16
After explaining the basic functions, Xie Zhengjie’s new phone had Chen Linyao’s number as its very first contact.
The young man was in an unusually good mood.
Earlier, during their visit to the bookstore, he had studied elementary numbers and calculations, finding them fascinating.
He had even memorized them all.
When they reached the phone shop, he quickly saw through Chen Linyao’s attempt to skimp on him—how could a prince like him be so easily deceived?
In the end, the young woman unknowingly caved and bought him a phone worth nearly 10,000 yuan.
Had she chosen a 4,000-yuan model, he might have generously let it slide for her sake.
Back at the bookstore, Xie Zhengjie couldn’t resist returning to browse the children’s educational books.
Since Chen Linyao had promised to buy him a few, he wanted to make careful selections.
Education, no matter where you are, is always important.
“Take your time picking. I’ll wait around here.”
The young woman handed him a 100-yuan note before saying.
“Just don’t spend more than this.”
Xie Zhengjie accepted the money but froze momentarily, then glanced at the note with suspicion before asking, “How much is this worth? How many books can it buy?”
Xie Zhengjie became suspicious, wondering if this woman was testing whether he could read.
His suspicion, however, was misplaced.
Chen Linyao blinked, realizing her oversight, and exclaimed, “Oh right, you can’t read this.”
“What’s the value of this paper?
I’ll just ask the shopkeeper for book prices.”
“One hundred yuan,” Chen Linyao explained, then added, “Take your time.”
Since she wasn’t rushing him, he didn’t think much of it.
This store felt like a treasure trove to him.
He got so engrossed in reading that a store clerk eventually approached him.
When he finally snapped out of it, he realized over an hour had passed.
Picking three books he liked, he went to pay.
Feeling a pang of sympathy for the woman, who must have grown bored waiting for so long, he looked around to find her.
He turned left.
He turned right.
He checked the surrounding aisles.
And then he checked again.
Xie Zhengjie froze in astonishment.
He was abandoned by that woman!
Chen Linyao, who had sneaked away to chat with her two close friends, hadn’t thought much of it at first.
But as time went on, she began to feel uneasy, glancing at her phone repeatedly.
What if Xie Zhengjie reports to Lu Yeqing, the policewoman handling his case, that he’s been abandoned?
After listening to Ru Yi brag about her husband for a while, her phone finally rang.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the police—it was Xie Zhengjie himself.
Seeing his forlorn look, Chen Linyao couldn’t help but laugh.
“I thought you had abandoned me,” Xie Zhengjie complained bluntly.
“I told you I’d wait around here.”
“At the very least, you should’ve given me a meeting point.”
“Oh, I forgot,” Chen Linyao feigned clueless expression before asking, “How did you find me?”
“By walking around.”
The young man’s tone grew increasingly annoyed.
However, Chen Linyao wasn’t worried; she had a trump card ready to placate him.
“Oh, right. Remember the spiritual herbs we talked about?”
This remark worked.
His irritation gave way to curiosity, and he asked, “You mean the spiritual herbs you ruined?”
“I did no such thing.
You were the one who burned those vegetables beyond saving.
They were perfectly fine in the electric hot pot.”
“Ruining such treasures, if this were the Xie Kingdom, you’d be flogged to death a hundred times over,” Xie Zhengjie began to get annoyed again before asking.
“Why are you bringing up spiritual herbs?”
“Well, I thought I’d take you to buy some,” Chen Linyao played her trump card.
It worked.
Xie Zhengjie stopped in his tracks, stunned, and then turned to her.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“Where can we find them?
Let’s go right away.”
“They’re here.”
Chen Linyao led the young man toward the supermarket on the mall’s lower floor with a triumphant smirk.
She knew how much spiritual herbs meant to Xie Zhengjie.
In H City, however, these items were so abundant that they were sometimes discarded as fertilizer.
This prince of the Xie Kingdom was unphased by towering buildings, indifferent to the cars on the streets, and merely raised an eyebrow at the electrical appliances, trying them out until he became proficient.
When he encountered technology like smartphones, he just smiled.
But when they reached the supermarket, Chen Linyao saw the exact look she had been hoping to see.
Xie Zhengjie was stunned.
He stood in shock before the mountains of cabbages, bundles of water spinach, and foam boxes filled with fresh chilies.
Taking advantage of the moment, Chen Linyao swiftly grabbed her phone to capture the scene.
Unaware of the photo function, Xie Zhengjie didn’t realize she was documenting his reaction.
She didn’t just take one picture, either; she set her phone to burst mode, snapping fifteen shots in rapid succession as she circled him.
And then she did it twice.
The frustration from earlier melted away.
In the future, she planned to print out these photos and hang them in the room where he slept.
Let it be known: Chen Linyao was not one to be easily bullied.
The revenge she had kept in her heart was about to be carried out.
“Buy them.”
“All of them. Consider it another debt I owe you.”
Xie Zhengjie looked serious.
Chen Linyao looked at the overwhelming piles of vegetables and shook her head.
“Impossible.
I can only buy a small portion.”
“You don’t understand their value.” The young man lamented, wishing he could purchase everything himself.
To Xie Zhengjie, this small section of the supermarket represented unimaginable wealth.
A pile of spirit herbs.
Even if this was piled with diamonds, its value wouldn’t even be a fraction of these spirit herbs.
If his cultivation level wasn’t so low, bringing these back could help him achieve immortality in just a few years, and within a hundred years, the Xie Kingdom could rule the world.
This was madness.
Such priceless spiritual herbs treated like common goods and sold so cheaply—he couldn’t accept it.
“Value?” Chen Linyao mused, stroking her chin in mock contemplation.
Then, pointing to the price tag on a bundle of water spinach, she said, “This bundle? Five yuan.”
Next, she gestured at a radish.
“This one? Also five yuan.”
Xie Zhengjie was stunned.
He quickly grabbed the leftover change he had received from the bookstore and began calculating what he could afford to buy.
As he counted the coins in his hand, Chen Linyao suddenly snatched the change back.
“This is my change, isn’t it?” The young woman said with a smile.
“Thank you, you’re so honest.”
At that moment, Xie Zhengjie felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness.
For a fleeting moment, he felt an urge to strangle her again.
Unfortunately, he had been born a good person.
Unless it was a mortal enemy, a dangerous criminal, or an invading enemy, he would never take someone’s life without cause.
Even his father’s concubines who vied for his attention in the imperial court—rather than confronting them, he had simply walked away, which ultimately led to all kinds of false rumors.
Xie Zhengjie sighed.
What a shame to be born such a good person.
“I’m just teasing,” Chen Linyao said, satisfied with the defeated look on his face.
“We can buy some of it to take back. I’ve already spent a lot today, so what’s another hundred yuan? Pick out what you want, but not more than a hundred yuan, okay?”
Hearing her words, Xie Zhengjie glanced at her suspiciously, wondering if she had ulterior motives.
Seeing her genuinely pleased expression, it seemed like she was just getting back at him a little, and he felt satisfied.
The prince of Xie Kingdom deliberated.
This woman may be a bit annoying, but she’s not so bad after all.