Chapter 168

Chapter 168: A Ghost That Won’t Leave

Jiangyu Plaza used a membership system, and you needed a card to enter. This wasn’t any kind of secret; many locals in City B knew about it.

Jiang You Nian knew too. He had come here a few times before, using Madam Jiang’s membership card.

It was because he had this card that, when Du An Rao said she wanted to look around and see if there was anything suitable as a wedding gift, Jiang You Nian suggested coming here.

After all, even though things here were expensive, the quality was guaranteed. A gift bought here wouldn’t make you lose face.

Who could have thought they would run into a problem right at the door!

“Didn’t we used to just need a membership card to get in? Why do you suddenly need the card owner in person?”

The mall security guard’s attitude was fairly friendly. Even though he stopped them, he patiently explained: “I’m really not trying to make things hard for you. You’ve heard about the mall bombing a while ago, right?”

Instinctively, Jiang You Nian turned his head and looked at Du An Rao. “Wasn’t that case already solved? And nothing happened to the mall.”

“The mall itself is fine, but in the police investigation afterward, they found out that the criminal who brought the bomb into the mall came in using someone else’s membership card. The mall owner felt this was a safety loophole, so he made a new policy. Guests entering the mall now not only need a membership card, they also have to be the person who opened the card.”

This was also Jiang You Nian’s first time coming back to the mall since the bombing. He had never expected such a ridiculous accident.

“With such a sudden new rule, your guests don’t have any complaints?”

He was just speechless at this unexpected change and casually asked out of curiosity.

But a middle-aged man in a suit beside them, who was getting ready to go in, misunderstood him.

“Complaints? What is there to complain about? This mall was opened for rich people. What do rich people care about most? Safety and service! The boss is doing this to take responsibility for the safety of every guest inside the mall. Everyone here is a rich person with class. Who would hold a grudge against the boss and the mall over such a small amount of money?”

What he said made sense, but with his tone, it came off as if he was looking down from above and scolding them.

Jiang You Nian frowned slightly and didn’t say anything.

The man, however, didn’t seem ready to let them off. The woman at his side lifted her chin, glanced at the two youngsters with open arrogance, and chimed in: “President Sun is right. If you ask me, people who don’t have money shouldn’t act like big shots. The discount mall next door is pretty good too. Just buy whatever and it’ll do. If you can’t even afford a membership card to get in here, and even if you squeeze in, you still can’t afford what’s inside, then what’s the point?”

“Who are you saying can’t afford the things inside?” Jiang You Nian had a quick temper. His anger shot straight up.

“Whoever can’t get in, that’s who.” The woman obviously thought the two of them were a young couple. She lowered her head and muttered to President Sun, “I saw it just now. That girl waited outside for almost half an hour, and she didn’t even have a car to shield her from the wind and rain. The guy is even worse. To get in, he had to use someone else’s membership card. Isn’t it just that young people care about face and want to bring their girlfriends here to act rich for a bit? I’ve seen plenty of people like them.”

“You!” Jiang You Nian was both angry and guilty. Angry at the woman for deliberately humiliating them, and guilty that he had actually made Du An Rao wait so long outside.

Du An Rao didn’t care about that at all. She glanced at the pair and grabbed Jiang You Nian’s hand: “Forget it, forget it, calm down, calm down.”

But Jiang You Nian wasn’t planning to just let it go. He didn’t care if people looked down on him, but he would not let Du An Rao get mocked along with him. If his parents found out when they got back, they would definitely give him a “bamboo shoots fried with pork” special.

He was just about to argue with them and, if needed, throw money in their faces, when he heard Du An Rao quietly complain in her heart.

[One of them is surrounded by bad luck, and the other is doomed to lose money and hurt their body. Put them together and they’re like two walking misfortune bombs. Just passing by them might drag your luck down and cost you money. We’d better get far away from them.]

Jiang You Nian: “…” Fine. This time he would let it go. Retreat was the best plan. Time to slip away first!

“What are the requirements to become a member? Can we apply right now?”

“You can. To become a member of our mall, you have to preload one hundred thousand onto the card. That one hundred thousand can be used for spending inside the mall. If you’re sure you’ll never come again, you can go to the front desk to cancel the card, and the remaining balance will be refunded in full.”

“But each person is limited to only two membership cards in their lifetime. That means if you open two cards with our mall and then cancel both, you will be put on our blacklist, and we won’t open a third membership card for you.”

Listening to the mall’s rules, Du An Rao couldn’t help sighing that the style of the Imperial Capital was really different from the shabby little place on their mountain.

A mall that does business with the public demanded people deposit one hundred thousand just to open a card and become a member. And then, because of card cancellations, they could blacklist guests and kick them out for good. Wasn’t this basically chasing customers away?

Was this the so-called confidence that came from the Imperial Capital, where they said if you dropped a brick at random, you could hit seven or eight rich people?

Complaints were complaints, but for the sake of buying wedding gifts for Du De Sheng and Qin Yan Qing, and also to avoid ruining Jiang You Nian’s mood, she still waved her hand generously and opened a membership card for each of them.

Jiang You Nian actually wanted to open his own, but Du An Rao refused: “You came with me to buy things. There’s no reason to make you pay to open a card.”

After they entered the mall, the two of them took a quick walk around, roughly getting familiar with the layout and the locations of some stores, then headed straight for the luxury section.

After looking over a series of famous watches, haute couture, and designer bags, Du An Rao finally brought Jiang You Nian into a jewelry store.

“Since it’s a wedding, jewels might be a bit cliché, but they’re safe and can’t go wrong. Forget rings. Granduncle definitely already prepared a big bling bling diamond ring. I should send a necklace or a bracelet instead. Should the necklace be pure gold or gemstone? And should the bracelet be pure gold or jadeite?”

She muttered while picking things out. In the end, she really couldn’t decide which one was better, so she asked the waiter to take out everything she liked and show it to her.

Just as her words fell, a familiar mocking voice sounded behind her.

“Can’t afford it but still have to come in for a look and feast your eyes? I’m warning you to think it through. Those two are just a pair of paupers. If you really take these precious pieces out and they get chipped or scratched, even if you sell them, they still wouldn’t be able to pay for it.”

As soon as Jiang You Nian saw this woman, his face fell. He was angry and amused at the same time. “Why is it you again? Whether we can afford it or not is none of your business. You really are like a ghost that won’t leave.”

[Isn’t she just like a ghost that won’t leave? We already deliberately went in the opposite direction to avoid them, and we still ran into them. Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!]