As December approached, the weather in New York grew colder, hinting at snow.
More than half a month had passed since the King Dance Troupe was formed.
This once-buzzing hundred-member female group had members whose looks and figures perfectly matched Mike's aesthetic.
The only pity was that not many of them had excellent dance or instrumental skills; Mike would likely have to wait until next year to enjoy a complete hundred-person song and dance performance.
Currently, most of these girls were gathered in the practice rooms of the annex building, learning dance and instruments from professional teachers arranged by Jessie.
As for Jessie, she had initially planned to personally take charge of the King Dance Troupe: on one hand, it was relevant to her business, and on the other, she wanted to keep an eye on Mike to prevent him from acting recklessly.
However, with the continuous popularity of The Plastics and MJ's new album, Jessie now had to start planning the second round of promotions for both new albums.
This second promotion would also include the online market.
Under these circumstances, Jessie alone couldn't handle everything, so she had no choice but to send her assistant, Lena, back to Mike to keep an eye on him.
...
At this moment, on the top floor of the King's Building, Mike was leisurely reclining in a lounge chair, enjoying a thoughtful massage from his "little maid" Lena, while watching the girls' unpolished song and dance performance below.
Picking the best from the bunch, the nine girls before him were currently the most skilled among the hundred-member dance troupe.
However, perhaps because of the small number and lack of atmosphere, these girls now completely lacked the enthusiasm they had when they first came to the building.
Their dancing was stiff and their expressions rigid.
The tension was palpable, as if they feared that Mike, their young boss, would be displeased with them.
But the more they acted this way, the less interesting Mike found it.
After one song, the nine girls, who were still in their adjustment period, stood obediently in a line, awaiting their boss's comments.
"The dancing is good, and there's still a lot of room for improvement. Keep up the hard work!" Mike smiled as he gave his feedback, then gestured for the girls to leave.
It proved that being beautiful indeed had certain advantages.
If the nine girls in front of him weren't pretty, how could Mike have such a high degree of tolerance?
Of course, this might also be related to Mike's original intention for forming the dance troupe—it was just a temporary whim for fun, so there was no need to be too serious about it.
On the other side, the nine girls, having received their boss's "praise," visibly relaxed.
After bidding farewell to Mike, they walked down from the top floor together.
"Christmas is coming soon. How about we go out and buy some gifts, and also visit Caroline's coffee shop on the way?" Mike stood up, walked to the glass window on the top floor, gazed at the distant scenery for a while, and then suggested.
Christmas was just over a week away, and it was time to prepare Christmas gifts.
Connie, Dr. Sturgis, the Cooper family, the Shauns...
Even Mia and Paige, who were far away in Genovia, needed gifts.
"Are we going shopping? I have no objections!" Lena happily raised both hands in agreement.
She had been quite busy following Jessie this year, and now that she finally had free time to accompany Mike, the girl was naturally very happy.
"Then, let's go!" Mike held Lena's small hand and called Needy.
The three drove towards Fifth Avenue.
It was evident that the overall economic downturn this year had affected the upcoming Christmas.
In previous years, at this time, the streets would be filled with Santa Clauses, Christmas trees, ribbons, holiday ornaments, and other festive decorations, creating a strong holiday atmosphere.
But this year, the items used to create a festive atmosphere on the streets had significantly decreased.
Even commercial areas like Fifth Avenue seemed a bit "desolate" now; the shoppers all looked preoccupied, lacking the laughter and joy of previous years.
This situation left Mike, who had finally managed to go shopping, somewhat disappointed.
But thankfully, Lena was with him.
The girl seemed to have a natural enthusiasm for shopping, especially when shopping with someone she liked.
Lena, whose spirits remained high throughout, chatted excitedly and pulled Mike along, visiting almost all the gift shops on Fifth Avenue.
Woolen gloves... socks... scarves...
Crystal crafts... Santa Claus figurines...
These items all became the girl's targets.
After a round of shopping, the car's trunk was almost filled with gift boxes.
"It's snowing... it's snowing..."
When Mike and the two women emerged from a gift shop again, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
Children's cheers echoed from the street.
These carefree sounds of laughter added a touch of vitality to the upcoming Christmas.
"Mike, look, it's snowing!"
Lena caught a large, intact snowflake and, as if presenting a treasure, held it in both hands before Mike.
However, the snowflake melted under the girl's body temperature before Mike could even see it.
"Oh, no, where did it go? I'll go find another big one..." Undeterred, Lena stubbornly wanted to prove herself.
As the snow fell heavier, Lena, chasing snowflakes, soon became completely engrossed in play.
A series of joyful laughs from the girl then rang out in the snowy ground...
"Alright, don't freeze yourself," Mike called out to Lena, whose face was already flushed from the cold, and said, "Now we can go sit for a while at Caroline's little shop. I heard she recently hired a good pastry chef."
Caroline's coffee shop was at the end of the Fifth Avenue alley, not far, and a good place to rest their feet.
Lena: "I want to eat cream cake..."
What girl wouldn't like sweets?
Reminded by Mike, Lena also felt the cold, and as she sat in the car, her mind was already on desserts.
...
On the other side, a middle-aged man, dressed in thin clothing, carrying medical equipment in one hand and holding a small boy's hand in the other, happened to be passing by the end of the Fifth Avenue alley.
Looking at the increasingly heavy snowflakes in the sky, Chris Gardner, who had taken off his coat and draped it over his young son, felt that today was truly terrible.
This middle-aged man, who once had a happy family, had invested all his savings in purchasing medical equipment six months ago.
Under normal circumstances, the medical industry could indeed make money.
Unfortunately, Chris, who had hoped to make a quick buck, encountered a great economic depression.
Due to uncontrollable factors, he lost everything, then his wife left, his house was gone, and he was left with only a large batch of useless medical equipment and a young son to care for.
Even so, Chris did not lose heart.
Over the past six months, using his past sales experience, he sold the medical equipment he had at extremely low prices, barely managing to sustain himself and his child.
However, as the weather turned colder and his medical equipment was about to run out, he had more things to consider.
Today, he had originally planned to sell his last piece of medical equipment to buy warm clothes for himself and his child for the winter.
However, just as the deal was about to be finalized, the hospital informed him that this last medical machine he had was broken.
No money if the machine couldn't be sold, and no warm clothes without money.
Under these circumstances, the current snow was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Gardner father and son.
At this moment, Chris just wanted to quickly find a shelter to repair this last piece of medical equipment and then sell it for money.
"Chris, what's wrong?" Chris, who was anxiously looking for a relief station, suddenly felt his son stop.
He turned around and saw that his young son was standing in front of a coffee shop's glass display window, where a row of exquisite small cakes was displayed.
One could almost smell the sweet scent of cream even from outside.
"Let's go, Chris. At the relief station, we can not only eat bread but also rest in a warm room," he persuaded with some guilt.
However, his usually obedient and sensible son kept staring at the small cakes in the display window today, as if enchanted.
"Chris, we don't have money for sweets now." Chris, who tried to pull his young son several times but failed, gradually became annoyed.
"Dad, today is my fifth birthday..." Chris Jr. suddenly spoke: "I don't want cake, can I just look a little longer?"
An adult's breakdown often happens in an instant.
Chris, who had been holding a string in his heart, suddenly felt a pang in his nose as he listened to his young son's sensible and well-behaved words.
"I'm sorry... Chris... It's Dad's fault for being incapable... for not taking good care of you..."
Chris, holding his young son, could no longer hold back his tears.