Chi Qingya’s gaze shifted to Chi Qingyao.
It wasn’t easy for Yao Yao to come to S City this once.
If she wanted to eat, Chi Qingya could treat her.
After all, she had saved up quite a bit of allowance lately.
Even though Chi Qingya felt that the expensive dishes on the menu weren’t necessarily good.
“Sis, are the expenses at your university always this high?”
“Actually… not that much.”
Chi Qingya held Chi Qingyao’s hand, a pang of guilt stirring in her heart.
As the older sister, her younger sister had come to visit, yet she couldn’t even manage to treat her to a meal.
How was she supposed to live in this city from now on?
She figured her sister probably wouldn’t want to come here again.
“If Yao Yao wants to eat, I can still afford it.”
Chi Qingya said, but Chi Qingyao’s gaze had already shifted to Caixiangxiang and the other two nearby.
“Your friends are all so rich, eating such expensive meals.”
“I have to scrimp and save just to put aside this much money.”
Chi Qingyao remarked with some emotion. She hadn’t expected her sister’s living expenses to be this high.
That meant when she came to S City for university, her parents would likely give her the same amount.
She couldn’t help but imagine how satisfying it would be to funnel all that money into the game.
“Sis, if I stay and eat, how will we handle the bill?”
“Will it be charged to you?”
“Or are these other sisters treating us?”
“The way they’re dressed up, they look pretty loaded, right?”
“If it’s too expensive, maybe we could just get a separate room. That way, you could save the money and send me a red envelope for the game.”
As Chi Qingyao spoke, Caixiangxiang and the others wore sour expressions.
They found Chi Qingyao utterly insufferable.
A country bumpkin, mercenary, and shortsighted.
All she talked about was money, like she’d never seen any before.
The things she said now left them awkward and at a loss for words.
There was no way they were treating Chi Qingyao to this meal.
First of all, the dishes they’d already ordered cost several thousand yuan.
And after that, whatever Chi Qingyao and Chi Qingyao added might total over ten thousand.
Even splitting it evenly would cost each of them nearly a month’s living expenses.
They needed to save their money for cosmetics and paying off Huabei. They didn’t have that kind of cash to blow on a single meal.
Plus, the food here only looked fancy; it wasn’t that good.
Coming here to eat already made them feel like suckers.
Having to pay afterward would only make it worse.
But they couldn’t say that out loud. If they did, Chi Qingya would probably leave without hesitation.
For now, the best they could do was keep Chi Qingya calm.
Maybe she’d end up paying the bill like she always did.
Even if Chi Qingya refused, they could find excuses to make her cover the cost first and figure it out later.
Her bumpkin sister was nothing but money-hungry and vulgar.
For now, they’d have to work on Chi Qingya herself.
“Ya Ya, this food is amazing. Your sister’s come all this way—how can you let her miss out?”
“Exactly, Ya Ya. Who knows when your sister will visit again? Don’t you want her to leave with some good memories?”
“Ya Ya, this olive meat duck is incredible. I promise you won’t be able to walk away after one bite!”
Seeing her friends’ enthusiastic demeanor, Chi Qingya turned her gaze to Chi Qingyao.
She didn’t care much about what she ate, as long as her sister was happy.
“As long as it’s not too expensive, I don’t mind eating with the sisters.”
“But you might’ve noticed, my clothes show I’m clearly from a small village.”
“Things here are still way too pricey.”
“Are we splitting the bill equally?”
Chi Qingyao looked nervously at Caixiangxiang and the others.
Chi Qingya squeezed her hand a little tighter, then felt her sister’s questioning gaze.
When she had meals with her friends before, she always paid.
AA was a term unfamiliar to Chi Qingya.
Could meals really be split that way?
But weren’t close friends supposed to treat each other in turns?
Her throat tightened, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
Caixiangxiang and the others exchanged glances.
AA?
How could it be AA?
If they wanted to split the bill, they wouldn’t have invited Chi Qingya in the first place.
Having called her here, wasn’t it obviously to make her pay?
Besides, even with AA, this meal was too expensive for them.
If they had planned to split it, they’d never have come to this restaurant.
Caixiangxiang winked at the two, and Chen Tangguan and Wei Yanxi immediately caught her meaning.
She wanted to stabilize Chi Qingya first.
Once Chi Qingya was settled, everything else could be handled.
It wasn’t like her sister would stick to her forever, right?
When her sister left, couldn’t they still make Chi Qingya pay?
The harder part was that Chi Qingya might not stay for the meal.
If she left, they’d already eaten so much.
The two of them could just get up and go, but leaving would be tough for the others.
If they kept Chi Qingya, the worst outcome was having two more people to share the cost.
Besides, they’d already ordered a huge table of food. Would Chi Qingya and her sister really order more and risk not finishing it?
Sure, bumpkins lacked sophistication, but they were good at saving. If they were frugal, wouldn’t that directly reduce their share?
After all, they were almost full anyway.
“Don’t worry about it, little sister. Do you think we’d make you pay?”
Caixiangxiang said with a smile, then looked at Chi Qingya in the distance.
Could Chi Qingya really avoid paying for her own sister’s meal?
Would she have the nerve?
Chi Qingya turned her gaze to Chi Qingyao, knowing her sister wanted to eat.
So she said softly:
“Don’t worry, Yao Yao. I have the money.”
“Since you came to see me, of course I’ll make sure you have fun.”
“If Yao Yao wants any skins, I’ll gift them to you after we eat.”
Chi Qingya looked at her sister and suddenly thought of Su Li.
She had already lost Su Li. She couldn’t lose anyone else close to her.
She couldn’t lose Yao Yao.
Besides, even though Yao Yao liked spending money on games, she still understood her situation.