Lin Songmei believed having a spatial ring made shopping much more dangerous than usual. She and Yan Mingqing had no idea how much they were really buying, it all went into the ring. As compared to the normal shopping experience, where everything had to be carried, Songmei’s brain always thought she was just starting out.

Dangerous...

Plus, her wallet was now much more packed than in the past. Xueli was generous with her allowance, giving her and Mingqing almost twice as much as what Youhong and Taigang got from their masters.

Overall, their shopping experience was a little lopsided. Mingqing’s wardrobe was already much larger than Songmei’s, so much of the clothes shopping was just for Songmei. After doubling the amount of dresses and skirts in her wardrobe after getting good recommendation after good recommendation from Mingqing, Songmei put the clothes shopping to a hard stop.

Of course, during their shopping time, it wasn’t as if Mingqing didn’t buy anything. Mingqing bought a lot of outfits matching the ones that Songmei bought.

Songmei, also, managed to keep her declaration after receiving the necklace true. Using her declaration as an excuse to split up from Mingqing, Songmei bought two things, a two-part birthday gift for Mingqing as well as a cute bracelet for the current moment.

Returning to where Mingqing was waiting, Songmei gifted Mingqing the silver bracelet. With a delicate chain and two interlocking hearts, Songmei helped Mingqing put it on before they continued on their way to the grocery store.

Because they were in the center of the central plaza, both Songmei and Mingqing elected to... not kiss during the second gift giving session. However, unbeknownst to them, the already half-intimate scene of gifting jewelry to each other while being very dressed up started rumors all on its own.

Songmei and Mingqing were unaware, of course. Neither of them had gone on the public forums in a long time—why go there to talk to people when they could talk to each other or their fellow party members?

----------

One trip to the grocery store later, Songmei and Mingqing made their way back to their apartment. Both of them had bought their items as fast as they could after realizing they were going to be stared at the whole time in the store.

It wasn’t a surprise, both were bedecked in jewelry, formal clothing, and makeup, but it was still unsettling—though, more so for Songmei than Mingqing really.

“Anything specifically you want to make?” Songmei asked as they turned the corner to enter their apartment building. “I was thinking of making pasta, but we bought enough ingredients to make a lot of different things.”

Waving to the receptionist as they walked by into the elevator, Mingqing shrugged, “I’m down to make whatever, it’ll taste good anyway. I bought some stuff to make some bread so I'll be doing that while you make your thing.”

“Sounds good,” Songmei laughed, leaning back against the elevator’s wall. “Do you know what time it is right now? How much time did we spend shopping?”

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“We spent a little more than three hours shopping,” Mingqing sighed, leaning back for just a moment as well until the elevator doors slid open. “Are you tired? You seem a little worn.”

“Of course I am... I’m not someone with a lot of shopping stamina,” Songmei trailed off, dragging her feet as they left the elevator, “You seem tired too though, you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Mingqing reassured, “I may be tired, but not as much as you. My parents both enjoy shopping a lot too, so as a child I got dragged around a lot.”

“That’s chill,” Songmei murmured with a nod, cracking the door open to the apartment as a little listlessness creeped up on her.

Closing the door after entering, Mingqing saw Songmei stand in the entrance way, eyes vacant, zoning out, and staring off into the space in front of her. Walking up behind Songmei, Mingqing wrapped her arms around Songmei, pulling her into a hug. “C’mon, shoes off and out of the doorway, then we can lay on the couch for a bit if you’d like, okay?”

“Ah?” Songmei coughed, snapping back to reality while returning Mingqing’s hug, “Ah, mhm, sure. I’d appreciate a bit of laying down on the couch, yeah... I’ll try not to fall asleep.”

“I’ll try not to as well,” Mingqing grinned, taking off her shoes and following behind Songmei to the couch.

Watching Songmei go limp and collapse onto the couch like a wet tissue, Mingqing couldn’t help but laugh while sitting down next to Songmei. Sinking into a half lying position to get comfortable, Mingqing beckoned Songmei over to her, letting Songmei worm her way into a comfortable position beside her.

“Won’t you be cold laying here in a dress? Want me to get the blanket laying on the other couch?” Mingqing asked, poking Songmei who was trying her best to keep her eyes open.

“No... I'll be warm,” Songmei reassured, wrapping her arms around Mingqing while resting her head against Mingqing, “For an ice cultivator, your body’s actually really warm, so I’ll be fine...”

“M...hm,” Mingqing raised an eyebrow, checking the time “Alright then... Let’s just lay down for a bit, maybe like ten or fifteen minutes before we start the cooking.”

“Sounds gooood~” Songmei murmured, eyes already closed as she squeezed Mingqing.

-------

Two hours later, Mingqing woke up to her stomach grumbling, blinking her sleep away instead of rubbing her eyes to preserve her makeup while checking the time.

Life was both great and... kinda mediocre.

It was kinda mediocre because she had fallen asleep without meaning to and wisped away a couple of hours in her day. On the other hand, life was great because she had just woken up with an absolute BEAUTY in her arms.

Mingqing could get used to this.

Curled up in her arms was a very sound asleep Songmei. Because of their impromptu “definitely going to only be ten minutes” rest, Songmei was still in her ‘date look’ and her dress. Feeling a pang of sadness in her heart seeing Songmei curl up more in her arms from the cold, Mingqing gave Songmei a squeeze trying to impart just a little more warmth.

Poking Songmei in the cheek after spending some time just cuddling with the sleeping beauty, Mingqing nudged her awake, whispering, “Let’s make some food, it’s not good to skip meals now, is it?”

With Songmei’s eyes fluttering open, Mingqing stopped Songmei from rubbing her eyes. “You have makeup on, it’s not good to rub that into your eyes.”

Snapping awake, Songmei coughed, “Ah... how long was I asleep? Sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off...”

“You’re fine, don’t worry,” Mingqing laughed as Songmei sat on the couch, her legs making a weird pretzel under her dress. “It’s been about two hours, but I fell asleep too. So, instead of an early dinner, do you want to have a late one?”

“I mean... we kinda have to. After all, I’m hungry, and I’m pretty sure I heard your stomach growl...” Songmei murmured with a guilty expression, “My thing won’t take long though, so just sit tight...”