“Do you really not want the gold bracelet anymore?”
Shen Yu looked at Yin Qiu, who was skipping beside her with a sense of relief.
Seeing the smile on her face, which still bore faint tear tracks, Shen Yu couldn’t help but smile along with her.
“Mhm! You’ve already bought me so many things, Sister, and I love them all. Especially this!”
Yin Qiu pointed to the hair tie in her hair.
It had a small flower carved out of wood that gave off a faint fragrance.
Yin Qiu’s hair wasn’t particularly long, but after being meticulously washed and cared for by Shen Yu, it looked jet-black and smooth, possessing an excellent quality.
Tying such hair into a ponytail revealed her fair neck, adding a sense of youthful vibrancy to the already adorable Yin Qiu.
The wooden flower hair tie was the finishing touch.
As Yin Qiu followed Shen Yu, her ponytail swayed back and forth, looking particularly cute.
“I’m glad you like it. From now on, you shouldn’t hide anything from me; you must tell me right away. Most importantly, you must never hurt yourself. Do you understand?”
Shen Yu grabbed Yin Qiu’s gauze-wrapped wrist and spoke with a serious expression.
In the end, Shen Yu had returned the gold bracelet.
She didn’t want to put too much pressure on the young girl.
While returning the gold bracelet, there had been another pair of customers in the gold shop—a wealthy merchant and his concubine.
Seeing how desperately Yin Qiu wanted to return the bracelet just to save money for her sister, they had shown looks of disdain.
They thought Yin Qiu was just a little fool who hadn’t seen the world.
But this ‘little fool’ didn’t care at all about what others thought.
It wasn’t until the gold bracelet was returned and the silver Shen Yu had paid was back in hand that Yin Qiu’s tense face finally relaxed.
Later, when Shen Yu told her to pick another piece of jewelry instead, Yin Qiu hesitated for a long time before finally choosing the wooden flower hair tie from a roadside vendor.
It only cost one copper plate… but the wooden flower had been hand-carved by the vendor and his wife, and the tie was woven sturdily.
It looked like it would last a long time—a high-quality item at a low price.
Although the price was worlds apart from the gold bracelet, Yin Qiu was as happy as if it were a festival.
She had already tied it in her hair before they even reached home.
Along the way, she had asked Shen Yu three times, “Does it look good?”
“The gold bracelet looked good on your wrist too.”
“Sister! Money shouldn’t be spent like that. I accepted the clothes you bought for me, not because I like pretty ruqun, but because you will be taking me out with you in the future. I can’t let you lose face.”
Yin Qiu planned to find a proper place to store that beautiful ruqun once they got back.
She wouldn’t wear it unless it was a critical moment; she even felt that touching it was a luxury.
“But a gold bracelet isn’t necessary! Money should be spent in the right places… A decent ruqun ensures that I won’t embarrass you when I’m by your side. That’s a fundamental change! But a gold bracelet on my wrist is just icing on the cake at best. If it doesn’t achieve a qualitative change from zero to one, then it’s not cost-effective!”
“This is what you taught me, Sister!”
Yin Qiu pursed her lips, looking very proud of herself.
“But how come I remember saying that when I was teaching you pharmacology?”
“You’re so smart, Sister, yet you’re so careless in daily life. Money isn’t meant to be spent like this!”
The little girl argued her point convincingly, as if she had a complete and unique set of insights into financial management.
“So, are you going to be my little bookkeeper then?”
“I… I wouldn’t dare. You have too much money, Sister. Just what you’ve spent these past few days is already beyond my imagination.”
Mentioning Shen Yu’s financial resources, the previously bold Yin Qiu immediately grew timid again.
“Since you know I have plenty of money, why do you still want to save it for me? Giving you that gold bracelet was meant to be a form of security for you.”
“No, I have to look out for you, Sister. You are my security. I’d be happy even if I were eating husks and wild herbs as long as I’m by your side. Unless I die, I will never leave you for the rest of my life.”