Almost instinctively, Su Ying pulled out her mobile phone, intending to scroll through some short videos to relax. The phone in her hand was a Huawei Honor she’d bought for just over a thousand yuan when she first started working; she’d once been utterly smitten with it. Now, however, with its limited storage and poor camera quality, it was only really good for scrolling through TikTok and Little Red Book.
Time for an upgrade! Right now!
Su Ying immediately opened the official Apple flagship store on Taobao, setting her sights straight on the latest Apple model. The standard version was no longer good enough for her, so she ruled that out straight away. As for the Pro Max version… well, there was no need to go overboard, so she’d go for the Pro version instead.
Su Ying’s current phone has 64GB of storage, which is just enough if she’s careful. In other words, 128GB should be plenty, but considering she’ll likely be taking lots of photos and videos once she switches to an iPhone, 256GB would be better.
However, Su Ying hesitated slightly at the price of 8,999 yuan—nearly ten thousand.
She was well aware of all the advantages of an iPhone, but she also felt that her current Android phone—which wasn’t even a flagship model—wasn’t all that bad. The Huawei Honor she’d bought in her first year of university for just over a thousand yuan had lasted her more than three years; she’d only replaced it with her current model because the storage was insufficient, and she’d now been using this one for over two years.
Su Ying began to wonder: wouldn’t it be better to buy an Android phone for around 4,000?
But! Since she could afford something even better, why not go for it?
She’d just won five million; what was wrong with treating herself a little?
Su Ying had managed to cheer herself up.
If she placed the order now, she could receive it as early as tomorrow.
But then, Su Ying suddenly changed her mind; she wanted to start using it immediately, right this very moment!
Su Ying checked the time; it wasn’t late yet. She headed straight out, hailed a taxi, and drove straight to the nearest Apple Store.
“Wow—” As soon as she stepped out of the taxi, Su Ying gasped in awe at the sight of the store.
The Apple Store was in a league of its own compared to those tiny mobile shops in Chun City. The interior was as bright and spacious as an art gallery, with plenty of impressive-looking people moving about.
Classy!
Just what you’d expect from a big city!
Su Ying cleared her throat discreetly, straightened her posture, and walked straight up to a sales assistant.
“Hello, I’d like to have a look at the phones.”
Su Ying had already researched the models online beforehand and headed straight for the one she wanted.
Su Ying paid without hesitation, and the sales assistant was gentle and considerate, quickly sorting out all the necessary formalities for her.
It wasn’t until she actually held the phone in her hands that she could feel its weight. Just this little thing cost 8,999 yuan.
To be fair, it was indeed much heavier than her previous phone, and it felt particularly comfortable in her hand.
Su Ying couldn’t put the phone down; she almost immediately began swapping the SIM card, setting up Face ID for her Apple ID, and downloading her usual apps.
“Hello, would you like me to help transfer your data?” the sales assistant asked gently.
“Eh?” Su Ying was taken aback. “But my old phone wasn’t an Apple…”
“That’s fine.”
How professional!
Su Ying stood by watching the sales assistant work, and by the time she took the phone back, all the data from her old phone had been transferred over.
That’s brilliant!
From now on, she was an iPhone owner too.
The only regret was that she’d forgotten to buy a screen protector and a phone case, so for now she’d have to use it bare. Should she go straight out to buy a screen protector and a phone case, or… Su Ying eventually turned her attention to Taobao, where she bought two tempered glass screen protectors for 10 yuan and a phone case for 6.80 yuan with free delivery.
Her motto: save where you can, spend where you must.
After a lovely hot bath, she slipped into bed, imagining she’d drift off to sleep with a smile on her lips—
But things didn’t go as planned. Su Ying had been tossing and turning in bed for ages; she’d even counted a thousand dumplings, yet her eyes were still wide open.
She picked up her phone, which was charging on the bedside table, and saw that it was already 2 a.m. How come she couldn’t sleep at all!
She hadn’t slept well last night, so she should be exhausted tonight.
Could it be that she’d eaten too much and was suffering from indigestion? Or was she just not used to the bed? Su Ying began to ponder.
Since she couldn’t sleep, she might as well not bother.
Su Ying sat up decisively, propping a pillow behind her back. To be fair, this hotel might lack other amenities, but it certainly had plenty of pillows—no fewer than four.
She opened a social media app on her phone, and as if the platform had a mind of its own, the homepage instantly scrolled to a post:”Sisters, what should I do? I can’t sleep after drinking Heytea!”
Good grief, so the culprit was Heytea.
Su Ying silently berated herself for being a pig that couldn’t handle fine chaff. Normally, a lemonade costing just over two quid would see her off to sleep like a log, but she’d had to show off by buying Heytea. Well, now she was stuck, unable to sleep.
Su Ying scrolled aimlessly through her phone. She didn’t really feel there was anything particularly interesting to look at, but she just couldn’t stop her hand from scrolling.
Su Ying closed that app and, as she opened the next one, it instantly redirected her to Taobao—faster than if she’d opened it directly.
Now that Taobao was open, it wouldn’t make sense not to buy something, would it? And since she was suddenly so flush with cash, it wouldn’t make sense not to clear out her wishlist, would it?
Su Ying had saved loads of items across various shopping platforms—things she wanted but couldn’t afford, or things she could take or leave. In the past, she’d only open them when she couldn’t bear to face work, picking out something she genuinely liked and was relatively cheap to treat herself as a reward.
Now, though… she was buying absolutely everything that caught her eye! Her goal was to clear her wishlists!
All those little snacks she’d been eyeing up everywhere? Bought!
Fancy little bits of jewellery? Bought!
Pretty little dresses that weren’t practical and she probably wouldn’t wear out? Bought!
She even bought a whole lot of random bits and bobs—useful or not—that were basically just ‘rubbish’.
After clearing the favourites from her very last shopping app, Su Ying finally put her phone down and fell into a deep sleep.
Su Ying slept soundly.
When she woke up, she stroked her new phone, unable to put it down.
Now that she had her iPhone and her wishlist was empty, what should she do next?
Su Ying thought of Luo Xin, her boss’s girlfriend—a young, wealthy beauty from Spring City who wore a massive gold bracelet, carried a Louis Vuitton bag, drove a BMW Mini, didn’t have to work, and spent her days exploring gourmet food and travelling. Every time she looked at Luo Xin’s social media feed, Su Ying would drool with envy.
No need to envy her anymore—she could buy one too!
Almost instantly, Su Ying decided she was going to buy an LV bag as well.
No sooner said than done, Su Ying immediately opened a short-video app to search for advice on how to choose her very first LV bag. The most popular video that popped up recommended buying pre-owned luxury goods—a realm she had never ventured into before.
Perhaps because she’d spent too long watching that pre-owned video, when she refreshed her feed, the platform immediately pushed a video about a pre-owned shop buying bags. Once she started watching, she couldn’t stop; she watched for a full half-hour, right until her takeaway arrived.
Su Ying put her phone down with some reluctance. To be fair, the iPhone was indeed much smoother, and the resolution was noticeably sharper, with better and more refined picture quality. No wonder, really—after all, it cost several thousand more.
For lunch, she’d ordered from a chain restaurant in the provincial capital, only for the platform to push a warning to her afterwards that it specifically targeted out-of-towners.
It just goes to show that the platform’s recommendations are quite something. When she was searching for local specialities in the provincial capital, it suggested this restaurant; then, as soon as she’d placed her order, it immediately warned her to steer clear of it.
However, once Su Ying actually took a bite, she found the flavour was actually quite good. It wasn’t exactly to her taste, but it wasn’t as bad as the warning suggested either.
The roast duck buns were juicy, the congee had a smooth texture with a soya milk aftertaste, and the roast duck was quite different from what she usually ate—it was served with a sweet sauce.
In short, it was all sweet. No wonder the online reviews were mixed; after all, the sweet-versus-savoury debate can spark a world war. But for someone like Su Ying, who can handle sweet, savoury and spicy flavours, it was actually quite decent.
Having eaten her fill, Su Ying was ready to get down to business. She was going to treat herself to something big: a genuine luxury item, an LV handbag.
Instead of heading to the official boutique, Su Ying went straight to a second-hand luxury shop, where the main selling point was getting the goods for less.
Su Ying headed to a large second-hand luxury boutique in the provincial capital that she’d come across on short-form video platforms. Reportedly spanning a thousand square metres, it stocked not only luxury handbags but also watches, jewellery and accessories.
It was a weekday, and when Su Ying arrived at two o’clock in the afternoon, the shop wasn’t particularly busy.
Standing at the entrance, Su Ying took three deep breaths.
She recalled a video she’d watched the night before, in which the vlogger had said: “There’s no shame in buying pre-loved luxury goods; many wealthy women and those from privileged backgrounds buy them too. Spending the least amount of money to get the things you love most—that’s what it means to be savvy with your money.”
Well, she was incredibly savvy with her money!
As soon as Su Ying stepped inside, a striking saleswoman with a cool, stylish look greeted her warmly.
Su Ying felt a bit nervous, even suffering from a touch of ‘trendy-person anxiety’; she rarely saw women dressed like this in her small town.
The sales assistant enthusiastically asked what she was looking for, and Su Ying immediately began to stammer, even raising her voice to steel her nerves: “I—I want to buy an LV!”
Side Story:
Su Jiayu: Hey, you’ve got a new phone. What happened to your old one?
Su Ying: I put the old one on ZhuanZhuan to sell it second-hand.
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