Chapter 178: Showing Off

Words : 1779 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Showing OffSarah Utah didn’t seem to notice Lisa Smith’s condescending attitude. When it was mentioned that James Brown was her boyfriend, her face turned red, and she didn’t know how to respond. She glanced at James Brown and, seeing that he didn’t object, she blushed and nodded gently. James Brown didn’t object, not because he agreed but because he felt that Lisa Smith, although a classmate of Sarah’s, didn’t seem to have a good relationship with her. This woman was likely to take any opportunity to belittle Sarah. If he were in any other role, it wouldn’t be convenient for him to stand up for Sarah, but as Sarah’s boyfriend, he could absolutely do so. Seeing Sarah’s embarrassment, Lisa Smith thought Sarah was too shy to talk about James’s job. She smirked with satisfaction and said, "Sarah, just where does your boyfriend work? We’re old classmates; there’s no need to be shy about it." Only then did Sarah respond, "He’s a manager in the HR department at J Corporation." John Adams had been watching Sarah intently. He had been quite satisfied with his fiancée, Lisa Smith, but compared to Sarah, she fell short, especially given Sarah’s delicate and unworldly charm, which was quite appealing to men. Even though Sarah had a boyfriend, at that moment, he wanted to overshadow James Brown to show his own worth. Not that he had any schemes regarding Sarah, but this was a typical mindset for men. "J Corporation? I haven’t heard of any major company by that name in YODC City. It must be a small company," John Adams said with a faint smile, doing his best to appear gentle and refined. James Brown also smiled and said, "It’s a recently established company. It’s normal for Mr. Black not to have heard of it." John Adams laughed, "Oh, I see. No wonder. But it’s interesting that such a small company would have an HR department." Generally, companies with fewer than fifty employees wouldn’t have an HR department unless they were large companies with many staff and a high turnover, necessitating HR for day-to-day management and staffing replenishment. Lisa Smith quickly followed with, "So, your company is just messing around, adding an HR department to a small company. Isn’t that just an idle position?" If Lisa Smith had criticized her, Sarah wouldn’t have minded, but the fact that Lisa Smith and John Adams were criticizing James was upsetting to her. She wasn’t the type to argue when upset, but now her face flushed with anger, and she said with urgency, "Our company has just been established, but it will soon become one of the top companies in YODC City." John Adams burst into laughter and looked at James with disdain, "Really? One of the top companies in YODC City? That’s quite ambitious. But do you even know how much assets the top companies here have?" Lisa Smith patted Sarah’s shoulder with a gleeful expression, saying, "Oh, Sarah, when did you start liking to brag so much? The top five companies? That would be like T Corporation. That J...what was it? Oh right, J Corporation, I’ve never even heard of it. And you’re talking about being top five in YODC City? That’s just a huge pie in the sky your boss has drawn for you. I think it’s better if your boyfriend finds another job. Right, Jason Woods, isn’t your department hiring now? Why not get Sarah’s boyfriend a job there too? After all, six hundred dollars a month isn’t a problem, right?" John Adams felt he was definitely much better than James, but his girlfriend wasn’t as capable as James, which gave him a mixed feeling. On hearing Lisa Smith’s suggestion, he pretended to ponder and even showed a slightly troubled expression, "My department does need people, but... I’m not sure if he’s suitable, you know." Lisa Smith was visibly excited about John Adams’s response, saying, "That’s also true. Being an HR manager at a small company is an idle position, and I really don’t know if Sarah’s boyfriend is a good fit. But it’s all up to you, isn’t it? Just do it for an old classmate, help him out." "Fine! For the sake of you and Sarah being old classmates, no matter how difficult it may be, I’ll help. How about this, come to T Corporation’s Mingcheng subsidiary’s logistics department tomorrow morning." So, this guy turned out to be just a minor department manager at a T Corporation subsidiary. The audacity he had to boast was quite something. And all this time, these two had been acting on their own, without ever asking if James Brown agreed to any of it. Sarah was initially quite angry, but seeing the two of them acting like jesters, her anger dissipated. She looked at James Brown, and they both smiled knowingly. Sarah then said boldly, "That’s very kind of you, old classmate, but James likes his current job and isn’t looking to change." Lisa Smith had expected Sarah to be grateful, which would have made her even more conceited. The friction between her and Sarah stemmed from Sarah being the center of attention among the male students at school, while she, though also considering herself pretty, found herself outshone by Sarah, which left her feeling unbalanced and resentful towards Sarah. The senselessness of women’s jealousy sometimes worked that way. Now with the chance to outdo Sarah, she certainly wasn’t going to pass it up. Seeing that Sarah wasn’t appreciative, Lisa Smith hurriedly said, "No, no, people should aspire to better themselves. I’m trying to help you here; don’t be ungrateful. With Jason Woods looking out for him, your boyfriend might even become a deputy manager or something in a few years." Sarah simply smiled and said, "I’m afraid we’ll have to disappoint the kind intentions of an old classmate, it’s getting late, and James and I must be going. You carry on." She also felt there wasn’t much to talk about with Lisa Smith; if a relationship with an old classmate wasn’t good, then there really was no need to keep in touch. Lisa Smith, seeing that Sarah was actually about to leave, felt her wish to trample Sarah underfoot slipping away. Her tone turned somewhat unpleasant as she said, "Hey, Sarah, that’s really ungrateful of you. I’m trying to help you out of kindness, and you still don’t play along. Don’t you want to have a house to live in, a car to drive?" Sarah glanced at James Brown, then naturally linked her arm with his and said, "Of course I want that, but what I wish for more is to work hard together with Big Brother Brown, to create our home with our own hands. If everything is ready-made, what’s the point of life?" James Brown greatly admired Sarah for saying this. Sarah was indeed a fine girl; any man who married her would undoubtedly be happy for a lifetime. He squeezed Sarah’s hand, giving her an encouraging look. Searᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sarah felt sweeter than honey inside her heart, holding onto James Brown’s hand, she said to Lisa Smith, "Lisa Smith, I’m really sorry, it’s getting late, we have to go." Lisa Smith’s face turned ugly, but seeing the rain still falling outside, though it had lessened a bit, the fine drizzle was very dense. She quickly stepped forward and said, "If that’s the case, then I won’t mention it anymore. It’s late, and it’s raining, not easy to hail a cab, why don’t we give you a lift? We have a car." Sarah smiled faintly and said, "We have a car too." Lisa Smith was immediately surprised, and she looked toward the few cars parked at the cinema entrance, there was a red Porsche, a Camry belonging to John Adams, and a domestic little QQ. She immediately assumed that the QQ was Sarah and James Brown’s car. Pulling John Adams, Lisa Smith chased after Sarah, who had already reached the entrance, and said, "How could you buy such a car?" Sarah hadn’t realized that Lisa Smith was referring to the QQ. James Brown, however, with a keen eye, immediately understood the meaning behind Lisa Smith’s words and promptly replied, "Yes, we don’t have much money, so we could only buy such a car." Sarah knew that the car driven by James was from the company, and though she wasn’t quite clear why James drove a car even better than Mr. Lopez’s, she hadn’t had time to ask these days. However, she was puzzled by James’s sudden comment, but since he had already said it, she didn’t say anything more. Lisa Smith immediately became gleeful and said, "Look at you, how can you drive such a car? Driving that out is so embarrassing." Sarah was taken aback, her mouth agape. A Porsche 991 was worth millions; driving that was embarrassing, then what kind of car should one drive? James Brown shrugged and said, "Isn’t a car just a means of transportation? As long as it runs when you give it gas, isn’t that good enough?" John Adams immediately said with pride, "That’s not right. As a man, life’s greatest hobbies, a car can definitely be ranked in the top two, it’s a sign of a person’s achievements and status. If you’re not capable, you’d better not buy a car at all than buy such a junk car; it’s utterly shameful." Sarah just felt like pulling her hair out; the words of John Adams were outrageous; could it be that John Adams was so rich that even a car worth millions didn’t impress him? But it was too much to call it shameful. At that moment, the rain stopped. John Adams and Lisa Smith headed towards their car, and as they walked, Lisa Smith said, "Sarah, look at my husband’s car, the Toyota Camry, and it’s the 2.4 advanced configuration, more than two hundred thousand. Driving this car is really comfortable, haha, compared to people like you driving a QQ, you wouldn’t understand." Owning a car like that had always been John Adams’s pride. He then held his head high and said, "Don’t say that, a car, it’s just a means of transportation, as long as it’s somewhat convenient, then that’s enough. Whether you drive a good car or a bad car, it’s all the same." Though he seemed humble in his words, his face was full of smugness, and anyone could tell. He and Lisa Smith were both showing off, only he wasn’t as sharp-tongued as Lisa Smith.

Chapter 178: Showing Off

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