Sophie Harris bit her lower lip and glared fiercely at Ryan Bolton. She had never seen such an unreasonable guy before—was this how you ask someone for help? She was used to being proud herself, and was about to blurt out “I’m not going,” but at the last moment changed her mind: “Fine, I’ll go. Am I supposed to be afraid you’ll eat me?”

The interns watching nearby were all dumbfounded. Was this really how you asked someone out? They’d never seen anything like it. Whenever anyone saw Sophie Harris, they always put on a smiling face and acted obsequiously, but this nursing school student just met her with a cold, unyielding stare. But thinking about it, maybe this was what you called playing hard to get… Actually, Ryan Bolton was being wrongly accused—did he really need to go to such lengths to deal with a girl? He was just annoyed: so you can summon me at will, but when I ask you for a favor, it’s suddenly so difficult?

It was a chilly spring, the sky was gray, and the weather forecast said there would be light snow tonight. The wind had already started to pick up outside. Today, Sophie Harris wore a pale yellow down jacket, blue jeans, and a pair of black knee-high boots, making her long legs look even more slender and straight. Ryan Bolton was still in his blue jacket, black pants, and clunky shoes. Everyone loves to look good, and Ryan Bolton was no exception, but his wardrobe was truly pitiful—he didn’t even have a change of clothes. The reason he asked Sophie Harris out today was to have her help him buy some new clothes. Now that he had money, Ryan Bolton—who in his previous life was known for spending lavishly—was ready to start his new life of extravagance with this ten thousand yuan.

After Sophie Harris realized that Ryan Bolton had asked her out just to help him shop, she let out a sigh of relief: “You should have said so earlier, I thought…” She stopped herself mid-sentence, realizing it was a bit inappropriate, and quickly shut her mouth.

Ryan Bolton laughed: “Thought what? Thought I had some ulterior motive toward you?”

Sophie Harris spat lightly, but her pretty face turned red.

In the early 1990s, the layout of Chunyang County was still quite backward. The commercial center was limited to the area around the county square. Sophie Harris took Ryan Bolton to Chunyang Department Store. There was hardly anything here that met her standards; all the so-called name brands—Goldlion, Valentino, Playboy—were definitely fakes. So Sophie Harris simply took Ryan Bolton to the Shanshan suit specialty store. At least the goods here were genuine, though the prices were a bit high and probably more than Ryan Bolton could afford. But before entering the department store, Sophie Harris had already made up her mind: this junior had helped her out quite a bit, so buying him something was only right.

Ryan Bolton looked around. Back in the Sui Dynasty, he was famous for his taste in clothes—even the young nobles of the capital acknowledged his style. But now it was the 1990s, a leap of 1,396 years, and Ryan Bolton’s sense of fashion hadn’t quite caught up with the times.

Sophie Harris picked out a black wool shirt and a gray wool suit for him. Ryan Bolton showed great trust in her taste, went into the fitting room to change, and strode out. As the saying goes, “Buddha needs gold, and a man needs clothes.” Ryan Bolton was tall and handsome to begin with, but his old, shabby clothes had knocked at least thirty percent off his looks. Now, in a suit, his whole aura was completely transformed.

The saleswoman nearby, speaking in a thick Northeastern accent, said, “Hey, brother, you look absolutely dashing in this suit!”

Sophie Harris’s beautiful eyes also lit up. She hadn’t expected Ryan Bolton to clean up so well. Her gaze dropped to his clunky, suede shoes, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Shopkeeper, how much silver for these clothes?” Ryan Bolton still couldn’t help but slip into old-fashioned speech now and then.

But the Northeastern lady clearly took it as a joke and burst out laughing: “Haha, you’re really funny, brother, you’re killing me…” She laughed, then said, “The suit is 1,280, the shirt is 320, so that’s exactly 1,600! We have a promotion—buy a suit and get a free tie and socks. That’s a great deal; those two alone are worth over a hundred, you’re saving a lot!”

Sixteen hundred yuan wasn’t a small sum for Sophie Harris, but luckily she’d brought nearly three thousand. She was hesitating about whether to pay for him when she saw Ryan Bolton grandly pull out a thick wad of grayish-green bills from his blue jacket pocket.

The saleswoman’s eyes went wide. In the early 90s, there were indeed some rich people, but not many in a small county like this, and it was even rarer for someone to pull out ten thousand yuan at once. She stammered, “B-brother… b-big spender…”

Ryan Bolton quickly counted out sixteen hundred yuan and handed it to the saleswoman. He had no intention of taking off the suit.

Sophie Harris looked at Ryan Bolton with a puzzled expression. She really couldn’t figure him out. This junior seemed unfathomable. The way he spent money, he looked like a rich wastrel, nothing like the poor kid who used to struggle to get by.

Sophie Harris then accompanied him to the shoe and hat store, where he bought a pair of Senda shoes for 480 yuan. After changing into his new shoes and socks, Ryan Bolton casually tossed his old clothes into the trash, instantly shattering the thrifty, impoverished image Sophie Harris had of him.