Chapter 183: Got Found Out by Mom, Meow?

Cold sweat beaded on Xiaoxi’s forehead as her mind raced furiously for a solution.

Stay calm, she told herself. She would just insist that Ye Xinglan was nothing more than a regular friend—just close, that’s all. Surely her mom would buy that, right?

After all, girls and boys are different. It’s normal for close girlfriends to act a little intimate, to hug each other, to wear matching outfits, or even to help pick out each other’s underwear, isn’t it?

She and Ye Xinglan were just that kind of inseparable best friends! Whether they were best friends or something more, only she herself could judge!

At this point, Xiaoxi was ready to cut her losses and confess that she’d become a girl.

But she hadn’t noticed that after learning Su Yuening’s identity, Ye Xinglan, standing beside her, looked even more nervous than she was. The Rich Girl stiffened unconsciously, trying to speak politely.

“O-our mom…”

Then Ye Xinglan caught a sharp elbow from Xiaoxi, and hurriedly corrected herself.

“Ah, hello, Auntie! My name is Ye Xinglan! Please take care of me.”

Ye Xinglan was so nervous she’d forgotten to keep up the pretense about their relationship. Luckily, she hadn’t acted too rudely just now.

Who would’ve thought that this big sister who looked about Xiaoxi’s age was actually her mother!

And they didn’t even look alike; it felt like Xiaoxi hadn’t inherited any of her mom’s good genes at all…

Ye Xinglan glanced at the small-size bra in her hand, perfectly Xiaoxi’s size, then looked at Su Yuening…

Suddenly she realized that, although Su Yuening and Xiaoxi didn’t look alike, Su Yuening did share some resemblance with Xiao Keke.

“My, what a polite young lady~”

Su Yuening smiled as she gently patted Xiaoxi’s head, as if she were an affectionate big sister caring for her sibling. But this gesture put unprecedented pressure on Xiaoxi.

“Xiaoxi, tell Mom, what’s your relationship with this young lady?”

Crap!

Seeing her mother’s eyes narrow even more, Xiaoxi knew that if she couldn’t give a reasonable explanation now, she’d be done for!

“Haha… Well, you see, Mom, Xinglan is my new girlfriend…”

Xiaoxi quickly added the rest at lightning speed, “We just started dating! Xinglan happened to come here on a business trip, so I thought I’d bring her home as a surprise for you and didn’t say anything beforehand. I never expected to run into you here!”

“And, um, Keke knew I was bringing my new girlfriend home these days, so I specifically asked her not to let it slip to you!”

Mom’s not easily fooled, so playing dumb now would only be asking for trouble.

It was safer to say she hadn’t had time to tell her mom yet—surely her mom wouldn’t remember that Ye Xinglan was the blind date she’d arranged a few months back, right?

As Su Yuening gave Ye Xinglan a thorough once-over, Xiaoxi’s heart was in her throat.

“Hmm… No wonder this young lady looked so familiar to me. Maybe it’s fate.”

Ye Xinglan, overwhelmed by the attention, shook hands with Su Yuening. Su Yuening, eyeing the bra in Ye Xinglan’s hand, spoke again, half-believing.

“Looks like your relationship is progressing pretty quickly—just started dating and already this close.”

Accompanying your girlfriend to buy underwear right after you start dating really was a bit fast. Xiaoxi hurried to shield Ye Xinglan.

“I-I was the one who asked Xinglan to come with me! I’ve been, um… developing quickly lately, and you know I don’t have any experience buying these things, so I wanted Xinglan’s advice…”

Her voice grew smaller and smaller, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

It was bad enough to get caught by her mom while on a date with Xinglan—let alone while Xinglan was helping her pick out underwear! It was mortifying!

All Xiaoxi could do now was hope her mom didn’t catch the full meaning of Xinglan’s wild words earlier.

Fortunately, Su Yuening seemed to buy it and didn’t ask any more questions. After chatting for a bit, she waved and left.

“Well, I won’t disturb your date any longer. Sorry for spoiling your little surprise. Remember to let me know a day before you come home. Xiaoxi, if you’re short on living expenses, don’t forget to ask Mom for more, okay?”

Xiaoxi forced a smile and waved goodbye, not relaxing until her mother’s figure, purse slung over her shoulder, had completely disappeared.

Thank goodness she managed to bluff her way out of that. But she’d only just gotten back to North Blossom City, and already managed to run into her mom at the mall? Talk about bad luck!

From now on, when she and Xinglan went home together, they’d have to act less intimate, to keep up the appearance of a fresh, awkward new relationship…

Xiaoxi thought about how Ye Xinglan liked to stick to her whenever she could, and seriously doubted the Rich Girl’s acting skills would hold up.

“You scared me to death, Xiaoxi. I didn’t give Mom a bad impression, did I? Anyway, look, don’t you think this one suits you even better?”

Ye Xinglan let out a breath of relief too, but didn’t forget the main task at hand.

Seeing the Rich Girl waving the bra and measuring it against herself as if nothing had happened, Xiaoxi’s anger flared up.

“You’ve got some nerve! If you’d slipped up just now, I’d be dead meat because of you!”

“Ahem, what’s there to be embarrassed about buying this stuff? Weren’t you the one who said you had no experience and wanted me to help you pick?”

“You little—!”

Sometimes, Xiaoxi had to admit, the Rich Girl really was thick-skinned.

But Ye Xinglan had already chosen the styles and was pushing her toward the Fitting Room, so Xiaoxi sighed and didn’t refuse anymore.

Forget it. She’d just buy them—she could always wear them as little as possible back home. Not like Ye Xinglan could force her to—wait, actually, maybe she could.

“These three! No more, got it?”

Annoyed, Xiaoxi grabbed the underwear Ye Xinglan had picked out and headed into the Fitting Room.

When she saw Ye Xinglan naturally following her inside, she blocked the way.

“What do you think you’re doing? You want to come in while I’m changing?”

“Come on, it’s not like I haven’t seen it before. What’s there to be shy about? I just want to see how it looks on you~”

“Shoo, shoo! I’ll call you in when I’m done! I don’t need help changing, okay?!”

Without another word, Xiaoxi shoved Ye Xinglan out.

Even though they’d already seen each other plenty of times, Xiaoxi knew full well that with Ye Xinglan’s personality, if she let her in now, the Rich Girl would definitely take the chance to get handsy!

So Xiaoxi showed no mercy, kicked her out, and triple-checked the Fitting Room door was securely locked before she started changing.

The cramped Fitting Room had no extra decorations, but at last, Xiaoxi finally had a bit of peace and privacy. She let out a sigh of relief and started to change.

But as soon as she took off her coat and hung it up, she felt as if a pair of eyes were staring at her.

She turned around warily—only to see the Fitting Room door still locked tight.

Weird, the Rich Girl wasn’t peeking either… Was she just paranoid after getting such a scare?