Upon arriving at the department store, Song Ze first stored his bicycle at the bicycle storage point and paid the guard 2 cents.

The three of them entered the department store together. Song Ze looked at Xia Qingqing walking beside him and said, "Should we go to the wardrobe section first?"

"Okay," Xia Qingqing nodded indifferently, since there was plenty of time to stroll around at her leisure.

When they arrived at the clothing counter, Song Ze immediately spotted a pink floral dress hanging on the wall, with white lace adorning the chest and hem.

He pointed eagerly at the dress and asked, "Qingqing, do you like this dress?"

Xia Qingqing looked in the direction he pointed and saw the dress that exuded a rustic, or rather, retro vibe.

She forced a smile that was hard to describe, and said hesitantly, "It's alright, but I don't particularly like it. Let's look at something else."

"Oh, you don't like it? But I think you would look great in it," Song Ze said, his tone tinged with disappointment.

Dog Egg glanced at the pink dress hanging on the wall and agreed, "Sister, I also think this dress is very pretty."

In front of the sales clerk, Xia Qingqing was too embarrassed to say that she thought the dress was a bit ugly and looked a bit like an old-fashioned bed sheet. She couldn't imagine what she would look like wearing it.

She tried to find an excuse: "I just feel that this color doesn't suit me, let's look at some other ones."

"Alright," Song Ze said, seeing that she really didn't like it, he didn't force her. He glanced at the pink dress on the wall with some regret. He could tell that Qingqing didn't like the dress, so he chose to respect her opinion.

Xia Qingqing's gaze swept around the room before settling on the blue plaid dress in the corner. The dress was long-sleeved, and she could wear it when the weather got cooler; it would be perfect with a jacket.

She smiled and said to the sales clerk, "Excuse me, could you please show me that dress?"

"You can look, but you're not allowed to try them on," the sales clerk said casually.

With so many people shopping at the department store every day, if everyone wanted to try on clothes, not only would the sales staff be overwhelmed, but perfectly good new clothes would also be ruined by the customers trying them on.

Xia Qingqing was aware of the rule and replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll just try it on to see if it fits."

The sales clerk didn't say anything more, took the clothes off and handed them to Xia Qingqing: "Be careful, don't get them dirty."

"Hey, thank you, comrade," Xia Qingqing held up the dress to herself and asked Song Ze, "What do you think, Aze? Does it look good?"

Although Song Ze thought the blue plaid one wasn't as nice as the pink floral one, he still nodded and said, "It looks good. You look good in anything."

"Okay, let's buy this one then," Xia Qingqing said without hesitation, having already decided to buy it once she saw it.

She was about to take out her money when Song Ze stopped her: "Qingqing, let me pay. I got my dividend today, so consider this dress a gift from me to you, okay?"

Xia Qingqing paused in her action of taking out the money. She didn't object when she heard what Song Ze said. It's normal for boyfriends and girlfriends to exchange gifts.

Song Ze happily paid the money. While they were waiting for the salesperson to issue the invoice, a muttered voice came from the side: "Some girls really don't know how to love themselves. They want men to buy them this and that even before they're married. They have no sense of independence or self-reliance at all."

Xia Qingqing turned her head and saw Liu Guizhi looking at her with disdain, and Xue Mengyu next to her.

What a coincidence, to run into these two here.

In fact, she had basically had no contact with these two people since the last incident. Liu Guizhi knew that they were not easy to mess with, so she did not take the initiative to cause trouble again.

She thought the other party had learned her lesson, but she didn't expect that after a short while, Liu Guizhi would start acting like a jerk again.

She had intended to pretend she hadn't heard anything, as those few words were innocuous and didn't name anyone.

But while she could tolerate it, Song Ze couldn't. There were only five people standing at the counter, so who else could Liu Guizhi be talking about besides them? Anyone with eyes could see that.

Song Ze stared at Liu Guizhi and asked in a deep voice, "Comrade, who are you being sarcastic to?"

Liu Guizhi blushed slightly as Song Ze stared at her. Part of it was the embarrassment and annoyance of being questioned, and the other part was the shyness of being stared at by such a handsome man.

She said those things because she felt a pang of jealousy when she saw how handsome Xia Qingqing's boyfriend was and how good he was to her. She regretted it as soon as she said it.

But thinking about it, she realized that what she said was true. Xia Qingqing's casual acceptance of men's gifts showed a lack of self-respect.

Staring at Song Ze's cold eyes, Liu Guizhi stamped her foot awkwardly: "You're so rude. I didn't say anything to you. Does that mean people aren't allowed to chat with their friends in private?"

After saying that, she glanced at Xia Qingqing jealously. This world is really unfair. How come Xia Qingqing gets all the good things?

Xue Mengyu, who was standing next to Song Ze, smiled gently and said softly, "Hello, comrade. I think there must be some misunderstanding. Gui Zhi was definitely not talking about you. In fact, Gui Zhi and I are Qingqing's classmates."

Then she looked at Xia Qingqing and said, "Qingqing, I didn't expect to run into you at the department store. Is this man your boyfriend? You two look like a perfect match."

Upon hearing this last sentence, Song Ze's expression softened slightly. Although these two women seemed to have ill intentions, what they said was true: he and Qingqing were a perfect match.

Xia Qingqing greeted Xue Mengyu with a forced smile: "Oh, it's Xue and Liu. I almost didn't recognize you."

Xue Mengyu wanted to continue talking to Song Ze, but Xia Qingqing patted Gou Dan's shoulder and then decisively pulled Song Ze's hand, saying, "Let's go first. I suddenly feel that the air here is not very good. Let's go upstairs for a walk."

Song Ze didn't even glance at the two of them. He picked up his newly bought dress and followed Xia Qingqing away from the wardrobe counter.

Liu Guizhi snorted angrily: "What does she mean by that? Does she think we're polluting the air?"

Xue Mengyu: "......"

She glanced at Liu Guizhi speechlessly. "If you can't speak properly, at least say something. Who talks about themselves like that?"

“Mengyu, look at Xia Qingqing’s anxious and flustered appearance. It must be because you are too outstanding. She doesn’t want her boyfriend to have any contact with you, and she’s afraid that her boyfriend will fall for someone else,” Liu Guizhi said confidently.

"Guizhi, you can't say things like that," Xue Mengyu whispered a reminder, but she couldn't suppress a secret joy rising in her heart.