Paul Wanted Her Number

Diana's food tasted like chewing wax; she held her fork idly without any movement for a long time. Demonstratively, Valentina could easily take out 400 dollars, an amount equal to their mother's monthly salary. Diana hasn't had that much pocket money in months. Diana turned to look at Valentina, dressed head to toe in luxury brand items that she could only dream of affording. Diana couldn't understand how Valentina, who had seemed dull and weak before, was now capable of making big money. Indeed, in the past, Valentina was so inferior. She was always hiding, slouching, and would not dare to look Diana in the eye, let alone talk back when scolded. Diana couldn't accept the huge gap brought about by Valentina's transformation into an outstanding individual. Moreover, she noticed that Valentina had slimmed down and become more beautiful. The mere thought of Valentina becoming slender and beautiful in the near future made Diana extremely anxious and uncomfortable. Staring at two plates of vegetables that didn't whet her appetite at all, she threw down her fork, stood up, and returned to her room to study. So what if Valentina had lost weight, become beautiful, and earned money? With such poor academic performance, Valentina couldn't even get admitted to the worst university, while Diana had grades that ensured a spot in a top university. By the time Valentina had enough money to buy a spot in university, she wouldn't be on the same level as Diana. After college, Diana would have a decent job, while Valentina, even though she might be richer, would not have a remarkable degree. What was the use of having more money then? As Diana thought about this, she found comforting solace. After finishing dinner, Selena unexpectedly came to Augus's room. Just as she entered, she saw Augus sitting front of his computer desk. "What are you using this computer for? Isn't a mobile phone enough for studying? Your aunt's son, after buying a computer, knows nothing but playing games as soon as he gets off school. He used to be one of the top students, but now his grades are dropping drastically. He stays up until midnight playing games and sleeps in class the next day. Your aunt is called to school by the teacher almost daily. He used to have a great personality, but now his temper is out of control and almost had a row with your uncle the other day." A sense of satisfaction swelled within Selena, "Humph, during Christmas, your aunt was boasting that her son had the potential to go to Biddeford University, but don't even talk about Biddeford University now. It'll be good enough if there's any college that wants him." "Augus, you must make me proud and can't follow in his steps. You must go to a top university. I am going to depend on you in the future." "Mom, I don't play games. I'm learning programming so I can make money like Val, and I only study over the weekends. It won't affect my studies," Augus explained helplessly. Upon hearing that it could make money, Selena didn't say anything further. "How much did Valentina spend on this computer?" Augus was silent for a moment. Initially, he didn't want to reveal it, but thinking of his mother and second sister's attitude toward Valentina, Augus truthfully and proudly said, "5000 dollars." "What?" Selena almost popped her eyes out, "That damned girl, spending 5000 dollars for this." Selena was so furious her voice was trembling, wishing she could rush to Valentina's room right now to confiscate her money. "I struggled so hard to bring her up, working tirelessly every day to feed her, and she only contributes 400 dollars to the house when she starts earning money. How ungrateful! She even dared to say that even if she threw away the money, she wouldn't give it to me." Hearing Selena spewing out spiteful words, Augus closed his eyes and interrupted, "Mom, if there's nothing else, I want to continue studying." Only then did Selena stop cursing, "Who said there's nothing?" When Augus heard his mother urging him to ask Valentina for money, his face turned gloomy. "Mom, that's the money Val earned." "What do you mean her own money? I am her mother. Her money is mine, isn't it? I've been raising her all these years. Isn't it right for her to support me? It's only natural to give parents money to spend. What's wrong with you? That money isn't all for me alone to spend. Don't you need food and clothes too? Oh, our family is barely scraping by, but here she is dressed in fancy clothes…" Augus interrupted her again, "I will get a summer job once the summer vacation starts." Seeing that Augus was unmoved, Selena raged on, claiming that she gave birth to a bunch of ungrateful children who didn't appreciate their parents' hard work and only fancy spending money on themselves. Her voice grew louder and louder, intentionally making sure Valentina in the other room could hear. In the end, it was George who led Selena away. After his mother's outburst, Augus put the matter of the forum on the back burner. The following day was Monday. Valentina was a science student, with a math exam scheduled for today, the last major test before the SAT. Augus said, "Val, you can get a full score, right?" Valentina replied, "Want to see me get a full mark?" Augus responded, "If you have the ability, why not aim for it? Don’t give others the chance to mock you." Valentina said, "Then I'll aim for it." Upon hearing this, Augus felt reassured, and passed her two boiled eggs for breakfast, adding, "Boiled eggs won't make you gain weight." He had cooked these specially for her early in the morning. All morning, Augus waited anxiously for Valentina's exam results. Finally, he remembered the post he had made on the forum. After fermenting overnight, he had no idea what the state of affairs was. As soon as class was dismissed at noon, Augus grabbed something to eat at the cafeteria and took his phone to the track field, sitting beneath a tree. Going by last night's trend, Augus knew that his post would definitely take off, but he underestimated the impact of the math problem. It wasn't just Biddeford University and countless math enthusiasts, but this problem had caught the attention of the entire mathematics community. The uproar it caused was far beyond Augus's imagination. Just overnight, the number of comments had grown to over 30,000, shares exceeded 10,000, and likes were as high as hundreds of thousands. Amongst the comments were a few accounts belonging to professors that Augus admired, which were pushed to the top by the enthusiastic community, waiting for his response. Originally, everyone was focused on the calculation process and answer he posted, but slowly, the attention all turned to finding him. Hence, Augus became the "most wanted" across the entire forum. Moreover, he discovered that this matter had made it onto the trending topics on other platforms... While going through the comments, a direct message arrived from a user named Paul. Augus blinked. "Hello, I'm Paul. Could you please reply to me when you see this message?" Without hesitation, Augus clicked on it, and skipped to the chat with Paul, his heart already picking up pace. Upon clicking, he saw that Paul had sent him a private message last night. "I'm Paul. Did you solve the problem? Can I chat with you about how you solved this problem?" "Can I get your contact information?" Augus didn't reply, so Paul continued to send private messages. "Are you there? I'm Paul. Can we talk?" "If it's not convenient now, could we arrange a time?" "Waiting for your reply." Paul was the idol Augus always admired; he never imagined a day would come when his idol was the one pestering for his contact information. ... Valentina's exam was scheduled in the afternoon, spanning two classes. When the test paper was handed out, everyone was perusing the questions, but Valentina had already started writing. While the rest of the students had only worked out a couple of multiple-choice questions, Valentina had already moved on to the second page... The invigilating teacher was just settling into their duties when a student asked to turn in their examination early, merely half way into the first class. Frustration hit the invigilating teacher, as it was clear it was intended to cause a stir.