Ning Xi walked around after leaving History, intending to buy some souvenirs.
She was tired halfway through, so she bought herself some snacks and sat down on one of the long chairs.
Suddenly, she felt someone looking at her.
Ning Xi looked up and saw an untidy beggar staring at her…
It felt really odd to be eating while being stared at, so she then took out a sandwich from the paper bag and gave it to the beggar.
The beggar looked at her, took the sandwich and gobbled it down quickly.
Ning Xi sensed the gaze again, so she looked up and still saw the beggar there…
Ning Xi then realized that he was not staring at her food, but it was more like a judgmental stare assessing her…
Ning Xi was confused. What was she supposed to do? She had even given him something to eat, so what was he trying to do?
Ning Xi stopped eating and walked over to him, "Hey, why do you keep staring at me?"
"I’m not staring at you." Ning Xi was surprised that he replied in Chinese. She did not expect him to be a Chinese…
Ning Xi responded in Chinese as well, "You’ve been staring at me since just now! Even at this moment!"
The beggar scanned her then replied, "I’m looking at your outfit."
Ning Xi looked at her dress and asked, "What about my outfit?"
The beggar did not even hesitate. "It’s ugly."
Ning Xi was speechless. Even people who had zero fashion sense would never consider this dress as ugly.
"Why don't you tell me which part of this dress is ugly?"
Ning Xi was not expecting anything constructive but his reply was out of her expectations, "The embroidery on your dress is a flower-bird themed which comes from the drawing called "Rest" by Lin Fengmian. It’s a good drawing but the background color is too dark. It’d be better if turquoise blue was used. They shouldn't have used silk as well; a softer fabric would have worked better. The worst part is the design around the waist. It’s a misconception that the tighter the waist area, the more can one flaunt their curves. Actually, if it’s a little bit looser, it would have made an enormous difference…"
Ning Xi saw that the beggar commented excitedly about her outfit.
She looked at her outfit again and armed with the knowledge from his comments, she thought that his words made sense.
She listened patiently and prompted, "Tell me more!"
The beggar continued with a cold tone, "Most importantly, this outfit you’re wearing is a half-made draft! They are deceiving the consumers by putting this on for sale!
Ning Xi looked at the beggar again. "How do you know all these?"
The beggar had really messy hair that covered most of his face but from his voice, Ning Xi was determined that he should be around 20 odd years of age.