Silence prevailed as the group arrived at Longteng Plaza, and after Sun Anqi gave out her instructions, she was the only one left.
"Since you guys are free anyway, come with me and browse inside."
The doors of the Santana opened, and the three passengers got out; Sun Anqi was already approaching.
Without waiting for a response from Zhou Yun, she turned and headed into Longteng Plaza.
At that moment, a person dressed in a security uniform quickly ran over.
"Go park the car."
The driver of the Santana casually tossed the car keys to him and hurriedly followed behind Ye Xiao.
Longteng Plaza, the largest shopping center in Jiangzhou City, could satisfy any level of consumer spending.
On the first floor, there were discount items that families of modest means would scramble for.
The second floor catered to the spending power of some blue-collar and a few white-collar workers.
The third floor, as the top level, had the highest consumption level in Longteng Plaza. Only a few white-collar workers' salaries could meet the shopping demands here, and most items were affordable only for the leaders of large companies and the wealthy heirs.
For today's trip, Sun Anqi specially rented four BMW X5s, naturally aiming straight for the top third floor when coming to Longteng Plaza.
However, just walking through the hallways of the top floor, Zhou Yun was already scared stiff by the prices displayed inside the glass showcases, which reached several digits.
"Shall we go check out the first floor instead?"
Zhou Yun, holding Wang Qian's hand, whispered. Although she felt that Ye Xiao indeed had connections with her father, she had not completely let her guard down.
"It's just looking, looking doesn't cost money."
Wang Qian was also somewhat nervous, but it was her best friend's eighteen birthday, so accompanying her to look at these luxury items shouldn't be an issue, as long as they were careful not to damage anything later on.
"Well... alright then."
Zhou Yun said in a low voice, her steps considerably smaller, looking at the beautiful clothes in the display cases with some confusion.
Indeed, these clothes were very pretty, but compared to those on the first floor, even if she actually had the financial means, she would still choose the clothes from the first floor.
"Maybe this is just the lifestyle of the rich."
Thinking this, Zhou Yun couldn't help but envision the image of her mother coming home exhausted from working day and night, collapsing asleep on the sofa.
"I have to make money! A lot of money so that I can give Mom a good life!"
This thought made her eyes much more determined. She looked at a garment for middle-aged women, vowing to save up and buy it for her mother once she started working.
The voices behind her brought a smile to Sun Anqi's face. She didn't turn to talk to Zhou Yun, as that would have made the store clerks look down on her.
"Miss Sun, welcome."
As the group reached the Hermes boutique, the sales associate greeted Sun Anqi warmly; she was clearly a regular here.
"Mmm, it's my birthday today, so I came to see if there's anything new."
Sun Anqi replied with a slight smile.
"Then Miss Sun must really have a look today, we received quite a few new items, and as a high-tier member, any purchase you make today will get you a 9.5% discount."
The sales associate's smile became even more earnest.
"We'll see."
Used to such sales approaches, Sun Anqi nonchalantly entered the store.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yun and Wang Qian also entered the store.
"Yunyun, do you want to try this dress on?"
Sun Anqi had already followed the clerk to select clothes priced over a hundred thousand, while Wang Qian brought over a dress.
"It's so beautiful."
Zhou Yun was instantly taken by the dress at first glance, but as soon as she saw the price tag, she instinctively retracted her outstretched hand.
"Never mind, let's not risk damaging it; let's just go downstairs. My mom gave me two hundred yuan to buy a new dress today."
Seeing Zhou Yun's timid behavior, Wang Qian could only sigh, frustrated that steel wasn't becoming hard.
Only today, tagging along with Sun Anqi, did they get the chance to try on clothes. On a normal day, it would be questionable whether the clerks would even let them into the store.
"Go ahead and try it, it suits you very well."
Ye Xiao was amused by the little girl's demeanor and continued, "Uncle Zhou is a very impressive person. He has saved quite a bit of money with me. One piece of clothing isn't a big deal, and it's okay if it gets damaged."
"This..."
Zhou Yun was having a hard time deciding.
She liked that dress very, very much, but she was far from completely trusting Ye Xiao.
"Give it a try. If it's not suitable, we can pick another on the first floor."
Wang Qian encouraged from the side.
After an internal struggle, Zhou Yun finally took the dress and headed towards the fitting room.
It was then that Ye Xiao turned to look at the driver who had been following him, "The styles here are a bit limited."
"Yes."
The driver responded and turned to leave, leaving Wang Qian utterly confused.
Limited styles?
What did that mean?
What puzzled her more was that the driver seemed to know Ye Xiao?
The driver swap when they had left the cemetery had already made her suspicious.
"Could it be that he approached Yunyun with some ulterior motive?"
Her gaze at Ye Xiao became a few degrees more vigilant.
Ye Xiao just smiled at this.
Wang Qian wanted to ask more, but from the fitting room came Sun Anqi's scolding voice.
"Zhou Yun! What are you doing?! I've made it clear upfront, it's okay for you to try on clothes, but if you damage them, I don't have the money to compensate for you!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Qian's face turned an ashen hue, and she quickly jogged over.
Ye Xiao frowned slightly and also walked over.
Outside the fitting room, Zhou Yun was holding the dress she had just taken from the rack, unsure whether to go forward or back.
The salesperson had already approached Zhou Yun and stretched out her hand, indicating that Zhou Yun should give the dress back to her.
This was Sun Anqi's intention, and although she hadn't said so explicitly, one had to have some insight to be a salesperson in this store.
"I'm sorry."
With tears in her eyes, Zhou Yun looked reluctantly at the dress in her hands and handed it back to the salesperson.
"Sun Anqi, how disgusting can you get? What has Yunyun ever done to offend you? Do you really need to go this far?!"
Wang Qian saw through the situation at a glance, this was clearly Sun Anqi looking for trouble with Zhou Yun, deliberately trying to humiliate her.
"I'm just stating a fact, isn't that the case?"
Sun Anqi spoke arrogantly, already upset about Zhou Yun going to the cemetery on her birthday, and now even more furious after Wang Qian's outburst.
"Wang Qian, I advise you to apologize to me right now. You don't have the right to yell at me."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a figure had already approached her.
Slap!
A crisp sound rang out, and everyone present was stunned.
Under the force of that slap, Sun Anqi fell directly to the ground, covering her swollen cheek, looking incredulously at Ye Xiao towering above her, "You... you dare to hit me?!"
"I even dare to kill you, believe it or not?"
Ye Xiao smiled, showing his teeth.