Determined to give Su Chan a makeover, Li Yundong hailed a cab and ordered the driver to take them to a newly-established commercial area in Tiannan City whose construction had taken two whole years.
The commercial area was essentially a long and wide avenue lined with luxury stores on both sides. No vehicles were allowed into it, so the cab driver dropped them off at an intersection nearby. Li Yundong paid the cab driver after they got out, then headed towards the avenue, hand-in-hand.
Music filled their ears the moment they stepped onto the avenue. Dozens of digital advertisement boards stretched along the avenue, one in front of each store. The largest one hovered above their heads, showing a video of a beautiful woman twirling endlessly amidst a flower field. A female voice introduced some perfume brand in a seductive purr.
Never in his life had Li Yundong seen the logos of so many luxury brands gathered in one place: GUCCI, PRADA, CK, LV, and so forth. Even a dude like Li Yundong found himself swooning a little while standing here surrounded by such poshness; women might need paramedics.
Su Chan seemed totally fine though. Curious and excited, yes, but definitely not swooning. Then again, she didn’t even know what a TV was until recently.
Su Chan gave Li Yundong’s arm a few tugs.
“Did you bring me here to buy clothes?” she asked, staring up at him with sparkling eyes.
There it was, the confirmation he needed for Cheng Cheng’s words: “There isn’t a single woman out there who doesn’t like luxury clothes or fancy jewelry!”
Can I even afford anything here?
Li Yundong glanced around the avenue, shuddering when he saw a couple of women walking out of a boutique with shopping bags the size of a frigging suitcase. Then, he looked towards Su Chan who was now jumping around, pointing excitedly at some fancy dress on the advertisement board.
Unbiddenly, the words of Douchebag 2.0 came to mind.
To hell with it. Li Yundong released a low growl, then threw his hands in the air. “Alright then! Time to splurge! Come along, my dear little princess! Pick whatever you like!”
“Yayyy!!!!” Su Chan cheered, then charged towards the nearest boutique, leaving Li Yundong alone on the avenue to deal with the stares from the passers-by.
Li Yundong chuckled, then shook his head.
He had to admit that acting like a billionaire felt pretty nice, even for someone without delusions of grandeur.
***
“Hi, welcome to Uniqlo!”
The staff at the front desk actually bowed when they walked in. Huh, what do you know? People still had manners these days. Then again, it was arguable whether their politeness was aimed at the customers or the credit cards they were holding.
A saleswoman stepped around the counter and approached them. The woman wouldn’t exactly be considered as beautiful, but she still looked good and polished. Mainly, that was because of the elegant bun she was wearing as well as her curvaceous figure, not to mention her fantastic fashion sense.
“Good evening, sir, miss. How may I assist you today?” the saleslady asked in a gentle voice.
Hell if he knew.
The only “shopping” Li Yundong had done in the past consisted of switching tabs on his web browser, and then adding items to carts. Plus, he had practically zero dating experience. The nuances of shopping probably eluded him more than Einstein’s field equations did.
By some miracle, Li Yundong mustered a modicum of confidence.
“Hi, I’m here to buy some clothes for my girlfriend,” Li Yundong said, pointing at Su Chan. “Do you have any recommendations?”
Well, at least he sounded like he knew what he was doing. Maybe he had a knack for this billionaire thing after all.
However, when he saw the excited glint in the saleswoman’s eyes, Li Yundong realized that he had made a serious mistake. F*ck! The woman looked like she was plotting to squeeze every single penny out of his pocket!
Would it be so bad though…?
Li Yundong glanced at Su Chan, who was now standing in front of a rack, checking out a bunch of blazers. He wondered if she knew that those blazers were meant for guys…
Judging from the way she was holding her arm along the sleeve of the blazer to compare their lengths, probably not.
Li Yundong looked at the saleswoman, whose grin widened half an inch.
“You have come to the right place, sir. Uniqlo is well-known for its women’s clothing. In fact, most of our customers are women!”
“Err…”
What was he supposed to say anyway?
The saleswoman waved her hand.
“Oh, don’t you worry, sir! I assure you that you’re in good hands! Just leave everything to us, and your girlfriend will be all dolled up in no time!” she said enthusiastically, then made a beeline towards Su Chan.
The saleswoman guided Su Chan towards the women’s section and said, “Do you have any preferences, miss?”
“Anything will do! All the clothes here are so pretty…” Su Chan said with sparkly eyes.
Li Yundong nearly did a facepalm right then and there. If only she knew that half of the clothes here are for men…
The grinning saleswoman bustled about for a moment before she stopped in front of a rack. She removed a hanger from the rack and held out a strawberry-colored dress to Su Chan.
“Here you go, Miss. This dress is part of Uniqlo’s summer collection this year,” the saleswoman said as she helped Su Chan removed the dress from the hanger. “The most unique aspect of this dress is its silk-based lace design.”
“If you take a look at its sleeves,” the saleswoman went on, glancing towards Li Yundong, “you’ll notice the lace’s exquisite floral pattern. This is the perfect dress to be worn during summer, since the laced sleeves help keep the wearer comfortable and cool. And, of course, the floral pattern suits your girlfriend’s lovely appearance perfectly.” The saleswoman held up a finger. “Ah, the lacework was all done by hand, of course. The same goes for the ones on the collar and hemline.”
It was pretty obvious to Li Yundong that the woman’s explanation was meant for him as much as it was meant for Su Chan. Smart woman, Li Yundong thought. Why would a man pull out his credit card if he didn’t like the look of the dress on his woman?
“Yundong! Yundong!”
Li Yundong raised his head to see Su Chan holding the dress in front of her chest and beaming at him.
“How do I look?” Su Chan said, striking a pose and winking at him.
Li Yundong sat down on the plush couch beside the fitting rooms, then grinned at Su Chan.
“Only one way to find out,” he said, with a shrug. “Try it on!”
“Indeed, miss. You can try the dress on first, and see if you like it,” the saleswoman said, leading Su Chan into the fitting room. “You can try out other options if you find that you don’t like it.”
A while later, Su Chan emerged from the fitting room in the dress.
Holy moly…
Li Yundong nearly fell off the edge of the couch.
Now he knew why women, or men for that matter, were willing to splurge so much on women’s clothing. When he first met Su Chan, she gave him the impression of being the epitome of traditional beauty. But in this strawberry-colored dress, she looked like she’d just walked out of the front cover of some fashion magazine. Cute, beautiful, fashionable, chic, voguish, stylish, girl-next-door, drop-dead gorgeous, wet-dream-inducing, and—
There weren’t enough adjectives to describe how absolutely gorgeous she looked right then.
The strawberry color of the dress matched her milky complexion perfectly. The lace trims on the hemline, around the collars, and the sleeves were just icing on the cake. Li Yundong felt like pulling her into his arms and biting into her skin like she was a juicy and delectable strawberry.
Li Yundong had to swallow hard before he started salivating all over the plush couch.
“Be- beautiful!” Li Yundong said, bobbing his head up and down. He already knew that Su Chan would look good in any clothes. Heck, she looked good in his clothes! But to see her dressed in fine, luxury clothes… Wow.
God bless the fashion industry.
“Oh my!” the saleswoman exclaimed with a loud clap. “I’ve been working here for three years, and I have honestly never seen anyone who looked this good in our clothes!”
The saleswoman waved her finger in a circle.
Su Chan did a twirl.
“Miss,” the saleswoman went on, “you should really consider a career in modeling. I’m sure you’ll make it into the international arena!”
Li Yundong agreed.
“Umm… can I try that one?” Su Chan said, pointing towards another rack, her eyes sparkling like crystals.
Li Yundong followed her gaze.
It was a white minidress.
“Oh, of course you can!” the saleswoman said happily, then gestured her colleague to remove the dress from its hanger.
Su Chan took the dress and headed back into the fitting room.
“What about the first dress, sir?” the saleswoman asked Li Yundong after Su Chan had entered the fitting room.
“We’ll take it!” Li Yundong answered without hesitating.
The saleswoman grinned at him as though she’d just been told that she won the lottery.
Su Chan stepped out five minutes later.
The saleswoman took the first dress from Su Chan, folded it, then brought it to the payment counter.
If the strawberry-colored dress gave Su Chan a girl-next-door vibe, the white minidress made her look like a fashionable upper-class woman. It was a slanted-shoulder minidress, which left her left shoulder bare. Under the lights, the glossy white satin fabric of the dress seemed even whiter, almost like it was glowing.
Su Chan turned her body slightly to the right with the base of her left heel raised off the floor. Then, with her left hand on her hip, Su Chan did a simple hair flip as her right hand slowly traveled up her left arm. Li Yundong’s eyes followed her hand until it reached the bare skin of her shoulder. Her hand slipped past her bare shoulder and traveled up her neck. When their eyes met, Su Chan winked at him and blew him a kiss.
Christ on a bike.
Li Yundong’s heart nearly stopped right then and there. All of a sudden, his throat grew as dry as a dessert. This woman was going to be the death of him, but what a way to go.
The saleswoman cleared her throat and walked away, muttering something about taking care of the packaging.
“How do I look?”
Su Chan’s voice brought Li Yundong out of his trance.
Then, she did several twirls in front of him. The hem of the dress raised slightly as she spun around, revealing her bare thighs.
Li Yundong gulped and gripped the armrest of the couch. Su Chan stopped twirling and struck a pose like a model.
“So?” Su Chan said, giving him a questioning look.
Get a f*cking grip, Li Yundong.
He nodded, then clapped his hands a few times.
“Beautiful…” he said.
The saleswoman was beside him in an instant.
“This dress as well, sir?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, we’ll take this one too,” Li Yundong said, rising to his feet.
“Very well, sir!” said the saleswoman with a grin.
Well! Two dresses! That should do—
Su Chan dove into his arms before he could finish that thought.
“Let’s stay for a while longer! Just to look around without buying anything!” Su Chan said.
Looking without buying? That should be fine.
Right?
