"Miss Dahler." Sitting on the windowsill of the hotel, Darlene looked at Penelope Dahler, who was cleaning up after dinner, and spoke softly. Hearing her words, Penelope looked up and glanced at the young girl in front of her.
Since Jiang Hai, Azarina, and Qi Li had gone to attend Du Famen's cocktail party, Penelope and the others had to handle dinner on their own. Fortunately, Jiang Hai had left them plenty of money, and they still had a good amount left for the room fees.
It didn't matter whether they went out to eat or stayed in the hotel.
Of course, Darlene and Marianne had wanted to go out. They were both very curious about the country that had given birth to Jiang Hai.
But Penelope, feeling worried, ultimately decided that they should eat in the hotel. They didn't even go to the restaurant but opted to have the food delivered. Luckily, the hotel food was decent, and the three of them were more than satisfied with their meal. After dinner, Penelope was cleaning up, while Darlene and Marianne sat nearby, playing with their phones or gazing out the window. Suddenly, Darlene asked Penelope a question, which captured the attention of the other two in the room.
"Just call me Penelope, Darlene. What's on your mind?" Penelope smiled at Darlene's words and continued to clean up, her head lowered.
In the United States, the way surnames and given names are used is similar to that in China. Though the given name comes first and the surname last, people who aren't very familiar with each other will typically address one another by their surnames. For example, Boss Zhang, Teacher Wang, Master Liu, etc.
In the U.S., it's the same; people are often addressed by their last names unless they share a closer relationship. For instance, basketball stars like Michael Jordan are typically referred to as Jordan, or Shaquille O'Neal as O'Neal, rather than by their first names. Only those who are close will use given names.
Penelope had already considered Darlene and the others as friends, which is why she was comfortable addressing them by their first names.
"Okay, Penelope. How old are you?" Darlene asked, looking at Penelope curiously.
"I'm four years younger than your father, so I'm already 24 this year," Penelope replied with a smile.
"Wow, you're not much older than us," Darlene remarked, raising her head and speaking seriously.
"Ha, should I be happy about that?" Penelope chuckled in response.
"Haha, no worries. You're definitely not that much older than us. You probably don't know what I'm getting at, though." Darlene smiled brightly, but then her expression grew more serious as she continued.
"Tell me. Although I'm not much older than you, I've experienced a lot more, so I think I understand the general things," Penelope said, noticing Darlene's seriousness.
"That's true. But you can't tell anyone about what I'm going to ask, okay?" Darlene hesitated, her eyes filled with curiosity as she looked at Penelope.
"That... What are you asking about?" Penelope's face froze for a moment, unsure of what Darlene meant.
"I'm just asking because I'm curious. Don't think I'm naive. I'm already seventeen, which in Chinese years means I'm eighteen. You know where I've been living, right? I've seen some of the older girls doing... that, but it looked painful, like they were screaming, frowning, and sometimes even bleeding. It scared me," Darlene said, her voice carrying a tinge of fear, while Marianne walked over and gently took Darlene's hand.
Penelope felt a little embarrassed. She realized these girls could not be treated like typical high school students.
"So, to avoid making the same mistakes as my sister, I tried to learn a better way to live. That's how I ended up meeting Jiang Hai, and now my life is much better." Darlene chuckled softly as she looked at her sister. The past seemed like a distant memory now. "But recently, I spied on Jiang Hai when he was... doing that thing, and something seemed off. There was no pain or discomfort, like when I saw the older girls. Instead, Jiang Hai and his partner seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was very confusing to me. Why was there such a big difference?"
As she spoke, Darlene looked at Penelope, her eyes full of uncertainty. This question had been on her mind for some time. They had seen Jiang Hai with Ai Xiaoxi, Feng Yunchen, and even Afra, and the more they observed, the stranger it seemed.
They wanted to ask Cindy Clive, who was the best teacher on such matters, but they knew there was some unclear relationship between Cindy and Jiang Hai. They didn't want to risk ruining their chance to be close to Cindy.
As for Feng Yunchen, Afra, and Ai Xiaoxi, they couldn't ask them—after all, they had been spying on them. And Dina? That was a complicated situation too.
It was hard to ask anyone, but Penelope, being an outsider, might be the one to answer.
"This is a bit difficult to explain, but what you saw earlier was probably the result of those bad men forcing the girls into it. There was no emotion, no tenderness—it was painful, and they likely resisted. But they had no choice for their survival. As for Jiang Hai, what you saw later was probably consensual. There's love and mutual respect, which makes the experience pleasant. It's like learning something: if you're willing, it's easy and smooth. But if you don't want to learn, it feels torturous, like a year of struggle." Penelope's face flushed slightly as she spoke, but she knew that this kind of conversation was necessary to protect them.
"Is that like what we have with Jiang?" Marianne suddenly interrupted, her voice filled with curiosity.
"No, you're not, you're father and daughter," Penelope quickly responded, shaking her head.
"But we don't see him as a father. He's not that much older than us," Darlene retorted immediately.
Penelope sighed as she looked at the two girls with their golden eyes. It seemed that trouble was brewing.
"You don't see him as a father, but he sees you as daughters. Your feelings for him are a mix of gratitude and admiration, but that's not the same as love," Penelope said seriously, trying to defuse any potential misunderstandings.
"Really?" Darlene and Marianne exchanged a confused look. They were uncertain.
But in their hearts, both of them made a decision. They weren't sure if their feelings for Jiang Hai were just gratitude and admiration, but they were determined to find out if Jiang Hai truly saw them as daughters, as Penelope had said.
"A-choo!" At that moment, Jiang Hai, sitting down to enjoy a meal of Yangtze River knife fish, sneezed unexpectedly and pinched his nose in confusion.
"Cold?" Qi Li, sitting beside him, asked softly, her voice full of concern. She had been enjoying herself at the cocktail party, happy to be sitting next to Jiang Hai. No one dared to look at her with lustful eyes or talk behind her back anymore, and she was glad for the comfort that Jiang Hai's presence gave her.
She immediately worried that Jiang Hai might be ill, imagining herself caring for him—helping him wipe away the juice, feeding him medicine, and keeping him warm.
"No, it's nothing," Jiang Hai replied, confused. His body was too strong to get sick, so he couldn't understand why he had sneezed.
"Sir, did you put too much pepper?" the chef asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's fine, it tastes good this way," Jiang Hai replied, realizing that the pepper might have caused his sneeze.
To be continued...