Duàn Tíng shook her head and said in a low voice, "No."
Seeing that she had no objections, Lán Yǔxī then said to Luò Jiāqí, "There's nothing to add."
"Okay, see you tonight."
"See you tonight." Lán Yǔxī hung up the phone and handed a tablet to Duàn Tíng. "Here's the latest women's wear for Nan Corporation's building this season. They send it over every time they update. Take a look, and when my fourth brother gets back, we'll go shopping."
Duàn Tíng put the tablet down after only a few pages, her head aching. "There's too much, I'm overwhelmed. You pick for me."
"I can pick for you, but I need to know what style you like."
Duàn Tíng gave a wry smile. "Being asked like this, I realize I don't really have a style. Most of the clothes in my closet are casual wear."
Lán Yǔxī's lips curved slightly. "It's okay, I have a way. Stand up, I'll take a full-body photo of you, and then we'll try them on one by one. We'll eventually find a style that suits you and that you like."
"There's such a thing?"
"Yes, Zhāo Zhāo and Mù Mù came up with it. They found it troublesome for the department store to keep sending clothes home, so they created a virtual try-on software. Since then, we just choose at home, and then the department store delivers the clothes we want."
Duàn Tíng quickly stood up. "This is great, I actually hate shopping the most. Come on, what pose do you want me to strike?"
Lán Yǔxī chuckled. "One photo from each side, front, back, left, and right, is fine."
"Okay."
After Lán Yǔxī took photos from all angles, she transferred them to the virtual try-on software. As soon as she opened it, a stern, extraordinarily handsome face appeared.
Duàn Tíng leaned in and saw the photo. For some reason, she was inexplicably drawn to this indifferent and distant face. "Who is this?"
"George Luo. He rarely takes photos. Mù Mù secretly took this one when we were buying clothes for him."
Duàn Tíng's face inexplicably heated up. "You still have to buy clothes for him?"
"I have no choice. My brother is too busy. It's the change of season, so I have to pick out a few pieces of clothing for him with Wǎnqí on this."
"Zhāo Zhāo and Mù Mù's software is brilliant, it's helped so many people who dislike shopping."
"They just love tinkering with these things, and they've helped me a lot," Lán Yǔxī said, clicking on Duàn Tíng's photos.
The two of them studied the tablet, heads together, for nearly an hour before finally selecting a few outfits that Duàn Tíng liked.
Lán Yǔxī asked with a smile, "Are you sure you don't want to go shopping?"
"No more shopping, this is so much better!" Duàn Tíng added the selected clothes to her cart. "Yǔxī, if you're not busy, can you help me pick out some for my mom too?"
"Sure!" Lán Yǔxī smiled and glanced towards the study. "I'll go take some photos of Shī Gū, you can browse for now."
After Lán Yǔxī left, Duàn Tíng opened the tablet's album. It contained photos of the Lán family, the Luò family, Master Hóng, and Elder Duàn, as well as a few unfamiliar faces.
Duàn Tíng clicked on the shopping list and saw that they had all recently purchased several sets of seasonal clothing. Then, her hand, as if of its own accord, landed on Luò Jiāqí's face and clicked it open.
Luò Jiāqí's clothes were mostly understated, in colors like black, gray, and blue.
Duàn Tíng's finger gently glided over his slightly furrowed brow. She longed to smooth away his sorrow.
Lán Yǔxī quickly finished taking photos and came out.
Hearing footsteps, Duàn Tíng quickly swiped away Luò Jiāqí's photo.
Lán Yǔxī walked over with a smile. "Tíng Jie, Shī Gū said she's going shopping with my Godmother, so we don't need to buy for her."
"Alright. My mom hasn't been shopping in a while either, it's good for her to go out and relax." Duàn Tíng lowered her eyes and opened her cart. "How do I pay for this? I'll pay first."
Lán Yǔxī snatched the tablet away indignantly. "These are clothes sold by Nan Corporation's department store. Why would you pay? You're clearly not treating us as family!"
"If I knew you didn't want money, I wouldn't have bought them."
"It's too late to not buy them. Once they're in the cart, the order is placed. Within an hour, the clothes will be delivered."
"This..."
Elder Duàn, who was playing chess with Duàn Sēnzé, looked over. "What's this? Yǔxī is buying them for you, just accept them. If you feel bad, then just develop more new medicines, won't that do?"
Lán Yǔxī smiled and nodded at Elder Duàn. "Shī Fù's words are perfectly reasonable!"
Elder Duàn snorted. "I counted the other day, and you bought one more piece of clothing for Old Hóng than for me. I'm telling you, you have to make it up to me!"
Lán Yǔxī blinked in surprise. "Did I? I counted carefully, the quantities are the same."
"You bought him an extra vest!"
Lán Yǔxī burst out laughing. "It's just a vest. I'll pick out a waistcoat for you later. It's getting cooler, and a waistcoat will keep you warm."
"That's more like it! Buy me two!"
"Okay! Forget two, I'll buy you ten if you want!"
Duàn Sēnzé smiled helplessly. "Third Uncle, it's your turn to move."
"Don't interrupt! This girl has a bad memory, if I've asked for it, I need to get it immediately!"
Lán Yǔxī's mouth twitched. She opened the waistcoat page and quickly selected ten waistcoats.
"Shī Fù, the ten waistcoats are done. You can focus on your chess game."
Elder Duàn waved her over. "Let me see, what if they don't look good, and it's a wasted purchase."
Lán Yǔxī obediently handed the tablet over.
Elder Duàn rubbed his eyes. "This mischievous girl, she really bought ten!"
"What you say, I do!"
Elder Duàn glanced at her. "Of these ten, I only want two. The rest can go to your three dads and your Shī Fù. Your Shī Fù also has it tough, staying by someone's bedside at his age. Get him a couple of waistcoats, it'll make it easier for him to move around."
Lán Yǔxī's lips tightened. "Shī Fù, you might as well criticize me or scold me a few times. If you say such emotional things, I'll cry."
Elder Duàn waved his hand as if annoyed. "You're still alive, why would you cry? Go, go, don't disturb my chess game."
Lán Yǔxī burst out laughing. "See, this is more like you. If you don't scold me for a while, I don't feel right."
After the grandfather and granddaughter bantered for a bit, Luò Wǎnqí woke up, and the three young girls went to the back garden together.
An hour later, the clothes were delivered.
Under the encouragement of Lán Yǔxī and Luò Wǎnqí, Duàn Tíng changed into a white knitted dress.
At five o'clock, Luò Jiāqí arrived at the villa on the mountainside on time.
Duàn Tíng, her heart beating fast and her face flushed, glanced at him before lowering her eyes.
Lán Yǔxī smiled and said, "Jiāqí Ge, this is my Tíng Jie. Go to the study first and let Tíng Jie see the contract."
Luò Jiāqí looked at Duàn Tíng, then warmly extended his hand. "Miss Duàn, hello, I'm Luò Jiāqí, your future colleague."