Love Catcher

Jenny sent a text to Andrew before leaving work: "Can we have dinner tonight?"

After a while, Andrew finally replied: "Not tonight! We just had an argument, and I'm not in the mood."

"Why did you argue?" Jenny asked.

Andrew immediately replied, "It's about that new shoes I want to buy. She kept nagging about how expensive they are ."

He sent a picture of a pair of sneakers and continued, "We're not even married yet, but she's always trying to control my life. If it weren't for our parents, I would have thought about breaking up."

Jenny didn’t know much about men's sneakers, but she could certainly understand the price which shows on the picture.

She replied "Okay, maybe next time" and then leave the company.

That evening, Jenny opened a dating app called "Good Match" on her phone. She discovered a message from a man named Ken:

"In 'The Little Prince,' the little prince watched the sunset many times alone, but I hope to have someone to watch it with me."

His profile picture showed a handsome man with an innocent little girl, both smiling brightly.

Jenny checked Ken's profile and found out that he had just registered on the app that day. He was a 33-year-old marketing manager with an annual salary of $200,000. His hobbies matched Jenny's, such as traveling and watching movies. He also expressed his desire to find a simple and kind-hearted girl on the platform.

Jenny downloaded Ken's profile picture and did a reverse image search but found no similar results. She stared at Ken's picture for a while and then sent him a "Hi" .

Ken replied with an excited emoticon in less than a minute.

They started chatting. Jenny told Ken that she liked his profile picture. Ken said it was taken when he was traveling and met a girl from an minority ethnicity. She is very cute and lively, and they took the picture together with big smiles after he got permission from her parents.

"Do you also enjoy traveling?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah," Ken said as he sent her a few landscape pictures. "When I see breathtaking landscapes, I forget all my worries. Although traveling alone can be a bit lonely at times."

Jenny downloaded the landscape pictures and did another reverse image search. When the results appeared, she curved her lips and swallowed her saliva.

Jenny also shared some pictures she took during her travels a few years ago and talked about some stories from her journeys. Ken listened with great interest.

After a while, he asked Jenny, "I read your profile. Are you a senior editor?"

Jenny confirmed and said, "I mainly work on children's books, both domestic and international."

"That's great," Ken exclaimed. "I hope I can read books to my future kids too." Then he asked, "You must have been working for many years, right?"

"Yeah," Jenny replied. "I've been doing this job for a long time, and I really enjoy it."

"I admire people like you who can persist in doing something they love. Many people don't even know what they want to do," Ken said. "Have you always been with the same company?"

"Yes."

"Then your company must be pretty good, right? Ken asked.

"Yeah. Last year, a book I was in charge of had good sales, so I received a considerable year-end bonus."

"Really?" Ken said. "That's great! My company is also pretty good. Although I sometimes find business trips tiring, seeing the income makes me feel like I can hang on!"

"Yeah, see business trips as a form of travel and change your mindset," Jenny said.

"Makes sense!" Ken nodded.

Later, they started talking about their favorite songs and movies. Jenny mentioned a singer she liked, and Ken mentioned attending that singer's concert three years ago. Jenny talked about a movie she enjoyed, and Ken said he had watched it too and even cried while watching it.

They continued chatting into the early hours of the morning until Jenny said she needed to rest. Ken reluctantly said, "Have a good dream. Talking to you today makes me feel like we should have met earlier!"

"Same here," Jenny replied.

She told herself that she would surely have a good dream today.

The next evening, Ken messaged Jenny, asking if she had dinner and what she had eaten. Jenny replied briefly and then asked Andrew if he had dinner and what he had eaten.

Before Andrew replied, Jenny shared pictures of the dishes she had cooked. Ken praised, "Fantastic! Your future husband will be very lucky."

When was the last time someone praised her? While she was thinking, Andrew finally replied with a simple "I just ate." Oh, it was probably the day Andrew received the birthday gift she had sent him, and he praised her thoughtfulness.

On the third day, Jenny saw an adorable Corgi on her way to have lunch, so she took a picture and sent it to Andrew. After thinking for a moment, she also sent it to Ken.

"Such cuteness!" Ken exclaimed. "I used to adopt one, but unfortunately, I lost her later."

"You adopted dogs before?" Jenny asked tentatively.

"Yes! Many people abandon their pets nowadays, and I think adoption is more meaningful."

Jenny listened, furrowing her brows, lost in thought for a while.

Andrew didn't reply until the evening, so Jenny took the initiative to message Ken, "Why do you want to use dating app? I'm sure many girls would like to be with you in real life."

"But what I want is a marriage partner," Ken said. "People on dating apps usually show what they are seeking for in their profiles,so it’s more convenient for me to select the right one ."

Jenny's question seemed to make him more sentimental, and he continued with a long message:

"Jenny, although we've only known each other for three days, I feel we've known each other for three years. We're around the same age, have similar interests, and we both work hard. I know you're serious about relationships, just like me. It might be a bit sudden... but I really feel like I quite like you. What do you think?"

Jenny took a deep breath and looked at her chat history with Andrew. The picture she sent at noon still sat alone in the conversation box.

After careful consideration, she replied, "Being liked by someone always brings joy. Actually, I have similar thoughts as well..."

Ken excitedly said, "That's great! To be honest, I thought you might think I'm crazy!" He sent her a heart emoji. "I may travel to your city soon, so let's meet up then!"

She hesitated for a moment but eventually replied with the same small heart emoji.

On the fourth day at noon, Ken messaged again, expressing his excitement, and Jenny reciprocated her anticipation of their meeting. In the evening, she asked Ken what he was doing and waited for a while before receiving a reply.

"Sorry, I was just checking my earnings." Ken said.

"What earnings?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, well, I invested in a financial product that yields 15% profit every day. It's like making some extra pocket money!" Ken explained.

Jenny's breathing became rapid. "15% is quite high! What kind of financial product is it?"

Ken became interested and started introducing the financial product. Seeing Jenny's slightly puzzled expression, he even sent a voice message, providing a detailed explanation.

"At the beginning, you don't need to invest much, just start with 20 bucks, and then gradually invest more."

"Is it reliable?" Jenny asked.

"Don't you trust me? I've been investing in it for years. It's simple, and you're smart, so I'm sure you'll catch on quickly." Ken reassured her.

"Really?"

"Of course! When you start earning more, don't forget to do some charity work with me!" Ken said.

Jenny smiled. Her lips stiffly stretched, forgetting to close for a while.

First, Jenny forwarded her chat history with Ken to the dating platform and successfully reported him. As a result, her level on the app increased again, meaning she had the opportunity to access more male resources for free.

Next, she documented the complete story of her and Ken's past few days and sent it, along with the chat records, to a long-term collaborator editor. Three days later, the manuscript passed the review, and one week later, the article was published on a platform focused on "non-fiction stories."

The readership was quite good, and after seven more days, Jenny received her payment, totaling 280 dollars.

Jenny checked the deposit information on her phone and then opened the picture of the sneakers Andrew sent. The price was 249 dollars.

She messaged Andrew, "I bought the shoes for you."

Andrew immediately replied, "Really?! Wow, thank you so much. We must have dinner tonight!"

He sent her a small heart emoji, exactly the same as the one Jenny and Ken had sent to each other before.