By the time they returned from the pet hospital, it was exactly dinner time. After putting the cats back near their regular nesting area, the group went to the cafeteria for a meal.
As Jiang Yin sat down with her meal tray, An Yu leaned in from beside her, asking in a slightly coaxing tone, “Can I have a bite of your shredded pork with green peppers?”
The other two members of the association were already used to this behavior; they even proactively pushed their own food forward for An Yu to choose from.
Hearing her request, Jiang Yin nodded somewhat stiffly and said, “As you wish.”
An Yu was always more enthusiastic than others, appearing close to everyone. Whenever they met, she enjoyed clinging to other girls; even Jiang Yin could not escape her affection.
To be honest, Jiang Yin was still somewhat resistant to such close physical contact. When she went out with her roommates, they often liked to walk arm in arm, sometimes pulling Jiang Yin along. The four of them walking down the campus sidewalk often felt like a moving wall.
Even after living together for two years, Jiang Yin remained unaccustomed to physical touch. After noticing that she felt uncomfortable every time they held hands, her roommates gradually stopped being so clingy with her. An Yu, however, seemed to lack this awareness, acting as though she wanted to be glued to Jiang Yin every time they met.
Once “Lady” An Yu finished selecting her favorite bites from everyone’s bowls, the group finally began to eat. An Yu was sincere and warm, so they were all willing to indulge her.
“Hey, Jiang-Jiang, is that a new bracelet?” The girl sitting across from Jiang Yin asked curiously.
This caught the attention of the other two, who both looked toward Jiang Yin’s wrist.
“Whoa, I remember this brand being very expensive. Jiang-Jiang, when did you get so rich?” An Yu looked surprised. Although Jiang Yin never talked about her family situation, after two years together, everyone could more or less guess things, so they were all quite startled.
“A friend gave it to me.” Jiang Yin lowered her arm awkwardly. This bracelet was a gift Jiang Ling had bought for her on a whim while they were picking out gifts for her roommates on Sunday. It was the same brand as Lin Shu’s watch.
“A friend?” An Yu caught the scent of gossip. “Boyfriend or girlfriend?”
Faced with such prying, Jiang Yin gave a helpless smile. “It is a girl. She is a bit older than me.”
“What? An older, wealthy lady?” An Yu dropped her chopsticks excitedly and grabbed Jiang Yin’s arm. “Quick, introduce me to this wealthy sister! I am ready!”
“Oh, give it a rest,” the girl across from them laughed. “What if the wealthy sister doesn’t like someone like you?”
The other girl bit her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and asked, “Can you guys all accept dating a girl?”
The sudden change in topic made everyone freeze for a second. However, An Yu reacted quickly, answering immediately, “I do not like guys. They are dirty and smelly, I hate them.”
“I have never really thought about it,” the other girl shrugged. “I have never been in a relationship after all. I suppose I would have to try to find out.”
Jiang Yin was momentarily dazed to find her friends so open, able to discuss sexual orientation so calmly over dinner. What surprised her even more was that An Yu told everyone her orientation so bluntly, seemingly not caring about other people’s opinions at all.
Jiang Yin remained stunned until the conversation turned toward her.
“What about you, Jiang-Jiang?” An Yu nudged her with her elbow. “Are you like me?”
“Me?” Jiang Yin put down her chopsticks and thought seriously. “I have never thought about it either. After all, I have no plans to date during university.”
“Truly the model student,” An Yu, who was also in the School of Economics and Finance, nodded in agreement. “No wonder your name is always on the honors list at the faculty commendation meetings.”
At this teasing, Jiang Yin shook her head with a smile but did not respond further.
The girls quickly shifted the topic, chatting animatedly about interesting stories from their respective departments.
When she returned to the dorm, Lin Shu and the others were sitting together eating roast duck and watching a variety show. As soon as they saw Jiang Yin, Xu Yao immediately stuffed a freshly wrapped roast duck roll into her mouth.
“Come, sit!” She was wearing disposable gloves, so she used her foot to kick a stool over, gesturing for Jiang Yin to watch with them.
Since she had nothing else to do, Jiang Yin sat between them and joined in on the variety show.
Ji Xiaoning handed her a wrap, but Jiang Yin waved her off. “I have already eaten.” So Ji Xiaoning took the wrap back.
“Have you seen this show before?” Lin Shu nudged Jiang Yin with her shoulder.
“I haven’t seen it, but I have heard of it.” Jiang Yin looked at the screen; they were watching Our Friends.
On the screen, the camera was focused on Shen Ningzhao, who was communicating with a parrot perched on a tree.
“That is great, hearing about it is enough,” Lin Shu said as she took off her gloves and picked up her phone. “The production team is recruiting volunteers for the next episode. I asked Yao Yao and Xiaoning, but they are both busy. Why don’t you sign up with me?”
“The probability of being chosen is very low, but I still want to try.” As Lin Shu spoke, she opened Weibo. A hint of suspicion suddenly appeared in her eyes as she looked at Jiang Yin. “By the way, do you even have a Weibo account?”
“I do,” Jiang Yin replied helplessly. “I will handle it myself.” For some reason, she did not tell Lin Shu that she had actually already signed up.
Hearing that she had Weibo on her phone, the other two looked shocked, as if they had heard some earth-shattering news. Ji Xiaoning remarked, “We thought you were a cavewoman who never looked at entertainment apps.”
“Exactly! I always thought you did not use the internet. Remember when we first added you? When I saw that nickname, I thought I had added one of your parents,” Xu Yao teased.
“You really should change that nickname,” Lin Shu chimed in while filling out the volunteer application.
“It works, that is enough.” Jiang Yin shook her head dismissively and turned her gaze to the tablet screen, dazing as she watched the guests interact.
Tuesday evening, Jiang Yin waited at the school gate for Jiang Ling to pick her up.
When she opened the car door, Jiang Yin was surprised to find another person inside.
In the back seat, Jiang Zhen gave her a bright, radiant smile and called out, “Good evening, A-Yin!”
“Get in first,” Jiang Ling said. “You haven’t eaten, right? I’ll take you for dinner first, then we’ll talk about the clothes.”
Jiang Yin followed the instruction and sat beside Jiang Zhen. The three of them drove toward the restaurant Jiang Ling had selected.
Jiang Yin assumed they would go to a physical store to try on clothes after dinner, but to her surprise, Jiang Ling led them back into the car afterward. Jiang Yin was confused, not knowing where they were going to pick the outfits.
When the car drove into a high-end residential area, Jiang Yin became even more bewildered.
Jiang Zhen seemed to sense her confusion and whispered an explanation: “Sister chose a niche private custom brand. You do not need to go to the store; the person in charge will bring the tools and fabrics directly to us for selection.”
As she spoke, Jiang Ling slowly parked the car next to a two-story duplex villa. While unbuckling her seatbelt, she turned around and said, “Since A-Yin needs to go back to school tonight, we won’t go all the way home to try things on. This is a small house I bought in the city; let’s make do here.”
After getting out of the car, Jiang Yin looked at the villa, a question mark mentally appearing over her head: Sister calls this a “small” house?
Having been poor for nineteen years, Jiang Yin was once again shocked by the sheer wealth of her family.
Not long after they entered, the brand representative arrived. Although Jiang Yin had never heard of the brand, she knew that anything Jiang Ling took an interest in would not be cheap.
Perhaps sensing her curiosity, Jiang Zhen leaned in and introduced the brand in a low voice: “This brand isn’t exceptionally famous, but it’s renowned for its fine craftsmanship and exquisite garments. A single dress can easily cost millions. Their outfits most recently appeared on the Bailan Awards red carpet, worn by a famous Golden Rabbit Award-winning actress.”
“By the way, do you know that actress? Her name is a household name,” Jiang Zhen asked with a smile.
Jiang Yin nodded and said, “I do.” Though she knew the name, she really had only heard of it; she couldn’t even recall what the actress’s face looked like.
As they spoke, Jiang Ling walked over and said to Jiang Yin, “A-Yin, let the tailor measure you first.”
Standing beside her was a kind, elderly female tailor. When she saw Jiang Yin, she couldn’t help but praise her, “This child has such elegant temperament. Truly Miss Jiang’s sister.”
Embarrassed by the praise, Jiang Yin followed the tailor upstairs.
“Miss Jiang mentioned you don’t particularly like wearing dresses,” the tailor said while working with a measuring tape. “I have indeed customized several styles of suits. Miss Jiang should have shown them to you already. What did you think?”
Being measured for custom clothes for the first time made Jiang Yin feel quite ill at ease. She forced herself to recall the images Jiang Ling had shown her and replied vaguely, “I liked them all.”
“You probably don’t follow these things much,” the tailor said with a smile. “I heard from Miss Jiang that you are studying at Jinghe University. How impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“What color do you prefer?”
Jiang Yin thought for a moment and asked, “What color do you think suits me?”
The tailor stepped back, looked her up and down, and mused, “You are young. A color like black might actually overshadow your temperament. In my opinion, white is best.”
“White it is then,” Jiang Yin smiled. “I trust your judgment.”
Downstairs, it was Jiang Zhen’s turn to be measured. Jiang Ling handed Jiang Yin a glass of warm water and chatted, “If Dad had told me the banquet date earlier, I could have picked an even better brand for you both.”
“This is perfectly fine.” Jiang Yin was not one for making a fuss. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Sister, there is so much I don’t know. Will I mess up at the banquet and be ridiculed?”
Startled by the question, Jiang Ling took a moment to react.
“No one dares to ridicule a daughter of the Jiang family. If they do, I certainly won’t let them get away with it.” She smiled and gently ruffled Jiang Yin’s hair.