Si Qing's words were indeed effective; Jiang Cheng stopped hugging her.
And Si Nian did turn her head around the very next second.
The moment Si Nian turned around, Jiang Cheng and Si Qing displayed astonishing synchronization.
It was as if they had rehearsed it countless times beforehand.
They simultaneously shifted their attention to the snacks on the shelf, pretending to be engrossed in studying them.
However, after the intimate contact with Jiang Cheng just now,
Si Qing's heart was already turbulent, and she could no longer view everything before her as calmly as usual.
Especially the bag of Oreo cookies that had originally made her mouth water—it was now something she couldn't bear to look at.
Si Qing silently placed the Oreo she was tightly clutching back onto the shelf, her movements appearing slightly flustered.
Next, to hide her inner turmoil, she deliberately cleared her throat.
Then, feigning composure, she asked Si Nian, "Why did Dad call?"
Si Nian did not notice anything unusual between the two of them.
Pouting, she replied, "He's rushing us to go back. He said not to bother Auntie for too long."
Hearing this, Si Qing pouted, "Why go back so soon? It's annoying."
Seeing that the two girls had little interest in going home,
Jiang Cheng asked doubtfully, "You don't like going home?"
Si Nian nodded and replied, "Yeah. Plus, Auntie's house is big and convenient to stay in. Our house has too many people during the New Year, and neither of us wants to go back."
After speaking, she let out a soft sigh.
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng frowned slightly.
"So, you have quite a few relatives in your family?"
Although Si Qing's expression was still a bit unnatural,
she nodded and spoke.
"Yeah. When we were little, it was okay, but now that my parents have split the family assets, things are complicated. Plus, we've grown up. It's really awkward spending time in that small space with a bunch of relatives we only see once a year."
Seeing Si Qing pouting and looking wronged, Jiang Cheng suggested, "How about you just don't go home for the New Year?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Si Nian immediately shook her head and replied, "My dad is very traditional. He even demands that we must stay home to receive guests during the New Year. It's so annoying."
Jiang Cheng couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.
He secretly rejoiced that his own family had never had relatives around since he was young, saving him from such troubles.
It turned out that the guests who visited his home during festivals were usually his mother's card friends, along with his father's business partners and colleagues who came specifically to offer New Year greetings.
Every time these people visited, they were courteous and polite.
Everyone would sit together, either leisurely drinking tea or happily chatting about everyday life.
Awkward relatives like those rumored,
or relatives who loved to compete,
or even those dreadful, petty relatives who spent all day gossiping and stirring up trouble—not a single one had ever appeared in his social circle... After this discussion, the two girls lost their mood even for buying snacks.
After leaving the store and walking a few steps, they saw an Apple phone store ahead.
Seeing this, Si Qing excitedly said to Si Nian, "Isn't everyone rushing to get this phone lately? I saw online that people are queuing overnight to buy it."
Si Nian nodded, "I saw on the Social Media Platform yesterday that many celebrities are secretly taking pictures of their Apple X. After all, it's genuinely hard to get."
Si Qing replied, "I can't understand it. Maybe I'll only understand once I become rich, since one phone costs ten thousand yuan..."
Jiang Cheng knew about this, though.
After all, he had recently become a master internet surfer.
At this moment, looking across the whole of Huaxia,
the social atmosphere still held a considerably high degree of admiration for Apple phones.
Just as the two girls had mentioned,
after the Apple X pre-sales began, numerous celebrities proclaimed themselves "Apple fans."
They also filmed a large number of unboxing videos.
These videos further boosted the popularity and influence of the Apple phone.
The year '18 was currently the peak period in the development history of the Apple phone.
Huaxia had not yet reached the point where it was cornered and desperate from being targeted.
The national cohesion had not yet fully awakened at this time.
Only when Pretty Country began targeting Huaxia's chips would the true rise of domestic mobile phones occur.
After all, Huaxia inherently possesses a rebellious spirit—the kind that becomes more united the more it is suppressed.
Although he didn't know the specific family circumstances of Si Qing and Si Nian,
the cost of studying art itself was relatively higher than the cost of other majors.
The tuition fee alone at the Modu Academy of Drama was over ten thousand yuan per semester.
This cost, combined with accommodation fees, monthly living expenses, and miscellaneous fees for textbooks and studying, meant the minimum expense for one person per semester reached forty thousand yuan. For two people, that was eighty thousand yuan per semester, totaling at least one hundred sixty thousand yuan per year.
Of course, this figure was calculated based on a monthly living expense of 2,000 yuan.
If the living expenses were raised, the number would be different again.
However, judging by how carefully they were spending money just now, they seemed to be quite frugal.
Crucially, when they were taking photos earlier, Jiang Cheng noticed that Si Nian's phone was lagging.
Because of this, she had to wait two or three seconds when pressing the back button.
Looking at the sign outside the door which advertised the "Facial Recognition Unlock" feature as newly upgraded,
Jiang Cheng pointed to the "Facial Recognition Unlock" feature written on it and asked the two girls, "I have a question."
Hearing this, the two girls uniformly looked over at Jiang Cheng.
After what happened moments ago, Si Qing didn't dare to speak casually.
Si Nian had actually noticed earlier that ever since they left the barbecue restaurant, Jiang Cheng had deliberately walked with his hands in his pockets.
It seemed like he was trying not to make a mistake.
Si Nian replied, "What question?"
Jiang Cheng pointed to the key marketing point on the sign.
"Since you two look so alike, I wonder if this 3D facial recognition unlock feature would work for both of you?"
Hearing this, the two girls couldn't help but laugh.
Si Qing replied to Jiang Cheng, "I don't know about phone facial unlock, but the one thing we do know is that we share facial payment on Alipay."
Seeing Jiang Cheng's look of surprise, Si Nian continued, "It's incredible, right? At the beginning of this semester, Alipay launched facial payment. The small shops at school were all promoting this payment feature, and out of curiosity, we tried it."
Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue slightly but didn't doubt them.
The main reason was that facial recognition was only just emerging now.
Alipay was the first platform to roll out facial payment applications.
It was after Alipay launched facial payment last September that the Apple X also began pre-sales using the new facial unlock feature.
If Jiang Cheng remembered correctly, wechat had not yet introduced the face-scanning payment feature at this time.