"..."
Hearing Xiangling and Hu Tao's words, and feeling the gazes of the Traveler, Paimon, and Shenhe upon her,
Fang Qiu couldn't help but freeze.
The stockings Sister Ying'er gave her?
Sssss...
Although Sister Ying'er had said they were just ordinary stockings for keeping warm, still—
Sister Ying'er's words couldn't be trusted.
None of the clothes Sister Ying'er had given her before were decent.
Whether it was that cheongsam that could basically only be worn in her room for self-admiration, or
the nightdress she gave her afterward.
In short, not a single one was decent...
Yesterday, when Sister Ying'er was strolling through the lantern fair, the conversation she'd had with them—if it had appeared in a web novel from her past life, those censors would absolutely have stepped in and banned the chapter within half an hour, and a single ban would last several days.
And then it would cause the author's guaranteed subscriptions to plummet by nearly half, with subsequent subscriptions never recovering either—the kind where no matter how the author cried out, the lost subscribers would never come back.
So, she figured, the stockings Sister Ying'er gave her were definitely not normal stockings.
But, under their expectant gazes, Fang Qiu had no choice but to open the paper box Sister Ying'er had given her.
Inside, a pair of stockings lay quietly.
Fang Qiu examined the stockings—there was nothing wrong with them; they were indeed the pantyhose type from her past life, able to wrap up everything below the waist.
They weren't a bodysuit, nor did they have any other strange designs—everything was, for once, refreshingly normal.
So Sister Ying'er could be reliable sometimes after all.
The only problem was, these stockings... um... were white...
Though it was a bit of a stereotype to say so, with her figure, weren't white stockings a little unsuitable?
White stockings were more suited to petite figures, right?
But, thinking it over carefully, it didn't seem like a big deal.
She'd be wearing them under her clothes, hidden by her garments—not for anyone to see—so there was no need to mind.
Still, these stockings looked a bit thin, and she just didn't know how well they'd keep her warm.
Just as Fang Qiu was about to take the stockings back to her room to change into them—
"There seems to be something else in the box. What's this?"
Shenhe said.
"Hm?"
Fang Qiu froze and instinctively looked over, only to see Shenhe pulling a white garment out of the paper box, now gazing at her with a puzzled expression.
Huh...?
The box came with this too?
Judging by the color, it seemed to be a matching set.
Just as Fang Qiu was about to take the garment from Shenhe's hands, Shenhe spread the thing open.
When she saw the garment's shape clearly, Fang Qiu couldn't help but freeze, and then her face flushed red in an instant.
Good grief!
It was a strangely designed garment!
Sister Ying'er!
"Paimon can't look."
Lumine clapped a hand over Paimon's eyes.
Hu Tao glanced at the garment, then glanced at Fang Qiu, and her face flushed red in an instant.
Fang Qiu weakly pressed a hand to her forehead—thankfully, everyone present was a girl.
It was just a little awkward, that was all.
"This one..."
Fang Qiu took the garment from Shenhe's hands, put it back in the box, then carried the box and the stockings all the way back to her own room.
She swiftly stripped off her clothes, feeling the warmth of her body rapidly draining away. Just as she was about to hurry and pull on the stockings and then her clothes, she accidentally picked up that intimate garment.
Holding the garment in her hands, Fang Qiu hesitated, then held it up against herself in front of the full-length mirror.
Hmm...
It actually fit quite well.
But fitting well aside, she naturally wouldn't put it on.
Once she'd finished comparing, she put it back in the paper box and stored it away, then quickly pulled on the stockings.
She had to admit—though they were thin, they really did keep her wonderfully warm.
After putting her clothes back on, that cold sensation immediately vanished, replaced by a solid, reassuring warmth.
What's more, she had originally thought she and these stockings didn't match at all, but to her surprise—and quite unexpectedly—they looked surprisingly good on her.
Once dressed, she opened the door and walked out.
"How does it feel?"
Hu Tao asked.
"Very warm."
Fang Qiu nodded.
"That's good, then."
Hu Tao nodded, smiled, and said, "Let's go—it's about time we headed out."
"Mm."
Fang Qiu nodded.
"That matching one from just now—did you put it on too?"
Just as they were walking out, Shenhe suddenly asked.
"Uh?"
Fang Qiu froze, and her pretty face suddenly suffused with an alluring blush, like the evening glow of a summer sky.
Hu Tao and the Traveler both froze too, their pretty faces tinged with a bashful red.
"Of course not."
Feeling their gazes all drift toward her lower belly, Fang Qiu's face grew even redder, and she immediately denied it.
As they made their way out of the main hall, the cold air rushed at them once again.
The snowy scenery of the courtyard was beautiful, perhaps because the plants grown there were all cold-resistant varieties.
After the snowfall, the whole courtyard's greenery and white snow set each other off brilliantly.
The fish pond hadn't frozen over either; the ornamental fish were swimming about in the water, utterly unaffected by the heavy snow.
Their level of activity made Fang Qiu suspect that her own physical constitution might be inferior even to that of an ornamental fish.
Fortunately, the snow wasn't falling heavily—lighter than on the night Yuan Hua phoned Qiu Ya.
The snow wasn't deep either, so there was no need to make a special effort to clear the courtyard.
This also got Fang Qiu thinking about a serious problem.
From now on—clearing snow, sweeping the courtyard, tidying the rooms, and so on—she'd have to hire someone specialized, something like a cleaner.
That little rental place from before was fine—though her body was frail, she could clean it on her own.
But now, with this large courtyard, if she didn't hire someone to clean, then with her stamina it would probably take her two or three days just to clean it once...
Yet another sizable expense...
At times like this, she couldn't help but bring up the benefits of the Hydro Vision once more.
When it came to cleaning rooms, the Hydro Vision was absolutely unmatched.
After making their way out of the courtyard, they headed straight for the picture studio.
When they arrived at the picture studio, a long queue snaked outside, with small stalls spread out all around.
There were ones selling breakfast, ones selling snacks, and ones selling drinks.
In front of the picture studio stood a three-meter-tall standee.
It was an enlarged version of a promotional image that Teacher Chalk had personally redrawn, based on the cover composition.
The image depicted the scene of Miyamizu Mitsuha and Tachibana Taki, at the lonely fall of dusk, standing atop the mountain summit, finally laying eyes on each other.
Magnificent, exquisitely detailed.
Both the people queuing for tickets and those who, having bought their tickets, sat in front of the stalls eating while waiting for the screening to begin, were all amazed at the level of detail in this image.
Because they were insiders, they didn't need to buy tickets; they only had to wait for the screening to start.
However, as they were buying the food and drinks they'd need for watching the screening later, Fang Qiu suddenly noticed that at the very front of the ticket-buying queue by the picture studio's entrance, two imposing figures were waiting in line.
The two were dressed in robes that gradated from brown into a dark, sallow yellow—clearly no ordinary people.
There was an indescribable, otherworldly air about them.
But before she had time to dwell on the two people's identities, Xiangling and the others had finished buying their food.
And were already dragging her along to go buy drinks.
Dango Milk? Or tea? Or juice?
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