After the divorce, I started to transfer

After ordering their meals at the restaurant, the three of them chatted happily together.

Rebecca talked about her childhood in her hometown of Anaheim. Her father was a white man of mixed race, and her mother was Mexican. She was actually a native Californian, since Anaheim is part of California.

That place is more than 60 kilometers away from Los Angeles.

There were four people in her family, including her younger brother. Unfortunately, her parents divorced when she was eight years old. She lived with her father, while her brother lived with their mother.

Her parents' divorce undoubtedly caused her significant psychological distress, making her somewhat withdrawn at school during her childhood. This eventually led to her being bullied at school.

Most children who experience such misfortune become depressed, then refuse to go to school, or give up on themselves. But Rebecca didn't. She rallied and poured most of her energy into learning music, using it to heal her heart and fight against the external harm.

She didn't continue her studies after graduating high school at 18. One reason was financial constraints. As is well known, university tuition in Mexico is extremely high. Even though her parents were considered middle class, paying for her university tuition would still put a significant financial strain on them. Secondly, she felt she wasn't very interested in university and wanted to pursue her musical dreams as soon as possible.

So, at 18, she came to the big city of Los Angeles alone. She worked part-time while creating songs, performing, and looking for opportunities to pursue her musical dreams.

Now, she's 22 years old. She still hasn't found a good path, and her musical dreams seem to have little hope.

During those four years, she certainly encountered some so-called mentors. Unfortunately, these mentors all wanted to control her completely. Contracts were at least seven years long, some even ten or fifteen. The penalties for breach of contract were, of course, extremely high. There were also other contractual traps.

In short, signing such a contract was tantamount to signing a contract of servitude. She wasn't stupid; in fact, she dreamed of becoming famous and a singer. But she definitely wouldn't accept that kind of contract or that kind of mentor.

In addition, she has certainly encountered many scammers over the years. Some tried to swindle her out of money, some tried to take advantage of her sexually, and some tried to do both. Fortunately, she didn't fall for any of them. Having suffered bullying since childhood, she has a deep understanding of human nature, and it's impossible for an ordinary person to successfully deceive her.

Despite this, her musical dream remains unfulfilled.

After listening to her explanation, Chen Feng felt somewhat moved, while Luna became much more emotional, her eyes welling up with tears. She said to Chen Feng with great sympathy, "Rebecca has really had a tough few years. She's much stronger than me. I don't have her perseverance and courage."

Rebecca reached out and hugged Luna, saying with a smile, "Baby, don't do that."

Luna hugged her and said, "We both came to Los Angeles alone to make our way in the world, but I'm much luckier than you. I met you first, and you helped me a lot. The first thing you did was solve my accommodation problem. Otherwise, it would be too difficult to find a good and cheap place to live in Los Angeles. You helped me settle down here. You've always taken care of me, and I'm very grateful to you."

Rebecca's eyes welled up with tears as she listened to Luna's emotional words.

This scene of sisterly affection left Chen Feng speechless. To call them sentimental wouldn't be quite right; their actions truly revealed their genuine feelings.

Fortunately, the two quickly composed themselves. Luna wiped her eyes with a tissue and smiled at Chen Feng, saying, "Sorry, I was just thinking about my old life. Compared to Rebecca, I've been much luckier since coming to Los Angeles. I met Rebecca right away, and with her help, I was able to settle down in Los Angeles. Then my agent, Simon, took a liking to me, and he was very good to me, directly helping me sign with my current company. That's how I became a model so smoothly. Now I've met you, and you've also been a great help to me."

Hearing Luna's words, Rebecca's situation had indeed been rather unfortunate. But now, she had met Chen Feng, which could be considered a stroke of luck. Even for Luna's sake, Chen Feng couldn't simply ignore Rebecca.

Chen Feng thought for a moment and then asked Rebecca, "You've been working hard here for over four years, you should have some fame by now, right? After all, you're so beautiful, and you can even write your own songs. You should also be able to sing and play instruments. With a beauty like you, I believe many people must like you. Also, why don't you try something online, like on YouTube? Post some of your singing and playing videos or performance videos."

Rebecca and Luna exchanged a glance and burst into laughter. Rebecca said with a smile, "I started uploading my videos online three years ago. Luna has helped me a lot. She occasionally appears in my videos, which has helped me attract a lot of attention. Now my account has about 11 followers. It brings me an income of two to three thousand dollars a month."

Luna added, "She doesn't want to sell products, doesn't offer memberships, and rarely does live streams; otherwise, her income would be much higher. She also has over 5 followers on Instagram."

Chen Feng nodded and looked at Rebecca, saying, "That's not bad either. Have you considered releasing a single first? There's no need to release an album right away."

Rebecca's expression immediately became a little awkward.

Luna explained from the side, "She has actually released singles, all of which she funded herself. She also filmed music videos, and has released a total of three singles. But because she didn't have the funds to promote them, the response wasn't very big. But the quality of these three singles is very good."

"Oh?" Chen Feng immediately became interested. "It should be available online, right? Send me her YouTube account; I need to follow her and listen to her music. Rebecca, you shouldn't object, right?"

Rebecca smiled again and nodded quickly, "Of course, I'm happier to have another fan like you. Thank you for your attention."

Seeing that Rebecca had already said so, Luna no longer hesitated, took out her phone and sent Chen Feng Rebecca's YouTube account.

Chen Feng did some work and clicked into Rebecca's YouTube channel. She had over 11 subscribers, her most viewed video had over 100 million views, and she had 3 videos in total. That's a decent number of videos over three years, averaging ninety per year. It's not a lot, but it's not a small number either.

The most viewed song was a music video, over four minutes long. Chen Feng clicked to play it, and the music started playing on his phone. About halfway through the song, a waiter arrived with a food cart, just in time to serve the dishes. By the time the food was served, the music video, which had nearly 1.2 million views, had ended.

"How about it? Pretty good, right? If she had had the funds to promote this single back then, it would definitely have topped the charts."

Luna acted like a die-hard fan, which left Chen Feng speechless.

To be honest, after listening to Rebecca's song, I'd only say it's average. It's certainly not amazing. It's not bad, but it's not particularly good either. Simply put, it lacks that catchy quality that makes you instantly like it.

But Chen Feng couldn't say the truth in front of her. He also had to consider Luna's feelings, so he nodded and said somewhat reluctantly, "It's not bad, very pleasant to listen to."

Chen Feng's comment brought smiles to Luna and Rebecca's faces. Afraid they would continue to ask for their opinions on the song, Chen Feng immediately urged them to start eating.

……

Washington.

Master Hospital was very close to Lawrence's workplace. It was only five kilometers away, and he drove there quickly.

He rushed to the emergency room and saw his eldest son, Job, sitting on a chair by the door, his eyes red and his face full of anxiety.

"What exactly happened?" Lawrence's face was grim, and his hands were trembling slightly.

He has two sons. His elder son, Job, has been very sensible and hardworking since childhood, and is now quite successful in his career. His younger son, Byron, has also been intelligent and well-behaved since childhood, especially excelling academically, and has always been his pride. Deep down, he loves his younger son more. Especially a couple of years ago, his younger son suffered from depression due to relationship problems and attempted suicide several times, which caused him immense heartache.

Finally, a few months ago, thanks to Chen Feng's blood transfusion treatment, his youngest son was freed from the torment of depression, regained his vitality, and became cheerful again. He also began to be passionate about public welfare and charity, helping those in need. Byron even specifically mentioned to him that he wanted to work at Chen Feng's charitable foundation to help children with autism and depression.

Lawrence, of course, had no reason to object; on the contrary, he strongly agreed and offered encouragement and support.

Without a doubt, his youngest son, Byron, is a very kind person. Lawrence is also very proud of him. It was for this reason that he made special arrangements to expedite the approval process for Chen Feng's charitable foundation.

Just when his youngest son's life was getting back on track and everything was going well, this happened suddenly.

“It’s all my fault,” Job said with a look of self-reproach. “I happened to be free today, so I invited Byron out for lunch. After all, I hadn’t seen him for five or six days. But when we got out of the car and were walking to the restaurant, just a hundred meters away, as we passed a convenience store, a bullet suddenly came out and hit Byron right in the abdomen. It was a robber who fired the gun. He was probably originally aiming at the convenience store owner, but the owner reacted quickly, grabbed the man’s arm, and the bullet went out and hit poor Byron… It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have invited him out for lunch today.”

Looking at his eldest son, whose face was filled with self-reproach, guilt, and pain, Lawrence was at a loss for words. In truth, he did feel some resentment towards his eldest son.

His youngest son, Byron, has been spending his days either at home or doing charity work. Life is going well.

His eldest son wants to see his younger son, but there's no need to insist that the younger son come out for a meal. He could easily visit him at his younger son's apartment, or both sons could come to his parents' home for a casual meal, a family gathering. Is it really necessary to eat out?

But seeing his eldest son like this now, it's obviously not appropriate to say those complaints anymore.

Lawrence suppressed the urge to lash out at his eldest son, his face grim, and asked instead, "Have those two damned bastards been caught?"

Job nodded slightly and said, "I was with Ibrahimovic at the time. After the first shot, he rushed over and subdued that damn black man. Later, the ambulance and the police arrived. I didn't care anymore and followed the ambulance with Byron to get here for emergency treatment."

Ibrahimovic was Job's bodyguard. After hearing this, Lawrence said somewhat angrily, "What kind of work is Ibrahimovic doing? He only realized what was happening after someone had been shot."

Job quickly defended Ibu, saying, "It's not Ibu's fault. The three of us were walking together when we happened to pass by that convenience store, and then a bullet was fired from inside without any warning. Nobody could have predicted that."

Job's words made it clear that Ibrahimovic's bodyguard hadn't failed in his duties, but he still bore some responsibility.

Lawrence could only suppress his anger for the time being and asked instead, "What about the convenience store owner? Wasn't he arrested? If he hadn't pulled the robber away, the bullet wouldn't have hit Byron."

This sounds reasonable, but upon closer inspection, something doesn't quite add up. According to Lawrence's logic, the shop owner should have just stood there and let the black robber shoot him dead.

However, at this point, Job couldn't very well say that his father's logic was wrong, so he could only shake his head and say, "I don't know. He shouldn't have been arrested, right? He's a victim too."

Lawrence said indignantly, "What kind of victim is he? If he hadn't pulled the robber's arm, that shot wouldn't have hit Byron. He at least bears some responsibility. Besides, what kind of coincidence is that? You two brothers just happened to be passing by that convenience store, and that convenience store just happened to be robbed. The robber just happened to be arguing with the store owner, and then the gun went off accidentally, hitting your brother. I will have this matter thoroughly investigated. If it was intentional, none of them will get away with it."

Jobs initially didn't consider the possibility that this was man-made. He always thought it was just an unfortunate coincidence.

Hearing his father's words, he suddenly became suspicious as well. He clenched his fists and said with a face full of resentment, "Daddy, you're right. This is too much of a coincidence. We must investigate this thoroughly."

Lawrence nodded and said nothing more.

He walked to a corner with a somewhat gloomy expression, took out his phone, and made a call. A few minutes later, he received a message and opened it. After a while, he walked back with a gloomy expression and sat down next to his eldest son.

"That damn black robber was a drug addict. He must have been having withdrawal symptoms when he robbed the convenience store. And that damn convenience store owner is a Chinese man. He smuggled himself into the United States over a decade ago and took advantage of our then-relaxed immigration policies to get a green card and open this damn convenience store. They better pray my son is okay, or they'll both be in big trouble."

Lawrence's face was grim; anyone would be in his shoes after such a tragedy. As a father, he had every reason to resent the robber and the convenience store owner.

Job asked, "So, all of this was an accident?"

Lawrence replied coldly, "This is only the result of a preliminary investigation. The current results show that everything was indeed an accident, but this is not the final conclusion. I have already sent others to conduct a detailed investigation, especially the convenience store owner. He is from China, and I must make sure that he is 100% innocent. Otherwise, if there is even the slightest possibility, this could very well have been deliberate."

Job asked with some doubt, "Why? There shouldn't be anyone deliberately seeking revenge or targeting Byron. He's been so kind and well-liked since he was a child. He's never made enemies with anyone. Even the man who stole his girlfriend back then, he didn't hold a grudge against him, let alone retaliate. Unless someone wants to take revenge on you or me, Father."

After a moment of silence, Lawrence said, "I'm worried that someone is targeting me. I've offended a lot of people in this position, including many wealthy, powerful, and influential foreigners."

Job frowned and asked, "Have you offended any Chinese people?"

Lawrence remained silent, which was tantamount to acquiescence. Seeing his father's reaction, Job didn't ask any more questions, and the two sat silently on the bench, staring at the emergency room door.

……

Chen Feng and the two women spent about an hour eating. The final bill, including the tip, came to over $1200. This was indeed quite expensive, even by local standards. After all, it was just a meal, and there weren't many dishes. Chen Feng felt he was only about five-tenths full, and the taste wasn't particularly surprising.

However, the two women were clearly very satisfied with the meal, with smiles on their faces from time to time, and they were obviously in a very good mood.

After the three of them left the restaurant, Rebecca said to Chen Feng, "Thank you for your hospitality today. I'll treat you next time. But I can't afford such a fancy restaurant. I can only invite you to my home for a simple meal, and I'll cook for you myself."

Luna chimed in, "Rebecca's cooking is excellent. Her Mexican food is superb; I never get tired of it. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

Chen Feng readily nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try your cooking next time I have the chance."

Rebecca said happily, "Then it's settled. You and Luna can decide the specific time; I shouldn't have any problems."

The three chatted idly by the roadside for a while before parting ways. (End of Chapter)