Cheng Yiming’s sudden anger startled Cheng Huanzhen.

He stood rooted to the spot, still holding the bowl of salty tofu pudding his Little Uncle had just shoved into his hands.

How did Little Uncle come to such a conclusion?

He didn’t know.

He didn’t mean it that way at all.

He was just…

Always like this.

Cheng Huanzhen: “…I’m sorry, Little Uncle. I wasn’t brushing you off.”

He said this sincerely and calmly, yet he himself could feel how pale his words were.

His Little Uncle stared at him with puffed cheeks for a good while.

Suddenly, his Little Uncle reached out, grabbed his wrist, and strode back the way they came.

His Little Uncle dragged him back to the car, pushed him into the driver’s seat, and instructed, “Go, drive. Follow the latest navigation route.”

Cheng Huanzhen glanced at the navigation; the destination had been changed to the nearest shopping mall.

Cheng Huanzhen was confused. “The concept store…”

His Little Uncle cut him off, leaving no room for discussion. “Go!”

Alright.

It’s all part of accompanying Little Uncle, anyway.

Cheng Huanzhen thought.

Cheng Huanzhen had never been to this mall before, but many of his university classmates loved coming here, so the name was quite familiar to him.

As soon as they approached the mall, Cheng Yiming, who had been stone-faced the whole way, suddenly brightened up, made a turn, and ran to a roadside stall to buy two large cotton candies made of white sugar.

Cheng Yiming handed one to him.

Cheng Huanzhen looked down at the cotton candy, then at his Little Uncle.

His Little Uncle squinted his eyes and took a big bite, getting a ring of cotton candy around his lips, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying it.

Does Little Uncle like this kind of cotton candy?

Cheng Huanzhen calmly assessed.

However, the next moment, he heard his Little Uncle comment, “Hmm—all flash and no substance. The taste isn’t as interesting as the act of eating it. No wonder Greenbook says only kids like to eat cotton candy.”

Oh, so it’s his Little Uncle’s first time eating it.

Even while saying this, his Little Uncle finished the entire cotton candy and urged him to eat his quickly as well.

It was also Cheng Huanzhen’s first time eating cotton candy.

But he had no curiosity about it. He tried a bite, tasted it, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Cheng Yiming asked him with great interest, “How is it?”

Cheng Huanzhen hesitated for half a second before speaking his true thoughts, “Why not just eat white sugar directly?”

A smile finally reappeared on Cheng Yiming’s face. “Ha, you don’t like cotton candy.”

Cheng Huanzhen thought to himself, when did I say that?

But before he could say it, he was pulled into the mall by his Little Uncle.

Cheng Yiming dragged him into a clothing store named “No Black No White.”

The name of the store didn’t look familiar at all. One look and you could tell it was one of those niche, one-of-a-kind shops with a local and owner-specific character.

The moment Cheng Huanzhen stepped inside, his eyes were blinded.

Putting aside the styles of the clothes in this store for a moment, their colors were, to say the least, a vibrant and dazzling rainbow.

A bright green piece on the left, a red and blue one on the right, the next one was earthy gold, and the one after that was rainbow-colored…

The main theme was gaudy and eye-stabbing.

Little Uncle wants to buy clothes?

Wasn’t he just contacting the consulting teams of various fashion brands this morning?

Were those brands not enough to satisfy Little Uncle?

Cheng Huanzhen was a bit confused.

But he saw his Little Uncle pull him into the store, point at a row of colorful clothes, and ask him, “Pick one of these to wear. Which one do you want?”

Cheng Huanzhen: “?”

Wait. For him to buy?

Cheng Huanzhen’s brow furrowed as he tried to find a slightly “normal” piece of clothing among this rainbow-like group.

However, after a careful search, he discovered that the clothes in the store were just like its name: no black and no white.

Seeing his silence, Cheng Yiming raised an eyebrow, directly grabbed several pieces of various colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple—from the racks, and dragged him towards the fitting rooms.

Cheng Huanzhen had never been in such a cramped fitting room in his life.

He stumbled as he was pulled into the fitting room, with his Little Uncle squeezing in with him. The scent of saffron persistently clung to his nose.

Cheng Huanzhen was very uncomfortable with such crowding. “Little Uncle, what are you doing?”

His Little Uncle let out a low laugh, a sound full of mischievous impulse.

He watched as his Little Uncle stacked the large pile of clothes on the chair next to them, picked the one on top, and forcefully stuffed it into his hands.

Cheng Yiming said expectantly, “Quick, change into this and let me see. I’ll turn around, I won’t peek. Call me when you’re done.”

As he said this, Cheng Yiming turned around inside the fitting room.

As he turned, his straight ponytail lightly slapped against his chest with a “smack,” as if urging him into action.

Cheng Huanzhen: …

He wants me. To put on. This. Bright gold. Shirt?

He stared blankly at the garment in his hands, his fingers stiff.

The very thought of pulling it over his head brought on the same feeling of the sky falling as when his Little Uncle had casually altered his schedule that morning.

But his Little Uncle seemed very happy.

His long, straight ponytail swayed gently from side to side in the air, and he was even softly humming a tune—it was the flute music from the hutong earlier. It seemed to be on a loop in his Little Uncle’s head.

Cheng Huanzhen: “…”

He struggled to ask, “Little Uncle, can we change to another one?”

Cheng Yiming stopped humming.

He turned his head in confusion. “Why? You don’t like this shirt? Why not? Is the style not good, or you don’t like the color, or the material?”

This string of questions gave Cheng Huanzhen a headache.

Does the question of why he wouldn’t wear it even need to be asked?

Just look at how bright this shirt is! You can’t wear it to the old residence, you can’t wear it to see grandfather, you can’t even wear it to the company!

How could anyone wear such a thing?

Cheng Huanzhen honestly told his Little Uncle his thoughts.

To his surprise, his Little Uncle wouldn’t let him off the hook. “Big Nephew, you’re out having fun with me right now! You don’t need to go to the company today. No one will see you wearing it, except for me.”

Cheng Huanzhen: “…”

Cheng Huanzhen struggled for a moment but still couldn’t convince himself to change into it.

He said to Cheng Yiming, troubled, “But this shirt is too bright. It’s uncomfortable to look at.”

Cheng Yiming glanced at him, snatched the shirt from his hands, turned him around, and after a quick “don’t look,” a rustling sound started behind him.

A moment later, Cheng Yiming turned him back around.

The moment Cheng Huanzhen turned, a field of brilliant gold assaulted his vision with extreme aggression.

The young Little Uncle was adjusting the collar of the shirt, his head slightly tilted up and to the side. His high ponytail fell over his left shoulder, and his ink-black hair cascaded over the bright gold, looking exceptionally radiant.

His Little Uncle’s eyes held a proud and provocative smile as he asked him, “Well, look. Do I look good in it? Is it uncomfortable to look at?”

Cheng Huanzhen suddenly understood the value of this shirt’s existence.

He said honestly, “It looks good. It suits you very well. It’s not uncomfortable to look at.”

Cheng Yiming asked, “So are you willing to wear it now?”

Cheng Huanzhen thought seriously, judged for a long moment, and finally shook his head.

He said, “I don’t want to wear it, Little Uncle.”

This time, however, Cheng Yiming didn’t get angry.

He nodded, picked up a bright green shirt from the side, and put it on himself.

The bright green shirt looked extremely vibrant on his Little Uncle, like the most vigorous and lively towering tree in a forest.

After trying it on, his Little Uncle asked for his opinion, then took it off and had him try it.

Cheng Huanzhen thought for a long time and once again shook his head.

His Little Uncle nodded and put the shirt back on the pile.

Next came bright red, baby pink, teal, deep purple…

Every color of clothing was tried on by his Little Uncle.

Cheng Huanzhen felt like his vision was going to be dyed into a color palette by the afterimages of countless colors.

A few of the pieces were reluctantly tried on by him as well.

Cheng Huanzhen didn’t know why his Little Uncle was doing this.

But his schedule for the day was to accompany his Little Uncle; this was a task personally assigned by his grandfather. Whatever his Little Uncle wanted to do, he had to cooperate.

Finally, all the clothes his Little Uncle had brought into the fitting room had been tried on. His Little Uncle made him stay in the fitting room without moving, and a moment later, he returned with another large pile of clothes from outside.

He didn’t know how long they had been trying on clothes, but eventually, every single piece had been tried on.

Cheng Huanzhen let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had finally completed a daunting task.

Good, the morning’s tasks are basically done. Next, it will take 40 minutes to get to the restaurant Little Uncle wants to eat at, and then in the afternoon…

His Little Uncle’s voice interrupted him.

Cheng Yiming urged him, “Quick, take out your phone.”

Cheng Huanzhen was confused. “Hmm?”

Cheng Yiming counted on his fingers as he recalled, “You feel okay about bright gold, but you don’t like to wear bright gold clothes. You like dark red, but your acceptance of dark red clothes is average. Your favorite is dark blue, and you also like dark blue clothes the most…”

“In conclusion! You don’t like to wear clothes that are too bright or too conspicuous. You prefer dark-colored, mature-style clothes. For collar styles, you particularly like stand-up collars, you’re neutral about standard and Windsor collars, and you particularly dislike Eton and Cuban collars. You don’t like sleeves shorter than your elbow. You like plain cuffs the most, and you don’t like French cuffs, split cuffs, or three-button cuffs. You also like to tuck your shirt into your pants… What are you spacing out for? Quick, open the notes app on your phone and write this down!”

By now, his Little Uncle had already led him out of the fitting room.

He was currently wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved, stand-up collar shirt, the hem habitually tucked into his pants.

He stared blankly at his Little Uncle, who had his eyebrows raised, looking smugly as he dragged him in front of a full-length mirror, his eyes bright and sunny with a smile.

His Little Uncle said, “See? What do you mean you don’t care? You clearly have preferences too. I helped you find them all. Quick, write them down so you don’t forget when you go back!”

Cheng Huanzhen: “I…”

As his voice came out, it was as if his throat was choked.

A strange, surging emotion was born in his chest, sweeping out to his limbs, swelling as if it would burst through his skin.

Every point where the untagged clothes touched his skin suddenly felt as if it had been tightened, silently reminding him of its existence.

He was forced by his Little Uncle to look at the full-length mirror.

The young man in the mirror had calm and faint features, without any color, without any emotion. Looking at himself, Cheng Huanzhen knew this was a boring person.

However, his gaze moved down.

The steady, dark blue shirt lay against his wheat-colored skin. The stand-up collar was positioned perfectly at the protrusion of his neck bone, fitting snugly and drawing a clean line on his skin, which instantly made the entire reflection in the mirror come alive.

…So he liked dark blue?

Cheng Huanzhen wasn’t sure.

He had just accepted the dark blue clothes more quickly and thought that the dark blue clothes had a unique charm on his Little Uncle.

And his Little Uncle said he liked stand-up collars the most?

He just felt that he wore standard and Windsor collars too often, that the Eton collar didn’t look sharp enough, and he didn’t really want to wear a Cuban collar…

Alright.

After eliminating all other collar styles, it was true that only the stand-up collar was left.

Dark color scheme, mature style. Stand-up collar. Long sleeves. Plain cuffs.

Tucking the shirt into his pants.

This was what he liked.

…How strange. What an unfamiliar feeling.