Lin Jianqing took a deep breath, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the exquisite clothing racks and staring straight at the instigator on the sofa.
“Is this what you meant by… ‘something to look at’?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Shen Huaixue slowly set down her teacup and stood up. “Just a few, all picked out for your size. Want to give them a try?”
Lin Jianqing was silent for a few seconds.
“Shen Huaixue.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you have a different understanding of the word ‘a few’?”
Shen Huaixue glanced at the several rows of clothing racks.
“It really isn’t that much.”
“Not that much?”
“I just bought a portion first.”
Lin Jianqing:
He suddenly felt the urge to turn and leave, right now, immediately, this instant. He regretted coming today.
Although the previous ordeals had dulled his shame about wearing women’s clothing as a man, even numbing it, Lin Jianqing’s resistance now came more from seeing it as an extremely troublesome and energy-consuming task.
Shen Huaixue seemed to have mind-reading abilities, precisely catching his intention to retreat. She sauntered closer step by step, her half-head height advantage creating a strong sense of pressure at this moment.
After standing close, her gaze naturally fell on his face.
“What, scared?”
Lin Jianqing remained expressionless.
“Any normal person would be scared seeing this.”
“But you’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”
Shen Huaixue smiled as she extended her jade-like fingers and casually took a light blue chiffon dress from the first rack. The fabric was very light and soft, with a color between white and light blue, like the mist of a summer morning.
She held the dress up against Lin Jianqing, and he almost immediately stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking if it fits.”
“It definitely won’t fit.”
“I haven’t finished checking.”
“No need to check.”
“Lin Jianqing, I feel like you’re not being very objective about your current situation.”
Shen Huaixue looked him over, her eyes full of playful mischief at the successful prank. She gestured with the dress against his slender frame.
“This one suits you—a bit cool and aloof, delicate, like you could be blown away by the wind. That might just awaken my meager protective instincts.”
Lin Jianqing frowned.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Of course.”
Lin Jianqing decided not to respond to that. Shen Huaixue picked up another set—this time a preppy-style shirt and pleated skirt, paired with a light-colored cardigan.
When Lin Jianqing saw the skirt, his expression was already somewhat numb, but Shen Huaixue seemed very pleased.
“This set is nice too.”
“What’s nice about it?”
“Perfect for you to pretend to be a good kid.”
“I’m not bad in the first place.”
“You’re really not bad,” Shen Huaixue said with a smile. “You just have a sharp tongue.”
Lin Jianqing didn’t want to talk. Shen Huaixue hung that set back and picked up a slightly more mature black long dress.
The dress wasn’t revealing; it was actually quite modest.
But it was cut very close-fitting. Lin Jianqing instinctively felt something was off when he saw it.
Sure enough, Shen Huaixue glanced at him and spoke slowly.
“This one won’t work for now.”
Lin Jianqing had just breathed a sigh of relief internally, because he didn’t like wearing dresses, especially women’s dresses.
The next second, Shen Huaixue added:
“We’ll skip this one for now. After all, some people are too skinny—no curves at all front or back. Wearing this would probably look like a bamboo pole holding up a cleaning cloth. Pretty ugly.”
Lin Jianqing:
“One set…”
He looked up at her, and Shen Huaixue laughed maliciously.
“What, you don’t agree?”
“Why would I concede to something like this?”
“Then do you want to try it?”
“No.”
“But your expression just now looked like you didn’t agree.”
“That’s because I’m angry at you.”
Shen Huaixue laughed out loud. She really enjoyed seeing this kind of reaction from Lin Jianqing.
Clearly irritated to the point of bristling, yet still trying to maintain his composure. The tips of his ears were slightly red, his eyes darted away, and his mouth still put up a brave front.
If she weren’t afraid he’d run away in agitation today, she would have had him try it on right now. But there was no rush. The clothes were here, and so was he. It was only a matter of time.
Shen Huaixue picked up another set, this time a more Chinese-style outfit: a light-colored top paired with a long slender skirt, with very subtle embroidery on the cuffs. This set was quieter than the previous ones.
Lin Jianqing took a glance and surprisingly felt it wasn’t that outrageous.
At least… not that outrageous.
After realizing he had that thought, he felt terrible.
‘Oh no… His standards had really been lowered by Shen Huaixue.’
Shen Huaixue keenly caught his expression.
“Like this set?”
“No.”
“You stared for two seconds.”
Shen Huaixue’s eyes curved.
“So what do you think of this set?”
“Not great.”
“Really? Don’t you want to try it? I feel like you really like it.” Shen Huaixue’s fox-like eyes curved.
“I don’t like it…”
Lin Jianqing’s brow twitched slightly, while Shen Huaixue, with a smirk, hung the clothes back without actually making him change.
Lin Jianqing finally relaxed a little, but before he could finish his sigh of relief, Shen Huaixue walked over to another rack.
The style of that row was clearly more intricate.
Shen Huaixue picked up one of the dark-colored dresses and deliberately shook it in front of him. The style of that row shifted abruptly: lace, straps, dark leather, and even some nearly transparent fabrics… full of exciting and 18+ risqué clothing.
Lin Jianqing glanced at it and then jerked his gaze away as if shocked, even his neck starting to blush. “Shen Huaixue, what are you always thinking about in that head of yours?!”
“Not checking this side? Don’t you like it?”
“Not looking!”
“Why?”
“You tell me!”
“Hehe!”
“What about this one? Kind of a sick-and-weak vibe, yet also a bit dark.”
“Are you picking normal clothes?”
“Then do you want to see something even spicier? But if you wear it… the effect probably won’t be great.”
Shen Huaixue draped the clothes over her arm and looked at Lin Jianqing thoughtfully.
“But if you wore this, you’d probably look like a young master locked up by a bad woman.”
Lin Jianqing was expressionless, his voice cold as ice: “That ‘bad woman’ you mentioned better not be referring to yourself.”
Shen Huaixue laughed so hard she was shaking. “Student Lin, you’ve finally come to that realization?”
“I’ve known it since the first day I met you,” Lin Jianqing said coldly.
Shen Huaixue’s laugh paused for a moment. A hint of an unidentifiable emotion flickered in her deep eyes, but it quickly passed, masked by her cynical, mischievous demeanor.
“Alright, I’ll give you a little privilege.” She crossed her arms. “Pick one set from here that you’d most like to wear today.”
Lin Jianqing twitched the corner of his mouth. This wasn’t a choice; it was picking between beheading or hanging.
“I don’t want to wear any set today.”
“Who said you have to wear it today?” Shen Huaixue said matter-of-factly.
“Pick one set that you’d most like to wear.”
Lin Jianqing:
“This is a choice? For Lin Jianqing, this was no different from choosing between being drawn and quartered or death by a thousand cuts.”