Ye Xuan was just that kind of person.
If someone treated him with a foot of respect, he would return a yard.
Since He Yurong had told him to his face that he wasn't good enough for Xiao Nanzhi, he had no reason to put on a friendly face for her.
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.
After a good long while, He Yurong forced a bitter smile and asked, "Still mad at Aunty?"
Ye Xuan smiled and said nothing.
He Yurong continued, "Xiao Ye, to be honest, Aunty has always thought you were a great kid—handsome, sunny, cheerful, and your grades are good, too."
Ye Xuan was a bit confused by this.
Didn't she say last time that he wasn't good enough for Xiao Nanzhi?
Why was she suddenly starting to shower him with praise?
"Aunty was just afraid that puppy love would affect your Gaokao scores. I spoke to you the way I did last time just to make a clean break between you two. Now that I think about it, I was so focused on the issue of puppy love that I completely disregarded your self-esteem. It was a terribly wrong thing to do. Aunty is apologizing to you here and now."
With that, He Yurong bowed to Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan's expression shifted, and he quickly reached out to steady her. "Aunty He, please don't do that. I don't deserve such a gesture."
He Yurong teased, "Willing to call me Aunty now, are you?"
Ye Xuan rubbed his nose. "Since you've put it this way, Aunty, if I still refused to call you that, wouldn't it make me look like I don't know any better?"
Putting aside whether she was being sincere or not, at least she had shown an attitude of admitting her mistake.
She had even lowered herself, an elder, to bow and apologize to him, a younger person.
In that case, he needed to keep up appearances and make things smooth between them.
"Then will you be able to get along with Nanzhi like you used to?"
He Yurong asked.
Ye Xuan was taken aback. "Is this why you wanted to see me?"
This was the complete opposite of what he had guessed!
He Yurong nodded. "Yes. Because you ignored Nanzhi yesterday, she has been in a terrible emotional state."
Ye Xuan looked blank. "Aunty, did you get something wrong? I didn't ignore her. We were even talking this morning."
Besides, Xiao Nanzhi was a proud little princess.
Even if he really did ignore her, would she get depressed over it?
She must have gotten it wrong!
"Huh?"
This time, it was He Yurong's turn to be stunned.
She could tell that Ye Xuan didn't look like he was lying.
Yet Nanzhi's state yesterday hadn't been fake either!
Ye Xuan explained, "I just told her that I wouldn't be buying her breakfast anymore."
"Ah..."
He Yurong finally understood.
There was a huge gap in how men and women perceived romantic issues.
To a guy, as long as they could still hold a normal conversation, it meant he was still paying attention to her.
To a girl, however, if a guy who bought her breakfast every day suddenly announced he wouldn't be doing it anymore, that was equivalent to ignoring her entirely!
So in this matter, neither Ye Xuan nor Nanzhi had lied.
After a moment of feeling amused yet exasperated, He Yurong pulled a box out of her bag. "I heard from Nanzhi that you've always wanted a phone of your own. This is the Nokia 7610 I just bought. Take a look and see if you like it."
A gleam flashed in Ye Xuan's eyes. "Aunty, are you giving this phone to me?"
The 7610 was a new model released by Nokia in 2004, priced at 4,999 yuan.
Measured by today's purchasing power, its value surpassed even that of top-tier smartphones in later generations.
As expected of a multi-millionaire businesswoman, He Yurong certainly knew how to be generous.
"That's right. Nanzhi has a red one, and I specifically bought a blue one for you so it's easier for the two of you to keep in touch. Besides, you're bound to need a phone once you go to college anyway. If I buy it for you now, it saves your parents the expense."
As she spoke, He Yurong tried to push the box into Ye Xuan's hands.
She had two motives for giving Ye Xuan this phone.
First, to make up for her past mistake.
Second, for the reason she had just mentioned—making it convenient for Nanzhi to stay in touch with Ye Xuan.
This would help regulate Nanzhi's emotions and let her face the Gaokao in the best possible state.
Ye Xuan took a step back with a smile and said, "You're too kind. I do want a phone, but what I want even more is to earn the money myself to buy the things I like. So you should take this phone back."
He Yurong gave a bitter smile. "Xiao Ye, don't misunderstand. Aunty isn't saying you can't afford a phone, it's just..."
The corners of Ye Xuan's mouth ticked upward. "Is Aunty afraid of hurting my self-esteem again?"
He Yurong fell silent for a brief moment before finally nodding. "A little bit, yes."
Given Ye Xuan's family background, a 4,999-yuan phone truly counted as a luxury item.
All the reasons she had just rattled off were meant to protect his pride.
Ye Xuan shook his head with a smile. "Don't overthink it. I'm not fragile enough to have my pride hurt over a small matter like this. As for Nanzhi, don't worry, I'll continue to treat her as a friend. I've got some things to take care of at home, so I need to head back. I'm off."
With a casual "Goodbye," he turned around with a smile and walked away.
"Xiao Ye, don't tell Nanzhi that I came to see you!"
"Don't worry, Aunty!"
Watching Ye Xuan's receding figure, He Yurong shook her head and sighed repeatedly.
In her view, Ye Xuan's refusal of the phone was still a manifestation of a teenage boy's wounded pride.
To put it nicely, it was called self-esteem and self-reliance.
To put it bluntly, it was being overly concerned with saving face and not knowing how to utilize available resources.
In today's society, a man who cared too much about face would find it very difficult to achieve success.
...
"Driver, take me to Jinlong Building."
Passing a street corner, Ye Xuan waved down a taxi.
The Mingcheng Welfare Lottery Center was right next to Jinlong Building.
He hadn't given his true destination out of fear of being watched.
The driver glanced at Ye Xuan's No. 1 High School uniform and chuckled. "Isn't today Tuesday? Playing hooky?"
Ye Xuan laughed. "What are you saying? I'm a notoriously model student all around town, and I'm even going to be on Mingcheng TV Station tonight. Would I ever do something like skip class?"
"Hah, really or not?" The driver clearly didn't believe him.
"Really! The Rainy Night Fiend was caught, you know that?"
"I know, it's all over Mingcheng."
"Well, do you know who helped the police catch him?"
"It couldn't possibly be you, could it?"
"Heh, you actually guessed it. It was me."
"Hoh..."
Half an hour later, after chatting the driver's ear off the whole way, Ye Xuan paid the fare and got out.
Before leaving, he called out, "Uncle Zhao, remember to tune into Mingcheng Good News at 8:00 tonight!"
"You got it, I'll definitely be watching!"
As soon as Ye Xuan closed the door, Old Zhao let out a snort. "If you can be on Mingcheng Good News, then I can damn well be on Xinwen Lianbo! Kids these days sure know how to blow smoke!"
...
Ye Xuan first went into the mall at Jinlong Building, bought a change of clothes, and put them on.
After claiming his prize at the lottery center, he headed to the nearby Long Country Bank, cashed the check, and deposited the funds into his own bank account.
Next, he hailed another taxi and headed to the securities exchange to open an account.
Once the account was established, he stood in front of the large trading screen in the hall. While watching the market ticker, he entered the system, selected a piece of Stock Market Information, and clicked to use it.
"From 10:00 AM on May 9th to 3:00 PM on May 11th, the stock price of Xinke Electronics will usher in a wave of 25% growth."