Chapter 1: The Chanel Bag

Chapter 1: The Chanel Bag

"Mianmian, did your scholarship come through yet? Your dad's medical bills are due again, and the hospital keeps hounding us for payment!"

Shen Mian stared at the chat interface on his phone, then glanced at the three-digit balance in his wallet starting with a one, his brows furrowed tight.

He didn't even have next month's food money, let alone cash for his dad's treatment. How was he supposed to come up with that?

The late summer heat was unbearable, and outside the window, the wind rustled the plane tree leaves.

Shen Mian curled up on his upper bunk in the dorm, tugging at his shirt hem in frustration.

The white tee from the street stall cost 19.9 yuan and was made of rough fabric. After two washes, it was all wrinkled and the collar had gone baggy, revealing a slender, fair neck.

Above that sat a face that didn't match the cheap clothes at all.

Shen Mian had very fair skin, and his lips were naturally light pink, curving up at the corners like a soft smile. His long, thick lashes drooped, half-hiding those dark, watery eyes. When he wasn't speaking, he looked like a soft, docile kitten.

After going back and forth, he finally opened his counselor's WeChat. The last message was from five days ago, also about the scholarship.

Shen Mian swallowed his pride and sent a polite message, hoping for some good news this time.

Suddenly, the dorm door opened, and voices drifted in from outside.

"That Sichuan restaurant today was really good. Thanks to Brother Jiang for footing the bill."

"Don't mention it, we're brothers." The guy in trendy clothes laughed easily and glanced at his phone.

"Brother, thank you for the new Chanel bag you sent me. I've already received it! It's so pretty! Thank you, brother~" A sweet female voice came from his phone, sounding totally out of place in a guys' dorm.

"Ooh~ Where did this new girl come from with such a sweet voice?" The roommate next to him asked, clearly fishing for gossip.

"She's from the broadcasting department at the media university next door. How could her voice not be sweet?" Jiang Mingye tossed his phone onto the desk after playing the voice message, a hint of pride in his tone.

Another roommate asked in surprise, "Didn't you just score the lit department's hottest girl last week? What, already moved on?"

Shen Mian was already on edge waiting for the counselor to reply, and hearing their conversation, he couldn't help getting distracted. He peeked through the gap in his bed curtain into the room.

In the dorm, Jiang Mingye was bragging about his latest fling with the other two roommates.

Jiang Mingye was a well-known rich kid at their school. Since freshman year, he'd cycled through girlfriends like water. Shen Mian secretly looked down on guys like that and barely interacted with him.

"So you really just dumped the lit department's belle like that?" The roommate looked shocked.

Jiang Mingye scoffed: "Don't even mention it. What's the point of being pretty if she won't let me touch her, and she's always trying to boss me around. There are so many pretty girls around me, who's got time for that platonic crap!"

As he spoke, he casually spun the fancy watch on his wrist: "I still prefer girls who are obedient and know how to sweet-talk me. I get a girlfriend to give me emotional value, not to get a mom who nags me all day."

"..."

Shen Mian couldn't listen any longer. Annoyed and restless, he looked away.

Just then, his phone vibrated—the counselor had replied.

"I'm not sure about the exact time either. We'll have to wait and see."

It was basically the same as last time. Shen Mian stared at the message for a bit, typed "thanks," and let out a heavy sigh.

His nearly empty stomach gave a few faint growls, and Shen Mian finally realized he was hungry.

Checking the time, he figured it was about time to head out for his afternoon shift.

He rarely slept in this late, but he hadn't slept well last night, so he'd slept in today. Shen Mian folded his blanket, pulled open the bed curtain, and got up.

Hearing him climb down, the others realized he was there and glanced up.

Jiang Mingye also looked over. His gaze swept over and caught a glimpse of the pale, slender waist exposed where Shen Mian's shirt had ridden up, with shallow dimples at the small of his back curving into a soft arc that made you stare.

A grown dude, why's he so pale? Jiang Mingye clicked his tongue to himself.

But even though Shen Mian was good-looking, he had a cold, distant personality. They were roommates, but he never talked much to them. The others glanced at him, then went back to their conversation.

Shen Mian took a bag of bread from the drawer and began eating his lunch for the day.

The bread was from a supermarket sale—dry, stiff, and hard to choke down. Each bite took forever to chew and wash down with water.

As he ate his meager lunch, bits of Jiang Mingye's conversation drifted over from time to time.

"Whoa! I just looked it up—the latest Chanel bag costs over twenty thousand yuan!"

"Brother Jiang is really generous!"

Twenty thousand?! Shen Mian's eyes widened, and he nearly choked on the bread in his mouth.

He furtively pulled out his phone and searched for it too.

Staring at the glaring, eye-catching number on the official website page, his fingertip froze on the screen.

26,800

That was enough to cover his family's living expenses for most of a year in their small town.

Shen Mian's eyes burned with envy, and even the food he'd just eaten churned sourly in his stomach.

A playboy like Jiang Mingye could casually spend what would cover his family's living expenses for half a year on a bag to please a girl, while he couldn't even pay the hospital for his father's medicine.

Why did these wasteful rich kids get to live so well? People like him, regular folks who hadn't done anything wrong, got stuck with all life's hardships.

God was truly unfair.

Shen Mian took a miserable bite of his bread.

Over at Jiang Mingye's side, the roommate was still teasing: "You just got together and you're already dropping four figures on a bag. Brother Jiang, that's impressive!"

Jiang Mingye waved his hand: "Four figures? You should see my big brother—he spends way more than I do. He's got a bunch of mistresses and side chicks, rotating them seven days a week. I switch girlfriends a lot, but I only date one at a time, right?"

Shen Mian had heard Jiang Mingye mention his older brother before—a young man who'd already become a CEO, often hyped up by Jiang Mingye in the dorm like some kind of legend.

Hah! So what if he's some rich CEO? He's still just a womanizing playboy. Shen Mian sneered inwardly.

"By that logic, you're some kind of romantic saint?" Another roommate teased.

"You bet." Jiang Mingye was on a roll. "My brother accepts everyone who comes. Girls on the street add him on WeChat, call him 'bro' a couple times, and he sends them red envelopes..."

Shen Mian ate without tasting anything, so he just wolfed it down.

After scarfing down his lunch, he headed out to his part-time job.

Shen Mian worked at a dessert shop near the school. It was in the middle of the university town, where students from a bunch of nearby schools liked to hang out. There was a ton of foot traffic, and business was booming.

It was Saturday, and there were more customers than usual. Shen Mian hurriedly tied on his work apron as soon as he walked in and started bustling about.

The air was filled with the aroma of cream and baked bread, intertwined with the sweetness of caramelized fruits, making it feel like stepping into a gingerbread house.

But for Shen Mian, who hadn't had a proper meal in most of the day, this was pure torture.

He glanced at the delicate and exquisite desserts in the glass display case, quietly swallowing his spit as he smelled the fragrance.

The wind chime on the door rang as two more customers walked in.

"Welcome!" Shen Mian greeted them with a menu in hand. "What would you like to order?"

The two who entered were girls—one in a short skirt, the other with a ponytail, looking like nearby college students. The one in the short skirt was quite pretty, with big, dewy eyes that made her look sweet and vulnerable.

The girl with the ponytail stared at Shen Mian for a long time, muttered "he's so hot" under her breath, then nudged her companion: "Xinxin, you order!"

"I'll have a raspberry mousse, a strawberry mille crepe, and two thick taro coconut milk drinks." The girl in the short skirt ordered, then handed the menu to her companion. "See if you want anything else."

That voice... it sounded familiar, like he'd heard it recently.

Shen Mian pondered for a moment, his gaze accidentally drifting over the handbag the girl was carrying.

The vague memory suddenly snapped into focus: 26,800!

The voice matched too—the voice message he'd heard in the dorm earlier was from this girl "Xinxin."

So this was Jiang Mingye's new girlfriend.

...

The desserts were made quickly. When Shen Mian brought over what they'd ordered, his eyes kept drifting toward the bag next to the girl.

This bag didn't even look that great—how could it cost so much? Over twenty thousand... If that money went toward his dad's meds, it could last over half a year...

The girls didn't rush to eat. They arranged the desserts first, then touched up their makeup and hair before taking photos. They took photos for about half an hour before they finally started eating.

Most customers had left by then, and the shop was nearly empty—just delivery drivers picking up orders and the two girls by the window.

Shen Mian wheeled his cart over to clear the dishes and trash from the nearby tables. When he got near their table, the girl in the short skirt was putting away her lipstick and foundation.

"I gotta go—my boyfriend's taking me to see a movie."

"Okay, I'll just walk back to the dorm by myself." The ponytail girl paused. "But about your new boyfriend, I've heard he's got a bad rep—pretty player-ish. You should be careful."

"So what if he's a flirt? He's generous with me—one little pout and he's sending me money." The girl in the short skirt smirked. "Besides, I'm not marrying him. We're just using each other."

"Look at this bag—he bought it for me just three days after we started dating. Isn't that way better than that cheap ex who swore he only loved me but all he did was send 'good morning' and 'good night' texts and buy me Mixue lemonade?"

The girl in the short skirt sneered when her ex came up: "And was that stingy guy not a flirt? He'd hand his WeChat to any underclassman girl faster than anyone. He only had a good face—good thing I dumped him when I did!"

"Anyway, who you date doesn't really matter. Jiang Mingye's pretty hot, and he's not afraid to spend money. So I'm not really losing out."

Her friend seemed sold and nodded: "True. Poor guys cheat, rich guys cheat too—might as well pick the rich one."

"Yeah." The girl in the short skirt winked at her, grabbed her bag, and stood up. "I'm heading out now, bye~"

"I'm heading back too—gonna nap at the dorm."

The two girls stood up together, paid, and left.

Shen Mian walked over to their table to clear it.

The fancy desserts, over 60 yuan each, were barely touched—just a few token spoonfuls out of each, still looking whole from the side. But store policy said any leftover desserts had to be tossed, even if the customers barely touched them.

The smell of jam and cream drifted into his nose. Shen Mian stared at the two nearly untouched desserts, feeling like his heart was clogged with the sweet, greasy cream—heavy and suffocating.

These were things he'd never splurge on even after pinching pennies, and here they were going to waste—he couldn't even get a single taste.

"Clatter!" The small cakes were finally tossed into the kitchen waste bin. Shen Mian finished clearing the table and returned to the front counter.

Near the end of his shift, another text from home pushed Shen Mian to awkwardly ask the manager if he could get two months' pay in advance.

Fortunately, the manager, seeing how hardworking and reliable he was, nodded in agreement.

Shen Mian's monthly part-time salary was only 1,100 yuan, so two months totaled 2,200. He transferred 2,000 to his family.

The remaining 200 was his living allowance for next month. Shen Mian prayed the scholarship would come through before the end of the month.

He stared at the pitifully small number on his balance screen and sighed.

Not enough money—looks like he'd need to find another part-time job.