Chapter 737: Epilogue (8)
Social Integration Tutorial
[Lesson 1] Clothing
“…”
Wen Jianyan frowned, his expression serious and grave, as if facing some kind of problem of the century.
He raised an index finger and gently swirled it:
“Turn.”
Wu Zhu spun in a circle.
“How do you feel?” Wen Jianyan asked, “Compared to the previous set.”
Standing in place, Wu Zhu thought expressionlessly for two seconds. He finally decided to swallow back the words “No difference”, changing them to:
“Pretty good.”
However, Wen Jianyan clearly didn’t like this answer either, and his frown deepened.
“Sir, is there anything else you are unsatisfied with?”
From the side came the cautious, yet puzzled voice of the sales assistant.
In his entire professional career, he had never encountered such a massive challenge.
This gentleman had already made his friend try on seven or eight sets in a row, and still hadn’t found one he was satisfied with.
Wen Jianyan didn’t answer. He just frowned and stared at Wu Zhu, not knowing what he was pondering.
Even when facing life-and-death dilemmas in instances before, he rarely showed such a conflicted and hesitant expression.
Suddenly, he froze, seemingly thinking of something. His eyes lit up, and he turned to the sales assistant.
“Oh right!”
Even though the assistant felt he had gotten used to the impact brought by this customer’s beauty, when the other party looked over with bright eyes at this moment, he still couldn’t help his mind from wandering.
An unprovoked chill hit him.
“Achoo!” The sales assistant shivered and sneezed violently.
“That tie I looked at earlier, bring it to me,” Wen Jianyan ordered, completely oblivious to this.
Wu Zhu watched the sales assistant’s retreating back.
But the next second, he felt his collar being tugged.
“Lower your head!” Wen Jianyan commanded.
“…” Wu Zhu was forced to break his line of sight.
He obediently lowered his head, unwillingly letting himself be manipulated, looking exactly like a vicious dog wearing a muzzle.
The sales assistant came trotting back, still holding the tie Wen Jianyan had his eye on just now.
Wen Jianyan took the tie from his hands and put it on Wu Zhu.
His fingers were white, slender, and ridiculously nimble. With just two deft movements, he easily tied an elegant and perfect Windsor knot.
He took two steps back, sizing Wu Zhu up with the critical gaze of examining merchandise. A few seconds later, he finally revealed a satisfied expression and stingily gave his evaluation:
“Not bad.”
The sales assistant’s tense shoulders finally slacked.
Wen Jianyan turned his head: “This set, this set, and this set.”
He lazily pointed a finger, indicating the clothes Wu Zhu had tried on before: “And these, wrap them all up.”
“…!”
The sales assistant was instantly overjoyed, seemingly no longer having any opinions about his pickiness just now. Looking at Wen Jianyan now, it was as if he was looking at an overly beautiful, sparkling God of Wealth.
Fifteen minutes later, Wen Jianyan slowly strolled out of the store with a pair of sunglasses hanging from his collar and his hands empty.
Wu Zhu followed behind him, both hands full of large and small shopping bags.
The sales assistant stood behind them with a smile on his face, bowing deeply: “Take care.”
Wu Zhu: “Is it over?”
He didn’t care about the gazes coming from all directions.
But the ones falling on Wen Jianyan were different.
If he was stared at for too long, an uncontrollable hostility would occasionally flare up.
“Let’s go back…”
“Over?” Wen Jianyan raised an eyebrow, turning his head to glance at him, a hint of a smile hooking on his lips. “In your dreams.”
Wu Zhu: “…”
Regret.
If I had known, I wouldn’t have told him my clothes were conjured.
When Wen Jianyan learned this piece of news, he practically shot up from the bed, his expression completely losing control:
“C-Conjured?”
Wen Jianyan’s expression twisted: “No thanks.”
It wasn’t like he hadn’t experienced it before.
To this day, he still remembered that icy, bizarre, detached feeling when the shadows manipulated by the other party clung to his skin.
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan paled in fright.
He scrambled out of bed and, under Wu Zhu’s uncomprehending gaze, gritted his molars and spoke in an undeniable, commanding tone:
“I am taking you to buy clothes!”
“Right now, immediately, right this instant!”
Being dragged out of the house, Wu Zhu’s face was still full of bewilderment.
Isn’t it fine as long as there’s something covering it?
Is there any difference between fabric and shadow?
Three minutes later, he and Wen Jianyan arrived here.
And welcomed a three-hour-long torment.
“Still, even if you just conjured them, why was it always that same outfit?”
Wen Jianyan asked while walking forward, one hand stuffed in his pocket.
“Didn’t you like it?”
Wu Zhu answered very quickly.
…He seemed to have really praised it before.
“I liked it before, but that doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily like it later.”
“I’m very fickle, you know.”
“You haven’t gotten tired of wearing it, but I’ve gotten tired of looking at it.”
Liked it before… doesn’t necessarily mean later…
Fickle…
Tired of looking at it…
Wu Zhu’s footsteps abruptly stopped. In the mall’s giant floor-to-ceiling mirror, he looked at his reflection. His bright golden eyes abruptly tightened, and his already narrow pupils contracted into incredibly panicked thin slits.
Seeing the suddenly fast-paced, stern-faced Wu Zhu, a question mark popped up on Wen Jianyan’s head: “?”
Why so enthusiastic all of a sudden?
But he was quite happy to see it happen.
Wen Jianyan shrugged and followed.
In the next store, Wu Zhu’s attitude underwent a 180-degree turn.
With his head lowered and a slight frown on his face, he carefully examined the product catalog in front of him, asking a few detailed questions from time to time. The saleswoman stood beside him, wearing a somewhat nervous smile. Under the other party’s still terrifying aura, even when suppressed, and his sharp, relentless questioning, layers of cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Every time he came out in a new set of clothes, Wu Zhu would stare intently into Wen Jianyan’s eyes, asking earnestly:
“Does it look good?”
“Do you like it?”
“What else do you like?”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Wait, why is he suddenly submitting to a beauty tax?
Seeing the increasingly strange looks from other people in the store, Wen Jianyan finally couldn’t take it anymore. He hurriedly asked the staff to wrap up the few sets he had taken a liking to just now, and then pulled Wu Zhu to flee the scene.
Right before leaving, Wu Zhu seemed to still be somewhat unsatisfied, frowning:
“Is this enough?”
Wen Jianyan: “………………It’s enough!”
It’s more than enough!
Coming out of the store, Wen Jianyan only felt his temples throbbing violently. He raised a hand, pinched the bridge of his nose, and was just about to say something. But the next second, out of the corner of his eye, his gaze was immediately drawn away.
A pitch-black peak lapel coat was hanging there.
He knew with one glance that it would fit perfectly.
“Go try it on,” he ordered.
Several minutes later.
Walking out from the back, Wu Zhu looked up and immediately saw Wen Jianyan not far away.
The bright, dazzling lights landed on the young man’s fluffy, pure white hair whorl.
He leaned lazily against the wall with a smile on his face, dizzyingly charming.
Two girls stood beside him, seemingly asking for his contact information.
Then, they were reduced to giggles by this smooth-talking, eloquent handsome guy who could play all sides.
“…”
Even though he had been strictly warned more than once, Wu Zhu still felt an uncontrollable, violent instinct thrashing in his chest, ferociously baring its fangs.
Seeming to sense something, Wen Jianyan looked over.
He waved his hand: “Come here.”
He turned his head and smilingly said to the two girls: “See, this is the one I was just talking about, my boyfriend.”
Instantly, all evil thoughts died down.
Wu Zhu rubbed over and lowered his head.
“Mm.”
He replied with full satisfaction.
The vicious beast deep in his chest rolled over to expose its belly, letting out a purring sound.
After genially bidding farewell to the two girls, Wen Jianyan finally raised his eyes, looked Wu Zhu up and down, reached out, and adjusted the knot of the other’s tie. Then, he unsparingly gave his evaluation:
“Handsome.”
Tall, long-legged, and impeccably proportioned.
Dressing up so carefully really makes a person look proper. (T/N: Used ironically, literally “looking like a dog trying to act human”).
He was clearly very complacent: “Mm-hmm, my taste is just that good.”
“But even if they’re luxury brands, the upper limit of ready-to-wear is basically just this. Time is a bit tight this time, so we’ll have to make do for now.”
Wen Jianyan shrugged dashingly, his style very much like a playboy playing with the world.
“We’ll stop here for today. In a few days, I’ll make a reservation and take you to get some haute couture.”
Seeing that no one was around, he raised his hand, hooked the Windsor knot he tied on Wu Zhu’s collar, and quickly pressed a kiss onto his lips.
“Oh right, there’s one more thing…”
“Don’t worry, you look good in anything.”
From a liar’s mouth, sweet words of love always came readily.
Always accurate, seeing right through a person’s heart.
“I will never get tired of looking at you.”
Seeing that the other party was dizzy and lightheaded from his teasing, lowering his head to rub over and try to kiss his lips, he lightly pushed him away again.
He put his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, pushed them up, and finally revealed his smug fox tail:
“Baby, you’ll definitely work for me in the guild, and then earn Qi Qian and the others’ money to buy them for me, right?”
