Chapter 36: Patience
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Patience
[Your debit card account ending in 2447 has received a UnionPay deposit of 100,582.00 yuan. Balance after transaction...]
Zhang Yan casually glanced at the text message and put his phone away. Sure enough, just as he had guessed, the funds were issued as a reimbursement.
"Yan, you’ve already bought me so many expensive things. My head is spinning. It’s really enough!"
"All right, then just one last thing."
Originally, Zhang Yan had planned to buy her a necklace, a bracelet, rings, shoes... basically everything he could buy today. He wanted to shower her with a bombardment of lavish gifts to completely shatter all of Chi Xinyue’s emotional defenses. Anyway, Brother Tongzi would foot the bill in the end.
However, seeing that her reaction didn’t seem faked—she genuinely didn’t want him to buy her anything else—Zhang Yan decided to respect her wishes. Holding Chi Xinyue’s hand, he walked into Bulgari.
"Hello, sir. What would you like to see today? I can introduce some of our collections to you."
The Bulgari sales associate was an older woman who appeared more composed, and her address to him was correspondingly formal.
"No need. I already have my eye on a necklace from the B.Zero1 collection. Just take us straight to it."
"Right this way, sir."
Zhang Yan’s interest in this particular necklace was entirely because he was scrolling through pretty girls on social me—ahem, because while he was painstakingly picking out a gift for Chi Xinyue, he came across a necklace known as the "Small Waist." His interest had been piqued immediately. Wasn’t this a piece of jewelry custom-made for her?
However, upon seeing the actual item, Zhang Yan found that the so-called "Small Waist" was a bit too dainty. In comparison, the larger version was much more to his satisfaction. He held both necklaces and looked at Chi Xinyue. "Which one do you like? I think the bigger one looks nice."
Chi Xinyue hesitated for a moment before finally choosing the daintier one.
"All right, as long as you like it."
Guided by the sales associate, Zhang Yan paid for the 36,700 yuan Bulgari Small Waist necklace.
"Are you sure you don’t want to look around a bit more?"
Hearing this, Chi Xinyue shook her head vehemently. "Yan, I really, really, really don’t need anything else! My head is still spinning. I can hardly believe all these things were bought for me."
Zhang Yan pinched her adorable cheeks with both hands, pulling them into a few funny shapes. "Smile a little. You were so happy just a moment ago, and now you’re pouting again."
"Yan, I..."
Chi Xinyue desperately wanted to spill everything on her mind right then and there to ask for his help, but at the very moment the words reached her lips, she was gripped by a fear of losing what she had. She worried he would definitely be angry if he knew she had approached him with an ulterior motive from the start. He might even think her feelings for him were just a fake act. Would the relationship they had just managed to build be ruined in an instant?
She didn’t want to lose this connection, nor did she want to let down this man who treated her so well after only a few days of knowing each other—even if "letting him down" merely meant causing a misunderstanding that she had.
Watching her hesitate, Zhang Yan didn’t press the issue. He had plenty of patience now. He would wait for her to think things through and tell him everything herself. After all, if he ever got too anxious and worked up, he still had his annual arrangement with Yiyi to relieve the tension. But if the emotional foundation between him and Chi Xinyue wasn’t built properly, it would be extremely difficult to remedy later on.
"I’ll take you home in a bit. Get a good rest, and I’ll ask you out again tomorrow."
Seeing the panic in her eyes as she tried to explain something, Zhang Yan silenced her with a kiss. Fortunately, the current social climate was much more open. Even though the two of them were locked in a long embrace in the middle of a dense crowd, it didn’t seem... well, okay, it was still a bit eye-catching.
Passersby reacted in various ways—some covered their mouths and chuckled, some cast affectionate glances at their partners, and of course, some impolitely pulled out their phones to sneak a photo.
One of the people sneaking a photo muttered in confusion while looking at the man on his screen, "Huh, doesn’t that guy look like Zhang Yan?" However, he quickly shrugged it off, pocketed his phone, and walked away.
After a long while, Zhang Yan finally released Chi Xinyue from his embrace. "Don’t overthink things. Go back, eat well, and get plenty of rest. Once you’ve sorted out your feelings, you can tell me everything on your mind in detail."
"Okay."
"Believe me, I can help you solve anything. And if it’s truly something I can’t solve, I’ll figure out a way with you."
"...Okay."
It was still a simple one-word response, but her tone held much less confusion and a bit more resolve.
Zhang Yan was not a man who made promises lightly. Even during the year he was together with Cheng Lu, he hadn’t made many promises. But now that he was backed by Brother Tongzi, his ego had inflated a little. Deep down, he genuinely believed he was practically omnipotent! Even if he couldn’t do it today, he would certainly possess enough power to achieve it tomorrow, next month, or next year.
After taking Chi Xinyue home, the "unemployed slacker" Zhang Yan took out his phone, preparing to catch up on the reading he had missed today. He first checked on Xia Xiqing’s chat. It was still in the same state: they had added each other as friends on WeChat, but neither had said a single word. Other than his parents uploading new travel photos, there was no other valuable information on the app.
There were, however, quite a few messages on QQ, mostly from the group owner, Old Niu. Because it offered better management features, the "Provincial Library Study Group 1" was hosted on QQ. Although Zhang Yan used both platforms, his WeChat was mainly reserved for classmates and friends, while QQ was mostly for online acquaintances and strangers.
He took a look and saw that the messages were mostly about him reserving the "Divine Throne" for today and then standing them up.
[Bro, do you still want the Divine Throne?]
[Bro, did you come today?]
[Bro...]
Compared to Chi Xinyue’s situation, this naturally didn’t require much thought. However, since he had promised to reserve the seat, he decided to follow through to prevent his reservation priority from dropping in the future.
Zhang Yan: "I was busy with some things today. I’ll head to the provincial library in a bit. Are there still seats? Oh, and keep the reservation for tomorrow."
[Red Packet: 30 yuan]
[The other party has received your red packet.]
The seat reservation fee was supposed to be paid in person to the person saving the seat, who would seemingly hand over a "management fee" to Old Niu in private. Therefore, this red packet from Zhang Yan was completely an extra tip given exclusively to Old Niu.
Group Owner Old Niu: "So generous, boss! A few of the brothers are still there, but only seats in the main hall are left. Is that okay? We’ll definitely save the ’Divine Throne’ for you tomorrow morning!"
Zhang Yan: "Whatever, as long as there’s a spot. By the way, does that girl come often? Does she come in the morning too?"
The "Other party is typing..." indicator flashed a few times before a message finally came through.
Group Owner Old Niu: "Bro, let me give it to you straight. That girl only comes occasionally. The vast majority of the time it’s in the morning; only once has it been in the afternoon. Whether you can run into her really just depends on luck."
Zhang Yan: "Just asking casually. I study at my own pace, so I really don’t care whether I run into her or not."
On the other end of the phone, Old Niu spat disdainfully. "BAH! ’Don’t care,’ my foot. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be specifically asking about her and dropping fifty yuan to snatch the seat!"