I became financially independent right after entering college.

Chapter 4 Nanjing Toluene
Arriving at the entrance of Nanchuan, Bai Chou walked to a more conspicuous and shady place and stood there, wearing headphones, looking like a cold and aloof male god who kept strangers away.

Before the prelude of the song ended, two girls came over and asked Bai Chou if he was a student of Nanchuan University and if they could add each other's contact information. Bai Chou guessed that the other party must be a senior student.

Bai Chou, who is about 1.8 meters tall and looks very similar to Li Ming, is accustomed to being approached.

After taking a look at the other person, Bai Chou found that they were not bad looking, but not up to his aesthetic standards. He rejected them directly and said that he forgot to bring his phone and did not have WeChat.

The other party also knew that this was a rejection, so he could only smile and then leave angrily, muttering to himself as he walked, wondering if Bai Chou would be posted on Xiaohongshu or the confession wall.

Bai Chou didn't bother to care about those things. If he didn't like something, he didn't like it. He had his own set of screening criteria and logic. Instead of pretending to be nice to someone he disliked, he might as well put on his headphones and listen to a few more songs.

About two songs later, a shaking little hand suddenly appeared in front of Bai Chou.

Bai Chou raised his eyes, took off his headphones, and asked casually, "When did you arrive?"

"Just arrived."

Shan Meng pouted slightly and patted Bai Chou: "Hey, why didn't you answer my call just now? I almost couldn't find you."

In fact, it is very easy to find him. A tall and thin handsome guy like Bai Chou is conspicuous wherever he goes. Besides, we have already agreed on the phone to meet at the door.

But Shan Meng still called Bai Chou on WeChat when she was about to reach the door. She was still unhappy because Bai Chou didn't answer the call, because he had always answered her call before.

"I was just listening to a song and didn't hear it." Bai Chou answered casually. He was used to this kind of thing.

His headphones are plugged into a player instead of headphones, and he likes to wear headphones when he goes out. His mother often complains to him because he can't answer the phone: I asked you to bring something, why didn't you answer the phone?

Bai Chou glanced at Dan Meng again, and his eyes lit up: "I just went out to buy something, why did you change clothes?"

Now she is wearing a new white loose cotton T-shirt on the upper body and a white pleated skirt on the lower body with the hem tucked into the waist, and a pair of cream-colored flat-heeled sandals on her feet.

【For reference only】

The youthful campus is full of the pure scent of white flowers.

"How's it going? Does it look good?"

Shan Meng spread her arms and spun around. "I just bought these popular items on Taobao a few days ago. They cost me hundreds of dollars in total."

Bai Chou suddenly remembered that he seemed to have soiled Shan Meng's clothes on the high-speed train, and that she really should change. He immediately said, "Do you have any clothes in your shopping cart? I'll buy you one."

"No, I don't know how long it will take to pick anything now. I'd better go buy something quickly. If I delay any longer, I don't know when I'll be back."

Shan Meng pushed Bai Chou out. Compared to before, she seemed more lively.

There was indeed no rush to compensate for the cute clothes, and Bai Chou stopped being pretentious.

It is quite easy to get a taxi at the university gate during this period. Many people come to school by taxi, and there are also many students who want to go out and explore Jinling.

There were several taxis parked at the school gate, probably because they didn't want to go back empty-handed, so the two of them got into any one at random.

After telling the driver the address, Shan Meng took out his mobile phone and opened the map to start navigation. He said, "Bai Chou, you're sleepy, take a nap. I'll wake you up when we get there."

Just like before.

In fact, Bai Chou was no longer sleepy. As a young man of eighteen or nineteen, he was not that sleepy, but he really didn't want to have in-depth contact with Dan Meng.

He simply put on his headphones, tilted his head toward the car door, and closed his eyes. Not long after, Bai Chou was shaken awake. Just as he was about to take out his phone to scan the QR code to pay, he discovered that Shan Meng had already paid for the car. Bai Chou didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with Shan Meng; at worst, he'd just pay when they got back.

After getting off the car, Shan Meng looked around curiously, but lost interest after just a few glances.

Jinling’s infrastructure is really not as good as Shanghai’s. Of course, it is definitely better than Handan, but apart from the particularly prosperous areas, how much better can it be?

What really sets big cities apart from small cities is the more diverse and fashionable leisure and entertainment methods and venues that only those with money can experience.

A big city is a big city only if you have money.

After obediently following Bai Chou into Building B of Oriental Garden and getting on the elevator, Shan Meng curiously asked, "What are you here to buy?"

"Get new headphones and a new player."

Bai Chou took out the Sony A25 player from his trouser pocket. He bought it when he came to Jinling to visit his cousin two years ago. At that time, he just thought Sony was good, so he blindly chose Sony.

"Oh~"

Shan Meng nodded as if she understood, but in fact she didn't understand at all. She never said much about things she didn't understand.

Shan Meng just thought that it wouldn't take much effort to replace the mp3 and headphones. It would only take a few minutes and cost a few hundred yuan at most.

"Ding dong..."

"arrive."

The elevator went up to the 16th floor. Bai Chou pulled Shan Meng out of the elevator, turned a few times according to the route he remembered, and arrived at the Toluene Nanjing Store.

The moment she pushed open the door, Shan Meng was slightly stunned. The store that Bai Chou brought her to was completely different from what she had imagined.

The headphone store she imagined was like most mobile phone stores and business halls.

There are two glass counters in the small space, with several prototypes on display, and the wall behind is full of unopened earplugs.

Then Bai Chou said he wanted this and that, and finally they calculated the total price and it was done in a few minutes.

But what about toluene in reality?

As you enter the door, you will see a wall similar to an advertising wall, which is densely but neatly covered with small pieces of paper, all of which are user reviews of toluene.

Looking to the side, there's another wall covered in photos, which is quite artistic. A little further in, there's a high wooden bar that's a bit like a bar counter.

There were a few high stools in front of the bar, and behind the two quiet female employees was a large wooden counter similar to a bar's wine cabinet. However, instead of wine, it was filled with headphones for customers to try out.

The top few layers are all big headphones, including Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, AKG... and the ones below are all in-ear earbuds.

Dan Meng couldn't see the layout further inside clearly, but based on what he saw now, it looked more like a quiet little bar with a 19th-century old money style than a store selling headphones and players.

Entering a strange environment that was completely different from what he had imagined, Shan Meng subconsciously became silent and stopped talking. Instead, he followed Bai Chou, looking around and observing.

"Hello, this year's latest flagship portable player and flagship in-ear wired earbuds are on the market. If you have samples, please bring them out so I can try them."

Bai Chou sat down opposite the bar and greeted the bar staff in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)