Yang Ming laughed. It seemed that all girls liked these things! From her usual speech and behavior, Yang Ming recognized that Chen Mengyan’s family background was quite good. It was unexpected that she would buy items from the street vendors.
It was almost the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. Chen Mengyan hadn’t gone out shopping for quite some time. Last month, her favorite hair clip broke and she didn’t have time to get a new one. She had been substituting it with a rubber band. Now was a good chance for Chen Mengyan to get a couple of them.
If Chen Mengyan wasn’t the girl he liked, Yang Ming would have gone berserk! It took so long to choose a hair clip! However, every moment that Yang Ming could stay with Chen Mengyan counted. How could he be against it?
He saw other gentlemen accompanying their partner standing aside like him and Yang Ming finally found a psychological balance.
Finally, after Chen Mengyan looked over many hair clips, she picked up two of them and asked, “Yang Ming, which one of these are prettier?” When girls buy stuff, they always ask for an opinion if their friends were with them.
“They are all pretty nice looking! In fact, you are naturally beautiful. These items are just complementary!” Yang Ming didn’t intend to sound indifferent. First, both of the hair clips were great. Secondly, Chen Mengyan would still be dazzlingly beautiful without dressing up.
“You have a smooth tongue. I won’t ask you anymore! Nothing you said was helpful at all!” Chen Mengyan rolled her eyes but she felt delighted deep down in her heart. There wouldn’t be any girl who disliked others’ compliments!
Actually, Chen Mengyan wanted them both. It was just out of habit that she asked for Yang Ming’s opinion.
“I want both of these. How much will that be?” Chen Mengyan took the hair accessories and handed them to the street vendor.
“This one is fifteen and that one is twenty. It will be a total of thirty-five yuan.” The street vendor looked at the hairpins in Chang Mengyan’s hand.
“Why is it so expensive?” Chen Mengyan complained.
“It isn’t expensive, young lady. Look at the surface; it is covered with rhinestones. What’s more is that it is glued with green adhesive. It is waterproof!” The street vendor explained.
“Thirty yuan!” After she thought about it, Chen Mengyan offered a price that she could accept.
Chen Mengyan’s behavior surprised Yang Ming. He initially thought that a girl from such a wonderful family background must have a lot of pocket-money. It was unexpected that she would negotiate a better price when she shopped at street vendors! This made Yang Ming feel very pleased. What came to Yang Ming’s mind was that if Chen Mengyan became his girlfriend in the future, he would need to spend a lot. Now it seemed that Chen Mengyan wasn’t an extravagant person.
“This… alright! I can’t earn any money like this!” said the street vendor as he bitterly smiled.
Chen Mengyan noticed the street vendor accepted her offer. She happily went to take her money out of her pocket. After fumbling for a little while, her expression changed as she secretly thought to herself, This is bad! I forgot to put in my wallet after I changed my clothes yesterday! Due to the exam this morning, my dad was afraid that I would be late so he dropped me off at school! Oh, shoot! Forget about buying things. I would need to walk home later! What matters is the incident in front of my eyes. The price negotiation has already come to an end. If I refuse to buy the items, the street vendor will not be willing to let that happen! I will be embarrassed if the spoken words are not nice by then! But, nothing else can be done. Chen Mengyan gritted her teeth and decided to say, “I don’t want it anymore.” What is the big deal of being humiliated with a few words?
Chen Mengyan’s expression was seen by Yang Ming’s eyes. He noticed that Chen Mengyan fumbled in her pocket for a long time but still didn’t draw anything out from it and she had an anxious look. Yang Ming then understood the situation. He promptly used his “x-ray vision” and looked at Chen Mengyan’s pocket. He discovered that besides the admission card for the entrance examination, there was nothing else!
She forgot to bring money in the first place! How could a hero not offer his help when a pretty girl was in trouble!
Recently, Yang Ming made a small fortune. He was unlike the poor fellow before. Just now, he wanted to treat Chen Mengyan but he was afraid that she would refuse and make him embarrassed. Now, it was great because Yang Ming expected that Chen Mengyan would accept it!
Having come to this conclusion, Yang Ming took out thirty yuan from his pocket and gave it to the street vendor without saying anything. The couples beside them always had the gentlemen paying. Thus, the street vendor didn’t think too much about it as he collected the money naturally and put it into his fanny pack.
As expected, Chen Mengyan didn’t mutter any words. She quietly accepted both of the hair clips and put them into her school bag but she was blushing. The interaction between her and Yang Ming just now was like a couple on a date on the street!
“I will return the money back to you… ” Chen Mengyan was nervous. She held it inside her for quite a long while before uttering these words!
“Uhm?” Yang Ming didn’t understand. How did she find out that I knew she didn’t bring her money? But, he didn’t think about it any further and said, “No need to repay me. The items aren’t that expensive. It is a thank you for tutoring me all this time. I ought to give you some small gift!”
After listening, Chen Mengyan smiled sweetly and didn’t say anything more. Actually, Chen Mengyan said those words subconsciously from a girl’s demureness. She didn’t think further about it since they were good friends. Acting like strangers would be artificial.
They continued shopping for a while. Since Chen Mengyan knew that she didn’t have money in her pocket, she didn’t buy any more items.
She wasn’t a girl who liked to spend a guy’s money unlike some of the other girls in society. When they went out with guys, they would think of ways to have them buy this and that.
Chen Mengyan’s house wasn’t close by. She took public transportation to school. Yang Ming accompanied her to the bus stop and waited with her.
“Which bus?” Yang Ming simply asked. He just wanted to know Chen Mengyan’s house address.
“Both 114 and 87 are good!” Chen Mengyan didn’t hide anything from Yang Ming.
“Oh yeah, do you have change in your pockets?” Yang Ming suddenly thought about a serious issue. That would be that Chen Mengyan forgot to bring money! Hence, without waiting for Chen Mengyan’s reply, he took out a one yuan coin and stuffed it into Chen Mengyan’s hand. “Luckily, I have a coin with me!”
Chen Mengyan was stunned. Her heart was filled with gratitude but she didn’t know what to say. How could he know that Chen Mengyan didn’t bring her money? Was it an unintentional act? However, Chen Mengyan quickly ruled out that Yang Ming did that inadvertently! It was because there wouldn’t be anyone who simply stuffed a coin into another’s hand.
Oh, yes. Just now, I mentioned that I would pay him back. It must be this sentence that helped him to realize that I didn’t bring any money or else, why wouldn’t I pay him back now but rather tomorrow? Having these thoughts made Chen Mengyan deeply touched in her heart. Yang Ming’s outer appearance seemed careless but it never crossed her mind that he was thoughtful and considerate! Moreover, his words obviously intentionally kept her from feeling embarrassed and that was the reason he phrased it that way.