Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When the clerk at the Lolita fashion counter saw the customers approaching, she quickly stood up with a smile.

But upon seeing who it was, her smile gradually faded.jpg.

Three grown men, roughly aged 20, 30, and 50...

This three-generation group... probably wasn't here to pick a fight, right?

As soon as Shen Gali saw the sofa in the boutique, he couldn't wait to lie down.

He'd reached his limit. He couldn't go on.

He breathed weakly, as if he'd drop dead at any moment.

"Um, sir, we don't take newspaper subscriptions. You might want to try somewhere else," the clerk said awkwardly to Nan Liujing.

Shen Gali poked his head out: "Hear that? They don't do subscriptions. Let's go."

The other clerk, experienced with high-end customers, quickly caught on. Spotting the luxury shopping bags in Uncle Li's hands, she immediately flashed a broad smile and approached.

"Sir, you have a distinguished air. This would go perfectly with our new arrival, 'Spring Night Banquet.' Would you like to try it on?"

Uncle Li cleared his throat and pointed to the frail Shen Gali, indicating that the one buying clothes was that guy, could she please stop with the blind flattery.

The clerk didn't even blink. She walked straight up to Shen Gali: "Sir..."

Before she could finish, Shen Gali raised a finger and pointed at Nan Liujing in the wheelchair, meaning the one buying clothes was that guy, could she please stop bothering him.

This time, the clerk was incredulous. They didn't have a size that would fit the man in the wheelchair.

She frantically signaled to the other clerk, who immediately brought out "Spring Night Banquet."

The elaborate, opulent dress featured black and white as the main colors—pure white top joined to sheer, gossamer-like sleeves, with fabric draping like blooming lotus leaves, wide yet refined.

The waist cincher was black, with a bronze Jerusalem cross in the center, linking to the sheer dark blue underskirt embroidered with ancient clocks, butterflies, and other European aristocratic elements, supported by a white crinoline that created an elegant shape—noble, refined, yet charmingly bright and coquettish.

Just looking at it, Shen Gali knew trying it on would be a total pain.

Maybe he should just play dead.

He immediately straightened his body, crossed his hands over his stomach, closed his eyes, and struck a peaceful pose (serene.jpg).

"This..." The clerk was at a loss.

Nan Liujing tapped lightly on the armrest of his wheelchair, the watch strap shimmering with each movement.

"Do you want to change here, or be dragged to the lobby downstairs to change?" His sullen voice was flat.

Shen Gali wasn't scared. He didn't think Nan Liujing had the guts.

He ignored it and kept lying there.

"Uncle Li." Nan Liujing tilted his head slightly. "Contact the downstairs security and have them clear the crowd in thirty minutes."

Uncle Li acknowledged.

Uncle Li left. Shen Gali sat up. Uncle Li returned.

Shen Gali was convinced that Nan Liujing cared about saving face, but stubborn Uncle Li might not.

He grabbed the dress and went into the fitting room.

He absolutely hated trying on clothes—always making a mess. The fitting room had only one hook. He couldn't put the clothes on the floor, and one hook wasn't enough to hang everything.

Whoever designed this fitting room must have had a vendetta against society.

Half an hour later, Shen Gali opened the fitting room door and poked his head out.

The two clerks outside, who were well-trained, started clapping and complimenting before even seeing the full outfit:

"Sir, this outfit is perfect on you! Look at that figure, that aura! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call you a noble lady from some European manor."

"Sir, you have a truly stunning face. I've never seen a man look so good in women's clothing. Come out and let your friends see."

Shen Gali refused. He couldn't bear the embarrassment. He held onto the doorframe and tried to back away.

The clerks thought, "Don't screw up our commission," and each took one hand, pried his fingers loose and dragged him out.

Nan Liujing had been waiting outside for half an hour, his patience almost worn out.

He had no interest in men wearing women's clothes; he just wanted to see Shen Gali humiliated.

If he could goad Shen Gali into a public meltdown, then the whole world would be a witness to Shen Gali's insolence firsthand, and the plan to break off the engagement would be perfect.

Just as he was thinking, a white figure was dragged over by the two clerks.

Nan Liujing had readied a sneer—

The pure white figure stood before him.

Nan Liujing's smile gradually disappeared.

He fell silent.

His gaze seemed to rust as it landed on that white figure. He wanted to look away, but the rust made the movement slow and heavy.

An overly large dress usually makes a person look bulky—a plain fact.

But Shen Gali seemed to be the exception.

Under the sheer shoulder sleeves, the delicate, smooth contours of his arms were graceful. Even though he was thin, it wasn't unpleasant; on the contrary, it was just right—the little bit of flesh he had was all in the right places.

The black cincher visually cinched his waist to an impossibly narrow width, accentuating his waist. The exposed calves were fair and straight, with a soft sheen. The delicate, bony instep peeking from under the white leather shoes.

His chest puffed out slightly, a small dark red mole at the center added a decadent beauty, perfectly matching the overall style of the dress.

Shen Gali lowered his head, his slender fingers gently twisting a strand of hair at his temple. Feeling bound and uncomfortable in the dress, he said weakly: "So, do you think this looks good?"

Nan Liujing struggled to shift his rusted, heavy gaze. His fingers slowly curled into a fist on the armrest.

After what seemed like an eternity with no response from Nan Liujing, Shen Gali didn't want to play along anymore. He turned to go change back into his normal clothes.

"It looks pretty good."

A faint voice, lacking its usual coldness, ethereal, as if from far away.

Shen Gali: ?

When did he go blind?

Nan Liujing turned his wheelchair and said to the salesgirls in a low voice, "Pack it up and take it away."

He added, "That whole row in the display case, pack them all up."

In his mind, the automatically launched engagement termination plan 5.0 added another crime to Shen Gali's list: suspicion of seducing others.

*

As soon as he got home, Shen Gali couldn't wait to throw himself onto the soft bed.

It felt like mercury was injected into his muscles, unbearable pain.

He was so burnt out he desperately needed to lie down for twenty-four hours.

A quick glance at his phone showed that the contact nicknamed "Idiot No. 1" had sent him over eighty text messages, all filled with the word "brother." He was starting to forget what the word "brother" even looked like.

Well, now he knew who "Idiot No. 1" was.

To be number one, he must really have something special.

He'd barely closed his eyes when a sudden chill hit him, making all his hair stand on end.

Uh oh, he needed to lock the door—fast.

Just as he reached the door, it was too late.

"Mr. Shen, it's already five o'clock in the afternoon. I'll read out today's meal plan for you."

Shen Gali didn't understand. Wasn't the lavish lunch enough to fill his stomach? Why have dinner and create more garbage?

Didn't hear that, didn't hear that. Just ignore him.

"Mr. Shen, I know you're not asleep. I calculated from the floor vibrations, wind resistance, and your weight that you're standing right behind the door. Mr. Shen, am I correct? If not, let's discuss it face to face."

This time it was Shen Gali's turn to grit his teeth.

In typical wealthy family TV dramas, there is always a well-meaning but loose-tongued butler like Uncle Li who messes things up. Every time he sees such a plot, Shen Gali wishes the villain would poison him and make him mute.

Should he poison him? Shen Gali thought wickedly.

A second later, he dismissed this evil thought.

Forget it, poisoning is too troublesome, and a slight mistake might earn him a stylish prison uniform.

Moreover, there's a high chance he'd probably taste the poison himself, pass out, get rushed to the hospital by the villain, be saved, then land in jail eating government meals.

No matter how he thinks about it, the end of the universe is always a prison meal.

Shen Gali opened the door with a sigh, and outside stood Uncle Li with a beaming face.

Uncle Li cleared his throat, took out his hardcover notebook: "Today's meal plan. Staple: steamed purple rice; main course: 'Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals' and dry-pot cauliflower; soup: silver fungus and lotus seed soup; dessert: ginger milk curd."

Shen Gali: "What are 'Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals'?"

"As the name suggests, crabs and shrimp stewed together."

Uncle Li closed the hardcover notebook with a snap, bowed respectfully at thirty degrees: "Let me pass on the young master's orders. From now on, when the young master is at home, you must wear a Lolita dress. When he's not looking, you don't have to wear it."

Shen Gali: ...

Creep.

He wanted more and more to get out of this world where the poor have no rights.

Shen Gali rarely ate fruits like grapes and mangoes that need peeling or stemming. Not because they tasted bad, but because grapes need to be washed individually and mango skin is a pain to peel. If someone were willing to wash, peel, and cut them into small pieces for him, he wouldn't mind trying.

The same with clothing; he mostly wore simple, easy-to-wear T-shirts or shirts with trousers, and even shirts had to have big buttons—and few of them.

But Lolita dresses required layers to put on and endless ribbons and knots to tie, so after using all his strength to undo the corset, Shen Gali felt a strong aversion to the dress.

He wasn't going to wear it. Let the villain beat him to death.

He went downstairs to the kitchen and saw two iron basins on the counter, containing swimming crabs and green shrimp freshly caught from the sea and directly shipped over. Next to them was a sticky note detailing the cleaning process for both ingredients.

Even if oxygen was pumped during transport at lightning speed, the crabs had lost their spunk. After cutting the rubber bands binding their claws, the little guys lay limply in the basin, motionless.

For a burnout with no sense of planning, the cleaning process was just a worthless piece of paper; he went by experience.

He put the crabs into the sink and started deveining the shrimp.

So troublesome. Since shrimp know their fate of being eaten, can't they learn to empty their own intestines?

"Click, click." Suddenly, a weird noise came from beside him.

Shen Gali was focused on deveining the shrimp, so he ignored the noise.

"Click click!" The noise grew louder and more urgent.

Shen Gali lazily looked up toward the iron basin where the sound came from, but the basin was too high to see.

Forget it.

He lowered his head and continued deveining. It took him a full hour to devein twenty green shrimp, leaving them decapitated and their corpses scattered everywhere.

At that moment, Uncle Li knocked and pushed the door open: "Mr. Shen, I'm here to check on the dinner progress... What's going on here!"

With a shocked exclamation, Shen Gali looked over.

Crabs of all sizes were scattered in every corner, clinging to the dish rack, sitting on the cleaver...

He looked again at the basin that had held the crabs—it was empty.

Uncle Li frantically went to arrest the criminal crabs, muttering, "Didn't I say to put them in the pot quickly after cutting the rubber bands? Look, they all ran away... Huh? Mr. Shen, why aren't you wearing the Lolita dress?"

Shen Gali thought, "Is this the time to be concerned about that?"

He and Uncle Li spent a long time returning the crabs to the basin, getting injured multiple times by the crabs fighting their fate.

Uncle Li straightened his old back, wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Have we caught them all? How many were there? Did you count?"

Shen Gali glanced quickly, counted the crabs in the basin, and said, "I counted, six."

He hadn't actually counted, but if he said he hadn't, Uncle Li would definitely make him check the kitchen again to avoid missing any. The kitchen was full of crevices, a pain to search, and he was already very tired.

Shen Gali shifted his gaze evasively to the side: "Definitely."