He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
“I’m not wearing it today.”
“Who said you had to wear it today?”
Lin Jianqing froze. Shen Huaixue hung the clothes back and said slowly, “Today I’m just letting you look.”
Lin Jianqing looked at her warily. Shen Huaixue’s words weren’t completely untrustworthy. She walked up to him and looked down at him.
“What, so afraid of wearing women’s clothes? I thought you’d be used to it by now.”
Lin Jianqing looked away.
“It’s not fear.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t like it.”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“No normal man likes being forced to wear women’s clothes.”
“But you look really good in them.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It is to me.”
Lin Jianqing looked up at her.
“Shen Huaixue, you really have a twisted hobby.”
“I know.”
She answered very naturally.
“But your shy reactions every time are also really fun.”
Lin Jianqing’s ears started to heat up. He immediately realized he couldn’t let Shen Huaixue see, so he turned his head away.
But Shen Huaixue had already seen.
She bent down slightly and leaned in a little closer.
“Your ears are red.”
“No, they’re not.”
“Is it that ‘constitutional issue’ again?”
Lin Jianqing closed his eyes. Was this joke never going to end?
“I’m red because you pissed me off.”
“Then I’m pretty impressive.”
Lin Jianqing completely didn’t want to talk anymore. He really was afraid he’d be so angry he’d cough up blood from this freak Shen Huaixue.
The clothes in the living room still hung quietly, as if silently watching his breakdown. Shen Huaixue walked back to the sofa, picked up the water on the table, and took a sip.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. These clothes will be kept at my place from now on.”
Lin Jianqing was stunned.
“At your place?”
“Yeah. First, so you don’t have to hide them in your dorm and live in fear. Second, your dorm probably can’t fit them anyway.”
When she said that, Lin Jianqing didn’t even know how to react for a moment.
Because Shen Huaixue was right—he really didn’t want to keep stuffing these things under his dorm bed anymore. And his suitcase was about to burst at the seams.
Every time he looked at that suitcase, he had a fear that his roommate would discover it at any moment.
But Shen Huaixue being this considerate made him feel something was very off.
So he cautiously asked, “Why are you being so easy to talk to today?”
Shen Huaixue looked at him.
“Am I usually hard to talk to?”
Lin Jianqing was silent for two seconds.
“You want the truth?”
“Forget it.”
Shen Huaixue put down the cup.
“You don’t have to be moved. I just think your hiding skills are too bad. If your roommate finds out, you’ll be the one embarrassed. So, now do I seem like that kind of ‘understanding older-sister-next-door’ type of woman?”
Lin Jianqing: …
Seeing Shen Huaixue’s utterly deadpan expression, everything made sense now.
This was the real Shen Huaixue.
He’d almost thought this woman had grown a conscience. As it turned out, he was overthinking.
Shen Huaixue watched his slightly relaxed expression, and the smile in her eyes faded a little.
“Come here,” Shen Huaixue suddenly said.
Lin Jianqing became alert.
“What for?”
“To take your measurements.”
“Didn’t you already buy everything?”
“I’ll continue buying more.”
Lin Jianqing’s pupils quaked slightly.
“More?”
Shen Huaixue smiled at him.
“Is this even a lot?”
Lin Jianqing’s pupils shook. His voice rose a few notes. “More?! Shen Huaixue, are you raising me like some kind of paper doll in a gacha dress-up game?”
Shen Huaixue thought about it seriously.
“Pretty much.”
“Hey! You admitted that way too fast!”
Lin Jianqing felt his blood pressure spike again. So Shen Huaixue really was treating him like a gacha dress-up character?
Shen Huaixue held a fine leather measuring tape and twirled it around her fingers. “Stand still. Do you want to do it yourself, or do you need your financial backer to personally serve you?”
Lin Jianqing pressed his lips tightly. Let Shen Huaixue do it? That would be like sending a lamb straight into the wolf’s mouth, letting her touch him all over and take full advantage.
Lin Jianqing was silent. Absolutely not. So he reached out to take the tape.
But Shen Huaixue didn’t let go immediately.
Their fingertips touched. Lin Jianqing flinched back as if burned.
Shen Huaixue looked at him, her smile obvious.
“That sensitive?”
Lin Jianqing’s ears turned red again.
“It’s because your hands are too cold.”
“Oh, I see. Another ‘constitutional issue’?”
“You… it’s your constitutional issue.”
Shen Huaixue laughed out loud.
In the end, Lin Jianqing measured his own shoulder width and waist.
Shen Huaixue sat on the sofa, watching him like a supervisor.
“Measure your waist again.”
“I already did.”
“I didn’t see it clearly.”
“You have bad eyesight?”
“I want to see it one more time.”
Lin Jianqing finally confirmed she was doing it on purpose. He expressionlessly threw the tape back onto the table.
“I’m done measuring.”
Shen Huaixue wasn’t angry. She leaned back on the sofa, her tone amused.
“Fine. I’ll let you off the hook today.”
Hearing that, Lin Jianqing only felt mentally exhausted. The words sounded like a mercy.
When it was almost 9:30, Lin Jianqing prepared to go back to school. This time, Shen Huaixue didn’t try to keep him too long.
She just handed him a delicate paper bag at the entrance, containing that relatively conservative, normal modified Chinese-style dress set.
Lin Jianqing instantly became a cat with its fur standing on end, his whole body radiating resistance. “Didn’t we agree all the clothes would stay here?”
“This one is an exception.” Shen Huaixue crossed her arms, smiling maliciously.
“For our next date, you have to wear it to meet me. Letting you take it back is also so you can ‘see the object and think of me.’ When you see this dress, you’ll think of me.”
That statement was Shen Huaixue underestimating herself. Lin Jianqing was constantly being mentally tortured by her.
“Can I not take it?”
“No.”
“You just said today was only for looking.”
“Right.” Shen Huaixue nodded. “Today was only for looking, not for wearing.”
“Then… can I refuse?” Lin Jianqing tried to ask, but he seemed to have no reason to refuse.
“No, unless you don’t mind me personally driving this bag to the boys’ dormitory downstairs tomorrow. If an acquaintance sees, that wouldn’t be good. I don’t care, but I don’t know if you could handle it.”
Lin Jianqing: …
He didn’t want to argue with Shen Huaixue anymore. This woman really knew how to talk.
Every sentence on its own seemed logical, but strung together, they were all traps. When it came to being shameless and threatening people, Shen Huaixue was undefeated.
What’s more, he was in the wrong.
In the end, Lin Jianqing still took the bag and left the door.
Just before the elevator door closed, Lin Jianqing saw that beautiful yet utterly malicious smile reflected in the elevator mirror. Shen Huaixue was waving at him.
“Be careful on the way, Student Lin.”
Lin Jianqing looked at her pretty but nasty face, held back again and again, but finally couldn’t help it.
“Shen Huaixue.”
“Hm?”
“You’re really annoying.”
Shen Huaixue smiled even more happily.
“Of course I know. Who else would be your financial backer?”
Lin Jianqing carried the light paper bag, but it felt heavier than a thousand pounds in his hands.
He leaned against the elevator wall, his emotions as complicated as if he had just narrowly escaped death from some high-difficulty, bizarre instance dungeon.
In his mind, he had already started thinking about how to stuff this thing back into the bottom of his suitcase when he got to the dorm.
On the other side of the door, Shen Huaixue put away her smile. She turned and looked at the clothes in the living room.
The light fell on the hangers, the colors soft and beautiful.
She had originally just wanted to see Lin Jianqing wear these clothes, but her plan had changed. She always felt that teasing him was more fun than making him change clothes back and forth.
Tonight, she had been watching Lin Jianqing more. But the more she felt that way, the more displeased Shen Huaixue became.