Shopping

Time flew, and before long, the day they had arranged to meet arrived.

There were no classes that morning. Ji Yehao and Gao Jun were still asleep, but Su Yuan was woken by the alarm she had set for a little after seven.

Feeling the bed shake, Ji Yehao lifted his head and saw Su Yuan climbing down.

"Why are you getting up so early when we don't have class today?" He stopped abruptly before he could finish. Su Yuan was wearing a thin, soft summer top with short sleeves, leaving her slender arms bare. From Ji Yehao's angle, he had an unobstructed view—even the faint glimpse of her armpit through the sleeve.

Su Yuan hadn't noticed a thing. Seeing that she had already woken him, she stopped tiptoeing around and suddenly jumped down from a step above the ladder's bottom rung. She got off the bed so quickly that the tantalizing sight was gone in an instant.

"I made plans to meet a friend today, and I'm going to pick up a few things while I'm out."

She slipped on her slippers, grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, washbasin, and towel, and darted into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Just as she had before her transformation, she brushed her teeth, then filled the washbasin with hot water while relieving herself after holding it in all night. The only difference was that she now had to squat instead of stand. By the time she was done, water was already gushing over the basin's rim.

After washing up, Su Yuan changed into clean clothes and tidied herself up a little. Then she said goodbye to Ji Yehao and headed out.

She reached the school gate at exactly seven thirty. She was supposed to meet Red Leaf at eight thirty that morning at Youth Culture Plaza.

Youth Culture Plaza was a bustling part of Binhe City, home to a shopping street, a food street, and an electronics mall. It was right next to Zhongshan Park, and together they formed a popular district that drew people from the surrounding area. It wasn't very far, but the city's traffic was another matter. Taking the bus would probably take more than forty minutes.

Before leaving campus, Su Yuan withdrew fifteen hundred yuan from an ATM, intending to buy everything she needed. Given the city's traffic, there was no way she was going to stand around waiting for a bus.

Just then, a sky-blue taxi came toward her. She raised a hand, and it pulled up in front of her.

"Where are you headed, miss?"

The driver was a middle-aged man. Su Yuan paid no mind to the way he addressed her. "Youth Culture Plaza." As soon as the car started moving, she closed her eyes to rest.

She hadn't slept enough the night before. The thought of meeting Red Leaf the next day had kept her excited for a long time, and by the time she had calmed down enough to drift off, it was already past midnight.

The road between Higher Education Park and Youth Culture Plaza was in excellent condition. The car's gentle rocking made Su Yuan drowsy, so she cracked open a window. A warm, forceful breeze rushed in, sweeping the hair from her forehead and temples to either side. Her sleepiness vanished at once.

"Hm?" She thought she'd noticed a problem. The drive should have taken only about ten minutes, but perhaps it was just her imagination—the car seemed to be moving rather slowly.

"Could you go a little faster?" Seeing the middle-aged driver glance at her repeatedly in the rearview mirror, Su Yuan urged him on, displeased.

The driver finally looked away and pressed the accelerator. The car did speed up, and after about twenty minutes, they reached their destination.

"How much?" Once the car stopped, Su Yuan took out her wallet.

"Thirty!"

She frowned. "That much? The meter says twenty-three."

"You saw the meter, so why are you asking me?" The middle-aged driver looked annoyed. Then his expression turned lecherous. "If you let me touch you, I won't charge you."

"Pervert!" She pulled out two ten-yuan bills and flung them at him, then slammed the car door shut.

"Brat! You're three yuan short, and you slam my door? Think I won't get out and beat you up?" Looking at the middle-aged driver—no, the pervert driver—acting furious, Su Yuan gave him a haughty snort, ignored him completely, and turned to leave. With so many people around, she wasn't afraid of him at all.

"Whatever! You're not even wearing a bra, practically begging for attention, and you're pretending to be innocent!" The driver angrily stepped on the accelerator to pull away. Just then, another passenger came over, and he immediately put on a warm smile. "Where to?"

"You disgusting old creep! If you've got the guts, come beat me up! I hope the police haul you in and teach you a lesson."

She passed a steamed bun shop and bought two buns for breakfast. Then she waited, and waited, standing at the western entrance to the plaza like a living fossil. Suddenly, she spotted a beautiful woman approaching from afar. Her figure, her looks—it was Red Leaf, the woman she had talked to over video.

Red Leaf had also spotted Su Yuan standing in the distance and waved enthusiastically.

Red Leaf had gotten up early that morning, too. The First Hospital where she worked wasn't far from Higher Education Park. When she heard that Su Yuan was a student at Binhe University of Science and Technology, she had considered meeting up with her first and coming over together. After thinking it over, though, she decided it would be more convenient for them to meet at the plaza.

In fact, Red Leaf had arrived before Su Yuan. She had seen Su Yuan slam the taxi door, then watched her run off to buy two buns and eat them with an adorable mix of eagerness and caution, afraid of burning herself.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." Wei Hongye gazed at Su Yuan with bright, lively eyes and found that she looked even more delicate in person than she had on video, with even smoother skin.

"No, I only just got here."

Su Yuan's voice was clear and graceful, yet soft and feminine. Wei Hongye praised it, but when she noticed Su Yuan's plain outfit, with long sleeves covering both arms, she couldn't help frowning. In her eyes, Su Yuan's clothes took away quite a few points. Her looks could have earned her an eight, but the outfit brought her down to a seven.

Then she remembered that she was here to shop with Su Yuan, and her smile returned. Today, I'm going to give her a proper makeover!

"Come on. Where should we go first?"

As she spoke, Wei Hongye naturally took Su Yuan's arm. Su Yuan froze for a moment, then discreetly hid her awkward expression. She remembered that girls often held hands while shopping together. This probably didn't count as taking advantage of her, right?

She shook her head. "I don't know. I don't usually go shopping."

"You don't usually go shopping?" Wei Hongye reacted as if she'd just heard earth-shattering news. How could such a pretty girl hardly ever go shopping? No wonder she didn't know how to put outfits together to show off her assets. She didn't seem to have considered any of this at all. How could she call herself a girl when she didn't even care about something so basic?

Seeing Wei Hongye look as if she might swallow her whole, Su Yuan grew a little uneasy. "W-what's wrong?"

Wei Hongye smiled, her manner as soothing as a spring breeze. "Nothing. Since you don't know what to buy, leave it to me today."

"How about I take you to buy some clothes first?"

"Sure." That was exactly what Su Yuan had come for, so she readily agreed.