“Ju’er, what’s this?”
Jiang Xiao looked at the text on the paper, his expression shaken.
These 200 million dollars could only be—the promise they had made back then!
Seven days later, if he still liked her, he would owe Song Qiuyu and Shen Xi 100 million dollars each, totaling 200 million dollars.
But he pretended not to remember, looking up at his girlfriend with a somewhat bewildered expression.
“It’s that thing.”
Song Qiuyu seemed to hesitate for a moment, then grew a bit annoyed.
“That thing?”
Jiang Xiao tilted his head, the feigned confusion in his eyes deepening by another degree.
“…”
Song Qiuyu pressed her lips together, staying silent.
After a long moment, she gritted her teeth and reached out to take the paper back, but grabbed nothing but air.
“So Xi’er wants me to pay the bride price in advance, huh? And 200 million dollars at that—what an outrageous demand.”
Jiang Xiao let out a light sigh.
“This was something I was going to give you!”
Song Qiuyu stomped her foot in anger.
“Huh?”
Jiang Xiao was taken aback, staring at her pretty face that was about to flare up in exasperation, a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Seeing the amusement in Jiang Xiao’s eyes, Song Qiuyu’s face flushed bright red.
She bit her lip, forcing the words out from between her teeth: “Or rather, it’s our future…”
“The start-up funds for getting married and buying a house and a car in the future!”
She braced herself and met her boyfriend’s deepening gaze, her cheeks burning hotter the more she spoke, until her head felt dizzy from the heat.
“But don’t get too cocky. This bride price isn’t something I’m giving alone. You…”
As she spoke up to that point, in Song Qiuyu’s eyes, Jiang Xiao suddenly lowered his head, pulled a piece of paper from his own pocket, and handed it to her.
This piece of paper was also torn from the kind of notebook you could buy at any stationery store.
“Why don’t you take a look too?”
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu froze, as if she had suddenly awakened X-ray vision. She could easily “see” the words written on the paper.
Given this situation, this atmosphere, it could only be one thing.
Could it be that they had been thinking the same thing?
Her mind was buzzing a little as she slowly took the paper and unfolded it.
Sure enough, it was the same kind of fake check, written for a bride price of 200 million dollars!
Her nose tingled slightly, her eyes felt hot, and she sniffled softly, “Jiang Xiao, how could you…”
“That should be my line. When it comes to paying the bride price, it should be the guy who says it first.”
Jiang Xiao pinched her hot, soft fleshy cheek. After just two pinches, tears welled up in her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.
He gently wiped away that crystalline teardrop with his thumb, “Because the bride price is for someone worthy of being loved. And you, Xi’er, are that someone worthy of love.”
With that, he lowered his head and kissed the corner of her reddened eye with a smile.
Feeling Jiang Xiao’s feather-light kiss, Song Qiuyu’s heartbeat quickened. She clutched the paper in her hand tightly.
She poked his chest with a grin, “Well, sorry to say, I got a head start. Because in my eyes, Jiang Xiao, you are also ve—ry—worth—it!”
After saying that, she stared at him without blinking, completely locking onto his eyes.
“Ahem… since you know you should be sorry, why don’t you hurry up and treat me to an ice cream?”
It was fine when he said it himself, but hearing such flirtatious words come from his girlfriend’s mouth, combined with their locked gazes, Jiang Xiao couldn’t handle it anymore.
His ears burned as he turned his head away and gestured with his chin toward the shop nearby.
“Alright, alright. I’ll go buy it right now!”
Song Qiuyu glanced at Jiang Xiao’s shy expression, let out a satisfied hum, and nodded.
With that, she asked about his preferred flavor, then turned and ran off.
Watching his girlfriend buy ice cream for him, the corners of Jiang Xiao’s mouth lifted in a smile.
Then he looked down at the fake check in his hand, his gaze turning deep.
He knew exactly what Xi’er wanted. He just never expected she would hand him exactly what he wanted at the same time.
Double the bride price. That would be their goal for the next three years!
All so they could get married right after graduation.
They had to work hard.
A moment later, they sat down in a milk tea shop, enjoying the air conditioning and mooching off the Wi-Fi to take a short break.
Both of them were a little nervous about what they planned to do next. The words the adults had said before they left home weighed heavily on them.
“Ju’er, whenever you’re ready, just tell me. I’m free anytime.”
Jiang Xiao took a deep breath and said, being gentlemanly.
“Ah, that’ll probably still be a while.”
Song Qiuyu said demurely.
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao nodded.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu felt annoyed again.
Did she really have to be the one to say it before he would book a room? Wasn’t that the same as asking her to say ‘take me’?! Damn it!
She calmed down for a bit, then decided to change the subject.
“Jiang Xiao, there’s still quite a bit of time left this summer. How are you planning to spend the rest of it?”
At the same time, she was browsing the internet to see what people thought about the Gender Transition Illness.
The illness had been made public for almost an entire day and night now, and the online buzz about it hadn’t died down at all.
In fact, it had even spurred a surge in popularity for gender-bender-themed literary and video works.
A number of self-media influencers had also jumped on this trend, starting to churn out short videos aimed at stirring up the crowd.
In these provocative short videos, it was easy to spot a few familiar faces. Among them was her own.
As she watched, she couldn’t help but feel she’d been too lackadaisical. Her peers were all scrambling to leech off the hype, while she was out on a date with Jiang Xiao, her mind full of nothing but dirty thoughts.
But then again, even if she weren’t on a date, she probably wouldn’t be filming short videos right now.
Hype was important, sure, but quality in short videos was key.
Besides, this was the hard-earned summer vacation after being trapped in school like a prisoner for an entire semester.
Whether it was Xie Zhuran, Lin An, or anyone else, everyone was enjoying their break.
Especially Lin An. He was still on his honeymoon with Xia Qi.
She wasn’t some kind of demon who would drag them all behind a camera at a time like this.
“Oh, right. Didn’t Uncle and Auntie say they were going to Hawaii to escape the heat?”
Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, then said.
“They did mention that!”
Song Qiuyu replied.
“And, Lin An and Xia Qi’s honeymoon spot is Hawaii too.”
Jiang Xiao continued.
“Mm, seems like that’s right…”
Song Qiuyu said thoughtfully.
After all, it was even hotter this year. If they were going on a honeymoon, they might as well go somewhere to cool off. Hawaii was definitely a good choice.
But speaking of going to Hawaii, she hadn’t even bought a swimsuit yet. She’d have to find some time to go shopping for one.
“How about we invite Xie Zhuran and Sang Tian to come along to Hawaii with us, too? What do you think?”
Jiang Xiao blinked.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu was taken aback for a moment.
Then she mulled over the feasibility of the idea. Invite Lao Xie and the others along for fun, and maybe squeeze in a short video shoot while they were at it? Seemed… doable, didn’t it?
“Should we call Jiang Li and Jiang Yu too?”
As soon as she said that, she felt something was off. If all of them kids were going on a trip to escape the heat, it felt wrong not to drag the adults along!
But if they invited everyone, how many people would that be?
Back when she had very few close friends, she never had to worry about this kind of problem. Now that she had more friends, things had gotten complicated all at once.
“Alright, alright. Leave this to me.”
Seeing his girlfriend’s troubled expression, Jiang Xiao let out a laugh.
He busied himself with his phone for a while, then paused.
He looked up at her and spoke, “Xie Zhuran and the others are asking about your audition, Xi’er.”
“Oh, that. Just tell them the truth. It’s all in the past now.”
Song Qiuyu said, unconcerned.
“Alright.”
Jiang Xiao continued fiddling with his phone.
Song Qiuyu didn’t stay idle either. She opened up a shopping app and started browsing for swimsuits.
She had to go to Hawaii looking like Jiang Xiao’s favorite.
On the other end.
Receiving the message from Jiang Xiao, Xie Zhuran rubbed his chin, his brow furrowed.
So Lao Song’s audition got canceled, huh. That really was a sad thing.
Sure enough, love and bread don’t mix.
But this love sure was high-grade. Lao Jiang actually went all the way to find Lao Song. The execution was maxed out.
Even if Lao Song were still a guy, he might have gritted his teeth and agreed to marry him by now.
His expression turned somber and world-weary.
He let out a deep sigh as he stared at the invitation from his roommate.
Almost instantly, countless scenarios played out in his mind.
Would…
Jiang Li be going too?