Visitors with Ulterior Motives

"A discount for buying more-" Before Su Ming could finish, Zijin tightened her grip. He immediately changed his tune. "When I was buying clothes, the clerk kept pushing me to buy another set, saying that once I had a girlfriend, we could wear them as matching outfits, and I fell for it. It's embarrassing to admit!"

"..."

Zijin was speechless. She let go of Su Ming. "Where I'm from, a clerk who dared sell things like that would get beaten up."

Su Ming rubbed his shoulder and wrist, returned to his room, and took the other set of clothes from his suitcase and handed it to Zijin. The young scholar quickly changed into it. She shook out her sleeves and found the clothes a little loose, so Su Ming altered them to fit.

The girl adjusted her waist sash in front of the mirror. "This outfit is too elaborate. It's fine to wear once in a while, though."

She swept her hair into an upright bun and secured it with the Bone Staff of the End as a hairpin. Then she spread her arms and gave her wide bell sleeves a shake. "How do I look?"

"Great!"

"What have you been fiddling with?" Only then did Zijin notice that Su Ming had been working on some wire this whole time,

bending it all into strange shapes.

"I'm making frames for flowers," Su Ming replied. "I figured we should bring a gift, and after thinking it over, flowers seemed most appropriate."

"So you're making a bouquet?"

"No, you are," Su Ming replied.

Zijin smiled. "Do I look like someone who's good at crafts?"

Su Ming stuffed the tied wires into the scholar's hands. "Freeze them, then sprinkle them with water. Do your best!"

Resigned, the girl took the wires and began