‘The Old Place again?’
Jiang Ran tapped her phone screen, the glow illuminating her face.
She lay on her large bed, a little unsure what to do next.
Her phone buzzed with a new message.
“Daughter, the heavy rain has started. That event we were supposed to participate in has been temporarily suspended.”
“Oh, okay.”
Jiang Ran spoke words of regret on the surface, but inside she was actually quite happy.
It was just like when classes were canceled due to heavy rain, but you still had to say, “What a shame.”
Coincidentally, the school really did cancel classes because of this heavy rain.
The school cited safety concerns.
After replying “Received” in the group chat, Jiang Ran closed her phone.
This heavy rain lasted for a long time.
The forecast predicted several rainy days ahead.
As time went on, Jiang Ran realized the food at home was running a bit low.
Braving the rain, she walked along the street when her phone received another new message.
“Jiang Ran, do you have any food at home? Food delivery has stopped. I’m going to starve to death.”
The message was from Bai Ranran.
“Don’t you know how to cook?”
“I don’t have enough ingredients.”
“Then let’s share a meal.”
Jiang Ran bought some food at the supermarket and brought it to the building where Bai Ranran lived.
When the door opened, Bai Ranran was wearing a beige jacket today, with water droplets still dripping from her hair.
Seeing Jiang Ran arrive, she quickly made space, a bright smile spreading across her face.
“Jiang Ran, you’re here! Sorry, the rain’s coming down pretty hard, making you come all this way.”
“Even if it wasn’t raining, you’d definitely find a way to get me to come.”
Jiang Ran stepped inside, took the offered towel, wiped the water droplets from her cheeks, and then placed the groceries she bought on the table.
Bai Ranran’s dining area was still quite spacious.
These vegetables wouldn’t spoil sitting there.
“Since it’s raining so hard,” Bai Ranran said from behind her, “why don’t you just stay at my place for a few days? We can share meals.”
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Ran would definitely have refused.
But thinking about how staying at her original place meant being harassed by Gu Ge… compared to Gu Ge, Bai Ranran was slightly less threatening.
Jiang Ran went to the kitchen, washed the food, chopped everything up, and put it in the pot to heat.
While it was cooking, Bai Ranran padded around the house in her slippers.
In this weather, even the cats didn’t feel like moving much, but their appetites had become surprisingly good.
She found a stool and located some cat cans on top of a cabinet.
These were leftovers from before, stored to avoid a situation like now where there was no food.
“I’m done. What are you doing up so high?”
Jiang Ran came out of the kitchen holding two cooked dishes.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw Bai Ranran climbing up high.
Bai Ranran was on her tiptoes, straining to reach the cat cans above.
“I’m looking for the cans. Okay, got it.”
Bai Ranran grabbed the can.
Jiang Ran, standing nearby, was puzzled.
“Why put the cans in such a faraway place? Isn’t that really inconvenient?”
Bai Ranran laughed and explained,
“If I didn’t put them up high, these cats would find the cans themselves. Good thing I got it.”
Bai Ranran found the can opener, then opened the cat can.
A fishy smell wafted over.
Jiang Ran caught a whiff of the meaty scent; it was a bit fishy, but still at an acceptable level.
“You don’t have to wait for me. I’ll go wash my hands now. After I wash up, we can eat together.”
Bai Ranran rushed to the bathroom to wash her hands.
Jiang Ran didn’t pay her any more mind, sitting at the table to eat dinner while watching the news.
The entire city was reporting on this heavy rainfall.
Meteorological experts said this heavy rain should continue for quite a long time.
The current rain was just temporary, and it was estimated it would take a good while to stop.
“This rain is going to last a long time.”
Jiang Ran sighed at the dinner table.
In contrast, Bai Ranran was much more casual.
Seeing Jiang Ran watching the news, she chimed in.
“This rain feels weird to me. When I was little, it never rained this hard. Probably has something to do with the cold air from the north. Autumn rain shouldn’t be this heavy either.”
“Yeah, ‘one autumn rain brings one chill.’ It’s not very cold right now, just don’t know what it’ll be like later.”
What Jiang Ran was wearing today was essentially a light jacket, with mostly summer clothes underneath because the temperature was still quite high.
The area covered by the heavy precipitation was also relatively small and concentrated.
It was said that their current location could trap the cold air together, forming a very substantial amount of rainfall.
Anywhere else wouldn’t have rainfall this intense.
“How’s the food? Is it too salty?”
Jiang Ran couldn’t help but ask curiously, watching Bai Ranran who was eagerly shoveling food.
“It’s good! I think it’s just right. When I cook, I use way more salt than you. Sometimes I add a lot of chili peppers to cover up the fishy taste.”
“The fishy taste might be because your seasonings aren’t clean enough. I’ve noticed you basically mix all kinds of seasonings together. Over time, the flavors get muddled.”
Bai Ranran nodded vigorously, agreeing with Jiang Ran’s assessment.
“I really am not very good at cooking. I’ll probably need you to do more of it later.”
“Don’t just rely on me. The internet is so advanced now. There are so many tutorial videos. Watch how others cook. You’ll definitely learn something. Relying on me isn’t a long-term solution.”
Jiang Ran took a bite of rice.
Eating rice at night still felt a bit odd.
This rice was leftover from Bai Ranran’s lunch.
Jiang Ran had thought about throwing it away, but after considering it a waste, she decided to keep it.
“Do you want some meat? I still have quite a bit here.”
“No, I’m full.”
Jiang Ran finished the savory soup in her bowl and was the first to head to the sofa to scroll through her phone.
When Bai Ranran finished washing the dishes and came over, she immediately flopped into Jiang Ran’s lap like a lump of mud.
Jiang Ran tried to push her off but found it impossible.
Bai Ranran even kicked her shoes off to the side, then placed her legs on Jiang Ran’s lap, watching short videos with a look of utter contentment, completely without any sense of propriety.
“You’re this casual?”
Jiang Ran had never known Bai Ranran could be this relaxed.
She seemed quite refined, but in daily life, she seemed rather sloppy.
‘Do I? Ah, I accidentally treated you like a sofa.’
Bai Ranran hurriedly retracted her unladylike posture, reverting to her usual well-behaved girl appearance.
Jiang Ran helplessly got up to change positions.
This time, Bai Ranran didn’t follow.
She stayed on the side, scrolling through her social media feed.
Jiang Ran, finally having a moment of peace, opened her phone and found that Su Wanqing had sent her a photo at some point.
It seemed to be a schedule.
Their time slot had been scheduled for the fourth segment of the program.
This meant more people would be watching, but it also meant their group would be under a lot of pressure.
If they made a mistake, they’d probably be easily remembered by the students.
“This was probably Tao Kuxue’s doing on purpose, right? How did our speech get scheduled in such a prominent position?”
Jiang Ran couldn’t help but ask.
“Probably. I really don’t know what that person is up to. Anyway, we’re just reading a script. When the time comes, Jiang Ran, don’t be so nervous. Speaking of which, I took a lot of photos today. I’ll send you some too.”
Jiang Ran received a whole bunch of photos in one go, all of Su Wanqing’s portrait shots.
There were all kinds of styles.
Just as Jiang Ran was flipping through them, Bai Ranran leaned over.
“Wow, this sister looks really pretty.”
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