Spending Money Doesn't Mean Being Extravagant

Warm sunlight streamed through the library's enormous floor-to-ceiling windows and fell over Feng Nanshu, seeming to coat her smooth long hair and thick lashes in a pale gold sheen.

She sat upright, prim and proper, quiet and well-behaved.

Her slender fingers held the corner of a page as she gently turned it, purity filling her lively eyes.

After finishing the page, she picked up a shrimp chip and popped it into her mouth, crunching away before turning to the next page.

After repeating this several times, the bag of shrimp chips gradually emptied.

It was not until Feng Nanshu reached in again that she realized there was only one chip left. She raised her head and looked at Jiang Qin.

"I'm not eating anymore. You finish them."

A pleased gleam flickered in Feng Nanshu's eyes. She picked up the last chip and ate it, then turned to the next page.

Jiang Qin stared at her for quite a while and decided that Feng Nanshu really was not joking with him.

She had genuinely agreed to lend him money.

But why did it feel so absurd?

Shouldn't they at least write an IOU?

At the very least, shouldn't she ask what he needed the money for and when he planned to pay it back?

Jiang Qin had the soul of a thirty-eight-year-old man. In theory, a pure creature like a high school student should have been easy for him to see through at a glance, yet he truly could not understand Feng Nanshu's way of doing things.

Still, that was normal. Before his rebirth, he had never dealt with a wealthy woman, so it was hardly strange that he could not understand.

Maybe all wealthy women were like this.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, Feng Nanshu suddenly slipped her bookmark into the book, stood up, smoothed her skirt, and returned the book to its shelf.

She left at this exact time every day. Her curfew was clearly strict.

But this time, before leaving, Feng Nanshu deliberately paused, then turned around and waved goodbye to Jiang Qin.

So she wasn't that cold after all...

Jiang Qin watched her leave, then turned to look out through the enormous floor-to-ceiling window. Through the glass, he could clearly see the black Bentley parked downstairs.

The driver, wearing white gloves, had already opened the door and waited respectfully. The bodyguard stood beside the open door, his expression stern and alert.

Feng Nanshu quietly walked out of the library and slipped into the car without a word, disappearing down the street before dusk as the engine roared away.

"Golden House and Jade Beauty turned out to be the same person."

"..."

"I'm suddenly a little hungry. I should go home first."

Jiang Qin took The Guide to Living Off a Woman and put it back on the shelf, then rode back to Hongrong Garden on North 2nd Road and bought a steamer basket of Xiao Long Bao at the entrance to the residential complex.

It was Wednesday, a workday.

Mrs. Yuan Youqin worked at a government guesthouse, while Mr. Jiang Zhenghong worked at the Health Bureau, so there should not have been anyone home right now. He could only make do with some Xiao Long Bao.

But after eating so much takeout and instant noodles in his previous life, he was no longer picky about meat or vegetables and had no excessive standards when it came to food.

Besides, the Baozi shop's food really was delicious. Thin wrappers, generous fillings—ten years later, it had even opened branch stores.

Jiang Qin picked up a Baozi from the plastic bag and took a bite. It was hot and oily, the same recipe and the same familiar flavor.

Only, the weather was too hot now. He started sweating after just two.

Jiang Qin tied up the plastic bag, planning to finish the rest at home.

At seven in the evening, night silently rolled in.

Mr. Jiang Zhenghong returned home carrying two plastic bags. After changing his slippers, he flopped down onto the sofa.

His forehead was beaded with sweat, and he was so out of breath that he hurriedly called for Jiang Qin to pour him some water.

"Dad, where did you go? How did you get so exhausted?"

"Your mom said the vegetables at Nancun Vegetable Market were cheap, so I rode my bike for forty minutes and bought a whole pile of things. They're all your favorites."

Jiang Qin set a glass of water in front of him. "Isn't it only a few cents cheaper? Was that really worth all the effort? Is our family really that poor?"

Jiang Zhenghong picked up the glass and took a sip, letting out a satisfied sigh. "This has nothing to do with being poor. You're about to go to college, and after college, you'll have to get married. There'll be plenty of places to spend money in the future. Of course we should save where we can. We can't keep spending so extravagantly!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door hinge creaked, and the front door was pushed open once again.

Mrs. Yuan Youqin entered carrying a department store shopping bag, looking overjoyed as she hummed a tune.

At the sight of this, father and son could not help exchanging a glance.

"What did you buy?"

"Sister Xu from my workplace said the department store was having a half-price sale on wool coats. I got a real bargain!"

Jiang Zhenghong's eyes widened. "A wool coat? How much did you spend?"

Mrs. Yuan Youqin looked smug. "The original price was 888. Now it was only 488."

"Dad, is this what you meant by not spending extravagantly?" Jiang Qin was stunned.

"You spendthrift woman! It's the hottest part of summer. Why are you buying a wool coat?"

"What do you know? If it weren't the hottest part of summer, it wouldn't be discounted!"

Jiang Zhenghong put on the authority of the head of the household. "Jiang Qin has finished the National College Entrance Examination. Once his results come out, we'll have to host a banquet and pay his tuition. There are so many places we need to spend money."

Yuan Youqin changed her shoes and walked into the living room. "Wasn't that exactly what I said? And did you go to Nancun Vegetable Market like I told you?"

"Of course I did. I did the math. The vegetables at Nancun Vegetable Market are quite a bit cheaper than the salt shop downstairs. This trip alone saved us more than twenty."

"Then didn't we save four hundred and twenty today?"

Jiang Zhenghong's mind took a long time to catch up. "Where did the four hundred come from?"

Mrs. Yuan Youqin lifted the shopping bag in her hand. "I bought an 888-yuan coat for 488 yuan. Didn't that save us another four hundred?"

"Youqin, I really have to say something about this. Your view of spending is clearly wrong."

"Jiang Zhenghong, after being married to you for all these years, I've barely bought any clothes. And you're criticizing me over one wool coat?"

Jiang Qin watched cheerfully from the side, feeling that this long-missed family squabble was warm and comforting.

His father was still in his prime, strong and healthy. His hair had not turned white at fifty-three, and he had not secretly driven for Didi to earn Jiang Qin's down payment, only to pass out in the car.

His mother was still young and loved looking pretty. With a little extra money in hand, she would go browse the department store instead of being so frugal that she did not even dare buy meat.

This was undoubtedly what made him happiest after being reborn.

But the way he watched the show while grinning was simply too annoying. Before long, he drew the trouble onto himself and received matching glares from the couple.

"Jiang Qin, what are you laughing at? Do you also think I shouldn't have bought this wool coat?"

Jiang Qin wiped the smile from his face. "Mom, I'll make a lot of money in the future. I won't ever make you buy outdated discounted clothes again, and I won't make Dad go all the way to such a distant vegetable market either."

Yuan Youqin froze slightly, and her gaze instantly softened. "Now that's my good son. Don't turn out like your dad, pinching pennies all day long."

"How am I pinching pennies..."

Jiang Zhenghong's voice weakened, clearly lacking confidence. But when he turned around, he discovered that his wife had opened the shopping bag, and it was actually filled with rolls and rolls of toilet paper.

"What's this?"

"Surplus stock from the guesthouse. The leaders said it all had to be replaced, so I brought it home. Did you think you were the only one who knew how to be thrifty?"

Yuan Youqin snapped at him before turning and heading into the kitchen.

Jiang Zhenghong was dumbfounded, thinking, You set me up!