Yu Qi walked calmly back to her aunties, who were still in the middle of enthusiastically choosing outfits. Her aunties immediately wanted to buy even more clothes for her, but this time, she firmly and gently rejected the offer. She cared about them deeply and did not want her aunties to continue wasting their money on her.
They eventually decided to take a much-needed break from their intense shopping session at a nearby restaurant. Ming Yue suggested that they might as well eat their lunch since they were already there. Both Yu Qi and Su Xiao readily agreed to the idea because their stomachs were already rumbling with hunger.
Their choice for today's lunch was authentic Fujian cuisine. However, Su Xiao mentioned that they needed something a bit more stimulating for their taste buds, so she also ordered a side of fiery Szechuan chilli chicken. Yu Qi did not mind the addition at all because she personally loved to eat spicy food. The entire lunch turned out to be incredibly fun and filled with laughter.
After finishing their lunch, they continued to walk around the mall. They simply wanted to stroll for a bit to digest their heavy meal before finally heading back home. As they walked down the grand corridor, they passed by a high-end jewellery shop. It caught Yu Qi's eye because there seemed to be some beautiful jade on display inside.
Whenever it came to jade, Yu Qi was like an absolute crazy fan. She desperately wanted to walk inside just to see whether there was a piece of high-quality jade that could catch her attention.
"Aunties, can we please walk inside and take a quick look?" Yu Qi asked, pointing eagerly toward the jewellery shop.
"Sure, why not?" Ming Yue said with a warm smile.
The three of them stepped inside the elegant boutique. A polite sales assistant immediately came over and greeted them.
"How may I help you today, dear customers?" The sales assistant asked, keeping her best professional smile on her face as she spoke to them.
"We just want to look around for a bit. If something catches our attention enough to buy it, we will definitely call you over, okay?" Ming Yue replied smoothly.
"Of course, dear customer. Please take your time to browse through our jewellery collection." The sales assistant said. She stepped a little further away to give them some space, though her eyes remained glued to the three of them as they walked around.
None of them felt angry about her close watch. It was entirely understandable because the jewellery in this establishment was not cheap at all. If a precious item suddenly went missing, the very first person to take the blame would be the sales assistant, because protecting the inventory was her job.
Yu Qi immediately began browsing through the specialised jade section. Jade was her absolute favourite, especially rare blood jade. Meanwhile, her doting aunties were busy browsing through other fine jewellery pieces like elegant earrings and diamond necklaces.
While she was quietly surveying the jade display, a sudden commotion happened near the front of the store. Several women in the boutique began whispering excitedly among themselves. Curious, Yu Qi looked up to see what the fuss was about, and she was instantly stunned by the sight.
The reason for the sudden excitement was that an absolute Adonis of a man had just walked into the store. He ignored the whispering crowd and walked straight up to the main service counter. The woman working at the counter immediately flashed an incredibly sweet, charming smile at the handsome man.
"Yes, sir. What can I help you with today?" The sales assistant asked, pitch-perfectly trying to sound as alluring as possible.
"I want to see Gen Tao. Kindly tell him it is regarding the blood jade earrings that I ordered from him last month." The man stated, maintaining a completely cold, unreadable expression while talking to the girl.
"Yes, sir. Please wait for just a moment. I will go inform him of your arrival right away." The girl replied.
She seemed visually disappointed that the handsome man had completely ignored her beauty and chosen to remain stone-cold.
"Long Hui?" A woman's voice suddenly called out his name from across the room.
Yes, it was indeed our very own Long Hui. He turned around toward the woman who had called out to him and looked at her face. He tried to quickly scan his memory to place who she was. He knew for a fact that he recognised this woman from somewhere, but he could not immediately remember her name.
"I am Ming Yue, from the Tang Family. You remember me, right?" Ming Yue said with a playful smile to help remind him.
Long Hui nodded respectfully at her question. Of course, he remembered the prestigious Tang Family very well. After all, his beloved woman was officially a Tang family member now. His sharp eyes instantly began scanning the surroundings.
"She is actually here with us today. Look, right over there." Ming Yue laughed softly.
She knew exactly why Long Hui was suddenly looking around the store so intently. It was obvious he was trying to find Yu Qi. Wanting to help the handsome young man out, she pointed a finger directly toward where Yu Qi was standing.
Yu Qi's jaw practically dropped, and she felt completely put on the spot the moment she saw her auntie actively pointing her out to Long Hui.
Meanwhile, Long Hui's eyes lit up with pure, unhidden joy when he realised that his beautiful Yu Qi was actually here too.
Both Ming Yue and Su Xiao were incredibly excited to watch Long Hui and Yu Qi interact together. It was as clear as water to anyone watching that Long Hui deeply liked Yu Qi. And from what they could observe through their sharp maternal eyes, Yu Qi seemed to like him back unconsciously too. She simply had not realised her own feelings just yet.
The other girls browsing in the store looked on in absolute amazement as the cold, intimidating man suddenly began to smile incredibly handsomely. They wondered what could have possibly caused such a drastic change in his demeanour. A second later, they felt a wave of disappointment wash over them because they could clearly see the exact reason for the man's sudden warmth.
"Hi, Yu Qi." Long Hui said, smiling handsomely as he stepped up to her.
"Hi." Yu Qi greeted Long Hui back, her heart skipping a small beat.
"What are you doing here today?" Long Hui asked gently.
"We just came out here to do some shopping together. I am currently just looking around at the collection." Yu Qi explained.
By now, she was finally able to speak a little more normally and comfortably whenever she was around Long Hui.
"I see." Long Hui murmured, scanning her immediate surroundings.
She was standing right in the middle of the jade section. He smiled internally, remembering that his beloved truly had a profound weakness for high-quality jade.
"So, what brings you here?" Yu Qi asked, genuinely curious about the coincidence of Long Hui being in a jewellery boutique.
"I had previously custom-ordered something special from this store. So, I came by today to collect it." Long Hui said.
He intentionally did not explain much about what exactly he had ordered. It was meant to be a grand surprise for his beloved in the future, so he absolutely would not tell her about it just yet.
When Long Hui said that, Yu Qi became intensely curious about what kind of item he had ordered. However, she was far too shy to ask him for more details. She could not just casually pry into his business like that. It felt way too embarrassing.
"I see." Yu Qi murmured softly. That was all she could manage to say to hide her curiosity.
"Excuse me, sir. Mr Gen has requested that you enter the VVIP room now." A sales assistant suddenly came over, completely interrupting their quiet conversation.
Long Hui turned his head to glare at the girl rather angrily. She had just completely ruined his precious, fleeting moment with his beloved. The poor assistant shivered with fear the moment she saw the terrifying, icy expression flashing across the handsome man's face.
"Yu Qi, can you please wait here for me for just a moment? I will finish up my business inside as quickly as humanly possible." Long Hui requested, looking at Yu Qi pleadingly.
He absolutely could not let this golden opportunity pass him by. It was the perfect chance to take Yu Qi out on a proper date. Today happened to be his official day off, and a free day off from his military duties was something that was incredibly rare and difficult to obtain.
"O...kay," Yu Qi replied softly, nodding her head as she agreed to wait for him to return.
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko**