Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Forcing the Duck onto the Perch (3/3)

Their lunch was pre-arranged by Pei Ziyu, and the staff served it without much waiting.

They never chatted idly during meals, and it was only after they finished that Fan Tianyu curiously asked, "Hey Zhenzhen, you guys arrived a bit later today, did you go shopping? I saw your classmates carrying big and small bags too."

"Yeah, Yiran bought some cotton-padded clothes and pajamas for her family. It’s their first winter in Jiangcheng, and she was afraid they wouldn’t be accustomed to it, so she bought those for warmth."

Fan Tianyu twitched his lips because he also had a set, as did everyone from their side. They really relied on it for the winter, since they saved on electricity and didn’t turn on the heater. But the He Family is so rich, don’t they use heating either?

...

In the private room next door where the He Family was staying, everyone was looking at the clothes Yiran had bought them.

Just the right amount, four sets, one for each person.

It’s just that none of these four had ever worn such clothes. Grandpa He frowned and said, "I’ve seen people wearing these in our community, and quite a few of them. They wear it downstairs with their children and also when going out to shop. How is it decent to wear pajamas out in public like this? Why did you buy these for us?"

"I never told you to wear pajamas outside, just at home," she explained. "Didn’t you just say this morning that it’s stuffy with the heater on, and it gets cold without it? And when the window is open, there’s no warmth, so just wear these. I’ve worn them at school before, just a set of thermal underwear inside, and this on top is enough. I even stood outside to test it and didn’t feel cold at all."

So wearing them at home was quite appropriate. As for whether to wear them outside, she said no more.

Grandpa He and Uncle He looked embarrassed, but Grandma He and Aunt He took to the idea quickly. Aunt He from the He Family said, "This is also Yiran’s kind thought. I’ll try it when I get back."

Grandma He also said, "If it’s really warm, I might even wear it out. How convenient. I thought it was quite interesting when I saw people in our community wearing them."

Grandma He laughed and said to Yiran, "Ranran, how much was it? Let Grandma reimburse you."

Yiran waved her hand, "No need."

"How can there be no need? We can’t let a student like you spend money," Grandma He insisted on reimbursing her, even though she knew Yiran was financially well-off.

Uncle He agreed too, since the clothes were for both him and his wife, it would be improper not to reimburse. "Yes, Yiran, how much? Don’t be shy, let your uncle cover it."

Yiran was embarrassed to respond, "It’s really not necessary, they were very cheap."

Of course, the ’cheap’ that Yiran mentioned was not quite the same as what the He Family perceived as ’cheap’. So it truly was embarrassing for her to say.

The four members of the He Family insisted on encouraging Yiran to tell them the price so they could reimburse her.

Having no way out, Yiran confessed, "The clothes are indeed cheap, only 50 yuan per set. So the four sets add up to just 200 yuan. It felt like buying them was all in fun, really no reimbursement needed."

The four members of the He Family were stunned.

Wait a minute, 50 yuan per set, four sets for only 200 yuan?

Could the material, the quality... even be wearable?

Everyone was too embarrassed to ask, their expressions revealed confusion as they looked toward Yiran.

Yiran knew a lot. Initially, she probably thought the same as her family did, "The clothes are wearable, there’s no problem. I’ve worn them before. Because the clothes are new, they may not smell very good. You should air them out before wearing them. Air them tonight and you can wear them tomorrow morning. Please, don’t ever think that because they are too cheap, they aren’t good. But they really do keep you warm. With just this one set of clothes, we could sit in the dorm without the air conditioning on and not feel cold."

With that being said, the four members of the He Family could not say much more, discreetly storing the padded jackets back into their original bags.

...

But it truly wasn’t possible to just air the clothes for a night and then wear them. Since they were cheap to begin with, not washing them before wearing was unbearable for these fastidious people.

Yet, the granddaughter’s (niece’s) sentiment could not be declined; fortunately, there was a dryer at home, so they were cleaned and dried by the next day, neat and ready to wear.

But in fact, just this morning, when the temperature dropped, Grandpa He complained about the discomfort of the air conditioning just as Uncle He arranged for someone to install heating at home. But of course, proper installation would take time.

In hindsight, it was an oversight on his part; without firsthand experience, the differences between the north and south really couldn’t be understood, so the electric heater had been omitted at first.

During the wait for the heating system, Yiran’s few sets of clothes turned out to be quite useful.

They were indeed very warm, and lack of fashion aside, once worn, they became difficult to take off.

The clothes seemed enchanted; no matter how much they disliked them at first, later on, they would wear them haphazardly all over the place without any concern for appearance, just like Grandpa He now, perfectly adapting to the magic of these pajamas, wearing them everywhere for every task, and consequently Grandma He also traipsed around in her pajamas all day long.

But Uncle He and Aunt He still had their own standards; pajamas were warm and fine for home, but not for going outside. They were not that old yet and still mindful of their appearance, even if there weren’t many acquaintances far away in Jiangcheng, but what if they did bump into someone, right?

Luckily, once the heating was installed, the temperature at home was like that of spring or autumn, and the usefulness of the cotton-padded pajamas diminished significantly indoors and outdoors.

Of course, these are all events that happened later on.

...

At this moment, Mei Mengzhen was also chatting about trivial things with Pei Ziyu.

It wasn’t that the two of them didn’t want to go on a date outside, but it was too cold, with the biting wind chilling to the bone. What’s there to do?

Visit a park?

Must be joking.

The amusement park?

What difference would that make.

Shop at the mall?

They had just been there in the morning.

Eat out?

Nothing could compare to the taste of Xiyuan.

So, with such cold weather, why bother going out at all? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to stay in the private room?

The couple’s dating style had gotten to this point, no wonder Luo Yingying said they seemed like an old married couple.

However, as time went by, the relationship of the young couple became even more relaxed. Mengzhen, feeling lazy, leaned on Ziyu’s shoulder, and shared the little details of her life at school.

Like the campus photo shoot, and the cultural performance.

Ziyu was genuinely curious; it seemed that Mengzhen’s days were filled with interesting activities.

But before she could ask, Mengzhen was the one to express curiosity first, "Did you participate in these activities when you were in school?"

Ziyu nodded, "I participated, I was the host for four consecutive years." No sooner had he finished his sentence than he furrowed his brow, "But Zhenzhen, backstage can be chaotic with many eyes watching. You must be cautious and safe because accidents always tend to happen during such times each year."

And whether these accidents were genuinely accidental, was quite questionable. But since they never caused a big fuss, those not involved in such matters really wouldn’t know.

And this time, Mengzhen’s participation was precisely because someone had an accident, "Right, an accident. I wasn’t involved in any activities originally; I don’t like fussing about these things. But someone had an accident and couldn’t return to school this year. They couldn’t find a replacement for the vacancy in time, so they came to me, like forcing a duck onto a perch." For her, the timing was really rushed.