Conscious of his poverty, Max completely ignored Bella's beauty and pressed on. "The environment here is indeed very... very quiet, um, very nice. But I still want to ask about the monthly salary. How much can I make a month?"
Bella sighed. Using Charm at a time like this didn't align with her values, so she could only answer honestly. "Eight hundred dollars."
She estimated that this was basically the shop's total monthly income. For the first two months, or even half a year, it might only be enough to cover the employee's wages and utilities. However, after a while, once word of mouth started to spread, there might be some growth. By then, the profits would all belong to her.
Max felt it was far too little and politely took his leave. However, his high school education was a problem. The entire United States was affected by the economic crisis; with only a high school diploma, he couldn't do very complex work. He wanted an easy job, but also wanted to make decent money—where was he supposed to find a gig that good?
After some hesitation, he returned that afternoon and signed the employment contract with Bella.
The wages at Weyland's Item Shop were indeed low, but the work was leisurely.
"Um, you can live in the second-floor warehouse if you want; I won't charge you rent. Also, I've left a beginner's guide to the occult here. I don't require you to master it all, but when customers ask, you should at least be able to give a rough explanation. If you have any questions about it, you can ask me, and I won't charge you tuition. How about it? Although the pay isn't high, the benefits are quite good!"
"That's it. Call me if anything comes up. Bye!" Bella gave her instructions, handed the business over to the honest Max to manage, then hopped into her pickup truck, floored the gas, and left the shop.
Half an hour later, amid the flow of traffic, the black-haired vampire beauty Alice Cullen, driving a Porsche 911, arrived in San Francisco.
Her look had changed significantly. Her short black hair had turned into long auburn hair, and her style was much more mature than back at Forks High School. She looked like a career woman in her twenties.
According to her own vague precognition, she was here for a passionate, high-voltage romance.
Alice had her own vampire lover, but that lover and the lover she was looking for now were two different things. As people abandoned by God, secular rules were merely illusions to them. Her vampire lover was family, while this current lover was a sort of game—more stimulating and more passionate. At least, she thought it would be passionate...
Back at Stanford, Bella sighed. Impulse was indeed the devil! She simply didn't have a knack for business; she should just stick to studying properly in the future!
In mid-September, her roommate finally returned.
The very first moment you saw this girl, one word would come to mind. Whether in English, Spanish, French, or German, the word "stunning" would be used to describe her.
She had black hair that fell past her shoulders, fair skin, and light blue eyes that seemed to hold a captivating light. Of course, if that were all, it wouldn't be enough to make Bella lose her composure. The girl's face shape was a bit square; her jawline was far less perfect than Bella's, and the bridge of her nose wasn't as high.
However... this girl had her own advantage. She was stacked.
Bella's gaze was involuntarily drawn to it. The girl forcibly propped up her ordinary off-shoulder plaid shirt, exposing her midriff. This was different from how Bella often tied up her shirt hem to show off her abs; this girl was propping it up with sheer material substance.
Her good sister Natasha counted as well-endowed, but compared to the one before her, she was practically a child.
What on earth did this girl grow up eating? Visually, this had already exceeded the range of A, B, C, and D; it was simply unfair...
Bella was blatantly sizing up the other's figure, and the other girl was also observing her new roommate.
"Hi! Isabella Swan. You can call me Bella."
The girl revealed a somewhat shy smile. "Hi, hi, uh, I'm... I'm Heather Miller. Just call me Heather. You're really pretty!"
A sincere compliment! Bella was exceptionally happy. This well-endowed girl could definitely become her good friend.
Those who could get into Stanford weren't slackers. They briefly chatted about their respective majors and hobbies. Bella's goal was clear: she planned to follow the path of history, with a future focus on religious symbology. Heather wasn't as certain; she had chosen classical literature, yet she didn't have much passion for literature and was full of confusion about the future.
"Why not do something you're good at? Or something you like to do?" Bella tried to offer a suggestion.
Heather smiled helplessly. "I only know how to slice meat in a supermarket. I'm clumsy at everything else."
The two girls didn't have a deep conversation. Bella proposed going out to eat, but Heather volunteered, saying she could cook in the kitchen here and invited Bella to join her.
As it turned out, Heather's cooking skills were genuinely good. The exquisite and delicious crepes and soufflés had Bella singing her praises. Not only was this girl carrying "lethal weapons," but she was also a great cook! A true talent!
Bella could tell that Heather's clothes were very ordinary, and her daily spending was low. Unlike Bella, who would drop a thousand dollars on a pair of shoes or over eight hundred on a piece of clothing at the drop of a hat. Bella considered herself poor, but compared to this roommate, she was much wealthier. She guessed that the little money the other girl had was mostly spent on accommodation fees.
Heather implicitly suggested that if Bella ate at the dorm in the future, she was willing to cook an extra portion.
Understanding the implication immediately, Bella cheerfully expressed that she was willing to cover half the cost of ingredients and pay a portion for the labor.
It was hard to calculate exactly how much it would cost at the moment, so she handed Heather five hundred dollars.
As for why she would haggle endlessly about paying her employee, Mr. Max, eight hundred dollars, yet hand Miss Heather five hundred dollars so readily—well, there was no need to fuss over such minor details.
The new roommate, Heather, had a very good personality and no bad habits. The two got along very happily.
University classes officially began.
Stanford, and indeed many universities in California, operated on the quarter system. It was divided into four quarters: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. One quarter counted as one term, with each term lasting about two and a half months, totaling nine months of study time a year.
The autumn quarter started in late September and went on break in early December for Christmas; this was considered the longest break. After that came the winter quarter from early January to mid-March, the spring quarter from late March to early June, and the summer quarter from mid-June to late August.
The academic pressure was immense. To what extent? Midterms were one month after school started, and finals were just another month after that.