Fu Jichen walked ahead, the curve of his smile unseen by the person behind him. Shen Jianian gazed at the man’s tall back, thinking she had spoken too softly for him to hear.
"I said I want to go out," Shen Jianian raised her voice.
The figure in front paused for a mont, without turning back, with a slight smile in his voice: "I heard you. Are you planning to go out in your loungewear?"
Shen Jianian looked slightly embarrassed, lowered her eyes to glance at her clothes, a small V-necked T-shirt paired with long pajama pants, indeed not suitable for going out, so she followed Fu Jichen into the house and went upstairs to change clothes.
The day before, salespeople from major luxury brands delivered the season’s latest ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, and jewelry for her to choose from, which she declined. Fu Jichen simply signed for everything, had soone categorize it, and put it all into the wardrobe.
Now the entire wardrobe was predominantly won’s clothing, with only a small portion occupied by n’s wear.
Shen Jianian didn’t touch those new clothes with the tags still on, and put on an old dress. Though it was purchased three years ago, wearing it now still felt like it was new, she didn’t think it was out of style.
Coming out of the room, Fu Jichen was waiting for her outside the door, glanced at her, and recognized the dress she had worn before, as expected.
"Why not wear sothing new, you don’t like them?" He held the car keys in his hand, intending to hold her hand, but a sudden thought of the "three rules" she had set stopped him.
Shen Jianian pressed the elevator button, her voice mild, "I don’t feel like wearing them."
Fu Jichen followed her into the elevator, and after the doors closed, it was just the two of them in the narrow space. Shen Jianian caught a glimpse of Fu Jichen adjusting the belt at his waist and imdiately turned her head to avoid looking.
He had changed his clothes too, wearing a black shirt, since they were not heading to a work event, he didn’t wear a tie, leaving the collar unbuttoned, the shirt tucked into fitted trousers, the expensive black belt cinching his slim waist, visually making his legs appear straight and long.
The elevator doors opened, and they exited one after another.
Fu Jichen drove a black Bentley out of the garage, leaning over the armrest console to help her open the passenger side door.
Shen Jianian chose not to comply with him, walked past the passenger seat, closed the door, took two steps back, opened the back door, and got inside.
Fu Jichen glanced through the rearview mirror at Shen Jianian, who appeared with a bare face in a lotus-red long dress; the dress had large embroidered patterns, with thread colors close to that of the dress itself, not appearing flashy, being elegant yet exquisite.
Regarding her behavior of treating him as the driver, Fu Jichen felt slightly helpless but didn’t say anything, letting her be.
He started the engine and drove out of the villa’s gated entrance, leaving the luxurious cage far behind in the night.
Shen Jianian turned her head to watch the scenery outside the window recede continuously, passing the quiet avenue in front of the villa, rging onto the main road, into a galaxy-like flow of cars, endlessly stretching.
In late August, the weather is intensely hot, slightly cooling down in the evening, Fu Jichen turned off the air conditioner, opened the car windows, letting the night breeze stream in, lifting Shen Jianian’s long hair.
Shen Jianian used her hand to gather her hair and twist it at the back of her head, feeling like a bird just released from a cage, everything she saw seed fresh and satisfying. The cafes, ornantal trees, street lamps, slowly halting buses, all looked beautiful to her.
The sa city, yet Beicheng and Jiang City felt different, the emotions she invested were also different.
This place felt like her haven, giving her a sense of belonging.
Neither of them spoke, the atmosphere was silent, but not in an awkward way.
Fu Jichen turned on the car stereo, the volu set very low, not enough to be noisy, it was a llow and slow cello piece. Shen Jianian found it familiar, thought about it for a mont, and rembered it was the piece she played on that variety show. She withdrew her gaze from the window and glanced at Fu Jichen.
He casually turned on the stereo, and it happened to play the cello piece she had perford, perhaps indicating he had listened to it often before?
Shen Jianian kept this question to herself, not voicing it out.
The car drove a long distance and eventually stopped at the mouth of an alley, here was less bustling and noisy, even the street lamps were dimr.
Fu Jichen unfastened his seatbelt, pushed open the car door, and got out, dutifully acting as a "driver", circled around the front of the car to open the rear door, one hand shielding the roof, and said to the person inside, "Get out and take a walk."
This ti, Shen Jianian didn’t go against him, she too wanted to stroll along the street, to feel a long-missed freedom. One foot stepped outside the car door, Fu Jichen made a gesture to help her, but she didn’t let him, got out by herself.
The alley was surrounded by small shops, selling snacks, groceries, and clothes, with so understated bars on the opposite side.
Fu Jichen locked the car and nodded slightly at her: "Let’s go for a stroll ahead."
Shen Jianian felt it was quite novel. Soone with Fu Jichen’s status, not shopping at high-end, brightly lit malls, was here exploring dimly lit alleys.
Seemingly with so purpose, Fu Jichen headed straight to a shop on the left at the alley entrance. Shen Jianian looked through the display window and saw various cheongsams inside. The sign was a bit aged, with faded lettering, but it was clear this was a cheongsam shop.
Fu Jichen stopped at the door and turned to Shen Jianian: "Does this feel familiar?"
He wouldn’t casually ask sothing like this; the only thing Shen Jianian could think of was that she had been here before, and he was bringing her back to this place to prompt her mories.
However, unfortunately, Shen Jianian couldn’t rember.
Having lived in Beicheng for over twenty years, her impression was that this was her first ti here.
Without needing Shen Jianian to answer, Fu Jichen could tell from her expression that she had no impression; he didn’t show disappointnt, instead, he pushed the door open, stepped aside, and let her in first.
This door had a vintage feel, with a wooden fra fitted with old-fashioned clear green glass, with a poster stuck at the top and bottom showing a lady in a cheongsam holding a fan.
Shen Jianian walked in and heard a sweet female voice mixed with a TV show’s background sound: "Welco."
A girl sitting on the sofa with a tub of ice cream watching TV raised her head to see a custor had arrived. She opened her mouth to call her dad to entertain them but suddenly rembered her dad went out for dinner with an old friend that night, leaving her to watch the shop.
The girl double-clicked her tablet, paused the intriguing Korean drama, stood up to serve, and montarily forgot all her prepared scripts upon seeing Fu Jichen.
"Sir, have you been to our shop before?" She might not rember other custors, but this person had a striking appearance and deanor, surpassing the lead in the Korean drama; she wouldn’t forget him after seeing him once.
Fu Jichen pointed to the sofa she had just sat on, rarely with such patience talking to strangers: "It was a long ti ago; you were sitting there, watching videos and eating too."
The girl recalled everything. Last ti, this gentleman accompanied a beautiful lady to have a winter cheongsam and vest custom-made, and she was the one who helped asure the size.
"Are you here again with your wife to order a cheongsam?" The girl smiled, glancing at Shen Jianian standing over there appreciating the cheongsams. But, upon seeing her face, her smile froze.
Wait, she rembered that last ti it wasn’t this lady, although this one was also very pretty, but...
The girl glanced at Fu Jichen, her expression clearly changed, not as enthusiastic as before, carrying a hint of complexity, thinking he was a good man but apparently was as fickle as the rest.
Fu Jichen was accompanying Shen Jianian looking at the cheongsams and didn’t notice the girl’s change in expression.
"Seen anything you like? Pick so fabrics and have a few made," Fu Jichen said softly, "You look good in cheongsams."
Shen Jianian didn’t look back. Fu Jichen was standing behind her, speaking while slightly lowering his head, his breath brushing against her ear and neck, sowhat heating up. She quietly moved two steps to the side.
"I’m not buying any," Shen Jianian said.
"Oh, don’t say that," interjected the young shopkeeper, unwilling to miss a sale, coming over to introduce, "Our shop is very famous, with orders lined up until the month after next, and many people co from out of town by reputation. Elder sister, you have a great figure, you’ll definitely look beautiful in a cheongsam. I think your temperant suits sothing elegant and understated, like this pale pink one. If you look closely, it has a bamboo branch pattern, which matches you well. And there’s this smoky blue one, embroidered with white magnolias, very gentle, just like the feeling you give ."
Shen Jianian smiled gently: "Thank you, I’m just looking, not planning to buy."
The young shopkeeper’s enthusiasm was undiminished: "If you don’t like these patterns, that’s okay. We have many other treasured fabrics you can co and look at." She gestured invitingly, "Since you’re here, we should at least give it a try."
The young girl led her through many exquisite jacquard fabrics, every recomndation fitting Shen Jianian’s style, showing she wasn’t just pushing for a sale but genuinely considering the custor.
Shen Jianian couldn’t resist the warm hospitality: "Then I’ll have one custom-made. I like the pink bamboo pattern fabric you first showed ."
"Alright!"
The young girl smiled brightly, took a soft asuring tape from the counter, and began to take her asurents.
She was straightforward and direct. While asuring Shen Jianian’s shoulder width, she leaned slightly closer to her ear and whispered, "Sister, you’re so beautiful; I couldn’t bear to see you get deceived. The gentleman with you ca with another beauty to order a cheongsam before, and he was so gentle and considerate to that lady."
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