Zhang Shutong sat down beside her, a rare moment of clarity cutting through the haze. He was about to ask how she planned to try anything on with those tights, but Gu Qiuyan had already slipped off her knee-high boots. It was only then that Zhang Shutong realized they were stirrup pants. She was tapping one fair foot, a single strap looped under her sole.
The clerk brought an anklet from a display case. It was made of silver. Gu Qiuyan bent over and fastened it around her ankle.
On most people, a silver accessory so close to the skin would only make it look sallow. But her skin was as white as snow, and for a moment, the contrast was almost blinding.
"How does it look?" she asked, looking up.
Zhang Shutong honestly thought it looked fine. He noticed her toenails were also painted red, glittering like tiny rubies under the lights. Gu Qiuyan curled her toes.
"Idiot."
"We’ll take it."
She instructed the clerk.
The first small paper box was now in Zhang Shutong’s hands.
The second shop was a handbag store. It was a mid-to-high-end label—not quite a luxury brand, but still a major international name. The bags inside went for several thousand yuan each. Gu Qiuyan, carrying her own white purse, browsed for a bit and then walked out. She had asked a few questions, but the salesperson’s attitude was lukewarm, even a little dismissive.
’Is it because her bag is too plain?’ Zhang Shutong guessed.
There was no visible logo or even any pattern—just diamond-shaped stitching.
’They probably thought she was just a broke student who wanted to window-shop.’
Zhang Shutong couldn’t tell how expensive her bag was either, but he felt like the clerk had just missed out on a cash cow.
They took the escalator to the third floor.
"What do you think of this tie?" Gu Qiuyan asked.
"I’d never wear it." Zhang Shutong had just realized this was a luxury boutique.
"It’s better to be prepared," she insisted.
"Right, right," Zhang Shutong said dismissively. ’The price of one tie could get me a top-of-the-line lure...’
"You can’t tie a fishing rod around your neck," Gu Qiuyan retorted.
Zhang Shutong was speechless.
Fortunately, the young missy’s attention had already moved elsewhere. She was looking at a silk ribbon. Zhang Shutong glanced at the price tag. Even though he’d expected it, the number was still staggering.
In the end, the silk ribbon wasn’t bought.
"You were looking at it for a long time."
"It’s not on sale. Forget it."
’Seriously?’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’You’re so "down-to-earth." The discount would be less than the bottle of red wine you drank at lunch.’
Regardless, the staff at this store were clearly well-trained. The moment they had walked in, two hot drinks were brought to them. Zhang Shutong took a sip; it was tea brewed with snow pear.
’As expected of a luxury boutique’s staff, their service is excellent,’ he mused. ’Can they really sense a person’s aura? Forget about me, but maybe they could tell Mianmian has an air of nobility about her?’
No one would believe it if he told them, but the truth was—
The great young missy had come to a luxury boutique just to freeload two cups of hot tea with him, ready to dust off her skirt and leave as soon as they were finished.
Just as they were about to leave, a clerk called out with a flattering smile:
"...Your handbag is one of our limited editions, isn’t it? When it was released, our stores couldn’t even get stock. I heard it was a huge hit online, even scalpers had a hard time getting one..."
Gu Qiuyan gave a casual nod in acknowledgment.
’All right then.’
’So they recognized its value after all.’
’So much for that "aura" nonsense.’
It made sense when Zhang Shutong thought about it. An ordinary person would never recognize the origin of her bag.
He glanced at the bag in his own hand. He never would have guessed the inconspicuous little thing was worth a five-figure sum.
After that, Gu Qiuyan became even more "down-to-earth," completely avoiding luxury boutiques. She ran back to the second floor and started browsing randomly in stores that sold small accessories.
’Rich people don’t live in a vacuum,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’Didn’t she eat steamed buns from the stall by the school gate?’
They had nearly scoured the entire mall, buying a pile of sparkly trinkets along the way. Finally, the two of them sat panting on a bench. Zhang Shutong looked at the jacket and paper bags in his hands and suddenly realized—’Why am I holding all this stuff?’ This didn’t seem right. He had just poked Gu Qiuyan when she put down her phone and exclaimed:
"It’s time!"
"Time for what?"
Zhang Shutong asked, confused.
"The movie! Ticket check is at two, that’s in ten minutes! We were supposed to meet up with the others..."
With that, she took off, her boots clattering on the escalator steps. Zhang Shutong sighed inwardly. ’I really must have had too much to drink today.’ Somehow, without him even knowing, they had bought movie tickets.
He followed at a slower pace.
The movie theater was on the top floor. Thankfully, the young missy didn’t make him run. Just as Zhang Shutong got off the escalator, he saw Gu Qiuyan already queuing at the popcorn counter.
Seeing the sign that read "Large Popcorn & Coke Combo: 50 Yuan," Zhang Shutong’s eyelid twitched. ’What happened to your "I’m not buying it unless it’s on sale" attitude from before?’ he wondered.
If it were him and his buddies, they would have bought snacks in advance and snuck them into the theater. But not Gu Qiuyan. She squeezed out of the line clutching two large buckets of popcorn. Zhang Shutong was about to offer a hand when she jutted her chin. "There’s one more bucket, and I don’t have any hands."
And so, the two of them sat down with three buckets of popcorn and five bottles of Coke. Zhang Shutong was feeling the sting in his wallet, but Gu Qiuyan was already munching happily on popcorn as she went to store their other things. She returned carrying just her handbag.
"Where’s everyone else?"
Only then did Zhang Shutong remember to pull out his phone and call Ruoping.
’Why is my brain so slow today?’
He thought, frustrated.
「1:55 PM.」
The five of them gathered in the movie theater lobby. Du Kang and Qingyi were also carrying plastic bags, clearly with snacks and drinks from a supermarket. They weren’t surprised by the popcorn, mainly because they hadn’t seen the price list.
Ruoping ran over to share snacks with Gu Qiuyan, while Zhang Shutong remembered to ask what movie they were seeing.
"Skyfall." Qingyi struck a signature turn-and-shoot pose.
’Of course,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’A chuunibyou’s favorite.’
Zhang Shutong was simply wondering how the handbag had ended up back in his possession. He followed the others through the ticket check. That was the good thing about being in a group—you didn’t have to worry about the details; someone else would muddle through and arrange everything.
Especially when there were two girls in the group who loved to take charge.
The boundary between the lobby and the theater proper was marked by a huge carpet. There was a big weekend crowd. He squeezed through with the flow of people, looking around. Suddenly, Zhang Shutong was glad his head felt fuzzy; otherwise, who knew what nostalgic feelings would have surfaced.
This was the same movie theater where he’d asked his *xuejie* out to a movie—though in the end, they never saw it, because he’d had to rewind time until he was exhausted to save a kidnapped child.
It was after that incident that Zhang Shutong had started wanting to get rid of that ability.
But that was all in the past.
Revisiting an old haunt, everything had changed, and the people had too. This mall was old. The lower floors had been renovated, but the movie theater was still the same. Zhang Shutong vaguely recalled that it wouldn’t get a complete overhaul and renovation until his first year of high school.
For instance, they were headed to Theater 6, and right next door, a "Closed for Maintenance" sign stood in front of Theater 5. He remembered times when the big screen would suddenly go black or the projector would abruptly die in the middle of a movie.
He looked up at the ceiling.
Soon they were inside the theater. Their seats were all together in the tenth row, near the aisle.
He was the last one in, so he naturally took the seat on the very end.
Someone handed him a bottle of water in the dark. He took it, knowing who it was just by the scent.
Usually when they watched movies, he liked to sit with Qingyi, as they both preferred quiet. Ruoping would sit with Du Kang, chatting in low voices. But this time, no one had planned the seating; they just sat down in the order they’d come in.
Gu Qiuyan had been further ahead in line, but she’d claimed something was on her boot. By the time she straightened up, she was right in front of him.
In short—
The two of them were "deskmates" again.
Gu Qiuyan was still a bit inexperienced. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have bought the jumbo-sized popcorn, as there was nowhere to put it. As soon as she sat down, she complained it was hot and wanted to tie up her hair. Zhang Shutong had no choice but to place her handbag in the aisle while he waited for her to finish.
But to his surprise, Gu Qiuyan never mentioned taking it back.
The movie started soon after.
She stared intently at the screen, occasionally reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn from the bucket he was holding. Zhang Shutong was about to say something, but she put a finger to her lips, signaling him not to disturb her.
As if to add weight to her gesture, she added:
"I don’t think I silenced my phone. It’s in the bag..."
’So you *do* remember your bag is with me.’
Zhang Shutong thought with resignation and was about to reach for the bag in the aisle.
But when he reached down...
He grabbed at empty air.
Zhang Shutong frowned and turned on his phone’s flashlight to check.
Gu Qiuyan’s bag was gone.