Chapter 52: Madman’s Diary

“Is someone looking for me?”

Jiang Ran held her phone, a few names surfacing in her mind, though she currently had no idea who would be seeking her out.

The voice on the other end of the line was clearly hesitant.

“It is a pair of professors. They likely want to understand some things from you. It is not a bad thing, of course.”

“Professors? I do not think I know any professors.”

Jiang Ran searched through her memories, truly unable to recall when she had met such a couple.

Judging by Xu Huan’s tone, this was something she could not easily refuse.

“They are Bai Ranran’s parents. I know this might be sudden for you, Student Jiang, but I believe they have no ill intentions. Their daughter is usually a bit shy around strangers, so they are likely here because of that.”

“I see…”

Jiang Ran sighed.

“Actually, Principal, I also have Yu Yu Zheng. I have social anxiety disorder, too. I even get extremely terrified when I meet people. Can I skip this?”

“Huh?”

The Principal was stunned.

Was Jiang Ran trying to stack every mental health buff she could think of?

Why did she have so many complicated conditions?

“Are you all right, Student Jiang? With so many illnesses, perhaps I should have the school psychological counselor take a look at you.”

The school psychological counselor?

Was that not Gu Ge?

Jiang Ran was startled and hurriedly shook her head.

“No… It is fine. I have already been to the hospital. There is no need to trouble you all over such a small matter.”

“I see. Then I will have to trouble you when the time comes, Student Jiang. All right, I have to get back to my own work now. Take care, Student Jiang.”

The call ended, and Jiang Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

She opened her phone, wondering if she should ask Bai Ranran about her parents’ situation, but after a thought, she felt it was too dangerous.

If there were truly no estrangement between Bai Ranran and her parents, they probably would not have come to the school to find her personally.

This suggested there was a lot of suspicious depth to the matter.

Realizing there was a lot of room for maneuvering, Jiang Ran emptied her mind.

She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

***

The next day, the sun rose in the east, casting a warm glow over the earth.

The streets were bustling with people, and many children carrying schoolbags were on the road.

Jiang Ran nibbled on some bread as she walked from the street corner toward the bus station.

Once she boarded, she swiped through her phone.

The Penguin app had been quite quiet last night, aside from a few netizens chatting with her about games.

After replying to the messages, Jiang Ran got off at her stop, preparing to transfer to another bus.

During the wait, a car came to a halt.

“Stop.”

Tao Xixue raised her hand to signal the driver.

The maid in the front could not help but speak up.

“Eldest Miss, is something the matter?”

“Pull over to the curb.”

“Oh…”

The car emitted a puff of white exhaust as it stopped at the street corner.

The vigorous morning light hit the window glass, reflecting brilliant colors and shimmering spots of light.

Passersby stopped in their tracks, staring at the car that had suddenly appeared by the bus stop.

They wondered which family this Eldest Miss belonged to; that car had to be worth at least 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 yuan.

Jiang Ran was equally impacted by the sudden arrival.

Holding her bus card, she stared blankly at the black car, momentarily confused about what was happening.

The window rolled down slowly, revealing Tao Xixue’s signature peach-colored hair.

“Student Jiang, are you heading to school?”

“Y—Yes. What a… what a coincidence…”

Jiang Ran stared at the black car, the points of light in her mind becoming increasingly clear.

She looked at the morning sun rising nearby and felt the light becoming blinding.

Standing there, her legs began to feel weak.

“That is perfect then. Come on, I will give you a lift. It is on the way anyway. Who knows how long you will be waiting if you stay here?”

An exclamation point practically popped up over Jiang Ran’s head as she took a slight step back.

“N—No need. I am actually fine going on my own.”

“How could that be okay? Come on… Look at how many people are here.”

Tao Xixue leaned forward, her voice brushing against Jiang Ran’s ear.

“You would not want me to publicly call you ‘wife’ in front of all these people, would you? Such a strange nickname…”

!?

Jiang Ran could not control her eyes from widening.

She did not even dare to breathe.

Was Tao Xixue some kind of Japanese person?

How could she say such strange things so casually?

It was simply too bizarre.

As she retreated, Jiang Ran’s steps became unsteady.

During their back-and-forth, the murmurs of the people around them began to grow louder.

“Who are they? Do they look like sisters? But they do not really resemble each other.”

A few older women even put down their grocery baskets to watch the strange pair of figures at the street corner.

Jiang Ran bit her lip, hesitating for a long time before finally nodding.

“I will go with you. Just do not do anything reckless.”

“How could I be reckless?”

Tao Xixue maintained her smiling expression, beaming radiantly.

One after the other, they entered the black car.

As soon as she got in, Jiang Ran felt the air becoming hot.

She noticed that Tao Xixue, who had originally been in the front, had suddenly moved to the back seat.

The maid driving the car was very perceptive, put on a piece of soothing music to drown out the noise outside.

Jiang Ran could only watch the city receding through the window.

Meanwhile, Tao Xixue’s hand quietly moved onto her leg, rubbing and squeezing.

Jiang Ran endured it several times, thinking she would just ignore the girl, but she had not expected Tao Xixue’s hand to become increasingly restless.

Unable to bear it any longer, Jiang Ran raised her voice.

“Hey! We are not in a studio right now! Why are you pinching me?”

“Oh, did I pinch you? I thought it was my own leg. My apologies. As punishment, you can pinch mine too. Then we are even.”

Jiang Ran’s cheeks burned hot with shame and annoyance.

“Everything out of your mouth is so strange!”

“Am I strange? I did not know!”

Tao Xixue squeezed closer to Jiang Ran, feeling the heat radiating from her and seeing the girl’s flushed skin.

Her mood was excellent.

As expected, the early bird gets the worm.

“You are being very strange right now.”

“What is so strange about it? We are both girls. We are just sitting a bit close. I have not done anything to you. Why are you so nervous, Student Jiang?”

“Then why did you call me ‘wife’ just now? That title is clearly wrong.”

“What does it matter? Are there not plenty of people calling others ‘wife’ on the internet? It is just a name. Wife Jiang Ran~”

Tao Xixue leaned over Jiang Ran and whispered, her mature and steady body like glowing amber, seemingly ready to wrap around Jiang Ran.

“Hey, I do not like that name.”

“I do not like it either. You can call me ‘wife’ to attack me back.”

“???”

Was this even human speech?

Jiang Ran realized that the heroines in this world were all such hooligans.

What was even more ridiculous was that the APP said her mission was progressing very smoothly.

This would not do at all.

She did not want to be a Yellow Hair.

The most absurd part was: why was a heroine coming to flirt with the Yellow Hair?

This was way too weird.

For the sake of her future peaceful life, Jiang Ran hurried to push Tao Xixue away.

“Tao Xixue, I do not care what your motive is for getting close to me, but I actually have gynophobia. You are making me very scared. If I have an episode, I might eat people!”