“Oh? They haven’t told you yet?”
Li Qinyue’s hands gripped the steering wheel firmly, her scarlet nail polish highlighting the slender, delicate whiteness of her fingers.
“You’re the only S-rank in the last four years!” she stated calmly, delivering words that sent Huang Xiu’s heart pounding. Then, lowering the car window, she began parallel parking, observing the rearview mirror.
Her driving skills were exceptional, standing out even among male drivers. She smoothly maneuvered the car into a parking space exactly one car length long, reversing in a single, effortless motion with hardly any need for correction.
“Alright, we’re here. Let’s get out!”
“Oh!” Huang Xiu, still reeling from the revelation of her S-rank status, followed Li Qinyue in a daze to the front of a clothing store. It was a high-end boutique specializing in women’s lingerie, its flamboyant, all-English sign immediately branding it as a luxury brand. Huang Xiu instinctively felt that this was one of those legendary ‘lingerie assassins,’ and a strong urge to retreat instantly bloomed within her.
“Is it really necessary to come to such an expensive place just to buy innerwear?” she wondered. She didn’t have much money, after all!
“Innerwear is a very important personal garment.” Li Qinyue wagged a finger. “I would never let my junior female student wear poor-quality innerwear.”
‘Heh, who said I’m your junior female student!’ Even knowing it was a desensitization exercise, Huang Xiu nearly choked on the title.
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover all the expenses today,” Li Qinyue said, gently patting the girl’s head.
‘Here we go again…’ Huang Xiu pouted. She had received far too many favors today—a luxurious hotel, a fancy lunch. She could barely accept the first two as ‘necessary things,’ but now even buying clothes felt extravagant.
She actually had money, not a lot, but seven hundred yuan should be enough to buy a whole outfit, she thought.
“I still have seven hundred yuan,” she said, looking up earnestly into Li Qinyue’s eyes.
Li Qinyue smiled, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. ‘She’s a child with strong self-esteem!’
“This is a senior’s care for her junior, you know,” she explained. “When I was a junior, my senior did the same for me. It’s a tradition, so don’t worry. When you have your own junior female students in the future, just show them the same care.”
“If you’re truly uncomfortable, you can use the money to buy some snacks for everyone when we go back!”
‘Is this what they call a mentor’s lineage tradition…’ Huang Xiu suddenly realized she might have been overly sentimental. From the moment she agreed to become Professor Yuan’s student, Professor Yuan, Yun Ning, Yue Zhengyang, and Senior Sister Li had already accepted her as one of their own. They didn’t care about a little give and take. Only she had been foolishly calculating, unable to shift her mindset, treating them merely as simple teacher-student or senior-junior relationships.
‘How wonderful… such an atmosphere and tradition within this mentor’s lineage. It seems I won’t be alone during my four years of university, even without my previous classmates…’
“Alright!” Huang Xiu nodded emphatically, earning a look of relieved approval from Li Qinyue.
****
The two entered the store, and a sales assistant standing by the door quickly stepped forward to greet them.
“Please take her measurements,” Li Qinyue instructed, stepping aside to reveal a somewhat shy Huang Xiu.
“Certainly.”
The sales assistant was also a young woman, not much older than twenty. Her features were ordinary, but she had remarkably fair skin. As she looked past Li Qinyue, she instantly stiffened.
‘What a cute girl!’ Her fair, blushing cheeks, dark hair cascading over her shoulders, shrinking behind someone else like a timid little animal. She was wearing a school uniform—no, *because* she was wearing a school uniform, her youthful innocence was even more pronounced. The sales assistant’s smile quickly became genuinely warm, almost fervent, as she hurried forward.
“Miss, please come with me to the fitting room!”
‘She looks like a good person,’ Huang Xiu thought, instantly feeling a little afraid. She glanced at Li Qinyue for help, but the latter merely returned a faint smile and began scrolling on her phone.
‘Damn it!’ the girl wailed inwardly, as she was pulled into the fitting room by the sales assistant.
*Bang!* The door closed heavily.
“No!” a slightly surprised female voice rang out.
After a long, long moment, the door reopened. A blushing Huang Xiu emerged, clutching her chest, timidly following the sales assistant.
‘How shameful, how utterly shameful!’ She felt as though she had nearly lost her mind moments ago! She had said there was no need to take off her clothes for measurements, but the sales assistant insisted that innerwear was a close-fitting garment requiring precise data, thus necessitating the removal of her top. She could still recall the cold touch of the measuring tape against her chest and back.
“This young lady’s underbust is approximately 76 centimeters, and her bust is 85 centimeters. That puts her at an A-cup level!” the sales assistant informed Li Qinyue, having already told Huang Xiu her size inside. She could tell that while Huang Xiu was buying the innerwear, Li Qinyue was the one in charge. As a sales assistant, she had that much discernment.
“We recommend our medium molded cup styles,” the sales assistant sweetly offered.
“Medium molded cup?” Li Qinyue glanced at Huang Xiu’s chest. ‘Hmm, about an A-cup. Indeed, only medium molded cups would fit.’ She wondered if Huang Xiu would continue to develop. Typically, a seventeen-year-old girl’s development would have stopped. However, her junior female student was a unique case, having transitioned, and a seventeen-year-old boy was often at the peak of development.
‘Yes, it’s indeed small. She needs to develop a bit more; a C-cup would be the passing mark,’ Li Qinyue mused to herself. Being a D-cup herself, she hoped her junior female students would also be well-endowed. Fortunately, Huang Xiu was unaware of Li Qinyue’s thoughts. If she knew, she would surely scream, “Are you crazy? Don’t even mention it—I already find it troublesome and wish I could just bind them or cut them off!”
“Hurry up, just… just that medium molded cup!” Huang Xiu only wished for this ordeal to end quickly.
She followed the sales assistant to the medium molded cup section. The innerwear there was dazzlingly varied, ranging from alluring lace designs to pure and cute styles. Huang Xiu blushed as she spent a long time choosing, finally settling on the most ordinary pink design.
“This one!” The girl took the innerwear, tucking it into her embrace, only to hear Senior Sister Li’s devilish voice again.
“Pick out some panties too, Junior Sister Huang!”
“The ones I’m wearing are fine,” Huang Xiu tried to protest. Her current panties had been worn for months, perfectly fitted and comfortable. She didn’t want to replace them until they were worn out, let alone choose new women’s underwear.
“No!” As Huang Xiu expected, Senior Sister Li disagreed. “Girls need to change their innerwear frequently.”
“If you don’t choose, I’ll choose for you,” she added, already heading towards the underwear section.
“Don’t!” Huang Xiu quickly reached out and tugged at her senior’s sleeve. She dared not let her senior choose for her; who knew what strange styles she might pick?
‘Well, a quick death or a slow one, it’s all the same. And since I’m already here, damn it!’