Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Likes the Lacy Kind

Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi walked out of the consultation room.

The expressions on their faces were a bit peculiar. A smile was plastered all over Xue Rui’s face.

As for Lin Ruoxi, because the female doctor had casually tossed her bra, she was now clutching her chest and trailing behind with her head down.

"Stop clutching yourself. You’re wearing a long-sleeved school uniform."

Xue Rui thought Lin Ruoxi was being silly. ’No one can even tell, yet she’s the first one to act all guilty.’

"Mm..." Lin Ruoxi thought about it and realized he had a point.

Since they were already at the hospital, Xue Rui naturally had the grandmother’s prescription filled as well.

After picking up the medicine and completing the reimbursement process, about half an hour had passed.

"Here. The paperwork for your low-income household status went through, so it only cost two hundred yuan." Xue Rui stuffed the money into Lin Ruoxi’s hand.

Lin Ruoxi had been afraid it wouldn’t be enough, so she had withdrawn four thousand yuan all at once.

But it had only cost two hundred yuan.

"No... this is for you." Lin Ruoxi shook her head repeatedly.

She felt she owed Xue Rui far too much, and besides, it seemed he had used up all his own money a few days ago.

Xue Rui didn’t refuse and put the money away. Mobile payments weren’t widespread yet in this era, and there were far too many pickpockets. He had just spotted a shady-looking man, and arguing over cash in a hospital wasn’t a good idea.

Besides, they were wearing school uniforms, which made them unlikely targets.

"Thank you." Lin Ruoxi looked at the medicine she was carrying for a long time. It was no different from the usual kind.

She knew that without Xue Rui, she might still be worrying about her grandmother’s medical expenses;

But now, she could earn enough for a month’s worth of her grandmother’s medicine in just a few days, without even touching her savings account.

Xue Rui waved his hand. "Don’t thank me. You should thank the government’s good policies. Let’s go."

"Mhm..." Lin Ruoxi hurriedly followed.

It was already 9:30 in the morning, which was probably during the second period.

"Lin Ruoxi, if we go back to the classroom in the middle of class, the English teacher definitely won’t be happy, right?"

"Mm..." Lin Ruoxi thought about it carefully and nodded earnestly.

Announcing their return and entering mid-class would disturb their classmates.

"So, the earliest we can go back is fourth period. But fourth period is PE."

"Mhm..." Lin Ruoxi tilted her head.

"And you know PE... there’s no point in going."

...

"So, there’s no reason for us to go to school this morning."

"Mhm... okay."

Lin Ruoxi was completely baffled by his fast talk, and in the end, she muddle-headedly agreed.

She didn’t realize at all that Xue Rui’s roundabout logic was just an excuse to skip class.

’But if we’re not going to school, where are we supposed to go?’

But she didn’t dwell on it and just followed behind Xue Rui.

There was a large shopping mall on the street next to the hospital. Xue Rui planned to take Lin Ruoxi shopping.

The two walked into the mall. Many of the shops had only just opened. Since it wasn’t a weekend and it was still early morning, the mall was practically empty.

"The doctor didn’t give you a prescription, but her subtext was that we should go buy you a new bra," Xue Rui said shamelessly.

"Did... she?" Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment. She didn’t remember the doctor saying anything like that.

Still, ’Maybe I’m just too dumb to have caught on.’

"She did," Xue Rui replied affirmatively.

"Mhm..." Lin Ruoxi nodded.

As they stepped onto the escalator, Lin Ruoxi lost her balance and swayed a little.

Xue Rui instinctively reached out to steady her back, only to feel a completely flat surface, which prompted Lin Ruoxi to clutch her chest again.

"Watch your step," Xue Rui reminded her.

In truth, it wasn’t that Xue Rui actually wanted to use buying a bra as an excuse to do something; it was that the clothes he had given Lin Ruoxi last time didn’t include any undergarments.

He had figured she would take care of something like that herself.

But Lin Ruoxi had grown up without a mother and barely interacted with her female classmates. Who would have taught her about these things?

Coupled with her long-standing frugal spending habits, the bras she bought were of the worst quality.

As he was leaving, Xue Rui had glanced at the trash can. The bra with the childish pattern had edges that were pilling badly and looked like it would chafe the skin. No wonder the doctor had thrown it out directly.

Xue Rui was an old soul; he knew that women’s lingerie was a serious business. A decent set could easily start at a thousand yuan or more.

’Let Lin Ruoxi buy it herself? She’d probably just end up buying something to just get by.’

’What if saving this little bit of money ruins Lin Ruoxi’s figure? That was something Xue Rui couldn’t tolerate.’

Every mall had lingerie specialty stores, and their names were always flashy and convoluted.

It seemed like all products for women were like this. The brand names were all in fucking English, and in all caps to boot.

As if not doing so wouldn’t seem pretentious enough, not stylish enough.

"Would it kill them to use a Chinese name?" Xue Rui cursed.

His English was bad to begin with; he couldn’t recognize the words at all when they were in all caps.

The only lingerie brand Xue Rui could remember was Victoria’s Secret, but it seemed Hedong City didn’t have that brand.

"Well... let’s just browse for now." Xue Rui led Lin Ruoxi into the nearest store.

The salesclerk gave the pair an odd look, then ignored them and went back to playing on her phone.

Xue Rui shot her a cold glance, casually looked around for a moment, and moved on to the next store.

The items here weren’t cheap. The salesclerk probably thought they were just poor students who couldn’t afford anything.

Since that was the case, Xue Rui couldn’t be bothered to go up and ask for help.

After browsing through several stores, a young salesgirl who was in the middle of eating saw customers approaching and quickly put down her bowl of cold noodles:

"Hello, welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?"

Xue Rui nodded. Since neither he nor Lin Ruoxi knew anything about this, they would just go with the store that had the best service.

"What kind of style are you looking for?" the young salesgirl asked, walking up to Lin Ruoxi.

"I’m guessing you like black ones with lace trim," Xue Rui said earnestly.

Lin Ruoxi lifted her head woodenly. ’I don’t even know what I like, so how would Xue Rui know?’

After Xue Rui’s casual comment, the silly girl’s eyes subconsciously started drifting toward the black lingerie.

With every glance, her face grew a little redder.

The young salesgirl was amused by the two of them and chuckled. "Let me take your measurements first. Some of these might not be the right fit for you."

"Oh... thank you."

Xue Rui watched Lin Ruoxi with a grin, thinking this girl was just too amusing.

Just as he was getting a little excited, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

He took it out and saw it was a call from Xue Xiaying.

"Where are you?" Xue Xiaying’s cold voice came through the phone.

Normally, Xue Rui would have been a little nervous, but today he had asked for leave from Xue Xiaying in advance, and for a perfectly legitimate reason.

"I’m with Lin Ruoxi, getting her prescription filled."

"Oh? Is that so?" Xue Xiaying questioned.

Xue Rui stiffened. That question hadn’t come from the phone—it had come from right behind him.

Xue Rui swallowed hard, turned around, and said, "Auntie, let me explain."

However, Xue Xiaying’s expression was so dark it looked like it could drip water. She grabbed Xue Rui’s ear in a pinch.

When she heard that Lin Ruoxi was going to the hospital this morning, she felt that as their homeroom teacher, she should have gone with them.

But the timing of Xue Rui’s request for leave was too coincidental, and she didn’t have time to swap classes with another teacher.

So, halfway through class, she had her students start a study hall, and she drove to the hospital.

The moment she arrived at the hospital, she saw Lin Ruoxi and Xue Rui walking out, so she decided to follow them.

She had assumed Xue Rui was taking Lin Ruoxi to get something to eat, but to her surprise, they went into the mall and even entered a lingerie store.

"Speak. What exactly are you trying to do?" Xue Xiaying said through gritted teeth.

"Hello, welcome," the young salesgirl said, going out to greet the new customer.

She didn’t expect to see the roguish-looking boy from before being held by the ear by a woman.

"The doctor told us to buy it." Xue Rui knew he absolutely had to stick to this story.

"Even now, you’re still lying?" Xue Xiaying was very disappointed.

Just then, Lin Ruoxi came out and saw the scene.

"Teacher Xue." Lin Ruoxi greeted her. Seeing Xue Rui’s ear being pulled, she quickly reached out to intervene.

"Lin Ruoxi, Xue Rui says the doctor told you to buy a bra?" Xue Xiaying asked.

She knew that a child like Lin Ruoxi wouldn’t lie, and even if she did, it would be obvious at a glance.

"Yes," Lin Ruoxi said, nodding at Xue Xiaying.

"Oh... I’ve wronged you. You, go wait outside. What do you think you’re doing standing here?"

Xue Xiaying said nonchalantly, letting go of Xue Rui’s ear.

Xue Rui pouted and muttered under his breath, "And you call yourself a college graduate, being so conservative."

’She’s making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s just buying a bra, not some scandalous, immoral act.’

"What was that?" Xue Xiaying didn’t hear clearly, but she had a feeling it wasn’t anything nice.

"I said, you look really beautiful today, Auntie."

Xue Xiaying ignored Xue Rui, took Lin Ruoxi by the wrist, and asked:

"What’s going on? Why would a doctor prescribe a bra?"

Lin Ruoxi didn’t hide anything and recounted the entire hospital visit from beginning to end.

"I’ll help you buy one." Xue Xiaying couldn’t help but laugh at Lin Ruoxi’s story.

She had thought Lin Ruoxi had some serious illness, but the reason turned out to be adorably silly.

She suddenly realized that her nephew was no ordinary person. Many young girls would be secretive even when buying sanitary napkins, hiding them in black plastic bags.

But Xue Rui, as a boy, was shameless enough to accompany a female classmate to pick out lingerie...

Xue Xiaying now also understood. Lin Ruoxi had no elder at home to shelter her from the storms of life, only an elderly person who needed care herself.

Buying a bra for the first time was something a mother usually helped with, but Lin Ruoxi...

At this thought, Xue Xiaying’s nose tingled with emotion, feeling that this child, Lin Ruoxi, was just too pitiful.

Similarly, she felt that Xue Rui had probably realized this as well. ’Perhaps he was acting out of kindness.’ She couldn’t help but shoot Xue Rui another glance.

"What kind of style do you like?" Xue Xiaying’s tone was gentle.

Lin Ruoxi pondered for a moment. She didn’t know what style she liked.

In truth, children who have never had the power to choose often have their personalities and preferences worn away. Faced with a dazzling array of products, they simply don’t know what they like or what they want.

Normally, Lin Ruoxi chose things based on price. Whichever one was cheapest was the one she "liked."

But Xue Rui had told her before that the prices on mall tags were fake, and that she should just choose what she wanted without worrying about the cost.

She thought about it and realized it was true. Sometimes, a piece of clothing she bought for a few dozen yuan would have a tag on it that said over nine hundred.

"I... I..." Lin Ruoxi was conflicted. She really didn’t know how to choose now.

She suddenly remembered what Xue Rui had said earlier. "I... I like black ones, with lace trim."

"Hmm?" Xue Xiaying was a little surprised.

Lin Ruoxi’s tastes were a bit... too mature.