Gale didn't like how Xiaolin was hiding from him. Even though there were only three of them now, she kept on looking away whenever their eyes met, as if she had done something wrong.
Well, as a matter of fact, she did something wrong. She eavesdropped on others' conversations.
Gale realised all this because of what she heard eavesdropping on his conversation with Wang Li. She couldn't even meet his eyes without getting embarrassed now. So from the sunrise, she acted like a thief, hiding away from him. Even during their morning session of cycling, she remained silent and queasy.
Worst of all was that whatever Gale said would only escalate the situation, more out of hand. Not that he was good at giving advice.
Gosh, if it were simply dating, there wouldn't be any problem.
On top of that, he had to deal with annoying arrogant practitioners later today. Who told him to steal the fate lock from others?
Well, the opportunity arrived so easily. How could he not take it?
The sword from Han Shitian was laid inside the dark space of his left hand. Only a thin connection remained between the owner and the fate lock. If he could somehow enter the space, Gale could cut off the connection completely using some of his scripting with no risks.
Unfortunately, he was only able to put his Qi and aura senses inside the void lock. No way of doing what is required to cut off the connection.
Anyway, why would he want to cut off the connection you ask? The answer was simple: to teach that hypocrite father a lesson so that he would teach his son better. Not to mention a unique grade battle-oriented fate look could easily cost a million gold marks.
That is a large sum for everyone unless you are from one of the six Sovereign lineages.
"This is all your fault," Gale muttered, blaming the woman in his right.
Wang Li turned her head to him with a challenging look in her eyes. She could easily tell he was annoyed by how things escalated.
"Did I ask you to go full ballistic in the Han Family courtyards?"
"I'm not talking about that," Gale said. "Do you think I care about a few fools grouping together to outcast someone?"
"You should," Wang Li said, picking up her brows, "considering they were going to outcast you. I don't know much about the Mayor, but he's someone who's very protective of his family. You are really going to lose out on something big if you are being this irresponsible."
"Who said I'm irresponsible?" Gale snorted. "I'm talking about something much more important than that stupid negotiation/peace talk."
"What's more important than that?" Wang Li asked, interested.
Gale gestured with his eyes towards his disciple, who was checking out clothes in the shop. Since the festival was coming on in a couple of weeks, they needed to buy new clothes, so they decided to complete the task when Gale was here with them.
"Hmm," the innkeeper hummed, considering. "I think you should talk to her openly about this."
Gale threw her a glare. "You're at fault, so you should be the one to talk."
"Oh, what happened to the one who was super confident about getting girls?"
"Those two are completely different," Gale snorted.
Wang Li smiled. "I agree that some part of this is my fault, and this can really be a problem. She became too shy in front of you," she said, drawing her sight towards Xiaolin. "I'll talk to Linlin about it."
"Thank you." Gale felt the weight of his chest as he heard her. This wasn't really the time to complicate their relationship, so when Wang Li provided a way to solve this, he was simply too easy to accept.
"Okay, I'll go help Linlin buy clothes. That girl has a very mundane taste in clothes." Wang Li was about to join Linlin in choosing clothes for the younger girl, but she halted midway and turned. "Do you have a colour and type of clothes of preference, Master Gale?"
"You're choosing?" Gale lifted an eyebrow.
"We are, together."
Gale hummed. "I'm fine with anything that's easy to wear and makes me look fashionable with little effort," he said. "As for colour, I'm fine with anything not too deep or flashy."
"I guess that already," saying that the innkeeper joined his disciple in picking the clothes.
Apparently, this wasn't a ready-made garment shop, but a shop where you buy simple clothes and hire a tailor to make a fitting suit, robe, or dress for yourself. In this case, the tailor was Wang Li. She was highly skilled in that, though she only made half a dozen robes a year, only for her loved ones.
Making dresses for Rong'er and Linlin, who was like a little sister to her, was a given.
However, after everything Gale did for them, she couldn't leave him alone. Regardless, the foreigner was long away from home. Well, considering what he mentioned in his tale, the foreigner was worlds apart from his family, so there was nobody to give him gifts at the festivals.
Even though Wang Li said they would be choosing together, she did all the choosing. Well, she asked for affirmation from then. She picked two pieces of matching white clothes for them.
When Gale was ready to pay, she acted like she hadn't heard him and paid the shopkeeper with her own money.
"Do you know the definition of Gift, Master Gale?" Wang Li asked.
"Stop calling me that." Gale clicked his tongue. "And if it's about a gift, you have taken nothing for yourself."
"I had enough of them this year to need more," Wang Li said simply.
"Hmm, it seems you don't know some stuff about gifts either," Gale said.
That brought a frown to Wang Li's brows. "Which is?"
"The more gifts you get, the happier you become." Gale moved into the shop for the first time. "Linlin, go pick something good for your elder sister."
Xiaolin nodded and carried on with his command silently.
"Now we can't ask you to work for your gift," Gale considered. "So we will go to a tailor of your preference after this."
"There's no need, really," Wang Li said.
Gale ignored her like she did when paid the shopkeeper and helped his disciple pick. Eventually, Gale was satisfied with black silk with flower designs embodied in it. Gale paid a few silver marks for the superior silk as they moved on to the tailor shop next.
"Do you know in our tradition it is frowned upon when someone other than your spouse or relative buys clothes for you?" Wang Li said after a while with a blank face.
"Good thing I'm not one of your traditional folks, no?" Gale said. They walked for a couple of minutes when Gale opened his lips again. "If you're uncomfortable with this, you can repay me in a way."
Finding the innkeeper interested, Gale continued. "I mentioned before that I was looking for a maid. You already know about my requirements, so all I want you to do is look for a maid that meets most of the requirements."
Wang Li considered and stared at Linlin who was biting her lips, hearing about the maid topic coming up again.
"I'll try," she said eventually, "no promise, though. As I mentioned before, you'll have better luck finding a bride than a maid with such requirements."
"You're wrong about that," Gale said. "If it were so easy, I already would have a dozen wives waiting for me at home. Maybe I'm the problem."
"How about that one, then?" Wang Li whispered into Gale's ears, her eyes pointing towards a girl who was talking with the tailor.
Gale picked up his brows as he weighed the prospect Wang Li was pointing at.
"Are you asking for a bride or a maid?" Gale asked instead. "If she meets the requirements, I'm fine with any of them."
The reason was simply because Gale was liking what he was seeing. Although she hardly looked a year or two older than Linlin, she had a sultry vibe about her. The girl was fair-skinned, as most people of Tianhui were. With milky skin, toned cheeks and a sharp nose, she looked like a great prospect to look at.
The Iron body metamorphosis did her good, as the bountiful bosom sticking out on her dress, or the thick hip line outlined through her robe asked for all men's attention.
"Remember, I told you how I can pick a girl easily?" Gale said, turning towards Wang Li. "Want to see it in action?"
His disciple clearly looked uncomfortable about this. She clearly wanted to say something, but was looking at Wang Li to say for herself. Well, Gale decided this was exactly what he needed to do in front of her for her to grow out of him.
As for the older woman, she had a frown on her brows, contemplating what result would come of it.
"Well, if you were so confident about it, why are you still standing here? Go on, or she would run away."
______
Author Note:
The first volume will have ended in a few more chapters. However, I decided to do something more with this. Which means I'll be pulling stuff that I planned for the second volume.
That put me in a position to continue with the relationship development between one of the gals. Which relationship would you like to see the most?
Gale x Xiaolin
Gale x Wang Li
Gale x Sumei
Gale x Twilight
Gale x Someone unexpected?
Let me know in the comments. I'll proceed with the one that has the most votes.
Also, raise your hand if you want Wang Li as the maid.
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