Fairy, Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Blind

Chapter 40: New Clothes

“Are you sure it’s your Junior Sister who asked you to buy these?”

The middle-aged shopkeeper of the clothing store glanced at the elegant handwriting on the note, then raised her eyes to scrutinize You Su, who stood before her with the demeanor of a righteous gentleman.

“That’s right. Please pack the light green… no, all the light-colored dresses that meet the requirements on this note. I’ll take them all,” You Su said firmly, then added, “I don’t want any of the cheap fabrics. Only the expensive ones.”

The shopkeeper hesitated. She was no stranger to You Su. After all, she paid close attention to the handsome young men in the city, and You Su ranked first in her heart. Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. Every time she saw You Su pass by her shop in his plain attire, she felt a pang of regret, thinking that this poor blind boy, abandoned by his master, couldn’t afford clothes worthy of his exquisite appearance.

If her husband weren’t still around, she might even have tried to test the limits of this young man’s resolve with some money.

Although she had seen many men splurge on women, those were all well-known nobles in the city. You Su’s sudden extravagance made her doubt whether he could actually afford such luxuries.

“You Su, Auntie isn’t reluctant to sell you the good clothes, but those high-quality dresses are very expensive. Can you really afford them?”

You Su put on an innocent expression and pulled out a heavy bag of silver from his sleeve.

“Before my master left, he gave me some money. Since I can’t see, I don’t know how much is here. Auntie, could you check if this is enough?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes immediately sparkled, and a wide smile spread across her face.

“Enough, enough, enough! I must say, You Su, even though you’re blind, you’ve got such good taste! When it comes to buying women’s clothes, you’ve come to the right place with our Zhaiyun Clothing Store!”

As she spoke, she tugged at You Su’s sleeve and led him into the inner room. She mysteriously glanced at the measurements on the note, then patted You Su’s shoulder with a meaningful expression. “You lucky boy!”

After what seemed like an eternity of choosing dresses, they finally settled on a total of eight. The shopkeeper, who had taken a liking to You Su, didn’t try to rip him off and even gave him a fair price. Surprisingly, there was still some silver left in the bag.

“You Su, you’re so generous to your Junior Sister, but you shouldn’t be too stingy with yourself. Auntie is giving you a robe as a gift. It’s in this cloth bag, so don’t mix it up. From now on, whenever you need clothes, come to Auntie’s shop. I’ll give you a good price!”

The shopkeeper handed You Su four cloth bags – two large and two small – and couldn’t resist giving the young man’s slender yet strong hand a little squeeze.

You Su felt a chill run down his spine, but remembered that he still had to carry a food box later. With so many bags, it would be inconvenient.

“Thank you, Auntie. I’ll definitely come back to your store in the future. I still need to carry some other things, so could you help me pack the clothes from the two smaller bags into one? My Junior Sister won’t mind.”

However, The shopkeeper gave him a knowing look. “Trust Auntie, she will mind! Alright, hurry up and take these new clothes back.”

You Su left, utterly confused. What’s the big deal about packing the clothes? They’re all new anyway.

The shopkeeper watched You Su’s retreating figure and clicked her tongue in amazement.

“I’ve seen women ask men to buy clothes for them, but I’ve never seen one ask a man to buy her underwear. Tsk tsk, is that part of their little game too? Ah, what a shame. I wouldn’t dare wear those styles myself, so I’ll just gift them to his Junior Sister…”

After dinner, Ji Lingruo, who had agreed to continue her lessons with You Su that evening, couldn’t wait to take the new clothes back to her room.

Although she appeared calm on the surface, no girl could resist the excitement of new clothes, even if she might look down on the mundane fabrics of the mortal world.

She opened the three packages one by one, from the largest to the smallest. To her surprise, a few of the dresses caught her eye. However, two of them were made of such flimsy fabric that they didn’t seem like something a decent person would wear outside.

Ji Lingruo cursed You Su for being foolish, certain that the shopkeeper had swindled him. After all, such skimpy and inappropriate clothes were often exorbitantly expensive.

She didn’t dwell on it too much, though, and happily held the dresses up to herself, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart. That stingy Senior Brother of mine actually has a bit of a conscience, spending money like this.

After admiring the dresses, she carefully took out the clothes from the smallest package. The thought of having You Su buy underwear for her made her blush furiously. She could only imagine what the shopkeeper must have thought of her.

But there was no helping it. If even her old dresses no longer fit, her underwear naturally needed replacing as well.

Under the bright light of the oil lamp, she slowly unfolded her undergarments. The first few pieces were more or less what she had asked for, but as she went through the rest, she began to feel increasingly uneasy. Her delicate face, illuminated by the lamp, turned a deep shade of red, as if it might bleed.

“What on earth did he buy? Why is this underbust corset transparent? And why is there a slit in the middle of this tube top? There’s no way the store owner would give me such indecent clothes based on my requirements! And those two dresses… No wonder that blind fool agreed so quickly. He never had good intentions in the first place!”

The Wishful Wind Control Technique was an incredibly profound movement skill. Just grasping a sliver of its secrets during her reading gave Ji Lingruo a feeling of weightlessness, as if her consciousness were floating like the wind.

Under the sparse branches of the waning moon, You Su was completely absorbed in the technique, lost in its wonders.

At that moment, a graceful figure sneaked into the room. Seeing You Su so unperturbed, Ji Lingruo felt a surge of anger.

I’ve even worn the kind of clothes he wanted me to, and yet he acts like he’s forgotten that we agreed to practice tonight? Is he playing hard to get with me?

Ji Lingruo angrily took a sip of tea and slammed the cup down on the table.

You Su was jolted out of his meditation.

“Junior Sister, you’re here?”

“I’ve been here for a while!” Ji Lingruo’s voice was cold, as if someone had deeply offended her.

You Su was baffled, but apologized anyway. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Junior Sister. Shall we begin?”

“Are you in a hurry?” Ji Lingruo’s gaze was filled with disdain, as if she was looking at a pile of trash.

“Uh, starting right away might be a bit rash,” You Su said, getting out of bed and sitting across from Ji Lingruo. “Why don’t you try to circulate your profound energy without my guidance first? Let me see how much you’ve mastered.”

Feeling as though You Su’s calm demeanor was a slight against her, Ji Lingruo decided to show him just how much she had improved. She assumed a sword stance and began to mobilize the unruly energy within her body.

To her delight, the profound ebergy had indeed started to follow a certain path. To her dismay, it was the wrong one.

“This is not right. It should flow up first and then down.”

You Su stood up and pointed out Ji Lingruo’s mistake. Without a hint of hesitation, he naturally reached out and pressed his hand against her lower abdomen to guide her.

Seeing You Su’s hand move without any regard for propriety, Ji Lingruo felt both furious and nervous, as if she was about to faint from embarrassment.

The moment his hand touched her abdomen, You Su recoiled as if he had touched a snake in a blind box. He stammered, “Junior Sister, why… why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”

Ji Lingruo, too, felt as if she had been electrocuted. The spot where You Su had touched her was tingling, and her face turned so red that it seemed like she might burst into tears.

“Who said I don’t wear clothes? It’s just a little bare around the waist. And isn’t that the dress you bought for me?”

“?”