Swipe your card, I don't have that much cash

An Yang's endurance far exceeded that of ordinary people, but An You and Xiao Xueer were just delicate young girls who had grown tired from walking so long, so they suggested finding a cold drink shop to sit down and have some water.

An Yang ordered a glass of ice water, An You ordered an iced lemon juice, and Xiao Xueer ordered a watermelon juice. The three of them sat drinking in silence, and even the usually chatty An You and Xiao Xueer kept quiet simply because they were sitting with An Yang.

An You suddenly lifted her head, calmly fixing her gaze on An Yang, and said, "You lost your job, didn't you?"

An Yang was startled, raising his head to ask, "How do you know? Did Ji Weiwei tell you?"

An You lowered her head to take a sip of water, then stirred the lemon slices inside with her straw without looking up, saying, "I guessed."

An Yang gave a bitter laugh, watching the straw tip she had chewed out of shape, and said, "When did you start caring about me this much? That's really something."

An You looked up at him with a hint of disdain in her eyes. "I'm not stupid. If you hadn't lost your job, how could you have the time to shamelessly come out shopping with us."

"...Shamelessly!!!"

An Yang was speechless and simply stopped talking.

Xiao Xueer, meanwhile, hadn't said a word the entire time.

After finishing her drink, Xiao Xueer set down her cup and finally spoke, saying to An You, "It's so hot shopping outside. Xiao You, weren't you going to buy clothes? Why don't we go check out Aier Mall? They have central air conditioning in there."

An You glanced awkwardly at An Yang, a look of embarrassment on her face, and said quietly, "The clothes in Aier Mall are so expensive. Let's just shop outside."

Girls this age mostly don't know how to hide their thoughts, they love to show off and compete, and aren't very good at considering others' feelings. Xiao Xueer had some understanding of An You's family situation and naturally felt a bit superior in this regard.

"It's fine, we're just looking around. Since you weren't buying anything outside anyway, we might as well go somewhere with air conditioning."

An You hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Walking through Aier Mall, most of the clothing stores Xiao Xueer lingered in were international brands, and the places she took An You were all in the international brand exclusive zone. This made An Yang raise his estimation of her family's wealth another notch.

At this moment, the three of them were in Chanel's flagship store, with An Yang still trailing behind An You and Xiao Xueer.

International brands had their reasons for being what they were. High prices that still guaranteed sales were a testament to quality in themselves, coupled with the meticulous designs of famous designers, materials and tailoring far surpassing ordinary clothing—it was enough to make every woman unable to look away.

An You had never been to such an expensive store before, but she naturally loved the clothes here. Many of them even amazed her, but the prices, starting at several thousand or even ten thousand, made her hesitate.

An Yang stood to the side, watching as An You caressed a white dress. When she flipped open the price tag, her face turned pale, clearly shocked, while Xiao Xueer casually took a dress into the fitting room.

Xiao Xueer came out wearing a black dress. It was very short, perfectly accentuating her youthful, fiery figure, revealing a pair of fair, slender legs that made her even more eye-catching.

Xiao Xueer spun around a few times in front of the mirror, clearly satisfied with her own condition, and said to An You in a showy tone, "Xiao You, do you think this looks good on me?"

An You remained expressionless and nodded, saying, "It looks good."

Xiao Xueer then turned her head to look at An Yang, as if she wanted to ask his opinion too, but after a moment's hesitation, she turned back, gazing at herself in the mirror, looking quite pleased.

Back at school, everyone wore uniforms and ate at the cafeteria. Her figure and family background couldn't stand out, and since her grades weren't as good as An You's, she was always overshadowed by her. Now that they had graduated, she could finally hold her head high.

Of course, this was just a young girl's rivalry, nothing to do with character, and it wouldn't affect her friendship with An You.

Before long, Xiao Xueer walked over and looked at An You with concern, saying, "An You, why are you just looking? Go in and try something on."

An You shook her head, glanced at Xiao Xueer, and said, "No need. There's nothing here I like."

Hearing this, a nearby young woman smiled knowingly and shook her head without saying anything. Generally speaking, people with better living conditions tended to have higher class, and those who would openly mock someone like in novels were rare.

Xiao Xueer glared at the young woman, then lowered her head and said, "How could that be? This is Chanel's flagship store. Hey, I think that one in your hand looks pretty good."

An You's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She quickly hung the dress she was holding back on the rack and said, "It's not that great. I don't really like the style."

Seeing Xiao Xueer like this, it was clear she wasn't just browsing—she didn't care about the prices at all. An You had always known Xiao Xueer's family was wealthy, but she hadn't realized they were this rich.

The cheapest piece of clothing here was worth half a year or even a full year of her high school living expenses, more than the combined monthly salary of Dad An and An's mother. She felt her pride evaporate in this place.

An Yang walked over, calmly looking at her, and said, "If you like it, just try it on. You don't have to buy it. You won't know if it's pretty until you wear it."

An You bit her lip and glared at him, then turned and walked away. She knew her own personality—if she tried it on, she'd want it even more.

An Yang curled his lip behind her and said flatly, "Still the same as when you were little, too scared to even try on clothes."

Xiao Xueer covered her mouth with a light laugh, caught up, and grabbed An You's arm, saying, "Oh, come on, your brother's right. It's just trying it on, you don't have to buy it. I'm only trying it on too."

After a long pause, An You finally mustered her courage, picked up the dress worth over ten thousand, and walked into the fitting room.

An Yang stood outside and smiled knowingly.

When An You came out, she was wearing that white dress. The length and fit were perfect, as if it had been tailor-made for her. She was already very fair, and wearing this dress made her look like a porcelain doll, making people want to pinch her delicate face. Even the Chanel salesgirl couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

An You spun around in front of the mirror. Her skin, set off by the dress, looked even whiter, dazzling to the eye. As expected, she was even more reluctant to take it off.

"Miss, to be honest, this dress perfectly matches your temperament. It gives you a real princess vibe. If you feel the size isn't quite right anywhere, we can alter it for you."

An You shook her head, feeling a timidity she had never known before, and said quietly, "There's nothing wrong with the fit."

She really did feel that this dress was made for her. The salesgirl's words struck a chord deep in her heart. But so what? She wasn't a rich second-generation kid. How could she afford such an expensive dress?

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she had made a mistake.

Sure enough—

"Alright then, since it fits..."

An You's face grew even more awkward. She could almost predict what the salesgirl would say next and felt a sudden urge to bolt out the door.

Just as she expected, the salesgirl turned to An Yang and asked softly, "Sir, will that be cash or card?"

This salesgirl had good instincts and knew how to make a sale. She didn't even bother asking An You if she was satisfied; she went straight to asking about payment.

A fine sheen of sweat broke out on An You's face. She could guess exactly what was about to happen, and she'd already braced herself—this was probably going to be the most embarrassing moment of her life.

Damn it. She'd seen the price tag, so why did she still try on this dress? She knew it was this expensive, so why did she agree to come to Aier Mall? She knew she wouldn't buy anything, so why did she even walk in here?

Thinking this over, she simply lowered her head and trudged into the fitting room.

An Yang watched An You's back disappear, pulled a card from his pocket, and said calmly, "Swipe the card. I didn't bring that much cash."

Xiao Xueer froze, staring at An Yang in disbelief.

"Her... her family is a teacher's family, isn't it? Didn't she say she doesn't get along with her brother? Didn't she say her brother isn't rich? Didn't she say her brother is low-class? How could..."

When An You came out again, she folded the dress neatly, handed it to the sales clerk, and walked out without a word, her face red all the way to her neck.

After a few steps, she noticed Xiao Xueer and An Yang hadn't followed. Turning her head, she saw the clerk already wrapping up the dress, the receipt printer whirring as it printed.

An You suddenly didn't know what to do with herself. The composure she usually showed around An Yang had vanished without a trace.

"Um... Miss, you might have misunderstood. We didn't say we wanted to buy it..."

The sales clerk finished everything swiftly, handed the wrapped dress to her, and pointed at An Yang. "Hello, this is your dress. That gentleman has already paid."

An You froze, took the bag numbly, and looked at An Yang in disbelief, only to see a face she found utterly insufferable.

"Was the price on the tag fake..."

She followed Xiao Xueer dazedly into the women's section of the Versace flagship store, tried on a blouse and a pair of jeans in a daze, and came out to find they'd inexplicably been paid for.

Xiao Xueer patiently explained the origins of Chanel and why it was so expensive, going on about how great Chanel's clothes were, but An You didn't take any of it in. She felt like she'd been in a fog all afternoon.

By the time she snapped out of it, she had no idea how to face An Yang.

Today, she'd only bought one dress, one blouse, and one pair of jeans, but it came to nearly twenty thousand. She certainly didn't think her parents had transferred her twenty thousand for clothes.

Normally, she looked down on An Yang—that was thanks to the impression he'd left on her before college. Not only was he unmotivated, but he also used to hide all sorts of nasty stuff under his bed, which was just disgusting.