Yu He had no choice but to change the destination with the driver to a shopping mall near Shijing Park.
Upon arriving at the mall, she and Qin Beiting went shopping like a proper couple.
"You're not coming, Tianxin?" Qin Beiting asked.
"She knows you've come, so she doesn't want to be a third wheel, that's why she didn't come," Yu He said casually, then pointed at a white suit worn by a male model in a display window, changing the subject. "I think this suit looks good, why don't you try it on?"
"Baby, are you serious?" Qin Beiting looked at her deeply, his dark eyes growing deeper.
Yu He was focused on how to get rid of him so she could sneak to the park next door. She didn't understand the deeper meaning behind Qin Beiting's words.
"Trying on clothes, what's there to be serious about..." she said, walking towards the main entrance of the store. After turning a corner, she realized it was a bridal shop. The male model in the display window was paired with the model wearing a wedding dress in the main display.
"..."
It was then that Yu He realized the implication of Qin Beiting's question. Given his way of thinking, it was as if she were proposing to him!
She suddenly wanted to leave, but her wrist was caught by the man.
"Go try on those two sets in the window."
He wanted to see what the young girl would look like in a wedding dress; she must be beautiful.
Yu He: "...Alright."
"Welcome to Pronovias Bridal Shop, what style of wedding dress would you like to try on?" the saleswoman greeted them warmly. She recognized them and said joyfully, "Seventh Master Qin, Miss Yu, are you getting married? Congratulations!"
Qin Beiting used to dislike shopping. His clothes were always tailor-made by designers who came to his home. At this moment, listening to the saleswoman's congratulations, he suddenly found this experience not so bad.
He pointed at the suit and wedding dress from the window that Yu He had mentioned earlier. "Those two sets."
"Okay." The saleswoman immediately sent someone to take the wedding dress off the mannequin.
Yu He, carrying the wedding dress, went into the fitting room. After a while, she opened the door and came out. The saleswoman approached and asked,
"Miss Yu, is there anything I can help you with?"
Yu He glanced at Qin Beiting, who had already gone into the fitting room. "Where is the restroom? I need to use it."
The attendant pointed her in the direction, and Yu He started walking.
When she reached the restroom, she turned into the fire escape and quickly went down the stairs, exited the mall, and ran towards the park.
As soon as she found the koi pond, her phone rang. It was Qin Beiting.
"..."
After catching her breath, Yu He answered the call, "Hello, Brother Ting."
"Are you okay in the restroom?" Qin Beiting asked.
Yu He checked the time. She had been out for twenty minutes. Fearing he would notice something was wrong, she said, "I have a bit of diarrhea. And I've got my period, could you go buy me a pack of sanitary napkins?"
Qin Beiting was silent for a moment, then said, "Aren't you supposed to get your period next week?"
Now it was Yu He's turn to be silent. How did he even keep track of her menstrual cycle?!
"It came early. Go buy me a pack of sanitary napkins quickly, and buy me a new pair of underwear too," Yu He said.
Qin Beiting: "...Okay."
After hanging up, Yu He looked around the koi pond. There were quite a few tourists enjoying the scenery. For a moment, she couldn't easily find Qin Xinyao.
"Mom, balloons, so many balloons."
Just then, a large cluster of colorful balloons rose from behind the rockery of the koi pond. Several children cried out in excitement upon seeing the balloons.
Each balloon had an English letter on it, and they slowly floated into the sky. When they reached mid-air, the strings holding the balloons untied, and the balloons dispersed in the sky, flying in different directions.
Yu He looked up at the sky full of balloons and counted fifteen of them: thirteen letters and two numbers.
Her memory training had been quite effective. In a few seconds, she had memorized all the letters and quickly formed various words in her mind, finally piecing together one.
"varastokaappi," which means "locker" in Finnish, along with the numbers "0" and "9."
She immediately ran behind the rockery. As expected, Qin Xinyao was nowhere to be found.
She remembered Qin Xinyao once saying he liked Santa Claus, and Santa Claus's home was in Finland. That's why he learned Finnish and wanted to travel to Finland, perhaps even settle there. Yu He remembered this so clearly because when she was a naive and innocent child, she also believed in Santa Claus. When Qin Xinyao said he was going to Finland to find Santa Claus, she wanted to go with him. So she learned a little Finnish, thinking that if she went to Santa's home, she could pick out any gift she liked.
"Hello, where are the lockers in the park?" Yu He asked a volunteer.
"There's one by the South Gate," the volunteer pointed.
Yu He immediately walked towards the South Gate, found the locker, and looked up at the camera facing it.
She took out her phone, entered a string of code, and placed it in the scan slot. With a "click," locker number 09 opened.
Inside was an envelope.
Yu He took the envelope but didn't open it immediately. She turned and found a corner where the surveillance cameras couldn't see, then opened it.
Inside was a small note with a website address.
Yu He opened her phone browser and entered the website. A page popped up, asking for a password. The password hint was a calculus problem.
"..."
Anyone who could devise such a convoluted and meticulous method, she would argue with anyone who called Qin Xinyao an idiot in the future.
Yu He calculated the answer to the calculus problem and entered the password.
The webpage loaded, showing a static page with two document entries. Clicking the first document, she saw what looked like crime scene photos. Just as she was about to click to enlarge the image, a figure approached her.
Yu He immediately closed her phone and looked up. The man's familiar face leaned in.
"Diarrhea in the restroom? Got your period?" Qin Beiting leaned one hand on the tree trunk behind her.
He was still holding two bags, one from the convenience store, containing sanitary napkins.
"Cough, I was just letting you experience if buying sanitary napkins would make you feel ashamed. Give them to me." Yu He reached out to take the bag from his hand, thinking it looked odd for a grown man to be carrying a bag of sanitary napkins.
"What's shameful about buying sanitary napkins for your girlfriend?" Qin Beiting said, putting his arm around Yu He's waist and pulling her close. "Let me check if it's really here?"
Yu He was wearing casual, high-waisted jeans, with her white t-shirt tucked in, making her legs look long and straight.
At this moment, the man's fingers around her waist were restlessly hooking her t-shirt hem. Although this area was secluded, people occasionally passed by, and Yu He didn't have such a penchant.
Her cheeks grew warm, and she immediately held down Qin Beiting's restless hand. "It's not here. What? You're allowed to play with me before, but I'm not allowed to play with you?"
Qin Beiting had already suspected that Yu He was lying. Her period was always punctual. A sudden advance of a week was indeed strange, but he wasn't a woman and didn't understand much, so he still went to buy the sanitary napkins.
However, as soon as he got to the convenience store, he received a message from Heizi saying that Yu He was in the area. He bought the sanitary napkins and disposable underwear and then came over.
His little girl was truly too outstanding. If he didn't keep a close eye on her, any scoundrel could snatch her away at any moment.
"If you don't want to check, then tell me, who arranged to meet you here?" Qin Beiting bit her earlobe.
Yu He frowned. Qin Xinyao contacting her this way was precisely to keep his true identity hidden.