After a brief daze, Si Nian's cheeks flushed crimson and her heart pounded as if it might leap out of her throat.
She sneaked a glance at Si Qing beside her.
Seeing the slight sourness on Si Qing's face, Si Nian felt a twinge of sisterly guilt.
She knew Si Qing liked Jiang Cheng; with Jiang Cheng being so intimate toward her in front of Si Qing, her sister must be hurting.
Watching the two girls start to overthink, Jiang Cheng hid a smile, reached out to ruffle Si Nian's hair, and asked naturally, 'Still cold like this?'
Si Nian quickly let go of Jiang Cheng's arm, turned, and slipped her arm through Si Qing's.
'N-not cold anymore,' she whispered.
Wasn't Si Qing feeling exactly the same?
After Jiang Cheng's kiss in front of her, she also felt a bit guilty toward Si Nian.
At that moment the two girls were caught in mutual guilt.
The resentment and rivalry in their hearts vanished instantly.
In no time they were back to being the close sisters they usually were.
'Let's hurry,' Si Qing chimed in. 'I'm craving milk tea.'
Soon the three of them reached the lobby on the first floor.
After a glance at the directory, the girls said in unison:
'There's no Simple Tea here—only Heytea, Yidiandian, Nayuki…'
Once Si Qing spoke, Si Nian added, 'Let's go to Nayuki, then.'
Decision made, the trio headed for the tea shop.
Inside, the girls' eyes were immediately drawn to the dazzling array of breads.
Nayuki's recent boom owed much to pairing milk tea with bread and desserts.
'Junru and Xiaoning keep saying they want to try this strawberry magic wand and the chocolate European loaf—shall we buy some for them?'
Si Qing nodded. 'Sure, they'll be thrilled.'
Jiang Cheng asked casually, 'Looks like you two get along great with your roommates.'
Si Nian nodded. 'They're nice. Yesterday they helped us fight the trolls on that post, so we invited them to lunch today.'
Jiang Cheng gave an approving thumbs-up.
Finding low-drama roommates in four years of uni is pure luck, right?
The breads here weren't cheap.
In Shanghai, one strawberry magic wand cost 25 yuan.
Prices might dip a bit elsewhere, but stayed between 15 and 25.
Still, this was Shanghai—sales of the 25-yuan loaf were booming.
With breads in hand, the three joined the queue at the counter.
The sight of a Handsome Guy flanked by twin beauties drew plenty of stares.
The girls stood one on each side of Jiang Cheng,
each clutching a cute handbag and a tray of bread.
Jiang Cheng's hands, however, were empty.
Worse, he was absorbed in his phone.
Diners clicked their tongues: this guy clearly didn't know how to treat a lady.
The guy right behind Jiang Cheng leaned to his girlfriend: 'Look at that dude—makes the girls carry bags and trays while he plays with his phone.'
The girl glanced up from her own phone, gave Jiang Cheng a once-over, then resumed typing. 'He's handsome—probably Second-generation rich. No bag, no problem.'
The guy snorted. 'Handsome doesn't pay the bills. Bet he's faking it. You really think he's Second-generation rich?'
He flashed the Chanel on her shoulder. 'See those two? Off-brands. Unlike yours—I splurged on this.'
Just then Si Qing and Si Nian reached the counter.
Jiang Cheng ordered a simple lemon tea; the girls each ordered four taro-cream crowned milk teas.
They studied the menu, calculating the total, and Si Nian naturally pulled out her phone to pay.
Behind them the guy nudged his girlfriend,
loud enough: 'Told you—makes the girls pay for their own milk tea. No way he's Second-generation rich; he probably spends theirs!'
Si Qing must have overheard.
She suddenly asked Jiang Cheng, 'Boss, why didn't you open a Simple Tea here? These places are so pricey. If you hadn't given us each an 80,000-yuan New-Year red packet, we'd never have splurged.'
The girl raised her eyes, shot her boyfriend a glare, and looked at Jiang Cheng a second longer.
Anyone who can casually hand out 80,000-yuan red packets—bag or no bag, tea paid or not—isn't ordinary.