Chapter 101: Chapter 101: My Daughter Finally Came to Her Senses
Renee Jennings was woken up by Rhea Dempsey.
"Hurry up and get out of bed. A little bird has come looking for you several times."
Renee rubbed her eyes. "Who’s looking for me?"
Rhea replied, "A little bird!"
Renee sat up, stunned for a few seconds. Then, remembering what happened last night, she shot out of bed.
"Is something wrong?" Rhea asked, looking at her in surprise.
Renee raised an eyebrow. "Maybe some gossip you’d love to hear."
Rhea’s interest was piqued. "I’m going downstairs to buy a bag of sunflower seeds."
Renee grabbed a handful of millet to soak in water, then went to brush her teeth and wash her face.
She took a slice of bread and stood on the balcony, eating while she waited for the little sparrow.
"Renee, you’re awake!" Coco the Sparrow flew over, folding its wings and landing on the cat bed. "I came looking for you a few times, but the lady said you weren’t up yet."
"She told me." Renee stuffed the last bite of bread into her mouth, then turned to pick up the soaked millet to feed Coco the Sparrow. "Are you hungry? Have something to eat."
Coco the Sparrow fluttered its wings and flew in front of her to peck at the millet.
Renee set the millet down on the coffee table for it to eat. When it paused, she offered it some milk.
Once it had eaten and drunk its fill, Coco the Sparrow began to recount what it had seen the previous night.
"Renee, I followed that Old Hag into a room last night. There was a white-haired human inside."
"A white-haired human?" Renee asked, puzzled. "Was it male or female?"
Coco the Sparrow said, "It was a male."
Hearing this, a glint of interest flashed in Renee’s eyes. "What were they doing in the room?"
"The white-haired male hugged the Old Hag and pecked at her wrinkled face and mouth over and over." Coco the Sparrow seemed disgusted. "So perverted."
’Pecking at her face?’
Renee thought for a moment, then searched for a video of people kissing on her phone. "Were they pecking like this?"
Coco the Sparrow stared at the screen for a bit, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, yes! Just like that."
Renee raised her eyebrows, her delicate, beautiful face a mask of shock.
Rhea, who had just returned after buying sunflower seeds, saw her expression and asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
"Mom." Renee wiped the shock from her face and said with a grin, "Coco saw Old Hag Crawford kissing a white-haired man last night."
Rhea’s eyes instantly widened like saucers. "For real?"
"It’s definitely true," Renee said. "I happened to see her going out when I took out the trash last night."
Rhea clucked her tongue. "Good heavens, running off to mess around with some man in the middle of the night..."
She sat down next to Renee, tore open the bag of sunflower seeds, gave a handful to Renee, and then started cracking some for herself.
Coco the Sparrow stared at them with its tiny, black-bean eyes. "Is that called kissing?"
"Yep." Renee cracked open a sunflower seed, then added, "Besides kissing, what else did they do?"
Coco the Sparrow said, "I saw them take off their clothes and fight on the sofa, and they kept fighting all the way to the bed. Oh, and that Old Hag stuck her big, pale butt in the air and let the white-haired male hit it."
Renee: "..."
Rhea asked excitedly, "What else did Coco say?"
Renee pursed her lips, suddenly unsure how to repeat that part.
It was as awkward as watching TV with your parents when a love scene comes on.
"Why aren’t you saying anything?" Rhea urged.
Renee decided to just say it. "Coco said Old Hag Crawford and that white-haired man were doing it on the sofa, and then they moved to the bed."
Rhea’s eyes were ablaze with a passion for gossip. She clapped her hands and laughed. "Oh my god! What was she thinking? Don’t tell me the man paid her!"
Before Renee could answer, Coco the Sparrow cleverly asked, "Renee, is money red?"
Renee asked, "Coco, did you see the white-haired male give the Old Hag money?"
Then, she searched for pictures of Chinese currency on her phone and showed it to the bird. "These are all money."
Coco the Sparrow moved closer to the phone screen, its sharp beak pecking the 100-yuan bill. "It was this kind. The white-haired male gave the Old Hag two of them."
Renee: "..."
Her expression was suddenly complicated.
’So it wasn’t cheating, it was... selling herself?’
"Quick, tell me!" Rhea urged.
Renee said, "Coco says Old Hag Crawford took two hundred yuan from that man."
Rhea: "..."
’Unbelievable!’
"Has she lost her mind?"
Renee said, "She’s gone crazy for money."
Her gaze shifted as she silently began to calculate how to use this to get her revenge on Old Hag Crawford.
Probably from hearing the gossip about Old Hag Crawford, Rhea was in a great mood. She waved her hand grandly and said, "Come on, I’ll take you out for lunch."
Dalton Jenson had gone to work, and Diana Jennings was out at her part-time job, so it was just the two of them, mother and daughter, for lunch.
Rhea chose a Southeast Asian restaurant where the average cost per person was 300 yuan.
The price was a little steep, but she had just received her pension the day before yesterday, so she could afford to splurge for once.
"Can you get used to this kind of flavor?" Renee asked while rinsing the bowls with hot water.
"Let’s try it," Rhea said with a smile. "You have to try new things so you don’t get left behind by society."
"Ms. Dempsey, you’re really getting with the times," Renee said, giving her a thumbs-up.
Rhea looked proud. "Of course. I’m a modern woman."
Renee scanned the QR code on the table with her phone. "Take a look and see what you want to eat."
Rhea took the phone, and her heart ached a little when she saw the prices of the individual dishes.
But thinking that it would be filling her and her daughter’s stomachs, she felt it wasn’t a loss either way. She generously ordered four dishes and a soup, plus a main course.
Sautéed water spinach, grilled pork neck, curry crab, steamed fish with green lemon, plus tom yum goong soup and pineapple fried rice.
After the food arrived, Rhea handed her phone to Renee. "Here, take a few pictures for me first."
"Alright, Your Highness." Renee diligently took photos for her.
Rhea took the phone back, and seeing Renee pick up her chopsticks to eat right away, she asked suspiciously, "You’re not taking any pictures?"
Renee replied, "Nope."
In the past, when she was trying to snag a rich heir, she had to maintain her social media presence, periodically posting batches of glamorous photos.
Sometimes, when she couldn’t find a photo buddy, she would have Rhea help her.
Now that she had no intention of fishing for a rich heir, she couldn’t be bothered to take pictures.
Although, taking a few photos to document her life on a whim wasn’t a bad idea.
At that thought, Renee put down her chopsticks and sat down next to Rhea. "Mom, let’s take a few photos together."
Rhea was a little surprised. "You want to?"
Previously, when she had helped Renee take pictures, she had suggested they take a mother-daughter photo, but Renee had looked disgusted at the time.
She had said, "I don’t even have enough time for my own solo shots, where would I find the time to take a photo with you? Besides, you dress so frumpy, you’ll make me look cheap."
At the time, Rhea’s eyes had turned red and her heart had broken, but she had forced herself not to cry.
"Mom? What are you spacing out for?" Renee held up her phone for a selfie and saw Rhea looking dazed on the screen. She patted her thigh to get her attention. "Picture time."
"Oh, okay." Rhea suddenly felt her eyes grow hot and moist. She blinked a few times in quick succession and then smiled for the camera.
’Thank God. My daughter has finally seen the light at the age of twenty-three.’
