Natural Allies

Shangguan Dandan raised her hand, straightened her sleeve, and with her other hand, she took a tampon and stuffed it into the pocket inside her sleeve.

Modern Hanfu designs, no matter how accurate they claim to be, rarely include pockets in the sleeves, a design that was actually widely used even in feudal remnant dynasties.

In movies and TV shows, people often just slip their hands into their sleeves and pull things out little by little behind their wrists. In reality, that's impossible. These sleeve pockets are usually located behind the elbow, which is both safer and doesn't put extra strain on the upper arm or affect movement.

"Two sleeves empty of wind" doesn't mean the person walks with a breezy air, but rather that their sleeves are empty, gently fluttering in the wind—a state of noble and carefree spirit.

"Give it to me, you haven't paid yet." Liu Chang'an stretched out his hand.

Shangguan Dandan reluctantly took it out, but didn't ask why. Unlike Liu Chang'an, she wasn't a curious child and didn't ask so many questions. Since it was such a request and situation, there must be some reason. She decided to observe it secretly first.

"Is there anything else you need to buy?"

Shangguan Dandan opened her list a crack, revealing four words: "Buy an Owl You Vessel..."

What else was written after that?

Shangguan Dandan glanced at Liu Chang'an, then slowly revealed the next words, "Remind him to be nicer to his mother."

Once she was sure Liu Chang'an had finished reading, Shangguan Dandan slowly and carefully rolled up the list again and put it into her sleeve pocket. She glanced at Liu Chang'an sideways and casually moved towards the place that looked like it sold "you" (a type of ancient Chinese wine vessel).

"Come back, that's where they sell rice cookers," Liu Chang'an called her over.

Shangguan Dandan nodded. She had seen the rice cooker before; there was one in the storage room downstairs from Liu Chang'an. Shangguan Dandan pressed every button on it, but it was something that didn't do anything.

"You vessels were rarely used during the Han Dynasty. Back then, you probably used lacquerware for drinking and drinking..." Liu Chang'an didn't quite understand her line of thought. "Besides... where can you buy an Owl You Vessel you vessel now?"

The Owl-shaped Wine Vessel (Owl You Vessel) is a wine vessel shaped like an owl. The most famous one is the one in the Owl You Vessel Shanxi Museum, which became popular because its cute appearance resembles an Angry Bird. So when people mention the Owl You Vessel, they usually mean the one in the Shanxi Museum.

In fact, Owl You Vessel were very common during the Shang Dynasty dynasties because some people in the Shang Dynasty dynasties regarded owls as their ancestors, and owls are indeed owls.

After the Zhou dynasty destroyed the Shang dynasty, they naturally felt that since owls were their ancestors, they had to suppress them. From then on, the reputation of owls was not good. By the time of Shangguan Dandan's generation of Han people, they naturally did not have any particular fondness for owls.

Owl and owl, "Shuowen Jiezi" explains: owl is an unfilial bird. In the Qing Dynasty's "Dunzhai Minlan", it was even believed that the owl eats its mother.

Combining the context she wrote with his own extensive knowledge, Liu Chang'an finally understood what she meant; this was exactly the kind of thing this old lady pondered all day long.

"Are you implying that I'm treating you badly, or are you reminding me that I should?" Liu Chang'an, clearly displeased. "I already treated you to meat buns, and today I even gave you shrimp and tofu."

Shangguan Dandan but didn't see anything similar. Even if she did see something, she wouldn't be able to tell if it was what she wanted, because nowadays people don't care about visually representing the product's function when designing its appearance.

She didn't answer Liu Chang'an's question, and after dawdling for a while, she finally found a place that sold insulated water bottles. From the product name and description, she knew that this was what she wanted.

"I want this," Shangguan Dandan said, pointing to a thermos that looked as big, long, and thick as a rocket launcher hanging on her body.

Do you really need something this big?

I want this.

"This is for outdoor workers to use all day in the summer, right?"

I want this.

Liu Chang'an took it off the shelf and handed it to Shangguan Dandan, who was standing on tiptoe. He found that communicating with Shangguan Dandan was not much different from communicating with Zhou Dongdong. They always talked to themselves and thought they knew everything, without caring about what he was saying.

Shangguan Dandan asked Liu Chang'an to wipe the water bottle, then struggled to hold it in her arms. Liu Chang'an brought over a stroller, and she tried to climb into the stroller with the water bottle in her arms, but Liu Chang'an stopped her.

Following Shangguan Dandan's list, they bought almost everything they could find, or similar items. After paying, Liu Chang'an took two bottles of orange juice and sat down with Shangguan Dandan at the supermarket exit's dining area to drink.

Shangguan Dandan glanced at the bottle and handed the orange juice to Liu Chang'an to open.

The two people were quietly drinking orange juice when three girls dressed in Hanfu came out: one in the Wei-Jin style, one in the Ming style, and the other in a Qi-Xiong Ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).

All three girls stared at Shangguan Dandan. It was rare to see a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old wearing Hanfu outside, not to mention that her temperament made people feel ashamed of themselves.

Most girls wearing Hanfu on the street don't look as beautiful as those in their social media photos. They look more like passersby in a period drama, just passing by in front of or behind the main character on a bustling street. If they weren't wearing Hanfu, they wouldn't usually attract much attention.

The girl before me reminded me of a flower blooming atop a majestic mountain in the first light of dawn. No other flower dared to bloom beside it. Bathed in the golden sunlight and facing the cool morning breeze, it did not tremble at all, delicate yet so upright and elegant.

"Little sister, where did you get your shenyi made?" A girl dressed in Ming-style Hanfu walked over with a smile and struck up a conversation amidst the shoving of the other two.

In the Hanfu community, many arguments revolve around the forms and styles of Hanfu. Most experienced Hanfu enthusiasts will know the official names of the various styles of Hanfu.

Shenyi is actually the most down-to-earth style of Hanfu. Both men and women wear it, and it can be worn by people of high status or low status. It is worn for weddings and funerals, making it somewhat of an anomaly.

Shangguan Dandan looked up at the girl who had asked the question, indicating that she had heard her, but she did not respond. She continued to drink her orange juice with her head down. These people are too rude. Can't they see that I am drinking something? Why should I talk to you?

"The Everlasting Palace Lesser Treasury Weaving Office." Liu Chang'an, disregarding Shangguan Dandan's formalities, replied with a smile.

"Thanks."

The three girls left in a hurry, because none of them wanted to linger in front of someone who made them look mediocre or even like a poor imitation.

After they went outside, they searched around and found that the boy who had smiled gently and answered them was actually more hateful than the girl who ignored them. This was because they found the "Everlasting Palace Lesser Treasury Weaving Office," which was not a Hanfu merchant at all, but an office in the Western Han Dynasty responsible for making clothes for the royal family, located in the Everlasting Palace.

But that doesn't matter. They were just curious. Even if the hairpin in the girl's hair was a product from an online store, it would cost at least three to five thousand yuan with so many materials and gold plating. If it was made of gemstones and precious metals, it would be even more expensive. And that deep robe, judging from the price of the hairpin, must have cost at least several thousand yuan.

Most people can't afford to wear them; they can only admire them from afar.

After finishing their orange juice, Liu Chang'an carried the shopping bags, Shangguan Dandan hugged the thermos and left the supermarket. The three girls who had come to ask about clothes earlier reminded Liu Chang'an, "Should I buy you some more casual clothes?"

"Is your daily routine just about dressing like an ordinary girl, instead of looking like your mother?" Shangguan Dandan asked.

"You're never like my mother." Liu Chang'an hoped she could sincerely realize this.

Shangguan Dandan thought about it and realized that Liu Chang'an meant to buy her some clothes so that she wouldn't look like his mother.

Liu Chang'an and Shangguan Dandan left Baolong Center and went shopping at the flagship store of the international cutting-edge fashion brand Pure One on the pedestrian street. The store has several floors, with hundreds of square meters of shopping area on each floor, allowing them to buy many styles at once, which is very suitable for her status.

Liu Chang'an told her to choose whatever she wanted, and then made a phone call to Qin Yanan to ask if she was free to come and keep Shangguan Dandan.

Shangguan Dandan didn't think modern fashion design was strange or outlandish. Apart from not knowing much about sizes and always choosing clothes that were too big to try on, she looked no different from any other girl shopping.

After buying clothes for Shangguan Dandan Pure One, they passed by another brand. A set of matching parent-child outfits was on display in the display case. Without hesitation, Liu Chang'an pulled Shangguan Dandan away, who was standing there and glancing at him.

Qin Yanan was picking out flowers at a nearby flower shop when she received a call from Liu Chang'an and came over.

Although she was a little angry because he had evaded the issue when she called him that night, Qin Yanan still rushed over as usual.

She knew that his refusal to talk about whether he spent the night with An Nuan that day wasn't due to any ambiguity or hesitation typical of two-timing... He was simply looking out for An Nuan, afraid that Qin Yanan An Nuan upset her.

Honestly, doesn't she have any sense of propriety? She's not a stupid woman like Su Nanxiu.

Qin Yanan arrived at the place Liu Chang'an had mentioned and saw Liu Chang'an standing there with Shangguan Dandan from afar. As always, Liu Chang'an was like a large tree growing on the grassland, adding a lot of artistic conception to the quiet and dull scenery. But now, with Shangguan Dandan by his side, he lost the loneliness of a lone tree growing in the wilderness. It was as if an elegant and pure Little White had grown under the lush canopy and beside the upright trunk, just like a sunflower facing the sun, its buds raised and staring straight at the tree.

But why is Shangguan Dandan carrying such a huge thermos that looks like a rocket launcher?

The design of this thermos exudes the revolutionary spirit of a bygone era, with its military green body and a large five-pointed star on the lid. Qin Yanan thought that apart from being too big, Shangguan Dandan's taste was still acceptable.

When her daughter-in-law arrived, Shangguan Dandan saw Qin Yanan first and nodded. Only today did she notice that this daughter-in-law seemed easier to raise than the other daughter-in-law, who looked like a fierce little hen that had just been able to lay eggs.

"Do me a favor," Liu Chang'an said to Qin Yanan, glancing at Shangguan Dandan while emphasizing the word "brother." But it might not work, because he had already discovered that Shangguan Dandan could hear whatever she wanted to hear, and it was as if she could filter out anything that disagreed with her.

"All men are the same; once they get help, their mouths start to flutter." Qin Yanan gave Liu Chang'an a disgruntled look, mainly because when he called himself "brother," Qin Yanan's heart involuntarily felt a gentle warmth creep over it.

"I'll take her to buy some underwear; I don't know much about that," Liu Chang'an said modestly.

Qin Yanan was highly skeptical. "With your skills as a master tailor who can make cheongsams for An Nuan, how could you not know much about this? You probably could guess her measurements with just a glance and a quick look around her arm."

"Okay, I'll bring her back later." Qin Yanan actually had something else to tell him.

"I'll go take a look around the restaurant." Liu Chang'an nodded.

"Is Zhou Dongdong in the restaurant too? I came from that side and saw a round little girl run past. I wonder if it was her."

"It should be; the others aren't this shape."

"Let's go, see you later."

See you later.

Qin Yanan held Shangguan Dandan's hand, and there was no sense of feigned familiarity with a stranger. Instead, there was a natural sense of closeness. The Central Plains was probably related to what Liu Chang'an had said: Ye Sijin was saved and reborn by Shangguan Dandan.

Qin Yanan looked at Shangguan Dandan and couldn't help but smile gently. Shangguan Dandan didn't feel any sweat in Qin Yanan's palms, so she didn't reject her. She looked up at the gentle smile in Qin Yanan's eyes, which seemed to sparkle like stars, and thought that if she really had to choose a daughter-in-law, this one would be the best... It didn't really have anything to do with Qin Yanan's ability to bear children. Shangguan Dandan had already guessed some secrets close to the truth. After all, out of so many palace maids in the Everlasting Palace back then, not one of them left behind a royal heir.

When Qin Yanan was alone with Shangguan Dandan, she suddenly realized something: she and Shangguan Dandan were almost natural allies.

Supporting Shangguan Dandan's claim to the mother-son relationship with Liu Chang'an is tantamount to securing a more solid foundation for her own status as the younger sister.

After all, not to mention how many of his girlfriends, lovers, and wives had died, there must have been quite a few still alive, he just didn't know many of them... But of the women he called his mother and sister, only Shangguan Dandan and Qin Yanan were still alive.

For Longevity like Liu Chang'an, blood ties are meaningless. On the contrary, the relationships he recognizes are more stable than blood ties because his lifespan is so long that his feelings do not fade away too quickly.

Family affection is completely different from romantic love.

Take Su Nanxiu as an example. Although Su Nanxiu was the one who made a fool of herself, Liu Chang'an's attitude after they separated really shows that he is not giving Su Nanxiu any chance at all.

An Nuan... Qin Yanan didn't believe that Liu Chang'an could be loving and affectionate with her for decades or even centuries. Feelings built on beauty and physical attraction would eventually become tiresome.

Holding her hand was like holding his own left hand with his right. The passion would eventually fade... At that time, Liu Chang'an might change his identity again and sever ties with his previous social relationships. However, he had no reason to abandon Qin Yanan and Shangguan Dandan, just as he had never forgotten Qin Peng, from Ye Chenyu to Liu Chang'an.

For true Longevity, friendship and companionship are probably the most important emotions.