Bring Your A Game

Chapter 44

Bring Your A Game Mr Chapter 44

Chinese Week

Jasmine suddenly shifted her gaze because she didn’t think that Elise could be involved in the unfortunate events that had befallen her family.

She placed her bag down and took a seat at her desk.

The first lesson for the day was Chinese wherein the teacher briefly talked about Chinese Week before starting class. “Our school has started to accept registrations for Chinese Week. I hope that everyone can support this event by participating in it. This is especially so for Jasmine and Elise since you two have a strong command of the language. I reckon that you can give it a shot by signing up for it.”

After being suddenly prompted by the teacher, Jasmine took a deep breath before her lips curved upward to form a smile. Subsequently, she stood up, “Miss, I’ll enroll for the program and bring glory to our class.”

The Chinese teacher nodded with approval. “That sounds great. Jasmine’s enthusiasm should be noted and something that everyone should learn from as well.”

Soon after that, the teacher glanced toward Elise, whose head was lowered, and asked, “How about you, Elise? Would you like to enroll?”

Elise gradually lifted her head and met her teacher’s gaze. She had intended to reject the request but as soon as she noted Jasmine’s enthusiasm, Elise changed her mind. After all, life was quite boring and it would be wonderful to annoy a certain someone, so she responded, “Sure, I would be more than happy to enroll.”

Upon hearing Elise’s reply, the Chinese teacher beamed widely. “Awesome! I wish you guys luck and hopefully, you’ll be able to attain great results in the competition. I also have some materials at home that will help to improve your listening skills. I’ll compile it and give it to you soon. Once you’ve come up with your speech, I can proofread it for you.”

It was quite evident that the teacher had treated Elise like her own daughter. Jasmine was initially grinning from ear to ear, but she became downcast and sat in her seat. She glanced at Elise with tightly clenched fists while vowing, I’m definitely going to win this competition! No one else can stand in my way!

Once their class had ended, Jasmine’s sidekicks approached her. “Jasmine, you’re so talented to have been selected for the competition! I’m so envious of you!”

“Yeah, Jasmine! You’re the best in this subject in our class. I’m sure that you’ll be able to shine and achieve a great result in the competition!”

Jasmine enjoyed all the flattery from the others, but she feigned humility. “You guys need to stop saying that. I have an advantage because I’ve been learning the language from an earlier age. Besides, I’m not the only one from our class to be competing.”

“Gosh, Jasmine. You’re way too humble. All of us here know that you have a strong command of Chinese in terms of speech. As for the other person, well, it’s unfortunate that she’s only there to fill the space. Regardless of what happens, it’ll be your treat once you win the competition!”

An elated Jasmine immediately agreed. “Sure! That’s not going to be an issue. Well, since everyone’s here, how about I’ll treat you guys today then? Let’s head out for lunch and you guys can decide on the location.”

“Jasmine, you’re awesome!” Her sidekicks continued to flatter her, which made her forget about her current predicament. As soon as it was lunchtime, she brought all of them to a luxurious restaurant

outside their school. In total, the five of them had spent three thousand on their meal and she picked up the tab by handing over her credit card to the waiter.

However, the waiter immediately informed her, “I’m sorry, but this card has insufficient balance on it.”

Jasmine’s expression then stiffened as she quickly took her card back. “I gave you the wrong card. Give this one a try.”

Despite the change of cards, the outcome was still the same. “I’m sorry, Miss, but this card has the same issue too.”

Her sidekicks then exchanged looks with each other, but everyone maintained their silence. Meanwhile, she felt slightly awkward and tried to explain, “Perhaps my daddy forgot to pay my bill. Please hold on.”

As soon as Jasmine said that, she headed for the washroom where she immediately dialed John’s number. Their family was currently facing a crisis wherein their company had also gone into bankruptcy. There were massive debts that were due to be cleared and as a result from all the stress, he had significantly aged. He took steps to remortgage all of the family’s properties, which finally allowed him to pay off the debts.

After he’d cleared their debts, there was not much cash left on hand, so he was quite fretful about it. Coincidentally, he received a phone call from his daughter at that moment. “Daddy, there’s insufficient balance on my card. Could you transfer me some more money?”

John frowned and sternly questioned her, “I just transferred fifty thousand to you last week! Have you already spent all of that money?!”

Then, Jasmine wore a guilty expression as she explained, “I bought some cosmetics and a bag. The money’s all gone. Daddy, could you hurry up and transfer me some money? I’m at a restaurant and I don’t have money to pay for the meal.”

“Didn’t I tell you that we’re currently facing a crisis?! You can’t keep spending your money unnecessarily! I told you to have your meals at the school cafeteria for the time being! Have you forgotten what I said?!”

“No, Daddy. This is a once-off thing. I promise I’ll have my meals at the school cafeteria from now on.”

John had always doted on Jasmine since she was a child and he had never rejected any of her requests. Although they were impoverished now, he didn’t want his daughter to suffer so he thought, It’s quite fortunate that I still have a thousand left. That should last her for quite a while.

“I have a thousand on my card, so I’ll transfer that to you in a while.”

As soon as she heard that he was only going to transfer a thousand, she knew that it was insufficient and quickly responded, “Daddy, that’s not enough.”

That was enough to make John lose his temper. After all, one thousand was all of the cash he had right now and it should be enough for a meal. “Where did you go for lunch? How can that be insufficient?!”

“Daddy, I treated some of my classmates to lunch at a restaurant. Could you please hurry up and transfer me some money? I need three thousand to pay for lunch. You should transfer me more because we have plans to go for karaoke later.”

His blood pressure immediately spiked. I don’t even know whether I have enough for my next meal, but this wretched kid is still out there spending unnecessarily! He was so angered that his breath quickened as the veins on his temple pulsated. Then, he roared over the phone, “Jasmine Anders! I don’t have that amount of money! You should find a way to deal with it yourself! Don’t call me anymore!”

Upon saying those words, John instantly hung up the phone on Jasmine. By that stage, she was stunned into silence. Without her father’s money, she wouldn’t be able to foot the bill. Then, she

rummaged through her bag and only found a few hundred in cash, but that was hardly enough.

She hesitated for a long time before finally exiting the washroom. As she faced her sidekicks, she finally spoke through gritted teeth, “I don’t have enough money on me. We should pay for our own meal.”

As soon as everyone heard what she said, they kicked up a fuss.

Rita was the first to respond, “What are you on about, Jasmine? Didn’t you say that it was your treat today?”

“Yeah! You said that this was your treat. How can you suddenly change your mind and ask us to pay ourselves?”

Jasmine didn’t have a choice either because she didn’t have the money on hand. “I’ll treat you guys another day. Why don’t we just pay for our own meal today?”

However, her sidekicks exchanged looks with each other where they silently agreed on something. “I’m sorry, Jasmine. I don’t have that much money on me.”

“Me too. I only have fifty bucks on me. It’s not enough.”

“Jasmine, why don’t you give your family members a call and ask them to send some money?”

It was at that moment when Jasmine stared at her so-called friends incredulously. She was usually generous with them and even gifted them bags worth tens of thousands without any hesitation. However, none of them was willing to take one for the team and pay for today’s meal. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

She was just about to say something when all of her sidekicks stood up in unison. It was as if they had reached a consensus beforehand. “Um, we still need to return to class, Jasmine. We have to leave

now. As we don’t have enough money on us, would you mind footing the bill first?”

After saying that, everyone left. Jasmine tried to run after her sidekicks, but the waiter stopped her in her tracks.

“Excuse me, can you please settle the bill first?”

Jasmine was close to tears; she finally fished out all of the cash in her bag, which only amounted to a few hundred bucks. In the end, she had no choice but to hand her designer bag over as payment for the meal.

However, she noticed that everyone in class seemed to look at her strangely as soon as she returned to the classroom. Even her usual sidekicks had ignored her too. Although she wasn’t used to such differential treatment, she tried to maintain a calm front as she went to her desk.