After getting dressed and washed, it should have been time to eat, but Qin Haiyue didn’t know how to cook, and Ye Xingmian didn’t want to cook for her. The massive villa didn’t employ any chefs or maids, so if they wanted breakfast, the two of them had to go out.
Carrying her backpack, she followed Qin Haiyue to the villa’s main gate, and the door automatically locked behind them. Parked at the entrance was the same car that had brought them there last night, with the same middle-aged driver wearing sunglasses and earplugs inside.
They got into the car in silence. Whether it was her imagination or not, Ye Xingmian felt like the driver took an extra look at her.
“Eldest Miss, I bought breakfast for you both. Eat it while it’s hot.”
The driver handed over a bag of buns that was still giving off the aroma of meat.
Qin Haiyue glanced at the girl, seemingly wanting her to take it. This made the girl hesitate.
“Is it for me…?”
“Who else would it be for?” Qin Haiyue’s tone was a bit harsh, but the girl felt a small wave of happiness in her heart. She hadn’t eaten meat buns in a long time.
After taking the bag, the driver handed over a cup of milk tea. After asking Qin Haiyue with her eyes, the girl placed the things on the small folding table located in the center of the front seats to use as a temporary dining table.
The two of them shared the buns, and they each had one cup of milk tea. The driver sat in the front with a smile, seemingly in no rush.
“There’s no need for you two to rush. There is still some time before class, so you can finish eating here before we go.”
Beside her, Qin Haiyue clearly didn’t care about what he said. After all, being late didn’t matter to her; no one could punish her anyway. This made the girl feel like the driver’s words were directed more toward her.
Finding someone who seemed kind was a rare treat, and Ye Xingmian was a bit happy. She timidly offered her thanks and continued to stuff food into her small mouth.
She didn’t eat much. Because she was often unable to eat her fill, her stomach capacity was quite small, leaving four or five buns behind. Even though Qin Haiyue could eat more than her, there were still leftovers.
“I can’t eat any more. Do you want them?” Qin Haiyue asked the driver coldly.
Looking back, the driver said with a chuckle, “Eldest Miss, I already ate on the way here, so I’ll pass.”
“Then throw them away.”
Qin Haiyue handed the bag over with a look of disgust, but the girl beside her suddenly let out a cry of surprise.
“Eh, eh, eh?!”
“What’s wrong with you?” Frowning as she turned around, she saw the pink-eyed girl looking anxious.
“Wh… why throw them away…”
“What else are we going to do with them? Feed them to dogs?”
“Uh… so… sorry…” The girl originally wanted to say she could take them if they weren’t wanted, but after hearing Qin Haiyue’s words, her eyes dimmed, and she lowered her head.
Her chest felt tight and uncomfortable.
Qin Haiyue stared at her for a while and eventually concluded that this was a sickness caused by being poor.
“Tch.” Feeling a bit irritable, she tossed the buns to the driver, watching him step out of the car before turning to look at the girl beside her.
“Do you have a cell phone?”
“Ah? No… I don’t…”
“That’s quite a hassle,” Qin Haiyue muttered to herself. Based on her understanding of kids from poor backgrounds, giving her money now would probably win her a lot of favor. She didn’t actually care about the girl’s favor, she just found this pathetic, impoverished look embarrassing. After all, even though her making the girl her lover was just for show—essentially just a toy—the title was already out there, so she had to care at least a little.
She rummaged through her pockets; fortunately, she had some cash on her. Not much, just two hundred yuan. Frowning, she handed the money to the girl.
“Here. There are some perks to being my lover. Take this as your allowance.”
“Ah? But…” Seeing the full two hundred yuan in the other’s hand, the girl was momentarily stunned. To the current her, this amount was practically a fortune. It was already hard to accept, let alone coming from Qin Haiyue, which made it even harder.
“Hey—I told you to take it!” Her tone was noticeably more impatient, even carrying a hint of a threat. The girl’s body trembled, and she finally took the money from her hand hesitantly.
Even though it was a gift of money, she was so indecisive; it really had a bit of a pretentious vibe to it. Biting her lip, the girl felt uncomfortable again for some reason as she carefully tucked the money into her pocket.
At that moment, the driver finally returned. He opened the car door and sat back in the driver’s seat.
“Go to a phone store,” Qin Haiyue said.
“Hmm? Don’t we need to go to school first?”
“No, I need to buy her a phone first.”
“Eh?! A phone?”
The girl’s reactions were always so startled. Qin Haiyue covered her forehead in annoyance, her tone turning nasty.
“Yes. Can you stop shouting all the time? If you do it again, get out!”
“Ah? Oh… okay… okay…”
Buying me a phone? It feels like a dream…
How strange, why is Qin Haiyue being so nice to her? Giving her money and now buying a phone; she almost thought Qin Haiyue had changed her nature, a world of difference from the person she was two days ago.
However, there was always a faint sense of unease. If facing Liu Yinuo’s kindness made her feel guilt and a desire to repay her, then facing Qin Haiyue’s kindness made her feel fear…
As the saying goes, when the weasel pays a New Year’s visit to the chicken, it is never with good intentions.
Although the girl’s suspicion wasn’t actually wrong, she remained silent the whole way, brought to the phone store without any power to resist.
“We’re here. Are you getting out?”
“Ah? I’ll pass…” Looking at the exquisite and transparent decorations inside the store, the girl felt a sense of inferiority, as if she didn’t belong. She simply lowered her head and shrank back into the car.
“Fine.” Having expected this reaction, Qin Haiyue didn’t say much. About ten minutes later, she picked out a phone in the store, got a SIM card for the girl, and returned to the car.
Everything happened so quickly that by the time Qin Haiyue brought the brand-new phone to her, she hadn’t even reacted.
“Here.”
She handed it over along with the phone box.
“Ah… thank… thank you…” So fast. There was a sense of ethereal unreality. The girl carefully took the heavy phone, making sure not to drop it. She pressed the power button, and the screen lit up. It all seemed so illusory. A phone was actually something the girl had dreamed of, because with it, she could call her mother, understand her classmates’ topics, and perhaps she wouldn’t be so lonely anymore. Maybe she could escape her inferiority and make friends.
She stole a glance at Qin Haiyue. The other girl’s expression was still cold, but as she hugged the phone, a sweet smile unconsciously tugged at the corners of her mouth.
At this moment, she truly felt happy.