In the past, the Winters Family and the Osborne Family lived as next-door neighbors in the old district of River City.
Three years ago, when Temple Court Residential Area was newly built, the Osborne Family followed Nick Zeller's advice and moved here to buy a house together.
As a result, the two families are very familiar with each other, and Lawrence Winters is WeChat friends with the Osborne Family members.
Kenneth Osborne was hesitating about accepting Sarah Newman's friend request when Brooke Osborne saw Lawrence Winters' new post on his Moments.
Since meeting Gregory Quinn and his mistress, Brooke Osborne had been in a foul mood.
However, seeing Kenneth Osborne's Moments and then Lawrence Winters' antics, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
She immediately gave Lawrence Winters' post a like, then tagged Kenneth Osborne, leaving a comment: [Kenneth, come on and compete to see who's the coolest kid on this block!]
Kenneth Osborne saw the alert and refreshed his Moments.
In an instant, he forgot about Sarah Newman's friend request.
He looked at the photo of the little puppy Lawrence Winters posted, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
His fingers rubbed over the phone screen a few times before he leisurely left a comment on Lawrence Winters' Moments.
[Nora, you're the coolest kid on this block...]
[Neither I nor your Shiba Inu can compare to you...]
[But Nora, how old is your Shiba Inu now? Where is it thriving?]
Lawrence Winters: "..."
He really knows how to hit a sore spot.
She replied angrily: [None of your business! My Shiba Inu is now a mature kid! It can walk itself! I see it every day!]
Her little puppy, Shiba Inu, was given by her mom to her cousin a year ago.
She could only express her care through her cousin's Shiba Inu's Moments.
Kenneth Osborne's smile grew wider as he continued to tease Lawrence Winters: [Oh—I get it, you're "cloud raising a puppy," right?]
Lawrence Winters was fuming.
How could Kenneth Osborne be so annoying?
Lawrence Winters vigorously tapped Kenneth Osborne's WeChat avatar, wishing she could ruin his looks.
But his avatar was still so attractive, his smile like the sunshine of the entire northern hemisphere falling into his eyes during winter.
The lingering warmth, irresistible in the cold.
Kenneth Osborne waited a long time without a reply from Lawrence Winters, wondering if he'd upset her.
Brooke Osborne watched the two banter on Moments, chuckled for a while, and then intervened to lighten the mood.
[Kenneth, stop teasing Lawrence. It's late, you should sleep early, we have a movie to watch tomorrow. Wink.JPG]
Brooke Osborne exhaled, put down her phone, and went to sleep.
Lawrence Winters snapped back to her senses, not wanting to pay Kenneth Osborne any attention.
She put down her phone, planning to sleep too.
Kenneth Osborne realized things weren't looking good, so he privately messaged Lawrence Winters.
[Kenneth]: [Nora, are you asleep?]
Lawrence Winters didn't want to reply to him initially, but Kenneth Osborne sent several messages in a row.
[Kenneth]: [My mom gave me movie tickets and wants me to watch a movie tomorrow.]
[Kenneth]: [I'm not interested in this film, but it's hard to refuse my mom.]
[Kenneth]: [Are you free tomorrow? Let me invite you to watch the movie together.]
Lawrence Winters leaned her head against the pillow, eventually replying lazily to Kenneth Osborne.
[Nora]: [I'm not interested, I'm going to work with my uncle tomorrow, no time for a movie.]
Seeing Lawrence Winters' outright rejection, Kenneth Osborne raised an eyebrow and decided to send a voice message.
"Nora, you're so good, not even watching movies. Do you plan to graduate next year? Do you need extra classes? Should I ask Aunt Winters?"
Lawrence Winters was frightened.
Her mom was her Achilles' heel; anyone could have a hold on her.
Lawrence Winters, alarmed, quickly replied with the cutest voice message.
"Kenneth, that's not necessary... I'm free tomorrow night... but not for the movie... I don't want to be a third wheel..."
Knowing the movie ticket was given by Kenneth's mom, Lawrence understood it was another "matchmaking movie ticket."
Though she believed Kenneth Osborne didn't need matchmaking with his qualities, parents from that generation loved to overthink.
Once seeing single young men and women, they couldn't help but want to pair them up, with their matchmaking urges magnified enormously.
Kenneth Osborne lay back on his pillow, chuckling, and continued with a voice message.
"Nora, many of my high school classmates are going to watch the movie tomorrow. Could you help check them out for me? With your skills as the Little Heavenly Master, how about helping me read their fortunes?"
Want her to read faces?
This is about checking if they are compatible?
Lawrence Winters unknowingly turned into a "lemon spirit," sourly saying: "I can't read faces. But my uncle is great at matching horoscopes, why don't you let him compare yours? Maybe destined to be!"
"Great suggestion!" Kenneth Osborne had a spark of inspiration, immediately exclaiming: "Nora, you're awesome! Why didn't I think of that?!"
Lawrence Winters with a blank face: I am an emotionless Heavenly Master.
I never assist out of kindness.
I only regard money in speaking.
She couldn't help but reply with a voice message: "Given I've given you such a valuable suggestion, shouldn't you pay up?"
"Knowledge has its price; we must respect others' intellectual labor."
Kenneth Osborne laughed as he transferred 888 yuan to her on WeChat.
Lawrence Winters: "..."
"You don't need that much." She suddenly felt much better, her sour demeanor transformed into a peachy demeanor.
She smiled sweetly at the WeChat transaction amount, tapping away to return 388, sending a voice message: "My charge is 500 yuan for half an hour. Although it's not half an hour yet today, combining tomorrow's time of checking your future partner's face, it's roughly 500 yuan when rounded."
Kenneth Osborne transferred the 388 back again, reminding her: "… you still need to pay your uncle commission."
Lawrence Winters, deceased.
She held her stabbed chest, feeling unbearable pain.
Is it easy for her to earn money?
Annoyingly, her uncle takes a 60% commission on every deal!
It's just as shady as charging for an Apple phone!
At this point, Lawrence Winters had no mood to continue bantering with Kenneth Osborne.
She yawned, sent Kenneth Osborne a "sleep emojis" sticker, then lay down to sleep.
Kenneth Osborne, however, remained awake.
He thought for a while and sent his mom a message.
[Mom, are you asleep?]
His mom was still forwarding various videos while chatting with relatives about Kenneth Osborne watching a movie tomorrow.
Seeing Kenneth asking, she swiftly replied energetically: [Of course I'm not asleep! Didn't you see me talking to your aunt in our family group?]
Kenneth Osborne: "..."
He had muted the family group, how could he know they were still chatting so late?
But he was also too lazy to check what everyone was discussing, so he quickly sent another message.
[Mom, why don't you suggest the Newman Family invite the Great Heavenly Master to compare horoscopes?]
His mom puzzled: [Why should I suggest they compare horoscopes? You haven't even begun yours!]