An argument

After finishing his call, Shi Yuan ran over to find You Gui. They strolled along, taking in the scenery, and by the time they left Koi Park, it was noon. They found a nearby restaurant for lunch, spent the afternoon wandering around, then bought some snacks at the food street after six to take into the venue.

At seven twenty, ticket checks began at the Stadium entrance. Shi Yuan and You Gui lined up with the tickets the staff had given them.

"Huh? My ticket should be for C Section. Why has it changed?" You Gui said in surprise, holding up her ticket. Where the section and seat number should have been, there was now a row of asterisks.

"Mine too." Shi Yuan held his ticket beside hers.

What was going on?

Everyone around them was finding a seat, leaving just the two of them standing there in confusion.

They were about to find a staff member to ask when a young man sauntered over. "Are you two having some trouble?"

Shi Yuan first checked that the staff badge around his neck matched those of the other workers, then handed him the tickets. "Our tickets don't have seat numbers. Could you help us check?"

Kuang Yuebin took the tickets and feigned surprise. "Oh? These are VIP tickets for A Section. Let me take you there."

A Section and B Section were both upstairs. A Section had a view from directly in the center, with twenty-odd individual sofas, each with a round coffee table in front. B Section consisted of long benches arranged around A Section.

Kuang Yuebin led them toward the middle. Shi Yuan hadn't expected Wei Zelin to give him such conspicuous seats. After a moment's hesitation, he called out to Kuang Yuebin, who was still walking ahead. "Excuse me, do we have to sit in the middle?"

Kuang Yuebin paused, then smiled. "Of course not. You and your friend can choose any seats in A Section."

"Great." Relieved, Shi Yuan pulled You Gui back the way they had come and sat at the very edge, right beside B Section.

"We'll just sit here."

You Gui agreed. She knew she was benefiting from the tickets Wei Zelin had given Shi Yuan, but she didn't like drawing attention to herself either.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. We'll bring everyone some drinks shortly."

Come to think of it, Shi Yuan really had forgotten to buy drinks. He nodded his thanks.

Turning away, Kuang Yuebin silently marveled. So this was young Shi, who had won over the boss-the handsome campus heartthrob? He certainly was young. So this was the boss's type.

The Stadium was noisy, though it was a little quieter upstairs. Shi Yuan felt his phone vibrate and opened it to find a message from Xiao Ying.

"It's Xiao Ying. She's asking where we are. She bought a few little figures at the Comic Convention and wants to give us one each."

Shi Yuan was quite interested in those finely crafted little things. "They're downstairs. Let's go hang out with them for a bit."

Quite a few people were already seated below, but B Section upstairs was still sparsely occupied, and they were the only two in A Section. It was rather boring.

You Gui didn't mind either way. She left the arrangements to Shi Yuan.

To their surprise, the atmosphere downstairs wasn't as relaxed as they had imagined.

Following the signs, they found C Section. Even from a distance, they could see a crowd gathered at the boundary between C Section and D Section. People nearby were also glancing over, looking eager to watch the drama.

Meng Zhenzhen's voice rang out. "Zhao Xiao Wen, just sell your ticket to Lu Hao. Hardly anyone watches your streams anyway. Isn't going to B Section a waste?" His expression was utterly sincere, but his words were little knives.

It turned out Xiao Wen was also a streamer signed with Magic Cube. However, she streamed in the relatively niche crafts category and wasn't much of a talker during her streams, so her popularity was mediocre. She had come purely for fun and had no hopes of competing in the rankings.

She still received the perks offered to Magic Sound streamers, though. That meant Xiao Ying was seated in the friends-and-family area in C Section, while her own seat was in B Section.

And just now, the deep-pocketed Lu Hao had set his sights on it.

"I'm not selling." Xiao Wen pressed her lips together, her expression stubborn.

"Fifty thousand." Lu Hao looked impatient.

Before Xiao Wen could speak, he continued, "A hundred thousand... two hundred thousand, all right? Don't push your luck. Once you're out in the real world, you'll understand what two hundred thousand means." His expression was contemptuous, his manner condescending.

"Two hundred thousand?" A flicker of uncertainty appeared on Xiao Wen's humiliated face. She wasn't like Xiao Ying, whose family was well-off. Xiao Ying's parents had been transferred to Capital City for work, then naturally bought a home, had a child, and become locals. Xiao Wen came from another province, and her family was of modest means. Her parents had worked their whole lives in a small county town, their greatest achievement being putting their daughter through university in the Imperial Capital. That two hundred thousand could spare them years of hard work.

"So you think having money gives you the right to look down on people? What can you do if we won't sell?"

Called out by Xiao Ying in front of so many people, Lu Hao felt he had lost face. His expression turned livid.

Seeing this, Meng Zhenzhen drawled with a half-smile, "Zhang Xiuying, Xiao Wen hasn't even said anything yet. Isn't it a little inappropriate for you to decide for her?"

Xiao Ying couldn't stand his obnoxious manner. "You..."

Before she could finish, Xiao Wen tugged at her clothes and said, looking mortified, "Xiao Ying, maybe I should just sell it to them."

Furious, Xiao Ying was about to say more when she saw Shi Yuan squeezing through the crowd and signaling to her with his eyes.

She instantly calmed down. Yes, she and Xiao Wen were good friends, but two hundred thousand was no small sum. She shouldn't have made the decision for her. Regret flashed across Xiao Ying's face.

Having regained the upper hand, Lu Hao transferred the money to Xiao Wen, took the ticket, and gave a mocking laugh.

That laugh stung Xiao Wen until her cheeks flushed crimson and her eyes gradually filled with tears. Feeling that she had let Xiao Ying down, she lowered her head and mumbled, "Xiao Ying, I'm not staying for the concert. I'll head back to the hotel."

Xiao Ying's anger lasted only a moment. Hearing this, she watched Xiao Wen leave with a worried look.

"Let her calm down on her own for a bit." Surprisingly, it was You Gui who spoke. The sympathy in her eyes was for her own past self.

Seeing everyone's low spirits, Shi Yuan hurriedly changed the subject. "Why aren't you with Lin Yu and the others?" If there had been more of them, Lu Hao might not have dared humiliate someone like that, no matter how arrogant he was.

"They all wanted to watch the evening show at the Comic Convention, but I wanted to hear *** sing live, so Xiao Wen came with me. If I'd known we'd run into Meng Zhenzhen and his crowd, I would've stayed at the Comic Convention."

Mentioning Meng Zhenzhen reignited Xiao Ying's anger. "They were right behind us in line when Xiao Wen and I exchanged our tickets at the entrance. After we found our seats, I'd only just finished messaging you on WeChat when they came over and insisted on swapping tickets with Xiao Wen."

Shi Yuan was puzzled. "It's just a concert. Why does it matter where they sit? Why insist on swapping tickets?" And then spend so much money buying one?

Broke as he was, Shi Yuan couldn't understand.

"You don't know? Meng Zhenzhen's a streamer too. He wants to bring his rich boyfriend upstairs to show him off. People that vain love watching men spend money on them." Xiao Ying looked over at them with disdain.

As it happened, Meng Zhenzhen was looking their way too, and their gazes collided with a shower of sparks.

Having gotten what he wanted, Meng Zhenzhen was acting coy with his darling Lu Hao. Huang Zhenru, who had come with them, clearly disliked him too. She hid off to one side, secretly rolling her eyes. Her boyfriend kept tugging at her, afraid Lu Hao would notice, but the more he tugged, the harder she rolled her eyes.

Seeing You Gui and Shi Yuan beside Xiao Ying, Meng Zhenzhen grew wary. He rose onto his tiptoes to block Lu Hao's view. "Lu Hao, let's go upstairs. They're not on the same level as us, after all. Let's not waste too much time."

He pointedly gestured at Shi Yuan's clothes, which looked terribly shabby to him.

"I'm even worried the ** clothes you just bought me will get dirty if someone brushes against me here~"

Xiao Ying silently rolled up her sleeves.

Shi Yuan pulled them back down for her. It was true that he dressed modestly, but he wouldn't call his clothes shabby. They were simply ordinary off-brand items.

Xiao Ying's family was well-off, and she wore familiar mainstream brands. You Gui had worked for years and had no particularly expensive hobbies. She liked comfortable clothes and was willing to spend several thousand on them. Standing beside them, Shi Yuan's plain clothing looked even more obvious.

Never mind someone as vain as Meng Zhenzhen, whose clothes and accessories never cost less than five figures.

Other people had mouths of their own. He couldn't stop them from talking.

You Gui frowned. "We won't run into them again when we go upstairs, will we?"

Xiao Ying clapped gleefully. "So you're in B Section too! Great! I hope you do run into them. Won't that drive them mad?" She had assumed they were also in the streamers' section.

Shi Yuan wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the concert and had only come to join the fun, so he didn't care where he watched it. Seeing You Gui's aversion to Meng Zhenzhen and his crowd, he found a staff member and asked whether they could switch to C Section tickets.

The staff member said they would have to check with a superior. Three to five minutes later, they returned and changed Shi Yuan and You Gui's seats.

They even brought them a heap of fruit drinks and snacks.

"Wow, you two are getting such special treatment! I don't think anyone else got any."

Xiao Ying looked thoughtful. "Is this what you get in B Section? Doesn't that mean Meng Zhenzhen will be even more smug?"

Shi Yuan gathered a bag of food and drinks and stuffed it into Xiao Ying's arms. Looking around, he saw everyone eagerly waiting for the concert to begin. Only the three of them seemed to be on an autumn picnic.

The concert started on time. Some of the singing really was lovely, while some of the howling wasn't even as good as Xiao Ying beside him.

Shi Yuan was full of enthusiasm at first, but after two hours of hollering, he couldn't keep going. Seeing that You Gui also looked ready to leave, he said goodbye to Xiao Ying and headed for the exit.

They were lucky. Several electric carts were parked just outside the Stadium, and Shi Yuan climbed into an open-top one.

The night sky over S City wasn't much different from Capital City's. Shi Yuan searched for ages without finding more than a few stars.

He took out the figure Xiao Ying had given him. About half the size of his palm, it was a chibi-style character in historical dress, with blue robes and long black hair, exquisitely detailed and adorable.

"I'm going to get a phone case tomorrow so I can hang this on my phone."

You Gui chuckled. "You like it that much? Why don't I give you mine too?"

"No, no. It's just the novelty. Let's buy phone cases together tomorrow and attach them together. How does that sound?"

You Gui agreed, then remembered something and asked, "I'll spend tomorrow hanging out with you. Is Wei Zelin coming to the business gala tomorrow night on behalf of the Wei Corporation? That works out perfectly. I have to start work the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, got it."

After filling up on snacks all evening, neither of them was hungry. Once they left the venue gates, they agreed on a time to meet the next day, then each took a taxi back.

It had been a full day. After Shi Yuan returned to the hotel and washed up, Wei Zelin's video call arrived right on cue. They chatted affectionately for a while, and Shi Yuan fell into a deep sleep to the sound of Wei Zelin's voice.