Buying Clothes

In the morning, Lu Mingfei opened his eyes and saw Erii peeking at him with her little face hidden under the covers.

"Morning, Erii," Lu Mingfei greeted her.

Erii stuck a hand out from under the covers, pulled a pen and notebook from beneath her pillow, and scribbled something down before holding it up for Lu Mingfei to see: "Good morning, Sakura."

After they got up, Lu Mingfei went to the bathroom to wash up first. Then Erii went in. She even made a point of washing her hair, and when she came out, it was still dripping wet.

Lu Mingfei stood up, grabbed a towel from the hotel, and tossed it over her head. "Dry it yourself."

Erii rubbed her head with the towel. When she finished, her hair looked all mussed up.

"Come here. I'll blow-dry your hair for you," Lu Mingfei said, unable to bear the sight of her disheveled hair.

She pattered over to the spot Lu Mingfei pointed out and sat down with her back to him, waiting for him to dry her hair.

Lu Mingfei smiled helplessly, gathered up her lovely hair, and carefully blow-dried it. He worked his way up from the ends, gently running his fingers through it. Erii's hair was in great condition, and it felt wonderfully smooth.

Erii closed her eyes and enjoyed Lu Mingfei's attentions. His fingers moving through her hair felt so comfortable.

A few minutes later, her hair was dry, and her straight red hair was back to normal. Erii was pretty today, too!

"Erii, what do you want for breakfast?" Lu Mingfei sat up and put on his jacket, getting ready to go downstairs and buy food.

"I want mixed fried rice!" Erii held up her diary, her eyes sparkling.

"Fried rice this early in the morning?" Lu Mingfei was a little speechless.

Erii just held up her diary and gazed at him hopefully.

There was no helping it. He'd have to buy her fried rice. Lu Mingfei went downstairs and bought two portions of mixed fried rice nearby, along with two cartons of milk.

When he returned, Lu Mingfei saw her sitting on the bed, her bare feet swinging back and forth in the air. It looked like she'd been waiting for breakfast the whole time.

When Erii saw Sakura, she stared fixedly at the food in his hands. Lu Mingfei told her to get off the bed, set the fried rice on the table, and took a carton of hot milk out of the bag.

"Remember to drink the hot milk later. It's good for you," Lu Mingfei reminded her.

Erii nodded as she ate her fried rice.

It was obvious she liked it. The coldness on her face always faded when she ate, and she looked like an ordinary girl next door.

Looking at her red-and-white shrine maiden outfit, Lu Mingfei felt that having her wear it every day for the past few days probably wasn't very appropriate.

"It's not great for you to wear this outfit every day. It draws too much attention when you're out. Let's go buy some other clothes today, okay, Erii?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"What kind of clothes should we buy?" Erii held up her little notebook and asked.

She usually wore shrine maiden clothes and formal outfits chosen by her family. She'd never worn any other kind of clothes before, and she was used to what she had, so she wasn't too keen on changing.

Seeing that she looked a little reluctant, Lu Mingfei coaxed her. "We can buy all kinds of pretty clothes, like princess dresses, high heels, headbands, and earrings."

"Okay," Erii agreed reluctantly.

After they left the hotel, Lu Mingfei took Erii to buy clothes. He still had six hundred thousand yen on him, which should be enough for a few outfits.

Going by what he remembered from taking the train the day before, there was a shopping center at one of the stops. Lu Mingfei got off when they arrived, and the two of them walked into the mall.

"Potato Chip Girl, Little White Rabbit and Little Monster have entered the shopping center I marked. What should I do?" Jiu De Mai contacted Su Enxi over the radio.

"I've already put money on the card I gave you. Just pick a high-end store and buy it," came Su Enxi's lazy voice.

All they needed to do was give them a little nudge.

"Okay."

Jiu De Mai wore a black skirt suit, black stockings, and black high heels. She hurried up to the next floor from the other side of the mall, heading for the clothing shops.

After taking a quick look around, Jiu De Mai picked a store that looked good to her and strode inside, her heels clicking.

"Where's your boss?" she demanded.

The clothing store employees exchanged looks. In the end, a veteran employee went into a small room at the back and called the owner out.

The owner was a middle-aged man. He hurried over to Jiu De Mai and asked, "What can I do for you, miss?"

He'd always been good at reading people, and he could tell at a glance that Jiu De Mai was the wealthy, powerful type.

"I'm buying this store. Name your price." Jiu De Mai casually looked around.

"I'm sorry, but this store isn't for sale," the manager said with a smile.

"I can pay more." Jiu De Mai tossed him her bank card.

"The rent alone, not to mention the value of these brands and our sales channels, is worth more than a hundred million yen. You must be joking, miss." The manager looked at Jiu De Mai mockingly.

"Then I'll offer this much." Jiu De Mai held up one finger.

"An extra hundred million yen? I'm sorry, but we're not selling."

"I said ten million dollars." Jiu De Mai rolled her eyes.

The manager froze. Then he asked cautiously, "When can you pay?"

"Right now!" Jiu De Mai urged him.

"Of course, boss!" The former manager immediately changed to an obsequious smile.

Seeing the former manager's ingratiating grin, Jiu De Mai couldn't help shivering. What a sleazy smile!

"Listen to me. A handsome guy will be coming in with a red-haired girl. When they do, you'll do this and this..." Jiu De Mai gave the employees their instructions.

The employees sprang into action.

Lu Mingfei and Erii reached the floor with the clothing shops. Looking at all the stores, he thought they seemed expensive. Could he really afford them?

Without giving it much thought, the two of them walked around for a while. Then a large group of employees in business attire suddenly rushed out of a rather luxurious-looking store.

They streamed out, lining up in two rows to form an aisle, and bowed in unison.

The display startled Lu Mingfei. He wondered if some important person was coming.

But then a middle-aged man came out of the store and walked toward Lu Mingfei and Erii with a hearty smile.

"Welcome, sir and miss!"

Was this some new way of ripping off customers? It was ridiculous!

"I haven't even gone into your store!" Lu Mingfei raised both hands to prove he was innocent.

Seeing Sakura like that, Erii copied him and raised both hands, too. It seemed like a lot of fun.

The manager's face stiffened. What kind of routine was this?