CHAPTER 439: CHAPTER 439: ALSO COUNTS AS DYING WITHOUT REGRETS

Lu Yujing ignored the advice, paid the bill, and went into the fitting room to try on the same dress Sang Ning had tried earlier.

After coming out of the fitting room, Lu Yujing slightly straightened her chest and pulled in her stomach. Although she felt a bit unnatural, she still raised her chin a bit, her gaze fixed on Jiang Xiaoti and Wei Lan, hoping to hear a few compliments from them.

But Jiang Xiaoti glanced at her inadvertently, then exaggeratedly exclaimed, "Wow, so empty!"

Lu Yujing was dumbfounded. "What’s so empty?"

"Just the whole look feels really empty." Jiang Xiaoti gestured down her waist with both hands, her body swaying left and right like a flexible water snake.

"Jingjing, maybe you should change into something else. This doesn’t suit you. It looks like a kid trying to wear an adult’s clothes." Jiang Xiaoti gave her sincere advice with a completely disregarding Lu Yujing’s increasingly dark expression.

Lu Yujing had a rather slender figure; even with the dress’s waist tie pulled to its tightest, it still hung loosely, making her look overly thin all over. Especially at the chest, which could only be described as flat as a board.

Jiang Xiaoti’s words deeply struck her heart.

Lu Yujing’s face darkened. She tugged at the dress a few times, turned in front of the full-length mirror, and said to herself, "Really? I think it’s okay. Changing up styles now and then isn’t a bad idea."

Jiang Xiaoti rubbed her chin, thought seriously, then said, "But you shouldn’t try styles you can’t pull off. Otherwise, it feels really mismatched."

"Can you shut up?!" Lu Yujing finally snapped. She couldn’t even bother with pretense anymore, directly yelling out loud.

Jiang Xiaoti froze, her mind blank for a few seconds. After receiving a big eye-roll from Lu Yujing, she immediately zipped her lips, terrified of making any noise that might further incur Lu Yujing’s wrath.

Even after they had left the shop for quite a while, Jiang Xiaoti didn’t dare stay too close to Lu Yujing. She subtly slowed her pace and sidled up to Sang Ning, asking, "Sang Ning, do you know why Lu Yujing just now went crazy? I was kindly giving her advice—why did she snap at me?"

Sang Ning gave Jiang Xiaoti a deep look. "Are you really clueless, or are you pretending not to know?"

Jiang Xiaoti shook her head blankly. "What should I know?"

Sang Ning was rendered speechless and, with an exasperated breath, replied, "She came out wearing it so you could compliment her. Not for you to critique it."

"Huh? Really?" Jiang Xiaoti’s mouth fell open, her face filled with innocence.

Sang Ning sighed lightly and shook her head. Innocent types like her are natural nemeses to others’ veiled sarcasm.

After the girls finished their shopping, the boys had also wrapped up. The group reassembled and began shopping for other small items together.

It had to be said, traveling with young people is truly invigorating. In just one day, Li Haidong had been completely "converted" by Song Shiye.

Originally, he had been acting like a proper elder—this wasn’t right, that wasn’t allowed—but once he met Song Shiye, all his principles and rules went out the window.

He even danced awkwardly in the middle of the plaza and bought several sets of cheap clothes he once scorned. Decked out in floral shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, flip-flops, and with a trendy hairstyle crafted by Song Shiye, his stiff and serious demeanor seemed to dissolve entirely in this outfit.

"Ah, traveling with young people really is a blast. Xiao Song, how come I never noticed before that you’re such a good talker?" Li Haidong walked side by side with Song Shiye, his words and expression carrying undisguised affection.

Song Shiye proudly patted his chest. "Uncle, I don’t have many big talents—what I do have is a chatterbox. You’re actually the first person who doesn’t mind me talking too much."

Sang Ning, listening from the side, also found it curious. Li Haidong appeared to be someone who prized peace and quiet; how could he tolerate Song Shiye endlessly chattering in his ear?

While she was still puzzling over it, she heard Li Haidong sigh bitterly the next second. "What can I do? I’ve been a lonely empty-nester for too long. It’s isolating... My daughter’s busy with school, and my son passed away. It’s rare to meet a lively, kind young person like you who’s willing to talk to us and keep us company. It genuinely makes me happy..."

Song Shiye listened intently to Li Haidong’s words. The smile at the corners of his mouth, which had been unwavering, froze the moment he heard about his son’s death. His eyes shifted around helplessly, a deep sense of guilt spreading over his face, like he might slap himself at any given moment.

"Uncle, I’m sorry..." Song Shiye mumbled apologetically, his voice heavy.

Li Haidong raised his hand and slowly, firmly patted Song Shiye’s shoulder again and again. "It’s fine. Everything is in the past. Life is like that; there’s no storm you can’t weather. Just keep looking ahead."

Sang Ning, listening from the side, felt a mix of emotions churning in her chest. Is this what they mean by "pitiful people often have a hateful side"?

She had always thought of Li Haidong as an annoying old man, especially since he often seemed to target her for no reason. She hadn’t expected he’d turn out to be a grieving father who had lost his son.

Aside from some naturally malicious individuals, people don’t develop twisted tendencies without cause. Suddenly, Sang Ning understood why Li Haidong was so difficult, and she cast him a look of sympathy.

Sang Ning’s unintentional glance didn’t escape Li Haidong’s notice. He widened his eyes and shouted at her, "What kind of look is that?"

Sang Ning ignored him, merely pursing her lips and retracting her gaze.

Her dismissive attitude only stoked Li Haidong’s ire further. "Do you know? It was a woman like you—a fox spirit—that got my son killed."

Li Haidong pointed at Sang Ning, his hand trembling violently. Song Shiye quickly grabbed his hand, pressing his arm back down. "Uncle, don’t point at Sister Sangsang. Sister Sangsang isn’t the fox spirit your son encountered."

Sang Ning finally understood the source of Li Haidong’s inexplicable hostility toward her. It turned out to be because she resembled his late son’s girlfriend.

But what did that have to do with her? She wasn’t about to take on this misplaced resentment.

"Well, then, you should be happy for your son. If he met a fox spirit like me, he’d have died without regrets." Sang Ning’s lips curled into a slight smirk, tinged with derision, showing no intention of humoring the old man.

After ruthlessly striking where it hurt and giving no opportunity for rebuttal, she took large strides forward, catching up with the group ahead and deliberately distancing herself from him.

The camera, positioned at a distance, could only capture from afar the moment Sang Ning exchanged a few words with Li Haidong, after which the two parted unhappily. Only Li Haidong remained standing next to Song Shiye, his face alternating between pale and livid, as if he might collapse from a heart attack at any second.

Sang Ning quickly rejoined the group up front. Seeing her hurried and flustered demeanor, Wei Lan asked, "Xiao Sang, is some kind of monster chasing after you back there? Why are you in such a rush?"

Sang Ning opened her mouth, about to say, "Uncle Hai said his son died," but caught herself. She suddenly remembered that Li Haidong’s son was also Wei Lan’s brother. The words circled on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed them back down. "It’s nothing. Uncle Hai and Xiao Ye were talking about something I couldn’t join in on, so I thought I’d walk with you guys."