Chapter 30: Brooch, Arrogant and Domineering

Fang Chuning glanced at the time, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go first.”

“Okay.”

Li Yipeng didn’t follow her anymore. His slightly sticky gaze fell on her back, lingering until her figure disappeared.

Just then, a phone call came in. Li Yipeng took out his phone, and when he saw the caller ID, the gentleness on his face faded slightly. He pressed reject without hesitation.

He looked up in the direction where the girl had disappeared, then strode away in the opposite direction with his long legs.

After school in the afternoon, Fang Chuning, who had originally planned to go straight home, saw Fang Tianli waiting for her by a luxury car outside the school gates as soon as she exited, along with Su Qi, who looked obedient and docile beside him.

Fang Tianli’s school usually finished later than hers, so when Fang Chuning saw the two of them, her first thought was, “Are they skipping class?”

As she approached, Su Qi, who had been standing beside Fang Tianli, eagerly took a step forward, his eyes bright: “Ningnin sister.”

Fang Chuning nodded to him and looked at her brother: “Why are you here?”

Fang Tianli said, “Our class had a big cleaning day today, so Qiqi and I left early.”

Fang Chuning knew what her brother was like. Spoiled at home and never having to lift a finger, it was practically impossible to get him to do any work. “You could have just gone straight home, no need to come here and wait for me.”

Saying this, Fang Chuning walked towards the passenger side on her own.

Fang Tianli reached out to grab her arm, his pink cheeks slightly puffed: “Of course I came to find you because I have something to do!”

There was a time when Fang Tianli was very clingy to her. To what extent? He would follow her wherever she went, even wanting to bathe and use the toilet together. He would cry his heart out every time she had to go to school and they had to separate. At that time, Fang Chuning was also young. She enjoyed the times when her brother was clingy, but she was also often troubled because his clinginess prevented her from playing with other children.

She still remembered her grandfather joking that although they weren’t twins, the two siblings were closer than twins.

It wasn’t until later when Fang Tianli grew up a bit and had his own ideas that he stopped being so clingy, and Fang Chuning was finally freed.

Thinking back now, the Fang Tianli who was stickier than super glue back then was definitely an existence that would make one’s head explode. Compared to before, even though he often opposes her now, it’s still better than that time.

She couldn’t understand why she would have felt enjoyment back then.

“Are you listening to me when I’m talking to you?”

The boy’s dissatisfied voice interrupted her thoughts. Fang Chuning glanced at him, then turned her gaze to Su Qi beside him.

Su Qi obediently explained the reason: “Lili said he wanted to go to the mall to buy something and wanted to ask Ningnin sister to come along.”

“You can go shopping by yourselves, I can’t give you any opinions anyway.”

What Fang Chuning hated most was aimless shopping. Usually when she was free at home, Father Fang liked to drag her around to buy things everywhere. Every time it was like restocking inventory, buying a bunch of luxury goods that would just be tossed aside at home.

This time, Fang Tianli’s purpose wasn’t just shopping. He wanted to use this opportunity to bring them together: “I don’t care, you have to come with us.”

Fang Tianli was two years younger than her, with a childish yet flamboyant face, like a vibrant painting. He never concealed any emotions, expressing clearly what he wanted or didn’t want, even overly expressing sometimes, often becoming overly emotional over small matters.

This might be the consequence of excessive indulgence from the family. When the two elders of the Fang family were still living in the Fang family villa, Fang Tianli was their heart and soul. They were afraid he would melt if they kept him in their mouths, afraid he would break if they held him in their hands.

In the end, Fang Chuning reluctantly agreed, unable to resist his persistence.

At this time, it was when the commercial street was most crowded, and looking around, men occupied a large portion.

Fang Chuning followed behind them. Her clear and outstanding features, along with her tall and curvaceous figure, frequently attracted the gazes of some young men. Some bold ones even directly approached to ask for her contact information.

“How can these men be so shameless.” Fang Tianli held onto the boy’s arm with a look of disdain. Even if he liked a girl, he would never be so forward, almost as if desperate to throw himself at her.

Su Qi watched as another man was attracted over, and lightly bit his lip: “Lili, why don’t we walk together with Ningnin sister?”

Fang Tianli thought for a moment, then suddenly let go of his hand and ran back, throwing himself into Fang Chuning’s arms, glaring arrogantly at the man who was trying to chat her up.

This action could easily give people the wrong idea, making them think the two were a couple. The man who had been trying to chat her up looked a bit embarrassed and left awkwardly.

Fang Chuning, stumbling a bit from being pounced on, found it a bit amusing: “What are you doing?”

“Of course I’m helping you chase away those bees and butterflies!” Fang Tianli said righteously.

“You mean ‘wild bees and butterflies’, right?” Fang Chuning corrected his phrase, pulling him away to make him stand properly: “Hurry up and buy what you want to buy. If we get back too late, dad will scold you.”

Fang Tianli pouted, then ran back to hold Su Qi’s arm, entering a branded clothing store with him.

Fang Chuning stood at the entrance, her bored gaze lazily surveying the surroundings. By chance, she met eyes with Xu Muzhou who was inside the store across from her. She was a bit surprised and raised her hand to greet him.

Xu Muzhou also seemed surprised to encounter her here. His beautiful face showed a slight daze before the corners of his crimson lips lifted.

With Xu Muzhou was Qin Shaoqing, who was looking at the latest brooches in the store. “Muzhou, look at this brooch, the style is so special!”

Qin Shaoqing asked the shop assistant to take the brooch out of the counter to show the young man, but found that his eyes were fixed unblinkingly on something outside. He followed his line of sight and just happened to see the girl walking towards them.

He looked at the beaming profile of his friend beside him, feeling a bit hesitant. Could it be that Muzhou asked him out shopping just for…

While Qin Shaoqing was still suspicious, Fang Chuning had already come up to them: “What are you looking at?”

“I was looking at brooches with Aqing.” Xu Muzhou’s finger lightly brushed the brooch on his school uniform, his soft voice mixed with a hint of sweetness: “I’ve worn this brooch for quite a while and want to change to a new one.”

Fang Chuning looked at the decoration on his chest, but the young man’s slender white fingers were more eye-catching than that ruby brooch.

She coughed lightly and averted her gaze: “Oh.” Then she noticed the latest model in Qin Shaoqing’s hand, “This one looks quite nice.”

The salesperson who could work in such a branded store naturally had good eye for detail. He quickly assessed the clothing of the three people and enthusiastically introduced: “This is our store’s new model. Up to now, our brand has only sold twenty of this model to the public, and this is the only one in our store. It just arrived today and will be sold out once it’s gone.”

For those rich people who pursue brands, they don’t like to hear about what styles sell best or are most popular – if everyone has it, it becomes cheap. The word “limited edition” often captures their hearts better.

Qin Shaoqing: “Is this really the only one in your store?”

“Yes.”

Qin Shaoqing frowned and said to the young man: “But I want to wear the same one as you.”

Xu Muzhou’s gaze fell slightly on the brooch, saying good-naturedly: “If you like it, Aqing, you can buy it. I can look at others.”

“But I think it really suits you.”

Qin Shaoqing asked the salesperson insistently if they could transfer one from another store, but the answer was no.

Fang Chuning was quite ignorant when it came to men’s accessories, but she did have brooches herself, so she said: “I have brooches at home too. If you want, I can give you one.”

Most of those brooches were bought by Hong Jie at auctions and were much more valuable than those in these stores.

However, the young man shook his head and refused: “It’s just a brooch. I don’t want to cause any conflict between you and your family because of it.”

Perhaps the word “give” made the young man misunderstand that she would secretly take it from home to give him. Fang Chuning said “Hah” and continued: “What conflict could this cause? You’re thinking too much.”

“But…”

While they were discussing the brooch, Fang Tianli, who was looking at clothes across the way, finally noticed that his older sister had disappeared, thanks to Su Qi’s reminder. He walked out of the store and swept his gaze across, immediately seeing a scene that made him bristle.

Fang Tianli was like a lit firecracker, rushing over at once: “What are you doing!”

His sharp gaze swept across everyone’s faces, finally stopping on the brooch in the young man’s hand, but quickly moving away to that somewhat familiar face, his tone not very friendly: “How come it’s you again!”

Xu Muzhou raised the corners of his mouth gently: “Hello.”

The boy’s attitude was very impolite, completely ignoring him. Fang Chuning frowned and scolded in an elder’s tone: “Fang Tianli, don’t you know what politeness is? Do I need to tell dad when we get back?”

Fang Tianli pouted dismissively, his gaze moving back to the brooch in the young man’s hand. He raised his voice towards the salesperson: “I want this brooch, wrap it up for me.”

The salesperson hesitated a bit: “But the brooch is…”

“I saw the brooch first.” Qin Shaoqing interrupted his words, chin slightly raised, eyes contemptuous: “What right do you have?”

It was the first time Fang Tianli had encountered someone who dared to compete with him for something so directly. For a moment, anger surged in his heart: “I saw it, if you haven’t paid for it then it’s mine!”

His righteous appearance made people grit their teeth in frustration.

Unfortunately, he encountered Qin Shaoqing, who had a similar personality to his. He looked at the boy and said word by word: “It’s in my hand now, so it’s mine.”

“Lili!” Fang Chuning pulled him away. It was very obvious that Fang Tianli was deliberately provoking.

Fang Tianli was so angry that his eyes reddened slightly. He shouted coquettishly at the salesperson: “I told you to wrap it up for me!!”

The next second, the brooch was thrown to the ground by Qin Shaoqing, who even stepped on it. Then he took out a bank card from his pocket and handed it to the shop assistant, saying expressionlessly to the boy: “If you like it so much, just pick it up. I’ll give it to you.”

For a moment, the store was terrifyingly silent. The other customers in the store saw this and moved away, but not without turning back to discuss.