Chapter Fourteen: She Wants to Terminate the Contract

Five hundred—in this world, that amount was practically synonymous with an astronomical sum. Having five hundred was enough to place someone on the global billionaire list.

In her previous life, the original owner would never have agreed to pay such a penalty; it was simply unaffordable. But now, for Jiang Xian, five hundred was nothing at all.

“Wait until the show ends; I’ll go to the company to terminate your contract, and then you’ll see if I can pay or not,” Jiang Xian said before hanging up. If it weren’t for the system forcing her to participate in this variety show, she would have ended the contract immediately.

Hua Jie, who had been about to protest, was stunned by the abrupt disconnection. Her eyes widened sharply. “How dare she hang up on me?”

“Jiang Xian, you’re really something. If you can come up with five hundred yuan, I’ll be honored to serve you,” Hua Jie scoffed. She refused to believe that Jiang Xian could produce such a sum. Not to mention that the Jiang family wouldn’t help her; even if they did, would the company still need to operate if the Jiang family could easily pay five hundred?

There was a knock at the door. Jiang Xian called out, “Come in.”

Lai opened the door. “Miss Jiang, the production team has brought your lunch.”

“Alright, I’ll come down now.”

When she reached the first-floor dining room, several dishes had already been laid out on the table. Jiang Xian had expected the entire table to be covered, but since she was alone, this amount already seemed excessive.

The dishes were all exquisitely prepared, and Jiang Xian felt almost guilty disturbing such delicacies. It seemed better to simply admire them.

“Miss Jiang, you may start your meal,” Lai reminded gently, noticing she hadn’t begun.

Embarrassed by the prompt, Jiang Xian blushed slightly. It was her first time eating such refined cuisine, and because of the dishes’ delicate presentation, she couldn’t even tell what most of them were.

She only recognized the plain white rice before her.

She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the dish closest to her. After chewing twice, the fragrance spread through her mouth, stimulating her taste buds profoundly. If no one was watching, Jiang Xian wanted to shout out loud, “This is delicious!”

Unable to resist, she sampled each dish with a bite. Although she couldn’t name them, they all tasted wonderful.

After several bites of dishes, she took another mouthful of rice. At first, she thought it was just simple white rice, but it was fragrant and subtly sweet—not overly sugary, but with a gentle aroma that didn’t feel cloying.

Unable to help herself, she ate several more spoonfuls. The difference between wealth and poverty was truly significant.

“How much would this whole meal cost?” Jiang Xian asked, feeling full and satisfied. The food seemed like what wealthy families would eat regularly.

“Since there is only you, Miss Jiang, the quantity isn’t large, so the price for this meal isn’t expensive—just five yuan,” Lai replied lightly, as if it were nothing.

Jiang Xian nodded seriously, thinking it was quite affordable—practically the price of cabbage.

But then she suddenly realized something: this was a depreciated world. Five yuan here was equivalent to fifty thousand yuan in her original world. Fifty thousand for four dishes wasn’t expensive?

If she converted her casual bite just now into money from her previous world, it would have cost hundreds per bite.

She had spent only one yuan on the yacht, yet the meal cost five yuan. The production team must be at a loss, especially since they also provided her with a castle to stay in—surely that involved rent! Not to mention the lodging and meals for the other guests.

“How much funding did the production team get here?” she asked.

“Our boss was deeply moved when Director Liu told him that all expenses for the guests in this show would be donated to impoverished mountainous areas. He promised Director Liu that our estate would not charge the production team a single cent. Everything is free, which is our boss’s small way of giving back to the elderly and children in poor regions,” Lai explained.

No wonder. Jiang Xian thought, spending one yuan to eat a five-yuan meal was such a loss. It turned out the production team was the one reaping profits off the wealthy guests.

One had to admit, Director Liu was quite clever!

They used money to secure good accommodations and food, while the production team only needed to coordinate with the estate’s owner, assigning levels and rewards accordingly—a guaranteed profit with no risk!

After eating her fill, Jiang Xian glanced at the time. It was just past noon, and she had plenty of time. She planned to take a nap, as sleeping on that soft bed felt like dreaming sweet dreams.

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At the Jiang family residence:

“Look at you, why did you give her money? Two yuan even! Such generosity. She’s now pretending to be rich on the show while our little one is suffering,” Jiang Tao exclaimed. He hadn’t expected his wife to secretly give Jiang Xian two yuan. Jiang Xian was no longer part of the family and had a bad attitude. Giving her money was like aiding and abetting.

Tang Qionghua, however, denied the accusation immediately. “The money she’s using to act rich on the show didn’t come from me. The two yuan I gave her, she didn’t accept.”

“Didn’t accept?” Jiang Tao was shocked to hear that Jiang Xian refused the two yuan.

Since they confirmed Jiang Xian wasn’t their biological daughter, they hadn’t given her living expenses. She spent money recklessly and never saved up.

Though she worked in the entertainment industry, she mostly chased after attractive people and rarely worked seriously.

If she was so generous as to spend one yuan, where did it come from?

“Yes, I gave her money privately later, but she refused to take it. I’m puzzled where she got that one yuan. If she needs money later in the show, how will she pay?” Tang Qionghua wondered.

Given Jiang Xian’s personality, it would be impressive if she still had fifty cents on her, let alone a whole yuan without batting an eye.

Both Tang Qionghua and Jiang Tao believed it was impossible for Jiang Xian to have such funds.

Jiang Tao thought for a moment. “She probably borrowed it from someone. I should issue a statement saying that any money Jiang Xian borrows outside has nothing to do with our Jiang family, so no one comes to us for repayment.”

“Yes. I never thought of that before. She’s developed a habit of borrowing money. Maybe this time she borrowed again. Why is she so foolish?” Tang Qionghua sighed helplessly. Even now, she was pretending to be wealthy by borrowing money.

“We should be thankful she’s not our biological daughter. Otherwise, we’d be stuck cleaning up her mess and wouldn’t even know how bad it would get.”

“Yes,” they both quietly felt relieved.

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But at just two o’clock, the live broadcast began. Viewers gradually entered the streaming room.

Upon entering, they found not the guests, but a split screen, each small window showing different architectural structures.

“Didn’t they say three o’clock? If I hadn’t followed the live broadcast and gotten the reminder, I would have missed it. Now I’m just afraid of missing the part where Jiang Xian begs for money.”

“Wait, the large palace-looking one in the center—is that the castle where Jiang Xian is staying?”

“As expected, poverty really limits imagination. Even the worst accommodation here seems better than what ordinary people like us live in.”