But then Vina seemed to remember something and cautiously withdrew her hand.
Field let go of her sleeve, curious about what she was up to.
Then Vina turned and walked towards the room, returning shortly after with a pile of sweaters, leaving Field stunned.
Vina placed the sweaters in front of him, then extended a finger from the cuff and pointed at the sweaters.
"The sweaters are finished..."
Field's mouth twitched. "All of these are for me?"
Vina nodded gently, then looked at Kiki, who was eating fruit. "And for Kiki too."
Field picked up a sweater; it was quite large.
He put it on directly, stood up, and examined himself.
He was already quite big, but the sweaters Vina knitted for him were even larger, with sleeves that covered his fingers.
Obviously, Vina knitted the sweaters a bit bigger so they could last longer.
But Field was curious, how did Vina know his size?
She never asked, did she just figure it out?
Are your eyes a measuring tool?
"Kiki, try one on too," Field said.
"New clothes, meow!" Kiki happily changed into a sweater.
Sure enough, it was a bit big; Kiki's little hands were hidden in the sleeves, just like Vina now. Moreover, her sweater seemed to be in the style of a dress, covering her knees.
Although it was a bit loose, she felt exceptionally comfortable in it.
Especially since Kiki's sweater also had a hood, wearing it would cover half of her little face, and there were even fuzzy cat ear designs on top.
"So comfortable, meow~" Kiki happily hugged the sweater.
Field also nodded with a smile, feeling quite satisfied.
Vina's knitting skills were indeed impressive, the quality was really good!
And he counted.
Vina knitted six sweaters for him, each one different.
Some had hoods, some had pockets, some had snowflake patterns, some had higher collars...
And Kiki had three, all with cat elements, and even thoughtfully left tail holes.
Vina also looked at Field expectantly, as if waiting for his praise.
However, Field suddenly became serious.
"I only need one sweater, why did you knit so many?"
"Isn't this wasteful?"
Hearing this, Vina slowly lowered her head, fingers clasping together.
Field could tell she felt a bit disappointed.
But he didn't stop, instead continued, "And your task now is to study well, knitting sweaters takes up so much time, and you knit so many at once, how can I trust that you have time to study properly?"
With her head still lowered, Vina hesitantly murmured, "I knit sweaters... very quickly..."
Field chuckled, his tone softening, and he reached out to rub her head, "Being too quick isn't good, what if you accidentally prick your hand?"
"You have enough with these; don't knit any more, understand?"
Upon hearing Field forbid her to knit sweaters, Vina suddenly looked up anxiously, "But... it's almost winter..."
"And it's not like we don't have money, just buy new clothes."
"But they're too expensive..."
"I know a place that's very cheap; I always go there to stock up," Field said.
Vina tilted her head, looking at Field.
Field continued, "When I went to buy clothes this time, I saw a dress that would suit you perfectly."
"It's quite cheap, very cost-effective, so I bought it for you."
"Perfect, you give me sweaters, and I return the favor."
With that, Field took out a beautifully wrapped gift box and handed it to Vina.
Vina hesitated, waving her hand.
But before she could say anything, Field frowned and said, "Take it!"
"I'm a man, you're hurting my pride by refusing."
Upon hearing this, Vina hesitated for a moment, then carefully took the gift box with trembling hands and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "How much did it cost?"
"I told you it's not expensive," Field waved his hand and said, "It's only a hundred and fifty gold."
Vina: "..."
Field was taken aback.
Was a hundred and fifty gold considered expensive?
So Field immediately added, "And it's on sale, the entire store is 20% off, so it's only thirty gold."
Vina still didn't say anything, just looked at Field.
For some reason, Field felt a bit guilty.
If I had known, I wouldn't have let the clerk prepare such an exquisite gift box. It doesn't look like something a thirty-gold piece dress would come in. But Field's skin is thick. Seeing Vina raise her head slightly, ready to speak, Field quickly raised his hand to stop her, then said firmly, "Anyway, we can't return it. I don't wear skirts, and it's too big for Kiki. If you don't wear it, I'll just throw it away."
Sure enough, this trick worked.
Vina hurriedly hugged the gift box, nervously saying, "Don't... don't..."
Vina couldn't stand wasting things. She couldn't bear to waste even a drop of the eighty-gold piece bottle of rum she had bought before. She wasn't stupid. With such an exquisite packaging, this dress must not be cheap. Since Field had already bought it, it must be non-returnable. In fact, there is also a return service in this world. But she didn't know because the stores that offer such services are very expensive, and she had never been to one.
Seeing Vina finally willing to accept it, Field nodded, then somewhat eagerly said, "Go try it on?"
Vina's ears turned red again, hesitantly stuttering, unable to speak, but also unable to refuse.
Field chuckled and said, "You won't know if it fits until you try it on. Although we can't return it, if it doesn't fit, we can exchange it."
"Don't you want to waste such an expensive dress, do you?"
At these words, Vina hesitated for a moment, then nodded, still holding the gift box, and walked into the house.
Field and Kiki exchanged glances happily.
The next step was to wait for Vina to come out after changing her clothes. But little did they know, they would be waiting for over half an hour.
Field was a bit puzzled.
Does it take so long to change a dress?
He didn't know that at this moment, Vina was inside the house, feeling somewhat at a loss as she looked at the exquisite box.
Normally, a box could be opened with just a lift of the lid. But this one was different. It had to be opened by undoing the side clasp, then flipping it open, revealing an intricate mechanism inside. When unfolded, it would present a three-dimensional cardboard castle. Then the castle had to be lifted, which could later be used as a decoration. Below the castle was the box where the dress was stored, and then the left and right clasps had to be undone again... In short, it was intricate but exquisite.
Most people could open it quickly. But Vina was afraid of damaging the box. She couldn't bear to throw away such a beautiful box. So when she got to the point of the three-dimensional castle, she didn't know how to proceed. Eventually, she ended up squatting in front of the bed, staring at the beautiful castle, lost in thought.
The castle was beautiful and delicate, with golden patterns on the white cardboard, as if hand-drawn.
She stared blankly at it, then reached out and gently touched the small crystal chip at the top of the castle.
It was the first time she had received such a exquisite gift.
At that moment, what was in the box seemed unimportant. Her small mouth hidden under her collar involuntarily curved into a smile, and her eyes, concealed by her hair, sparkled softly.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Boom, boom, boom."
Vina's body trembled slightly, startled.
Then a small voice came from outside.
"Vina, are you done?"
Field's voice came through.
Vina was a little flustered, quickly stood up to go open the door, but accidentally bumped into the box placed on the edge of the bed, causing it to tilt and fall to the ground.
Vina was shocked and quickly reached out to catch it, but in her haste, her shin bumped against the bed frame.
Then Field outside the door heard a series of bangs, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Field was stunned and pushed open the door, only to see Vina sitting on the ground, holding her forehead, still clutching the exquisite box.
The box was partially opened, but the cardboard castle on top was still standing intact, undamaged.
Field quickly came to Vina's side, asking, "Did you fall?"
"Um..." Vina nodded.
Field helped her up, placed the box on the bed, then brushed aside her bangs, "Did you hit your head?"
It could be seen that Vina's forehead was slightly red, as if she had knocked it against the wooden edge of the bed when she fell.
Fortunately, it wasn't too serious, just a minor abrasion.
Field breathed a sigh of relief, then said somewhat helplessly, "I asked you to change clothes, and you end up hurting yourself."
Vina felt a bit aggrieved, avoiding eye contact with Field, her little face lowering again.
But Field gently lifted her delicate chin, saying, "Stay still."
Vina remained still, looking up at Field with her eyes slightly widened, lips slightly parted.
That delicate lip, made Field itch to kiss her directly.
But Field held back, taking out a bottle of healing potion and applying a bit to the clean spot on Vina's forehead. Vina immediately felt a cool sensation on the scraped area, and the pain disappeared.
"Feeling better?" Field asked softly.
"Um," Vina nodded, softly saying, "Thank you..."
"Be more careful next time, okay?" Field tapped her forehead lightly.
Vina covered her forehead and didn't speak, just gazing at Field.
Field then looked at the gift box, raising his eyebrows, "You must have spent quite some time trying to figure out how to open the box, right?"
Vina's ears turned red again, but she still honestly nodded, "I was afraid of damaging it..."
Field chuckled, but didn't say anything, just reached out to start fiddling with the box. Soon enough, the box opened, and he took out the dress from inside.
A pure white dress.
In the end, Field still thought that pure white was more suitable for Vina.
The one with gold and silver threads was more magnificent, so he would give it to her when she was more confident.
"How about it, beautiful, right?" Field displayed the dress, smiling.
But Vina just stared blankly at the snow-white dress.
Beautiful... Of course it was beautiful. She had never seen such a beautiful dress before. Even the most beautiful dresses she had seen in the outer city's clothing store display cases were far inferior to this one. So she couldn't help but be stunned.
Seeing Vina's dumbfounded expression, Field was quite satisfied. He then handed the dress to her, "Here, try it on."
Saying that, Field walked out.
Vina snapped out of her daze, carefully holding the dress, turning around, seeming a bit anxious.
"W-wait... wait a minute..."
"What's wrong? You don't want me to help you change, do you?" Field turned back with a smile.
Vina's ears turned red again, lowering her head, softly saying, "Can I... wear it later?"
Field
could tell that Vina was feeling insecure again.
She obviously wasn't ready yet.
At this moment, he couldn't force it, let alone use reasons like it not fitting well to force her to wear it.
Vina really liked this dress and cherished it. At this moment, whether it fits or not doesn't matter.
Moreover, the material of this dress was said to automatically shrink to the right size according to the wearer's body temperature, so there was no need to worry about it not fitting.
So, Field smiled slightly, nodded, "Sure, wear it whenever you want. Anyway, that shop offers lifetime exchanges."
This wasn't a lie. Brittany's clothing store indeed offered lifetime exchanges, with excellent after-sales service.
At these words, Vina nodded, then carefully folded the dress on the bed, placing it back into the exquisite gift box.
Field didn't look again, but instead went to the living room and took out a cigarette.
But looking at this clean little house, Field thought for a moment and decided to put the cigarette away.
In a while, Vina should be done tidying up and would come out.
Although he didn't get to see Vina wearing the dress, he felt a bit regretful.
But Field wasn't in a hurry. Vina deserved his careful protection so that the most beautiful flowers could bloom.