Jiang Ran glanced at the kiddy ride, then back at the roughly 1.6-meter-tall Bai Ranran.
Her gaze bounced back and forth between the two, and her eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably.
“Bai Ranran, are you sure you want to play with this? This thing is for children.”
Despite her words, Bai Ranran continued to stare at the glowing kiddy ride, stubbornly clutching the hem of Jiang Ran’s shirt.
“Fine, play by yourself then.”
Jiang Ran turned and walked away.
As she moved, she realized that Bai Ranran was still gripping her clothes, making it feel like weight training; with every step, it was as if a lead weight was dragging behind her.
“My dear lady, this thing might look flashy, but it’s not meant for a college student like you. Look, it’s for babies in diapers.”
Jiang Ran pointed toward a grandmother nearby who was lifting her granddaughter off a kiddy ride.
Her tone was sincere.
Even if this thing was a bit of a novelty for city folk, it wasn’t something you could just play with whenever you wanted.
At the very least, she shouldn’t be dragging Jiang Ran along.
However, Bai Ranran continued to stare intently at the ride, her expression unexpectedly determined.
For a moment, Jiang Ran was bewildered.
Normally, an adult wouldn’t stare at such a childish thing for so long.
Regardless, Jiang Ran had never liked playing with these things even when she was a child.
“I am wearing underwear,” Bai Ranran said, each word deliberate as she stared into Jiang Ran’s eyes.
Jiang Ran was speechless.
‘What kind of logic is this?’
“It would be weird if you weren’t wearing any.”
“Then I can play, right?”
Jiang Ran had no response.
A few minutes later, Jiang Ran stood beside the kiddy ride with a dark expression, holding the coins she had just exchanged with the owner.
She watched the joyful Bai Ranran grip the steering wheel, standing there as stiff as a board, looking like a motionless corpse.
When out in public, what one feared most was social death.
Fortunately, this street wasn’t very crowded.
Most of the passersby were seniors or elementary students running around and playing.
Jiang Ran was lost in thought until someone tugged at her shirt.
Bai Ranran looked up, her gaze burning as she stared at Jiang Ran.
“Together.”
“I — I’m already an adult. I’m not going to play with something like this.”
“Then I’ll get up, and you sit.”
“That’s not the point…”
Jiang Ran was speechless.
She didn’t even know how to convince Bai Ranran that this thing wasn’t meant for a college student like her.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like playing?”
“Of course not. I — I played with these when I was a kid.”
“I see…”
The light in Bai Ranran’s eyes slowly faded.
“Then I won’t play either. Let’s go.”
Bai Ranran stepped down from the kiddy ride, her cool gaze falling on the distant horizon at dusk.
“I’m thirsty…”
Jiang Ran looked at her.
“Then let’s take a car back.”
“But wasn’t there a supermarket back there?”
“There are a lot of fakes here. That soap you just bought might even be a knockoff. Look, the characters on it say ‘Shufujia.'”
“Oh, you know so much.”
Bai Ranran held the soap and pulled a bag of potato chips from her backpack.
Staring at the back of Jiang Ran’s head as she walked in front, she took a bite of a chip.
Jiang Ran turned around and began walking backward.
“Since you’re thirsty, Eldest Miss, why don’t we just head back?”
“I can hold out a bit longer. I want to play around here more.”
“What’s there to do in the suburbs? It’s all empty.”
“There is — “
Bai Ranran plucked a few stalks of foxtail grass from the roadside and wrapped them around her fingers.
She stripped the seeds off and threw them onto the ground, watching them drift in the wind and fly past her green eyes before repeating the process.
Soon, the foxtail grass in the area was completely decimated by Bai Ranran.
Jiang Ran scratched her head and followed behind her.
“Is it really that fun?”
‘I remember she was clearly terrified of people. Why is she fine with me? Is she even human?’
Bai Ranran stopped what she was doing and wrapped one stalk around her hand.
“It’s fun. You seem to like looking around a lot. Am I ugly?”
“Huh?”
Jiang Ran scratched her head.
“How did you come to that conclusion? I’m just looking around.”
“Because you haven’t looked at me once.”
“Isn’t that just because I don’t feel like looking? What does that have to do with whether you’re ugly or not?”
Jiang Ran shrugged.
As a Little Transparent, she couldn’t be bothered to have any further developments with the female lead.
She really wanted to leave, but she was afraid that if the foolish Bai Ranran stayed here and something happened, the police would investigate and she’d have to go to the station for questioning.
“Oh. My parents said they like to look at me because I’m beautiful, but I noticed you don’t like looking at me at all. That means I’m not that pretty, right?”
“What kind of bullshit logic is that? What’s the point of a m — woman like me staring at another woman?”
“Oh, do you like men?”
When Bai Ranran mentioned the word “men,” her body recoiled for a split second.
“Ha! Even more impossible. I don’t like anyone. I — I love money!”
Jiang Ran slapped her chest.
“That’s right! What I love is money! My favorite thing in the world is money!”
Mad shouts erupted from Jiang Ran’s mouth.
Her unhinged display naturally drew the attention of the people around them, who thought she was a crazy woman.
Although everyone liked money, they had never seen anyone so obsessive about it.
Jiang Ran didn’t care at all.
If she let Bai Ranran know she was a materialistic woman, the other girl would surely distance herself over time.
“Do you like money that much?”
Bai Ranran poked her lip with her finger, her eyes wide.
“Yeah. Didn’t I just say that? My favorite thing is money.”
Bai Ranran rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a wallet.
From one of the compartments, she took out a dark gold bank card and handed it to Jiang Ran.
“There’s 500,000 in here. The password is my birthday, 020520. I don’t know if that’s enough for you.”
“Wait, how much?”
Jiang Ran froze in place.
This was a literal walking 500,000.
And that wasn’t even the main point.
Why was Bai Ranran suddenly giving her so much money?
“Is 500,000 too little?”
“It’s not that! Why are you giving me so much money? Put it back!”
Bai Ranran poked her lip, her expression turning a bit dejected.
“But didn’t you say you like money? This is all I have on me. If it’s not enough, come home with me to get more. My mom has several cards at home.”
“Wait… let me catch my breath. I really can’t take this card. I like money, but I have my own. You don’t need to give me yours. Put it away quickly.”
“Oh, so you don’t like my money.”
“Right, I don’t like your money. Put it away.”
“Then what do you like about me?”
Jiang Ran was baffled.
‘How did we end up back at the start? Is this right?’
“Did I ever say I liked you?!”
Bai Ranran bit her lip.
“Then you hate me?”
“Uh, I simply don’t have any feelings for you. After all, I like a quiet life. Bai Ranran, you don’t need to seek validation from me. People like me are destined to be alone.”
Jiang Ran looked serious.
To make the act more convincing, she even added a slight tremor to her voice, as if she had suffered a great trauma.
Bai Ranran bit her lip and crumpled the empty potato chip bag into a ball.
She looked down at her toes and whispered, “Me too…”