Yuzhe led the other two into the West City mall.

The moment he stepped out of the elevator, he felt a wave of warmth—the heating inside was a sharp contrast to the cold winter outside.

Yuzhe had to take off his scarf. Zixiao promptly opened the little crossbody bag she was carrying and held it out for him to put his scarf inside.

But then they just stood there, stumped. They had no idea what they were supposed to buy.

Yuzhe and Yuche had hardly ever needed to shop for themselves. The maids in charge of it would buy whatever they needed well in advance.

But Zixiao was different from her “pampered” brother and Yuche. She was used to going out and buying whatever she needed herself.

Zixiao could finally stand on her own two feet!

Part of that was because she’d joined the Su Family after she was old enough to understand things. But more than that, she felt safer buying things for her brother herself.

Knowing Yuche was no help here, Yuzhe turned to Zixiao with a pleading look. “Zixiao, when you say we need to buy things, what do you usually mean? Uh… come to think of it, whenever we were out of something at home, you were the one who went shopping. That’s pretty impressive.”

He suddenly realized that Zixiao was really good at handling the little details of everyday life. That was something Yuzhe and Yuche—who usually focused on the big picture of business—couldn’t match.

They each had their own strengths, after all.

Yeah, Yuzhe realized his little sister was more capable than he’d thought!

Seeing the admiration in her brother’s eyes, Zixiao hurriedly waved her hands. “It’s not that impressive! Compared to you two, I only know how to do a few insignificant little things…”

Then she listed the things she’d planned to buy ahead of time. “We’re almost out of shampoo and body wash at home, and we need to get some hangers, too… Most importantly, you’re going to school tomorrow, so you’ll definitely need a bag, notebooks, and things like that…”

Seeing how clearly Zixiao had thought it all through, Yuche quickly cut her off. “All right, all right, don’t list everything yet. Let’s just start shopping. Haven’t you noticed that we’ve been standing here doing nothing, and plenty of people have already started staring at my brother?”

Yuche warily scanned their surroundings. Shoppers of all genders had stopped to look in their direction.

More precisely, both Yuche and Zixiao could tell that they were looking at Yuzhe.

After all, neither Yuzhe’s looks nor the aura he gave off could be hidden by a trench coat.

His silver hair shone like a snow lotus on an icy mountain, like an immortal descended from the heavens.

Yuche was more on the cute side, while Zixiao’s naturally otherworldly beauty was completely overshadowed by Yuzhe’s radiance.

So right now, Yuzhe was a shining human shield!

“Honestly, the good thing about walking around with my brother is that he makes the perfect human shield. The bad thing is that this shield of yours is so gorgeous it just attracts even more arrows.”

Yuche shrugged, took Yuzhe by the hand, and led him toward a less crowded area. She gestured for Zixiao to follow, too.

Just like Zixiao, she really didn’t like all those eyes fixed on Yuzhe. Protecting her brother was her duty, after all!

Yuzhe didn’t seem to mind. He simply relaxed and let Yuche lead him away from the crowded elevator area.

The three of them didn’t stop until they reached a seating area around a corner.

They sat side by side. Zixiao handed her bag to Yuzhe and took out only her phone. “You and Yuche can wait here, Brother. I’ll go shopping by myself and come find you when I’m done.”

Yuzhe thought that didn’t seem quite right. “Huh? Isn’t that a little unfair? We’re not doing anything sitting here. We might as well come with you—I can help carry things.”

But Yuche grabbed Yuzhe by the sleeve as he started to get up.

“Maybe you should sit this one out, Brother. Let Zixiao handle it. The two of us might just get in her way—and she seems to really want to show what she can do.”

“Really?” Yuzhe didn’t quite understand what Yuche meant by getting in the way. But why did Zixiao want to prove herself at shopping?

There might be quite a lot to buy, and carrying it all would probably be tiring.

Did she really want to be their errand girl that badly?

So he gave Zixiao a questioning look.

Zixiao nodded. “That’s right! Leave it to me. I mean, all I can do is little things like shopping and cooking. If you guys try to take even this away from me… then what use would I be?”

“Don’t turn that into a question for me!” Yuzhe had just about managed to understand.

“Mm…”

Zixiao stood up. She didn’t head off to shop just yet; instead, she looked toward a drink shop not far away.

“You and Yuche must be thirsty, Brother. What would you like to drink? I’ll go get it.”

Yuche answered without hesitation. “Coconut jelly milk tea is fine.”

Yuzhe thought about it. He was going to ask for the same as Yuche, but he felt like trying something different for once.

So Yuzhe smiled and said, “Then I’ll have a lychee soda.”

“Lychee…? Lizhi… Little Lychee?!”

Zixiao’s mind went blank. For some reason, the word “lychee” had been making her wary lately.

After what happened last time, she didn’t want her brother getting involved with anything related to lychees.

“No! You can’t drink lychee, Brother! Pick something else!”

“Huh?” Yuzhe had no idea what was going on. But Zixiao looked so serious and determined that he could only give in.

“O-okay… Then I’ll have the same as Yuche.”

“Okay, got it. I’ll go get it now.”

“Wait.” Yuzhe called out before Zixiao could leave.

As she stood up, Yuzhe noticed a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead, mostly hidden beneath her beautiful black hair. He thought the heating in the mall was turned up a little too high, too.

So Yuzhe reminded her, “Don’t forget to get yourself a lemonade, too.”

Zixiao paused, then broke into a happy smile. “Mm! I will!”

Ah… Her brother was always so gentle. It felt so nice when he showed her that kind of casual concern…

Yuzhe, meanwhile, figured that if he didn’t remind her, she wouldn’t buy anything for herself.

That was just how Zixiao was. She always put Yuzhe first and often forgot about herself.

After handing the two coconut jelly milk teas to Yuzhe and Yuche, Zixiao picked up her own lemonade and got ready to go shopping.

But as she was about to leave, Yuche took advantage of Yuzhe looking at his phone and quietly slipped up behind Zixiao to stop her.

When Zixiao gave her a puzzled look, Yuche whispered so Yuzhe couldn’t hear, “Hurry up and shop. Let’s save some time so we can take Brother to a women’s clothing store.”

“What, are you going to buy clothes?”

Yuche leaped up and smacked Zixiao on the head in frustration. “How can you be this dense? If I say we’re taking Brother to a women’s clothing store, what do you think I want to do?”

Even after getting smacked, Zixiao didn’t feel hurt. Once she realized what Yuche was planning, she actually started getting excited, too.

“Okay! Got it. I’ll go shopping right now. This is a great opportunity!”

Unaware of what the two of them were plotting, Yuzhe still had no idea what was going on.

After Zixiao left to shop, Yuzhe and Yuche played mobile games together.

Yuche didn’t cling to Yuzhe too much when they were out, because she thought it would embarrass her brother.

So, with Yuche not clinging to him, Yuzhe carried the whole team. His gaming talent was no joke!

Zixiao came back once while they were playing. It seemed she’d only returned to drop off the notebooks she’d bought, worried that they’d have too much to carry later.

But Yuche glanced at the notebooks and frowned. “These notebooks are really poor value for money. They’re expensive just because of the packaging and design, and the actual quality isn’t great either. Zixiao, why did you buy these?”

Zixiao hadn’t expected Yuche to know so much.

“Huh? I just thought they looked cute. I figured Brother might like them for school… By the way, how do you know the quality’s bad, Yuche?”

Yuche picked up a few of the notebooks and gave them a shake. “Because the Su Family has worked with the company that makes these. They’re just designed to fool kids into thinking they look nice, so they’ll buy them without caring what they’re actually worth. Don’t you think ten yuan for one notebook is ridiculous?!”

Zixiao didn’t mind being scolded at all.

Hmph! Why are you getting mad? I just thought they looked nice and bought them. As long as Brother likes them, who cares? It’s your bank card I’m using anyway!

Didn’t see that coming, did you, Yuche?

Yuche gathered up the pile of notebooks. “Wait here, Brother. I’ll return these and get some that are cheaper, prettier, and better quality!”

As she spoke, she glanced at Zixiao with a triumphant look.

This time, Zixiao and Yuzhe waited less than ten minutes before Yuche returned with the replacement notebooks.

These were indeed very nice, and according to Yuche, their quality was much better than the ones she’d bought earlier.

Yuzhe didn’t really care about that, though. Instead, he looked a little surprised. “I didn’t expect that… I thought you wouldn’t care much about how much you spent, Yuche.”

After all, they had far too much money.

“I don’t.” Yuche’s answer left Yuzhe a little confused.

“Then why did you say we shouldn’t buy those ten-yuan notebooks?”

“Because, as long as I’m here, I won’t let my brother get ripped off. Not even a little!”

“Oh… I see.”

Yuzhe understood. Yuche really was always thinking of him.

Of course, Zixiao was, too. She’d only bought those notebooks to make him happy… Too bad she’d run into Yuche, the business genius.

Zixiao went off again to buy the rest of the things.

Yuzhe ruffled Yuche’s hair. “But speaking of which, you’re really good at business. I think the Su Family will have to rely on you in the future.”

“Hehe, you’re just not interested in this stuff, Brother. If you were, you’d definitely do even better than me.”

Yuche enjoyed having Yuzhe pat her head.

Then she spoke to him in a slightly coquettish tone. “Oh, right! Brother, do you know why I got involved in the Su Family’s business?”

Yuzhe thought about it. A few years ago, Yuche had suddenly started using her extraordinary talent to interfere in the Su Family’s business operations. He really didn’t know why.

“Hm? I really don’t know.”

A light suddenly sparked in Yuche’s eyes, like stars were twinkling in them. Yuzhe was reflected in her beautiful gaze.

“Because… I want to take charge of the Su Family as soon as I can, and then give both the Su Family and myself to you, Brother!”

So you want to be a useful tool, too!