Chapter 11 Humiliation

Patrick picked up the 100,000 in the bag and examined it. “Where did Bradley get this much money from?” But anyway, I’d be an idiot to not accept this money! With that thought, he picked up the bag and walked away. Meanwhile, Craig turned around and yelled to the crowd that had gathered, “Alright everyone; that’s it!” He couldn’t help but shake his head at Patrick as the latter walked away. Julia then called out with disdain, “Hmph! Since the debt is settled, we’ll see if the police will come back tomorrow to arrest anyone!” Feeling disgruntled, she turned back to her house while nibbling on some nuts. Just then, the crowd’s gaze landed upon Erin and a low pitch murmur spread through the crowd. “I’ll say, it seems like the rumors in the village are real—Erin and Bradley are actually having an affair. How else could he have something so valuable?” “Isn’t it obvious? Here you have an ex-convict who hasn’t seen a woman in five years; it’s like dry wood and a blazing fire!” When Janice heard the whispers from the crowd, she was so angry that she dragged Bradley into the house and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Erin walked to the door and hesitated, stopping as she looked at it helplessly. Even though Bradley was never ashamed of her status as a bad omen, that didn’t mean that his family shared the same values. With that thought, she turned and walked away with disappointment. Meanwhile, Craig asked loudly as soon as he walked in, “Brad, where did you get the 100,000 from?” “You have to know that you were just released from prison, Brad. You can’t commit crimes even if it’s for the sake of your sister,” Janice chimed in with a worried look. Walking over to where Janice and Craig stood, Emily defended, “Mom, Dad, that’s my brother you’re talking to. Why would you doubt him like this?” Even though she said that, she was still quite worried for Bradley. 100,000 was no small amount and her brother had managed to collect that money in just half a day’s time; who would believe that? Upon hearing that, Bradley walked toward Janice and reassured her, “Mom, I earned the money from selling herbs. It’s clean, hard-earned money, so don’t worry about it.” “Were the herbs so valuable? Was it the stack of herbs that you took back yesterday?” Emily asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of her voice. The herbs that she saw yesterday looked so normal, so how could they be worth 100,000? Bradley nodded as he explained, “To other people, it might look like normal herbs, but after mixing it with my special recipe, it is worth a lot of money.” Relieved, Janice turned to look at Craig. “Looks like our son has learned some skills in prison. Hopefully good days are around the corner!” The next morning after Bradley had his breakfast, he rode his old trishaw to Riverdale District. Glancing at his watch and realizing that it was still quite early, he decided to walk around the shopping mall to purchase a few cell phones. After all, it would be embarrassing for him when someone asked for his phone number and realized that he didn’t own a phone. He parked his trishaw at the entrance and walked toward the most expensive cell phone counter. The pretty and sassy sales girl took one look at his shabby appearance and scoffed. “Young man, the cell phones here are quite expensive! We have some old models there that only cost 199.” Upon hearing that, Bradley smiled bitterly as he looked at his shirt that had holes in it, instantly feeling embarrassed. He pointed at a phone on the counter that cost 8,560. “Miss, I’d like five of this.” When the sales girl heard him, her jaw dropped and she immediately turned toward the other sales girl next to her. “Did he say he wanted five? I’m not hearing things, am I? Looking at his appearance, it’s obvious that buying one would already be hard for him!” The busy cashier eyed him for a while and retorted, “If the hillbilly doesn’t understand, why don't you just explain it to him?” The cashier wasn’t looking down on Bradley, but she just thought that a country bumpkin like Bradley might not know a cellphone’s price. Walking toward him with her hips swaying from side to side, the sales girl advised, “You won’t be able to afford that phone. The phone on the other counter is cheaper; you should take a look.” Instantly, Bradley felt annoyed and was tempted to go to another shop, but just then, a taunting voice came from behind him. “He’s just here to look at it. How could a country bumpkin afford such an expensive phone? I’ll take it.” Bradley was about to leave but he turned around when he heard that familiar voice and caught the mocking looks on Jeff and Natalie’s faces. Jeff thought that Bradley had befriended a big shot like President Newton but when he saw that Bradley couldn’t even afford to buy a phone, he concluded that Bradley had no money and intended to gain back his pride for yesterday’s humiliation. Upon hearing Jeff’s comment, Bradley walked slowly toward the counter. “How do you know I can’t afford it?” he countered. Jeff put on a vague smile and looked toward Natalie. “Darling, if this hillbilly buys this phone, then I’ll go next door and buy you a diamond ring worth a hundred thousand.” Natalie knew that Jeff was just trying to taunt Bradley, so she nodded with a smile. The sales girl quickly turned to her colleague and yelled, “Lily, this gentleman would like to buy a diamond ring! Hurry up and bring over the diamond rings from next door.” Bradley smiled as he glanced at Natalie. He then turned and said to the sales girl, “I’ll take the five cell phones; please pack it up for me now.” Upon hearing that, Jeff broke out into an evil smile. “Bradley Jackson, the staff are working very hard everyday, so don’t waste their effort if you’re not able to pay for it.” The sales girl stopped when she heard his words and turned around to look at Bradley. “A man’s word is his honor, so you better hold up your end of the bargain too,” Bradley reminded Jeff and turned toward the sales girl. “Please pack the phones now.” She immediately packed them into a bag and turned to Jeff as she said tactfully, “Sir, the phones are already packed, so please choose a diamond ring.” This was the way of business; if someone wanted to place a bet, the sales people would squeeze every bit of money that they could make out of it! “How can it count if there’s no payment?” All Jeff wanted to do was to insult Bradley; he didn’t really want to buy Natalie a diamond ring worth a hundred thousand! The sales girl then turned toward Bradley and asked, “Sir, would you like to pay with cash or credit card?” Bradley walked toward Jeff and said, “Why don’t you go and pick the diamond ring, then we’ll pay together. Whichever son of a b*tch doesn’t have enough money in their card should crawl out of here.” As they were in the midst of arguing, a tall, beautiful woman watched as she stood by the entrance of the shopping mall, a smile slowly creeping onto her face.