Thirty minutes passed, and Shen Jianian showed no sign of discomfort as she left the disease control center.
This area wasn’t very bustling; it was surrounded by some administrative buildings, and across from them was the majestic communications business tower.
Fu Jichen assumed that Shen Jianian wanted to stroll around before heading back, so he dismissed the driver early and drove her himself to a bustling area.
Large shopping malls were all around.
Fu Jichen parked the car in the mall’s underground parking lot, took the elevator up, and, following the instructions, pressed the button for the third floor. Shen Jianian glanced over; the third floor mainly sold women’s clothing.
When the elevator reached the designated floor, Fu Jichen let her go out first, and he followed.
"I haven’t seen you wearing the clothes sent to your house a while ago, don’t you like them?" Fu Jichen said, "Since we’re out today, buy a few you like."
She was wearing an old dress from three years ago, a white tank dress, casual in style, with a light cardigan, her long hair tied in a low bun, looking gentle and charming.
Shen Jianian passed by luxury brand stores without going in and didn’t look at Fu Jichen; she was simply strolling: "I won’t be staying in the villa for long; I’ll leave when the month is up. There’s no need to buy new clothes, and I can wear the old ones."
Fu Jichen quickened his pace to walk beside her, looking at her profile: "You want to leave me?"
Shen Jianian paused and turned to meet his gaze without answering his question, instead, she asked, "Are you having second thoughts?"
The agreement for a month was his own suggestion; was he planning to go back on his word?
Fu Jichen knew very well that making a deal with her was a delaying tactic; he had never thought of letting her go and never could. He thought once Shen Jianian understood everything between them and believed he wasn’t deceiving her, she would stay by his side. He hadn’t expected she still wanted to leave.
Looking into her eyes, Fu Jichen couldn’t say anything to upset her: "I won’t have second thoughts."
Shen Jianian: "You better not be lying to me."
Fu Jichen stopped in front of a luxury brand store, motioning her with his eyes: "Go in and take a look. Even if you don’t buy anything, we can just browse, alright?"
Before Shen Jianian could respond, Fu Jichen gently pushed her back inside, pointing to the clothes on a mannequin and telling the sales assistant, "Please get that dress for her to try on, size S."
He had noticed it immediately from outside the window, thinking it suited Shen Jianian.
In front of the sales assistant, Shen Jianian found it hard to make a fuss, tilting her head with a questioning look towards Fu Jichen. Didn’t he say they were just looking without buying?
Fu Jichen understood her look and spoke grandly: "Trying it on is free."
"What a coincidence, the other one is also in size S." The sales assistant brought the dress to Shen Jianian, smiling as she indicated a direction: "Our fitting room is over there, miss, please."
Shen Jianian politely refused: "Sorry, this dress doesn’t seem to suit me, so I won’t try it on."
"How could it not?" The sales assistant, wearing white gloves, spread the dress to show her the details, "This low-saturation cyan is rare, like mountains shrouded in mist after rain. The strap design here is inspired by willow branches. The skirt has a slit design, adding a touch of sexiness to its freshness, and it’s very convenient for walking. You won’t worry about the double layers being cumbersome. Try it on, it will definitely look good on you."
Shen Jianian couldn’t resist their enthusiasm, feeling a bit like being pushed onto the stage like that day in the cheongsam shop, where she hadn’t planned to buy anything but ended up custom ordering one after being persuaded in a few words by a young lady.
Fu Jichen encouraged from the side, "They’ve already found it for you, go and try it on."
The sales assistant smiled sweetly at Shen Jianian: "Yes, your husband chose it for you, he surely knows this dress particularly suits you."
Fu Jichen smiled without saying a word.
Because of this comment, he would definitely pay for the dress today.
Shen Jianian, feeling embarrassed, quickly corrected, "He’s not my husband."
The sales assistant kept smiling: "Your boyfriend has good taste."
Shen Jianian was at a loss for words.
The sales assistant led her to the fitting room door, waiting on the side, thoughtfully saying, "If you need anything, call me, I’m just outside."
Shen Jianian changed into the dress and walked out, the thin green straps resting on her shoulders, with leafy designs on the straps, as the sales assistant had said, resembling willow branches. The top was slightly tight, fitting her curves; the skirt flared out, with two layers, a smooth satin underneath, and a layer of tulle on top, indeed like mist-covered mountains, with a hazy, tranquil beauty.
The sales assistant was astonished, eyes wide, it was a while before she spoke: "Even more beautiful than I imagined, stunning, like it was tailored just for you."
Fu Jichen, with one hand in his pocket, looked towards Shen Jianian, staring for a few seconds before stepping up to her.
When Shen Jianian was trying on the dress, her pinned-up hair came undone, with a few strands falling beside her cheeks. Fu Jichen took his hand out of his pocket and gently tucked her hair behind her ear, the simple words contained deep emotion: "Looks great."
The sales clerk beamed with delight. The dress was very expensive and the store only had two of them, one on the model for display and the other was the one on the customer. They had initially thought it would be difficult to sell.
Unable to withstand Fu Jichen’s intense gaze, Shen Jianian returned to the fitting room to change back into her own clothes.
The sales clerk draped the dress over her arm, looked at Fu Jichen, and flashed a standard smile.
Fu Jichen followed her to the counter, swiftly swiped his card and signed the receipt.
The sales clerk packed the dress into a box, placed it in a shopping bag, and handed it to him with both hands.
Once Shen Jianian had re-pinned her hair in front of the mirror, Fu Jichen came over with the shopping bag: "Let’s go."
She looked at him through the mirror, her hands still posed as if fixing her hair, and asked absentmindedly, "You bought it?"
"Weren’t we just trying it on?"
"Trying it and not buying felt inappropriate."
Shen Jianian lowered her hands, turned around to gauge his expression, and finally realized she had been tricked. From the moment Fu Jichen dragged her into the store, he had set a trap, waiting for her to fall in step by step. Original content can be found at NovelHub(.)net
"Aren’t you leaving?"
Fu Jichen reached for her hand, but she avoided him, hiding her hand behind her back, looking like a girl bickering with her boyfriend. The sales clerk watched this scene and became even more convinced that they were a couple.
Shen Jianian’s gaze shifted down to the paper bag Fu Jichen was holding: "How much was the dress?"
Fu Jichen asked, "Why?"
"Put it on the account with the qipao, I’ll pay you back later." Shen Jianian didn’t want too many entanglements with him, feeling it would be bad to owe him when leaving.
Outside the store, Fu Jichen stopped, looking seriously at Shen Jianian: "Monetary accounts are easy to settle, but how do you settle emotional ones? Shen Jianian, just because you’ve forgotten, doesn’t mean those feelings never existed. I said before, even if you don’t like me now, I’m willing to give you time to gradually get used to my presence. If after trying, you still feel nothing for me, I’ll give you the freedom you want."
Shen Jianian pressed her lips silently, starting to reflect on whether she had truly been overly heartless towards him since meeting him, without even realizing it.
People are selfish and usually see things from their own perspective. To her, even if everyone tells her how in love and sweet she and Fu Jichen were in the past, without any memory support, she felt nothing based on their words alone.
Moreover, Fu Jichen was all restricting and forcing her upon his appearance, which led her impression of him to stay at the domineering and unreasonable level, hard to change.
From his perspective, however, the loved one involved in a car accident "died," and for a full three years, because he hadn’t seen her body, he steadfastly refused to believe it, searching the world for her traces. Finally finding her, only for her to not remember him or their feelings. As a man, no matter how calm on the surface, he couldn’t possibly feel unhurt inside.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cried after getting drunk.
Shen Jianian asked herself if she should try to get along with him? To wait until the agreed period was over to decide? But would this be fair to Pei Che?
Shen Jianian truly didn’t know how to deal with Fu Jichen.
"There seems to be a cinema upstairs, if you’re not interested in shopping, shall we watch a movie?" Fu Jichen picked up the issue heavily, then lightly put it down.
His words weren’t meant as a reproach to her, standing from Shen Jianian’s perspective, without the memories of the past, he’s just a completely unfamiliar person to her. He suddenly barged into her world, breaking the original peaceful beauty, forcibly bringing her to Beicheng, dumping on her a pile of memories she couldn’t remember, expecting her to adapt and accept. She understandably found it difficult to feel happy.
Fu Jichen also reflected, wondering if doing so would push her further away. After all, he was merely trying to give himself a better chance.
In love, he never had the confidence of a sure winner, feeling utterly insecure.
Shen Jianian didn’t speak, as if contemplating something, Fu Jichen reached for her wrist this time, and she didn’t resist, letting him guide her into the elevator, pressing the button for the fifth floor.
Several posters for recently released movies were displayed near the ticket counter.
"What movie do you want to watch?" Fu Jichen turned to ask her opinion, offering his option, which was a romance film.
"Not that one." Shen Jianian pointed at one of the posters, "I want to watch this one."
Fu Jichen glanced at it, a dark poster with a lightning bolt splitting it, below silhouettes of several characters - a suspense-themed film about a murder on a rainy night. He pursed his lips slightly, looking at her, asked, "Are you sure?"
Shen Jianian: "Sure."