September 1st, Sunday, the weather was clear and sunny.
Liu Fang and Ren Yuanying went to the tea house for tea. Liu Chen hitched a ride with her mother to get off in the city. She had arranged to meet with Zhuzhu, Ren Mo, and Lai Jielun to buy a gift for Ren Mo's older brother, Ren Yu, and then go to the newly opened Happy Valley to play.
Where Liu Chen got off the car was diagonally opposite the place where they used to eat KFC.
Behind her, a huge advertisement for a luxury brand stood tall. There wasn't a single pedestrian outside the mall. Liu Chen simply ordered four cups of coffee at the Starbucks that had just opened.
By the time the last person, Lai Jielun, arrived, the ice cubes in the coffee cups had all melted.
Mi Zhuzhu linked arms with Liu Chen and stepped into Century Mall, then whispered:
"This is my first time in this mall. I heard everything inside is incredibly expensive. A T-shirt here can cost a common person's monthly salary."
Liu Chen glanced at the brands on the first floor and nodded silently.
"This is my first time here too."
Although Liu Chen now had 240 coupons accumulated, and according to the system's usual probability, she could get over 230,000 at a minimum, she was still reluctant to spend thousands of yuan on a T-shirt.
As the four of them took the escalator straight to the Sennheiser flagship store on the third floor, Liu Chen's gaze lingered for a moment on Dior on the first floor as they passed.
A pair of cufflinks was displayed in Dior's floor-to-ceiling glass display area. The sapphire blue gems sparkled under the lights. Almost as soon as she saw them, Liu Chen thought of Ren Yu, who was equally beautiful and radiant.
While they were waiting for headphones in the Sennheiser store, Liu Chen took the opportunity to go to the restroom and pocketed the cufflinks. Because they used a combination of gemstones and a circle of small diamonds, they were priced at over 20,000 yuan.
The small cufflinks were stored in the system. Liu Chen then threw the jewelry box back into her backpack and hurried to meet Zhuzhu, who was urging her on QQ!
Zhu Ying, who had been serving Liu Chen the entire time and saw her out of the store, returned to the shop and couldn't help but sigh:
"It seems there are still many rich people in our city C. The store manager was worried about not selling these cufflinks when she ordered them, as they didn't have any brand logos and were more expensive than similar jewelry brands. I didn't expect such a young girl to buy them without batting an eye. Ah, it's good to be rich!"
---
The 'rich person' Liu Chen was now taking a taxi with her friends to Happy Valley. It took about half an hour from the city center. It seemed they were unlucky, as the taxi driver they got was prone to sudden braking.
The four of them, who had been in high spirits before getting in the car, were pale-faced after getting out. They stood by the roadside and let the wind blow for a while before recovering.
After buying tickets and queuing to enter Happy Valley, Liu Chen received a text message on her phone.
--Ren Yu: 'Where are you'
After thinking for a moment, Liu Chen replied:
'Playing at Happy Valley with Ren Mo.'
It was rare for Ren Yu to message her first. Previously, Ren Yu's texts were almost always just four words: "Payment transferred," and nothing else.
Liu Chen replied, "Received, thank you, Brother Ren Yu."
And their conversation ended.
Today, he was asking where she was?
Liu Chen held her phone and waited for a long time, but Ren Yu didn't send another text. When she finally looked up from her phone, Liu Chen realized what queue Mi Zhuzhu was in...
"Heaven and Earth Twin Heroes?"
Two thick pipes stood in front of her, seemingly piercing the sky. Liu Chen fell silent. This was her first time at Happy Valley in two lifetimes, and she never imagined that amusement park rides were so challenging now!
Before Liu Chen could think too much, the previous group of people had already gotten off their seats, and the staff signaled them to sit in the outer three rows according to their order.
Liu Chen happened to be in the last seat of a row. Mi Zhuzhu was on her right, and the seat on her left was empty.
After the staff checked everyone's safety belts, they uniformly pulled down the U-shaped safety bars above each seat, which were in an open state, and locked them into the buckles in the middle of the seats. Liu Chen shifted in her seat, but couldn't move, feeling a bit more secure.
After the check, the staff exited the platform of Heaven and Earth Twin Heroes and stood on the stairs below. The background music began to play.
The deafening music in her ears was interspersed with a countdown from the staff:
"Three, two, one, start!"
The seat beneath her began to rise rapidly, and an invisible weight seemed to press her down.
Looking down during the rapid ascent, the Happy Valley, which seemed huge from above, now felt smaller than her palm under her feet.
The dense crowd in Happy Valley on a weekend now looked like tiny ants.
The machine seemed to have reached its apex and thoughtfully paused for a few seconds in mid-air.
Sitting about thirty stories high in mid-air was a completely different feeling from being on an airplane, because your feet were dangling, and your hands, face, and everything about you were directly exposed to the sixty-meter-high sky.
Even looking into the distance, half of the city of C unfolded before her eyes. The weather was clear today, and Liu Chen could even see continuous mountain ranges that were one or two hours further out from the edge of the city.
"Whoosh!"
The machine began to descend rapidly, her heart pounding uncontrollably. Liu Chen felt as if she were floating, luckily the safety belt held her tightly.
Only when her feet touched the ground again did Liu Chen let out a long sigh of relief.
The staff opened the safety belts one by one. Liu Chen stood up and helped Mi Zhuzhu, whose legs were unsteady, to a nearby seat to retrieve their belongings, especially since the box containing the gemstone cufflinks worth tens of thousands of yuan was inside.
Liu Chen had assumed Mi Zhuzhu would be the most miserable after getting off, until she saw Lai Jielun squatting by the flower bed, retching...
Sitting on a bench waiting for Lai Jielun to recover, Liu Chen finally opened her phone. There were still no new messages. Her eyelashes drooped slightly as she looked at the red and white phone in her hand.
Ren Mo's voice suddenly rang out:
"Brother?!"
Hmm?
Liu Chen looked up and followed Ren Mo's gaze.
In the noisy crowd, two people were walking towards their direction.
Ren Yu was wearing a white shirt, probably feeling a bit hot, with the top button undone, revealing his collarbone, which was beautiful and somewhat alluring. He wore long, straight legs under his shirt and was walking towards them.
Liu Chen's gaze fell on the curve protruding from Ren Yu's back...
No, no, Liu Chen, calm down. Aren't money and good grades more appealing?
After reciting this to herself a few times, Liu Chen slowly exhaled.
She couldn't help but sigh:
"Beauty is a dangerous thing..."
Shen Hong, who was plump and standing beside Ren Yu, approached and asked loudly with a smile:
"Sister Chenchen~~ Happy to see me~~ Who are these two children?"
Liu Chen first introduced both parties. Shen Hong then exclaimed that the weather was hot and suggested finding a cool place to sit.
The group of six, handsome men and beautiful women, became a scenic sight as they walked through Happy Valley.
However...
Was it Liu Chen's illusion?
Why did she feel like Brother Ren Yu was deliberately walking beside her?