Free Web NovelChapter 326: Chapter 326: Holding Hands
Su Li looked at the large hand in front of her. Her face grew hot. She wiped her sweaty palm, hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand in Wu Sheng’s.
Wu Sheng’s anxious eyes suddenly lit up. As he held Su Li’s hand, an irrepressible smile spread across his face.
Wu Sheng’s face was slightly red, but he forced himself to look calm.
"Lock up."
’AWOOOO! I asked my married colleagues before, and they all said it was incredibly difficult to get to hold their wives’ hands.’
’I just got excited and stuck my hand out, thinking I’d be rejected. I can’t believe Su Li actually gave me her hand.’
’HAHAHA... It must be because they aren’t charming enough!’
Wu Sheng was beyond thrilled. Cackling with satisfaction internally, he carefully led Su Li outside by the hand.
After taking two steps, he heard Su Li let out a snort of laughter.
Wu Sheng stopped, confused. "What is it?"
Su Li had been incredibly shy, but now, much of that shyness had faded.
"Don’t be so nervous. You’re so tense you’re swinging the same arm and leg together."
’I thought I was the only nervous one,’ she thought. ’Turns out Wu Sheng is all talk. Just holding hands turns him into this.’
’He was so nervous his hand was stiff as a board, not daring to move an inch. But on top of that, he was even swinging the same arm and leg together.’
’Hahaha, so Wu Sheng has days like this too.’
Su Li found it amusing and, for some reason, suddenly didn’t feel nervous anymore.
She mustered her courage, turned the tables, and squeezed Wu Sheng’s hand back. "My hand isn’t fragile. You can hold it a little tighter."
Her face was bright red, but she didn’t let go of his hand. "Let’s go."
Wu Sheng looked at Su Li holding his hand and, surprisingly, didn’t object.
He looked closely at Su Li’s hand, took a deep breath, and patted his chest.
"It’s my first time holding a girl’s hand, you know."
"Your hand is softer and smaller than I imagined, so I didn’t dare squeeze too hard. I was afraid I’d hurt you."
As he spoke, he finally calmed down a bit and looked at Su Li’s hand curiously. "Why is your hand so small and soft?"
He compared it to his own. "And so fair."
Compared to his, it was truly fair. Looking at Su Li’s small hand, his heart suddenly filled with boundless tenderness and a surge of protectiveness.
"Su Li, I’ll protect you from now on."
Su Li looked into Wu Sheng’s eyes and nodded seriously. "Okay. I’ll protect you, too."
"You’ll protect me?" Wu Sheng laughed. "Let’s get going."
Before they went down the stairs, he glanced at the long dress Su Li was wearing. "Be careful not to step on your dress."
"I won’t." Su Li lifted the hem of her dress and smiled.
Holding hands, they descended the stairs one step at a time.
A silent sweetness blossomed between them. Their pace grew slower and slower, but they eventually reached the bottom of the stairs.
As they stepped onto the last stair, Su Li and Wu Sheng reluctantly and tacitly let go of each other’s hands.
Even married couples didn’t walk hand-in-hand on the street, so they couldn’t go out like that either.
"Why are these stairs so short?"
Wu Sheng muttered.
Su Li was speechless. "If they were any longer, the sweat from your palm would start dripping."
Wu Sheng wiped his palm and retorted, "It wasn’t that much..."
Su Li snorted. "Does it have to be a river before it counts as ’much’?"
Wu Sheng slapped his forehead in annoyance. Watching Su Li’s back, he snorted and muttered to himself, "Isn’t this my first time? Once I get more experience, this won’t happen!"
As he spoke, his gaze on Su Li’s back softened, and he suddenly broke into a smile.
He unlocked his bicycle, which was parked downstairs, and pushed it to catch up with her.
"Su Li, your outfit is beautiful, especially the dress."
Wu Sheng praised her generously. Just now, watching her from behind, the phrase "swaying with grace" had come to his mind.
Su Li looked down at her long dress and smiled, pressing her lips together. "I like it too."
Long dresses were perfect for early spring and early autumn. Su Li had always found these kinds of flowing dresses with wide, swaying hems to be very beautiful.
’I never had the chance to wear them in my past life. In this life, my inner girly-girl has burst forth, and I’ve channeled it into my designs.’
’And as it turns out, the results were great. They’re very popular.’
Wu Sheng looked at Su Li’s outfit, then at his own, feeling particularly satisfied.
"Come on, get on."
Su Li obediently got on the back seat and grabbed onto Wu Sheng’s shirt.
"Why isn’t there anything written on the little wooden board today?"
she asked curiously. She had gotten into the habit of checking the little wooden board whenever she saw Wu Sheng’s bicycle.
"Haven’t written anything yet," Wu Sheng said nonchalantly.
Su Li held onto Wu Sheng’s shirt. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said, "Wu Sheng, this outfit you’re wearing... I actually have a set at my place."
Wu Sheng was puzzled. "What?"
"I was originally going to give it to you, but I figured you wouldn’t have an occasion to wear it, so I didn’t."
Su Li admitted to one reason but left out the main one: she had been too shy to give it to him!
Wu Sheng put his foot down, stopping the bike, and turned to look at Su Li.
"An outfit for me? You bought it?"
Su Li shook her head. "No, Sister Hongqin gave it to me."
Su Li’s wardrobe was now almost entirely filled with Pinjun Clothing. She had every piece from Pinjun Clothing in her closet before it was even officially produced and released to the market.
Every single piece was patterned by Li Hongqin, who used Su Li’s measurements as the reference size.
Su Li’s clothes were from Pinjun, but with a slight difference—they were all personally made by Li Hongqin, either by hand or with a sewing machine.
They were more precious than the ones sold outside, and Su Li loved them all. After Pinjun Clothing officially launched, Su Li exclusively wore their clothes.
She even had a few of the unisex designs that didn’t have a clear distinction between men’s and women’s styles.
As for the couple’s outfits, Su Li had both the men’s and women’s versions of all three sets from Pinjun Clothing.
After Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua arrived in the Imperial City, they inevitably learned about Wu Sheng and Su Li’s relationship. They were greatly relieved to hear from Su Li that she had already met her future mother-in-law, who wasn’t opposed to them.
They had also met Wu Sheng before and thought he was a fine young man.
Later, when Li Hongqin was patterning the couple’s outfits, she made an extra men’s set for Su Li to give to Wu Sheng.
The clothes were even in Wu Sheng’s size. Li Hongqin’s eye for measurements was so good now that she could roughly gauge a person’s size with a single glance.
Unfortunately, Su Li got too busy later on and didn’t have much time to see Wu Sheng. Plus, she was too shy, so she never gave it to him.
"So you had it this whole time and didn’t give it to me, making me go out and buy it myself." After hearing Su Li’s explanation, Wu Sheng understood everything perfectly, but he deliberately put on a stern face.
Su Li honestly admitted another part of it. "I was also afraid you wouldn’t like it."
"How could I not like something you gave me?" Wu Sheng pretended he was about to turn back. "Let’s go back and change right now."
Su Li quickly stopped him. "Don’t be ridiculous, they’re exactly the same."
Only then did Wu Sheng get back on the road. "Don’t you go back on your word later."
"I won’t," Su Li retorted.
Along the way, Su Li saw many people wearing Pinjun Clothing, and occasionally, she even spotted couples in matching outfits.
Seeing this, the corners of Su Li’s mouth curled up.
At Su Li’s school and other major universities, most of the students who were better off were wearing clothes from Pinjun.
Su Li had started wearing the clothes after the boutique opened, and since she liked them so much, she wore almost nothing but Pinjun.
Everyone was envious when they saw she had so many clothes from Pinjun.
In her class, there was one other person who had almost as many clothes from Pinjun as Su Li: Qu An.
Qu An’s family was rich. Not only did he wear the brand the most, but he also nonchalantly mentioned to his classmates that some of the buttons on the clothes came from his family’s factory.
Although he feigned nonchalance, the pride in his eyes—as if he shared in the glory—was unmistakable, and his classmates were envious of that, too.
Su Li was a little surprised when she heard about it.
