Shang Luo blinked playfully and giggled. “Third Brother, are you going with us? That’s great! With your money power, I can shop as much as I want!”
After speaking, Shang Luo did not forget to turn to Jiang Li and say, “Right, Jiang Jiang?”
“…”
Jiang Li smiled awkwardly and did not answer the question.
It did not really seem related to her.
Although Shang Huaizhou did not speak, Jiang Li could feel his gaze on her.
For some reason, being looked at by him made her feel slightly uncomfortable, as if she did not know where to place her eyes.
Pretending nothing was wrong, she lowered her head and lightly rubbed the tip of her shoe against the ground.
Shang Huaizhou finally moved his gaze away and looked at Shang Luo. “Who exactly is shorting your allowance?”
Shang Luo muttered softly, “Isn’t that true? Last time, none of you agreed to buy me that sports car.”
Shang Huaizhou gave her a cold look. “Didn’t it still end up in your garage?”
Shang Luo looked wronged. “That was from Brother Tinglan. It’s different. You’re my real brother.”
Jiang Li held her handbag with both hands in front of her politely and casually, listening to the siblings talking back and forth with amusement.
Shang Luo was the only girl in their generation and also the youngest, so the whole family spoiled her.
Although Shang Huaizhou was cold and distant, he treated Shang Luo very well.
Shang Huaizhou opened the front passenger door. “If we don’t leave now, there won’t be enough time to have fun.”
Hearing his calm voice, Jiang Li immediately stepped aside to make room for Shang Luo.
But Shang Luo knew very well that her third brother would never open the car door for her. Not only that, no woman had ever sat in his front passenger seat before.
Shang Luo’s lively eyes moved between Shang Huaizhou and Jiang Li, and she instantly understood. With a sly grin, she lightly pushed Jiang Li on the lower back, then climbed into the back seat while saying, “Come on, Jiang Jiang, otherwise we’ll miss the good performances!”
And just like that, Jiang Li was pushed right in front of Shang Huaizhou.
The distance between them became very close, making her breathing pause for a moment.
Under Shang Luo’s urging, Jiang Li could only force herself to sit in the front passenger seat. She looked up at Shang Huaizhou outside the car and softly thanked him, “Thank you.”
When Shang Huaizhou heard the words “thank you,” the hand holding the car door paused slightly.
He looked down at Jiang Li inside the car, the corners of his lips lifting into a faint unreadable smile. “You’re this polite now?”
Jiang Li immediately disliked hearing that and had to argue back. “When have I ever been impolite? I’ve always been polite, okay?”
Her voice was not loud, but there was a soft and slightly spoiled tone to it.
It sounded very pleasant.
Shang Huaizhou found it strange. The older she became, the softer and sweeter her voice sounded. Had she been drinking morning dew or something?
He quickly stopped his messy thoughts, gave a simple “Oh,” and added with a half-smile, “Then why weren’t you this polite in front of me before? You ordered me around plenty of times.”
During the three years Jiang Li lived with the Shang family, she had been fearless around him.
She often spoke boldly in front of him. She had never once politely thanked him like this.
She really had been quite arrogant before, and she could not deny it. But that was all in the past. Now she followed proper manners very well. Jiang Li quietly muttered, “That was so many years ago, and you still remember it so clearly. Stingy.”
“What are you muttering about?”
Jiang Li never expected Shang Huaizhou to suddenly lean closer, nor did she expect him to bend down and fasten her seatbelt while asking the question.
Her breathing stopped for a moment. She quickly straightened her expression and mumbled, “Nothing. I can do it myself.”
She was not used to Shang Huaizhou fastening her seatbelt for her!
But Shang Huaizhou ignored her and continued buckling the seatbelt himself. At that moment, he was leaning close in front of Jiang Li. From his angle, he could clearly see her soft lips slightly puffed out.
His throat tightened slightly, and his eyes darkened.
He forcibly moved his gaze away from her delicate lips, quickly fastened the seatbelt, then stepped back from in front of her. After closing the passenger door for her, he walked around the car and sat in the driver’s seat.
When he started the car, Shang Huaizhou returned to his usual cold and calm self. Turning his head slightly, he asked, “Anywhere you want to go?”
Jiang Li held the seatbelt in front of her with both hands. Her eyes blinked quickly as she avoided his gaze for no reason, suddenly feeling guilty. She casually answered, “Anywhere is fine with me.”
After replying to her classmates’ messages, Shang Luo leaned forward from the back seat and happily suggested, “Third Brother, Third Brother, let’s go to the antique market! It’s Jiang Jiang’s favorite place, and I want to see it too.”
Jiang Li gave a soft cough. “No need to specially go there. I don’t really like it that much.”
Even though the words were against her true feelings, the antique market was far from here, and making a special trip there would be troublesome. She planned to wait until after the performance ended and spend half a day visiting it then.
Shang Huaizhou did not respond.
Jiang Li only felt an invisible pressure above her head. When she turned slightly, she saw Shang Huaizhou staring at her. His expression revealed nothing, but he quietly looked at her twice with unreadable eyes.
What did those two glances from him mean? Was he doubting her words?
If he could look at her like that, then she could do the same to him.
Jiang Li returned his look with two glances of her own. Her eyes were gentle yet slightly fierce in a cute way, making her look both attractive and adorable.
Even cute.
Shang Huaizhou’s throat moved slightly. A faint smile flashed through his cold eyes as his long fingers casually tapped the navigation screen twice before driving the car out of the courtyard.
Jiang Li did not know where Shang Huaizhou was taking them, but since he was the host, she simply went along with it.
Looking out the car window, she noticed that because it was Qixi Festival, even the streetlights and decorations along the roads had been specially arranged, giving the city a sweet romantic atmosphere.
Crowds of people filled the streets, most of them couples. The city was lively and bustling.
The antique market Jiang Li liked—Shang Huaizhou really did bring them there.
It was not within Beijing’s second ring area but in the suburbs. They drove for two and a half hours before finally arriving, and the place was still full of people.
At first Jiang Li had been rather reserved, but later the two girls became so excited while shopping that they completely forgot there was still an unromantic man following behind them.
That cold and expressionless man quietly acted as their walking wallet.
Shang Luo bought things without holding back and even mixed Jiang Li’s purchases together with hers for Shang Huaizhou to pay for.
The few items Jiang Li picked were old handicrafts with some history behind them. They were not especially valuable antiques, but they still had a certain appreciation value. Together they cost nearly twenty thousand yuan, and Shang Luo casually included them in the same payment bill.
Without even checking whose items they were, Shang Huaizhou calmly and elegantly scanned the payment code.
Jiang Li immediately felt uncomfortable but could not find a chance to speak.
Although she had spent quite a bit of Shang Huaizhou’s money during the three years she stayed with the Shang family, at least she had contributed something in return.
Thinking about those old memories, Jiang Li had to admit that Shang Huaizhou’s business talent seemed natural from the beginning.
Not long after moving into the Shang family home, Jiang Li learned that Shang Huaizhou had already stopped using family money at a very young age.
At that time, he already owned several stable stocks and even casually ran a gaming company himself.
Those stocks of his earned a huge amount of money, and Jiang Li had been incredibly jealous of them.
Several times she asked Shang Huaizhou to teach her how to trade stocks.
Every time, he coldly refused and even told her that her intelligence level was about the same as “Silly White,” so she could never handle it.
The “Silly White” Shang Huaizhou referred to was a little pure white kitten Jiang Li had secretly brought home from school. She named it Nora and raised it in the courtyard.
But because her studies became busier and she also had dance training, she had less and less time to take care of Nora.
She became extremely troubled over it.
Shang Shiqing told her to ask Shang Huaizhou for help.
“—Huaizhou has plenty of free time. You probably don’t know this, but he already finished university courses back in middle school.”
That was when Jiang Li realized that the gap between people could truly be enormous.
As for herself, she did not have exceptional talent in academics. The reason her grades remained excellent was simply because she worked twice as hard as others.
Especially when she was younger, she had been a perfectionist who wanted to excel at everything. Without realizing it, Shang Huaizhou became the standard she tried to follow and surpass.
After constant persuasion and repeated promises that she would not bother him, Shang Huaizhou finally agreed—with a frown—to help take care of Nora for a while.
Then Jiang Li found an even better excuse. She claimed she needed to earn money for Little White and again asked Shang Huaizhou to teach her about stocks.
Perhaps Shang Huaizhou saw her sincerity, or perhaps he was simply tired of her bothering him. In the end, he shared one of his stocks with her to play around with.
And his stocks really did make money.
Once, Jiang Li accidentally overheard Shang Huaizhou teaching Shen Zhe how to study and buy stocks.
Secretly, she used her own allowance to buy some cheap scattered shares.
When she earned her first four-digit profit, Jiang Li hugged her pillow and happily rolled around on the bed.
At the time, she was still underage and unable to open her own account.
Shang Huaizhou simply tossed one of his bank cards to her. At first, she thought it was an empty account.
But after transferring her earnings into it, she nearly got frightened by the balance.
There were eight digits in the account.
Only later did she learn that it was Shang Huaizhou’s personal card.
All the money he earned was stored there.
Jiang Li immediately tried returning the card to him.
Shang Huaizhou only coldly threw out one sentence:
“—There’s only this one. Take it or leave it.”
Of course she accepted it. How could she possibly refuse?
Her grandfather never allowed her to get involved in such things. He only wanted her to become a graceful and proper young lady.
And if she rejected it, based on what she knew about Shang Huaizhou, there would never be another chance.
So that card became their shared little treasury.
Even though her contribution was small, she still felt proud of it.
During those six months, their relationship became especially good. So good that Jiang Li truly believed Shang Huaizhou had already treated her as a friend.
Thinking about those years now, Jiang Li suddenly felt a trace of sadness.
Still, after carefully thinking about it, although Shang Huaizhou’s personality was not very good, he had always been generous when it came to money.
But they were no longer young and ignorant teenagers anymore. They could not behave recklessly now.
So afterward, Jiang Li became more careful. Every time she chose something, she would first negotiate the price herself and then personally pay for it.
However, for several items she was still discussing with the shop owner about the price and age of the artifacts when Shang Huaizhou directly paid the full original price first.
The shop owner cheerfully laughed and said, “Miss, your boyfriend treats you really well.”
Cough.
Boyfriend—
That misunderstanding was huge.
“Boss, he’s not—” Jiang Li was just about to explain when Shang Huaizhou interrupted her.
“Boss, just calculate everything together.”
He casually said it while scanning the payment code himself.
Jiang Li took a deep breath and puffed her cheeks slightly.
She had only looked at those items and never planned to buy them at all. Why had Shang Huaizhou bought everything for her?
These antique shop owners were all extremely shrewd people. Jiang Li knew that very well, since she was considered half in the same field herself.
Many of them raised prices on the spot, and真假 mixed together.
The prices were all expensive, and she had still been carefully considering several of the items she liked.
Yet Shang Huaizhou had simply made the decision without even blinking.
The fingers holding her handbag trembled slightly.
Suppressing the pain in her heart, Jiang Li tightened her grip on the bag and stepped two paces closer to Shang Huaizhou. In a gentle voice, she tried to reason with him.
“Well… Mr. Shang, there’s actually no need to buy all of these. What matters is quality, not quantity.”
The main reason was that he was about to make her go bankrupt.
When Shang Huaizhou heard Jiang Li call him “Mr. Shang,” the fingers entering the password paused slightly.
He clearly remembered that when the little girl first came to his house at eleven years old, she used to sweetly call him “Brother Huaizhou.” Later, after following Shang Luo and the others, she started calling him “Third Brother” in her soft childish voice.
And after that, he became simply “Shang Huaizhou.”
When she was angry, she would call him things like “Big Devil,” “Big Bad Wolf,” or “Black-Hearted Demon.”
Shang Huaizhou had heard many different names from her over the years.
But this was the first time she had called him “Mr. Shang.”
And somehow, it sounded more unpleasant than any other title.
Pretending not to hear what she was saying, Shang Huaizhou calmly finished paying before slowly turning to look at Jiang Li.
“Miss Jiang rarely comes to Beijing. As the host, of course I should properly show some hospitality.”
“…”
Hospitality meant helping the guest make huge purchases?
This kind of “hospitality” was really not something ordinary people could survive.
Jiang Li sighed silently.
“From the look on Miss Jiang’s face, it seems you’re not very satisfied with the items I picked.” Shang Huaizhou handed the porcelain vase he had been examining back to the owner and looked at Jiang Li with slightly raised brows. “Or are you indirectly suggesting that I don’t know how to judge antiques?”
“Of course not.” Jiang Li smiled awkwardly.
Did she dare suggest Shang Huaizhou lacked knowledge?
Absolutely not.
And she truly meant it.
Ever since childhood, Jiang Li had loved studying strange and unusual things and enjoyed adventure.
Among those interests, antiques and jade became her greatest focus.
At first, she liked antiques because they carried the mysterious feeling of history, along with many touching stories hidden behind them.
Over time, she truly fell in love with antiques and the stories they carried.
As for antique collecting, however, she had once been completely inexperienced and suffered many painful lessons after entering the field.
The worst time happened when she was in her third year of middle school. Using money she earned from Shang Huaizhou’s rising stocks, she saved enough to gamble on a piece of jade stone.
In the end, it turned out to be worthless.
She lost everything.
And she had even used Shang Huaizhou’s money, leaving her heavily in debt to him.
She stayed depressed for quite a while afterward.
That time, Shang Huaizhou surprisingly took the initiative to talk to her about antiques. He personally taught her how to identify真假 and determine age in the complicated antique business so she could avoid being cheated.
He even brought her to a large auction in Hong Kong and introduced her to an experienced antique collector. Through that collector, she obtained two valuable items, resold them, and paid back Shang Huaizhou.
She even earned enough starting capital from it and gradually met several good mentors and friends in the field.
During that period, Jiang Li was extremely proud of herself. She even started following the industry’s tradition of respecting teachers.
With a bright smile and full sincerity, she respectfully called Shang Huaizhou “Teacher Shang.”
Even now, Jiang Li still remembered the dark look on Shang Huaizhou’s face at that time.
Thinking about it was honestly quite funny.
At this moment, Jiang Li was looking directly at Shang Huaizhou.
Her answer came quickly and without hesitation. Her beautiful eyes were full of sincerity. Her curled eyelashes cast soft shadows over her smooth pale face, delicate like white jade. The sparkling light unique to her eyes, under the romantic Qixi lights, looked no less dazzling than stars and oceans.
Shang Huaizhou stared at her deeply for a moment before curling his lips slightly.
“That’s good.”
Then he casually raised a hand and pointed toward the row of antiques Jiang Li had previously asked prices for.
“I’ll take all of these too.”
Jiang Li: ?!!!
She—although she did not dare say Shang Huaizhou lacked judgment—
He still could not play around like this!
She did not have that much money to waste!
The row Shang Huaizhou pointed at happened to be the only truly valuable items in the shop. They were old collectibles and also the most expensive ones.
Yet he decisively bought all of them at once. Those items together would cost at least seven or eight figures.
How exactly had she offended Shang Huaizhou to make him help bankrupt her like this?
The shop owner’s eyes instantly shone with excitement that he could not hide. Happily, he called the staff to package the items and even asked whether they should deliver them directly to their home.
Then he repeatedly praised Shang Huaizhou in front of Jiang Li and said,
“Miss, your boyfriend really knows his antiques.”
Jiang Li kept an elegant smile on the surface, but inside her heart was bleeding.
She would usually spend a long time evaluating whether something was worth buying before making a move.
Meanwhile, Shang Huaizhou had casually bought everything for her without even thinking.
Jiang Li looked at the antiques being carefully packaged one by one.
She felt deeply troubled.
If she brought those items back to her shop in Yunnan and tried to resell them, she would probably still lose money.
Perhaps the owner felt guilty for making such a huge profit from them, so he specially gifted Jiang Li a pair of lovesick-bean bracelets and wished them a happy Valentine’s Day.
One bracelet had red beads for women, while the other had black beads for men.
As expected from an antique dealer, the lovesick-bean bracelets were made from natural red agate rather than modern craftsmanship. The quality was excellent, and even the jewelry box holding them was made from fine redwood.
The pair of bracelets also carried a tragic love story behind them.
According to legend, during the Warring States period, a general fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy family. The general died in battle, but the young lady refused to believe it. Holding the agate pendant the general had given her, she waited for his return day after day. Her tears slowly fell onto the agate, eventually forming two distinct colors over time.
Ten years later, the general miraculously returned alive, and the two stayed together until old age.
The general later turned the agate pendant into a pair of bracelets.
Thus, they were named “Tears of Longing.”
Jiang Li was still immersed in the story when she suddenly heard Shang Huaizhou say calmly,
“The meaning behind the story is pretty good. Thanks.”
After speaking, Shang Huaizhou casually took the jewelry box containing the bracelets from the owner’s hands.
Jiang Li looked at Shang Huaizhou in complete disbelief.
Hadn’t he always looked down on these kinds of emotional background stories?
Back then, Jiang Li often cried after hearing such touching stories behind antiques. After crying, she would grit her teeth and buy them without even bothering to evaluate their value.
Every single time, Shang Huaizhou would look at her with disdain and say those dealers purposely made up beautiful stories just to attract collectors whose curiosity outweighed everything else.
He even called her stupid before.
So when it came to this pair of couple bracelets, shouldn’t he have said they were terribly tacky?
Yet now he was actually praising them?
If she heard correctly, there was even a faint trace of pleasure in his cold tone. The corners of his lips had even lifted slightly.
So what exactly had made him descend into the mortal world and appreciate ordinary human feelings now?
Could it be that he was in love?
Jiang Li stared blankly at Shang Huaizhou. Unexpectedly, he suddenly looked back at her with deep eyes.
Her heart trembled.
She quickly pretended to stay calm and pulled her gaze away from him, turning instead to look at the antiques being packaged one by one. The deliberate smile in her eyes completely disappeared, and even her breathing carried a painful feeling.
In the end, she still took out her phone and photographed the receipt. Lightly biting her lip, she said to Shang Huaizhou, “Thank you. I’ll transfer the money to you later.”
Her transfer limit was not high enough for such a large amount, and there were too many items anyway, so she simply wrote down her shop address and asked the owner to ship them there.
Shang Huaizhou gave a cold snort. “I didn’t buy them for you, so there’s no need to thank me.”
“…”
Jiang Li could only watch helplessly as Shang Huaizhou walked out of the shop with his long legs, leaving behind a huge pile of antiques.
Jiang Li felt troubled.
This man really had not changed at all.
In fact, he was even more annoying than when they were younger!
If they were not bought for her, then why was she the one carrying them?
Originally, Jiang Li did not have much to carry herself. The heavier items she picked earlier had already been arranged for delivery.
Now she was stuck carrying a large pile of random things Shang Huaizhou suddenly bought on impulse.
And these porcelain jars and antiques were not light at all.
Where had that little girl Shang Luo run off to? Otherwise, she could at least help share some of the burden.
Carrying several bags, Jiang Li walked out of the antique shop.
Outside, Shang Huaizhou was on the phone.
One hand rested casually in his pocket as he stood beneath a slanted streetlight. The warm yellow glow shone diagonally over his tall figure, covering him in a faint layer of light, as though he had stepped straight out of a painting—elegant and noble.
A moment later, Shang Huaizhou turned around, still holding the phone to his ear.
At that exact moment, his cold gaze collided with Jiang Li’s eyes that had been secretly looking at him.
Jiang Li instantly felt guilty for some reason and quickly looked away.
Shang Huaizhou’s gaze also moved from her delicate face down to the hands carrying the bags. Even from a short distance away, he could see the strain in her slender arms from the weight, making the veins that were usually invisible stand out slightly.
His brows unconsciously furrowed.
In a calm voice, he said into the phone, “Mm. Something came up. I’m not going anymore. You guys have fun.”
After ending the call with only a few words, he strode toward her and silently took everything from her hands, including all the bags.
Jiang Li originally wanted to remind him that he had also taken her handbag.
But after thinking about how annoyed Shang Huaizhou had seemed ever since seeing her, she decided it was better not to provoke him.
The moment the weight left her arms, she instantly felt relieved. Lightly rubbing her sore forearm, she asked him, “The car is parked in Area B, right?”
“Mm,” Shang Huaizhou replied.
After getting the answer, Jiang Li lowered her head and sent Shang Luo a message:
“Meet at Parking Area B.”
Seeing her messaging someone, Shang Huaizhou frowned slightly. He turned his wrist to check the time, pressed his lips together briefly, and then asked her,
“It’s still early. Aren’t you planning to walk around more?”
Shang Luo quickly replied, saying she had just met up with some classmates and did not want to go home so early.
She even acted cute in the message:
【Dear Jiang Jiang, please please~ It’s rare for me to come out. Stay out a little longer, okay? I know shopping with Third Brother is super boring, but just bear with it for my sake, please?】
Jiang Li understood Shang Luo’s frustration.
High school studies were stressful.
Both school and family pressured her heavily, making it hard for her to truly relax.
As for Jiang Li herself, she would also become busy in the next few days. Their dance troupe would begin closed training, and as the lead dancer, she would have even less free time.
Once the performance ended, rehearsals afterward would only become more intense.
Since they were already out, it really would be a pity not to enjoy themselves properly.
As for shopping with Shang Huaizhou… besides his ability to spend money, it was actually… fine. Pretty fine.
Smiling brightly, Jiang Li looked at Shang Huaizhou and asked, “It won’t delay your time, right?”
Looking at the girl whose eyes seemed to sparkle with tiny stars, Shang Huaizhou replied, “A little more time won’t matter.”
Jiang Li quietly intertwined the fingers behind her back and lightly rose onto her toes with a soft smile.
“Then I’ll go look around a little more ahead.”
Shang Huaizhou neither refused nor properly answered.
Still, she vaguely thought she heard him softly say, “Mm.”
Jiang Li walked ahead with a smile.
To Jiang Li, every little thing in the antique market was a treasure.
Even though she definitely could not spend more money tonight, simply looking around was not a crime.
Shang Huaizhou followed behind her at an unhurried pace, watching her light footsteps while she still tried to maintain the image of a proper lady.
Something unreadable appeared in his heavy gaze as he silently followed behind her.
This time, she did not buy any collectibles.
Instead, she bought many beautiful modern handicrafts.
After she finished shopping, Shang Huaizhou quietly carried her things for her.
No matter what she bought, he never commented.
Even when they were younger, she had always been like this.
Besides antiques, she loved all kinds of little jars, flowers, plants, and strangely shaped stones.
Back then, he used to say she had no sense of value and bought everything she liked.
What exactly had the little girl said to argue back then?
“—Why think so much about value? Some things can’t be measured by price. If you like them, then that’s enough.”
When it came to her preferences, she truly had not changed at all.
The word “faithful” she said at dinner earlier still remained clearly in Shang Huaizhou’s mind.
His cold eyes darkened slightly.
Stepping forward, he stopped just half a step behind Jiang Li and let out a low hum. In a deep calm voice, he said,
“Two days ago, you told me you weren’t sure when you’d come to Beijing. Yet today you suddenly appeared at my house. Do you have three heads and six arms, or are you simply used to lying?”