Chapter 5: An Encounter

Alright.

Now there was something even more troublesome than escaping Fang Chenxi’s gaze.

Jiang Ling had never been in a relationship before.

All her romantic experience came from novels, manga, and anime.

Her first feelings upon receiving a love letter were:

Bewilderment, excitement, and then her heart went cold.

Jiang Ling scanned her surroundings in a panic.

Everyone was packing up, and no one was paying attention to her.

She picked it up, gave it a quick glance, and immediately stuffed it into her bag.

The content of the confession letter was very ordinary—so ordinary that Jiang Ling had even seen similar confession scenes in certain novels.

The excitement in her heart was instantly doused.

Jiang Ling clicked her tongue; after all, someone who dared to write a love letter after knowing her for only one day probably wasn’t that serious about it.

She originally thought it was written by someone in her own class, but when she saw the opening “Senior Jiang Ling,” she understood.

This was likely a freshman girl who couldn’t help herself after seeing how pretty she was, so she had sneaked into the classroom and put the letter in the locker.

That junior seemed kind of scary.

Jiang Ling felt a chill run down her spine, to the point that she was a bit absent-minded when she met up with Lu Yuyao at the school gate.

Lu Yuyao sat on the backseat and gently placed her hands on both sides of Jiang Ling’s slender waist.

Seeing that she didn’t start the bike for a long time, Lu Yuyao exerted a little force and pinched the soft flesh of her waist.

“Ouch!”

Jiang Ling instinctively twisted away.

She turned her head and looked at Lu Yuyao resentfully.

“What was that for!”

Lu Yuyao smiled.

“Who told you to daze off? Let’s go.”

The wind was quite strong today.

Even though Jiang Ling wasn’t riding fast, Lu Yuyao’s hair was still blown into a mess.

Hiding behind Jiang Ling’s back, Lu Yuyao’s soft voice rang out, “What happened just now? Are you homesick?”

Jiang Ling was stunned for a moment.

She hadn’t expected Lu Yuyao to think in that direction.

She probably assumed Jiang Ling wasn’t used to the new school and was reminiscing about the past.

Jiang Ling said softly, “No, I just suddenly realized I’m already a sophomore. I’m just feeling a bit sentimental.”

“Yeah, I’ve become a high schooler too…”

Jiang Ling could feel the hands on both sides of her waist slowly tightening.

Lu Yuyao’s relaxed and cheerful tone sounded from behind her again.

“The road ahead is still very long. we still have to go to university. Who knows, we might even go to the same one.”

Jiang Ling laughed.

“Isn’t it a bit early to think about that? You’re only a freshman.”

“It’s not early at all. Three short years will pass in a flash. So you can’t slack off in your studies. If you don’t end up at the same school as me, I’ll fire Maid Ling.”

“Even if that happens, couldn’t you just come to my school?”

“I don’t want to.”

The hot wind followed the flow of traffic, lifting the girls’ bangs.

Their cheerful laughter was submerged within it.

Lu Yuyao was a good girl, truly.

***

On the first day of school, there were no evening self-study sessions, so they were released early.

After returning home, Jiang Ling checked the time; it was only six o’clock.

“Eldest Young Lady, should I cook now?”

After arriving home, Jiang Ling, keeping the Maid Rules firmly in mind, immediately changed how she addressed Lu Yuyao.

Lu Yuyao shook her head.

After changing into slippers, she replied as she walked toward the second floor, “I’m not hungry right now. If you’re hungry, you can eat first. I’ll eat later.”

Jiang Ling nodded.

That was perfect; she actually wasn’t very hungry either.

She would push dinner time back a bit.

Furthermore, after Jiang Ling went to her bedroom and got her phone, Boss Xi had already sent a message saying she wanted to play for a while.

Jiang Ling was hesitant.

Boss Xi’s previous request to meet up in person made her feel uneasy.

Reason told her that she should keep her distance from Boss Xi now.

But…

[WeChat transfer: 100 yuan]

[Come.]

Boss Xi gave too much.

Fang Chenxi was a bit bored.

After returning home, she completed her daily exercise goals as usual.

After taking a shower, Fang Chenxi sat at her desk.

When she was bored, she would open her phone and call for a certain blonde girl.

Ever since she had made the request to meet in person last time, Fang Chenxi clearly sensed that Jiang Ling didn’t really want to take her play-buddy orders anymore.

But it didn’t matter.

She knew what Jiang Ling lacked most.

Coincidentally, she had it, and she had a lot of it.

“Sister Xi~”

The familiar voice came from the phone.

The corners of Fang Chenxi’s mouth curled up.

Compared to the cold Jiang Ling during the day, Fang Chenxi felt that the current Jiang Ling was much cuter.

It was a hard carry as always.

The two games combined barely took forty minutes.

Fang Chenxi was getting a bit hooked.

It wasn’t that the game was attractive enough, but rather Jiang Ling.

She found that she seemed to be getting used to Jiang Ling’s praise.

The repeated phrases of “Sister Xi is so great” and “Sister Xi is so strong, so amazing.”

“Sister Xi, I have to get off now.”

Fang Chenxi was puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Ling thought about it and felt it didn’t matter if she told Fang Chenxi.

Although she was in Lotus City, the chances of them bumping into each other couldn’t be that high.

So she said honestly, “My sister has Military Training tomorrow. I want to go to the pharmacy to buy some medicine to prevent heatstroke, so let’s stop playing for now.”

“I’ll refund you the extra money in a moment. Sorry, Sister.”

The two of them had an agreement: twenty-five yuan per game.

Fang Chenxi had transferred one hundred all at once.

Jiang Ling refunded the remaining fifty.

Fang Chenxi wouldn’t accept it.

She didn’t lack such a small amount.

She just said indifferently, “Go ahead then.”

She had learned to be smart this time and didn’t ask, “Oh, so you have a younger sister?”

The little lamb was already starting to show resistance.

If she said anything more like that, Fang Chenxi couldn’t guarantee how much longer Jiang Ling would tolerate her.

Fang Chenxi also knew who the sister she was talking about was.

Placing the phone on the desk, Fang Chenxi stood up and walked to the window.

She hadn’t changed clothes yet since she got back.

The window was open, and the wind blew in from outside, swaying the girl’s skirt.

Her fair calves seemed to glow, looking very much like unpolished jade.

Her long black hair had changed from the ponytail she wore during the day to hanging loosely down her back.

Staring at the sunset outside, Fang Chenxi’s eyes gradually brightened.

She had thought of something interesting.

Buying heatstroke prevention supplies wasn’t just an excuse Jiang Ling used to stop playing with Fang Chenxi.

She wasn’t one to turn away money.

When she transferred the remaining fifty back, to be honest, it still hurt a little.

But being a play-buddy required professional ethics.

Coming out of the bedroom, she looked down from the second-floor hallway.

Lu Yuyao was nowhere to be seen in the living room, so Jiang Ling knew she was still in her bedroom.

In fact, every night, Lu Yuyao would spend a period of time cooped up in her bedroom without coming out.

Jiang Ling had accidentally stumbled in once before; Lu Yuyao had been sitting at her desk, frantically trying to hide something, her face as red as a ripe cherry, before pushing her out.

It was normal for a child who had entered high school to have some secrets they didn’t want others to know.

Since then, Jiang Ling remembered to knock whenever she entered Lu Yuyao’s room.

Thinking about it, Jiang Ling decided to send a message to Lu Yuyao on her phone.

It wouldn’t be good if knocking startled her again.

Lu Yuyao’s Villa was located in a high-end residential area, and the nearby infrastructure was very well-equipped.

Leaving the house and walking straight for four hundred meters, there was a pharmacy right at the corner.

As for sunscreen, Lu Yuyao definitely had some; Jiang Ling had seen her apply it before.

So she would just buy some things to prevent heatstroke.

Essential balm, liquid medicine for heat relief, and a pack of throat lozenges.

As for other things, Jiang Ling took a bit of everything she figured might be useful.

These things had a long shelf life, so even if they weren’t used, they could be kept at home.

“Boss, check how much these are.”

Jiang Ling walked to the counter with the items and took out her phone, ready to scan the code, but the piece-of-junk phone wasn’t working at the critical moment.

“I’ll pay for you first.”

A familiar voice sounded beside her.

Before she knew it, Fang Chenxi was standing next to Jiang Ling.

She had already scanned the code ahead of her and paid the money.

“Fang Chenxi? Why are you here?”

Jiang Ling cried out in surprise, then covered her mouth and looked around, feeling a bit embarrassed.

She grabbed Fang Chenxi’s hand and left the pharmacy first.

Jiang Ling admitted she still wasn’t used to seeing Fang Chenxi so suddenly, so her behavior was instinctively a bit frantic.

Only after walking out of the pharmacy did Jiang Ling notice she was holding Fang Chenxi’s hand.

Fang Chenxi’s expression was somewhat dazed, her eyes staring at the wrist being held by Jiang Ling.

“Sorry, I was a bit surprised to see you here.”

Jiang Ling hastily let go and explained in a panic, her small face slowly turning pink.

“I’ll transfer the money for the medicine to you now.”

This was how it was for someone with slight social anxiety.

When something happened in a public place, they would always do something nonsensical in the heat of the moment.

Fang Chenxi snapped out of it and smiled.

“It’s fine. I just came to buy throat lozenges and happened to see you here. I wanted to say hello, and I saw your phone was lagging, so I thought I’d help out.”

“There’s no need for the money. We’re classmates.”

“That won’t do!”

Jiang Ling stubbornly insisted that Fang Chenxi open her collection code.

After scanning it, Jiang Ling looked at her in confusion as the screen showed an error message.

“Since we’re in the same class, how about we add each other as friends first?”

Fang Chenxi blinked, her slightly mature face showing a hint of playfulness.

Someone had already paid for her; how could she be embarrassed enough to refuse?

And so, Jiang Ling reluctantly added Fang Chenxi as a WeChat friend.

Fang Chenxi was also well-prepared.

She had created a secondary account in advance; there was no way she would let Jiang Ling discover that she was Sister Xi.

“So, you’re…”

Fang Chenxi pretended to look curiously at the things Jiang Ling had bought and asked, “Afraid of heatstroke? You bought so many preventive supplies in advance.”

Jiang Ling explained instinctively, “It’s not for me. My younger sister is a freshman having Military Training, so I’m buying some preventive medicine for her to use in advance.”

“I see.”

Fang Chenxi nodded.

“Then I’ll head back first.”

Retreating to advance—this was where Fang Chenxi’s brilliance lay.

“Okay, bye then.”

Jiang Ling had just breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Fang Chenxi was walking side-by-side with her.

Jiang Ling thought they were just going the same way, but when she stopped in front of the Villa courtyard, Fang Chenxi stopped as well.

Fang Chenxi looked at Jiang Ling with a look of feigned surprise and asked with a puzzled expression, “Student Jiang Ling, is your home here too?”

An awkward smile appeared on Jiang Ling’s face.

Not knowing how to respond, she could only nod.

Great.

Now she understood exactly what Fang Chenxi was scheming.

What “accidental encounter”?

She was clearly coming here for Lu Yuyao!