Apartment 4F

9: How to win money for household expenses

For the first time ever, their school was organising a Halloween party and giving out a cash prize to the best-dressed group, which would be determined by judges as well as voting. Yue had shrewdly decided to leverage her roommates' good looks to win the prize money for their household expenses. After all, it was only fitting recompense for the unwanted attention and general inconvenience she had to endure as a result of their popularity.

She stood in the living room, waiting to vet their costume ideas ahead of the event, when she noticed that Dylan was still wearing his basketball jersey.

"Aren't you going to change into your outfit?"

"This is my outfit," Dylan replied, casually spinning his basketball, "I'm going as a basketballer. A university basketball star."

...

"So. Basically. You're going as... yourself??"

Dylan smirked. "Exactly," he said, winking at her.

She couldn't even muster the requisite energy to roll her eyes at him, so she moved on to her next target. Dressed from head to toe in black and white, Caesar was moonwalking all over the place, randomly saying "Ow!" as though someone invisible was hurting him.

"... Michael Jackson?" She asked.

Caesar lowered his black fedora over his face; with his other hand, he snapped his fingers and pointed at her in affirmation. Yue then turned to Connor, who was struggling with a huge cardboard cutout of a tree that was even taller than him.

She sighed.

"Please don't tell me you're going as a tree..."

"Even better," Connor promised, propping the gigantic tree against the wall and resting against it. "I'm going as a man leaning thoughtfully against a tree."

???

"That's deep, man," Caesar said. "That's real deep." Dylan also came forward to give Connor a fist bump to show his appreciation.

By the time she reached Darren, her patience was already wearing thin. Hence, when she saw he was only wearing a singlet and shorts, and holding a bowl of noodles, she snapped.

"What are you supposed to be - a NOODLE SELLER!?"

Darren looked taken aback by her unwarranted outburst. "No..." He put his food down and pulled out a rabbit onesie that he had ordered from Taobao. Stepping into it, he zipped himself up snugly.

"I'm a bunny."

The other three stopped whatever they were in the midst of doing - moonwalking, dribbling their basketball, leaning against their tree - and gravitated towards him.

"... So cute..."

"He's so cute..."

"... his fur is so soft..."

"GUYS!" Yue exclaimed. They stopped patting Darren and turned their attention back to her. "Let me get this straight - the four of you are going as... yourself, Michael Jackson, a tree- "

"No," Connor corrected her. "A man leaning against a- "

"WHATEVER. And a rabbit," she concluded.

"Actually, I'm a bunny."

Yue shot Darren (and the rest) a look that made them cower.

"There. Is. No. Difference," she said through gritted teeth.

"Guys, you're not going to win like this - you need a collective effort! Not just pick any random bordering on absurd idea you can think of."

"She's right," Dylan grudgingly admitted. "... I have a plan."