Women spend a lot of time shopping, especially when they finally find a few pieces of clothing they like; they tend to compare them back and forth.
Lu Yuyao was currently caught in this predicament, torn over the color of a lace dress.
She held a black one in one hand and a white one in the other, holding the hangers up against herself in front of the mirror to see if they suited her.
She still couldn’t make up her mind.
Lu Yuyao turned her head to look at Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling understood her meaning instantly.
“The white one. I feel like the black is a bit too mature, but the white is just right. It makes you look pure and cute.”
Clearly, Jiang Ling’s answer struck a chord with Lu Yuyao.
She had been thinking the same thing, feeling that the black one was a bit too flashy.
“Then I’ll buy the white one.”
Lu Yuyao finally made her decision and hung the black lace dress back on the rack.
“So I have to ask, why not just buy both? It’s not like we’re short on cash,” Jiang Ling asked, voicing the doubt in her heart as they checked out and headed for the exit.
Even if the black style didn’t quite suit the high school-aged Lu Yuyao, if she liked it, she should have just bought it.
As Jiang Ling had noted, Lu Yuyao wasn’t lacking money, and the dress wasn’t even that expensive—it was only 100 or 200 yuan.
To her, it was very affordable.
Lu Yuyao was probably the most frugal Eldest Young Lady Jiang Ling had ever seen.
In her daily life, her food and clothing were basically budget-friendly items.
High-end brands were rarely seen on her.
Though, Jiang Ling hadn’t actually met many other “Eldest Young Ladies.”
Lu Yuyao gave her a sidelong glance.
After paying, she naturally handed the shopping bag to Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling took it with a bitter expression.
“If I buy it and don’t wear it, then why buy it at all? Just to let it collect dust in the closet? Even if you have money, you shouldn’t waste it like that.”
She then looked at Jiang Ling with a beaming smile and said in a soft, gentle voice, “However, if you were willing to buy it for me, I might still wear it for you occasionally.”
“Why wear it for me? It’s not like I’d like it,” Jiang Ling muttered, rubbing her nose and looking away guiltily.
“You say you wouldn’t like it, but when I tried on that black lace dress just now, wasn’t the little maid’s gaze practically glazed over?”
“Yes, yes.”
Jiang Ling didn’t take the bait at all.
She nodded and followed along with the tease as if it were a matter of fact.
“The Eldest Young Lady is simply a natural-born model. You look good in anything you wear, just like a fairy.”
“A mortal like me would obviously be staring wide-eyed.”
“Ugh, say another word and I’ll hit you.”
Lu Yuyao’s pace suddenly quickened.
Jiang Ling couldn’t see her face, but her earlobes were visibly flushed, as if stained by peach blossoms.
Jiang Ling smiled.
‘Is that all it takes?’
Lu Yuyao had said she wanted to buy clothes, but after wandering the mall all morning, she really had done nothing but buy clothes.
She didn’t even have the urge to take a break or have some fun.
Several times when they passed the gaming facilities on the third floor, Jiang Ling had looked on longingly with eyes full of envy, but she still shook her head and walked away.
In the end, they spent more time looking than buying.
Including the lace dress, Lu Yuyao only bought four or five items, two of which were winter clothes.
Jiang Ling didn’t want anything, but Lu Yuyao insisted on buying two outfits for her as well.
This time, Lu Yuyao followed Jiang Ling’s preferences, buying a dress and a more neutral set consisting of cropped pants and a wide-sleeved t-shirt.
Jiang Ling liked them very much, though when she looked in the mirror, she felt like she looked like a gal from a Japanese light novel.
A lip piercing would have made the look complete.
They had lunch at the mall.
Even though they hadn’t bought much, they had walked a lot.
If they bought groceries to head back now, Jiang Ling wouldn’t have the energy to cook, so they decided to settle their meal at the mall.
Lu Yuyao ordered a plate of fried rice noodles.
Since she couldn’t handle spicy food very well, she just ordered a simple plate of fried rice.
After eating, the two sat for a while to digest and chat, in no hurry to leave.
“You sit here for a bit. I’m going to look around somewhere else,” Jiang Ling said, suddenly standing up.
Lu Yuyao looked puzzled.
“Do you want me to go with you? Are you looking for something?”
“No, I’m just taking a look around. You rest; I’ll be back soon.”
Lu Yuyao nodded.
After walking all morning and just finishing a meal, she was feeling lazy and didn’t particularly want to move.
She told Jiang Ling that if she wanted to buy something, she should just say the word and Lu Yuyao would transfer the money, then she stopped asking.
‘It really is nice to be clinging to a wealthy girl.’
Jiang Ling followed the route in her memory and finally found the bookstore on the second floor.
She was here to buy books.
Jiang Ling had been reading frequently lately.
She liked to buy various novels to read—not because she wanted to be an artistic girl like Fang Chenxi said, but simply as a pastime when she was bored.
Furthermore, Jiang Ling felt that she could perhaps move toward writing novels herself.
After all, it was a long-term endeavor that could earn money.
So, she had bought quite a few books recently, wanting to study them more.
She also read webnovels at home to research the writing styles and logic of the top authors.
But without exception, the genre of the books she chose was always Yuri.
It wasn’t that Jiang Ling insisted on only reading Yuri; she was quite helpless in the matter.
In this world, the Yuri novel market was surprisingly large—at least much larger than the Yuri market in her previous world.
Additionally, if she were to write a Yuri novel, she already had a ready-made concept right here.
After transmigration, although she didn’t have a cheat system or the ability to be a copycat, she couldn’t forget that she was currently inside the book world of a Yuri novel.
*Hee-hee.*
‘This can’t really be called plagiarism, can it?’
The idea was one thing, but actually implementing the plan to write a novel was still a bit difficult.
For someone who had always been a reader, suddenly approaching a novel with a learning attitude was a strange feeling.
It was hard to describe, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant.
But she had to try anyway.
Jiang Ling stopped in front of the bookshelves, occasionally flipping through a few books with titles that caught her eye.
If she felt they were well-written, she took them.
She also wanted to buy two books on writing techniques to study.
However, Jiang Ling only knew how to read novels; she had no ability to discern the quality of these systemic books on writing techniques.
She couldn’t tell which were good or bad, or which one she should choose.
Her pretty brows furrowed.
After thinking for a moment, she finally took out her phone, intending to consult the omniscient Baidu.
“If you want to learn pure technical writing, this store doesn’t actually have any ideal books. These are nothing more than gimmicks designed to trick people into buying them.”
A familiar, cool voice came from beside her, offering Jiang Ling advice.
Jiang Ling’s hand, which was about to start typing, froze.
She turned toward the owner of the voice—Ji Qingyan.
What a coincidence.
Ji Qingyan met her gaze.
Ji Qingyan was dressed very casually in a denim jacket and high-waisted, ankle-length pants.
She looked refreshing and beautiful, quite eye-catching.
Although it didn’t quite match the image Jiang Ling had of her, Jiang Ling had to admit that this version of Ji Qingyan was equally attractive.
‘Mm, it’s a bit of a lively girl feeling.’
Compared to her previous self, the current Ji Qingyan felt more approachable.
Ji Qingyan had also happened to see Jiang Ling in this small bookstore.
Seeing her standing in the section dedicated to writing reference books, she guessed her thoughts and gave her straightforward advice.
“What a coincidence.”
Perhaps recalling the scene that had occurred in the club last Friday, Jiang Ling felt her cheeks heat up.
She replied somewhat awkwardly, “Are you also here to buy books?”
“Mm, I came out for a stroll and happened to see you.”
Ji Qingyan didn’t mention the previous incident, and her expression appeared natural, clearly not having taken it to heart.
This allowed the tension in Jiang Ling’s heart to slowly dissipate.
‘If she doesn’t care, why am I being so bashful?’
Right.
Ji Qingyan was the president of the Literature Research Society.
No wonder she could tell what Jiang Ling was struggling with at a glance.
Jiang Ling’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, “Since this store doesn’t have any good books, could President Ji recommend a few to me? I can buy them online.”
“President Ji…”
The title from Jiang Ling’s mouth caused a rare moment of surprise for Ji Qingyan.
A faint smile appeared on the girl’s perpetually cool face, but she still offered her advice.
“Actually, it depends on what you plan to do with these books. Reference books are categorized into many types. If you’re more specific, I can give you a better direction.”
“Specific… well, actually, I’ve been wanting to try writing webnovels recently… Just for fun, and to see if I can earn a bit of money.”
Once the idea of writing webnovels was voiced, Jiang Ling felt a bit shy and added a few unnecessary words at the end.
Hearing Jiang Ling’s words, Ji Qingyan lowered her eyes as if seriously considering what she had said.
She really just wanted to write webnovels for the money.