“Then what happened after that? What did you do to Gu Huaishan, Jin’er?”
Inside a beauty salon in City C, Ruan Zhixian lay comfortably on a chair with a soft backrest, a white facial mask covering her face.
She asked in a somewhat muffled voice.
“That’s obvious. Just like with Gu Tian, I beat him up and threw him into a box of oranges. There’s no way I actually drowned him in the river, right?”
Tang Jin’er, sitting on another beauty chair nearby with a mask on as well, shrugged.
“Oh, good then.”
“Aiya, enough already. We’re rare besties going out for fun, let’s not talk about such buzzkills.”
“Zhixian, the reason I invited you out this time is actually because I have something very important to discuss with you.”
Tang Jin’er’s voice suddenly turned serious.
“Ah? What is it? You sound kind of mysterious…”
Ruan Zhixian looked confused.
“It’s just… it’s just…”
After waving the staff out of the private room, Tang Jin’er’s voice became a little shy.
“Well… Zhixian, how exactly did you and Su Ling get together?”
“Huh?”
“Jin’er, you know this, right? Lingling thought I was getting married and locked me up for a few days. Later she came to apologize, I confessed to her, and after clearing up the misunderstanding, we got together.”
“Really?”
Ruan Zhixian was even more baffled.
“Ah! I know that! I just want to know the details, like, who chased whom, and how exactly did you do it?”
Tang Jin’er hurriedly denied this, then hesitated before continuing.
“Oh! So that’s what you mean!”
The blonde girl finally understood and slowly slipped into memories.
“Hmm, let me think. I guess if we’re talking about that, Lingling must have chased me first!”
“Mm-hmm! How exactly did she do it?”
Encouraged by Tang Jin’er’s nods, Ruan Zhixian pulled out a small notebook from somewhere.
“Uh… she tricked me into staying at her place for a few days?”
“Eek!”
Tang Jin’er slammed her pen onto the notebook with a ‘pop’.
“I mean, something more normal!”
“Oh, Jin’er, you should’ve said that earlier.”
Now Ruan Zhixian fully understood and continued pondering.
“If that’s the case, there’s actually quite a lot…”
“Mm-hmm!”
Tang Jin’er picked up the notebook again, nodding expectantly.
“Every day she’d bring me little cakes I liked. Ah, no matter how late it was, even if Lingling had to work overtime, she’d specially buy my favorite from that shop.”
“…Bringing favorite treats every day… mm-hmm…”
“And she bought me so many games! My mom doesn’t even let me play that many at home!”
“…Catering to interests… mm-hmm…”
“And there’s more. Lingling would deliberately finish her work early just to spend more time with me at home. She even worked remotely then.”
Swallow
“…Plenty of time to be together… mm-hmm…”
“Also, Lingling would seriously guess my likes and pick out gifts for me! That part is especially adorable!”
“…Carefully selected appropriate gifts… mm-hmm…”
“Ah, and then…”
“Uh, Jin’er, what are you writing down there anyway?”
Ruan Zhixian suddenly stopped, looking at Tang Jin’er furiously scribbling beside her with great confusion visible in her big eyes under the mask.
“Uh… this, this…”
Caught off guard, Miss Tang glanced around, realizing she couldn’t brush it off, and resignedly handed over the small notebook, pointing at the words on the cover.
“Strategy Manual for Chasing Someone?”
Ruan Zhixian read the title word by word.
“Jin’er, why are you writing this? Don’t tell me…”
“Ahhhhh, yes! I’ve never chased anyone before, so I want to figure out how to chase Wang Yan! So what if not everyone has dating experience!”
Tang Jin’er ripped off her mask in one go, her whole face flushed bright red, even the tips of her ears burning hot.
Her eyes glistened with tears, and her cherry lips were tightly pressed together, looking utterly defeated.
“I haven’t even asked anything yet…”
Ruan Zhixian mumbled quietly, but seeing Tang Jin’er’s embarrassed, almost tearful expression, our usually slow-witted Miss Ruan quickly shut up.
“So, Jin’er, you invited me out today to ask for advice on how to pursue Secretary Wang?”
After a while, Ruan Zhixian couldn’t hold back and bluntly asked.
“Yes, Zhixian, laugh if you want. I’m just a total romantic idiot who doesn’t understand love, but I boldly declared I’m going to win him over!”
Tang Jin’er sighed deeply, sounding a bit hopeless.
“No, no, I think you’re amazing.”
Ruan Zhixian shook her head.
“To be able to firmly express your feelings under these circumstances, I think that’s really courageous and admirable!”
“Wuwu, Zhixian!”
Moved, Tang Jin’er hugged the blonde girl tightly.
“I knew it! You really are my best bestie!”
“All right, all right.”
Ruan Zhixian patted Tang Jin’er’s back reassuringly.
“But, Jin’er, why not ask your family? You have quite a few guys under you, right? Why not ask them how to chase girls?”
Tang Jin’er was silent for a moment, then flipped to the first page of the Strategy Manual and handed it directly to Ruan Zhixian.
“?”
Ruan Zhixian held the notebook full of question marks and started reading aloud.
“Chasing method 1: Pull the loved one’s braid to attract their attention…”
“Chasing method 2: Confess loudly in public to greatly increase success rates…”
“Chasing method 3: Bully the other person’s friends to show you’re special to her…”
“Chasing method 4: Show off your stuff, like a new expensive watch or shoes, to impress her…”
“What kind of elementary school boys wrote this!”
Ruan Zhixian couldn’t help but scoff.
“Exactly! If I listened to those idiots, how could I possibly chase Wang Yan!”
Tang Jin’er said irritably, then tore off another mask strip.
“Asking them these things almost drives me crazy! Compared to them, Su Ling’s obsessive and intense methods seem so reliable…”
“Oh right, Zhixian, I haven’t asked you — your girl is a yandere, right? How did she so easily let you hang out with me alone?”
Tang Jin’er, who had just reapplied a mask, tilted her head curiously toward Ruan Zhixian.
“Well… actually, Jin’er, as early as the day after I confessed, Lingling loosened her control over me.”
“But of course I still reported to her. I even have her tracker on my phone!”
Ruan Zhixian explained excitedly, then proudly showed off the new phone Su Ling bought her.
“Sigh, I don’t even know what to call you—naive and sweet?”
Tang Jin’er looked at the clueless deer-like girl, who treated the tracker like a treasure, speechless but wishing she were stronger.
“Don’t you feel your freedom is being restricted at all?”
“No.”
The green eyes beneath the white mask were wide open as she spoke seriously.
“Because I like Lingling, and Lingling likes me too. Loving someone means accepting their flaws.”
“Besides, it’s just a tracker. Wearing it isn’t a big deal. I’m not going to do anything reckless anyway.”
“Maybe one day if I get lost, Lingling can use the tracker to find me.”
After saying that, Ruan Zhixian happily admired her new phone again.
“Sigh, should I say you’re purely optimistic or just understanding?”
Tang Jin’er lay back down, shaking her head.
“But I think I get it now — how Su Ling ended up getting you…”
“Hehe, thanks for the compliment…”
The blonde girl rubbed her head shyly.
“I wasn’t complimenting you!”