It was already 9:30 when she woke up. Then buying food for breakfast and washing her hair pushed the time toward noon.
Lin Jincheng browsed around and settled on DQ, picking a rum raisin waffle crisp ice cream she’d never tried before.
28.81 yuan. Estimated delivery time: 30 minutes.
After placing the order, Lin Jincheng started hanging out laundry.
Since moving in, she’d set up a simple folding drying rack by the bay window, with room for 4-6 pieces of clothing.
The silk pajamas had come out of the wash a little wrinkled, but that was fine—Rong Jing had said the hotel offered professional pressing.
Lin Jincheng hung up the clothes and sat back down in her chair to scroll her phone. Clothes, bags, and shoes were roughly sorted out—jewelry couldn’t be left out either.
Before, she’d bought jewelry worth tens or a hundred yuan. Now she could look at pieces worth thousands, even tens of thousands.
The first piece of jewelry Lin Jincheng planned to buy was a pair of earrings she’d seen at Cartier.
That day, she and Lü Xiao had come out of Loro Piana and gone into Cartier, where a cleanly designed piece of jewelry had caught her eye.
It was only today, going onto the official website, that she learned the collection was called Trinity.
As the name suggested, the three-gold design came in three colors: 18k white gold, 18k yellow gold, and 18k rose gold.
The three rings of gold were interlaced in an offset pattern, giving it a rich sense of layering.
The official website had two versions—one with thinner rings, one fuller. The one Lin Jincheng had liked in-store was the second version, priced at 28,800 yuan.
The necklace in the same collection was gorgeous too, especially the white gold one set with diamonds. The moment she saw it, she automatically pictured herself wearing it with a knit sweater.
This necklace was 37,700 yuan.
Earrings and necklace bought—now she was missing a bracelet.
Cartier had one bracelet collection that even someone like Lin Jincheng, who’d never bought from them, had heard of. The LOVE collection.
But when Lin Jincheng searched for it on the official website, she was stunned speechless. The LOVE bracelet’s price actually broke into six figures!
The no-diamond version came in narrow, medium, and wide, priced between 40,000 and 60,000 yuan.
The diamond versions were pricier, scaling with the number of diamonds—the full-diamond version ran as high as 480,000 yuan. The white gold full-diamond version was even more, at 515,000 yuan!
500,000!
She couldn’t afford that. Absolutely could not afford that.
Lin Jincheng went straight for the no-diamond medium LOVE bracelet, adding it to the Trinity earrings and necklace she’d picked out earlier.
Paid, easy as that: 118,500 yuan.
Lin Jincheng remembered seeing on Xiaohongshu that some bloggers stacked the LOVE bracelet with Van Cleef & Arpels’ five-flower bracelet, and switched over to the Van Cleef & Arpels website.
The five-flower bracelet was five four-leaf clover motifs strung together.
The official site had a wide range. Red, white, blue, green, and more.
Lin Jincheng didn’t waste much time choosing—she went with the pairing a blogger had recommended: the red flower laser bracelet with yellow gold backing, 48,800 yuan. — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Translations | Black Lotus Novel
After paying, she suddenly noticed the note: ships before August 20th.
Huh? August 20th?
—Today was March 1st.
For a moment Lin Jincheng was ready to cancel the order, but flipping through the reviews she found plenty of people had received theirs much earlier than the estimated ship date—some had gotten their shipping notice within three days of purchase.
Well, fine. Already bought is already bought.
With over seven thousand yuan left in her allowance, Lin Jincheng wasn’t in any rush to spend it. She leisurely browsed other pieces from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Whenever she liked something, she added it to the cart first, planning to go pick it out in person at the store sometime.
Not long after the DQ ice cream arrived, the iPad Pro and pajamas she’d ordered online were delivered too.
Lin Jincheng, thinking ahead, draped a blanket over herself before opening the DQ bag and pulling out the large ice cream.
She’d heard of this brand back in school—her impression of it had been “aristocrat ice cream.” Later, once she was working and earning money, it still hadn’t felt cheap; she’d only had it two or three times a year.
Now she could have it whenever she wanted.
Lin Jincheng scooped a spoonful into her mouth. The rum flavor was faint, the grape flavor rich.
She wasn’t sure if it was from sitting too long in the delivery bag, but the waffle crisp pieces in the ice cream had gone quite soft and chewy.
“Is that just how it’s supposed to be?” This was her first time trying this flavor, so she wasn’t sure. “But it’s called waffle crisp, not waffle chewy.”
Overall the taste was pretty good—the only downside was it was way too sweet, cloying more with every bite.
Shanghai’s March temperatures weren’t high, and it was even cooler indoors. Even wrapped in a blanket, eating ice cream left her a little cold.
She set it aside, rubbed her chilled hands together, and opened the box for the Mennytuo pajamas with great anticipation.
The mulberry silk pajamas were a low-saturation purple paired with a bell-yellow white collar. The actual item matched the promotional photos on the website exactly—no color discrepancy at all.
Lin Jincheng picked out the robe with the feather trim and, braving the chill, put it on. Light as nothing at all!
Completely different from the ice-silk pajama sets she used to buy for a hundred-something yuan. Extremely soft and smooth, faintly cool, silky to the touch.
And it wasn’t stuffy either—very breathable. It just clung lightly to her skin in a way that made her want to climb straight into bed and sleep.
Too bad the room was too cold—based on past years, she’d probably have to wait until April or May before she could really wear it.
Oh, wait, not necessarily. Hotel rooms should all have central air conditioning.
Lin Jincheng took it off and tossed both sets of mulberry silk pajamas into the washing machine, keeping the feather-trimmed robe out.
Then she poured in the silk detergent she’d bought from the store and selected the gentle wash cycle.
Back to unpacking. First up was the iPad Pro, 11 inches—just the right size to hold with both hands while gaming.
The capacitive stylus and Bluetooth earbuds she’d bought at the same time were both in good condition.
Lin Jincheng ate another half cup of ice cream, then pulled out her suitcase to start packing for tomorrow’s move to the hotel.
Two sets of underclothes, one set of everything else—the new Loro Piana and Dior clothes would be delivered there anyway.
No need to pack extra shoes either.
She packed in the entire Chanel collection she’d tucked into the drawer last night, taking up half the suitcase all on its own.
The iPad, Bluetooth earbuds, and stylus that had arrived today went in too, along with the three sets of clothes currently in the wash.
The unopened liquid sanitary pads, the Westie charm, jewelry, and cosmetics all went in as well.
Lin Jincheng felt like she hadn’t packed all that much, but the suitcase was already full.
She grabbed a backpack next—Lancôme Génifique serum, eye cream, face cream, the Kérastase black diamond hair mask, a rinse cup, hair ties, towel, shower cap…
ID card, social security card, bank cards, all jumbled together in a pile.
Lin Jincheng packed for about ten minutes, then stopped to eat a couple bites of ice cream, then packed for another ten minutes.
“System, this is exactly why I hate moving!”
【Hire someone next time, and just supervise,】 the Money-Dumping System said, well aware of Lin Jincheng’s nature. 【You won’t even need to talk—just make a list and have them follow it.】
Lin Jincheng’s eyes lit up a little. “I’ll try that with this hotel stay.”
The materials the butler Rong Jing had sent over included some services—pickup and drop-off, unpacking, packing, organizing were all part of it.
Still, packing did make Lin Jincheng realize her towels and quick-dry cap were getting worn out.
She could accept the bedding a hotel provided, but not the towels and bath towels.
Searching for pure cotton towels on a shopping app, she came across krramel’s Xinjiang long-staple cotton towels, two for 61.6 yuan.
Lin Jincheng picked a taro purple one and a light berry purple one.
She got a quick-dry cap and bath towel set too—one in glacier blue, one in surf white—1,132 yuan total. — Black Lotus novel Translation | black lotus novel
She also bought a pinecone comb, a bestseller at the store, for 190 yuan.
“And… silk scrunchies?”
The night she’d bought the Mennytuo silk pajamas, Lin Jincheng had come across a related recommendation on Xiaohongshu saying silk scrunchies didn’t tug at your hair and left it smooth.
The colors in the store all looked good—one taro purple, one glacier blue, one leopard print. 294 yuan total.
Altogether, she’d spent 1,677.6 yuan at kraamel.
Qiu Jiayi’s voice call came in right then. “Orangey, I’ll be at your place in three, five minutes.”
Lin Jincheng hurriedly dug out the two eyeshadow palettes and two bottles of body oil she’d set aside for Qiu Jiayi and bagged them up, then added ten kiwis in a plastic bag.
She’d barely waited a minute downstairs before Qiu Jiayi pulled up in a white car.
Qiu Jiayi rolled down the window, her long hair, half-pinned with a hairpin, fluttering in the wind.
“Orangey!” Qiu Jiayi teased with a grin. “You don’t look like someone who’s been back at work since the fourth day of the new year—you’re glowing from the inside out.”
As she spoke, Qiu Jiayi pushed the door open and got out, one hand pulling her blue-green Chinese-style jacket tighter around herself.
“Here, this just came at noon, I split some off for you and Xiaoxiao too.” Qiu Jiayi held out a heavy bag with her other hand. “The sausage and braised chicken feet you can eat straight away, the sticky rice buns and braised pork ribs just need five, six minutes in the microwave.”
Lin Jincheng took it, delighted. “Thank your mom for me. I’ll have the sticky rice buns for dinner tonight. I’ve been craving them ever since last time—the ones I bought online just weren’t the same.”
Qiu Jiayi lifted her chin proudly. “Of course not—my mom’s sticky rice buns are amazing!”
“There’s a bag of frozen tangyuan tucked underneath too, put it in the freezer when you get back,” Qiu Jiayi said. “The white ones are black sesame filling, the yellow ones are peanut.”
“Aren’t you allergic to peanuts?” “I’m not eating them.”
Qiu Jiayi shrugged it off. “Since we’re already giving stuff out, might as well give you the flavors you actually like. Xiaoxiao’s getting black sesame and hawthorn.”
They’d barely chatted a few more sentences before Qiu Jiayi rushed to get back in the car. “Orangey, I’ve gotta run—I’m meeting Xue Bowen for a movie tonight.”
Xue Bowen was the boyfriend Qiu Jiayi had been dating since college, who worked at a bank.
Lin Jincheng circled around to the other side of the car and set the bag she’d brought down into the passenger seat. “There’s kiwis in there, take them home to eat.”
“Your neighbor auntie mailed them?” “Yeah.”
Qiu Jiayi sighed with feeling. “Your neighbor really is great.” A smile bloomed across Lin Jincheng’s face. “Her son Nannan even held me during his zhuazhou ceremony.”
Qiu Jiayi checked the time and realized she really was cutting it close. “I’m off then!” Lin Jincheng waved. “Drive safe.”
She watched the car pull away, then turned and headed back inside.
Qiu Jiayi had assumed the whole bag was just kiwis—until she braked at a stoplight and the bag tipped forward.
One Chanel Deep eyeshadow palette, one Cool palette, two bottles of body oil, one platinum jewelry box. That had to add up to several thousand yuan at least?!
Qiu Jiayi’s first instinct was to turn the car around and drive back, but then she remembered she could just call.
She pulled over to the side of the road and dialed.
Lin Jincheng was currently cornered at her front door by Hu Meifen. She picked up. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re asking me?!” Qiu Jiayi said, alarmed. “Orangey, be honest with me—are you divvying up an inheritance or something?”
“…” Lin Jincheng sighed. “Could you think of literally anything better?”
Hearing the tone of Lin Jincheng’s voice, Qiu Jiayi relaxed a little, but kept analyzing. “It’s just weird, you suddenly giving out stuff worth several thousand yuan—and you already got annual memberships on a bunch of platforms recently too.”
It wasn’t just Lin Jincheng, either—her and Lü Xiao suddenly giving out gifts worth several thousand was equally out of character.
Lin Jincheng glanced at Hu Meifen standing across from her, and dropped it like a bombshell out of a clear sky. “I’m dating someone.”
Qiu Jiayi: “…?” Qiu Jiayi: “WHAT?!”
Hu Meifen gasped. “What did you just say?!”
On the phone, Lin Jincheng didn’t go into details with Qiu Jiayi—mainly because she hadn’t prepped a cover story in advance. — Black Lotus Novel | blacklotusnovel
She’d originally planned to use winning a prize as an excuse, which would’ve saved her the trouble of making up a story, but the Money-Dumping System’s main program had rejected that option.
“There’s someone here, I’ll fill you in later.”
Qiu Jiayi held the Chanel eyeshadow like it was burning her hands. “I’ll hang onto this stuff for now—what if he wants it back later?”
Lin Jincheng: “It’s fine, he noted it as a voluntary gift.” Qiu Jiayi: “…?”
Even with Lin Jincheng saying that, Qiu Jiayi had no plans to actually use any of it for now—she’d at least need to hear from Orangey’s own mouth what kind of person this guy was.
Lin Jincheng hung up the phone, her gaze landing on Hu Meifen’s tightly furrowed brow.
Hu Meifen guessed that Lin Jincheng had made up the boyfriend excuse because she hadn’t liked the man she’d introduced her to.
“You’re over here being so picky, and you don’t even look at your own situation first?!” Hu Meifen sneered shrilly. “Someone like him, with a car and a house, a local—you should be thanking your lucky stars someone like that would even look at you!”
Lin Jincheng actually laughed, her eyes curving. “Since you like him so much, why don’t you keep him for yourself?”
