Chapter 34: I’m such a noob!

Bai Ranran kicked a pebble at her feet.

It skittered over the dirt slope, tumbled a few times, and finally clattered against a telephone pole.

An old-fashioned telephone booth still stood here.

The plastic shielding had turned a deep yellow, and the landline phone inside was mostly covered in rust.

Jiang Ran pouted.

“You didn’t look for me just because you have no one to play with, did you?”

Bai Ranran lifted her head, then quickly lowered it again with a nod.

“A little, I guess.”

“But — I have my own things to do. And Bai Ranran, I’ve always just seen you as a classmate. I think you should talk to your mom and dad more about this. Maybe they can help you. What I can do for you is actually quite limited.”

Bai Ranran tucked her hands behind her back.

A gust of wind caught the ribbon at her waist, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand.

Jiang Ran instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

When she slowly lowered it, she noticed that Bai Ranran hadn’t moved to dodge at all.

A thin layer of sand covered her face.

The girl didn’t even flinch.

For a fleeting second, Jiang Ran thought she saw falling leaves pass straight through the girl’s body.

Jiang Ran rubbed her eyes, telling herself it was just an illusion.

But as she looked again, Bai Ranran’s figure was truly becoming blurred, bit by bit.

Leaves even drifted right through the space where she stood.

They passed directly through Bai Ranran’s body, as if no one were standing there at all.

Jiang Ran’s eyes widened.

She realized something was happening but chose to stay silent, pretending she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Bai Ranran.

She looked around as if searching for something, catching Bai Ranran in her peripheral vision.

The girl stepped forward and tentatively tapped a fist against Jiang Ran’s chest.

Jiang Ran felt no sensation of touch at all, yet she could vaguely see Bai Ranran embracing her.

Afterward, she saw the girl stand up and walk slowly back the way she had come, her figure growing more and more translucent.

About 1 minute later, Jiang Ran saw Bai Ranran returning, this time carrying several bars of soap.

“I don’t owe you anymore.”

Bai Ranran shoved a bag of new soap into Jiang Ran’s arms.

The latter scratched her head.

“You just went to buy soap?”

“Yes. I’ve paid back the money I owed you. I’m going home now.”

Bai Ranran picked up her bag and headed toward the bus stop.

Jiang Ran chose not to follow.

She opened the bag Bai Ranran had given her and found that it contained more than just the soap she had lost earlier.

There were also some candies and small bags of sealed crackers.

Tearing open a wrapper, Jiang Ran popped a strawberry cracker into her mouth.

It tasted pretty good, though a bit too sweet.

When she looked up again, she saw Bai Ranran staring at her.

Once caught, the girl quickly turned her head away.

Jiang Ran rubbed her cheek and took another bite of the cracker.

It really was quite sweet.

Bai Ranran stood under the bus shelter with her toes tucked together.

She lowered her head, watching as the wind blew her clothes out until she looked like a balloon.

The fierce wind kept whipping her hem backward.

She steadied herself and looked nervously toward where Jiang Ran had been.

It was empty.

There was no one there.

She gripped her phone and opened the interface, only to realize she had no idea how to get back.

‘This won’t do. I should just call a Didi.’

Right then, a taxi pulled up.

Jiang Ran rolled down the window.

“Get in. I know this area better than you.”

Bai Ranran held her breath and looked away.

Jiang Ran sighed.

“Then I’m going back on my own. You really should call your parents.”

“I don’t want to see them. You… you sit in the back.”

“Ha? What kind of weird request is that?”

Jiang Ran scratched her head, wondering what Bai Ranran was playing at.

“Are you getting in or not?”

“There’s a limit to how demanding you can be. If you aren’t going, I’ll just go by myself.”

Jiang Ran crossed her arms, truly unable to understand what Bai Ranran was doing.

Now was not the time for a temper tantrum.

“In the front…”

Jiang Ran looked toward the front and realized the driver was a man.

She remembered then that every ride-hailing car Bai Ranran had called before had been driven by a woman.

She didn’t quite get it.

There was a partition between the front and back of the taxi, and the driver wasn’t acting strange at all.

Seeming to realize something, Jiang Ran pulled the door open.

“Fine, get in. Let’s get back quickly. If we stay stopped any longer, we’ll have to pay the driver extra.”

Bai Ranran nodded and climbed into the car, her body trembling.

The moment she was inside, she lunged into Jiang Ran’s arms, refusing to open her eyes.

Her small hands gripped Jiang Ran’s jacket tightly, refusing to let go.

Jiang Ran scratched her head.

“You’re really nervous about the driver? There’s a metal grate here. It’s fine.”

Bai Ranran squirmed in her arms, which served as a silent acknowledgment.

“Fine, I’ll leave you be. Just don’t stop me from using my phone.”

Jiang Ran opened her phone and started watching short videos.

Bai Ranran continued to squirm restlessly, burrowing into Jiang Ran’s side like a wild boar rooting for cabbage.

She squeezed Jiang Ran so hard it was becoming difficult to breathe.

“Stop. Are you a hydraulic press? You’re going to crush me to death.”

“I am not.”

Bai Ranran lifted her head.

Strands of blonde hair were stuck to her eyebrows, and her bright, watery emerald-green eyes stared intently into Jiang Ran’s.

The distance between them grew smaller and smaller.

Jiang Ran grimaced awkwardly.

She admitted that Bai Ranran looked cute like this, but what did that have to do with her?

She didn’t want Bai Ranran acting this way at all.

Besides, Bai Ranran’s fear of people was clearly severe.

She had been unwilling to even get into the car because of the driver, yet why was she so clingy now?

‘Does she not even consider me a person?’

Jiang Ran endured it for the entire trip.

It wasn’t until they got out of the car that she finally spoke.

“I’m curious. You say you’re afraid of people, so why are you fine with me? Is it just an excuse to mess with me?”

“No… it’s not.”

Bai Ranran shook her head vigorously and tried to squeeze against Jiang Ran again.

Jiang Ran pushed her away.

“Be clear. Do you see me as a scratching post?”

Bai Ranran bit her lip and lightly hammered her small fists against Jiang Ran’s chest.

“You’re different. You’re soft, you smell good… you aren’t unpleasant.”

“In my opinion, you just want to take advantage of me.”

Jiang Ran pushed her away once more.

She figured it out — she had encountered a female delinquent.

It was just that Bai Ranran was so timid that her “delinquent” behavior looked more like acting spoiled.

But that didn’t justify her taking advantage of the situation.

Jiang Ran didn’t want this at all; she just found it incredibly annoying.

After all, if a girl started touching and hitting you indiscriminately, would anyone actually like that?

“I’m not, I…”

Bai Ranran lunged into Jiang Ran’s arms again.

“You can hit me back or bite me. Then we’re even.”

Jiang Ran was speechless.

“That’s not going to work. You’re as fragile as glass. If I hit you and break you, I’ll end up in a police station.”

Jiang Ran tried to push her away again, but Bai Ranran suddenly straightened up.

“If you won’t do that, then I’ll…”

Bai Ranran pulled at the corners of her eyes.

“I’ll make a scary face to frighten you!”

She claimed she was making a scary face, but Jiang Ran only saw a silly girl pulling at her cheeks, trying her best to look angry.

There was nothing scary about it.

“Are… are you sure you’re trying to scare me?”

Jiang Ran pressed down the corners of her mouth, fighting the urge to laugh.

“Yes. I am threatening you. If you don’t behave, I’ll scare you half to death.”

Bai Ranran lifted her head with an air of utmost seriousness, her eyes shining.

“Pfft. You’re overestimating yourself. You don’t look scary at all. That tactic isn’t going to work.”

“I don’t look scary?”

Hearing this, Bai Ranran tilted her head back and looked at Jiang Ran blankly, her eyes shimmering like water.

“Exactly. If you’re so lonely, why don’t you go make some more friends? It’s boring to keep pestering me.”

“I…”

Bai Ranran lowered her head again.

“I’m afraid.”

“Then why aren’t you afraid of me?”

Bai Ranran lowered her head even further.

“I feel… like I can beat you in a fight.”

Jiang Ran was stunned.

‘Damn, it sounds like she’s telling the truth.’