"It's really hot outside," I said as we left the café and felt the wave of heat hit us, making me feel like I was in a steamer.

"Do you want to go back in?" Zhiye said, surprising me.

"Go back? You mean the café?" I asked.

"Yes... Jie said it's really hot outside, so it doesn't matter if we go back inside for a while," Zhiye explained.

"No... no... going back in would result in unnecessary expenses," I replied.

The real reason was that Zhiye went overboard and I couldn't handle it every time. People aren't machines, it's not that easy to deal with it a few times.

"It's okay... it's not a problem. Mother's funds are more than enough to cover the cost of ordering the same things we had earlier," Zhiye insisted.

"Although that may be true, Mother did remind us not to spend recklessly," I said.

"I'm sorry..." Zhiye suddenly lowered their head in apology.

"It's not... I'm not blaming you, Zhiye," I reassured them.

"I know, but I still acted selfishly... I'm sorry," Zhiye admitted.

"It's okay to be a little selfish, isn't it? You don't need to blame yourself, Zhiye," I said in a comforting tone.

"Jie..." Zhiye looked touched.

"I just don't think we need to go back into this maid café. If we have to go somewhere, maybe the department store would be a better option. They should have air conditioning there, and it wouldn't cost us anything to enjoy it," Zhiye suggested, feeling a bit guilty for wanting to be cheap.

"Is that okay?" Zhiye asked.

"What's wrong with that... we're just making reasonable use of resources," I replied, knowing they were being greedy.

"Then let's go to the nearby department store... and we can buy some ingredients there too. What do you think?" I proposed.

"That's a win-win situation. I agree wholeheartedly," Zhiye smiled.

"Let's go with that decision then... I know there's a department store nearby, so let's go there," I nodded.

And so, I followed Zhiye to the nearby department store.

It was a five-story building, with a supermarket on the ground floor, a clothing store on the second floor, a dining area on the third floor, a cinema and game arcade on the fourth floor, and access to the top floor on the fifth floor. There seemed to be an underground level as well for parking.

I was amazed by the grand scale of this building.

"Um... can I browse the second floor first?" Zhiye asked when we were on the first floor.

"The second floor is the clothing store... you can go if you want," I replied. Since there wouldn't be a repetition of what happened earlier, there was nothing to worry about. Besides, it was so nice and cool inside the building, I didn't feel like going outside too soon.

"Thank you, Jie," Zhiye smiled.

"No... no need to thank me," I responded.

We took the escalator to the second floor and were immediately greeted by a variety of clothing stores.

Uniqlo, swimwear specialty stores, lingerie shops, and more.

I couldn't help but feel like there were a lot of women's stores, but perhaps it was just my imagination.

After passing a few stores, Zhiye finally stopped at a swimwear specialty store.

Zhiye glanced inside, looking a bit hesitant.

"Do you want to go in, Zhiye?" I asked.

"Well... I just want to look..." Zhiye blushed, appearing a bit flustered.

"If you want to go in, go ahead," I said, even though it felt a little inappropriate for me, a grown man, to be suggesting it. But personally, I didn't want to go in.

"Is it okay?"

What's wrong with Zhiye? Now she likes to seek my opinion.

"Yeah, sure, you can just use the money, I have no objections," Does Zhiye care about this?

"Well then..." Zhiye pushed the door open.

"Hey? Why do I have to be brought along too..."

I thought Zhiye had let go of some kind of obsession, but it turns out I'm being dragged in too. I don't want to go in, but stepping into the swimsuit store feels like entering a domain dominated by femininity.

Nervousness is one of them, the other is feeling extremely awkward.

"Zhiye, you can look for what you want, I'll wait for you outside."

A female swimsuit specialty store is really not suitable for a guy like me.

But Zhiye doesn't let go.

"Miss Zhiye?" I'm so nervous that I'm sweating.

"Jie, can you accompany me for a while? And help me see which one suits me?" Zhiye asks shyly.

"Isn't it inappropriate to do this..." Many of the women in the store are looking at me, making me extremely uncomfortable.

"Jie, didn't you say it's okay to be willful? So please fulfill my whims this time," Zhiye earnestly requests.

I've stepped on a landmine myself.

"Alright" If I refuse, I'll feel like I'm being scolded, so I have to go all out. On one hand, I don't pay attention to the other women in the store and on the other hand, I don't let myself look around.

"Miss, are you looking for swimsuits?" A store attendant walks over and asks.

"Yeah," Zhiye nods.

"Then... let me recommend you this new summer collection, Miss. You'll definitely catch everyone's attention when you wear it, especially your boyfriend, he won't be able to take his eyes off you," the attendant says with a smile.

"I'm not... her boyfriend..."

"Then let me try it on," Zhiye eagerly says.

"No problem," the attendant takes out several sets of so-called new summer swimsuits and gives them to Zhiye. Zhiye looks eager to try them on, for some reason.

And the things I say naturally get covered up by their conversation.

"Jie... wait for me here... don't go away."

"Ah... I won't go away," when Zhiye hears me say that, she finally goes into the fitting room and closes the curtain. I'm standing on the other side, my heart pounding.

In addition to the gazes of the women around me, I really want to escape.

I didn't expect to feel so uneasy.

"Is Zhiye not done yet?" It's been at least ten minutes since she went in and hasn't come out, what's going on, I'm starting to get anxious. Just then, a girl walks out from the adjacent curtain.

"Youjie classmate?" When I averted my gaze, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Muxi classmate?" I blurt out when I see the person.

"Why are you here..." Yuan Muxi intentionally or unintentionally covers her body and her face turns red.

"Well... it means... I'm accompanying someone here."

"Yuqian? Didn't she go visit her grandmother overseas?"

"That's right."

"And Youjie classmate... could it be..."

Yuan Muxi's body trembles.

"What?"

"Youjie classmate, are you... following me? Although it's a pleasant surprise, can you please not appear suddenly when I'm like this? It's embarrassing."

Yuan Muxi's ears turn red.

"This could be a misunderstanding..."

"Isn't that the case?" Yuan Muxi looked a bit disappointed,

"Well... um"

"Youjie, what do you think of my swimsuit?"

While I was still pondering how to respond, Yuan Muxi nervously asked,

Although it was a bit embarrassing, since the other person asked, I'll give my opinion. Yuan Muxi was wearing a white wetsuit,

"It suits you well." Yuan Muxi's body curves were highlighted,

"Really... I'm glad Youjie took a look, I was worried it wouldn't suit me." Yuan Muxi blushed, but seemed relieved,

"Mu Xi, whatever swimsuit you wear, it looks good. Be more confident."

"Well... Youjie, about what happened before..."

Yuan Muxi whispered,

"What happened?"

"The confession... Although I also wanted to let it go and give up... I still want to know if, apart from Yuqian, we have any possibility..."

"Ah... that..." The sudden revelation startled me,

"Sorry for bringing this up suddenly, Youjie, please forget about it."

Seeing my hesitation, Yuan Muxi quickly said, but her eyes couldn't hide her disappointment,

I didn't intend to hurt Yuan Muxi, and I didn't realize that she had such deep feelings for me, but...

"Jie..." Zhiye, shrouded in the dark aura, emerged,

"Eh? Zhiye..." I let out a scream,

"Did Jie cheat on me while I was gone? What a glutton."

I felt that something was wrong with Zhiye,

"Oh, Youjie, is this... Zhiye? Did you bring her with you today?"

"Ah... yes..." Sweat dripped down my forehead,

"I heard that Zhiye has done things to hurt you, so why are you still with her?"

"That's not true."

"Please stay away from her, Youjie." Yuan Muxi seemed nervous for some reason, and for some reason, she found the courage to stand in front of me,

"Well..."

"Don't worry... no matter what, I'm not afraid of Zhiye."

"Now is not the time to talk about that. Why are you so certain that Zhiye will harm me? And Mu Xi, your legs are trembling."

"My body may be scared, but my heart won't be afraid... Youjie, you... you should escape, don't let Zhiye restrict your freedom."

"How can I leave a girl behind and run away?"

"It's okay... Zhiye won't do anything to me. I think Youjie doesn't want to always be under surveillance, right?"

"That's what you say... wait, Mu Xi seems to have misunderstood something."

"Hurry and run away. Take advantage of Zhiye not fully transforming yet."

"Zhiye is not a monster, you know." I couldn't help but retort, but was ignored,

"Jie... Jie..." Zhiye's voice seemed to come from the depths of the abyss,

"I'll kill her first, then we can die together, my love." Zhiye revealed a sinister smile and drew out a small dagger, the silver blade gleaming, indicating its sharpness.

Being touched by this blade would definitely cause excessive bleeding, just thinking about it gives me shivers.

"Youjie, please leave this place quickly,"

"How can I leave?" The situation should be calmed down by Zhiye, I see that even the store clerks seem scared, they might call the police.

While I was contemplating, Zhiye dove towards Yuan Muxi, launching an attack.

Yuan Muxi was completely startled, if this continues, Yuan Muxi will be in danger.

"Zhiye!" I shouted as I stood in front of Yuan Muxi.

"Jie..." Zhiye stopped, but the tip of the knife was only a centimeter away from my abdomen. If I'm not lucky, it will definitely pierce through and cause excessive bleeding, resulting in death.

"Jie, don't stop me," Zhiye said with tears in their eyes, filled with pain.

"Zhiye, calm down."

"Why should I calm down? Jie won't like me anyway,"

Tears as large as beans streamed down Zhiye's eyes.

"Zhiye... you misunderstood,"

"Misunderstood?"

"I don't have that kind of relationship with Muxi. Besides... isn't it when we go to university that we have to make a choice? It's not yet the time for that, and... Zhiye, don't look down on yourself too much,"

Zhiye wiped away their tears and seemed to be crying even harder.

"Um... what I mean is..."

The next second, Zhiye hugged me.

"Um... Miss Zhiye,"

I stiffened my body and dared not move recklessly.

"So... Jie will still choose me, right?" Zhiye asked through sobs.

"There... there is a possibility,"

It felt like there was an alarm ringing constantly next to my ear.