☆, Chapter 15: Shopping
Stepping into a department store filled with famous brands for the first time, Hao Ren was truly shaken. Not only was she stunned by the luxurious decor as soon as she entered, but she was also shocked by the price tags in the store.
Although she was already mentally prepared and determined to extort a large sum from Hao Weiguo, she still couldn’t bring herself to buy the clothes with so many zeros on the price tag that it took a while to count. Her small-citizen mentality couldn’t help but calculate how many days these clothes could feed her, a cat, and a dog.
She had only been joking with Hao Yi, but now, judging by the looks of the sales assistants, she and Hao Yi had perfectly fit the image she had just set.
“Everything she just looked at, wrap it up in a size S!” That bastard Hao Yi was definitely doing it on purpose. Before Hao Ren could finish her internal struggle, he had already thrown out his own bank card.
The few sales assistants, whose expressions had already turned a little ugly, immediately put on an attentive look.
“How embarrassing! You…” Hao Yi looked as if he was disappointed in her for failing to meet his expectations. He casually took a ladylike, sleeveless white lace dress from a nearby rack and threw it at Hao Ren. “Quick, go change into it for me right now!”
Hao Ren had originally wanted to look at the price tag, but seeing Hao Yi’s already darkened face, she managed to suppress the urge.
She had to admit, a dress was indeed much more comfortable than a T-shirt and shorts. After changing out of the outfit Auntie Zhang had bought for her, Hao Ren felt a sense of relief all over her body. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure everything was fine before walking out.
“Clothes really do make the man! Handsome, your little girlfriend looks really beautiful in our clothes!” Indeed, this misunderstanding was huge…
“He’s actually my…”
Hao Ren was about to deny it, but Hao Yi beat her to it. “Of course! My girlfriend is naturally beautiful!”
Hao Ren could only swallow the rest of her sentence. Half-siblings of about the same age—it really wasn’t something to be proud of. A misunderstanding was a misunderstanding. Anyway, she wouldn’t have any contact with those sales assistants in the future.
“Yes, not bad, not bad! Just missing a pair of shoes! Let’s keep shopping!” After paying, Hao Yi picked up the things and prepared to leave with Hao Ren.
“What about the clothes you changed out of?” A sales assistant hurriedly brought out the T-shirt and jeans Hao Ren had changed out of from the fitting room.
“Wrap them up for me…” The moment the words left her mouth, Hao Ren regretted it. In fact, she had been tolerating Auntie Zhang’s taste for many years. Even if she took them back, she would never wear them again, but she just couldn’t bear to throw them away. It was indeed a small-citizen mentality.
“Just throw them away!” Compared to Hao Ren, Hao Yi was much more decisive.
The sales assistant looked at Hao Ren, then at Hao Yi, her expression conflicted.
“Throw… throw them away…” After a long internal struggle, Hao Ren finally decided to satisfy the young master Hao Yi.
“That’s a good girl!” Seeing this, that bastard Hao Yi actually reached out and patted her head. Hao Ren roared internally, who’s the older one here!
His pat was one thing, but it actually knocked off the hair tie that was holding Hao Ren’s hair. After removing the hair tie, he even reached out and shook out Hao Ren’s loose hair for her.
“Hmm, your hair looks better down.”
“It’s hot!”
“Hot my foot, the air conditioning is so low in here!”
Only when Hao Yi said that did Hao Ren feel that the temperature here was indeed a bit cool. Without a comb, her hair would be a mess if she tied it up again. She could only comfort herself by thinking that at least it would keep her neck warm.
“Darling, you’re so beautiful!” That guy Hao Yi started talking in that same joking tone from the road. After speaking, he even took out his phone, pulled Hao Ren into his arms, and took a picture with a click.
“Hey, are you done playing?”
“Hehehe…”
For the sake of her good mood today, Hao Ren decided not to stoop to this joker’s level for the time being.
The two of them, along with one cat and one dog, continued their shopping spree. After buying two pairs of ladylike sandals that matched the dress, Hao Ren continued to look at clothes at Hao Yi’s suggestion. Anyway, Hao Weiguo’s money was there to be spent.
Fresh and pure, Mori girl style, European and American style, mix and match style…
With the grand goal of filling her closet, these two didn’t treat money as money at all. They would enter a store and go on a wild shopping spree, not looking at the price, not trying anything on. As long as it looked good and the size was right, they would take it. At first, Hao Ren was a little reserved, but under the guidance of the veteran tall, rich, and handsome Hao Yi, she soon became at ease. Today was probably a happy day for many people in this department store.
They only stopped when their four hands could no longer carry any more. There was no way the two of them could carry so many things home. Hao Yi called the driver who had taken them to the pet hospital earlier, and the two of them bought an ice cream each and sat on a bench in the first-floor lobby to eat and rest. As for Daizi and Lucky, they were each rewarded with a roasted sausage and were now gnawing on them furiously.
Hao Ren’s gaze swept over the shopping bags on the floor, and she silently repented for her recent madness. The shopping bags were filled with a large pile of clothes and shoes of different styles and brands, including some items that were completely unlike her style, such as goddess-like long dresses, miniskirts, and high heels… In her past life, she would have died before wearing such clothes, but now was different. Only after having lost it did she know the value of youth. Youth is fleeting. If you don’t wear some clothes now, you’ll never have the chance to wear them again.
Just as she had said to the camera: The most important thing in life is to enjoy your youth and enjoy life!
“Spacing out again! You’ve got ice cream on your nose!”
Before Hao Ren could react, Hao Yi had already reached out his finger and scraped off the bit of ice cream on the tip of her nose. And after scraping it off, that bastard actually put it in his mouth with a look of enjoyment.
“Hey, still playing…”
“Hehehe…” The joker’s smile was very bright.
To pass the time, Hao Ren licked her ice cream and looked around aimlessly. To her surprise, she actually saw an acquaintance.
The class beauty! Although it had only been a few days for others, for Hao Ren, it had been many years since she had last seen this high school class beauty, so she stared at the girl not far away for a long time before she dared to confirm her judgment.
In fact, Hao Ren didn’t have a good impression of that girl. She was a spoiled young lady who had been pampered at home. Not a good girl with a superior family background but a kind heart like “Don’t Love You At All,” but a snob who liked to bully the weak and fear the strong, stepping on the low and climbing up to the high.
That girl, along with the school beauty and their group of “pale, rich, and beautiful” girls, had formed a small clique that ordinary people could only look up to. They called themselves the “Angel Alliance,” and their favorite thing to do was to trample on grassroots girls like Hao Ren who were good-looking but had no background—or so they thought. Hao Ren had always secretly felt that those girls must have watched too many shoujo manga and damaged their brains. They were always afraid that they would accidentally become the tragic female supporting character in a manga, so they decided to get rid of the female protagonist before the male protagonist even appeared, to eliminate future troubles.
Perhaps it was Hao Ren’s burning gaze that attracted her attention. Just as Hao Ren was about to lower her head, the class beauty’s sharp gaze shot over like an arrow.
“You are… Hao Ren?” Perhaps because Hao Ren had changed her clothes, the girl sized her up for a long time before she dared to be sure.
Hao Ren nodded.
And so, she immediately felt the way the class beauty looked at her change. Today was only the second day after the interview, and the TV program hadn’t aired yet, so the class beauty’s gaze at Hao Ren still held an undisguised contempt.
“Who are you?” Even Hao Yi could feel the contempt in her eyes and immediately asked with some displeasure. After asking, he shot the class beauty a cold glance, a look even more contemptuous than the one she had just given Hao Ren.
“A classmate.” Hao Ren answered casually, not even telling Hao Yi the class beauty’s name. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say it, but that after so many years, she had completely forgotten what the class beauty’s name was. Time was indeed a good medicine for healing emotional wounds. Even though she had been bullied so badly by them back then, she couldn’t even remember their names now.
“My name is Ning Xiuxiu, and I’m Hao Ren’s classmate.” Perhaps she was blinded by the tycoon aura emanating from Hao Yi, or perhaps she simply wanted to make a good impression on a handsome guy, but the class beauty actually spoke in a rare, pleasant tone.
“Hello!” Probably still angry about the way the class beauty had looked at Hao Ren just now, Hao Yi only gave a lazy greeting upon hearing her words, not even looking at her directly.
The class beauty’s smiling face was met with a cold shoulder, and her expression immediately fell.
“Your boyfriend?” When she spoke to Hao Yi, her tone was so normal, but when she faced Hao Ren, her tone immediately revealed an unconcealable arrogance. What was worse was that there was even a sneer at the corner of her mouth.
Hao Ren didn’t react, but Hao Yi instantly bristled. Before Hao Ren could speak, he pulled her into his arms and said coldly, “That’s right, I’m her boyfriend!”
Suddenly being pulled into someone’s arms, Hao Ren reflexively gave Hao Yi an elbow jab.
“Darling, you’re too cruel…” Hao Yi, who had stepped up to defend her, wanted to cry but had no tears.
“Sorry, sorry, Honey, how are you? Are you hurt?” The moment she had thrown that elbow jab, Hao Ren immediately regretted it. The opportunity to take revenge on the class beauty was right in front of her! And she had been so stupid as to not cherish it!
She quickly tried to make amends, desperately rubbing Hao Yi’s chest. Fortunately, that guy Hao Yi quickly recovered and even showed a blissful smile that would make others envious.
The class beauty hadn’t believed in their relationship at first, but seeing their interaction now, the expression on her face instantly stiffened.
“Cousin, cousin, I recognize him! He’s Hao Yi, the most popular boy from Yuntian High School! His dad is the richest man, Hao Weiguo!” As if she wasn’t embarrassed enough, the class beauty’s clueless little cousin’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she stared at Hao Yi with the adoring gaze of a die-hard fan.
“Hi!” Hearing this, Hao Yi gave a courteous wave to the little cousin.
“I heard that even your principal has to listen to you. Is that true?” She was indeed a die-hard fan. If reality were a manga, the little cousin’s eyes would be sparkling with stars right now.
“The school belongs to my dad, not me. How could the principal possibly listen to me!” Hao Yi was very calm, probably having encountered similar situations many times before.
Only then did Hao Ren remember that Yuntian High School also seemed to be an industry of the Hao Corporation. It was indeed a completely different style from her own… That guy Hao Yi was the perfect image of a Japanese shoujo manga male protagonist. Compared to her, this miserable Cinderella-like older sister, what a shameful and heartbreaking image that was! She suddenly couldn’t help but want to pinch him hard.
“Ow—”
“Sorry!” Realizing that her hand was tightly pinching the flesh on Hao Yi’s arm, Hao Ren quickly apologized! She had lost control in a moment of anger and had accidentally pinched him for real.
“This is outrageous! You pinch me just for talking to other girls. What will you do in the future… I’m going to go tell my dad!” That guy Hao Yi was still immersed in his act and hadn’t come out yet, his face mournful and resentful.
“Oh, you’ve bought so much!” Speak of the devil. Just as Hao Yi mentioned his dad, his dad actually appeared.
The class beauty was indeed “pale, rich, and beautiful.” She even knew Hao Weiguo. Seeing Hao Weiguo appear, she immediately greeted him respectfully as “Uncle Hao.” Hao Weiguo smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with her. After the pleasantries, he even shot Hao Ren a contemptuous glance, clearly a show of force.
“Dad…” Hao Ren rarely called Hao Weiguo “Dad” outside. She deliberately called him that now only because someone’s arrogant expression was too punchable. It was a rare opportunity to slap someone in the face, so why not take it?
“Mm.” Hao Weiguo smiled and nodded at Hao Ren.
Huh, wait! Only after calling him that did Hao Ren realize that something seemed wrong. Hao Yi had just admitted that he was her boyfriend, so what did this “Dad” mean…
Crap! Hao Ren felt a herd of grass mud horses stampede through her heart. And Hao Weiguo’s slightly unfamiliar yet feignedly close expression was just like a father-in-law facing his new daughter-in-law. Feeling the class beauty’s burning gaze of envy, jealousy, and hatred, Hao Ren felt like dying. In a moment of carelessness, her own father had become her father-in-law.
“Old Wang has something to do today. I happened to be nearby talking business with a client, so I came over to pick you all up. Are you done shopping? If you’re done, let’s go.” Hao Weiguo was completely oblivious to the strange atmosphere among these brats. He and the driver came over to help carry Hao Ren’s pile of shopping bags.
“You can keep that card. I’ll transfer your university living expenses directly to your card in the future.”
“Okay!”
“Speaking of university, your Auntie Mei received calls from several universities today. Have you decided which one you want to go to?”
“Not yet.”
Before leaving, Hao Ren secretly glanced at the class beauty. Sure enough, she was now gritting her teeth, looking as if she wanted to pounce on her and tear her to shreds. It seemed that her status as the public enemy of the “Angel Alliance” was something she could never escape!
Considering the grades and family backgrounds of the flowers of the “Angel Alliance,” Hao Ren suddenly had an ominous premonition that her future university life would be very interesting.