Upon hearing this and seeing the look of self-doubt on Hu Yuying's face, Long Aotian seemed to sense something and glanced at her feet.
Feeling Long Aotian's gaze, Hu Yuying's insecurities grew stronger. "I-I'm sorry, Brother Long," she murmured, biting her lip before turning to leave.
Her heart ached. She had finally gotten the chance to go shopping and have a meal with Brother Long...
"Ah—" Hu Yuying let out an involuntary gasp as she felt herself being lifted by a strong force, startling her.
Long Aotian hoisted her onto his shoulder. "What are you screaming for?"
"Daring to stand me up? You’ve got some nerve."
"N-no, Brother Long, it’s not like that... Please put me down..." Hu Yuying, now perched on Long Aotian's shoulder, felt a mix of fear and excitement, but what she couldn't stand the most were the amused glances from the people around her.
So many people were looking their way because of Brother Long's actions. It was so embarrassing...
Long Aotian gave her bottom a light slap. "Quiet down."
Hu Yuying's body stiffened, her cheeks instantly flushing red, her breathing becoming uneven.
The sensation on her bottom... it was so, so humiliating...
She felt too ashamed to face anyone, covering her face with her hands, but she obediently stopped struggling, letting Long Aotian carry her forward.
After the slap, Long Aotian himself paused, realizing he had acted on impulse.
The lingering sensation on his palm left him flustered, his body slightly stiffening. Unconsciously, his ears turned red, and even the hand that had slapped her was now slightly damp with sweat.
He cleared his throat. "That’s what you get for not listening." It sounded like a feeble excuse for his sudden action...
The basement level of the mall was the clothing district, and Long Aotian immediately took Hu Yuying to the women's clothing and shoe section.
Hu Yuying, still reeling from the slap, didn’t dare to resist and let Long Aotian lead her to the clothing area.
Her hands were clenched tightly in nervousness.
Once they arrived, Long Aotian crouched down and set Hu Yuying on her feet.
As their eyes met for a brief moment, Hu Yuying's gaze sparkled with emotion.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she quickly turned away, afraid he might see her flushed face. She bit her lip, her heart pounding uncontrollably in her chest.
All she could hear was the thumping of her own heartbeat. Hu Yuying felt both shy and nervous, worried that Long Aotian might hear it too.
Just as Long Aotian called over a shop assistant, Hu Yuying finally snapped out of her daze. "Brother Long."
"Quiet."
"No, Brother Long, I have plenty at home..."
"One more word, and I’ll make sure you can’t even crawl away!"
Hu Yuying glanced at the price tag on the shoes and muttered softly, "So expensive."
"My treat, you cheapskate," Long Aotian said with a chuckle.
But the price on the tag still lingered in Hu Yuying's mind. "Rip-off," she whispered.
"What are you mumbling about? Sit down!"
Hu Yuying sat down on the shoe bench, her head lowered. "With this price, I could buy two pairs of shoes back in my hometown..."
Then, while the shop assistant was searching for the shoes, Hu Yuying gently tugged on Long Aotian's pants. "Maybe I should just get a pair of slippers. They’re the most comfortable anyway."
Summer slippers were cheap, and even in a mall like this, Hu Yuying could afford them herself.
"Are you done yet?"
"I don’t want Brother Long to spend money on me," Hu Yuying said softly, her gaze shrinking back.
"Still talking? Want me to hit you?" Long Aotian raised his fist, and Hu Yuying immediately sat back down on the bench, glancing at him timidly before quickly looking away.
When the clerk brought over the shoes, Long Aotian looked at Hu Yuying. "Are you going to take them off yourself, or should I do it for you?"
Hu Yuying wanted to say something, but seeing Long Aotian's gaze, she relented. "I-I’ll do it myself."
The clerk couldn’t help but laugh at their interaction. "Your boyfriend is buying you something. Why are you so shy?"
Ever since Long Aotian had carried her over, they had attracted quite a bit of attention.
"Huh?" Hu Yuying was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved her hands at the clerk, trying to explain. But the word "boyfriend" left her mind blank, unable to form a coherent thought.
She opened her mouth, but all that came out was the sound of her pounding heartbeat.
"We’re classmates," Long Aotian explained.
Hearing this, Hu Yuying glanced at Long Aotian, then looked down at her canvas shoes.
“Oh, I see. You two seem really close,” the shop assistant said with a light laugh, noticing Hu Yuying’s flushed face and Long Aotian’s slightly reddened ears. She didn’t press further.
Instead, she took out the shoes from the box. "Do you like this style? It’s the latest arrival. I haven’t even had the chance to display them yet. What’s your shoe size?"
Hu Yuying glanced at Long Aotian before answering, "Size 37."
Soon, the sales clerk brought over the two latest pairs of shoes.
Hu Yuying reluctantly took off her own shoes.
Her small feet were clad in black high socks, which weren’t noticeable under her pants.
But now, with her pants rolled up, the contrast between the black socks and the white shoes felt oddly mismatched.
"Give us two pairs of socks, the ankle ones," Long Aotian said.
The shop assistant didn’t hesitate and went to fetch them, understanding the implication: "I’ll take both pairs of shoes."
"Do I need to change the socks too?" Hu Yuying asked softly, her cheeks still flushed.
"Yeah," Long Aotian replied, and Hu Yuying didn’t ask further. At least the socks were complimentary.
When the clerk returned with a white and a pink pair of small socks, Hu Yuying took them and began removing her own socks.
As the socks came off, Hu Yuying instinctively looked up at Long Aotian, who quickly turned his head away, pretending nothing had happened.
But Hu Yuying was certain she heard him swallow hard.
Long Aotian cleared his throat, his mind flashing with fleeting thoughts...
...Damn it...
As Hu Yuying looked away, Long Aotian turned his head back.
Feeling his gaze, Hu Yuying lowered her eyes and bit her lip, feeling utterly embarrassed. Yet... besides the shyness, there was another emotion quietly spreading in her heart...
The ankle socks were small, only reaching her heels. Once she put on the shoes, the socks were neatly hidden, making her look more polished and stylish.
[Edited, some descriptions removed, but it shouldn’t affect the reading experience. Hope it doesn’t bother the readers...]
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
