Chapter 4

Stephen James was Steph’s full name, and Olivia still remembered the scene when she met him for the first time.

He carried a guitar and did not say much. The rent was relatively cheap. Now the houses in the regular community were basically three-pay-one, while here was different. Generally, it was a bet-one-pay-one, and the person with household appliances was two-pay-one, so people who were short of money would first choose to settle in the village.

There was only one bed in the basement and there were no other household appliances. Stephen gave her 200 dollars in cash at that time. And she noticed that after paying the deposit and rent, he had only some change in his wallet, the largest of which was 10.

Even the amiable Granny Gill did not like to pry into other people's affairs, so up to now, Olivia did not know what Stephen’s job was.

He seemed to have a hard time. She saw him several times, and he was always carrying a plastic bag full of instant noodles. His skin was already very white, and he looked no different from those vampires in TV dramas.

The hospital canteen was now closed. Olivia went to a small restaurant nearby, bought Stephen a hamburger, and specially asked the boss to add an extra piece of beef. After all, he really looked malnourished.

Olivia also learned some of the processes of giving birth before and bought chocolates and energy drinks for Jasmine, which was said to be useful.

Stephen was holding the big hamburger, heavy enough for a grown man to eat. He knew he was embarrassed at the moment, but his stomach was honest. He stood up and walked to the safe passage without saying a word. When he opened the lid of the lunch box, he found that there were two eggs inside it.

Many years later, Stephen still remembered the hamburger.

This was the best hamburger he has ever had.

By the time Jasmine was finally pushed into the delivery room, it was almost early the next morning. When the sun rose, the nurse came out to inform them that the mother and son were safe.

Granny Gill was so overjoyed that after reciting a few words of Amitabha Buddha, she hurriedly left the hospital, saying that she wanted to make Jasmine something to eat.

Even Olivia, when she looked at the washed and wrapped baby, couldn't help it, and her eyes turned red.

The little guy's forehead was wrinkled and his skin was reddish. He managed to open a small crack, and his little eyes looked adorable.

Olivia knew that he was blurred when he saw things and people now.

Although Jasmine was weak at the moment, she didn't fall asleep. She looked at the baby softly as if he were her whole world.

"Have you decided his name?" Asked Olivia.

Jasmine looked out of the window. It was the best morning of the day. "Just call him Michael Smith," she whispered. "

Olivia recalled the plot of the novel. The baby was indeed called Michael Smith but was changed to Michael Ray since Jasmine and Jacob got married. The plot was really irreversible.

Although Jasmine was rich, she was not a spender. Although middle-aged women and old ladies in the village loved to gossip, they were also kind-hearted. Before the baby was born, they sent the clothes their children wore.

The clothes worn by children were actually better for newborns because the cloth became softer after washing. At first, Jasmine did not have breast milk, but the doctor still asked the baby to try to suck.

Jasmine suffered a lot.

Because it was a natural birth and Jasmine recovered soon, she was discharged from the hospital a few days later. Lying in bed at night, watching her baby sleep so soundly, she really did not complain about the injustice of fate at all. On the contrary, now she was full of gratitude. Granny Gill was not familiar with her, but she took such good care of her. Olivia was also afraid that she would suffer from postpartum depression. Every day after work, she would come to chat with her and help her take care of the baby.

Obviously, it was only the relationship between the landlord and the tenant, but it was closer than the relatives. People had feelings.

Olivia rushed home to Room 202 after work. When she was having lunch with her colleagues, she passed a baby store and bought a new set of clothes for the baby.

Over the past month, she has been in contact with the baby every day, although she occasionally felt very tired, she liked the baby so much.

It is really hard for an unmarried mother to take care of her kid on her own. All this was only mentioned in the plot of the novel. When Olivia was really around Jasmine, she really felt how strong this outwardly weak woman was inside.

Olivia thought that if it were her, she really wouldn't have the courage to take the responsibility of giving birth and taking care of a child.

‘She must be so in love with Jacob.’

"The baby is growing fast. You buy clothes for him too often, he may not wear them once or twice."

Jasmine was changing diapers for her baby proficiently.

Olivia replied, "It's all right. I can keep them and give them to someone else."

"Then you shouldn’t waste your money."

Jasmine said, "now that you earn only a few hundred dollars a month, you might as well buy clothes for yourself and dress up. And find a boyfriend."

Because Jasmine was older than Olivia, she now automatically treated Olivia as a younger sister. Of course, she was not calling Granny Gill, but directly calling her Grandma. It can be seen that the position of them in her mind was no different from that of her relatives.

Olivia felt a headache when she heard this. "I haven't thought about it."

Jasmine looked at her and said, "how could you not want to? You are at the right age now, it’s a perfect time to fall in love. "

"I didn't meet the right one."

Olivia thought about it and said, "and what I'm thinking about now is to pay off my family's debt, and then save some money to see if I can try to buy a small house in the city. I'm not in the mood to fall in love."

Jasmine nodded thoughtfully and then said, "do you really want to buy a house?"

Olivia knew Jasmine's temper, she was easy to trust others. Luckily, she met her and her grandmother, even if she knew Jasmine had money, she had no idea about it, but if Jasmine met other people, it is estimated that she will be cheated out of all this money before the child returned to Ray’s family.

After all, it was still the halo of the heroine.

In fact, if Jasmine was the wife of Jacob today, she wanted to lend her money for a down payment, Olivia would not refuse. But what was the situation now? Jasmine was alone with a child. It would take her much many to raise the kid, so Olivia definitely would refuse her kindness.

"Come on!"

Olivia said solemnly, "Don't say that you will lend me money, even if you really have money now, you should think about it. You're not alone now. Besides, it's best not to have any money relationship between friends. If I really need money now, you can lend it to me, but the point is not that I’m no in such urgency, so I want to do my best. "

They have not yet paid off the debts, and even if she borrowed money to pay the down payment, even if she lived frugally every month, she may not even be able to repay her mortgage, so when will she be able to pay back the money? At least a few years later, Jasmine was kind, but Olivia didn't want to take advantage of her kindness.

The down payment was not a small sum of money, according to the current house prices, even if it was a down payment of 30%, it will cost hundreds of thousands more to buy a small house.

Jasmine looked at Olivia and sighed, "well, when you are ready to buy a house, let me know if you are short of money."

Finally, she repeatedly told Jasmine, "you cannot expose how rich you are. Although the people here are simple and kind-hearted, nothing has happened. But, remember, don't let other people know that you have a lot of money, or they will keep an eye on you, and there will be trouble then."

Jasmine looked at Olivia in a daze.

Olivia was also speechless. The plot of this novel had big bugs. Jasmine was not a person living in an ivory tower. She lost her father when she was young and depended on her mother. In principle, she should understand this society very well. How come she was like a young lady who was well protected by others?!.

She was so concerned about her. "you have to be defensive. Anyway, don't act like you're rich in the future. Besides, you're a single mother, and the tenants here come from all over the country. I don't know who is good and who is not, so it's always right to keep an eye on it, do you know?"

Under the painstaking efforts of Olivia, Jasmine finally nodded, saying that she knew.

Olivia has been dealing with all kinds of tenants since childhood, and she has seen all kinds of people. Originally, it was no easy for her grandma and her, one old and one small to keep this building. Fortunately, most of the tenants here were from the same village. Tim's grandmother and her grandmother were the best girlfriends when they were young. In this bustling city, in such a place, it was possible to be peaceful because they were protected.

King was the most powerful character in this community. He had a complicated background, but this area was covered by him, from old to young, no one dared to cause trouble, and no tenant dared to do anything bad. King’s father and Olivia's grandfather used to be admiring brothers, so even if there were only Olivia and Grandma Gill keep the building, no one had ever dared to bully them.

King's father used to be a gangster, and his mother liked to play cards. It was common to be starved when he was a child. Granny Gill felt sorry for him and often brought him meals or asked him to come home for dinner, so King had deep feelings for Grandma Gill. Usually, he didn't call Aunt Gill like other people, but he always called her Mama Gill.

As soon as Olivia got home, she saw King coming, with crabs in his hand, chatting with her grandmother.

She shouted respectfully, "Uncle King."