Chương 20: Shopping

The afternoon sun was still blazing, pouring into the courtyard and baking the marble floor until it was scorching hot.

Lin Che was changing his shoes in the entryway when his gaze inadvertently fell on a black umbrella next to the shoe cabinet. He subconsciously reached out to take it, but stopped the moment his fingertips touched the umbrella handle.

It's a perfectly sunny day outside, why bring an umbrella?

"I'm really going crazy from the heat..." He chuckled self-deprecatingly, and was about to withdraw his hand when he suddenly heard light footsteps behind him.

"Ah Che, what are you spacing out for?" Su Yuqing peeked out from behind him, tilting her head to look at him.

Lin Che's expression froze instantly. He turned around abruptly, putting his index finger to his lips: "Shh—" Su Yuqing immediately understood, playfully sticking out her tongue and making a zipping motion with her mouth closed. The sound of Lin Chen and Su Wanyi talking could be heard from the living room. If this intimate nickname were overheard, it would be impossible to explain.

"I wasn't spacing out." Lin Che lowered his voice and pushed the umbrella further inside.

"But you, you've been dawdling for ages. If we don't leave soon, the mall will close."

Su Yuqing pouted and slung the small bag over her shoulder: "Isn't it because someone swore yesterday that 'everything will be handed over to him,' but today he didn't even make a shopping list?" As she spoke, she lightly kicked Lin Che's heel with her toe.

"Need to make a list?" Lin Che raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to school or camping?" He deliberately looked her up and down, as if to say, "Are you planning to bring the whole stationery store back?"

"Of course, it's for school!" Su Yuqing counted on her fingers, "Notebooks, pencil cases, folders, sticky notes, book covers... and I need to have a few buttons for my school uniform, right? What if they fall off?"

"..." Lin Che paused for two seconds, "Did you go to school to take clothes apart?"

Su Yuqing narrowed her eyes, suddenly reached out and grabbed his shirt collar, as if to tear it: "If you say another word, I'll tear you apart right now."

Lin Che slapped her hand away, barely suppressing a laugh: "Stop fooling around, let's go."

"Xiao Che, are you sure you don't need me to take you? The sun is so strong outside, it's too uncomfortable to go out in this weather." Lin Chen's voice came from behind, accompanied by footsteps getting closer and closer.

"Didn't we have an appointment to deliver the new bed this afternoon? We can't let Wanyi's mother handle it alone. The place isn't too far, so it's no problem." Lin Che waved his hand without turning his head and pushed open the door to walk out of the house.

Su Yuqing turned around and smiled sweetly: "Daddy Lin Chen, let's go~" Then she turned around and skipped after Lin Che.

"Okay... then take care." Lin Chen scratched his head and sat back down on the sofa. Su Wanyi was arranging flowers in a vase on the coffee table. The two smiled at each other, their eyes full of tenderness.

The moment he stepped out the door, a wave of heat mixed with the chirping of cicadas hit him. The blazing sunlight made Lin Che squint involuntarily. The outlines of distant scenery were distorted and deformed in the heat wave, as if they were seen through a swaying transparent film.

Seeing this, Lin Che subconsciously took a half step back and returned to the shadow of the eaves. He began to regret rejecting Lin Chen's suggestion earlier—the bright line between light and darkness in front of him now looked like the entrance to a hellish steamer.

Just then, a soft "click" sounded beside her, and Su Yuqing magically pulled a parasol out of her bag and gracefully opened it.

She tilted her head to look at Lin Che, a mischievous smile in her eyes: "What are you standing there for? Aren't you going to leave?"

"Could it be..." she deliberately dragged out the word, the umbrella gently turning in her hand, "that someone is afraid of getting sunburned?" Her smile carried a hint of teasing.

"What a joke." Faced with Su Yuqing's provocation, Lin Che steeled his heart and strode into the sunlight, but the next second, the hem of his clothes was gently tugged.

"Don't move." The expected scorching heat did not arrive. Su Yuqing stood on tiptoe, and the umbrella steadily covered the two of them.

"This time... let me hold the umbrella for you." Her voice suddenly became very soft, with a subtle tenderness.

"It feels pretty good, right? Ah~ Che~" She dragged out the last word, as if it was swirling on the tip of her tongue before uttering it.

Lin Che turned his head slightly, not letting the other person see the corners of his mouth turned up. He reached out and snatched the parasol, deliberately holding it a little higher.

"Don't try to be strong if you're not tall enough. If I asked you to hold an umbrella, I wouldn't even be able to see the road."

"Hey!" Su Yuqing shouted in dissatisfaction, jumping up to try and snatch back the umbrella.

"Who are you calling a shorty?"

"Whoever catches my hair when they hold an umbrella is a shorty." Lin Che nimbly dodged her movement, a smile flashing in his eyes.

"Lin Che!" Su Yuqing stomped her foot in anger, but soon couldn't help but laugh.

The sun was still blazing. The two walked side by side on a street with few pedestrians. The chirping of cicadas rose and fell among the trees lining the road, and occasionally a bicycle bell would ring as it passed by.

Lin Che's umbrella was tilted towards Su Yuqing's side as usual, exposing his right shoulder to the sunlight, and his neck was already covered in a fine sweat.

But instead of resisting as before, he looked up and squinted at the dazzling golden sphere in the sky.

"It wouldn't be bad to walk in the sunlight like this forever," he thought.

......

"Air conditioning truly deserves to be called one of the greatest inventions in human history." This was Lin Che's first reaction upon entering the mall.

The huge building was well-cooled, with the central air conditioning blowing cold air into every corner. As soon as Lin Che entered, he felt like a desert traveler who had finally found an oasis.

He took a deep breath without making a sound, letting the cool air fill his lungs.

His initial romantic notions, labeled "foolish," were thrown to the winds. He now firmly believes that any idyllic idea is utterly insignificant in the face of the natural power of the scorching heat.

His shirt was soaked with sweat from the walk, and now it clung to his body, a feeling that was far from pleasant.

In contrast to his slightly disheveled appearance, Su Yuqing seemed unaffected by the heat, with only a few beads of sweat glistening on her forehead.

The light green dress she wore today had a refreshing color scheme, somewhat similar to her outfit when she transformed. The delicate fragrance emanating from her body had been lingering in Lin Che's nose since they set off, and it was even more pronounced now under the air conditioning.

After entering the mall, Su Yuqing went straight to the stationery section, with Lin Che following closely behind her. His gaze inadvertently fell on the mobile phone counter in the distance, and his eyes flickered slightly.

He needed to find an opportunity to sneak away and get a new membership card; that was his main purpose in coming to the mall.

The reason he contacted Su Yuqing today was a promise he made to her yesterday as Xing Shuang. Recalling the "poisonous oath" he made to escape back then, Lin Che's lips twitched slightly.

He knew that she would hold onto small and cute things and wouldn't let go, and he thought that she was actually very straightforward and cute in this respect.

However, when he, as [Starfrost], became the one being held, the strange feeling was indescribable, and his dignity as a man seemed to have vanished.

The thought of the consequences of breaking that promise sent a chill down Lin Che's spine.

What's even more terrifying is that he vaguely feels that Su Yuqing might actually hope that [Xingshuang] will break this promise, so that she can legitimately find a place to hug him all day.

"How about this?" Su Yuqing's voice came from the side, interrupting Lin Che's thoughts.

The culprit that had been making him rather unsettled was now picking up a stack of colorful sticky notes, tilting its head to look at him, its eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Ugly." Lin Che glanced at it and gave his evaluation without any mercy.

"Where is it ugly!" Su Yuqing widened her eyes and held the sticky note up to his face.

"It's obviously cute, okay! Look at these patterns—"

"Your criteria for choosing things is 'cute'?" Lin Che casually picked up a pack of plain-colored sticky notes.

"These are the practical ones."

"Boring." Su Yuqing pouted and stuffed the two packs of labels into her shopping basket.

Lin Che's lips curled up almost imperceptibly. This guy, he complains with his mouth, but his actions tell a different story.

"What about this pencil case?" She picked up a simple gray pencil case and turned to ask for his opinion.

"This is just right for me, it's spacious and durable." Lin Che took the pencil case, looked at it, and put it directly into the shopping basket.

He then took a light green pencil case from the shelf and continued, "You should use this."

Su Yuqing stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed: "When you get serious, you're quite like an older brother."

Lin Che turned his face away: "... Nonsense."

After paying, Lin Che, carrying a bulging shopping bag, casually said, "I'm going to buy drinks. You wait here for me."

"Let's go together." Su Yuqing reached out to take a bag.

"Do we really need two people to buy a drink?" Lin Che turned away from her hand.

"Do you think I wouldn't remember what you like to drink?" He teased her deliberately.

"Soda, right?"

"It's clearly jasmine tea!" Su Yuqing pouted and glared at Lin Che.

Lin Che finally couldn't help but chuckle: "Just kidding, I'll be back in a bit."

"Don't keep me waiting too long," Su Yuqing said anxiously.

Lin Che nodded, turned and walked towards the beverage area. After confirming that Su Yuqing hadn't followed, he quickly turned towards the telecommunications service hall in the distance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting a little longer," he thought to himself, then quickened his pace and walked forward.

As he passed the glass dome in the center of the mall, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Subconsciously looking up, Lin Che's gaze went further into the distance through the glass dome. The sky was still clear and the sunlight was still dazzling, but he felt a chill for no reason.

It seems... something is different.