Su Man gave a wry smile. “You’re just humoring me. How could you have never worn sportswear?”

Lu Yuwen said, quite seriously, “I genuinely haven’t. I had some trouble with my legs before — I couldn’t go to the gym, and I was always excused from physical education at school.”

— The matter of his lame leg, he could conceal from his driver, from his staff, even from his business partners. But not from her.

If they were truly to be together in the future, she would find out sooner or later — his past, his family, his relatives… So the lame leg was something that could not be hidden.

Su Man was taken aback. She instinctively glanced down at his feet. “…But you seem perfectly fine now?”

Lu Yuwen nodded. “Yes. I only recovered not long ago.”

He was vague about it — didn’t say whether it was his leg or his foot that had been the problem, didn’t say how severe the “trouble” had actually been.

Su Man hesitated, unsure whether to ask further.

At that moment, Lu Yuwen extended his hand toward her, his tone both gentle and considerate. “Are the new shoes tiring on your feet? Let me help you back to the dressing room.”

Su Man looked down and shifted her toes slightly. “…Actually, I’m fine. I’ve worn shoes like these before, when I go to charity galas with my family, though the heels were never quite this high.”

“Take my arm,” Lu Yuwen said. “In case you stumble.”

Su Man laughed and waved him off. “It’s not that dramatic. My sense of balance is excellent — I wouldn’t fall even on stilts~”

Lu Yuwen regarded her patiently. “Still — take my arm, Manman. If I’m not steadying you, my heart is in my throat. I’m afraid you’ll fall.”

He paused, and when she still hesitated, he opened his arm slightly and said again, “Your parents trusted me enough to let you come out with me tonight. I can’t afford to let anything go wrong on the very first evening.”

Su Man pressed her lips together and gently placed her hand in the crook of his arm.

He looked down at her shoes and sighed softly. “When I picked them out I thought they were lovely and didn’t notice the heel was this high. Maybe we should look at some other shoes in a moment?”

“No — no, that’s okay,” Su Man said quickly. “The shoes match the dress perfectly. Let’s not change them. I can manage a heel like this.”

Lu Yuwen thought for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. But if you get tired, you have to tell me, okay?”

“Mm…” Su Man murmured softly in response.

Her feelings were strange — as if she were floating in midair, drifting and swaying, her heart unable to settle.

Sensing she was on the verge of blushing again, she made every effort to redirect her attention. She cleared her throat lightly and asked, “So — where are we going next?”

Lu Yuwen: “We need to find a jewelry set to go with your dress.”

Su Man’s heart lurched at once. “The jewelry — I’m paying for that!” she said immediately.

He chuckled softly. “All right. You pay for the jewelry.”

……

Whether gold, silver, pearls, or jade, a complete jewelry set was far from inexpensive. The evening gown was already an extravagant gift; accepting jewelry from him on top of that was simply out of the question.

From childhood, Su Man had been raised with modest values — not to take so much as a thread from someone else’s household, never to take undue advantage of others.

In the end, however, the jewelry was never purchased.

She tried on several pieces, but Lu Yuwen found none of them quite right.

Su Man had a good deal of faith in his taste. If Lu Yuwen said it didn’t match, it probably really didn’t.

It was getting late. The two of them left the jewelry store and went to a well-known local restaurant for dinner.

They ordered several signature dishes and carefully observed the restaurant’s foot traffic, eating and chatting as they went. Lu Yuwen told her a number of small stories about the origins of different cuisines, both Chinese and international, and Su Man listened with genuine delight.

After dinner, Su Man settled the bill herself.

This time, Lu Yuwen didn’t stop her, which was a relief — the cost of the meal was a drop in the ocean compared to the dress, but at least she could make a gesture.

By the time they left the restaurant, it was late into the night. Su Man drove Lu Yuwen back to his hotel.

After stepping out of the car, Lu Yuwen leaned against the window and said, “Thank you for the ride. I have a gift I’d like to give you — I’ve left it on your backseat. Open it when you get home.”

He said his piece and walked away.

Su Man twisted around to look at the backseat, and immediately had a bad feeling…

—