# Mall (Realm)
Chit-chatting and strolling through the mall, the five of them were having a blast—well, everyone except for Chen Yao.
He thought it was a terrible idea to be out today. Nothing was going right, and he randomly got a verbal smackdown. Luckily, he’s past the days of fragile egos and teenage rebellion, so aside from being a little annoyed, it was just ear in, ear out for him.
If he were fifteen or sixteen, he would have dragged Lin Nan out of the house in a heartbeat!
His aunt and Summer were exchanging restaurant management tips and complaining about the pandemic from earlier this year.
Lin Nan and Lin Jin engaged in some nonsensical probing, resulting in a strange misunderstanding, but they ended up bonding over it. In just a few minutes, their relationship went from zero to hand-holding, whispering sweet nothings like pros!
Chen Yao couldn’t help feeling envious. He and Lin Nan had never been that close in public!
“Lin Jin, what do you think about this necklace?”
Summer suddenly stopped in front of a jewelry counter, signaling to Lin Nan’s cousin.
Lin Jin dashed over, and Lin Nan followed, peeking to see what was so interesting.
Holy smokes, a necklace worth tens of thousands!
But, wow, it really was pretty.
Lin Nan wasn’t a connoisseur of materials and couldn’t tell the quality, but the design was eye-catching enough for her.
For her, the necklaces online that go for a few bucks also looked just fine!
Chen Yao took a look out of curiosity and couldn’t help but grimace, wondering when he could casually buy Lin Nan some jewelry that cost a small fortune.
“Let’s take a closer look?” Lin Jin seemed equally enchanted by the necklace.
Lin Nan glanced a couple of times before saying, “I’ll keep browsing with Auntie for now; we still have stuff to buy.”
“Sure.”
After saying goodbye to Lin Jin, Lin Nan looked a bit preoccupied while Auntie kept rambling about how much better Summer was compared to everyone else. Chen Yao sighed in relief and dashed off to buy Lin Nan a cup of milk tea.
When the three of them reached the second floor, Auntie suddenly remembered she wanted to buy Lin Nan some jewelry too, but Lin Nan was adamantly shaking her head, holding onto her aunt’s arm.
“Forget it, we’re not even engaged yet! Why buy me expensive stuff?” Lin Nan rejected vigorously.
Auntie looked confused: “But Chen Yao said you liked it?”
She shot a glare at Chen Yao, then playfully kicked him: “You idiot!”
At that moment, Chen Yao realized that Lin Nan’s looks from earlier didn’t mean she wanted to buy more luxurious jewelry; he could only smile sheepishly to play it cool.
Other than gaming together, these two just couldn’t synchronize at all.
“Let’s buy clothes first! After that, we can discuss other stuff,” Lin Nan urged Auntie. “Or we could grab a late-night snack or something.”
Auntie, unable to resist Lin Nan’s insistence, looked at Chen Yao and started comparing: “Look how much Lin Nan knows about saving money, and then look at you!”
“?”
“You two should stash the money with Lin Nan once you get married. If it’s with you, a month’s pay is gone in a week!”
“Lin Nan spends a lot too!”
“At least she doesn’t waste it on mindless gaming all the time!”
Classic double standards! Chen Yao sighed and nodded, “You got it—money goes to Lin Nan from now on.”
He could almost predict how married life would go.
Knowing Lin Nan’s fondness for money, he figured that once it was in her hands, he might as well kiss it goodbye!
He recalled how he had to plead with his old man just to get a pack of sunflower seeds, and his heart sank.
The second floor was a supermarket that had almost everything—every now and then, they passed a few restaurants.
Now that the pandemic was over, the restaurant business seemed to be back in full swing, looking pretty busy with some even having lines outside.
Lin Nan felt like watching a movie, but the theater here didn’t seem to be opening anytime soon, and she hadn’t heard of any new releases. Even if they did, it’d just be reruns of old flicks.
“How long until you graduate, Lin Nan?”
“About a year, I guess? By the end of my junior year, I should start looking for internships, and by senior year, I’d be looking for a job,” Lin Nan replied, not really sure about her school’s policies. She was just echoing what some seniors had said.
But back when they enrolled, they could still clear some exams; now, that option was gone. Initially, there had even been rumors about needing a level six English certification to graduate, which scared the daylights out of her, but later it turned out to be false.
The school’s policies changed yearly; who knew what they’d come up with next?
“Where do you plan to work after graduation?” Auntie said, a little worried about Lin Nan’s future. “If you end up marrying Chen Yao, won’t that make it harder to find a job?”
“Really?” Lin Nan hadn’t thought about this; it felt too far off for her.
Chen Yao, completely unfazed by Auntie’s verbal smackdown, chimed in, “No worries! If Lin Nan can’t find a job, I’ll support her!”
Auntie shot him a glance but stayed silent.
Chen Yao felt a sense of slight dishonor.
“Even if I can’t get a formal job, tutoring should cover my living expenses,” Lin Nan reassured Auntie. “Once I graduate, I can probably do some training or something. My current students say I’m a great teacher. They used to be low scorers but now they’re in the top five of the class!”
“Really?”
“Of course!” Lin Nan beamed with pride.
That’s when Chen Yao recalled how it seemed like Lin Nan had taken a cheat code in teaching. He leaned closer and whispered, “Have you been using magic?”
“Yup.”
“No wonder our tutoring sessions felt a bit… odd.” Chen Yao had an epiphany.
Things that used to baffle him suddenly made perfect sense. After all, just blame it on magic!
This realization only strengthened his resolve to learn magic too. Even if his skills weren’t up to par for protecting Lin Nan, making easy money that way would be a solid plan!
Too bad Earth has no magic; all his magical powers came from Li Na.
“What are you two whispering about?” Auntie asked curiously as she watched them huddled together, contemplating whether they should stay in the downstairs apartment for the night.
“Nothing.” Chen Yao jerked upright nervously.
Auntie nodded thoughtfully, “Well, tonight, your dad and I will not be home.”
Lin Nan looked confused; she didn’t know the downstairs apartment was also Chen Yao’s family place and suggested, “So where will Uncle and Auntie be staying?”
“Visiting some relatives to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival,” Auntie quickly found an excuse, glaring at the useless Chen Yao.
After a round of browsing, the shopping cart filled up with snacks, which Auntie said was for Lin Nan to munch on tonight and for the train ride tomorrow, and then they went up to buy a couple of skirts.
Lin Nan had no problem with skirts anymore—her previous aversions to women’s attire had long been forgotten. In fact, she thought skirts were way more versatile and fashionable than the boring men’s styles!
“Why not get a shorter skirt too?” Chen Yao pointed out a pure white mini-skirt.
“Are you not jealous?”
“Just wear it at home for me!”
