The original body’s name was Zhao Zhen, differing from hers by just one character. But now only hers remained on the panel—the original’s was gone.
Even the age now reflected only the actual age of this body.
These changes had all appeared after Zhao Zhenzhen finished watching 【Life Memories: Viewing】.
The moment the three segments of the original body’s memories finished playing, the panel shifted.
Zhao Zhenzhen’s intuition told her that the panel’s change meant she was now permanently staying in New York in the year 2000—that Zhao Zhen was now her.
Her feelings were complicated.
Especially when she thought of the bills the original body had left behind—her mood grew even more tangled.
This was skipping out on the bill, wasn’t it?!
And then she’d randomly grabbed someone like her to come and foot the bill?!
Zhao Zhenzhen propped her head up and closed her eyes in pain.
“Zhao.” The teacher looked at her with concern. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Zhao Zhenzhen nodded. “Could I step outside for some air, teacher?”
“Go ahead.” The teacher waved a hand airily. “Remember, happiness in life is what matters most.”
Zhao Zhenzhen let out a dry laugh. “Teacher, you’re really optimistic.”
“How did you know my motto is ‘optimistic to the death’?” The teacher clicked her tongue and pointed both hands at Zhao Zhenzhen with a “you get me” expression.
Fine. Very American.
Zhao Zhenzhen left the classroom and headed straight for the public phone booth outside the school.
She checked several—some had truant students from the school inside hugging and making out, others had people sleeping in them.
Two more were so hazy with smoke you couldn’t see inside at all.
Zhao Zhenzhen walked right past those.
She finally found an empty one—because someone had peed inside it.
She was thoroughly disgusted.
But there was no choice. Deep in debt, rent about to come due, and with only 20 dollars left on her, even if there was shit in there, she’d have to steel herself and make the call first.
Just pretend she was using a phone in a pit latrine.
Zhao Zhenzhen closed her eyes and hypnotized herself. Then she pressed the buttons through a napkin and put it on speaker.
She stood stiffly while dialing, determined not to touch a single spot inside the booth.
—Who knew what had happened in there before, or what had been left behind.
Zhao Zhenzhen reined in her imagination, not daring to let it run wild.
The phones at home and at the restaurant were all busy tones. When she tried her deadbeat dad, stepmother, and even Yaozu, all she got was “Sorry, the number you have dialed does not exist.”
Zhao Zhenzhen’s heart skipped a beat.
She dug up the number of an old neighbor from her memories and called—confirming her suspicion.
“Ah Zhen! Don’t you know? Your old man took those two and emigrated to England. The house and the restaurant were both sold—they got a huge chunk of money. And they even arranged immigration for you too—didn’t they?! Oh dear! What a crime, those three bastards left three or four months ago! Not long after you went abroad, they were gone! Ah Zhen! What are you going to do all alone! Why don’t… why don’t you come back.”
Those were some real dogs!
Zhao Zhenzhen hung up and jumped out of the booth.
Standing in the open air, she let out a long breath.
Going back was definitely out of the question—she still owed the capitalists money. She probably couldn’t even leave the country until she’d paid off that 5,000 dollars.
As for immigration? Ha. Zhao Zhenzhen swore by that puddle of piss in the phone booth that she had absolutely not been immigrated—she was still a Chinese citizen.
Because processing immigration cost a pretty penny!
Would that scumbag father have shelled out? Would that stepmother?
Fine. A clean break was good too. She was happy to be alone in the world.
But where was she supposed to get money?
Forget the $5,000 debt for now—she had rent due in ten days!
Zhao Zhenzhen tapped open the Golden Finger she’d received, intending to study it further and see if she could use it to make some quick cash on the side.
She tapped 【+1】. The panel trembled slightly, and then the +1 vanished—but nothing else changed. What?
Wait, what the hell was this?! Where did her +1 go? Where did the +1 disappear to?!
“Y-you, hello.” A timid, barely audible voice.
Zhao Zhenzhen turned her head and looked at the girl wearing glasses, whose messy hair nearly obscured her face.
“D-do you want some of this?” The girl hugged her crumpled backpack and rubbed her fingers together nervously.
The phone booth that had been shrouded in smoke earlier was now open. Seven or eight men and women lounged against it, hands in pockets, slouching, laughing and staring over with amusement.
They reminded Zhao Zhenzhen of spotted hyenas.
When hunting, hyenas would circle their prey, following at a distance—not too close, not too far—while emitting harsh, cackling laughter.
It was the same now. They clapped and howled with laughter. “Go on, Betty!”
“Come on, Betty!”
“Sell just one and you win!”
Betty took a deep breath, suppressing the fear that made her whole body tremble, and repeated her words in a small voice. She hastily added, “I-it’s not expensive, just 15 dollars.”
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head. “I don’t have any money, you don’t believe—” look.
Zhao Zhenzhen reached into her pocket, intending to pull the lining out to show her. But the moment her hand went in, she touched a piece of paper.
She froze. Pulling it out, she found it was a crisp $10 bill.
…Wait, she’d just searched through her pockets earlier and definitely hadn’t had this!
A jolt shot through Zhao Zhenzhen. She thought of the +1 that had vanished from the virtual panel just now.
…Could it be?!
“T-ten dollars works too! I’ll give you a discount!” Betty was still talking.
But before she could finish, Zhao Zhenzhen had already walked past her toward the phone booth.
Cold sweat ran down Betty’s spine in fear. She didn’t dare speak loudly, only whispering, “…Don’t go over there.”
How—how could she dare go over there?!
Zhao Zhenzhen was really just gambling on this. Of course, the yellow name tags floating above those people’s heads gave her a bit of confidence.
What else could she do?
International calls were expensive!
After making the call, she’d have only 2 dollars left on her!
She’d treat this as an experiment.
At worst, she’d pull out that $10 at the end as tribute.
It wasn’t like she had anything more to lose anyway.
Those people hadn’t expected Zhao Zhenzhen to walk straight over. They froze for a moment, then immediately started jeering.
“Hey, Chinese girl, looking for me?” The boy in the red hoodie with a face full of freckles deliberately struck a bodybuilder pose. “Take a look at me.”
He kept changing poses as he spoke.
Zhao Zhenzhen glanced at the yellow lightbulb floating above his head. “No, I’m not looking for you, Leo Brown.”
Everyone froze simultaneously. Leo, whose name had been called out, stood rigid on the spot.
He stared at Zhao Zhenzhen seriously for a long moment, then scratched the back of his head. “You know me?” He racked his brain. “Are you that Asian family that lives near my place?”
“No,” Zhao Zhenzhen replied. “I just know.”
“How do you know?!” Leo yelped.
“Didn’t you all just say it?” Zhao Zhenzhen smiled slightly, sweeping her gaze across the group in front of her. “I’m Chinese.”
Betty stood in the distance clutching her backpack, head lowered, watching Zhao Zhenzhen and the others through the gaps in her bangs.
She hadn’t expected this Chinese exchange student to be so bold, just walking straight over like that.
And… she’d even called out Leo’s name?
How strange—how did she know that?
The leader asked the same question.
“Not only do I know his name, I know every single one of yours. Alright, I’ve answered your questions. Now it’s my turn.”
Zhao Zhenzhen pulled out the ten dollars she’d just earned and held it up for them to see. “I only have ten dollars, and I don’t touch that stuff. But I want to use this ten dollars to make a bet with you.”
The leader raised an eyebrow. “What kind of bet?”
Zhao Zhenzhen held up one finger. “One dollar to guess a name—get it wrong, and I pay you ten!”
The leader snorted, seeing through her scheme. “But you only have ten dollars.”
Zhao Zhenzhen shrugged. “Maybe I can only bet once. Or maybe I can bet many times? Any of you interested in trying?”
She waved the fresh bill in her hand. “Ten-to-one odds.”
The group exchanged glances, then all looked to their leader.
To be honest, ten dollars wasn’t much to them. But… this Chinese woman claimed she could name every single one of them!
That was intriguing.
And if she lost… it was only a dollar.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford it.
No one spoke up, but they all watched their leader with eager anticipation.
The leader understood exactly what they wanted. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave a cool nod. “Fine.” He looked around. “Who’s first?”
“Me, me, me!” The girl with twin ponytails raised her hand, pulling out a crumpled one-dollar bill and pinching it between her fingers. She lifted her chin. “What’s my name?”
“Lily.” Zhao Zhenzhen took the money and gestured for the next one.
Collect one, name one.
“Kim. White. Green. Black…”
What a joy! Zhao Zhenzhen was delighted.
It felt like whoever she called out had to hand over their money, didn’t it?
And wasn’t that exactly what was happening?
Betty stood off to the side clutching her schoolbag, her mouth hanging wide open.
The gang members were just as stunned as she was.
The twin-ponytail girl even poked her companion with a look of suspicion. “Did she hear about us somewhere?”
“…Maybe?” Her companion thought so too. “Hey! We’re pretty famous around here, right?”
Was there anyone at school who didn’t know them? No way!
Right! The group suddenly realized they’d been played.
“Wait!” Zhao Zhenzhen watched their yellow name tags turn red right before her eyes and quickly spoke up, looking at the leader. “I know yours too.”
Now only the leader remained unnamed by Zhao Zhenzhen.
The leader sneered. “Isn’t it normal for you to know my name?”
“No, I mean your other name.”
The leader slowly grew serious, staring at Zhao Zhenzhen. “How do you know that?”
Zhao Zhenzhen pointed at her own eyes. “I can see.”
“?”
What kind of nonsense was that?
Betty chimed in quietly from the side. “Sh-she means she can see things ordinary people can’t see or calculate. It’s Chinese fortune-telling!”
Wait, no? Sis, what I’m seeing is just a virtual interface. I don’t know how to tell fortunes. Don’t make things up!
Zhao Zhenzhen looked at Betty, only to find the girl gazing back at her with worshipful eyes, brimming with excitement.
Which made Zhao Zhenzhen pause for a moment.
This kid was getting carried away.
Betty, now completely carried away, had even lost her fear of the gang. She launched into a passionate explanation about how, beyond kung fu, the mysterious ancient Eastern nation possessed many other awe-inspiring mystical powers.
Like fortune-telling. Like face-reading. Like divination. And so on and so forth.
The thugs listened with looks of sudden comprehension, nodding repeatedly, and Zhao Zhenzhen nodded along beside them, also appearing enlightened.
Noticing that everyone’s gaze had converged on her, Zhao Zhenzhen grew wary. “I’m not that profound—I only know a bit of Eastern psychology.”
Don’t talk nonsense!
“I understand.” Betty wore an expression of “I get it,” laden with meaning. “You all have to pretend you don’t know, in order to fool… right?”
Betty pointed at the sky, winking and raising her eyebrows.
The thugs once again showed looks of sudden realization, and the way they looked at Zhao Zhenzhen changed.
Especially the girl with twin ponytails, who eagerly leaned in and asked, “Can you tell my fortune about love?”
“…” Love what love? Are you even an adult to be talking about love?
High schoolers aren’t allowed to date early!