The sickly one in F4 was the group's darling.

Bai Ci came out of the lounge and walked along the corridor toward the school gate.

The cherry blossom avenue at St Andrew's College is the city's most famous springtime attraction, with petals falling all over the road in March, creating a scene as beautiful as an oil painting.

It's November now, but the cherry blossoms have long since faded, leaving only bare branches.

The road is lined with Gothic-style stone colonnades, and the ground is paved with mosaic flagstones imported from Italy. Every few steps, there is a handmade wrought iron street lamp.

The school flag hangs under the lamp, its dark blue fabric embroidered with the school motto in gold Latin script: "Non nobis solum".

In layman's terms: Your family is so rich, you should at least learn to do some decent work.

A Gothic clock tower stands in the distance. To the left is a glass-walled building housing a swimming pool, with hot spring water directly fed into the pool, maintaining a constant temperature year-round.

The lawn on the right is manicured like a carpet; it's the school's golf course, an 18-hole course exclusively for students to play golf.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Xiao Qi thought to herself, "Does it feel like even breathing here is charged by the second?"

Bai Ci nodded seriously: "A little."

"Of course." Xiao Qi clicked her tongue twice. "The tuition for a year at St. Andrew's is enough for an average family to buy a house. Those who can study here are either heirs of wealthy families, scions of prestigious families, or at the very least, members of well-established and wealthy families."

"This is too exaggerated," Bai Ci said softly.

"Don't underestimate this school." Xiao Qi became serious. "The foundation behind St. Andrews has invested in more than a dozen top-notch laboratories in biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. Any one of them is a leader in its field. Many projects directly collaborate with established international academic centers, and half of the professors are legendary figures in their respective fields, the kind who have won top academic awards left and right. They only admit about two hundred students each year, and the entry requirements are incredibly high."

"So who are these people coming in?"

"Let's divide them into three types," Xiaoqi paused, counting, "The first type is the true heir to a wealthy family, whose family has donated buildings and provided funding; even schools have to pamper them."

"The second type is the academic superstar who relies purely on their brains—the top geniuses selected from around the world, receiving full scholarships from the university. However, the entrance exams are incredibly difficult, but once you get in, you don't have to spend a single penny."

Bai Ci listened attentively: "There's another one?"

"The last type is also admitted through exams, but their tuition and living expenses are not paid by the school; they are covered by a wealthy family."

Xiaoqi deliberately lowered her voice, "To put it bluntly, it's talent investment. They support you to finish your studies at St. Andrew's, on the condition that you must join their company after graduation, with a minimum ten-year contract, which is almost like a servitude contract. These kinds of people are very careful in school, desperately trying to improve their GPA, just in case their sugar daddy gets upset and cuts off the funding. It's much more tiring than those proper young masters and ladies."

"So there are only two kinds of people here: either you're smart enough, or you're rich enough. If you have neither, you can't even get your foot in the door."

"What about the original owner?"

"The Bai family, the Bai Group is worth trillions, a true super-rich family. But..." Xiao Qi's voice trailed off, "The original owner was an illegitimate child, the kind who wasn't acknowledged. The Bai family put him in there purely for appearances, 'How can a Bai family child attend a public school?'"

"But it's okay!" Xiaoqi instantly cheered up again. "They'll regret it later!"

Bai Ci didn't respond to that. She walked to the school gate, took out her phone, glanced at the navigation, and asked blankly, "Xiao Qi, where's that barbershop you mentioned?"

"Take a right turn and walk 300 meters out of the school gate, there's a barbershop called 'Fengshang,' a five-star review shop. The hairdressers there are all award-winning. The average price per person is..."

Xiaoqi suddenly got stuck.

"How much?" Bai Ci asked.

"......one thousand."

Bai Ci paused, then subconsciously reached into his pocket.

My fingertips touched a few crumpled banknotes and a few cold coins. I spread them out and counted them; there were only seventeen in total.

He opened his phone account again, and fell silent the moment the screen lit up.

Balance: 123.00.

He glanced at it again to make sure he hadn't missed a single zero.

That's 123 yuan.

"The Bai family...is that rich?" Bai Ci's voice held a hint of disbelief and grievance. "One hundred and twenty-three?"

"I'm shocked too!" Xiao Qi exclaimed, "Bai Yanzhi's car is enough to buy several houses, Bai Luochen's watch is worth millions, Bai Jiheng has a private jet, and this is all Bai Ci gets? Not even enough for a haircut? Is this reasonable?"

"This is too much!" Xiaoqi got angrier and angrier. "I'm going to change Bai Yanzhi's nickname to 'Stingy Guy'! No, to 'Tightwad'! No, to 'Super Invincible Tightwad King'!"

Bai Ci stared at the string of numbers for a moment, then silently exited the bank app.

I can't afford a haircut that costs a thousand yuan.

"Xiao Qi, are there any cheaper options nearby? Like... fifteen or twenty?"

Xiaoqi was silent for a moment, as if she was conducting some kind of difficult search.

"……have."

"Where?"

"About three kilometers from here, in an alley in the old town." Xiaoqi's voice grew increasingly subtle. "A haircut costs fifteen yuan, and the reviews are two stars. The reviews say: 'I wanted to call the police after the haircut,' 'My grandma could handle a kitchen knife better than him,' 'He went in a human and came out a ghost.'"

Bai Ci: "..."

"But there are good reviews!" Xiaoqi quickly added, "Some people said, 'The owner is very nice, you can pet the cats, and the orange cats are especially fat.'"

Bai Ci's barely concealed rabbit instincts were immediately piqued: "A cat?"

But then I remembered that I was afraid of cats, and my ears almost tucked in.

"There's a cat, a chubby orange tabby."

"I don't pet cats," he said quietly. "I'm just getting a haircut."

"Are you going or not?"

Bai Ci glanced at the 123 in his card, then imagined the image of Tony, the hairdresser, smiling at him with scissors, costing 1000 yuan.

"Go," he said, "the fifteen-dollar one."

At worst, I'll just wear a hat if I ruin the haircut.

Bai Ci followed the navigation and turned into an increasingly narrow alley. The buildings on both sides gradually changed from European-style villas to old residential buildings, with withered vines climbing the walls and power lines crisscrossing overhead.

A dim yellow light shone deep in the alley, with four faded characters on the lightbox: Sister's Hair Salon.

A faded, handwritten price list was pasted on the glass door:

Haircut - 15 yuan

Wash, cut and blow-dry - 25 yuan

Shaving - 5 yuan

Bai Ci stood at the door, composed herself, and pushed the door open to go inside.

The shop was small, with only an old barber chair and a large mirror, on which were pasted several celebrity posters with curled-up edges.

In the corner, an orange cat was curled up on the old sofa, as fat as a fluffy pumpkin, dozing off with its eyes half-closed.

The air was filled with the mixed scents of shampoo and a faint smell of smoke.

Bai Ci stood there for a few seconds, but didn't see anyone.

I looked around, and everything behind the curtain was quiet.

"……Hello?"

The voice was soft and gentle.

No one answered.

Bai Ci shouted again, "Excuse me... is anyone home?"

Finally, a rustling sound came from behind the curtain.