"Because I see she doesn’t have a moment of free time," Ye Xingli said. "If I don’t ask her out, she goes straight to the flower shop after school. I see her busy here and there, never resting for a moment, and I think she works so hard. I figured she must come from a poor family, with a lot of pressure in her life, having to work at the flower shop on top of everything else..."

Ye Xingbei: "..."

Alright.

Actually, thinking like this doesn’t seem wrong.

"Then why didn’t you ask me?" Zhi Foliu said. "If you had asked me, I would have definitely told you."

Ye Xingli scratched his chin, embarrassed, and said, "I was just worried about hurting your pride..."

Zhi Foliu paused, then chuckled lightly, "No worries. Whether rich or poor, I am me, and you are still you."

"Um... I... I need to confess something..." Ye Xingli sat down beside her, tilting his head to look at her, a bit stammering, "Actually... I also have money..."

Zhi Foliu nodded, "Hmm, I figured so."

"Uh..." Ye Xingli was awkward, "When did you figure it out?"

"Just now," Zhi Foliu looked at Ye Xingbei and smiled. "Seventh Brother calls Beibei’s husband Fifth Brother. I study music and am very sensitive to voices. I’ve heard Fifth Brother’s voice before... In Beijing, the only person Seventh Brother would respect so much is someone from the Gu Family, Fifth Brother. Not even his own brother has that privilege."

She smiled at Ye Xingli, "Although I’m not familiar with Fifth Brother or his wife, I’ve heard my grandfather mention that Fifth Brother’s wife is Senior Madame Xie’s granddaughter, from a prominent family in Jiang City. That’s when I thought, since Fifth Brother’s wife is from a prominent family in Jiang City, and you are Fifth Brother’s cousin, wouldn’t you also be from a prominent family in Jiang City? Since you’re from a prominent family, how could you be poor?"

"Sigh..." Ye Xingli didn’t know what to say and rubbed his hands, asking, "Ah Fu, you won’t blame me, will you?"

Zhi Foliu thought for a moment and said, "I felt a little uncomfortable. Can you tell me, why did you lie to me?"

"I didn’t mean to lie to you," Ye Xingli said. "Before I went to work at the school, I gave all my money to Beibei to keep for me. I went to school to experience life, not to deceive you."

"Experience life?" Zhi Foliu raised an eyebrow, "Experience the life of a poor person?"

"More or less," Ye Xingli said. "My father isn’t in good health and hopes I can get married and have children soon. He arranged for me to go on dates, but the women I met were only interested in my money and family background, which I found very off-putting. So, I gave all my money to Beibei and wanted to live a normal life, to see if I could meet a girl who loves me for who I am. Then I met you..."

Ye Xingli looked at Zhi Foliu, his eyes sparkling.

His skin was very fair, his eyebrows delicate. When he focused on someone, his gaze was like shimmering water, full of brilliance, making one’s heart flutter.

Zhi Foliu couldn’t help but laugh.

She just felt a slight discomfort inside and didn’t really mind.

Ye Xingli hadn’t spun a tale about being born into poverty or how difficult his life was to deceive her.

From the beginning to end, she only saw Ye Xingli wearing ordinary clothes, driving an ordinary car, and eating at the school cafeteria and subconsciously felt his background was plain and he was tight on money.

From beginning to end, Ye Xingli never said a single word about being "poor" to her.