“What are you even talking about?”
Su Wanqing quickly waved her hands.
“I’m just her unofficial sister; I just claimed her on a whim. Don’t misunderstand.”
Tao Xixue shook her head.
“No, I truly think you two are a good match. When did you meet?”
“Are we really a good match?”
Su Wanqing’s voice grew much softer.
“Of course. When have I ever lied?”
“It’s not a matter of when you’ve lied, but I never noticed until now… you actually say some pretty nice things sometimes.”
Su Wanqing cleared her throat.
“But we’re just ordinary club members. Don’t overthink it.”
“Right, ordinary club members. You were sisters just a moment ago. Do you ever tell the truth?”
“You…”
Su Wanqing was at a loss for words.
Realizing she couldn’t win an argument against Tao Xixue, she simply changed the subject.
“What about you? I don’t think you’d be kind enough to care about my life for no reason.”
“How could that be? What kind of person do you take me for? Besides, you were the one who brought her up first. You can’t just meet a pretty girl and forget your old friends, can you?”
“I didn’t.”
Su Wanqing finished her cocktail in one gulp.
“I’m done, so I’m heading back. The smell of smoke is too heavy here; I’m not used to staying for long.”
Raising her voice slightly, Su Wanqing stood up and gestured with her empty glass.
Tao Xixue twirled a piece of tissue paper in her hand, watching the direction Su Wanqing left.
A waitress stepped forward and asked, “Eldest Miss, should I follow her and take a look?”
“What would be the point of that? Forget it. Go back to your own business. Pack things up; we’re leaving.”
Tao Xixue picked up her handbag from the table and headed downstairs.
She noticed the Su family car’s headlights fading into the distance.
With her hands in her pockets, she waited for a moment before taking out her phone.
She saw a new message in her chat window with Jiang Ran.
“Senior Tao, where are we going for our first photoshoot?”
Tao Xixue smiled and tapped on her phone.
“I rented a studio. I’ll send you the location. When the time comes, just give them my name.”
“Okay…”
On the other side, Jiang Ran put down her phone.
She hailed a taxi to go home.
Seeing the way Gu Ge was acting, she really didn’t want to stay at the hospital.
Regardless, the favor she owed Gu Ge was basically repaid.
From now on, they would maintain their distance and have no further involvement with each other.
Returning to her apartment, Jiang Ran kicked off her shoes and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
When she came out, she lay on her bed in a foul mood and scrolled through her phone, only to find new activity on the APP.
Due to successfully uncovering some of the secrets behind Gu Ge’s identity, she had obtained a mirror.
Jiang Ran opened the item and looked at herself.
[Mirror of Expression: Using this mirror to touch up your makeup can improve how much others appreciate your beauty.]
‘What kind of trash mirror is this?’
‘Why would I want to increase my beauty?’
The people around her were already strange enough, and now the system wanted her to be more beautiful.
[Because your identity is the Yellow Hair, this is an important item!]
“Important item, my ass. I swear you just want me dead.”
Jiang Ran opened the phone’s settings, intending to uninstall the software.
After messing around for a while, she discovered there was absolutely no way to delete it.
Even resetting the phone was useless.
If she changed phones, the app would simply appear on the new device.
It seemed like other people couldn’t even see the APP either.
Frustrated, Jiang Ran tossed her phone aside and planned to sleep.
However, a notification about her Charm increasing suddenly rang in her ear.
“What the hell is with this Charm? I want Stamina and Strength!”
Jiang Ran opened her Six-Dimensional Chart and found that her Charm was still soaring.
This unbalanced development made her want to roll her eyes in anxiety.
With her Charm increasing like this, even the harmless Bai Ranran was daring enough to get touchy with her.
If others saw her, wouldn’t things just explode even more?
What kind of player dumps all their points into Charm in a yandere game?
Did the game really intend for her to steal women from yanderes?
Jiang Ran absolutely did not want to do that.
She felt extremely depressed as she lay in bed.
She opened her phone and found a message left by Su Wanqing.
The background of the photo was an overpass where many couples were releasing balloons.
“Jiang Ran, are you asleep?”
“I’m asleep.”
“How can you reply if you’re asleep?”
“I was about to sleep. Why are you looking for me?”
Jiang Ran idly tapped at her phone.
She noticed the moonlight outside the window was exceptionally pleasant.
At that moment, the notification sound for the message became very clear.
“It’s nothing important.”
“If it’s not important, then let’s talk tomorrow.”
“Wait, I wanted to ask you something. Has Tao Xixue looked for you lately?”
Jiang Ran paused.
To be safe, she played dumb and replied, “Who is Tao Xixue?”
“Did you forget? She’s the person I introduced you to today.”
“Oh, I think I remember a bit. What about her?”
“Nothing. If you run into her later and she asks you things, just say I’m your sister. It’ll be safer for you.”
Jiang Ran scratched her head, feeling a bit puzzled.
Why was everyone around her so abnormal?
One wanted her to be a daughter, one wanted to be a friend, and this one wanted to be her sister.
“No thanks, I’m not interested. President, do you have some kind of problem with me? Why do you want me to be a club member one moment and a sister the next?”
“It’s… it’s nothing. If you meet her, just be careful.”
“Oh, I see. Thanks for your concern. Get some rest. Goodnight.”
Jiang Ran turned off the screen and switched to her bank balance.
Looking at the long string of digits and thinking about the request she promised Tao Xixue, she sighed helplessly.
***
Shishang Building.
Jiang Ran took a taxi to the magnificent city center.
She followed the coordinates Tao Xixue gave her and arrived in front of a skyscraper.
Using the access code Tao Xixue provided, Jiang Ran successfully made her way inside.
She scanned the transparent architecture around her, her heart racing.
She went all the way up to the fifth floor.
Once the elevator stopped, Jiang Ran stepped out.
After a few steps, she saw Tao Xixue wearing a casual tracksuit.
Her long pink hair rested against her beige, loose-fitting sweatshirt.
A small camera bag was slung across her waist, and she wore a pair of loose sweatpants.
She leaned against the wall lazily, forming a sharp contrast to her polished appearance at school.
Tao Xixue was blowing bubbles with gum.
Seeing Jiang Ran arrive, she spat the gum into a piece of paper, nodded, and signaled with her eyes.
“The photography studio is over here. Did you come alone?”
“Yeah. This place is huge. Do you work here, Senior Tao? I thought you were just a student.”
“It’s not exactly work; it’s more like an off-campus internship. I used to be interested in photography, so I signed up for this. We’re here.”
Tao Xixue pushed open a door.
The room was empty, fully equipped with various photography gear.
“Sit here for a bit. I’ll go find the key to the dressing room. The clothes I prepared for you are all brand new. Just help me take a few model shots. These won’t be used for public commercial purposes; they’re just for practice. I can give you the digital copies afterward if you want them…”
“O-Okay.”
Jiang Ran pinched the hem of her skirt, feeling a bit restless.
Looking at the various cameras and equipment around her, she felt apprehensive.
She had thought they would just take a few casual photos, but she didn’t expect it to be so professional, with every facility imaginable.
As her gaze swept across the room, it was suddenly pulled toward one specific object.
It was a large pink bed.
On top of it sat several pairs of stockings of different styles and levels of transparency.
Jiang Ran’s eyes widened instantly!
‘W-Why is there a big bed at a photoshoot!?’