Chapter 4, Gift_1

In the east of the city, in the high-class villa district, the area is extremely vast. Each villa is cloaked in greenery, with an excellent environment and excellent privacy protection.

At night, only faint glimpses of street lamps can be seen.

This place has the strictest security system, gathering the top-notch families of Hai City. This is genuinely a residential area for the upper class people.

Once Yang Yi had cleaned himself in a refreshing bath, he finally felt at home lounging in bed.

Going shopping today allowed him to truly experience the dreadfulness of women.

When knocking sounds emerged from outside the door, the door was opened without even waiting for Yang Yi's response.

"Brother, where did you put the perfume that was given to me when I made my purchases today?" A pretty princess ran in to rummage through his luggage, throwing out all his clothes, but unable to find what she was looking for.

"Yang You, you are already 18 years old, don't you know you need the owner's permission to enter a room?" Yang Yi was displeased in his heart, but seeing as it was his own sister, he refrained from harsh words and merely reminded her gently.

Yang You simply didn't pay any heed, saying perfunctorily, "Alright, when you have a sister-in-law, I won't come to your bedroom anymore."

After rummaging around and finding nothing, she only saw a black necklace box. Yang You asked, "Brother, where's my perfume?"

She remembered putting it in his luggage, so why was it missing now?

Yang Yi watched her scrambling around, completely unmindful of her tossing his luggage haphazardly.

No big deal, the maid can tidy up later anyway.

"I gave it away."

What a terrible day, right after getting off the plane, his sister found out he had a girlfriend. He was directly dragged to the mall and plundered for the entire afternoon. After returning to Meng Xiao's place, he hadn't even gotten a sip of hot soup.

Thinking about it made Yang Yi frustrated. Meng Xiao seemingly venting a temper, from his return till now, hadn't shown an ounce of a smile.

She stubbornly insisted on going back to school in the evening. It was already past midnight, yet she hadn't called to inform him of her safe return.

Could it be because he misunderstood about the bracelet?

But he had already apologized.

Not having found the perfume bottle after going through the entire suitcase, Yang You instead found the necklace she bought at the mall today. With her eyes wide open, she picked up the necklace box with disbelief painted all over her face.

"Isn't this the gift you bought for your girlfriend? Why is it still here? You didn't give it to her?" That's not right. When their family driver came to pick her up, she had personally seen his brother enter the house, and the kitchen light was on, indicating someone was inside.

"Wait, didn't you say you were accompanying your girlfriend? Why are you home?" The more Yang You thought about it, the more things didn't add up. She speculated, "You couldn't have messed up and given her the perfume, right? Maybe you got thrown out for giving her promotional perfume as a gift upon your return from abroad?"

Yang You shook her head. Imagining her boyfriend being kicked out after giving the wrong gift, seeing her brother at home now, she was even more certain of her guess.

Kicked out? Yang Yi scornfully laughed. Meng Xiao was prone to a soft temper, she had never spoken harsh words at him in all these years. Rather, he was the one more likely to kick her out.

Furthermore, she didn't even know the brand, how would she know the perfume was a promotional item?

"I gave it to her."

"Ah... Brother, you're so despicable. Pretending to be poor and tricking a young girl into supporting you for three years. Now on her birthday, you give the wrong gift. If it were me, I would have kicked you out a long time ago..." Yang You sighed. It was by chance that today she stumbled upon her brother's phone and found out that he had been dating since college, pretending to be poor and freeloading off his girlfriend, keeping her in the dark.

She had initially thought her brother was pure and simple, preparing to start from scratch just like their parents.

Their family was well-off, it would be understandable if her brother pretended to be poor to avoid any ulterior motives from the girl. That explained his desire to hide his identity while being in a relationship.

But it had almost been three years and he was still guarding against her like a thief, that was simply unjustifiable.

Moreover, he was quite taken with this girlfriend, she just couldn't figure out what was irking him.

Here he was, eagerly rushing back from France to celebrate her birthday, yet afraid of her finding out. He insisted on returning home in the afternoon, and didn't buy anything.

It was only after she found out that she dragged him to the mall to buy a gift for his girlfriend.

If her boyfriend went to France and came back empty-handed, she would definitely break up with him!

How dull could her brother be, buying a random hair tie from a roadside boutique to appease his girlfriend?

Yang You shook her head. If a relationship turned out like her brother's, what was the point? If he didn't like someone, wouldn't it be better to just break up rather than dragging it out like this?

"If your boyfriend treats you like this, I'd beat him till even his mom wouldn't recognize him." Merely thinking about his darling sister being deceived made Yang Yi fume with anger.

"Then why are you deceiving your girlfriend in such a way? She's a girl too, she's been going through hardship with you for several years." Yang You didn't understand at all. Her brother wasn't a stingy person, why would he do such a sleazeball thing?

"Don't butt into grown-up matters. I didn't miss out buying anything for you today. Be careful what you say in front of mom and dad or I might just cancel your card."

Yang Yi threatened, but in the end, he held back, driving Yang You out of the door.

The floor light in the bedroom emitted a cold glow; a black box opened on the floor and the clothes that Yang You took out scattered on the bed.

Those clothes were packed by Meng Xiao for him before he went to France.

He returned home today, but she acted abnormally, not putting the clothes back in the wardrobe, only taking out the dirty clothes to wash.

The clean clothes left were neatly packed back into the suitcase.

He brought the clothes back home, which were now messed up by his sister.

The necklace box was placed on the desk. The more Yang Yi looked at it, the more annoyed he became. He waved his hand and knocked it away.

Mysteriously frustrated, he took the car keys and went out for a drive.

What did they understand? They knew nothing!

...

Meng Xiao had a good sleep, without insomnia or dreams.

She woke up at nine in the morning for her ten o'clock class.

At noon, Meng Xiao received birthday gifts from Li Ran and Zhou Yao, a set of body lotion and milk, and a new sweatshirt.

Yesterday she left early and wasn't in the dormitory, so she only received their gifts today. Though not expensive, they were useful for Meng Xiao, and she liked them very much.

In the afternoon, with no classes, Meng Xiao was drawing assignments in the studio.

The whole day, her phone was quiet; no calls came in from Yang Yi, nor did she seek contact with him.

She didn't even think of him, as if yesterday's events had never happened.

In the past, while she was drawing, if he could not reach her by phone, he would rush to the studio as soon as he finished class just to make sure she was safe.

But now, not a message from WeChat appeared throughout the night and the day.

The perfume box on the desk sat alone in its original place, reminding her that perhaps Yang Yi's heart had changed; he no longer cared.

In the evening, the four of them ate together in the cafeteria. Wang Siyu was picking and choosing, complaining the dishes were tasteless and the ribs had no meat.

Everyone suggested going shopping in the mall tomorrow while having some good food.

Normally, Meng Xiao often missed these girls' outings due to work. But now, looking at the perfume on the table, she agreed for the first time to go with them tomorrow.

She rarely went to the mall. After her father remarried, her stepmother was initially nice to her and once bought her a princess dress.

As her stepbrother grew older, her stepmother complained that there was not enough space at home, subsequently moving Meng Xiao to her grandmother's house.

Her grandmother's house was in a small village in a county, where there were no department stores, only markets. After she started learning to paint, all her expenses went towards painting supplies; in the market, she would only look but never buy.

Her only strength was her ability to see the reality of life. She knew exactly what she was worth and never dreamed empty dreams.

If she can't afford something, then she simply can't.

Just because she didn't have much worldly experience didn't mean she was a fool. She knew exactly what it meant when a boyfriend, returned from a business trip, took a girl shopping.

Her boyfriend of three years, who had been in debt for the first three years and had just paid off the debt earlier in the year, had never taken her shopping once.

When he entered the workforce, a barrier suddenly arose between them.

Or perhaps she felt unworthy of him?

After all, the world is vast and there are countless talented and income-generating females who could attract a man like Yang Yi. Meng Xiao wouldn't find it strange if a couple of girls better than her were attracted to him.

All breakups had precursors, his increasing busyness, her inability to keep pace, Meng Xiao could not deceive herself, nor could she ignore it.

She should stay calm for a moment, considering whether Yang Yi was worth her giving up her dignity to pester.

Give him a deadline, before this tie is made and given to him. To clarify whether Yang Yi really moved on and to give her some time to adjust.

At least before this relationship ends, she could lessen the impact of breaking up, admitting that her competitor was better.

At present, she only hoped that Yang Yi wouldn't disappoint her, for instance, trying to keep both sides secret from the other.

Meng Xiao didn't want to believe that her first three years had been wasted, having stumbled upon a scumbag.