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Seeing Zhou Jinchuan’s agreement, Su Yi quickly stopped him, saying, “Wait, how much is this?”
The saleslady, while retrieving a pale yellow item, calmly stated the price, “Twenty-five each.”
Su Yi gasped and asked again, “How much?”
“Twenty-five!”
Wow, that’s more than a month’s salary for her.
Su Yi hurriedly began to take off the clothes, apologizing, “Sorry, it’s too expensive.”
The saleslady wasn’t offended; she just smiled and advised, “As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.”
“This cashmere used to be impossible to buy a few years ago; it was all reserved for export. This year, we finally have some available for sale.”
“And the pink one is the last piece. If you don’t buy it now, it will be gone. You should discuss it with your companion!”
Su Yi noticed how the saleslady kept referring to Zhou Jinchuan as “your companion” and felt like she wanted to find a hole to hide in.
Su Yi quickly turned to take off the clothes.
As she turned, she suddenly spotted two familiar figures not far away.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was Bai Ruolin and Qin Yunfeng!
Bai Ruolin had come to the department store specifically for the cashmere sweater, hoping Qin Yunfeng would buy her one.
Unexpectedly, she ran into Su Yi here.
And to make matters worse, the sweater Bai Ruolin wanted was now being worn by Su Yi.
And it looked so good on her!
Bai Ruolin glanced at Qin Yunfeng, who was also clearly impressed.
Annoyed, Bai Ruolin pinched him, bringing himself back to her senses.
Su Yi gave them a quick glance and then went into the fitting room to change out of the sweater.
When she came out, Zhou Jinchuan was already gone.
Only the two children were left waiting for her.
Bai Ruolin pulled Qin Yunfeng over to Su Yi and said, “Comrade, do you want this sweater? If you don’t, we’ll take it.”
Bai Ruolin thought Su Yi wouldn’t be able to afford such an expensive item.
Moreover, Zhou Jinchuan had left immediately upon seeing them, so it seemed he had no intention of buying it for her.
This was a perfect opportunity to put her in her place!
Su Yi, however, didn’t think much of it.
Whoever bought such an expensive sweater was the real fool.
She considered that since they had finally reconciled, she didn’t want to cause any more arguments today.
So, she simply handed the sweater to Bai Ruolin and said, “I don’t want it. You can have it.”
Bai Ruolin was taken aback for a moment. Why had this woman suddenly changed her attitude today?
Bai Ruolin wondered if Su Yi was up to something.
But once the sweater was in her hands, she was thrilled. She felt the fabric but barely had a chance to examine it before the saleslady took it away.
“Sorry, this sweater has already been paid for!”
She then smiled at Su Yi, saying, “I’ll wrap it up for you now.”
Su Yi was stunned. When did she pay for it?
Could it be that Zhou Jinchuan left to pay for it?
Before she could process this, Bai Ruolin angrily questioned, “Su Yi, what’s the meaning of this? Are you deliberately messing with me? You say you don’t want it after it’s already been paid for?”
Su Yi felt guilty and silently pointed to the pale yellow sweater nearby.
“How about this color? Do you like it?”
Before Bai Ruolin could respond, the saleslady swiftly grabbed the pale yellow sweater and wrapped it up as well, saying, “This one is also yours! It’s already been paid for.”
Su Yi: …
The saleslady handed the wrapped sweaters to Su Yi and then turned her attention to Bai Ruolin.
“Comrade, as you can see, the sweater this comrade was wearing looked very nice. Would you like to buy one? We still have the pale yellow in stock.”
Bai Ruolin was fuming, her eyes almost blazing with anger. “Big Brother Qin, look, they’re ganging up on me!”
“I don’t want to wear the same style and color as her!”
Seeing her furious reaction, Su Yi quickly grabbed the two children and made her exit.
Sure enough, Su Yi saw Zhou Jinchuan waiting for them at the stairway.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Su Yi hurriedly said, “We’ve finished shopping. Let’s head out.”
Once they were outside the department store, Su Yi took out fifty yuan with a pained expression and handed it to Zhou Jinchuan, saying, “Here’s the money you spent.”
Zhou Jinchuan, noticing her distress, gently smiled and said, “It’s not necessary. Consider it a token of appreciation for how well you’ve taken care of the children.”
“No, no, it’s a matter of principle,” Su Yi insisted.
“Let’s eat first. We’ll need to line up if we wait too long.”
With that, Zhou Jinchuan led the two children ahead.
Su Yi had no choice but to quickly follow.
By the time they arrived at the state-run restaurant, there was already a line forming at the window.
Zhou Jinchuan glanced at the empty seats by the window and said, “You take Nuannuan to sit down first. Xiaowu and I will handle the line. What would you like to eat?”
Su Yi, being new to the state-run restaurant, wasn’t familiar with the menu. Nuannuan was equally clueless.
“Just get what you think is good,” Su Yi replied.
“Got it.”
As Su Yi and Nuannuan settled into their seats, Nuannuan kept glancing toward Zhou Jinchuan and Ye Xiaowu.
Because of the earlier awkwardness, Su Yi felt uncomfortable and avoided looking around, focusing instead on the view outside the window.
Then, she saw Qin Yunfeng and Bai Ruolin again.
The two were walking in with visible frustration, clearly having not managed to buy anything.
She thought, could they be coming here to eat?
Just as she was wondering, she saw the two of them entering the restaurant through the door.
Qin Yunfeng stood at the back of the line, ready to queue.
Bai Ruolin scanned the restaurant for a place to sit and then spotted Su Yi.
Without hesitation, she walked straight over and said, “Su Yi, were you doing that on purpose just now?”
Su Yi blinked and replied, “Would you believe me if I said no?”
Bai Ruolin snorted, “If you weren’t feeling guilty, why did you run away? Don’t think that just because you’re close to Commander Zhou, you can do whatever you want in the compound!”
“Do you think Commander Zhou genuinely likes you? He’s just feeling sorry for you! Someone like you, who has neither family background nor money, and only has good looks, won’t be able to enjoy this for long!”
Su Yi thought, thanks for the compliment on my looks!
Bai Ruolin, seeing Su Yi’s calm demeanor, raised her voice even more, “Your ambitions are high, but your life is fragile! If you don’t believe me, just wait and see how long he’ll tolerate you!”
“Bai Ruolin!”
Bai Ruolin was caught off guard by Qin Yunfeng’s angry shout.
Turning around, she saw him approaching.
“Aren’t you supposed to be—”
Before she could finish her sentence, she noticed Zhou Jinchuan standing beside Qin Yunfeng.
“Excuse me, please move aside!”
Zhou Jinchuan bypassed the two of them and placed the food directly in front of Su Yi. He looked somewhat displeased and said, “Why didn’t you speak up when others were bullying you?”
Su Yi: …
[Hungry, too tired to argue.]
[She wants to perform for others, but I’m not interested in being her sidekick!]
Zhou Jinchuan’s lips curved into a smile as he placed the food neatly and called for Ye Xiaowu to sit down.
“You must be starving after shopping all morning. Hurry up and eat! Afterward, I’ll take you to explore some other places.”
Facing Zhou Jinchuan’s disregard, Bai Ruolin felt even more embarrassed and humiliated.
Moreover, no one had countered the harsh words she had spoken earlier!
Seeing everyone whispering and pointing at her, Qin Yunfeng also felt embarrassed and quickly pulled Bai Ruolin away.
Lolllll