Bai Wei’s facial muscles twitched as she suppressed the urge to lash out on the spot.
She forced herself to maintain a smile. “Then… I’ll change into something else. Nan Zhi, are you still holding a grudge against me because of what happened before? We used to be friends!”
Nan Zhi interrupted her with an expressionless face. “You were the one who insisted on asking for my opinion. You don’t like an objective evaluation, so you assume I’m being subjective.”
Nan Zhi had peach blossom eyes—when she smiled, they sparkled with warmth, but when she wasn’t smiling, they held a cold, detached sharpness.
Bai Wei’s heart clenched, and her body trembled slightly.
She fled into the fitting room in embarrassment, clumsily closing the door behind her before crouching down and crying silently.
How dare Nan Zhi humiliate her like this in public?
Since childhood, she had been abused by her alcoholic father, her body covered in old and new wounds, yet she still stood in front of her timid mother to protect her.
Later, after losing both parents, she was nearly forced to drop out of school by her aunt. Working three jobs a day, she could only afford to eat stale buns to save money, even instant noodles were a luxury.
Bai Wei would never forget those nights—sitting on the street in the biting wind, her eyes too dry to shed a single tear, clutching the leftovers a kind-hearted boss had saved for her, wondering if her life would always be this miserable.
Finally, she managed to get into Jing University and leave her aunt’s home. When she saw Feng Sinian again, she was overjoyed, but she didn’t dare approach him, feeling that someone as lowly as her was unworthy of someone as radiant as Feng Sinian.
Yet her moon still found her. Their reunion was hard-won, but Nan Zhi remained as irritating as ever.
Nan Zhi understood nothing—how could she judge her like this?
Seeing that Bai Wei hadn’t come out for a while, Feng Sinian anxiously knocked on the door. “Weiwei, are you okay?”
There was no response from inside. He turned around angrily, frowning as he scolded Nan Zhi. “Nan Zhi, don’t be so harsh! Back in high school, you bullied Weiwei and wouldn’t let me drink the soy milk she prepared. Now you’re saying she doesn’t look good. You don’t have to hold a grudge just because I once threw away the birthday gift you gave me, do you? I even bought you a more expensive one to make up for it, but you refused it!”
If anyone else had heard this, they would have exploded in anger. Wan Xiaoshan and the other two were so furious they almost lunged at Feng Sinian.
Nan Zhi held them back, her emotions completely unruffled.
“Feng Sinian, instead of blaming me, you should think about how to comfort your little girlfriend,” she said, her gaze shifting slightly toward the door. His outburst had attracted quite a few onlookers. “Are you under a Jiangtou curse or something? Acting like a madman.”
The calmer Nan Zhi appeared, the more Feng Sinian felt a knot of frustration tightening in his chest.
Why was she like this? She used to look at him with eyes full of light.
Nan Zhi had no desire to stay any longer and said to the other three, “Let’s go.”
Before leaving, Wan Xiaoshan flipped Feng Sinian the middle finger and silently mouthed: Idiot.
Feng Sinian was seething but quickly remembered Bai Wei was still in the fitting room.
Ignoring propriety, he was about to push the door open to check on her when she emerged.
Bai Wei’s eyes were red, her carefully applied makeup smudged by tears. Feng Sinian’s heart ached at the sight, and he pulled her into his arms.
She sobbed between hiccups, “Sinian, what kind of person should I be?”
Feng Sinian patted her back tenderly. “Weiwei, in my eyes, you’ve always been the resilient, independent girl I first met.”
The salesperson stood silently in the distance, waiting for the couple to finish their affectionate moment so the lady could purchase the clothes she had cried all over.
After comforting Bai Wei, Feng Sinian took her shopping in the store again.
He selected quite a few outfits for Bai Wei. “Wrap them all up.”
The salesperson, who had initially been inwardly criticizing the couple’s questionable mental state, immediately beamed with delight and took the clothes. “Of course, I’ll package them right away.”
Once she finished packing, she asked with a bright smile, “The total comes to five thousand four hundred yuan. Would you like to pay via WeChat, Alipay, or card?”
Feng Sinian took out a bank card. “Card.”
After swiping the card, the sales assistant’s smile grew even wider as she handed it back with both hands. “We look forward to your next visit.”
Bai Wei happily linked arms with Feng Sinian. “Thank you, Sinian. I feel much better now. Shall we go buy a bag next?”
He responded dotingly, “Sure.”
Wan Xiaoshan took a step back, growing angrier the more she thought about it. “Zhi Zhi, are we really going to let go of the chance to curse that scumbag?”
Geng Tiantian chimed in, “Exactly! Who does he think he is to blame you?”
Li Zimeng, still feeling ashamed for having once shipped Nan Zhi and Feng Sinian as the childhood sweethearts couple, remained silent out of guilt.
“I was the one who ended the friendship, and he’s the one who regrets it. I have nothing to be angry about.”
It wasn’t that Nan Zhi hadn’t felt sad or heartbroken. After witnessing Feng Sinian throw her precious jade pendant into the lake, she spent every night for the next month crying quietly under her covers.
Back then, during the intense final year of high school, she struggled to sleep well at night, forced herself to stay alert during the day for classes and practice questions, and even collapsed once from exhaustion.
Tang Yuan had been so frightened she cried, sobbing while cursing Feng Sinian for being a terrible person.
At that time, Feng Sinian wasn’t attending classes—he was busy comforting Bai Wei and taking her on trips—so he had no idea Nan Zhi had been hospitalized for several days.
Later, she came to a realization: the future talents of the nation shouldn’t be bogged down by romantic entanglements. The wise avoid falling in love, and she was determined to pursue her master’s and doctoral degrees all the way!
After shopping around and buying quite a few things, the four of them returned to their dorm.
While waiting in line for the shower, Li Zimeng idly browsed the campus forum.
The latest post featured someone capturing a photo of Feng Sinian considerately carrying Bai Wei’s numerous shopping bags to her dorm building, where the two shared a goodnight kiss.
The comments below were filled with envy and well-wishes.
Li Zimeng felt utterly disdainful and was about to exit when she spotted the logo of a luxury brand on one of the shopping bags in the picture.
She showed the image to Wan Xiaoshan. “Shan Shan, how much does a bag from this brand usually cost?”
Wan Xiaoshan stroked her chin thoughtfully. “That brand isn’t cheap. The exact price depends on the style. But the latest model is an orange crocodile skin crossbody bag—you can’t get it for less than thirty thousand.”
Li Zimeng gasped in surprise. “Is Bai Wei that rich?”
Wan Xiaoshan snorted. “Feng Sinian must have paid for it. He’s a young master—would he ever let his girlfriend foot the bill?”
Li Zimeng nodded. “You’re right. Feng Sinian is really generous.”
Curious, she then asked Nan Zhi, “Did he ever give you any expensive gifts before?”
Although Nan Zhi had long since returned everything Feng Sinian had given her, she still remembered each item clearly and listed them one by one. “After he got his own allowance at age twelve, he gave me a Christmas tree that blooms when watered for my birthday that year.”
At thirteen, he gave a “snow globe that would make any girl cry with emotion”; at fourteen, it was a rose-patterned floral dress; at fifteen, when I ranked first in my grade, he presented me with an embroidered banner; at sixteen, it was a photo album filled with his oversized selfies; during the cold winter of seventeen, he gifted a mug that changed color when hot water was poured in; at eighteen…”
Nan Zhi didn’t want to recall the most bewildering gift of all, “a magical makeup kit—the kind that opens like a rotating flower… I later told him that most girls don’t like such tacky things and that he should just give pretty clothes or bags instead.”
The other three fell silent for a long moment before erupting into deafening laughter.
Geng Tiantian laughed the loudest: “Oh my goodness, Zhi, it’s a wonder you put up with it for so many years. Looking back now, he learned how to chase girls from you, but it’s Bai Wei who’s reaping the benefits.”
Li Zimeng clapped her hands: “Thank goodness you cut ties with him!”
Wan Xiaoshan sympathized with Nan Zhi’s plight and ended up doing her share of the group assignment that evening as well.