In any case, since it hadn’t caused any real harm to him or Ningning, he also had no desire to make an enemy of brother Yu over this.
“Mr. Gu, allow me to see you out.” Shiyao’s smile grew even brighter.
Gu Jingye didn’t respond. He turned and strode forward, leaving Shiyao behind him.
Shiyao’s expression darkened. She followed behind Gu Jingye and walked out of the Xuan residence.
“Miss Shiyao, are you heading out?” The bodyguard Xuan Yanyu had assigned to Shiyao saw her standing at the estate’s entrance and asked respectfully.
Shiyao’s eyes flickered. She leaned close to the bodyguard’s ear and murmured a few words.
The bodyguard gave a nod.
Midday — a shopping mall.
Yan Yunning and He Qingxia walked arm in arm, browsing the women’s clothing section.
A text notification chimed. Yan Yunning opened it and glanced at it. He Qingxia leaned over to look as well, and smiled, nudging Yan Yunning’s elbow. “A delivery notification — something you sent to your aunt and uncle?”
“No.” Yan Yunning put away her phone. Her gaze fell on Shiyao and Shiyu, who were walking toward them, smiling like blossoming flowers.
She knew them and yet didn’t know them. In that ancient-setting novel, they had been characters guided by the author’s hand — every action, every word written by the author. But the Shiyao and Shiyu standing before her now were truly, genuinely themselves.
Just like Ye Chen — in the novel he had come across as a bit slow and a bit simple. That one time she had seen Ye Chen at the amusement park, he had been coaxing his girlfriend, his personality completely unlike the version in the book.
“Sister, why didn’t brother-in-law come to keep you company?” Shiyu nestled affectionately against Shiyao’s shoulder, her delicate face carrying a smile.
“He’s busy — and it’s my own fault, really. I insisted on having him come along on the trip abroad, which kept him from the office for several days. Now he’s busy catching up on paperwork at the company.” Shiyao said, her expression soft and gentle.
“Sister, thank goodness brother-in-law woke up. What would you and the baby have done otherwise?” Shiyu’s eyes reddened with sympathy.
Shiyao’s brow arched ever so slightly — whether by coincidence or design, she walked right up to Yan Yunning and He Qingxia and casually held up a pale yellow dress against Shiyu. “Yes — thank goodness A’Yao was able to wake up. Try this on. Your brother-in-law said he’s paying for everything today.”
As she spoke, Shiyao pulled a card out of her bag, gave it a little wave, and blinked. “From your brother-in-law, you know.”
“Wonderful.” Shiyu smiled sweetly, took the dress, and followed a store attendant to the fitting room.
He Qingxia rolled her eyes. This internet celebrity — her boyfriend had been in a coma for five months and the company had still been flourishing the whole time.
What did that say? It said the company was perfectly capable of running with or without her boyfriend. And yet he had “kept him from the office for a few days”? “Busy catching up on paperwork”?
Ha. Five months without setting foot in the office, and a few days abroad suddenly means he’s buried in paperwork?
She was the white lotus who had bullied Gu Xiaoye. Gu Xiaoye hadn’t told her the reason — he’d only called her saying that Shiyao had used young Master Xuan as her backing to humiliate him. He had asked her to comfort him, and she had spent over an hour doing so before Gu Xiaoye’s mood finally lifted enough for him to hang up.
That alone showed how deep the grievance had been.
Yan Yunning unclenched her hand — crescent-shaped indentations pressed into her palm — as her mind involuntarily conjured up the high-definition photographs that had filled her screen: Xuan Yanyu and Shiyao traveling abroad together.
That day she had warned herself: from now on, she would not shed a single tear over Xuan Yanyu, because he didn’t deserve it.
It was also that day, in her anger, that she had mailed back every gift Xuan Yanyu had sent her — straight to his company.
She wouldn’t keep herself trapped in the past either. She would slowly forget him and move forward to embrace a new life of her own.
But could she really forget?
Why had fate played such a cruel joke on her? Why did he have to have a girlfriend…
“Ningning, do you see anything you like?” He Qingxia scanned a few new arrivals, picked out a red French-style below-the-knee skirt with a square neckline, the collar adorned with inlaid pearls — simple, yet very beautiful.
“Try this on. Your skin is fair and soft — it’ll definitely look stunning on you.” He Qingxia tucked the skirt into Yan Yunning’s arms and pushed her toward the fitting room.
Yan Yunning hadn’t even had the chance to refuse before she found herself already being pushed inside.
Ten minutes later, Yan Yunning composed herself and stepped out of the fitting room. She let her slightly wavy long hair fall loose and twirled twice in front of He Qingxia.
“Sister, this lady is so beautiful!” Shiyu looked at Yan Yunning with stars in her eyes.
The young woman was dressed in a red below-the-knee dress. Her frame was well-proportioned, her waist supple and slender. Just below the collarbone, there was the faintest suggestion of graceful curves. Her hair cascaded down her back, her feet in high heels, her face a soft peachy pink, her lips curved in a smile.
In the instant she turned, she was like the beautiful dancer inside a music box. Her complexion was fair to begin with, and the red dress made her look even more porcelain-pale and soft. The pearls at the collar caught the light from the overhead spotlights and shimmered, making her look as lovely as a doll.
“Beautiful — we’re getting it.” He Qingxia looked at the store attendant. “Go ring it up with my membership account.”
“Of course, Miss He.” He Qingxia was a regular at the store, and the attendant recognized her at once. She smiled and agreed, then walked gracefully to the front counter to complete the purchase.
“Thank you, Xiaxia darling.” Yan Yunning accepted this with delight.
They had long since grown accustomed to buying each other clothes, bags, and gifts — there was nothing awkward about it.
But in Shiyao’s eyes, it took on a different meaning. She couldn’t believe that anyone would buy a best friend a dress worth six figures. At the very least, she herself couldn’t bear to do it. Even the gifts she bought for her own sister, she kept within three figures.
To be honest, she thought spending six figures on a single piece of clothing was unnecessary. Before she had come to know A’Yao and his circle, her clothes had never exceeded three figures — mostly priced in the tens, and she had thought them perfectly fine.
But she had overlooked who Yan Yunning and He Qingxia actually were — the second young miss of the Yan Group and the eldest young miss of the He Group. As long as their families hadn’t gone bankrupt, there was simply no world in which either of them would wear a twenty-yuan garment.
“Miss He, your receipt — it also shows the remaining balance on your membership card.” The store attendant courteously handed He Qingxia the receipt, then thoughtfully snipped the tag off for Yan Yunning.
“Mm, got it.” He Qingxia glanced at the receipt and tossed it into the bin.
That casual gesture made Shiyao’s heart lurch. Throwing away the receipt just like that — what if the dress didn’t fit properly or something was wrong with it? How would she return or exchange it?
“Let’s go, Ningning — we’re going to eat.” He Qingxia took the dress Yan Yunning had come in wearing in one hand and linked her other arm through Yan Yunning’s.
“Wait.” Shiyao called out to them softly. “Miss — I like the dress you’re wearing too. Would you mind taking it off so I can try it on?”
Yan Yunning raised an eyebrow, twirling the end of her hair around her finger. “Miss! This dress is not a custom exclusive — can’t you simply buy one yourself? Why would you need to try on mine?”
Shiyao bit her lip. She pointed at the rack. “There are none left.”
He Qingxia let out a soft laugh. “Miss? Is this your first time in this store? This is your boyfriend’s store — hasn’t your boyfriend ever brought you here?”
The boutiques under the Xuan Group’s banner displayed only one piece of each clothing style at a time, and only after a piece had sold would another be put out. It created the illusion of purchasing something limited edition.
Shiyao’s face flushed. She truly hadn’t known this was a Xuan Group boutique. And given that her relationship with A’Yao was not the romantic partnership that everyone assumed, how could A’Yao have ever brought her here to shop?
Even if A’Yao actually had a girlfriend, knowing his personality, he would absolutely never agree to accompany a girlfriend on a shopping trip.
“You really have never been in here before?” He Qingxia looked Shiyao up and down.
“My clothes are generally custom-made by A’Yao’s arrangements — I really haven’t been to the physical stores.” Shiyao smiled with composure.
“Oh~” He Qingxia narrowed her eyes with a smile. “Well, Miss Shi and I are quite different. Not only do I have things custom-made, I also come to the stores to pick things out myself — the two aren’t mutually exclusive at all.”
“Miss, having enough to wear is perfectly sufficient.” Shiyao looked at her the way one might regard an unreasonable child.
In front of outsiders, Shiyao was always gentle and gracious.