Chapter 60: Shanghai Socialites

In the blink of an eye, it was early November. The temperature in the ancient capital had dropped significantly, and the weather turned chilly.

Winter had arrived, and it was time to put on thermal underwear.

Fortunately, the ancient capital was in the north, where central heating provided some relief.

Otherwise, getting through this winter would not be easy.

At noon, I walked out of the driving school, having finally finished the written test for my driver's license.

I had signed up in late October, followed by scheduling and waiting in line, dragging it out all the way until now.

"How did it go?"

As soon as I stepped out of the driving school, Chen Fei'er walked over and asked.

"No problem."

I gave her an OK gesture. The first test was mostly theoretical knowledge, which wasn't too difficult for me.

"Let's go, let's grab some food together."

Chen Fei'er walked beside me with a smile.

Earlier this morning, upon learning that I was taking my test, she had offered to come along to cheer me on.

I didn't think much of it and let her come.

"What would you like to eat? My treat."

Walking next to Chen Fei'er, I still felt a little unaccustomed to it.

"Whatever, I'm not picky about food." Despite saying that, Chen Fei'er still dragged me to a Western restaurant.

I had been to this Western restaurant before—the one that cost about 240 yuan per person.

As soon as we stepped inside, a waiter came up to greet us.

"I'll order this, this and that dish," Chen Fei'er said to the waiter in English.

Her English pronunciation sounded rather awkward to my ears.

"Brother Jiang Chen, what do you think of my English?"

After saying that, Chen Fei'er actually turned to ask me.

"Um, it's pretty good."

I didn't have the heart to crush her confidence.

To be honest, most people in the Great Xia Kingdom weren't very good at spoken English.

Even if their test scores reached Band Four or Band Six, putting them face-to-face with a foreigner would probably leave them speechless.

That only proved their ability to solve test questions was high.

I didn't quite agree with that educational philosophy. For the majority of people in Great Xia, they rarely encountered foreigners after graduation and hardly ever used a foreign language.

They would be better off spending more time learning traditional Great Xia culture, such as classical poetry or tea culture.

There were many science students who scored well in other subjects, but during the national college entrance examination, they tripped over English. Otherwise, given their strength, getting into a better university would not have been a problem at all.

"Miss, could you speak Chinese? We take orders in Chinese here."

Chen Fei'er's English not only left me bewildered, but the restaurant waiter also couldn't understand her, prompting her to use Chinese instead.

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Chen Fei'er's face turned beet red. "Then please get me this, this, and that."

Chen Fei'er picked a few dishes from the menu.

None of these dishes were cheap; they were the restaurant's signature items, with the cheapest one costing 289 yuan. The three dishes together would come out to around a thousand yuan.

Dishes meant for 240 yuan per person, yet two people running up a bill of a thousand—and she called herself not picky?

I wasn't angry, though. Since I had offered to treat, no matter how much it cost, I had to tough it out.

By the time the meal was finished, it was already around 1:30 PM.

I rarely ate Western food, and after ordering three dishes, I still felt a bit unsatisfied by the end of it.

On the other hand, Chen Fei'er ate quite happily, and midway through, she didn't forget to take a few selfies and post them on her Moments.

I had her on WeChat and glanced through it briefly.

The caption attached was: *Thank you, Brother Jiang Chen, for treating me to Western food. Over a thousand for a meal, you really shouldn't have spent so much, Brother Jiang Chen.*

???

Seeing this move, I was left a little dazed.

Not saying thank you to my face, but thanking me on the Moments—is this how young people interact nowadays?

I felt like I was falling behind the times.

After dinner, I walked her back to her dorm before heading back myself.

I had no classes in the afternoon, and everyone in the dorm was pretty much there.

Seeing me return, Fatty Wang looked at me with an astonished expression. "You went out to eat with that Chen Fei'er?"

"Yeah. She accompanied me to the driving school for my test this morning, so I treated her to a meal," I replied.

"Why did you treat her?"

Fatty Wang stood up and said to me, "Didn't I tell you before? Don't get too close to that woman."

I thought about it carefully, and Fatty Wang had indeed mentioned something like that to me.

At the time, I didn't think much of it and brushed it off.

"What's the deal?"

My curiosity was piqued, and I pressed him for details.

"How should I put this? It's really not nice to gossip behind people's backs, but I can't just watch you jump into a fire pit." Fatty Wang looked at me with a troubled expression.

"Just spit it out. Why do you stutter when you talk? Who did you learn that from?" I glared at Fatty Wang.

Couldn't he just be straightforward?

"Chen Fei'er's character isn't great, so you'd better watch out." Fatty Wang leaned close to my ear and warned me, "Her family background isn't very good, but when she applied for a financial aid grant this year, her class committee members approached her, and she insisted that her family was very wealthy and she didn't need any grant."

"Maybe her class committee made a mistake?" I suggested.

That alone didn't really prove anything.

"How could they make a mistake? Chen Fei'er is a bit vain. She loves using fake designer items and fake bags. Her family gives her an allowance of 1,500 yuan a month, and she spends a large portion of it on those fake cosmetics. My girlfriend told me she doesn't have a mother, and her only father is a casual laborer at a construction site."

Fatty Wang spilled the whole story to me.

So that was the situation.

In the beginning, I wouldn't say I disliked Chen Fei'er; my impression of her was neither good nor bad.

I never expected her to be that kind of person!

To be honest, my family background wasn't great either. Although my father Jiang Yuanshan might have had some money, he only gave me my college tuition plus a monthly living allowance of one thousand yuan.

Everything else I earned myself.

I don't think being poor is shameful, but being poor and deliberately putting on a front of wealth—that was going too far.

Fake designer brands, fake cosmetics, constantly joining group-buying deals for luxury goods—how was this any different from the notorious internet socialites trending right now?

Instantly, I felt a mild sense of disgust toward Chen Fei'er.

"She probably thinks you're running your own business and have some money, so she wants to cling to you and latch onto a rich guy," Fatty Wang warned from the side. "I think instead of hanging out with her, you'd be better off pursuing that Li Yifeng, or that pretty friend of yours."

"Stop talking nonsense. They and I are just ordinary friends, and besides, my family is poor too."

I hurriedly refuted.

Fatty Wang's words served as a wake-up call for me.

"Ding-dong!"

As soon as my voice trailed off, a message from Chen Fei'er popped up: *Brother Jiang Chen, I don't have evening classes. Are you free? Let's go watch a movie together.*

In the dorm room, Fatty Wang and I stared at each other in dismay.

"Turn her down!" Fatty Wang said.

"I don't know how! How do I reject her?" I retorted.

When it came to matters between men and women, I really didn't know a thing.

If I turned her down flatly, I worried about hurting her self-esteem, but with someone like that, I really couldn't be bothered to stay in touch.