321. Mall
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Riding the elevator, the girl arrived at the bustling ground floor of the mall.
This place was enormous, more extravagant than the Wanda they visited a few days ago, yet for some inexplicable reason, it was eerily empty. A quick glance revealed hardly any customers.
Lin Nan took a quick look around the mall, then tilted her head back, exchanging pitiful glances with Liu Xuefei at Wu Guodong.
Wu Guodong looked down at the two of them, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he helplessly nodded, “Today, it’s on me. Just don’t go overboard.”
“You’re the best, Uncle!” Lin Nan beamed, her eyes sparkling as she eagerly scoped out the stores.
Despite having been together for a few months—this first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic—Liu Xuefei enthusiastically wrapped her arms around Wu Guodong’s arm, grinning as she complimented, “You’re awesome, honey!”
Wu Guodong froze, a dazed grin plastered on his face, unsure of where to place his limbs.
“Liu Fei, there’s an ice cream shop over there. Interested?”
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Liu Xuefei immediately let go of Wu Guodong and tugged Lin Nan towards the shop at a brisk jog.
Wu Guodong cast a grateful glance at Lin Nan, only to realize that his niece seemed entirely preoccupied with thoughts of food, rushing ahead without looking back.
As a certified shut-in, he had no clue how to interact with girls. Being hugged like that had briefly given him the strange feeling that the Grim Reaper was on the way, sending chills down his spine.
Though Liu Xuefei was quite pretty today—made up and dressed in a pure white dress radiating vitality—it still felt like flat cardboard characters were the way to go.
And seriously, was Liu Xuefei’s chest just flat?
He slowly followed the two girls, glancing down at his phone to check his balance.
Luckily, work had resumed for over a month, and the game company had survived the crisis without much issue. Salaries were still coming in regularly, plus he even got a nice bonus.
“Uncle, time to pay.”
As they reached the shop entrance, both girls were already clutching ice creams. Wu Guodong quickly scanned the QR code to pay, his face a mask of helplessness as he looked at them.
He had spent quite a bit of time with Lin Nan over the holidays, but after a month of being out of sight, he noticed his niece seemed even prettier.
She didn’t look as fragile anymore, and her figure seemed surprisingly tempting.
Though he already had a girlfriend, Wu Guodong had no idea what kind of charm Chen Yao had to snag Lin Nan.
Watching Lin Nan lick her ice cream with her little tongue and Liu Xuefei taking hefty bites made him suddenly feel like his girlfriend might not be as appealing as he thought.
“Slow down, you still need to eat lunch later,” he reminded, getting himself a durian-flavored ice cream.
“Speaking of which, Uncle once told me he wasn’t really interested in you,” Lin Nan suddenly looked up and nudged Liu Xuefei with her elbow.
Liu Xuefei, not catching on initially, raised her head and said, “Huh?”
“He said you were a big spender, and that you…”
Wu Guodong immediately panicked, shooting a warning glance at Lin Nan. This niece of his had no filter; how could he let her spill private family gossip to Liu Xuefei?
“What else?” Liu Xuefei asked, bewildered at Lin Nan’s sudden silence.
“I want a game console…” She abruptly switched the topic. “Xuefei, besides ‘Honor of Kings,’ what other games do you play?”
“PUBG! I’m a pro at it!” Liu Xuefei immediately got sidetracked.
Lin Nan spotted Wu Guodong nodding along and felt pleased, happily diving into a discussion with Liu Xuefei about mobile games.
Uncle really does treat me the best.
She schemed in her head, after beating up Chen Yao a few days ago, she could just justify getting him a game console as recompense.
Now, with three game consoles, she could hit Chen Yao twice more…
As they walked and ate, the girls didn’t go overboard—until they spotted a cosmetics store, where Liu Xuefei dragged Lin Nan inside.
Though Lin Nan was majoring in design, she aspired to become an excellent makeup artist. Once inside the shop, she picked up testers to try on her hand, while Lin Nan, eager to learn about makeup, followed her like a little sister, occasionally asking questions.
Wu Guodong stood behind them, able to chime in during discussions about ‘Honor of Kings’ and PUBG, but now he was completely lost in their makeup chatter.
“What the heck is this? It’s so cakey.”
“Nan Nan, this lipstick shade is nice. Try it out?”
Lin Nan leaned forward to check the lipstick offered by Liu Xuefei, furrowing her brows after a long study. Finally, she asked, “Isn’t this just red? What’s the difference from the others?”
“This is fuchsia!”
“Isn’t that still just red?”
Lin Nan frowned as she tried to distinguish the various lipstick colors. Although her color blindness had been magically cured, she still struggled to tell the differences.
It was pretty much just darker red and lighter red; in the end, they all looked the same, right?
She lifted her gaze to Liu Xuefei, noticing her exasperated expression, and obediently opened her mouth a bit before haphazardly applying some lipstick. Then she pouted to examine the result.
Looking in the mirror, she realized she had gone a bit overboard.
“Can’t you even put on lipstick properly?”
“I saw them do it that way on a TV drama!” Lin Nan defended confidently.
Liu Xuefei let out a sigh, “Seriously, you’ve been hanging out with guys for too long; you can’t even recognize lipstick.”
She gently wiped Lin Nan’s lips with a cotton pad, her brow furrowed as she said, “If you don’t learn how to put on makeup now, what will you do when you really need it later?”
“It’s fine, I’m naturally beautiful.”
“What about weddings? Other people’s weddings? Company annual parties? You need to wear at least a little makeup for formal occasions.”
Lin Nan pondered for a moment, then casually stated, “You’re my aunt, so how is it wrong for you to help me with my makeup?”
“Well, I do charge for makeup services.”
Quickly, she cleaned off the lipstick on Lin Nan’s lips and frowned, adding, “This lipstick isn’t good quality; should I get you a good one online?”
“Is that necessary?”
Wu Guodong stood behind them, watching his ex-niece and girlfriend discussing makeup, feeling a strange sense of dissonance.
Even though he knew Lin Nan was a typical girl, her previous less-girly image kept popping up in his mind.
“That’s enough; we should eat lunch now.” He crossed his arms, awkwardly glancing at a nearby staff member, feeling like Liu Xuefei was leading Lin Nan into a freebie trap.
Liu Xuefei looked up at him, asking, “What are we doing after lunch?”
“Go see a movie?”
Lin Nan quickly shook her head. There hadn’t been any decent films lately, so she suggested, “Let’s hit up an internet cafe and play some games?”
A finger poked Lin Nan’s forehead, causing her to clutch her head in pain and glare at Liu Xuefei, “Why’d you hit me? If we’re not going, don’t hit!”
“You don’t go to an internet cafe on a date…” Liu Xuefei retorted.
“I used to go to internet cafes with Chen Yao!”
