“Little Sister Zhu, over here.”
Zhu Niao saw, next to a car at the intersection not far away, someone waving at her.
‘…What was her name again?’
Anyway, it was the Store Manager Lady.
She walked over, and the Store Manager Lady happened to open the car door at that moment, sitting in the back seat with Zhu Niao.
“I remember that in the employee gift box I gave you before, there was a light green dress.”
“Oh, that one, I remember it.”
Zhu Niao remembered that rather pretty dress. Compared to others, it was a bit more ornate, but compared to the truly gorgeous dresses in her memory, it seemed a bit simple.
When she first went to Gou Yu’s house to meet his family, she wore that dress. At least the reception was good.
Normally, with such a presentable outfit, Zhu Niao would have at least one choice for these relatively formal occasions.
But that choice had been destroyed by Gou Yu not long ago.
In his dazed state, Gou Yu had decided to wash Zhu Niao’s clothes along with his own.
After scrubbing them late at night, he looked at the stains and gave up.
He threw everything into the washing machine and left the job to technology.
He even remembered not to put underwear in the washing machine, and that their clothes should be washed separately.
He even took Zhu Niao’s intimates and put them in a small basin for her to wash herself.
But what he didn’t think of was that this kind of fancy dress, with layers of tulle, couldn’t be washed with other clothes.
And so, Zhu Niao’s most presentable little skirt was shredded.
It wasn’t completely ruined, but the frayed tulle made it clear she couldn’t wear it out again.
“That dress, uh, had a bit of an accident.” Zhu Niao didn’t even want the Store Manager Lady to know about this embarrassing outcome.
Strange—it was Gou Yu who had disgraced himself, but she felt like she would be embarrassed along with him if she said it.
“Isn’t that perfect?”
The Store Manager Lady smiled. “I was just about to buy a dress for the banquet. I originally wanted to trouble Little Sister Zhu for her opinion, but now it looks like we can give each other opinions, right?”
Not really.
Zhu Niao glanced at the Store Manager Lady’s figure, which was similar to her own.
Come to think of it, compared to their first meeting, had she gotten a bit taller and a bit more… developed?
It made sense, since the Store Manager Lady was still a minor with plenty of room to grow.
But Zhu Niao was different. Once her birthday passed this year, she would have no chance of developing further.
Of course, if we’re talking about development potential, let’s take a look at the tiny Dorm Leader Yang Shuli.
No offense, but Zhu Niao couldn’t help wanting to laugh when she thought about how that figure and frame belonged to the oldest person in the dorm.
For now, she and the Store Manager Lady could even swap clothes.
But in two years, when the Store Manager Lady became an adult, it would be a different story.
For some reason, Zhu Niao felt a wave of powerlessness wash over her.
“That’s good too. I also need to ask about the engagement banquet procedures.” Zhu Niao pinched her fingers.
She felt like a student who couldn’t do basic problems and went to the teacher’s office, not knowing whether the teacher would yell at her or patiently explain based on their mood.
But the Store Manager Lady wouldn’t yell at her; she usually gave gentle explanations.
“Just treat it like a small wedding. The procedures are about the same.” The Store Manager Lady paused. “Actually, Little Sister Zhu, you don’t have to worry about those procedures at all. Just be casual.”
“Ah, no, no. I’d better not. I still need to be serious when it’s time to be serious.” Zhu Niao quickly shook her head.
After all, among the people she would meet at the banquet, the only ones she knew were Gou Yu and his family.
Being casual in front of strangers was even harder for her than understanding a classmate’s hints during a pop quiz.
And she knew that her casualness might be disastrous for others.
“This time, since it’s your engagement banquet, we haven’t invited any business acquaintances you don’t know. They’re all close friends of my parents, and some of my own friends.”
The Store Manager Lady smoothed her reddish-brown long hair and blinked at Zhu Niao.
“That’s why I said you can be at ease. Picking a nice dress is just for appearances.”
“Is that right?”
Forgive Zhu Niao for associating any rich family banquet with the food she had at Liu Xie’s School Opening Banquet last time.
She always felt that the people around her didn’t mesh with her group.
But back then, Liu Xie was leading, and everyone seemed used to his reckless behavior.
They said nothing until they left. This time was clearly different—Zhu Niao was acting as the host.
“That’s right. Little Sister Zhu, if you want, you can invite your friends too.”
The Store Manager Lady smiled, pulled out a few invitations from her bag.
Bright red invitations. She handed them all to Zhu Niao at once.
But Zhu Niao didn’t remember having any other friends close enough to warrant an engagement invitation.
Wait, that wasn’t right. There were some.
Zhu Niao thought of her good roommates—all those oddly shaped beings that barely passed as human.
No, no, no. If she gave them engagement invitations, she would absolutely die a horrible death.
She knew she was only pretending for show, but would her roommates believe that?
Definitely not. They might even roast her over a fire.
Forget about those good roommates—if she saw anyone in the dorm in a relationship, she would be red-hot too. That was brotherly love.
And with her and Gou Yu’s joint secrecy, no one in the entire dorm knew she was about to have an engagement banquet with Gou Yu.
There was no way she could let them know now.
So Zhu Niao just stuffed the stack of invitations into her small bag. She would never use them.
“We’re here. Little Sister Zhu, come on down.” The Store Manager Lady’s voice came from beside her, and Zhu Niao looked up.
Such a luxurious clothing store, like a hotel.
She could already imagine how much the clothes here cost.
She estimated that the number of zeros after the price would exceed the zeros in the Chengdu weather.
At that thought, Zhu Niao felt a bit intimidated.
“It’s okay, Little Sister Zhu. We’re the customers. Be bold.”
The Store Manager Lady pushed Zhu Niao’s back and walked into the clothing store.