After her dramatic cousin stopped acting up, the aloof doctor got anxious.

She put her phone in her pocket, and her mood suddenly improved.

For some reason, after arguing with her brother, she felt refreshed and finally understood why her mother would scold her father whenever she was unhappy.

Pushing open the door of the sushi restaurant, Zhou Lan returned to her seat and found Shen Ruo eating seaweed.

The way Shen Ruo ate was, well, very focused.

She picked up a piece of sushi, glanced at it, smelled it, and then stuffed the whole thing into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out as she chewed slowly, her eyes slightly narrowed.

A beautiful girl is pleasing to the eye even when she's eating.

Zhou Lan propped her chin up and looked at Shen Ruo. Suddenly, she realized that although her brother was still a scumbag, his taste in women was really good.

Shen Ruo is not only beautiful, but also has a good personality. She is not pretentious or affected. She is ruthless when she needs to criticize someone, and she doesn't put on airs when she needs to humble herself.

A girl like that would be in high demand anywhere, so it's understandable that her brother wants to pursue her.

However, Zhou Lan drew a line in her heart: she could pursue him, but she couldn't let her brother ruin her good friend's life.

He's never been in a relationship for more than three months; once the initial excitement wears off, he moves on to someone else. She can't let Shen Ruo become just another name on his romantic resume.

Moreover, Zhou Lan tilted her head and looked at Shen Ruo again.

Having such a beautiful friend would make me so proud to go out with her.

Today at the club, as soon as she entered the room, everyone's eyes lit up, and Zhou Lan thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Shen Ruo was eating seaweed to cleanse her palate when she suddenly felt a chill on the back of her head.

She looked up and found Zhou Lan staring at her with a gaze that sent chills down her spine. Her eyes seemed to be admiring some precious porcelain, or perhaps calculating how to sell her for a good price.

Shen Ruo hesitated for a moment, then turned her chopsticks around and moved them from in front of herself to in front of Zhou Lan, placing a piece of seaweed on her plate.

"You eat, stop looking at me."

Zhou Lan looked down at the few green seaweeds in the dish, then glanced at the stack of sushi plates in front of Shen Ruo.

Judging by the colors, they're all expensive.

What was given to her?

seaweed.

The cheapest kind, it spun around on the wheel three times and nobody took it.

"Shen Ruo, are you only feeding me the best food?"

Zhou Lan's black line.

Shen Ruo followed her gaze to the mountain of saucers in front of her, then to the small clump of seaweed standing alone in front of Zhou Lan, and finally belatedly felt a little embarrassed.

Just a tiny bit.

She bit her lip, made an extremely difficult decision, and whispered, barely a whisper, "How about we split the bill?"

Seeing the look of despair on her face, Zhou Lan smiled and said, "No need. I have enough money to treat you to a meal. Don't worry, I won't make you pay."

Shen Ruo's eyes lit up instantly, filled with joy.

"Then I'll continue eating."

"Eat up, eat up."

Shen Ruo took another plate of seared salmon from the turntable without any hesitation, moving quickly so as not to make Zhou Lan change her mind.

Zhou Lan looked at her miserly appearance and shook her head with a smile.

When it was time to pay, Zhou Lan took out her phone, opened the payment code, and confidently scanned it on the cashier's machine.

"drop…"

Insufficient balance?

The cashier looked at the screen, glanced up at Zhou Lan, then looked down at the machine, her expression somewhat subtle. "Miss, this card can't be used to pay."

Zhou Lan was taken aback. "Why?"

"It shows that the device is frozen."

Zhou Lan's smile froze.

She clicked to see the details: Family Card, last four digits xxxx, status: deactivated.

Her own brother, Zhou Ke, really stopped issuing her a family card.

Zhou Lan gritted her teeth and secretly called Zhou Ke on her phone.

They didn't answer.

Hit again.

Shut down.

Zhou Lan held her phone, her face filled with shame.

Oh my god, is this going to explode on the spot?

I'd rather blow her to pieces than face this situation.

Shen Ruo stood next to her, initially unaware of what had happened.

But as Zhou Lan made a phone call, the cashier was still waiting, and the customers in line behind her had begun to whisper impatiently.

She had a bad feeling.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Lan's voice was weak, "Um, my brother... suspended my card."

Shen Ruo: "??"

She silently took the receipt with the bill written on it from Zhou Lan's hand and glanced at it.

It starts with four letters and has a three-digit number.

428.

Shen Ruo felt her vision suddenly go black.

Why is she going out tonight?

Why did she let someone else treat her to a meal?

Wouldn't it be better for her to stay home and eat a six-yuan instant noodle and a three-yuan sausage?

Why spend 428 yuan when a problem can be solved for nine yuan?

Shen Ruo's voice was calm, "It's okay, I'll pay."

"Shen Ruo, I'm so sorry, I've transferred my salary to you."

"Need not."

Shen Ruo took out her phone and opened the payment code.

Shen Ruo's eyelids twitched as she looked at the number -428.00 on her phone screen.

She felt she couldn't hold onto her wealth.

As Zhou Lan walked out of the sushi restaurant, she continued to apologize.

Shen Ruo's tone was lighthearted, "Alright, it's no big deal, just a few hundred yuan, not tens of thousands. You said it yourself, I can afford to treat you to a meal."

Remembering what she had said, Zhou Lan felt even more guilty. "Then I'll take you."

"No need, I'll take a taxi myself."

Shen Ruo hailed a taxi, got in, closed the door, gave an address, and then buried her face in her hands.

The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror, assuming the girl had suffered some injustice, and kindly handed her a pack of tissues, "Girl, wipe your tears, don't cry."

Shen Ruo raised her head; her eyes were dry.

Her voice was muffled. "I didn't cry. I just feel like I'm destined to be antagonized by money in this lifetime."

The driver didn't understand, but didn't ask any more questions and stepped on the gas.

It was almost eleven o'clock when Shen Ruo got home.

The entryway light was on, and the living room light was on as well. She glanced at the living room while changing her shoes, and then froze.

Qi Wenshen sat on the sofa.

He was wearing a dark gray loungewear T-shirt and holding a book.

He is still awake.

Shen Ruo has been living here for almost two weeks. Qi Wenshen spends most of his time in the study, occasionally sitting in the living room for a while, but rarely sitting on the sofa at 11 p.m.

After changing her shoes, Shen Ruo called out in a muffled voice, "Cousin."

She was in a bad mood and didn't want to talk.

Then he lowered his head and prepared to go upstairs.

"Shen Ruo."

Qi Wenshen called her.

He could hear the unhappiness in her voice.

Shen Ruo paused for a moment, but did not turn around.

"Um?"

Qi Wenshen put down the book in his hand and looked at her back as she stood at the top of the stairs.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked anyway, "Did someone bully you?"

Shen Ruo forced a smile. "No."

Qi Wenshen watched her retreating figure and asked no further questions.

This girl was perfectly fine at the club tonight, how did she turn into this after just having dinner with Zhou Lan?

Shen Ruo stood there for a moment, and seeing that Qi Wenshen did not say anything more, she said goodnight to him and continued to walk upstairs.

Qi Wenshen watched her go upstairs until her figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs before turning his gaze away.