Chapter 24: The Gift

    When Li Yifei got home, she eagerly opened the envelope from Sister Yong, wondering how much she had earned from her first modeling job. As she counted the money, she found seven 100-yuan bills—700 yuan in total.

    Sister Yong was truly generous!

    Grandma Li pretended not to notice as Li Yifei counted the bills, even though she saw the stack of 100-yuan notes.

    What she didn’t expect was for her granddaughter to walk over with a big smile and offer her the money.

    “Grandma, I’m giving this to you. It’s my first modeling income, and I want it to be a good omen that I’ll get more modeling jobs from Sister Yong.”

Grandma Li couldn’t hide her smile.

    “That’s good. It’s best to let me keep it safe,” she said.

    But even so, she returned 100 yuan to Li Yifei. After all, her granddaughter had earned it, and she should keep some for herself.

    Even though she wanted to save more, it wasn’t right to take all the hard-earned money from her granddaughter.

    After receiving the modeling money, Grandma Li disappeared for a while and returned home with a bag of fresh chicken. She happily set to work preparing braised chicken. Now that there was extra money from outside of their daily earnings, Grandma Li felt it was important to nourish the family.

    After all, staying healthy depended in part on proper nutrition.

This time, they would enjoy braised chicken.

    When Li Yifei’s parents came home, they were greeted by the aroma of braised chicken. They exchanged curious glances as Grandma Li explained,

    “Our Yifei earned 700 yuan from modeling! So today, I’m making braised chicken. Tomorrow morning, I’ll pack some of the chicken broth for you two to take to work.”

“Thank you, Mom,” her parents said in unison.

    That evening’s dinner was the usual leftover vegetables from the market, but it was special because of the tender, flavorful braised chicken and the rich aroma broth.

    For Li Yifei, Grandma Li’s braised chicken was super delicious.

    The dinner was filled with smiles, and the siblings exchanged knowing looks. If Grandma Li found out that they had actually made over a thousand yuan from selling game items, they might get to eat meals like this every day.

    However, the two siblings decided to save that money for now. It wasn’t often that they had the opportunity to have over a thousand yuan in their pockets.

    The next morning, their parents left for work with smiles on their faces. The siblings, too, enjoyed another breakfast of braised chicken.

    It felt great to have a meal with meat.

    Later that day, the two siblings headed to the gaming café for one final session before school started the following week. They wouldn’t be able to visit as often once school resumed.

    The atmosphere at the gaming café alternated between quiet and lively. At one point, everyone gathered behind A’Yang, who had taken over a game from a player who hadn’t done well.

    A’Yang had been a professional gamer in the past, but who knew why he ended up at this gaming café. The moment he touched the mouse and keyboard, his talent immediately showed.

The siblings watched in awe. This was what a professional gamer looked like.

“I don’t think I could ever reach that level,” Li Yifeng admitted.

“So, you’ve thought about becoming one?”

“Yes.”

    It wasn’t surprising as gaming was a popular career choice among young people. However, only a few made it that far, and it was an age-restricted profession as well.

    Li Yifei didn’t think it would suit her brother.

    But since she wasn’t part of that community, she didn’t offer much of an opinion. If gaming had survived as a career until now, there had to be some merit to it. Still, even with her luck, Li Yifei didn’t enjoy sitting in front of a computer and clicking the same buttons repeatedly.

The only reason she played was to make some extra money from selling in-game items.

    As a career, gaming seemed far out of reach. If she ever managed to get rare items, the game’s admins would likely issue warnings again.

    “Have you ever considered this as a career? Your skills have improved a lot recently.”

    “No, not really. Look at A’Yang’s fingers. I don’t think I could keep up.”

“Well, that’s true.”

    Two days later, the siblings saw the photos of Li Yifei’s modeling shoot. The pictures were stunning, and even Li Yifei found herself admiring her own appearance. It wasn’t surprising that the original owner of the body had been obsessed with her looks.

    “I will put this up in front of the shop and at the entrance to the alley,” Sister Yong said.

    “She’s exactly like a game character. I swear, no other shop can compete with ours,” one of the regulars commented.

    “Give me a copy too, Sister Yong. I’ll put it up at University A,” another customer chimed in.

“Great idea,” Sister Yong said, handing over the poster.

    “Who knows? Maybe Yifei will catch the eye of a talent scout,” the customer added, turning to Li Yifei.

“At the very least, modeling is a great start,” someone else agreed.

    Li Yifei thought that would be wonderful. The thought of Grandma Li’s delicious braised chicken was still fresh in her mind, and she dreamed of having her family enjoy such meals every day. But for now, she would continue earning money through the random in-game gift boxes.

    Two days before the new school semester started, Li Ying reached out to her to meet up at a café near Li Yifei’s home. It had been a while since she last visited a café.

    When she arrived, Li Ying was already waiting, having ordered a caramel frappé. Li Yifei realized that this was actually the body’s previous owner’s favorite drink.

With her friend treating her, Li Yifei gladly accepted the drink.

Li Ying’s face was glowing, likely from her recent vacation.

    “I’ve brought back lots of souvenirs for you!”

    Li Ying said excitedly, handing over a large paper bag. Li Yifei opened it and found a set of elephant-print clothing, the type of souvenir popular with tourists visiting Thailand.

    Now Li Yifei had some extra clothes, though she wondered if the elephant print was a bit too bold.

Well, it was free, and it was a thoughtful gift from her friend.

    There was also a nasal inhaler, which Li Ying proudly introduced. Li Yifei, who had visited Thailand before as Tang Yifei, remembered buying one as well. It was one of those must-try items tourists often heard about online.

When Li Yifei took a sniff, she had to admit it worked well for clearing a dizzy head.

    Although Li Yifei was already familiar with it, she pretended to be interested while Li Ying enthusiastically explained the benefits.

    Another thing in the bag was a brand of seaweed snacks that had become popular as a souvenir from Thailand. Li Yifei had tried them before. They were crispy and tasty, but the bags were large, with only a small amount of seaweed inside.

    She wondered why they made such big bags for so little product. Didn’t they think about the waste? The amount of product inside was not even half of the bag.

    But in the end, she still bought and ate them anyway.

“Thanks so much, Li Ying.”

    “I should be the one thanking you, Yifei. Because of you, I got to go on a vacation abroad!”

“Well, let’s see how my brain holds up this year.”

Li Ying laughed as she heard her friend’s words.

“I’m praying that your genius brain lasts forever!”

This time, it was Li Yifei’s turn to laugh.

“I hope so too, Li Ying.”

After all, if her brain stayed sharp, Li Yifei would be safe from Alzheimer’s.

    The conversation then shifted to Li Ying’s trip to Thailand, specifically to Phuket, where she marveled at the beauty of the sea. Li Yifei listened attentively, feigning excitement while sipping her free caramel frappé. Yet, deep inside, she felt a tightness in her chest.

    It was the lingering jealousy of the body’s original owner.

    Friends of the same age, but with different family backgrounds—now her friend in front of her was enthusiastically recounting all the things she had experienced on her trip.

    In Li Yifei's heart, she knew that Li Ying meant no harm. Even though they were both teenagers, Li Ying still had a bit of childlike innocence in her.

    She wasn’t bragging, she simply wanted to share her experiences with her best friend. Li Ying probably hadn’t even considered that her friend might never get the chance to travel abroad in this lifetime.

Everyone sees things differently.

    Li Yifei could only suppress her jealousy and join in the fun, chatting with her dear friend who hadn’t done anything wrong. But just as Li Ying finished her story, her phone rang.

    “Mom and Dad have finished shopping? Oh, okay,” she said before hanging up and turning to Li Yifei.

“I’ve got to go now. My parents are done shopping. See you when school starts.”

“Sure,” Li Yifei replied.

    She quickly finished her caramel frappé, picked up the bag of souvenirs, and walked out to see Li Ying off at the bus stop. Before long, Li Ying’s somewhat old family car pulled up.

    Li Ying’s mother sat in the front seat next to her father, glancing briefly at her daughter’s friend. Only Li Ying’s father greeted Li Yifei.

    Li Ying opened the back door, climbed in, and rolled down the window to wave goodbye before the car drove off.

Li Yifei turned around and headed home.

    When she arrived back at her modest home, she set the souvenirs down. Li Yifeng, her younger brother, got up from his spot at the computer and came over to check out the gifts.

“What’s this snack?”

“Crispy seaweed. It’s delicious.”

“Really? Can I try some?”

“Of course.”

    With his sister’s permission, Li Yifeng eagerly grabbed the seaweed snack and started munching. Then he glanced at the elephant-print clothes.

“Sister Li Ying must’ve gone to Thailand.”

“You figured that out because of the elephant, right?”

    “Yep. One of my classmates went there and brought back elephant keychains as souvenirs. So, I guessed it must be Thailand.”

    Li Yifei didn’t respond.

    She sat down to open another bag of seaweed. Soon, she heard her brother complain.

“The bag is huge, but there’s barely anything inside!”

His sister chuckled at that. She realized that they shared similar thoughts.

    “The manufacturer probably wants it to look like you’re getting a lot. Besides, plastic is cheaper than the snack itself, so making a big bag wouldn’t be much of a problem.”

Li Yifeng looked at her with a surprised expression.

    “Why are you looking at me like that? You didn’t think your sister could say something so academic, did you?”

“Exactly right!” he responded playfully.

His comment made Li Yifei laugh heartily.

    “So, what did Sister Li Ying tell you about her trip?”

    Her brother asked, clearly curious about Li Ying’s experiences. As she began to tell him about Li Ying’s trip, the feeling of jealousy in her chest began to fade. Listening to Li Ying’s stories had turned out to be beneficial after all, as now Li Yifei was able to share those stories with her brother.

    When she finished, Li Yifeng said,

    “That’s great! If we both work at stable companies and earn high salaries, let’s take our family on a trip together one day.”

    Li Yifei smiled widely. Though she didn’t know when that day would come, everyone needed something to hope for in life.

“Yes, one day we’ll take our family on a trip,” she agreed.

Her brother nodded with determination, his expression just as resolute as his sister’s.