“Um, are you alright?”
Xiaoxi reached out to steady Silver Bell, who, after regaining her balance, stammered a reply.
“Th-thank you. So there really are other people on the train… I was just squatting there listening to music, didn’t notice a thing. Heh, hehehe…”
Xiaoxi sighed inwardly in resignation. Just now, seeing Silver Bell step up to comfort Qiuli, she thought the kid had made some progress.
But in the end, she was the same as before. Only Silver Bell could come up with such a flustered and obviously self-deceiving explanation.
Still, Silver Bell was just timid. She quickly realized she had no reason to be so scared.
Even though it was awkward to catch new colleagues arguing, they had no idea she was the Silverflame Dragon Princess!
To them, she was just a stranger they happened to meet on the train. Normally, no one remembers a stranger that much, right?
As long as she hung on until she could get off at the next stop, she’d be free!
What Silver Bell didn’t know was that Xiaoxi was thinking the exact same thing.
Now Xiaoxi was even more certain of one thing—she absolutely could not let Silver Bell know that she was Eternal Star.
It was way too embarrassing to be caught by a former teammate having a lover’s quarrel!
But it didn’t matter. Anyway, Silver Bell didn’t know that she knew Silver Bell was the Silverflame Dragon Princess.
As long as she pretended to be a stranger until she got off the train, everything would be fine!
Silver Bell didn’t dare to leave either, so she forced herself to sit in a far corner opposite the two of them.
For a moment, the train carriage fell silent, the atmosphere even colder than when the couple was bickering earlier.
For once, Rich Girl was shy, burying her head in Xiaoxi’s shoulder like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Xiaoxi could feel her hands burning hot.
But Xiaoxi kept sneaking glances at Silver Bell, who sat across from them, hunched over and pretending to fiddle with her phone.
She really hadn’t expected to bump into her old teammate here. The kid didn’t seem to have changed much—at least, she definitely hadn’t grown any taller.
Time passed like this for over ten minutes. When the subway’s station arrival chime sounded, both sides’ eyes lit up.
Then, seeing the other standing up as well, they both froze for a moment.
“You’re getting off at this stop too? What a coincidence!”
“Ah… ah, yeah, it really is. Um, I—I’ve got something urgent, I’ll go first!”
Watching Silver Bell make a hasty escape, Xiaoxi shook her head, not taking it too much to heart—until she ran into Silver Bell again at the supermarket by the Xiaoqu’s main gate.
With a “pop” sound, Silver Bell’s bag—filled with snacks and bottles of soda—fell to the ground.
“Uh, um…”
This time, before Xiaoxi could even think of what to say, Silver Bell’s face flushed bright red. She grabbed her shopping bag and disappeared in a flash. This kind of repeated coincidence was already beyond her cpu’s processing limit.
“If anything, I should be the embarrassed one,” Ye Xinglan scratched her head, “but why does it feel like that kid is even more aggrieved than I am?”
“Maybe she’s just shy, that’s all.”
“You say it like you know her. Who could be that shy? …But actually, now that you mention it, that kid does look a little familiar. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
Xiaoxi shrugged. Maybe because Silver Bell was so petite and bundled up, Ye Xinglan just saw her as a child.
Still, it was already a coincidence to get off at the same stop—running into each other at the Xiaoqu too, that was just uncanny.
Soon enough, Ye Xinglan realized where that sense of familiarity came from.
After bumping into Silver Bell again at the building’s elevator, she suddenly clapped her hands.
“Oh! I remember now, aren’t you the little girl who lives next door? We’ve met before!”
Silver Bell stiffly turned her head, managing a smile even uglier than if she were crying—this time, she really had no way to escape.
“What a… coincidence. Um, just now I suddenly remembered I had something urgent at home, so I…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine~”
Ye Xinglan noticed Silver Bell’s nerves and deliberately tried to seem friendlier. Smiling kindly, she half-squatted and patted Silver Bell on the head.
“You came out by yourself? That’s really brave. How old are you this year, little one?”
Wisps of white steam seemed to rise from Silver Bell’s head. She pulled down her mask and spoke in a voice on the verge of tears.
“I’m t-twenty…”
Ye Xinglan: “?”
Wait, why did you suddenly turn into a social anxiety wreck too!
Now it was Ye Xinglan’s turn to feel awkward. She quickly looked to Xiaoxi for help, only to find her girlfriend frozen in place like a statue ever since just now.
Inside the elevator, an awkward silence fell. All three developed some degree of psychological shadow toward social interaction.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the elevator stopped. To be polite, Silver Bell forced herself to suppress the urge to run home and shuffled to her door.
She muttered a barely audible “bye,” and before the other two could respond, she had already slammed her door shut at lightning speed.
Xiaoxi stared at the door next to hers, her expression complicated. “Xinglan, so the one who caught us kissing last time was this kid, right?”
“Yeah! Who would’ve thought we’d have such fated encounters,” Ye Xinglan patted the utterly despairing Xiaoxi on the back, “Why be shy? We’re just neighbors, and she already knows we’re a couple. It’s not a big deal, right?”
“Besides, we aren’t even that close. It’s not like someone we know caught us—what’s there to be embarrassed about?”
“No, I… You… Ah!”
Xiaoxi felt mortified but was at a loss for words. Didn’t this mean Silver Bell had seen both their kiss last time and their little argument just now?
Getting caught by Xingge was torture enough—if Silver Bell was added to the mix, Xiaoxi would never have the face to see her former teammates again!
But just before closing the door, another thought suddenly crossed Xiaoxi’s mind—Silver Bell’s Character was still just as timid as ever.
With this level of social anxiety, it was impossible she had anything to do with Wange Yue’s situation, right?
Well, at least with Silver Bell’s Character, there was no need to worry about her taking the initiative to socialize.
As long as she didn’t go looking for Silver Bell, even living next door shouldn’t be… a problem, right?
However, what Xiaoxi didn’t know was that not long after she closed her door, the door next door was quietly opened a crack. Silver Bell peeked out cautiously.
Silver Bell suddenly realized this was an opportunity—since this Sirius just happened to live next door, she’d have a chance to build a good relationship with her, right?
That way, there’d still be hope for the favor Xingge asked her, and she wouldn’t need to go apologize to Xingge herself!
But… did she really have to take the initiative to socialize with this couple? This, this…
With a “bang,” Silver Bell closed the door again. Just thinking about it made her heart race.
Taking the initiative to socialize was already nerve-wracking, but with a couple who so clearly enjoyed a happy and fulfilling life, someone like her—a total shut-in—would definitely get rejected!
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