I glanced at the clothes. It was a women’s biker jacket. The cowhide looked thick and sturdy. Spring was coming, the weather was warming up, and it was about time for leather jackets again. Long-ge already had that rough, streetwise vibe. She’d probably look pretty good in this too...

I thought about it for a bit, then checked the price. Fifteen hundred.

The clerk stood beside me, smiling as he watched. I kept rubbing the jacket and thinking.

Better forget it—

It wasn’t that I felt bad about spending money. I knew what Long-ge was like. When buying clothes for her, there was no point caring whether they’d last. Better to just pick something that looked good. No matter what I bought her, it probably wouldn’t survive a month. It’d definitely end up with a few more cigarette burns on it.

I shook my head and asked, “Got anything else?”

The clerk led me to another rack. A row of trench coats hung there. He launched into a smooth sales pitch. “This coat is made of wool. It has an open collar with a double-breasted button design on the chest. And if you look inside, it’s lined with cashmere. It’s not just especially warm, it also makes the figure look tall and slender...”

The coat looked decent enough. But trench coats were better on people with some height, or people with that cold, aloof kind of vibe. They looked good in them. Old Chu used to wear this kind of thing all the time—

Long-ge probably wouldn’t look great in it. Not that it would be ugly on her. It just didn’t suit her.

She was too short now. Long-ge hadn’t been that short before. I remembered that back in high school, she was 175 centimeters, only half a head shorter than me. A while ago at home, I’d measured her with a tape measure.

Now she was 150.

I shook my head again, thought for a moment, then said, “You don’t need to find her those androgynous styles. Got anything that shows off her figure?”

The clerk led me to another display and said, “This one shows off the figure really well. It’s one of our recent bestsellers, and it’s especially suitable for petite ladies...”

I studied the dress for a while. It was a sleeveless black dress, the kind that hugged the hips. The fabric looked smooth. The chest was originally open, tied together with a string, so if she wore it, a bit of skin at the neckline would probably show. There was also a row of white lace flowers decorating one side, almost like a formal gown.

It looked pretty high-end.

I pictured Long-ge wearing it. She’d probably look really good. I hesitated as I touched the fabric, then checked the price. Seven hundred twenty. Not exactly cheap, but still within an acceptable range.

I wasn’t really short on money right now. My parents had just sent me my living expenses not long ago. And ever since that billiards hall incident, Feng-shao had been calling me every single day, pestering me nonstop. I had no idea what was wrong with his brain, but he insisted on calling me his big bro and wanted to treat me to a meal.

But I’d been beaten black and blue not long ago and was recovering at home, so I didn’t really want to go. I kept making excuses and putting him off.

Anyway, with a cash cow like that around, I didn’t feel too bad about spending money. Worst case, I could borrow some from that guy.

After a moment, I nodded. Long-ge was still over by the counter picking out clothes on her own. Ever since we came into the store, she’d been browsing by herself. I figured after I said she didn’t know how to shop for clothes, she got a little unconvinced and started sulking a bit.

I turned and called her over. Long-ge came over looking pretty pleased with herself, holding up a ripped denim jacket. “How about this? I think this one looks pretty good!”

I took one look at all the holes in it. What is it with you and holes? I said, “Put it back. Come try mine.”

Long-ge thought for a moment, then hung the ripped jacket back up. She had just walked over when she saw the dress in my hands, and her face immediately turned bitter. “Are you for real? Do you even know how to pick clothes? Why’s it look like something a chick would wear?”

I waved the dress at her and said, “Because it is something a chick wears. And you are a chick. Hurry up and put it on for me.”

“No way!” Long-ge shook her head like a rattle drum.

I looked at her seriously and raised my voice a little. “Are you changing or not?”

Long-ge shrank back a little, glanced up at me, and held out her hand. “Then give it here.”

I handed her the hip-hugging long dress. She took it reluctantly, dragging her feet all the way, then went into the fitting room to change. The clerk had been standing beside me the whole time, listening to us talk. He looked toward the fitting room, sighed, and said, “Your girlfriend looks pretty wild, but she listens to you a lot... People like that, once they settle down, are especially loyal. You should treat your girlfriend well.”

I looked at the fitting room and sighed too, then shook my head.

Just standing there was boring, so I chatted with the clerk for a bit. About two minutes later, Long-ge came out of the fitting room.

The two of us had our arms folded while we talked. Long-ge walked up to me, tugged lightly at the hem of the dress, and grinned. “Not bad once it’s on. Pretty breezy too.”

The clerk’s eyes lit up when he saw her. I was stunned for a long while too—

I almost didn’t recognize her.

She really did look good in it. Her skin was already fair to begin with, and dressed all in black, it looked even paler, almost like a princess.

She hadn’t wanted to wash her hair before coming out today, but I’d pinned her down in the bathroom and scrubbed it with shampoo. So now her hair wasn’t the same messy tangle as before. Her white hair fell smoothly over her shoulders. She was already petite, and dressed like this, she looked like a slightly provocative little loli.

Even though her body was small, her figure was still curvy in all the right places. The lace trim decorated the swell of her chest. It was a little sexy, but still somehow cute. The scar running vertically over her right eye kept the outfit from making her look weak. It actually gave her a lot of presence. She felt like one of those playful young noble ladies from a medieval movie.

I nodded and looked her over with satisfaction for a while. Long-ge touched the fabric and looked at it too. Then I noticed she was still wearing her old gray sneakers. They were probably white originally. Probably. Anyway, I’d scrubbed them like my life depended on it yesterday, and I still couldn’t wash the white back out.

She was also wearing two gray socks, but they were obviously different heights. Yeah. She probably put them on wrong again before leaving the house.

I stared at Long-ge’s shoes. When I turned my head, I found the clerk was also staring thoughtfully at her socks. I called to him several times before he snapped out of it and scratched his head awkwardly. I thought for a moment and said, “Do you sell shoes too?”

He nodded quickly. “Yes! Of course we do!”

So Long-ge and I followed him to another counter.

The store was pretty big. Over there was a women’s shoe section. Warm yellow lighting made the whole place bright and cozy. I stood by the counter for a while, then crouched down and picked up a white high heel to examine it.

The moment Long-ge saw me holding a high heel, she looked at me in horror and immediately shook her head. “Don’t even think about it! I’d rather die than wear those. I’ll fall to my death!”

I raised a brow. “Are you going to listen to me or not?”

Long-ge gritted her teeth and thought for a bit. This time she was very firm. She shook her head like a rattle drum. No way in hell was she wearing them. I was just about to speak when the clerk hurriedly cut in. “I know a kind of shoe that would suit this young lady very well. We’ve had female customers before who didn’t like wearing heels either. Please wait a moment...”

He quickly ran into the storage room beside the fitting rooms.

Long-ge stood beside me, looking at the high heel in my hand with a complicated expression. “Old Lu, there’s actually something I’ve wanted to say for a while... You’re not some kind of pervert, are you?”

I ignored her and held the shoe up against her foot. Yeah, I thought it looked like a pretty good fit. I raised the high heel seriously and said, “This one.”

A little later, the guy came back out of the storage room, panting. In his hand was a pair of round-toed brown leather shoes, the kind girls in anime always wore with school uniforms.

I stared at the shoes and thought for a while, then looked up at Long-ge.

Loli style, huh...

Long-ge looked at the shoes with a complicated expression too. I looked for a while, thought about it, then turned back to the high heels again. Long-ge looked at me pleadingly and said, “Old Lu, this one’s good. How about I wear these instead...?”

The clerk handed me the shoes. I took them hesitantly and looked them over for a while, knocking the soles lightly against the floor. They seemed pretty sturdy. The clerk quickly added, “These leather shoes are a Japanese school-style design. Besides looking nice, one advantage is that they’re very durable. Just wipe them and they shine. They don’t need much polish either. They should suit this lady very well.”

Long-ge looked at me, full of hope.

I hesitated for a while, then let out a regretful sigh and put the high heels back on the counter. The corners of Long-ge’s mouth twitched at once. I took the leather shoes, had her sit on a stool, and pulled off her sneakers.

She braced herself with her hands and sat there. Long-ge’s feet were pretty delicate and small. The shoes looked small in my hands too, but I still felt like they might be half a size too big. But when I slipped them onto her feet and lifted her lower leg to look from different angles, they fit just right. I nodded in satisfaction.

No need to buy a slightly bigger pair either. Long-ge was already twenty this year. Her feet weren’t going to grow anymore.

I let out a breath and stood up with my hands on my hips, then told Long-ge to walk around a bit and see if they pinched. She was pretty obedient. She stood up, took a couple steps, then even bounced twice. She looked just like a little girl.

I looked over Long-ge’s whole outfit. Very nice. Very cute. She looked like some rich family’s young miss.

Long-ge paced around with a hesitant look, glancing back at me from time to time. But after staring at the shoes for a while, I just couldn’t get over those mismatched socks inside them. The clerk was still watching Long-ge from the side. I asked, “Do you sell socks too? I’ve spent around a thousand already, right? I’m basically buying a whole set from your store. Can’t you give me a better price?”

The clerk thought for a moment, then pointed to a counter behind the women’s shoe section. “You’ve spent over a thousand, I think. We have a store promotion, so we can give you fifteen percent off... As for socks, they’re over at that counter.”

The moment I heard there was a discount, I relaxed. Fifteen percent off would save me over a hundred. The sock counter was on the other side. Long-ge stood beside me with one leg angled out, looking at the shoes on her feet. I led her over to the sock counter. Plastic mannequin legs were hung with all kinds of socks. The counter was full of black stockings, nude stockings, and even fishnets.

Long-ge’s eyes widened as she stared at all the socks. Then she turned and looked at me with a face full of suspicion.

I ignored her and looked her outfit up and down. Then I picked out a pair of white over-the-knee socks. The material felt pretty nice, and the price was cheap too. Twelve yuan.

I actually really wanted to make Long-ge wear white thigh-highs, but I figured if I pushed it that far, she’d probably bite me.

I held the socks, tore off the tag, and said, “Go change into these. I’m going to pay.”

Long-ge took the socks, thought for a moment, then headed back toward the fitting room. I walked to the register. The clerk scanned all the tags in my hand, then smiled at me. “One thousand and two. I’ll round it down for you, and with the promotion, the total comes to eight hundred fifty.”

I nodded. Long-ge looked really good in this whole outfit. Even without the discount, I definitely would’ve bought it. I took out my credit card to pay. By then, Long-ge had already put on the white over-the-knee socks and was standing obediently beside me like a little princess, holding a bag as she asked, “What about these?”

I handed my credit card to the clerk, then turned to look. Inside the bag were her old tracksuit, sneakers, socks, and the rest.

I took back my credit card, thought for a moment, and said, “Pour gasoline on them and burn them.”

After we left the store, Long-ge and I went to KFC too. We ordered two combo meals and spent less than fifty yuan.

Long-ge sat at the table, tearing into a burger. Right now, she looked like a girl just past loli age. She wore that hip-hugging lace dress, white over-the-knee socks on her pale slender legs, and round-toed leather shoes on her feet. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of an anime. Every now and then, people carrying trays would walk past and unconsciously stare at her—

I did the math... Hmph. As expected of my Long-ge. Her head-turning rate was still one hundred percent.

People in the restaurant were all glancing over here, intentionally or not. I picked up a fry, dipped it in ketchup, and held it out in front of Long-ge. “Ah.”

The instant I offered her the fry, countless gazes gathered on us. I got to experience what it felt like to be the center of attention.

“Ahm.”

Long-ge was still chewing her burger. Without even thinking, she looked up and took the fry in one bite, then lowered her eyes again and went back to eating her burger. I looked around and found quite a few people staring at me with all kinds of expressions. At the window seat in front, a college student with a backpack viciously lowered his head and muttered, “Explode. Damn normies, just explode already...”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of my mouth—

Bullying singles really is a mood-lifting thing.

Long-ge looked up at me, then took a sip of cola. When she saw me staring at her, she smiled at me, then lowered her head and went back to eating her burger.

A faint smile unconsciously touched my lips. After a whole day of shopping, I was genuinely a little hungry, so I looked down and started eating my fries.

Truth be told, my original budget for today’s clothes shopping was only five hundred. But this single outfit ended up costing over a thousand—if I’m being honest, yeah, I did feel a twinge of regret.

Then I glanced at Long Ge. Right then, she looked like a little princess basking in the spotlight. Looking down, I took a sip of my cola—

Hmm. Spending this much? Totally worth it.