Cold well water splashed against his sweat-streaked cheeks, as refreshing as an autumn breeze after the summer heat.
Feeling the weight of the two bags of gold coins at his waist, he could almost hear the older man's instructions still echoing in his ears.
After staring at the money bags in his hands for a while, Li Xing looked up and headed toward Aniekra's house.
It was noon in early summer, and the sunlight was full of vigor.
The branches and leaves of the roadside trees blocked out the scorching sun, protecting the pedestrians beneath their shade from its burning rays.
Li Xing arrived at Aniekra's house and knocked on the front door.
"Just a moment! I'll be right there."
As Li Xing knocked on the door, a gentle voice answered from inside, carrying through the door to his ears.
After waiting outside for less than a minute, he heard the door open.
A curvaceous figure appeared in the doorway.
"Mr. Li Xing! What brings you here? Why have you come over?"
After speaking, the nervous Aniekra realized her words were somewhat inappropriate. She shook her head, then rested a hand on the doorframe and continued,
"No, I mean... is there something you need from me?"
He looked at the somewhat flustered Aniekra standing before him.
For some reason, Li Xing always felt an urge to "bully" her. But his rational side told him he shouldn't do that.
"It's nothing! No, actually, there is something."
As it turned out, those conflicting feelings did have some effect on him.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Li Xing couldn't help smiling as he explained.
"I'd like to buy a few sets of clothes!
Didn't Lucy tell me before that our beautiful Miss Aniekra was one of the best weavers in town? So I couldn't go wrong coming to you!"
Hearing him repeat Lucy's praise, Aniekra blushed, a faint pink even spreading down her fair face to her neck.
But to his surprise, the bashful Aniekra seemed to be deliberately imitating Lucy. She forced herself to put her hands on her hips and boasted,
"Lucy was right! Mr. Li Xing, just tell me what you need. There's no problem I, Aniekra, can't solve!"
Unlike Lucy when she put her hands on her hips, Miss Aniekra unwittingly displayed her feminine assets to perfection when she did the same. Her dress was already fitted at the waist, and the pose displayed her shapely hips and surging curves before him. The man's gaze couldn't help but follow them, swaying a few times!
Noticing Li Xing's gaze, and the problem with what she'd just said,
Aniekra awkwardly covered her chest with her arms and explained in a low voice, her face flushed with embarrassment,
"Um, um. I was talking about making clothes just now. I hope, I hope you won't misunderstand, Mr. Li Xing."
He watched the girl's actions and her harmonious, delicate features. She seemed tense and easily embarrassed, just as he had been when he first took the initiative to deal with people.
Perhaps Hunter Town was too remote, and her social circle consisted of companions she'd known since childhood; or perhaps it was because, before transmigrating, he had lived in a society where people had closer connections. When someone like him, an all-rounder at handling relationships in modern society, faced someone of the opposite sex who was about his age but unfamiliar with handling relationships,
That unconscious sense of having the upper hand might have been why he actively wanted to "bully" her.
But as an outstanding young socialist who upheld the Five Stresses and Four Beauties,
His morals wouldn't allow him to behave so recklessly.
Respect went both ways.
When interacting with the opposite sex, it was all the more important to show respect in both words and actions!
"Don't worry, I won't misunderstand what you mean, Miss Aniekra.
After all, we haven't talked very much. It's only natural for you to be a little nervous!
We'll have plenty of chances to spend time together in the future. Once you've gradually gotten to know me, Miss Aniekra,
I think there'll still be time then to talk about other interests and things like that!"
Hearing Li Xing's words, Aniekra's nervous heart settled down.
"Thank you, Mr. Li Xing." After steadying her breathing, Aniekra replied, "You said just now that you wanted a few clothes made."
Then she opened the door all the way and made an inviting gesture, ready to welcome Li Xing inside.
"Please come in first and tell me about it in more detail!"
As he stepped inside, the room looked much like the tailor shops he had seen as a child. Finished clothes hung in several places, and there were also garments that seemed to have only just been set aside. Looking closely, he could make out some clothes that were being assembled but weren't yet finished, as well as piles of fabric scraps in various colors and materials.
Aniekra placed several different styles of clothing on an empty clothes rack she had prepared beforehand and presented them for him to choose from. After looking and considering for a while, Li Xing chose a few classic styles of close-fitting clothing. Looking at the clothes he had selected, Aniekra pointed to a few of them and said, "Some of the styles you've chosen require detailed measurements. I'll make some suitable alterations then, so you won't have to make several extra trips."
Then Aniekra took out a length of string.
"Mr. Li Xing, sorry for the trouble, but please take off your shirt. I need to measure some specific parts of your body."
Faced with Aniekra's request, Li Xing, who wasn't used to baring his upper body in front of others, offered an explanation, hoping to hint at the consequences of taking off his shirt and avoid having to do it.
"Miss Aniekra! Um, I've just finished work, so I might smell a little sweaty. You don't mind, do you?"
Li Xing had offered them both a way out. But seeing Aniekra's lack of reaction, he knew he had no choice but to take off his shirt.
So Li Xing took off his shirt. As for his pants, Li Xing wouldn't take them off now even if it killed him.
Since transmigrating, his body had still been gradually improving. Although he wasn't quite as exaggerated as the Terminator, he was nearly on par with a certain country's captain, Comrade "Shi Aimin."
His skin was fair and smooth, his muscles well-defined, harmonious, and full of power.
It was perfectly normal, then, for Li Xing's physique, like that of a fitness model, to be captivating. The clearest sign was Miss Aniekra in front of him, who had gone completely dumbstruck.
Only after Li Xing prompted her a few times with "I'm ready" did Aniekra come to her senses, swallow involuntarily, and step forward with the string to begin measuring!
After she measured his arm length and shoulder width, he held both arms out straight and waited for Aniekra to measure his chest and waist.
Only when Aniekra was measuring his chest did he realize how close they were.
Come to think of it, she did have to put her arms around him to draw the measuring string across. Although she seemed to hold him a little longer than necessary, the overall process was as it should be, so he raised no objection.
With his upper body bare, his exposed skin could feel the rhythm of Aniekra's breaths.
But only for a certain period of time.
Once the measurements were done, Li Xing put his shirt back on. After briefly discussing the details and deposit with Aniekra, they agreed that he would return for the clothes in three days.
When his body came into contact with Aniekra's, he had forcibly suppressed its reaction the entire time. Afraid that Aniekra would notice his embarrassing state, he quickly left her tailor shop.
What Li Xing didn't know was that Aniekra, one of the best weavers in town, had long since developed the ability to determine measurements just by looking at a person's figure. She had no need to measure a customer's body with her own hands.
She watched Li Xing's departing figure.
Only then did Aniekra learn that a man's skin could be so smooth and supple, that the lines of his muscles could be so beautiful, and that Li Xing's sweat actually carried the sweet scent of milk!