Chapter 7: Borrowing a Tiger’s Might
After a full round of browsing, Gu Qinghuan had feasted her eyes and was thoroughly satisfied — but she didn’t buy a single thing.
Yu Xin had already bought a fountain pen earlier, so she was just looking around too.
Jiang Chuchu, however, had swept up the entire line of a limited-edition IP collaboration. Seeing that Gu Qinghuan and Yu Xin were both empty-handed, she couldn’t help asking, “Why aren’t you two buying anything?”
Yu Xin pointed at the fountain pen bag Qin Yue was carrying, “I did. You paid for it.”
Gu Qinghuan spread her hands, “I’m not buying. I already have stationery. I just like browsing.”
Once they’d browsed enough, it was time for everyone to head home. Jiang Chuchu generously offered to drive them back. As for Qin Yue, since he lived in the same direction as Jiang Chuchu, she begrudgingly gave him a lift too.
In terms of distance, Gu Qinghuan was dropped off first. She sat by the window; Yu Xin was in the middle.
Noticing Yu Xin twisting the string handles of the fountain pen bag, Gu Qinghuan casually asked, “What’s wrong?”
Over the course of the day, Yu Xin’s trust in Gu Qinghuan had risen sharply without her realizing it — she was already starting to see her as a sort of pillar of support.
She didn’t hesitate for long before explaining, “I’m worried that if I take this home, my family will scold me for wasting money.”
“None of the money I spend is ever wasted!” Jiang Chuchu immediately declared. “As long as I’m happy, it’s money well spent!”
Gu Qinghuan gave her a thumbs-up. Whatever else could be said, that spending mentality was top tier.
She turned back to Yu Xin, “Is your family short on money?”
Honestly, Gu Qinghuan already knew the answer — definitely not. She figured Yu Xin’s family was probably well-off.
Even though Yu Xin herself seemed a bit shabby, earlier when Jiang Chuchu paid for the pen and she had suggested Yu Xin repay her later, Yu Xin had agreed without hesitation.
What did that say? That while the pen seemed expensive to Yu Xin, repaying the cost wouldn’t be hard for her.
To be honest, the conclusion was contradictory, but the only explanation Gu Qinghuan could think of was: Yu Xin’s family had money, they just didn’t let her spend it.
For example — if the family regularly talked in terms of tens or hundreds of thousands, even if Yu Xin only got a few tens or hundreds in allowance per month, she still wouldn’t think something worth a few hundred could put any real strain on the household.
Sure enough, Yu Xin shook her head without hesitation.
Gu Qinghuan felt she had hit the nail on the head. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Jiang Chuchu, would you mind if Yu Xin borrowed your name for a bit of prestige?”
This was the first time anyone had ever asked her in advance before “flying her flag,” and Jiang Chuchu was intrigued — especially if Gu Qinghuan could always come up with interesting plays like this.
She agreed readily, “What’s the plan?”
“Just have Yu Xin tell her family she bought the pen because you were interested in guiding her handwriting practice,” Gu Qinghuan said.
“That’s not even a lie,” Jiang Chuchu replied, not feeling this counted as “borrowing prestige” at all.
“To the Yu family, it’s different,” Qin Yue couldn’t help but interject. “As long as they can get in good with you, what’s a fountain pen to them?”
During the afternoon break, Qin Min had filled him in briefly on Yu Xin’s situation, and he’d felt a bit sorry for her.
Yu family, huh? Gu Qinghuan thought it over — so Yu Xin’s family was powerful too, just not on the same level as the Jiangs.
She went on, “But you can’t say Jiang Chuchu paid for it, and don’t mention you’re already close friends.”
Yu Xin looked puzzled, “Why not?”
“I get it!” Qin Yue said excitedly. “It’s so the Yu family will invest in you!”
“See, if you say you’re already close with Jiang Chuchu after just starting school, they won’t believe you. But if you say you’re looking for chances to get on her good side, they might. And after that, to make your relationship better, they’ll definitely give you resources! A fountain pen’s nothing!” Qin Yue finished his long-winded explanation, mentally patting himself on the back.
“More or less,” Gu Qinghuan nodded. “That way they won’t scold you for buying the pen — they’ll actually support you in buying things.”
With the explanation, Yu Xin began to understand, though she was still uneasy, “Will this work?”
“Give it a try first,” Gu Qinghuan said. She hadn’t met the Yu family, so she couldn’t be sure, but from a benefit standpoint, it made sense. “If it doesn’t, just message me.”
Yu Xin looked at Jiang Chuchu again, “Can I borrow your name?”
“I don’t even think it counts as borrowing,” Jiang Chuchu shrugged. “Frankly, I’m more annoyed at your family’s attitude — why should you be scolded for buying a pen? So stingy!”
She huffed, “Just say it like that! I want to see if they still dare to scold you!”
Remembering what Yu Xin had said earlier, Jiang Chuchu felt only disgust for the Yu family.
She had never had chilblains herself, but just imagining hands swollen, red, and cracked made her scalp tingle — it must be excruciating.
By now, the car had reached the entrance to Gu Qinghuan’s apartment complex.
Gu Qinghuan opened the door and got out, saying goodbye to the other three. She had barely taken two steps when she heard her mother’s voice.
“Huanhuan!”
“Hey!” Gu Qinghuan replied, quickly trotting over when she saw her mom holding a takeout box.
“Mom, what yummy thing did you buy?”
Gu Haiyan frowned and didn’t answer, instead asking, “Why did you just get out of someone else’s car?”
“Oh, that’s my classmate’s family’s car. There were two other classmates in it too. We went to Qiansheng Plaza after school!” Gu Qinghuan took the takeout box and peeked inside.
It looked like fried rice from Old Wang’s place at the corner. Hopefully, it wasn’t made by his son — his fried rice was always mushy, not the least bit dry or fluffy.
“You didn’t buy anything?” Gu Haiyan was a bit worried. She knew most students at Mingde came from wealthy families, and the car just now had looked expensive.
Yes, they’d recently won a prize, but they couldn’t splurge recklessly. She and her husband were still planning to buy their daughter an apartment in the future.
She couldn’t help wondering if her daughter’s classmates might look down on her family for not being as well-off… the thought troubled her.
“Nope. I don’t need anything. I was just keeping a classmate company while she bought a fountain pen,” Gu Qinghuan said, noticing her mother’s worry. “Don’t worry, Mom. My classmates are all nice. I even added everyone in class on WeChat today.”
Thinking of her daughter’s long history of getting along well with others, Gu Haiyan relaxed a bit.
“You should get along in school, but remember that studying is the most important thing. Don’t take advantage of others just because they have more money.”
Listening to her mom’s nagging, Gu Qinghuan felt a little guilty, rubbing her nose — she’d literally just been teaching Yu Xin how to use Jiang Chuchu’s name to intimidate her family… cough cough… better not tell her parents that.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chuchu had dropped Yu Xin off at the Yu family villa.
The housekeeper cleaning the courtyard was stunned to see Yu Xin get out of a luxury car, quickly hurrying to report it to the butler.
The butler rushed out but only caught sight of the car’s rear as it drove away.
That was enough for him to recognize the make and license plate — it was the Jiang family’s car. He immediately went to report to Madam Yu.
Yu Xin gripped the fountain pen bag tightly, her body a little stiff. But remembering Gu Qinghuan’s words, she forced herself to take a deep breath.
She was actually afraid of coming home — afraid of seeing her stepmother and brother, afraid of seeing them happily doting on “the younger sister.”
It made her feel like an unnecessary extra. She envied “the younger sister,” and sometimes she even felt jealousy and grievance, because she could never get that kind of affection. All she ever got were eyes filled with coldness and disdain.
Even the servants were cold toward her, sometimes acting as if she didn’t exist.
Yet today, when she returned home, a servant had actually brought her slippers and taken her schoolbag.
Dinner was prepared quickly in the kitchen and served fresh. The dishes were simple but freshly made, and they tasted good.
In that moment, Yu Xin became acutely aware of Jiang Chuchu’s influence.
Suddenly, she felt a pang of fear. Having been mistreated for so long, she couldn’t help but wonder — was what she was doing wrong?
She was such a mess… was it right for her to attach herself to Jiang Chuchu? Did she deserve this kind of care?
But then, another voice echoed in her mind, “Yu Xin, look — your name is so beautiful.”
She calmed down.
Gu Qinghuan had given her advice, Jiang Chuchu had agreed to it — she didn’t want to waste their kindness.
She would pay Jiang Chuchu back for the pen, and she would write beautifully.
