Heart Flutter

Chapter 5

“Your noodles were quite tasty.” Ji Yuqing smiled faintly. Tang Yan, slightly embarrassed by the compliment, lowered her head even further.

After finishing breakfast, Ji Yuqing was about to tidy up when Tang Yan silently beat her to it. Ji Yuqing felt gratified and at a loss for words—she simply thought that the child was very diligent.

Ji Yuqing returned to her room and applied light makeup, then gently pulled her hair up so that she appeared both languid and graceful. When she came out, she had already changed clothes. She wore a loose, light-green short-sleeved top paired with a deep-green skirt featuring a diagonal, sculpted cut. The layers interlocked beautifully, accentuating her slim waist, while the slightly low neckline revealed her lovely, fair collarbone. Her fresh appearance carried a hint of subtle allure.

Tang Yan’s eyes lit up at the sight. In her eyes, Ji Yuqing’s outfit resembled that of a college student—youthful and energetic. Tang Yan had watched her for a while without realizing that Ji Yuqing had already approached her.

“How did it look? Was it good?”

Tang Yan suddenly came to her senses. Because of the height difference and Ji Yuqing’s high heels, her eyes ended up resting around Ji Yuqing’s chest. Startled, Tang Yan took a step back and hurriedly replied, “It was… it was good.”

Ji Yuqing smiled contentedly. “Let’s go; I will take you shopping.”

Tang Yan nodded blankly and quickly followed her.

As they stepped out, they encountered the aunt who lived upstairs. Although Ji Yuqing addressed her as “aunt,” Tang Yan, feeling a bit shy and introverted, quietly hid behind her.

“Good morning, Aunt Zhang.”

“Aha, little Ji! And who might this be? The two of you looked just like sisters.”

Aunt Zhang, a woman in her fifties with short, curly hair who had just returned from buying vegetables with a basket in hand, greeted them warmly.

“Aunt Zhang, you were just joking. This was the child of a friend of mine, who had come over this year to attend university,” Ji Yuqing explained.

“Which university did she get into?”

Tang Yan answered timidly, “Huadu University…”

“That was wonderful. The number one university in the country—so promising.” After a pause, Aunt Zhang added, “Alright, I had to hurry back to make breakfast for my grandson. You two carried on.”

After the greetings, Ji Yuqing led Tang Yan out. When they stepped outside, it was just past seven. The sun had only begun to rise in the eastern sky, with the temperature neither too cold nor too warm.

Tang Yan stood waiting outside. Ji Yuqing opened the garage door, drove the car out, and then closed the door behind her.

That day, Tang Yan had buckled her seatbelt herself and felt a small sense of accomplishment.

Aunt Ji was a thoughtful person. Knowing that Tang Yan got car sick, she had deliberately opened all four windows as soon as they were in the car, then the panoramic sunroof. While starting the car, she remarked, “Soon at noon we wouldn’t be able to open the sunroof because it would be too sunny.”

“Mm…” Tang Yan replied softly, nodding in understanding.

Once the car started, the cool morning breeze rushed in through the windows, refreshing and pleasant. Tang Yan turned her face to admire the scenery outside. By the previous night it had been dark, and she had not yet had the chance to see what the neighborhood looked like.

Rows of camphor trees stood in neat order, and seasonal flowers blossomed in the flowerbeds. The greenery was expansive, with generous space between each building, and the structures were not very tall—truly evoking the feeling of living in a forest, filled with birdsong and the scent of blossoms.

As the car passed the community gate, two neatly dressed security guards saluted the vehicle.

Entering the main thoroughfare, the air filled with honking horns and the buzz of pedestrians. Everyone on the sidewalks seemed in a hurry. The impression the city left on Tang Yan was that everyone was busy, a sign of urban prosperity that was a stark contrast to the modest market scenes in the countryside.

While waiting at a red light, Ji Yuqing used her finger to open the navigation on the display and set a destination. Tang Yan caught a glimpse of a name—something that looked like a specialty store.

She did not know where she was being taken; she simply trusted Aunt Ji, who gave her a sense of security in this vast, unfamiliar metropolis.

Later, after traversing countless avenues and one-way streets, they finally reached their destination. Ji Yuqing, with her excellent driving skills, parked the car almost perfectly in a narrow roadside space.

“Get out; we had arrived,” Ji Yuqing said, pointing across the street.

Tang Yan looked up. On the shop’s sign, a large apple with a bite taken out of it was displayed. She recognized that logo, having seen classmates with that brand of mobile phone that had attracted much admiration and envy in school.

It was 2015. Tang Yan remembered that a classmate’s iPhone 6 had cost over six thousand dollars—a true mark of wealth. Naturally, such a phone had left her with the impression of an expensive luxury product.

“Are we going there?” Tang Yan asked in a low voice.

“Yes,” Ji Yuqing replied as she led her across the street. “The new semester was about to begin; it was time for a new phone.” In fact, just the previous day, Ji Yuqing had noticed Tang Yan’s old, battered smartphone with a shattered screen.

Tang Yan hesitated. She had thought of getting a new phone after coming to Huadu, but she had never expected it would be through Aunt Ji, nor that it would be so expensive.

Inside the store, Ji Yuqing did not waste time browsing. She directly asked the salesperson about the latest model. Tang Yan timidly followed behind. Her simple, rustic outfit attracted frequent attention from the store clerks, which made her feel very self-conscious.

The salesperson enthusiastically presented a phone. “This model, ax, was the latest. Of course, it was quite expensive. It came in gold, silver, and deep space grey.”

Seeing that Ji Yuqing was hesitating, the salesperson quickly pointed to several other models. “Actually, the xr and x models were also available at a relatively lower price.”

Before the salesperson had finished speaking, Ji Yuqing decisively said, “I wanted this one.”

The salesperson, a bit uncertain, asked, “Are you sure you wanted the ax model?”

Without answering immediately, Ji Yuqing turned to Tang Yan. “Did you like this one?”

Tang Yan thought, “Aunt Ji really did not need to buy such an expensive phone…” She had glanced at the price tag on the phones in the display earlier and had been frightened by the five, six, seven, even eight thousand dollar price tags.

“It was alright,” Ji Yuqing said, then turned back to the salesperson. “I wanted this one.”

The salesperson eagerly asked, “Which color would you like? There were options with 64G, 256G, and 512G, each at a different price.”

After thinking for a moment, Ji Yuqing said, “Take the largest memory option.” Tang Yan knew that once she started school she would need to store many files, and more memory would be more convenient.

The quoted price was 11799 dollars, and if one was interested, a discount of 200 dollars could be applied, making it 11599 dollars.

Tang Yan was utterly shocked. She had never expected the phone to cost over ten thousand dollars. After all, her uncle’s farmland had only yielded about twenty thousand dollars in a year—yet this phone was so expensive.

“Aunt Ji, it was too expensive. We would not take it.”

“Not expensive at all. Just consider it a gift from me for meeting you,” Ji Yuqing said with a wink.

With a beep, her credit card was swiped, and over ten thousand dollars were spent in an instant. Holding the newly packaged phone, Tang Yan could not feel happy at all. How could she be cheerful after having spent so much money courtesy of Aunt Ji?

Noticing the change in her mood, Ji Yuqing quickly found an excuse to explain, “Last night, your mother called me and instructed me to buy you a new phone and a set of new clothes. All the money had come from her.”

“Really?…” Tang Yan asked, half in disbelief.

“Really!” Ji Yuqing replied with absolute certainty.

But Tang Yan could hardly believe that her mother would spend so much money on her; she suspected that Aunt Ji’s words were merely to make her feel better.

Next, Ji Yuqing drove her to a shopping mall. The car entered the mall’s underground parking lot directly, and the two took an elevator to the third floor. There, various brand clothing stores catered to all age groups. It was the first time Tang Yan realized that one could buy clothes in such a place. The mall was bustling with people, brightly lit, and the temperature from the central air conditioning was just right—one could spend an entire day shopping without feeling tired.

“See what you liked?” Ji Yuqing asked, unsure what a girl of her age would prefer, so she left the decision entirely to Tang Yan.

At that moment, Tang Yan, who had just come from the countryside, knew little about dressing or fashion styling, and choosing appropriate clothes for herself proved challenging.

After wandering around for a while and buying nothing, Ji Yuqing suddenly noticed a shop window where a model was wearing a dress—a vintage, artistic, embroidered, tied dress in a gentle beige tone. In that moment, she unconsciously pictured how Tang Yan would look wearing it.

Under Ji Yuqing’s earnest recommendation, Tang Yan entered the store. Ji Yuqing had the salesperson retrieve the dress that the model had been wearing in the window. Upon inquiry, they learned that Tang Yan wore a size S while the smallest available size was M. Unwilling to let the opportunity slip away, Ji Yuqing insisted that Tang Yan try on the dress in the fitting room.

After a short wait, a transformed Tang Yan emerged. To complement the dress, the salesperson had brought a pair of light beige low-heeled shoes for her to try on.

The dress appeared somewhat loose on Tang Yan, but not excessively so. Its long-sleeved V-neck design and flowing hem exuded a gentle, artistic, vintage charm that suited a student perfectly.

Indeed, as the saying went, clothes changed a person. With her new outfit, Tang Yan seemed transformed; her aura had elevated several levels.

Still bashful and unwilling to meet her own reflection directly, Tang Yan kept her eyes lowered and fidgeted with her fingers like a shy deer.

Standing nearby, Ji Yuqing folded her arms and appraised her, her eyes sparkling with both pleasant surprise and the satisfaction of having predicted this outcome.

“That dress looked really good on you.”