Chapter 35: A Strange Loop
“!?”
Looking into her good friend's eyes, Lin Muqing was still trying to figure out what was going on when Ye Mengze’s sudden actions completely shocked her.
Just by listening to the sound of the camera shutter, you could tell it was on burst mode, within just a few seconds, he had taken dozens of photos. It was kind of scary.
By the time she finally reacted, Lin Muqing turned around and ran into the changing room, slamming the door shut behind her with a loud bang.
“Huh? Why did she run away?”
Just as he was halfway pressing the shutter button, Ye Mengze noticed she had disappeared, leaving only the closed door of the changing room behind.
Judging from the situation, Ye Mengze figured he had scared her again.
“You scared her.”
With no expression, Ye Ziming glanced at his little brother. His smile froze, and a hint of blame and helplessness appeared in his eyes.
He hadn’t even had enough time to admire the view or give his opinion, and now Lin Muqing had been scared off. Of course he wasn’t happy about it.
He even looked at his sister with a bit of annoyance.
He felt like her showing up tonight had only caused trouble, messing up their date.
“Well, sorry then.”
Ye Mengze put away her phone reluctantly, glanced up at her brother’s face, and then quietly pouted. Her apology was clearly not sincere.
In her heart, she complained, ‘He’s already acting this protective and they’re not even married yet, who knows how bad it’ll get in the future?’
Even if he turned into one of those "wife-obsessed" guys, she wouldn't be surprised.
“As an apology, how about I design a set of matching couple outfits for you two? But you’ll need to give me her body measurements.”
As she spoke, she put on a teasing smile again, poking her little brother’s arm playfully.
She said it was to design clothes for them, but in her heart, she was actually treating them as her fashion models.
One is cold and cool, the other is soft and cute. Just seeing the two standing next to each other had sparked a wave of inspiration in Ye Mengze’s mind. She instantly thought of all kinds of outfit styles.
“Okay.”
Surprisingly fast, Ye Ziming agreed without even thinking much about it.
He was really looking forward to wearing couple outfits with Lin Muqing.
“Alright then, I’ve got something to take care of, so I’ll head out first. Oh—and help me tell her I’m sorry.”
Leaving those words behind, Ye Mengze turned and left, eager to rush back to her studio and turn her inspiration into designs.
But before leaving, she took out her phone again and snapped a photo of Ye Ziming too.
With photos of the two of them and her head full of inspiration, Ye Mengze knew it was going to be a sleepless night.
But before she got to work, she had one very important thing to do.
She had to share her big discovery with the whole family.
She wanted them all to know that Ye Ziming wasn’t that way, so the family could finally stop worrying about his future.
“Phew~”
The changing room door opened again, and Lin Muqing stepped out in her school uniform, feeling much more comfortable now.
“Huh? Your sister left already?”
Holding a set of clothes, Lin Muqing walked out of the changing room and saw that only her good friend was waiting outside.
“Yeah, she went back.”
He took two steps forward, casually took the clothes from Lin Muqing’s hands, and turned to hand them to the store clerk.
Then, he passed along his sister’s apology.
“Oh… I see.”
That apology caught Lin Muqing off guard, but after hearing the person had already left, she felt a little more at ease.
She thought to herself, Now that she’s gone, nothing weird should happen anymore, right?
They had already finished buying the clothes, so the next step should be going home and figuring out what to do for dinner.
Why didn’t Lin Muqing just eat here, you ask?
Because the food in this place was ridiculously expensive. There was no way she could afford it. Compared to that, making a bowl of instant noodles at home was way more budget-friendly.
She chatted with her good friend for a bit near the changing room, when a female manager came walking toward them holding two shopping bags.
“Let’s go.”
Ye Ziming casually took the bags, patted Lin Muqing on the shoulder, gave her a glance, and then led her toward the front of the clothing store.
“Uh... Don’t you need to pay?”
Lin Muqing was really curious after seeing how Ye Ziming handled things. She couldn’t help but look at him in confusion.
And the way that manager acted toward him, with a big and respectful smile, felt more like how someone would treat a boss, not a customer.
It was completely different from how staff usually treated shoppers.
“……”
That question caught Ye Ziming off guard.
It just so happened that the manager knew him, so they skipped all the usual steps.
It was kind of like taking stuff from your own house. There’s no need to pay for it.
It had become a habit...
“She paid for it as an apology.”
When in doubt, just blame it on his sister. Ye Ziming said it with a completely straight face, not even blinking.
He figured Lin Muqing wouldn’t be able to check if it was true anyway.
“Oh, I see… I kind of feel bad now.”
That explanation sounded pretty reasonable to her. Seeing the serious look on his face, she stopped worrying and followed him out of the store.
“Should I carry it? I mean, it’s my outfit after all.”
But then another question came up. Lin Muqing remembered she was only getting one set of clothes, but Ye Ziming was holding two bags. That was strange.
Did they separate the top and bottom into two different bags?
It seemed odd. As she spoke, she reached out her hand, wanting to take a bag and check.
But before she could touch it, Ye Ziming quickly raised his arms and held both bags above his head.
One of them was 180 cm tall, the other about 160, maybe this was what people called the “cutest height difference.”
Even on tiptoe, Lin Muqing could barely reach the bottom of the bags. There was no way she could grab them.
“Uh…”
Even after being friends for a year, this was the first time Lin Muqing truly realized how short she was, and how tall he was.
“I’ll give them to you when we get back.”
Looking at Lin Muqing reaching up with both hands, Ye Ziming smiled again and gently said that to her.
Almost without thinking, he raised his other hand and softly placed it on her head, gently pushing her back down.
In that moment, he thought she looked especially cute.
“I…”
With that big hand resting on her head, Lin Muqing felt like she had taken a critical hit. Her arms slowly dropped, and so did her head.
She looked completely defeated. Her eyes lost their shine, and the more Ye Ziming patted her head, the more she felt just how short she was.
At that moment, Lin Muqing felt like this was a truly sad story. Her big, round eyes seemed like they might tear up at any second.
“What’s wrong?”
Noticing the downcast expression on her face, Ye Ziming frowned slightly. His eyes softened as he asked gently.
He didn’t understand, just a moment ago she had seemed happy, but now she looked so upset.
But seeing Lin Muqing sad only made him want to rub her head even more, hoping to cheer her up and bring back her good mood.
Emmm…
It kind of felt like they were stuck in a loop.
The two of them had fallen into a strange little cycle.