Chapter 28: IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS YOU MUST MAKE A STATEMENT

Guiying was sitting on a bench outside the consultation room scrolling through his phone when the door opened and Liuxian walked out, prescription in hand, looking as composed as he always did except for the slight tightness around his mouth that suggested Doctor Gu had said several things he had not enjoyed hearing.

Doctor Gu appeared in the doorway behind him.

"Three meals," he said, looking at Guiying. "Make sure he eats them."

"I heard you the first time, Brother Yanchen," Liuxian said, without turning around.

"I know," Doctor Gu said pleasantly. "I was telling him."

Guiying looked at Doctor Gu, then at Liuxian, and made a mental note.

The mall was ten minutes from the hospital and was, predictably, also Liuxian’s.

Guiying had stopped being surprised by this approximately two minutes ago and had simply accepted it as a feature of his current life. Liuxian owned things. Many things. The mall, several of the brands inside it, probably the parking structure.

He followed Liuxian through the entrance and toward the upper floor where the boutiques were arranged with the particular deliberateness of a space designed for people who did not need to check price tags.

The store Liuxian led him to was called Lianhua, which Guiying recognized immediately. It was the country’s leading Omega fashion line, known specifically for its range across body types, elegant pieces that worked equally well on feminine and masculine frames without compromising either. The kind of brand that appeared in magazines and on the arms of people who mattered at events that mattered.

The staff greeted Liuxian with the composed professionalism of people who recognized him and had decided that the correct response was attentiveness rather than fuss.

"We are looking for something for a gala tonight," Liuxian said. "Black tie."

"Of course." The attendant looked at Guiying with the assessing eye of someone whose job was to find the right thing quickly. "If you would like to follow me."

What followed was thirty minutes of Guiying being presented with option after option, each one elegant, each one well constructed, each one either slightly wrong in a way he could not articulate or slightly right in a way that felt like too much. He tried on a deep burgundy suit that the attendant loved and he found suffocating. A navy ensemble that Liuxian dismissed with a single look before Guiying had even turned around. A pale grey piece that was beautiful and entirely forgettable.

Then the attendant brought out the white satin shirt.

It was oversized in the particular way of something that was designed to look that way, the fabric catching the light with a quiet luminosity, the collar sitting open and loose. The attendant set it on the rack and began listing out the full ensemble with the practiced efficiency of someone who knew every piece by heart.

"The shirt is from our Ivory Serenity collection, white satin oversized button down. Paired with our Noir Prestige wide leg trousers, black with 18 karat gold button details at the hip. A fine white gold chain necklace. A structured black mini shoulder bag with gold hardware." She reached beneath the rack. "And the Louboutin Stiletto Pump in black patent leather, from our exclusive partnership collection."

Liuxian looked at it.

Then he looked at Guiying.

"That one," he said.

Guiying looked at the shirt, then at the trousers, then at the Louboutins sitting beneath the rack, that signature red sole catching the light.

"No," Guiying said.

"Yes," Liuxian said.

"I will fall."

"You are going to a place filled with people of caliber," Liuxian said. "If you want to make meaningful connections, you must make a statement."

Guiying looked at the heels for another moment. A room full of people who decided within seconds who was worth their time. He needed to walk in as someone they could not look away from.

"If I fall," he said.

"I will be there to catch you," Liuxian said simply.

Guiying picked up the heels.

The attendant brought everything to the counter and began processing the purchase. Guiying watched as each item was scanned.

The Ivory Serenity satin shirt. ¥85,000.

The Noir Prestige wide leg trousers. ¥120,000.

The white gold chain necklace. ¥180,000.

The structured black shoulder bag. ¥230,000.

Then the Louboutins. ¥95,000.

The final total appeared on the screen.

¥710,000.

Guiying looked at it.

Liuxian had already tapped his phone against the reader before the number had fully registered, with the complete composure of a man paying for a bottle of water.

Guiying picked up the garment bag and walked toward the exit. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Some things, he decided, were simply better not thought about.

The gala was at eight. By the time they left the mall and drove back to the mansion it was just past four, leaving Guiying enough time to rest, shower, and get ready without rushing. Liuxian dropped him at the door, handed the garment bag to Wang Chengli, and looked at Guiying from the driver’s side window.

"I will come back to pick you up at seven thirty," he said.

"You are not staying?" Guiying asked.

"I have things to finish at the office first." He paused. "I will be here before eight."

Guiying nodded and watched the car pull back down the driveway.

He went inside, handed the prescription to Wang Chengli with instructions to have it filled, and went upstairs.

He had four hours.

He intended to use at least two of them doing absolutely nothing.

Liuxian arrived back at the mansion at six thirty with three people in tow.

Guiying looked at the stylists standing in the entrance hall with their cases and their equipment and their professional energy and then looked at Liuxian.

"You did not mention stylists," he said.

"I am mentioning them now," Liuxian said, and headed toward the study.

The lead stylist, a woman who introduced herself as Mei and had the particular focused energy of someone who took her work extremely seriously, looked at Guiying for exactly three seconds before she said, "Sit down please, we have a lot to do and not much time."