Chapter 6

After Shu Chi left, Ding Ya slowly finished her meal with her parents.

She was also quite chatty with her parents. Their whole family gathering was always a cacophony of talk; maybe chattering was just etched into their DNA.

Yang Jie keenly sensed something unusual between her daughter and that woman. She asked, “Did you two really just meet for the first time?”

Ding Ya wiped her mouth, reapplied her lipstick, and nodded while looking in her compact mirror. “Otherwise? That sister and I have absolutely nothing to talk about.”

Yang Jie asked again, “So the dog belonged to her friend?”

Ding Ya nodded. “Probably. That person had a last-minute thing, so they had someone else bring it to me.”

She pulled out her phone to show Yang Jie a photo. “Mom, look. Cute, right? Cute, right?”

Ding Ya didn’t look like she’d been working for years. She zoomed in on the puppy’s paw. “Look, like it’s wearing little black socks.”

Yang Jie: “Very cute. I thought you didn’t like small white dogs.”

Yang Jie knew her own daughter. Since childhood, she had a preference for good-looking things.

She even chose friends based on appearance. But that was human nature. As one grew older, one learned to pick friends based on character.

Yang Jie and her husband had both worried that during puberty, the kid might be duped by a good-looking boy. Luckily, Ding Ya had no rumors of early romance.

Her grades were just a bit poor.

“I do like them. We weren’t allowed to have dogs at home when I was little.”

Ding Ya paid the bill and asked, “The park closes at 10 PM. The show is at 7 and lasts past 9. You guys are heading back tomorrow, right?”

Yang Jie nodded. “Your brother said he booked a hotel for your dad and me, but I said we’d stay at your place. It’s just one bag for your father and me. It’s still at the visitor center.”

Ding Ya: “Then we’ll take a taxi to my place after it ends.”

Previously, her parents usually stayed in hotels. The place Ding Ya recently moved to was bigger than before, with no roommates now, just enough space.

Ding Ya hadn’t been to Willow Garden for many years and found they’d added a lot of new attractions. It was quite novel.

But today, she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy them. Ding Ya wanted to find Shu Chi.

Did she remember me?

My voice isn’t as overly cutesy now… will she still recall?

But this person was always a bit slow before, didn’t seem very sharp. Maybe her memory’s bad too.

Has she long forgotten me?

Perhaps they had shared too many stupid, solemn vows back then. Two people who met through an internet cable, always keeping each other company late into the night.

This feeling, catalyzed by time, still made Ding Ya think that “Book Late,” this “husband,” was special.

The anger back then was also genuine anger.

After all, her supposedly male romantic interest had turned into a woman.

The imaginary stunningly handsome guy in her head turned out to be some older sister running a noodle shop on the roadside.

How could anyone accept that all at once?

Back in those days, gender in relationships was also very rigidly fixed.

So many years had passed. Ding Ya had seen all sorts of absurd, ridiculous, and then settled-down relationships among people around her. She felt that having someone you liked was already good enough. To like and remember them for so many years was perhaps even rarer.

For Ding Ya to run into her again in this city was already miraculous.

She thought: Is this fate… telling me to try again?

Ding Ya accompanied her parents around Willow Garden.

Her mom liked taking photos. Her dad even brought a camera. The two of them, at their age, were still lovey-dovey, making Ding Ya feel like she might be a third wheel. Taking the chance while her mom fed the koi by the pond, she went to a shop to line up for milk tea.

“Shop anniversary! Spend to spin the prize wheel! Lucky numbers 66 and 99 win a complimentary ancient costume, makeup, and photo experience!”

The shop owner was shouting at the door. Ding Ya ordered a Milk Fu, got her number, and spun the wheel.

The shop was crowded, already full of Hanfu-clad people, dazzling to the eye.

“We’re partnering with the Cloud Dwelling Hanfu shop next door. First prize is for couples. Depends on what you draw—it’s Cloud Dwelling’s signature outfit!”

The shopkeeper, dressed in fiery red, was beautiful, surrounded by girls talking to her. She smiled, “Doesn’t matter if the winner is single~”

A chorus of “oooohs” and “aaaahs,” clearly condemning such dog-abusing behavior.

Ding Ya scrolled through Weibo while waiting. Just as her turn approached, a gasp erupted from the front.

The shop owner: “Miss, are you number 66?”

Ding Ya looked up. It was Shu Chi again. But she already had her milk tea, nodding with zero desire.

The shop owner stood beside her. “You can redeem for an ancient costume nighttime tour experience.”

Shu Chi: …

She looked at the people around her staring. “Can I not redeem it? I want the third prize.”

This milk tea chain had simply adapted to local customs at Willow Garden; even the shop sign was changed.

Shu Chi liked their Tieguanyin tea. The third prize was tea bags.

The shop owner probably had never met someone like this and was speechless.

Just then, a staff member called out: “Customer number 88, are you here?”

Ding Ya glanced at her order slip and raised her hand.

The shop owner perked up: “Ah! Another lucky guest. Would you like to redeem for first prize or something else?”

The second half of the question was asked with obvious hesitation, as if realizing such redemptions might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Ding Ya, however, quite liked it. She asked, “I can pick anything?”

Shop owner: “Anything except the signature outfits.”

Ding Ya looked at Shu Chi through the crowd. Right at that moment, Shu Chi looked up.

The shop owner, like a centuries-old fox spirit who’d cultivated into human form, somehow homed in on this: “Do you two know each other?”

The people between Ding Ya and Shu Chi were called away by another staff member for the prize draw, so the two of them stood face-to-face.

Except Ding Ya had to tilt her head up slightly to look at Shu Chi.

Shu Chi was somewhat silent.

She really looked too unapproachable. Ding Ya tilted her head. “I guess we’re acquainted.”

The shop owner asked, “Then does guest number 66 still want to redeem for tea bags? Since you’re both here, why not experience it together? And you two are so pretty, you’d look great in a costume change.”

If their aura had been just average, the shop owner might not have pushed so hard.

This collab with the neighboring Hanfu shop was basically a scheme to attract customers. Now that she’d snagged two beauties, she was even less willing to let them go.

Shu Chi glanced at Ding Ya.

Ding Ya took a step forward, blinking at Shu Chi. “What a coincidence. Want to go change into costumes together?”

Shu Chi seemed to still be considering.

Ding Ya lowered her eyes. “But you don’t have to force it. After all, we’ve only met for the second…”

Her hair reached her shoulders, the black roots starkly contrasted with the dyed ends. She had the currently trendy hime cut bangs, cute on her round face.

From this angle, the cuteness was only amplified.

Shu Chi averted her gaze, suddenly recalling Jing Yuqi calling her a pervert with weird fetishes.

Do I really… like the small-looking ones?

She grunted an “Mm.”

Ding Ya thought to herself: As expected.

From start to finish, Shu Chi avoided Ding Ya’s eyes, which only made Ding Ya more certain: Shu Chi might have recognized her voice.

But back then, the photos she sent were photoshopped with Meitu Xiuxiu to the point her own mother wouldn’t recognize her. Shu Chi probably didn’t know her exact appearance either.

However, Shu Chi was even less aware that Ding Ya had actually seen her.

Not through photos that obviously blurred gender lines, but by actually going to Shu Chi’s city and seeing her in person.

Ding Ya thought: This time, I still have the upper hand.

Ding Ya looked at the shop owner. “So we can just go next door to change?”

The shop owner handed over a card, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, since we placed a bulk order, they’re all wedding-themed.”

Ding Ya looked at the gaudily red “Bound by Eternal Love” on it and laughed until her eyes turned into slits.

Ding Ya: “No problem, no problem. Very festive.”

Holding her milk tea, she feigned naturalness and grabbed Shu Chi’s hand. “Let’s go together then?”

Shu Chi very much wanted to pull away.

But at this moment, perhaps stimulated by the card so similar to the in-game wedding certificates from back then, she involuntarily thought of that absurd virtual wedding. She didn’t stop Ding Ya’s action.

She grunted an “Mm.”

When Ding Ya stepped out, she glanced at the pavilion where her parents were. There was a guqin club performing there. Her parents were watching with great interest, not paying any attention to this side at all.

Ding Ya didn’t let go, directly pulling Shu Chi to the clothing shop next door.

Clothes everywhere, pick anything. Ding Ya bit her milk tea straw, choosing very carefully.

The shop assistant followed them. “Are you two sisters?”

Ding Ya glanced at Shu Chi. “Nope.”

When she smiled, dimples appeared, making her look even younger. Even at work, she dressed casually. On weekends, she indulged her preferences even more; her bag was covered in plush toys.

Anyone would guess her age younger and younger.

The shop assistant, worldly-wise, read Ding Ya’s look and hazarded a different guess. “Then you two are a couple, right? Let me recommend…”

Ding Ya thought, Wow, but her surface reaction was utterly shocked, hastily waving her hands. “No, no.”

Shu Chi looked down at her, seeing the top of Ding Ya’s head, complete with a cute felt hair clip. It was way too age-reducing.

Like this, they’d be mistaken for a couple?

Why?

For so many years, Shu Chi had often been asked about her love life. When she started working in her teens, she’d looked older than her age. Now, nearing thirty, she didn’t look so mismatched.

Jing Yuqi had asked her very bluntly not long after they met—

“You’re not into guys, are you?”

At the time, Shu Chi said she didn’t know.

And now, up until today, Shu Chi had been asked this kind of question countless times.

Whether by new employees, during team-building games, or even by the former department head who quit after pursuing her.

Shu Chi asked why.

The other person answered quite sincerely: I just wanted to date you.

Jing Yuqi later blamed Shu Chi for being too socially awkward, causing the company to lose a strong fighter.

It almost made Shu Chi think her position was based on using her looks to serve others.

The problem was, she didn’t have any “looks.”

Shu Chi was very self-aware.

The Hanfu shop was also crowded. The makeup area had many people. Background music played ancient-style songs; Shu Chi hadn’t heard any of them.

The shop assistant hurriedly apologized to Ding Ya. Ding Ya instead tugged on Shu Chi’s sleeve. “What style do you want to wear?”

Meeting for the second time, neither knew what to call the other. One knew the other’s name, the other knew the other’s screen name.

Yet neither could say it. Looking at each other now, there was some inexplicable awkwardness.

Shu Chi: “Anything’s fine with me.”

She was tall, with a cool, handsome aura, but not the aloof and arrogant type, nor aggressively fierce. Clothes were much harder to pick for her than for Ding Ya.

By the time Ding Ya had changed into a ruqun, Shu Chi was still looking.

The shop assistant was used to all kinds of customers but rarely saw this type. She handled cute girls like Ding Ya with ease.

But with Shu Chi, she had talked herself hoarse and the customer was still stingy with words.

Finally, she probed tentatively, “Would you like to try this style, Miss?”

She pointed to the full-body illustration on the wall. “More martial, wandering-the-jianghu style, but you’d need a wig. Your hair is a bit short.”

Shu Chi glanced at it and grunted an “Mm.”

The shop assistant thought to herself: This customer’s facial features alone aren’t exceptionally pretty, so why is it that…

Ever since Shu Chi entered, many people had been glancing over at her occasionally.

Current mainstream aesthetics favor pale, youthful, and slender. Shu Chi wasn’t pale, had nothing to do with youthful, barely fit “lean,” and had a scar that looked trouble-prone.

Ding Ya sat in front of the vanity mirror getting her makeup done, occasionally stealing glances at the fitting room behind her.

She wanted to see what Shu Chi would come out wearing.

The shop owner doing her styling was quite chatty. “Very lucky. Lucky customer. Any interest in doing a photoshoot together?”

Ding Ya nodded and asked, “Single person?”

The owner: “Couple is fine too. Are you here alone, or do you have a boyfriend? If so, have him change into something matching and shoot with you. I’ll give you a discount.”

Ding Ya thought: What a business mind.

Right at that moment, Shu Chi emerged. She wore a dark, form-fitting martial outfit. Her waist was cinched very slim by a red sash, outlining a silhouette extraordinarily gallant and dashing.

Ding Ya: “Boss.”

The owner was also looking at Shu Chi. “Mm?”

Ding Ya lowered her voice. “I’ll pay double. Can you trick her into thinking it’s a free couple’s photoshoot bonus for lucky customers?”