Jia Lingyi frowned as she looked at her meagre savings.
The original Jia Lingyi was really poor.
Although Shimmer wasn't an A-list group, they were still somewhat popular, and the original owner of the body had earned quite a bit of money.
However, it was paid to her mother's account since she was still a minor until a few months ago.
Jia Lingyi shook her head when she thought of the woman she had met in the hospital.
Zhao Anqi definitely wouldn't give her her money if she asked.
She decided that she would deal with that later.
But for now, she had more important things on her plate.
Like getting herself a cellphone.
She needed to be up to date with everything that was happening in the entertainment industry.
The company would probably give her a phone if she asked, but then everything that she did would be monitored.
She could not stand that, not after finally getting freedom.
Besides, she didn't plan to stay in the group for a long time.
Jia Lingyi stealthily made her way out of the company's dorm room, making sure that no one saw her as she left.
It was against the company rules for any artist to leave without permission, but Jia Lingyi was not in the mood to obey those rules.
She was going to take control of her own life, and this was just the first step!
.....
Jia Lingyi walked around the large shopping complex, relying on the memory of the former Jia Lingyi.
Ever since she became famous as Xia Mengqi, she had not needed to go out to run errands by herself.
And she definitely would not have gone to this part of the city.
Jia Lingyi walked into the most respectable looking phone shop she could find, and she looked around, trying to find a phone that fit her budget.
She finally found one that she liked, but buying it would take most of her savings.
Jia Lingyi bit her lips as she tried to decide if she should buy it or not.
How long had it been since she had to consider the price before she bought something? Everything she owned was the best of the best, and now she couldn't even afford a cellphone.
Jia Lingyi was still thinking about what to do when she heard someone call out her name.
"Jia Lingyi?" The voice was unfamiliar.
She was already used to the name, and so she turned sharply.
Two girls with catty expressions were smiling at her, and Jia Lingyi could instantly tell that they did not like her.
She frowned as she folded her arms across her chest.
Jia Lingyi searched her memories, trying to remember why she was so sure of that, but the only thing she could remember was that they had once been classmates. Though she didn't interact with them much, they seemed to hate her for some reason.
She could not even remember their names.
"What is going on here? A big celebrity like you even has to come out to shop like the rest of us? I thought that you would have assistants waiting on you to do this stuff for you by now," The first girl said, a sneer on her face.
"Don't say that, Manman, we don't even know if she will be able to be a celebrity for much longer. I heard that she has caused a lot of scandals for her group, and they are thinking about kicking her out of the group!" The second girl said, her eyes flashing with undisguised hate.
Jia Lingyi could not remember why these girls hated her, and honestly didn't care, so she turned around ignoring them.
Someone was jogging over to her side.
"Lingyi! What are you doing here?" Sun Miao asked, taking her hand.
She looked at Lu Manman and Gu Xin, their classmates, taking in their expressions. She could instantly tell that they had been bullying Jia Lingyi again.
"Lu Manman, Gu Xin, what the heck is wrong with you? And why are you always picking on Lingyi?!" Sun Miao asked, sticking up for her best friend.
The angry look on her face was cute, and Jia Lingyi smiled.
She wanted to pinch Sun Miao's cheeks so bad.
"Sun Miao, you had better watch what you say. Which eyes of yours saw us bullying her? We did not do anything like that! We were just chatting with her since we bumped into each other!" Lu Manman denied it.
She really hated the way Jia Lingyi acted like she was untouchable by anything.
Did she think that she was better than them just because she had a bit of fame now?
"Hmph! Do you think I don't know about how you guys are always picking on Jia Lingyi?! Jia Lingyi lets you do whatever you want because she can't be bothered to argue with you, but that doesn't mean I am going to let it slide!"
Jia Lingyi rubbed her temples. Sun Miao made it sound nice, but all of this just meant that the former Jia Lingyi was a person who let everyone bully her and walk all over her, right?
Sun Miao turned to Jia Lingyi, a comforting look on her face.
"Lingyi, you don't have to be so scared of these people! I am here to defend you, and they are not going to get away with doing whatever they want! They are acting this way because they are jealous of you!"
Lu Manman was so angry that she started shaking.
She pointed a finger at Jia Lingyi.
"How dare you accuse us of being jealous of this person?! How is she any better than I am? We saw her hesitating in front of that phone. It's because you can't afford it, right Jia Lingyi? Why are you pretending to be noble!"
Jia Lingyi lifted her eyes coldly, and she took in the raging girl in front of her.
She was dressed in designer clothes from head to toe, as if she were scared that people wouldn't be able to tell that she was rich.
"You think I can't afford a phone?"
Lu Manman scoffed, "My cousin is a celebrity. Do you think I don't know how pathetic the lives of those celebrities are?! You all pretend like you are so great, but you are barely getting by at all!"
"Lu Manman! What are you saying?! Jia Lingyi is very popular right now! Of course, she can afford a phone!" Sun Miao stood up for her friend once again.
Lu Manman scoffed, "Since she can afford it, why hasn't she bought it yet? She stood in front of it for so long, but still hasn't paid! Who knows if she was planning to steal it?! If you really can't afford it, Jia Lingyi, based on the fact that we used to be classmates, I can take pity on you and get it for you!" Lu Manman bragged.
A cunning smile lit up Jia Lingyi's face.
"Alright, thank you so much for the gift, classmate Lu Manman!"
"What?!"