Chapter 9: Fifteen Yuan for a Friendship

“Godmother, I shouldn’t have cursed at you before. I was wrong. Please give my mom a job! We don’t have a place to live now. We’re staying in a basement, and I haven’t eaten in two days!”

Seeing how thin Li Lian’s son had become, I asked my assistant to bring over some pastries and drinks.

“Children shouldn’t go hungry. Have something to eat first.”

Li Lian’s eyes lit up as she looked at me.

She thought I’d softened again.

Just like the first time she’d cried and told me how hard things were, she expected me to reach out and help immediately.

But instead, I said:

“Li Lian, first, you cleared my name because you were the one who slandered me in the first place.”

“Your mother sold her house to repay the 300,000 yuan you owed me. You’d owed me that money for five years. I didn’t charge you interest or sue you. That was already more than fair. If you borrow money, you should pay it back.”

I poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.

“If you’re applying for a job, go through the normal interview process. I won’t give you special treatment or let you cut in line just because I feel sorry for you.”

I gestured toward the other applicants waiting to be interviewed.

“How would that be fair to the people following the proper process?”

Li Lian’s face went pale again.

“Su Shu, we’re friends! We’ve been friends for more than twenty years!”

I gave a cold laugh.

“The day you called the police because I forgot to pay fifteen yuan for a bowl of noodles, we stopped being friends.”

All the color drained from Li Lian’s face.

“You’re here for an interview, and I won’t interfere. If you pass, it’ll be because of your own ability. If you don’t, that has nothing to do with me.”

With that, I turned and walked away without saying a word to the interviewer.

Li Lian didn’t pass the interview.

Not because of the rumors about her online, but simply because her education and experience didn’t meet the requirements.

Later, I heard that she had taken her son back to their hometown.

Among my friends, my reputation became that of a cold, heartless person.

From then on, whenever a friend came to me with a sob story and asked for help,

I bluntly refused whenever I didn’t want to help.

My mother stopped trying to talk me out of it. Instead, she nodded in approval.

“Sweetheart, you’re right! We’ll help friends who are grateful and know how to give back, as long as we’re able. But if helping someone means sacrificing our own interests for a friend who only knows how to beg and complain, we absolutely won’t do it!”

I nodded.

Another year passed.

I went to one of Mr. Wang’s noodle shops for a meal.

Once again, I got a work call and didn’t remember I hadn’t paid for my noodles until an hour later.

As soon as I remembered, I transferred the money.

The shop manager looked at my pale face and heard me apologizing over and over. He simply smiled.

“We know each other. It’s just a twelve-yuan bowl of noodles that hasn’t been paid for yet. You don’t have to be so scared. If you don’t pay, I’ll just treat you! You’ve brought us so many gifts every time you’ve visited. Surely those gifts were worth more than this twelve-yuan bowl of noodles?”

I took a deep breath, smiled, and shook my head.

Then I tapped my forehead.

I reminded myself to stay more alert from now on.

When I’m eating noodles, I absolutely must not answer work calls!

【The End】

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