Luxury means different things to different people.
For Jia’s mother, luxury was easy to define. It involved using lots of money to experience things that would otherwise be impossible, such as Erik’s beloved real crab meat puffs.
Jia’s education, life experiences, childhood lessons, and countless other advantages were all the products of money. Her mother cared for her, but she’d shown that love with cash, and the same attitude continued as an adult.
For other people, luxury is less about money and more about experiences that only the allegedly sophisticated would appreciate. That alleged sophistication was supposed to be born of education and an open mind, but the line could be rather thin between self-earned ability and purchased sophistication.
An education birthed by access to mone
