Jessie had originally thought the market would just be stalls set up on both sides of the road, but she was surprised to see what looked like a rather formal “main gate.”

At the intersection stood something shaped like ox horns, painted in vibrant, multi-colored patterns that had a distinct Tibetan flair.

Even before they reached the market entrance, they could already hear the lively sounds coming from inside.

The market was crowded with people, and all sorts of things were being sold.

There were vegetables, fruits, and high-quality beef and mutton. Beyond that, all sorts of miscellaneous items appeared on the small stalls, things like hardware. There were also many herbs and medicinal wines that Jessie couldn’t make heads or tails of.

But Jessie’s attention was first captured by the aroma of fried dough cakes. She couldn’t help it. Having skipped breakfast, the scent of the fried pastry from a roadside stall was simply irresistible.

Normally, Jessie would almost never eat this kind of thing.

She thought it wasn’t very healthy, was quite high in calories, and didn’t look very sanitary either.

But now, this pampered young lady, used to only the finest things, was hungry.

What she once looked down on was now something she couldn’t afford.

So Jessie just stared intently at the old woman’s fried dough stall, her big, dark eyes fixed so earnestly on the food that the granny running it was starting to feel a little bashful.

“Five a piece. Want one?” the old woman asked.

Jessie, who was flat broke, felt her expression freeze for a split second.

’She’d never known what it felt like to be penniless in her entire life!’

But the high-and-mighty young lady was surprisingly frank. She sighed. “I don’t have any money.”

Right now, her pockets were cleaner than her face.

The old woman had probably never heard such a blunt answer. Or perhaps she just found it endearing—this girl standing there with her fair, pretty face and big, dark eyes full of longing, so unabashedly admitting she was broke.

“Here, this one’s on me. No charge,” the old woman said.

Jessie’s mouth fell open in an “O” of disbelief.

The old woman pointed to the camera crew behind her. “Are you guys shooting a movie?”

Jessie shook her head. “No, we’re filming a reality show.”

“Then are you a celebrity?” the old woman asked, looking a bit confused. “Even celebrities have no money?”

Jessie was speechless for a moment. “…No, I’m just a non-celebrity guest they invited. The production team confiscated all our money!”

As she spoke, the old woman had already taken a cleaver and, with a few deft chops, sliced a fried dough cake into pieces, packed them in a plastic bag, and handed it to Jessie.

“Here, go on and eat,” she said.

When faced with malice, a person can instinctively raise their hackles like a porcupine.

But when faced with the sudden, unexpected kindness of a stranger, one can feel utterly lost and awkward.

“I really can’t accept this,” Jessie said quietly.

In her twenty years of life, she had never freeloaded off anyone before.

After a moment’s thought, she fumbled for a hairpin in her hair.

“Otherwise… how about I give you this clip? As payment. Would that be okay?” Jessie asked.

The old woman laughed, waving her hand in refusal. “Oh, there’s no need for that. You poor thing, you’ve been standing there staring at my stall for so long. You must be starving. Go on and eat, it’s not worth much anyway. Is that show of yours a scam? How can they just take your money? You’d better be careful.”

Hearing this, Jessie couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

She took the fried dough from the old woman’s somewhat rough-looking hands. Then, she discreetly placed the colorful hairpin from her hair underneath the QR code payment sign. “They’re not scammers. The show just wants us to earn our own money. They’re filming us to see how we do it.”

The old woman was getting on in years and didn’t quite understand Jessie’s explanation. She was just convinced the girl had gotten mixed up with some kind of scam operation.

Joanne was beside herself with laughter.

Later, when this segment aired, it broke through the noise of all the other reality shows and went viral.

After all, what other reality show gets accused of being a criminal enterprise by a random passerby during filming?

In a way, it pioneered a whole new genre.

And the moment when Jessie refused to accept the old woman’s kindness for free, leaving the hairpin behind, sparked a great deal of discussion among netizens.

“Gotta be honest, I thought Little Squid staring at the stall was really cute, but her bartering with the clip touched me even more. I mean, people on these shows obviously make way more money than a small-time vendor at a market. The fact that she wouldn’t take advantage of someone really scores points with me.”

“She’s so adorable, staring at the stall with those puppy-dog eyes. Aww, if that were my stall, I’d have given her a cake too!”

“That hairpin is so pretty. I want one just like it.”

“Is it just me, or does that hairpin look familiar? It kind of looks like something from Chaumet of Paris’s Hortensia collection, doesn’t it? But I don’t think they make hairpins in that collection?”

When Jessie gave the hairpin to the old woman, she hadn’t considered the consequences or the discussion her actions would cause. She split the fried dough cake with Joanne Warren, and then the two of them found an empty spot to start selling their coffee.

Joanne started, “That hairpin…”

She had noticed what Jessie did.

If it had been anyone else, Joanne wouldn’t have been so shocked.

But she knew Jessie was her boss, and a boss who was famous in Southaven for spending money like water. Nothing she owned was cheap.

So Joanne was a little worried.

Jessie seemed to know what she was thinking. “Oh, that was just a regular hairpin, not some brand-name thing. The colored diamonds on it are real, though. I made it myself when I visited a brand’s workshop for an event once.”

Joanne: “…”

“It’s pretty, right?” Jessie asked, a smug look on her face as she bit into the fried dough. “I based it on the color scheme of one of their classic collections!”

Joanne: “…”

Joanne didn’t know which brand, but for her boss to make a hairpin out of colored diamonds she’d personally collected, its value had to be substantial.

“Should I go give her something of mine instead?” Joanne asked.

At least whatever she offered wouldn’t be nearly as valuable as what Jessie had just given away.

“No need,” Jessie said, her expression serene. “She offered a gift from her heart, and I offered one from mine.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep