The arrangement in the shop wasn’t much different from other stores.
The minimalist wallpaper, adorned with a few cartoon animals and a play area inside, made it clear that this was a Children’s Clothing Store.
The only real difference was that it wasn’t as noisy as other shops.
There was no shouting, and even the music had been replaced by a looping sales pitch on a loudspeaker.
Yezhe actually liked this very much—a little peace and quiet did wonders for his mood.
After walking for so long, he was already physically tired. If his eardrums were bombarded too, anyone would get annoyed.
Inside the shop, just one or two customers were scattered around, picking out clothes.
Every now and then, they’d glance at the children beside them, worried their own kid might wander off.
When Yezhe pulled Liuyin inside, a middle-aged female Shop Assistant, who had been sitting idly in the store, stood up to greet the siblings.
“Hello, customer. Are you here to pick out clothes for the little sister next to you?”
The Shop Assistant was quite enthusiastic, patiently helping Yezhe figure out which clothes would suit Liuyin.
As he browsed, Yezhe took the chance to observe the shop carefully.
Not only were there clothes on the shelves, but shoes, socks, underwear—everything was here, and there were even quite a few toys.
After thinking it over, Yezhe decided to buy a Jacket for Liuyin first.
After he explained his purpose to the Shop Assistant, the middle-aged woman led Yezhe further into the store.
Really, there’s no comparison—the Children’s Clothing Store had so much more variety than the Men’s Clothing Store.
Not only were there more types, but each type had an endless array of styles.
Staring at a wall full of Jackets, both Yezhe and Liuyin were torn. No, to be precise—they were extremely torn.
None of the styles were ugly, but they hadn’t found one that was especially attractive either…
Yezhe was about to ask for Liuyin’s opinion, but Liuyin only shook her head.
Looks like I’ll have to rely on my terribly outdated sense of style…
“Mister, you might want to look at this one.”
Maybe she noticed the siblings’ indecision, so the Shop Assistant took a light blue zip-up fleece Sweatshirt from the rack and handed it to Liuyin.
When Yezhe saw the Jacket in the woman’s hands, he couldn’t help but feel impressed.
A Shop Assistant is a Shop Assistant—the one she picked really wasn’t bad at all.
The upper part was a light blue, matching with white on the lower half.
The collar was sewn with a layer of white lace, and the pockets were designed in the shape of a cat’s head.
Even the hood had two little cat ears.
Though it was called a Sweatshirt, it looked more like an outdoor Jacket.
The cuffs were fitted, the inside was thick enough to keep warm, and while it looked good, it was at least enough for autumn—wear a sweater inside in winter and it would be fine.
It was lighter than a Down Jacket, warmer than a regular windbreaker, and most importantly, the style fit Liuyin perfectly.
“Liuyin, what do you think of this one?”
Yezhe pointed to the Sweatshirt in the Shop Assistant’s hand.
Just from the excitement in Liuyin’s eyes, Yezhe knew she liked it too.
“Mm, mm! I really like this one!”
Her little head nodded excitedly. She couldn’t wait to try it on.
So, Yezhe took the Sweatshirt from the Shop Assistant and helped Liuyin put it on.
Wearing the Sweatshirt, Liuyin ran impatiently to the nearest Full-Length Mirror.
Yezhe followed her slowly from behind.
No way… She looks a little too cute. That’s practically cheating.
Reflected in the mirror was a tender, adorable, and delicate face. With the Jacket on, the already cute girl looked even more lovable.
Anyone who didn’t know better might think Liuyin was a Hajime Cat come to life.
“Big brother! Does it look good?” Liuyin’s lips curled up as she looked at her beautiful reflection in the mirror, so happy that she spun around in place.
“Mm, mm. Very cute.”
Next was to ask about the price.
“Excuse me, how much is this one?”
“Sir, this one is originally 499. After Discount, it’s 399.”
The price was honestly a bit discouraging… But if he gritted his teeth, he could still buy it.
“Is 399 really the lowest price? Can it go any lower?”
Yezhe tried to haggle with his clumsy skills, and the answer was…
“This really is the lowest. However, we have an Activity right now: if you buy two items at once, you get a 30% Discount, and if you buy three, it’s 40% off…”
Three items… three…
Wait a minute.
A Jacket, a pair of Pants, and a pair of Shoes—wouldn’t that be exactly three?
But wouldn’t that mean spending even more…
Oh well, let it be. Can’t just buy one Jacket and nothing else to wear.
Besides, Liuyin only had one set of clothes up till now. If those got dirty, she wouldn’t have anything to change into.
Since they’re already here, might as well buy everything in one go.
After thinking it over, Yezhe simply stopped thinking and decided to just buy them!
So, Yezhe told Liuyin to take off the Sweatshirt so the Shop Assistant could pack it up, and then pulled Liuyin along to look at other clothes.
“Please come again next time—”
When Yezhe left, he wasn’t just carrying three items. He had Socks, Underwear, Pajamas, and Loungewear in his hands as well.
The Shop Assistant hadn’t expected Yezhe to buy so much at once, so she just gave him a 50% Discount.
But even with such a big Discount, it was still expensive. Half a month’s wages had been spent just like that. If Yezhe hadn’t saved up a bit, he and Liuyin really would be eating dirt this month.
But… if Liuyin was happy, then it was worth it.
Worth it…
Actually, when it came down to it, Yezhe and Liuyin had only been together for half a month.
As for what Liuyin really was to him… Yezhe was confused, too.
At first, it was simply a flood of sympathy that made him choose to take Liuyin in.
And now? Yezhe couldn’t say for sure. Maybe it was love, maybe it was still sympathy.
After all, he’d always been a soft-hearted person.
But seeing Liuyin happy, Yezhe would feel genuine happiness too, as if he himself was her.
Helpless, pained, and despairing—his former self…
As a boy, he hadn’t been privileged, but he had been happy.
A nagging Mother, a fairly open-minded Father, and a lively, mischievous self.
If nothing had happened, he’d be living his university life now.
Does he regret it? Not really.
It couldn’t be helped.
If those things hadn’t happened, with Yezhe’s grades, he could have gotten into a decent school.
But it happened.
A sudden storm poured down on Yezhe’s heart, drowning it in black rain until he was submerged and lost.
Aside from suffocation and despair, he couldn’t think of any other words to describe it.
He didn’t even remember how he got through those days. Maybe like a puppet, maybe like a walking corpse.
He only remembered that one day, after discussing Tuition Fees with a Relative, he got scolded, and it even ended with a fight.
“Mad, why even bother with school! Just drop out! After all this time you still don’t know how to respect your elders—really, who knows how your parents raised you!”
So annoying, unbelievably so. Those days, Yezhe’s heart was filled with nothing but despair and helplessness.
All his grievances had nowhere to go, and his overwhelming anger found no relief. It could only stay bottled up, burning inside him like fire.
His blood became fuel, his heart became the furnace, tormenting him every midnight.
He couldn’t take it anymore.
There was no hope to be seen. It felt like the only path left was toward death.
“You must live on…” In a haze, his Mother’s words woke Yezhe up as if from a dream.
That’s right. At the very least, he couldn’t betray his Mother’s wishes—the wishes of the woman who loved him most, who nagged him the most…
Run.
Run as far as possible. Just run.
Yezhe no longer cared about his studies. Besides, even if he did get accepted somewhere, there was no way his Relatives would pay even a single cent of his Tuition Fees.
This wasn’t baseless. Forget university Tuition Fees, even his Senior Year Review Living Expenses had only been paid thanks to a Teacher.
Or maybe, they just planned to let him fend for himself after he turned eighteen.
So, Yezhe ran away. From a certain day on, from his Eighteenth Birthday, no one saw him again.
As for Yezhe’s disappearance, his Relatives weren’t surprised. In fact, it was a great thing for them. Still, they were very upset about Yezhe stealing money.
The last time they ever mentioned Yezhe was with a string of curses.