Five Star Billionaire: A Novel Read Online Free

to talk to her about their private lives—where they were from, their boyfriend problems, their ambitions. One day she was talking to a girl, someone she shared meal breaks with in the canteen sometimes, not really a friend. The girl’s mobile phone rang, and the girl looked at the screen without answering. Her face twisted into a pained expression and she handed the phone to Phoebe, saying, It’s the boy I was telling you about, the one who bullies me. Phoebe took the phone and did not even say hello. This is your ex-girlfriend’s older cousin-sister, she said. This mobile phone belongs to me now. Your ex has a new boyfriend and he is rich and educated, not a stupid peasant like you, so go away or else Iwill make trouble for you. I know who you are and which lousy place you work at.
    Wah
, you are amazing, Phoebe! the girl said. Everyone was laughing, and someone even reached out and put her arm around Phoebe’s shoulders.
    On her first day off that month, she went with some other girls to the cinema. They stopped at a fast-food place and had bubble milk tea before buying a box of octopus balls, which they ate while strolling through the night market, linking elbows as if they were still in middle school. They turned their noses up at the cheap clothes, far cheaper than the ones they made in the factory, stall after stall of thin spangled nylon. The music on the speakers was loud, thumping in their rib cages and drowning out their heartbeats. It made them feel so alive. The smell of fried food and charcoal grills felt familiar to Phoebe—she did not feel so very far from home after all. They saw posters advertising the latest concert of the Taiwanese singer she liked, and the ticket prices did not look too expensive.
    Hei
, we should all save up some money and go! someone said. Phoebe, you love Gary, don’t you? Maybe we can share the cost of your ticket, because you are always cooking for us and sharing your food with us. I hear he’s going to sing some Cantonese songs too, since it’s here in Guangzhou, so you can teach us to sing along!
    She was happy that they offered, but she knew that these were empty promises and that no one would actually buy her a ticket.
    She stopped to buy a shiny black top decorated with beads, but the other girls scolded her. Forty
kuai
! Too expensive.
Aiya
, new girls are always the same, always spending money on useless things instead of sending it home. Besides, you should be buying nicer clothes, something that suits your slim figure better, not some old-mother style! Phoebe bought it anyway; she didn’t care. It had pretty embroidery, a red rose adorned with silver beads that fanned out from each petal.
    But as swiftly as the bright cool days of autumn give way to the damp chill of winter, life also changes. Phoebe knew this by now. Nothing ever stood still in China; nothing was permanent. A person who is loved cannot expect that love to remain for long. There is no reason for them to keep this love; they do not have a right to be loved.
    She shared her third basket of fruit and other delicacies with her dormfriends. This time there were bags of dried scallops and a tin of abalone, which none of them had ever tasted before, and they gathered to cook a meal together. It was too luxurious for lowly people like them, one girl remarked—this meal was all thanks to Phoebe.
    Really, said another girl, lifting her rice bowl to her mouth, Boss Lin says this kind of thing is not so special in Hong Kong; everyone eats it over there.
    How would you know? When do you ever talk to Boss Lin?
    Hmm, it’s true. I rarely get a chance to speak to him. The only person he speaks to is Phoebe.
    I wish he didn’t, Phoebe joked. He is so boring.
Hei
, it’s only because of my stupid job that I have to have contact with him.
    It seems he takes a special interest in you. He even calls you into his private office.
    Yes, but only to scold me for tasks I have not done! Come, eat some more!
    The next