Lin Nan hadn't bought clothes in a long time.
His height had stopped increasing since his first year of high school, and he'd always maintained a proportionate build. His weight hadn't fluctuated much either, so there was never a need to buy new clothes because the old ones were too small.
Mainly because his parents were busy with work as truck drivers, often making long-distance trips. When they did come home, they were usually exhausted and would fall asleep immediately, hardly having time for Lin Nan.
They were supposedly saving money to buy an apartment in the city. In fact, they probably could have afforded it ten years ago, but they hadn't seen the market clearly then and tried to maximize their returns by investing in a factory. When the factory went bankrupt, they lost everything, and housing prices had been soaring in recent years...
The last time he bought clothes was during last year's New Year.
Lin Nan was browsing through racks of t-shirts, but nothing caught his eye after looking for quite a while.
Given his developing chest situation, which would only become more noticeable over time, he needed t-shirts with large patterns that could conceal things when not wearing a jacket. Preferably three-dimensional patterns rather than simple prints.
After searching around, his gaze drifted to the women's section on the other side.
If he wore women's clothes, he wouldn't have to worry about all this.
"Do you have any sun protection clothing?" Lin Nan turned to ask the nearby sales assistant. "Like lightweight, quick-drying jackets?"
"Yes."
Following the assistant to another rack, the sun protection clothing was basically semi-transparent jackets, mainly designed to prevent skin from tanning or burning. Lin Nan had only learned about these after watching "Running Man." (TN: South Korean variety TV show.
Wu Guodong, who wasn't planning to buy clothes himself, followed behind Lin Nan while commenting: "I thought that black shirt from earlier looked pretty good."
"Why buy sun protection? Getting a tan would make you look more manly."
While that logic made sense, Lin Nan was more concerned about concealing his chest development than appearing manly, wanting to avoid the feeling that people were always sneaking glances at his chest.
Even if it might just be his imagination.
He frustratedly rubbed his inexplicably puffy cheeks. It had been over a month, and although he was constantly trying to control his actions, these gestures were becoming harder for him to notice, almost as if they had completely merged with his body.
After spending two days with Lin Nan, Wu Guodong had naturally noticed Lin Nan's excessive mannerisms.
He had gradually gotten used to it, but looking at the sales assistant's face, they clearly wore a strange expression.
He felt somewhat displeased. It was one thing for Lin Nan to be feminine, and it was fine for others to think so - after all, it was the truth. But when others openly showed their thoughts on their faces, it made him unhappy.
"Let's try another store," Wu Guodong said as he stepped forward.
"Huh?" Lin Nan, who had been selecting sun protection clothing, turned around and followed Wu Guodong in confusion.
Before he could process what had happened, they had left the clothing store.
"What's wrong?" He had still been deliberating which color to choose.
"Nothing, let's try somewhere else. This place doesn't seem to have any nice clothes."
Though Lin Nan did feel the clothes didn't quite match his requirements and increasingly Lilith-influenced aesthetic tastes, he knew his former self would have found those clothes acceptable.
After all, he used to just buy black clothes, accepting anything as long as the patterns weren't too flashy.
Unfamiliar with the area, Lin Nan followed his uncle. After about half an hour of walking until their legs were sore, he realized his uncle wasn't actually familiar with the area either.
He had assumed Wu Guodong knew the place, had bought clothes here before, and knew about the price-performance ratio and styles, which was why he was taking him around. However, Wu Guodong was simply randomly finding stores, basically entering any shop that looked decent.
Before they had bought a single piece of clothing, Lin Nan's stomach started protesting.
"I remember there's a good knife-cut noodle place nearby," Wu Guodong, feeling like he might have been leading his nephew astray, said generously, "My treat."
Lin Nan was always interested in being treated to meals, and didn't care whether the noodle place was actually good or not, nodding without hesitation.
After lunch and more shopping, Lin Nan discovered his shopping prowess was no less than that of natural-born girls.
He used to think shopping was boring, but now he found it surprisingly enjoyable.
However, he had to control how long he looked at women's clothing, plush toys, and feminine decorations to avoid strange looks from passersby.
Leaving the previous street, they headed to the nearby Yintai Mall.
Buying a McFlurry, watching a movie, viewing a university student song and dance competition in the ground floor hall sponsored by the mall - Lin Nan remained excited throughout the evening, while Wu Guodong's expression gradually changed from complete resignation to acceptance.
"We should probably head back."
He'd lost count of how many times he'd said this.
"What's the rush? I'm not tired yet."
"You're definitely not tired..." Wu Guodong looked down at the shopping bags in his left hand, the KFC family bucket in his right, and the large suitcase hooked on his little finger. "I suspect you're treating me like a rich guy. Why did your suitcase happen to break right now?"
Lin Nan glanced at Wu Guodong, who was practically covered in various items, and righteously said, "When a nephew's suitcase breaks, isn't it natural for his uncle to buy a new one?!"
"Your uncle doesn't even have a girlfriend yet. As a nephew, shouldn't you dress up as a girl for him?" Wu Guodong retorted.
Those words sounded familiar, as if he'd heard them somewhere before from someone.
Lin Nan paused, wanting to recall carefully, but Wu Guodong thought he had touched a sensitive topic and quickly explained, "I was just joking."
"Hmm..." Lin Nan frowned, looking at a high-end women's clothing store in the distance.
So pretty.
He looked at the beautiful women's clothes on the mannequin in the window, feeling envious.
He wanted to buy them, but couldn't say it out loud. He still tried his best to think of himself as male, struggling not to be influenced by Lilith. Such thoughts still felt very embarrassing to him.
And as soon as he felt embarrassed, he mysteriously began to feel excited, even eager to try.
"Why are you blushing?" Wu Guodong glanced at him, seeing Lin Nan's crimson face and feeling his own heart rate increase.
"Nothing, just remembered something," Lin Nan shook his head, trying hard to suppress thoughts that didn't belong to him.
He noticed these strange emotions and thoughts that kept appearing were becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. Before, he could control himself even while wearing women's clothes, but now he couldn't control himself just from seeing a pretty dress.
He tried hard to look elsewhere, but his eyes fell on a large promotional poster for diamond necklaces outside a jewelry store.
This...
He really wanted one.