Seeing how confidently Su Nian was reassuring her, Jiang Ran could more or less guess that this so-called “sister” probably wouldn’t like her very much.
And honestly, that made her feel relieved.
For most people, not being able to fit into the circle around them would be troubling.
But Jiang Ran was different.
Not fitting in was actually a good thing.
The best outcome would be that none of the yandere girls fixated on her.
She just wanted to stay a small, transparent background character and live peacefully.
With her current stamina bar, she couldn’t make any big moves anyway.
Staying invisible wasn’t a bad strategy.
“I’ll try my best not to cause trouble for Sister.”
Jiang Ran lifted her youthful face, looking very serious.
“My daughter is so obedient.”
Su Nian was just about to pat Jiang Ran’s head when her phone suddenly rang.
She took it out, saw a familiar name, and answered:
“What? Now you have time to call me?”
“Where are you? Why did you come to our school?”
Su Wanqing had just walked out of school.
She clearly remembered seeing her mother’s car earlier—how did it disappear in the blink of an eye?
“Can’t I just come see you?”
“I don’t believe you. You’re definitely up to something.”
“Why are you always so suspicious of me? I don’t need to explain myself to you. I’m busy. See you tonight.”
Hearing the call disconnect, Su Wanqing tightened her grip on her phone, her expression darkening.
Since when had that woman ever considered her as a person?
Was she just some wind-up tool in her eyes?
Su Wanqing bit her lip.
She opened her phone, thinking about messaging Jiang Ran, but didn’t know what to say.
In the end, she sent:
“How much to book you for an hour?”
At the same time, Su Nian, who had just hung up, looked at Jiang Ran’s slightly blank expression and smiled.
“Jiang Ran, do you have any questions?”
“No. I was just wondering if the moving company will come today.”
“Probably in a few days. Baby daughter, do you need clothes? I can buy you some new ones.”
“I don’t need new clothes. I’ve seen the apartment. I’d like to go home now. But can I go back by myself? Your cars are too expensive. If people see me getting out of them, rumors will spread.”
Jiang Ran spoke sincerely.
Su Nian’s car had already attracted plenty of attention at the school gate.
If she got dropped off at home like that, she’d attract even more unwanted attention.
Su Nian nodded.
“No problem. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Ran nodded.
She didn’t mention the mysterious phone call from earlier.
For some reason, the voice on the other end had sounded familiar, but it had been too faint to hear clearly.
As for the content of the call, she didn’t dare think about it.
She had just said she didn’t want to get involved in Su Nian’s affairs.
She opened her phone and noticed a new message on QQ.
It was from Su Wanqing, sent one minute ago.
The content was extremely confusing:
“How much to book you for an hour?”
“?”
Was this message even correct?
“Let’s play a game together. I have some free time right now. Want to play?”
“No, I don’t really like that game.”
“I… see. Then Jiang Ran, do you have any hobbies?”
“Why are you suddenly asking me that?”
Su Wanqing felt awkward.
Saying “I want to know you better” sounded too direct, so she replied more subtly:
“You don’t talk much in the club. I’m kind of curious about what you like. Of course, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”
“Then you can keep being curious.”
Su Wanqing stared at her phone, extremely embarrassed.
Why was Jiang Ran so impossible to deal with?
Offline she was timid and obedient, but online her words were as stubborn as bricks in an outhouse.
“W-Why would you say that?”
Afraid Jiang Ran would ignore her, she quickly added:
“If I offended you, I’m sorry.”
Su Wanqing sat on a school bench, gripping her phone tightly.
In her entire life, she had never waited so anxiously for someone’s reply.
It had always been others waiting for her.
“It’s nothing. I just find it strange why you’re asking me so many questions, President. I’m not good at interacting with people. If you’re dissatisfied with my attitude, I apologize.”
Jiang Ran deliberately strengthened her tone.
She was worried Su Wanqing might suddenly say something like, “I just want to be friends,” and push the plot further.
“N-No, Jiang Ran, aren’t we good friends?”
Su Wanqing’s heart was racing.
She couldn’t imagine that the person fiercely countering her online was the same Jiang Ran who had just parted from her that morning.
Offline she was soft and meek, but online she felt almost scheming.
Or maybe she was soft everywhere—except her mouth was ridiculously stubborn?
Su Wanqing preferred the latter explanation.
After all, behind a screen, even she felt braver.
Maybe this was the real Jiang Ran.
Perhaps she had been fooled by that soft, harmless appearance all along.
So inside, Jiang Ran was actually this cold?
On the other side of the screen, Jiang Ran was in despair.
She was deliberately trying to break her “harmless” persona, yet the heroine still insisted on being her good friend.
You couldn’t max out affection levels too early.
In this game, once affection hit max, it triggered special CG scenes.
She hadn’t even tried to build affection yet—why was the heroine advancing on her own?
If today she was calling her “good friend,” who knew what she’d call her tomorrow?
“We… we’re friends, of course. But President, my free time is tight. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go do my own things.”
After sending that message, Jiang Ran closed QQ in the background.
She boarded a bus, scanned her ticket, and started a single-player game on her phone.
She hadn’t even finished one round before the announcement for her stop sounded.
Seeing the crowd pushing in, she panicked slightly, stood up with effort, and squeezed her way off the bus.
The moment she stepped down, she heard a familiar voice.
“Watch out!”
Before Jiang Ran could react, a large orange cat slammed into her chest.
The massive furball hit her like a cannonball, knocking her to the ground.
The orange cat calmly licked its fur and sat right on her.
“Student Jiang, are you okay?”
The blonde girl who rushed over looked extremely anxious.
Jiang Ran opened her eyes and met Bai Ranran’s gaze—she was holding a white cat in her arms.
“Bai Ranran? Why are you here?”
“Wow, you actually remember my name.”
“Isn’t that not the main point right now?”
“I guess… you’re right. Sorry, Student Jiang. My cat bumped into you.”
Jiang Ran tried to sit up and felt a sharp pain in her hand.
Only then did she notice the skin on her finger was scraped and bleeding slightly.
“Wait… you’re bleeding?”
Bai Ranran quickly put down the cat and rushed forward.
“Can you stand up?”
“Yes. It’s just a small scrape. I can put a band-aid on it at home.”
“That won’t do. Come with me. I have iodine at my shop. Let me disinfect it. Hurry—if we wait too long, it’ll get infected.”
Jiang Ran looked at the wound.
It was tiny—small enough that it would heal on its own without even needing a bandage.
Yet Bai Ranran was desperately dragging her toward her shop.
This development… doesn’t seem right, does it?