The moment Qian Wei finished throwing up, the discomfort plaguing her stomach vanished, leaving her feeling strangely refreshed. But when she looked up, she found Lu Xun’s face darker than the bottom of a pot. It was only then that she realized—thanks to that violent jolt—she’d ended up spewing half of it onto him.

“Oh crap!”

“Qian Wei!” Lu Xun’s voice came through gritted teeth, practically incandescent with fury. “You threw up all over me, and now you’re cursing?”

“I’m innocent!” Qian Wei fumbled to pull out some tissues. “I wasn’t cursing, I meant I’ll wipe it up! Let me wipe it off, okay?”

But Lu Xun dodged her hand as she tried to clean him off. “Don’t wipe anymore.” He looked at her with a cold smile. “I’m not giving you the chance to use ‘wiping’ as an excuse to grope me.”

Qian Wei: ???

Just then, the bus finally arrived at their destination. The doors opened, and everyone filed off, scattering to line up for whatever attraction interested them.

“Zixin, let’s go, I’ll take you to see the 4D movie.”

But Mo Zixin didn’t move. She bit her lip, glancing at the large stain on Lu Xun’s shirt. “But won’t Lu Xun be really uncomfortable like that…”

Qian Wei jumped in immediately. “Why don’t you two wait a bit? I’ll take Lu Xun to the bathroom to clean up the stain. We did all agree to watch the 4D movie together, after all.”

Ignoring Qian Chuan’s sour expression, she was about to keep going, but Lu Xun’s voice cut her off.

“You’re going to take me to the bathroom to clean up?” He gave a cold laugh. “So are you planning to follow me into the men’s room, or have me follow you into the women’s? Either way, I’ll be washing up alone.” He turned to glance at Qian Chuan. “The 4D movie has limited showtimes—if we don’t get in line now, we won’t make it in. You two go ahead, don’t wait for me.”

Qian Chuan looked like he was about to go give Lu Xun a hug. “Lu Xun, you’re always thinking of others—no wonder Qian Wei’s always singing your praises. Well then, I won’t stand on ceremony. I’ll take Zixin and go ahead.”

“I’ll go with you!” Qian Wei hurried to catch up. Now that Lu Xun was out of the running, her responsibility had only grown heavier—she absolutely had to third-wheel Qian Chuan and Mo Zixin, for the sake of her future boss!

“Qian Wei, you stay here.” Unfortunately, her burning enthusiasm didn’t win any approval from said future boss. He called her back. “There’s a saying you’ve probably heard: whoever makes the mess cleans it up.”

“But didn’t you just say I can’t even help you, since only you can go into the bathroom to wash up…”

“So you’re expecting me to keep wearing this shirt?” Lu Xun let out a dry laugh. “You threw up this much on me, and you think a quick rinse in the bathroom is going to let me keep wearing this?”

Qian Wei ventured cautiously, “So… so you want to go shirtless? That’s not entirely out of the question either, I mean, you do have the body for it, though it might draw a bit too much attention…”

“You’re hoping to see me half-naked?”

Qian Wei waved her hands frantically. “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what are you standing around for? Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“There are souvenir shops on the southeast side of the park. They ought to sell themed T-shirts.” Lu Xun arched an eyebrow. “Still not moving?”

Qian Wei glanced at the stain on his chest and could only watch, dejected, as Qian Chuan led a beaming Mo Zixin off in the completely opposite direction toward the 4D theater, while she followed Lu Xun toward the souvenir shop, looking back every few steps.

If Lu Xun had merely worn a dark expression on the way there, then by the time they reached the shop, his face had gone from dark to a sickly greenish-black.

“This is the only style?” he asked, his voice deliberately calm, though clearly straining to hold back his anger.

“Just this one for now—the park only just opened, so our shop’s still fresh too, and the stock isn’t complete yet. The themed shirts are still being designed. This is all we’ve got right now.”

Lu Xun stared at the crudely designed T-shirts hanging on the rack, his expression sinking further.

It was hard to blame him. Even Qian Wei found the shirts an eyesore—cheap-looking white fabric printed with bold, blocky black characters reading “Lord” or “Loyal Minister,” accompanied by garishly rendered cartoon figures in clashing reds and greens, the kind of color combination that made the whole thing look like some sort of colorblindness test chart from a distance. The taste level was, frankly, alarming.

Qian Wei glanced at Lu Xun cautiously, trying to soothe him. “Honestly, good-looking people look good in anything.” She laid it on thick. “Lu Xun, you’re so handsome, even in a shirt like this you’d look like the pick of the litter. You know how it is—when an unattractive person wears designer clothes, it looks about the same as if they’d worn something off a street stall. But for a good-looking person, it’s the opposite—even street-stall stuff looks like a designer brand on them.”

“So you’re admitting this looks like it’s from a street stall?”

“Well… haha… but it’s not on you yet, is it? It’ll look totally different once you’ve got it on.” Qian Wei wanted to wrap this up quickly—she still needed to go head off Qian Chuan and Mo Zixin. “Here, boss, one XXL please.” She shoved cash into the vendor’s hands while gesturing to Lu Xun. “Come on, just pick one already, you can’t keep wearing that stained shirt forever.”

Clearly unwilling to lose face by putting on such an eyesore of a shirt, Lu Xun stood rooted in place, staring at the rack, his face cycling between shades of green and red.

But reality is cruel, and in the end Lu Xun had no choice but to give in. Grim-faced, he grabbed a shirt off the rack and disappeared into the changing room.

When he came back out, even though Qian Wei had mentally braced herself, she nearly burst out laughing anyway. Some things really shouldn’t be oversold—no matter how devastatingly handsome the person wearing them, some clothes are simply too ugly to overcome.

Lu Xun had put on the “Lord” shirt, and the giant blocks of red and green on the cartoon figure made him look like a walking traffic light. The jarring red-and-green combination and its distinctly rustic flair gave off the sense that he might burst into some folk pop song at any moment.

His face, of course, was still handsome. But the moment the shirt went on, his whole aura shifted—in the span of a second he went from the ice prince adored by the entire school to looking like the village chief’s son, beloved by all the girls at the local chicken farm… No matter how handsome a man is, he can’t survive being ruined by a shirt like that.

Lu Xun stared at himself in the mirror without a word, his face like storm clouds gathering. And almost the instant he stepped out in the shirt, the other customers in the shop—and even the staff—couldn’t help but turn to stare. Most managed to politely hold back their laughter, but a few tactless souls burst out laughing on the spot.

Qian Wei held back her own expression and told a bald-faced lie: “Lu Xun, honestly, with a face like yours, you’d be the center of attention no matter what you wore, walking through any crowd—you already turn heads all the time…” She paused, then continued, “Everyone keeps staring mainly because you’re just so outstanding. In modern society, successful people are always the center of attention, always the ones people can’t help but look at…”

Lu Xun glanced at Qian Wei, then suddenly smiled. “You make a good point.”

Before Qian Wei could feel pleased with herself, she heard him continue: “Boss, one more of these, in her size.”

Qian Wei: ???

Lu Xun bent down and smiled at her again. “With a mouth like yours, you’re clearly destined for success too. Why not get a head start adapting to the successful life—get used to being the center of attention?”

He shoved the shirt into her hands. “What are you standing around for? Go change.”

He gave another disarmingly friendly smile. “Don’t worry about paying, this one’s my treat. Happy? Surprised?”

Surprised, my foot!

Qian Wei was pushed into the changing room, staring at the shirt in her hands, on the verge of tears. Ugly. It was just so ugly!

When she came out and caught sight of herself in the mirror, she nearly fainted—emblazoned across her back were the words “Treacherous Minister.”

“Can I swap for a different one? At least give me ‘Loyal Minister’?” Qian Wei glanced at Lu Xun’s “Lord” shirt, then down at her own “Treacherous Minister,” and tried to negotiate.

Lu Xun looked deeply meaningful. “This one suits you perfectly, as is.”

“…”

And that was how Qian Wei ended up walking around the theme park with Lu Xun, both of them in eye-catching matching shirts. As expected, wherever the two of them went, they became the center of attention. Even with Qian Wei’s considerable shamelessness, she found it hard to bear after a while—whereas Lu Xun, by contrast, remained entirely composed and at ease.