Heart-Warming Youth - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: This Person Is Yours

Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations

How could it be him? Su Xuan? Why?

Xu Ai’s brain was working extremely fast, yet she still couldn’t fathom it. But the only Mr. Su that she knew and had met at the hospital… Who else could it be besides Su Xuan? She glared at the sales associate. “Where is he?”

“That gentleman left after he paid!” The sales associate wrapped the new cellphone and pushed it to Xu Ai.

Xu Ai’s face was livid. She stared at the cellphone, and her gaze was strong enough to burn a hole in it. 

“Sir, Ma’am, is there anything else I could assist you with?” the sales associate asked them with a smile on her face.

Xu Ai lifted her head to look at Lin Shen.

She couldn’t see any emotion on Lin Shen’s face. He gripped the edges of his credit card with his fingers and smiled lightly when he noticed Xu Ai looking at him. “Now that someone else has paid, I might as well save my advertising fees.”

Xu Ai paused and turned back around to pick up the phone. She muttered something and then laughed, “Yeah, isn’t it great you’re saving money?”

Lin Shen turned around suddenly and walked towards the door. “Let’s go!”

Xu Ai followed him but suddenly stopped after a few steps and asked, “Weren’t you planning on buying new clothes?”

“I just thought about something. I’m not going to shop for clothes now, I have to go to the company,” Lin Shen replied without looking back.

Xu Ai stared at his back. “Then I’m…”

“You don’t have to come with me!” Lin Shen already exited the mall entrance. 

Xu Ai tightened her grip on her handbag and followed him outside, and she saw that Lin Shen had already called a cab and left. She stood in front of the mall entrance and looked as the taxi disappeared into the busy traffic. 

She stood there for a while before heading back inside the mall. 

She returned to the cellphone boutique and took out the phone before placing it on the counter. She told the sales associate, “I don’t know that man! Please return this phone!”

The sales associate was stunned, then she smiled and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ma’am, that gentleman had already left.”

“I don’t care if he left. Since he paid for this cell phone, then please return to him!” Xu Ai stared at her. 

The sales associate kept her smile. “You have told me his name, so you obviously are acquainted with him. If you would like to return this cell phone, then you can just go and find him and give it to him.”

Xu Ai looked at her with an emotionless face. “Does this mall take customer complaints?”

The sales associate’s expression changed slightly. 

“You paid for the item with another person’s card without getting your customer’s consent. That’s how this mall does business?” Xu Ai banged her hand against the counter. “Do you want me to file a complaint or do you want to take care of it yourself?”

That put the sales associate in a rather difficult situation. 

“Hmm?” Xu Ai stared at her. 

The sales associate hesitated for a second and apologized, “I’m very sorry, Ma’am. That gentleman is good friends with the mall owner. They just so happened to pass by as I was getting ready to process payment for this phone. That gentleman offered to pay for you, and the boss didn’t say anything. So I just…”

“I know!” Xu Ai interrupted, “Since he’s friends with your boss, then let your boss deal with this mess!” She grabbed her handbag, turned around, and walked out. 

“Ma’am, wait!” The sales associate chased after her and stopped her. “This is the latest cellphone on the market, you need it anyway…”

Xu Ai sneered, “Do you really think I have to get it just because I need it? What the heck!”

The sales associate couldn’t find anything to say and didn’t know how to convince her.

Xu Ai walked past her and hurried out of the mall.

The streets were filled with noisy crowds and busy traffic. After Xu Ai wandered aimlessly for a while, she saw a cafe and decided to go inside. 

She sat down at a random seat next to the window and ordered a cup of coffee. She looked outside at the ongoing traffic and people with emotionless eyes. 

Now that this had happened, Lin Shen probably established the idea that Su Xuan is really my boyfriend?

It is totally fine if it is established! He would be better off with Cheng Yanyan anyways.

Her goal was pretty obvious after chasing after him for three years, especially when she openly pursued him. How could he not understand her intentions? Lin Shen was no fool, but he never accepted her heart. He just wasn’t into her. 

There was nothing to do if one person had no feelings for another person!

The coffee turned from hot to warm, then from warm to cold. Xu Ai suddenly felt like after the past three years, her passion had faded and turned cold like this cup of coffee. 

She gobbled the cold coffee in one breath. Then, she took out her phone and dialed Sun Pinting’s number. 

Sun Pinting quickly disconnected the call after two rings. A second later, Xu Ai received a text message: “What’s up? I’m in class.”

“Skip class and come shop for new clothes with me!” Xu Ai texted back.

“OMG, what day is it today, Princess? Are you crazy? Why do you want to buy new clothes all of a sudden? You refused to shop with me last week no matter how much I pleaded.”

“I want to shop today!”

“You’re killing me!”

“Are you onboard or not?” Xu Ai typed a demanding question. 

“Fine! Where do you want to shop? Send me the address.” Sun Pinting seemed like she hesitated for a while before finally agreeing. 

Xu Ai glanced at her surroundings and gave her an address.

“See you at the front door in an hour!” Sun Pinting texted back quickly. 

Xu Ai put down her phone, not in her pocket, but on the table. Then she stared at it. The outer shell was worn out, but the phone is still functional. Did she not have to return it to Lin Shen? After all, she cornered him and forced him to accept this phone all those years ago. 

She ordered another cup of coffee. This time, she savored it slowly and delicately while the coffee gradually turned from hot to warm. She finished it before it got the chance to turn cold.

After her drink, she grabbed her handbag and left the cafe. 

She arrived at the scheduled meet-up with Sun Pinting right on time and saw the latter exiting her car. 

“Who pissed you off this time?” Sun Pinting came up to her and hooked her arm around Xu Ai’s shoulders. “Don’t tell me it’s Lin Shen again!”

Xu Ai slapped away her hand. “You are a woman; don’t bend your arm sleazily around my shoulders like that. Be careful, you may not ever find a man!”

Sun Pinting snorted. She put down her arm and said, “You should worry more about yourself! Look at you, it’s obvious Lin Shen turned you like this. Are you really going to hang yourself on one tree? I thought you were going to turn your life around because of Su Xuan! I must have overestimated you.” She stomped her high heels and flipped her long hair. Her hips swayed and made her appearance even more charming. She sneered spitefully, “You gave up an entire forest for one tree. You’re really that dumb! You gave up a vigorous tree for a dead tree; you’re even dumber!”

Xu Ai snickered and pushed her. “You came shopping with me wearing four-inch-heels; you’re not afraid of killing your feet.”

“And it’s all because of you. I wanted to go after a cute guy, so I went to his class today. But you called me as soon as I finally got to talk to him, so I had to come here dressed like this.” Sun Pinting turned around to glower at her. “Let’s go buy a pair of shoes for me first.”

Xu Ai was a little confused. “What kind of cute guy didn’t fall for the Great Ms. Sun? So much that she had to follow him to his class?”

“A numbskull!” 

Xu Ai blinked curiously and came closer to her. “You’re into numbskulls?”

Sun Pinting rolled her eyes. “Gotta change up the flavor!”

Xu Ai was speechless. 

“There is no man that I can’t captivate!” Sun Pinting was determined. “Just wait. One week later, he will be my prey.”

Xu Ai couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness at the sight of Sun Pinting’s high spirit. “You have to stop being a menace to everyone! Beware of your own downfall!”

Sun Pinting snorted at her. 

They kept on chatting and walking, and Sun Pinting ran to the high heels section when they entered the mall. 

Xu Ai grabbed her. “You’re still going to buy high heels?”

“Open your damned eyes! I’m wearing a dress! You expect me to buy sneakers?” Sun Pinting beat away her hand and chided her, “One must always keep one’s style at all times. I don’t want any man that I’ve ditched to see the sneakers under my dress, or else they’ll feel like their eyes have just been blinded by the sight.”

“Even if they don’t see the sneakers, they’d still think they’re blind for dating a fickle woman like you who ditches a man after just a few days.” Xu Ai followed her to the high heels section of the mall.

“I was blind for thinking you and I were on the same boat!” Sun Pinting muttered while browsing through the shoes, “I can’t believe how loyal and devoted you are.”

Xu Ai strode to a couch and sat down. “I’m letting you know; you are only allowed to buy one pair.”

Just as she finished talking, Sun Pinting pointed at two pairs of shoes and demanded the sales associate, “Miss, please bring me these two pairs in size 36.” Then, she turned around and sat her butt beside Xu Ai. 

[TL Note: EU size 36 is about US size 6.]

The sales associate brought her the two pairs of shoes quickly. Both shoes had heels, but not too high; they were all right for walking and shopping. 

Sun Pinting tried them on quickly and checked herself out in front of the mirror. She waved at the sales associate. “I’m getting both! Please write the invoice!”

Xu Ai glowered. “You’re only allowed one pair!”

“My car is outside and I have space to put them. You don’t have to carry them, so what are you afraid of?” Sun Pinting glanced at Xu Ai. 

Xu Ai had to stop talking. 

After Sun Pinting changed to a pair of new shoes, she couldn’t bring herself out of the mall just to put the shoes in her car. She carried the two shoe boxes and ran upstairs to the women’s apparel section with Xu Ai. 

An hour later, Xu Ai had four shopping bags in her hand. Sun Pinting had five extra bags on top of those two shoe boxes. 

“Am I the one buying clothes, or are you the one!” Xu Ai had to comment on Sun Puting’s tireless energy after shopping for so long. 

“We shopped together! What are you going to do with your hard-earned money from Lin Shen if you don’t spend it? Save money for your babies?” Sun Pinting gave her a spiteful look. 

Xu Ai’s pace stopped. “He said that he put five percent of the share of his company under my name two years ago.”

Sun Pinting was stunned and stopped walking. “Is this for real?”

Xu Ai nodded, “He mentioned that before, but I thought he was just kidding so I forgot about it. I didn’t expect him to bring this up again.”

“No wonder you’re on this shopping spree! He dropped a crapload of money on you!” Sun Pinting had perked up again. “I have to shop for more now, you’ll pay!”

“I can’t accept the shares!” Xu Ai shook her head.

“You pig head! You only get such a tiny salary from working for him after all these years. Now that he gave you shares and his company is finally thriving, you just need to wait for a fat cheque for dividend every year from now on! Why can’t you accept it?” Sun Pinting hit her with her shoebox like a parent angry with her child’s failure. She chided her again, “Let me tell you, if you want a man but can’t have him, then just stick around and spend all his money.”

Xu Ai couldn’t help but laugh. “Why would he let me on if I can’t have him?”

“Didn’t Scholar Lin come to terms with his conscience and give you an allowance? And right now, aren’t you still not getting him?” Sun Pinting arched her eyebrow. “Perhaps he will be even nicer to you after you accept the shares.”

Xu Ai thought, Maybe if I accept the shares, Lin Shen would think that we would be even, and nobody owes anybody anything anymore! Maybe all ties would finally be cut.

“Come on! Let’s go shopping! You’re an idiot if you can’t have the man and you don’t get his money. I could help with the shares if you really don’t want it.” Sun Pinting urged her shamelessly. “I would never mind having a bit more money.”

“The Great Ms. Sun is short on money?” Xu Ai kicked her out of frustration.

“You don’t think any good of money because you have money. Your cafe on campus brings you quite a bit of money, plus you also earn money from working for Lin Shen. I, on the other hand, am different. I eat my head off, and I live off of my folks’ money. They’ll freeze my bank cards if I misbehave. It’s hard to live if you don’t have money, which I’m sure you know.” Sun Pinting dashed towards another section as she spoke. 

The corners of Xu Ai’s lips twitched. She thought about her mother who had been driven mad by her for standing up her blind date and never called her again. Her mom couldn’t freeze her bank cards, but she did freeze their connection. She probably will disown this daughter. 

Later on, Sun Pinting made a few more purchases. Naturally, Xu Ai paid for her. The young madam literally shopped till she dropped.

Xu Ai looked at the various sized shopping bags in their hands as they went downstairs. “I need to buy a cellphone!”

“Where’s your phone?” Sun Pinting’s complexion was sallow from exhaustion. She no longer had the vigor to shop earlier. 

“I dropped it on the ground by accident and shattered it.” Xu Ai walked towards the electronics section.

“Then what did you use to call me earlier?” Sun Pinting followed behind her. 

“An old phone!”

They came to the counter, and Sun Pinting pointed at a cellphone before Xu Ai opened her mouth, “We’re getting this, the red one, the latest cellphone on the market.”

“We’re not getting that!” Xu Ai shook her head.

“Yeah, we are!” Sun Pinting pointed at the cellphone bossily and demanded the sales associate, “Get this for us.”

The sales associate smiled at them and presented the cellphone. 

“Am I buying a phone, or are you buying a phone?” Xu Ai glowered at her. 

“Let’s buy this model together; I wanted to change a phone anyway.” Sun Pinting fondled with the phone and demanded, “Miss, write the receipt! We’ll get two, both in red.”

“Buy it for yourself, I’m not getting this!” Xu Ai gathered her belongings and was about to head out. 

Sun Pinting grabbed her and questioned, “What’s wrong? I thought you love this kind of phone? This is the latest one, I don’t believe you don’t like it. Why won’t you get it?”

Xu Ai couldn’t think of a good reason and grunted, “Like you, I want a change of flavor.”

Sun Pinting laughed at that and pinched her, “Screw you! Do cellphones have flavors? They’re not men.” Then, she reassured the sales associate, “Hurry, write the receipts! Two phones in red.” She turned around and smiled at Xu Ai, “You’re buying it for me!”

“Ask your man to buy it for you!” Xu Ai was furious. 

“I just broke up with my ex, and I’m still chasing after this one and haven’t succeeded yet. But, by the looks of it, he’s quite broke. He won’t be able to buy it for me even if I finally get him.” Sun Pinting hugged Xu Ai’s and sucked up to her. “Who offended you? Why are you looking at the phone in such a begrudging way? Anyway, you can take revenge on whoever had offended you; you don’t have to be mad at the phone!”

Xu Ai glared at her.

“I’m going to save my money next month so we can go to grassland for this summer break. I’ll pay for everything, how’s that?” Sun Pinting nudged her and said, “Hulunbuir grassland. Didn’t you always want to visit there?”

“I don’t even know if I will be free this summer break.” Xu Ai remembered the new project that Lin Shen accepted, so she didn’t know if he would keep using her now that he had Cheng Yanyan. She didn’t know if Cheng Yanyan would allow Lin Shen to keep her at his company.

Sun Pinting rolled her eyes. “You haven’t had any time to yourself in three years! That capitalist cannot exploit you like that! You can squeeze your time for a week or two! Now that Scholar Lin gave you a five percent share, that means you are a shareholder. Do you really not even have a week of freedom?”

“Lin Shen is graduating. After he graduates, his company won’t be as mediocre as it is now; it will be bold and thriving. We’ll see!” Xu Ai thought about it and felt a little defeated. “Maybe he won’t need me anymore. That way, I won’t have just a week or two of free time; I’d have time for a month or two.”

Sun Pinting burst out laughing. “That’s great! We can live in a Mongolian yurt for a month or two.”

Xu Ai smiled. 

She really had to succumb to Sun Pinting’s stubbornness. They bought the cellphones together. 

They came outside to the parking lot. Sun Pinting threw her shopping bags in her car trunk and gestured for Xu Ai to do the same. 

Xu Ai thought for a second. “I want to go back to school.”

Sun Pinting rolled her eyes. “I shopped with you for a whole afternoon; you can’t let me go back on an empty stomach! Let’s find a place to eat.”

Xu Ai put down her stuff and entered the car. 

It wasn’t rush hour yet, so the streets weren’t so jammed. Sun Pinting drove around two blocks with expertise and eventually stopped in front of a restaurant. She said to Xu Ai, “This is a newly opened restaurant. I heard it’s pretty good; let’s go and try it out.” 

Xu Ai nodded. 

Female receptionists inside welcomed them when they entered the restaurant. They asked how many people were coming and if they needed to reserve a room. 

Sun Pinting shook her head and pointed to a square table by the window in the dining hall. “We’ll just sit there.”

The receptionist nodded and asked the waiter to bring them menus. 

The two girls ordered two chef’s recommendations, a soup, and two bowls of rice. 

After the waiter left, Sun Pinting brought out her old phone and the new phone and began changing the SIM card. She urged Xu Ai. “Don’t just sit there? Change yours!”

Xu Ai still had a little bit of anger as she looked at her. “You just had to get the exact same one as me. Be careful if we get it mixed up someday and I accidentally pick up Uncle Sun’s calls. I’ll tell him every single bad thing you’ve done in the past few years.” 

“You think I’m scared of you?” Sun Pinting pursed her lips. “You should be careful. If we get our phones mixed up and I pick up Scholar Lin’s calls, then, heh heh…” 

“Fine, I’m scared of you!” Xu Ai sipped her tea. At the same time, she reminded her, “Our phones are the same, but we can get different phone cases. We won’t mix them up that way.”

“I guess you are finally clever for once! I didn’t want to get mine mixed up with yours since the very beginning!” Sun Pinting finished changing her SIM card and showed it off, then she brutely snatched Xu Ai’s handbag. “If you’re not changing it, then I’m changing it for you.”

Xu Ai lifted her hand but failed to stop her. Sun Pingting already took away her handbag. 

Xu Pinting dug out the old cellphone and the new cellphone. She was stunned when she saw the old cell phone and looked up at Xu Ai. “Isn’t this the phone you bought for Lin Shen?”

“Not bought for; it was compensation,” Xu Ai corrected her. 

Sun Pinting rolled her eyes. “So what, he returned it to you? Is he really dating that fake-*ss Cheng Yanyan? Now that he’s trying to draw a line between the two of you? If he drew the line, then why would he give you five percent of his company’s shares? Why doesn’t he just convert that into cash amount? That way, he wouldn’t have to give you any dividend each year.”

“How the hell would I know. He’s Lin Shen. He’s hard to read.” Xu Ai remembered how he left today without any hesitation and how quickly his mood changed. 

“Hmph.” Sun Pinting quickly changed Xu Ai’s SIM card and pushed the cellphone toward her. 

A waiter brought their dishes to them. The scrumptious aroma filled their nostrils. Xu Ai wasn’t in a good mood before, but the delicious food definitely increased her appetite. Sun Pinting was already salivating.

They threw their dainty lady image out of the window and almost competed to see who could finish faster. 

They made a clean sweep of their food. Xu Ai put down her chopsticks when she felt she had had enough food. 

Sun Pinting was still savoring the flavors. Her phone rang, so she had to put down her chopsticks and grab her phone. She became nervous when she saw the phone screen. “My old man!”

Xu Ai laughed at the sight of how terrified she was, like the way a mouse saw a cat. “Pick it up right now; if you don’t, he’ll yell at you.”

Sun Pinting took a sip of water and cleared her throat before picking it up. 

Something muttered from the speaker, to which Sun Pinting agreed very nicely. Something muttered again, which made her look at Xu Ai and hesitated. Xu Ai shook her hands, then she agreed again. 

Sun Pinting hung up the phone and told Xu Ai, “My dad wants me to go home.”

“What happened?” Xu Ai looked outside the window at the sky. It was getting late. It would be pretty dark by the time she got back, even if she left right now.

“Didn’t say. Only told me to go home right now, probably because my grandma wasn’t feeling well.” Sun Pinting was a little worried. 

“Then you should go home right now!” Xu Ai stood up immediately and said, “You don’t have to care about me. It’s not that late yet, and I can just catch a cab.”

“You can’t ride a cab alone! Let me drive you back first!” Sun Pinting stood up and went to the cash register. 

“You don’t have to! I’ll take a cab from a legit taxi company, nothing’s going to happen!” Xu Ai grabbed her handbag, stuffed her cellphone inside, and ran to the cash register. She gave Sun Pinting a little push on the back. “If your grandma is really not doing well, you can’t afford to be late.”

Sun Pinting didn’t know what to do for a second. Just as she was about to nod her head, the corners of her eyes caught a group of people entering the restaurant. The leader of the group was wearing a well-made suit. Elegant and graceful, he was definitely the most eye-catching young man of the group. Sun Pinting’s eyes glittered, then she grabbed Xu Ai and quickly paced towards them, stopping right in front of that man.

Everything hit Xu Ai so fast that she couldn’t make sense of it. She didn’t know what was going on when she was dragged to that person. When she saw that person was Su Xuan, she was stunned. 

“Su Xuan, she’s your girlfriend, right? It’s getting dark outside, and I have to go and do something. Her school is a little far from here. This person is yours now, so you are responsible for taking her back to school. I’m telling you, if she doesn’t arrive at her school safely, then I will go to the police station and sue you for kidnapping,” Sun Pinting uttered quickly and didn’t take no for an answer. She let go of Xu Ai and left the restaurant. 

“Tingting, what are you talking about?”

Xu Ai was so shocked. She didn’t have time to care about what expression was on Su Xuan’s face and decided to chase after Sun Pinting. But just as she was about to run, Su Xuan suddenly reached out and gripped her arm.