This pit—should I jump in, or should I jump in? Luckily, it was Zhou Muning who called out to her first.
“Xiangyi? What’s wrong with you?” But even so, Qin Xiangyi still didn’t react right away, thinking about how to play the role of Qin Xiangyi.
After all, this was different from being Qin Wangzi’s fiancée, Jing Shuxuan.
Zhou Muning was the school beauty, and also Qin Xiangyi’s deskmate.
The two of them were extremely close, which made Zhou Muning completely let her guard down around Qin Xiangyi, giving Qin Wangzi the perfect opportunity.
“It’s nothing, I just thought you looked thinner.” Qin Xiangyi quickly snapped back, smiling as she brushed it off.
Zhou Muning seemed to remember something, her eyes filling with tears, but she still forced herself not to think about that past which had cast such a huge shadow over her.
But this look only made her innocence and delicate beauty stand out even more.
If you compared her to the human Jing Shuxuan, Jing Shuxuan was a capable and beautiful “big sister” type, while Zhou Muning was the kind of pure, lovable girl who made people want to protect her.
But the most precious thing was, a girl this beautiful could still keep her innocence in such a restless society.
Her eyes were clear, and she didn’t even realize that to anyone who loved beautiful things, Zhou Muning herself was a stunning sight.
“Xiangyi… you’ve lost a lot of weight too.
I’ve been working part-time lately and made some money.
I have to treat you to a good meal.” Just when Qin Xiangyi thought Zhou Muning was only remembering that dark time, Zhou Muning said this instead.
Her eyes were full of concern, as if she thought Qin Xiangyi had suffered even more than she had.
The two of them looked at each other like that, until a guy handing out flyers interrupted their gaze.
Only then did they realize they’d been staring at each other for a long time.
They awkwardly turned away, refused the guy’s sales pitch, and then Qin Xiangyi quickly pulled Zhou Muning away.
Zhou Muning didn’t resist, even when she stumbled, she still seemed to trust Qin Xiangyi completely.
“Xiangyi, should we talk while we walk, or find somewhere to sit and chat for a bit?” Zhou Muning had so much she wanted to say, her mind wasn’t on shopping at all.
But that went against Qin Xiangyi’s plan—she was worried that if she got too close to Zhou Muning, Zhou Muning would realize she wasn’t the original Qin Xiangyi, so she used shopping as an excuse to walk around with her.
If possible, Qin Xiangyi would rather just kiss Zhou Muning right now and activate the flower seed in her.
Of course, that was totally impossible.
This time, the kiss had to last three whole minutes.
That was a ridiculous activation condition set by some dog-blood author named Qin Xiangyi for her own protagonist, and now, Qin Xiangyi herself had to suffer through it with tears in her eyes.
This challenge was a bit tough, so Qin Xiangyi needed to build up more feelings with Zhou Muning first.
With her mind made up, Qin Xiangyi used wanting to buy clothes as an excuse to drag Zhou Muning around.
Unlike Qin Xiangyi’s family, Zhou Muning’s background was pretty ordinary, so her attitude toward clothes was always to refuse.
She was very frugal—even if she really liked pretty clothes, she’d always restrain herself.
Qin Xiangyi watched where Zhou Muning’s gaze lingered, figuring out her tastes.
Simple and practical—that was what Zhou Muning liked, and her easygoing personality just made people want to protect her even more.
Seeing Zhou Muning’s mood finally calm down, Qin Xiangyi called out to Shaoyao in her mind.
Shaoyao appeared, grumbling and unwilling, but even after last time’s awkwardness, she still had to help Qin Xiangyi with what she wanted to do.
Qin Xiangyi: See if you can do something to help Zhou Muning get closer to me.
Qin Xiangyi gave the order, telling Shaoyao what she needed.
Shaoyao was confused—obviously, this order was way too hard for someone who didn’t understand romance at all.
Qin Xiangyi thought for a second and added, “Forget it, let Huanu do it.” She instinctively planned to have Huanu help her out, so she could get closer to Zhou Muning and help her let her guard down, getting ready for that three-minute kiss.
Shaoyao: So you’re looking down on me now! Shaoyao got mad.
She felt like ever since that cabin incident, Qin Xiangyi had been a lot colder to her.
Now, seeing Qin Xiangyi ask Huanu for help again, Shaoyao was really unhappy.
The vinegar jar tipped over again, and Qin Xiangyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she saw Shaoyao quickly approach her.
She instinctively shielded Zhou Muning, but then saw Shaoyao stick out her leg and kick over a fallen advertising board.
Since she knew no one else could see, Qin Xiangyi quickly mimicked a kicking motion, making it look like she was the one who kicked the board.
But when she looked closer, she saw Huanu standing over there, half-smiling.
Huanu: Shaoyao, you’re only good for guarding people.
Leave the romance stuff to me.
She looked a little smug, clearly proud that the previously unmovable sign had suddenly fallen over thanks to her handiwork.
The point of this was to give Qin Xiangyi a chance to get physically closer to Zhou Muning.
Unfortunately, Shaoyao’s protective instincts got in the way.
If Qin Xiangyi hadn’t reacted fast enough, Zhou Muning’s attention would be on the sign now, not on Qin Xiangyi.
Shaoyao: You… Qin Xiangyi’s head felt like a chatroom, but she just ignored the two flower people’s bickering and checked on Zhou Muning, worried.
“Are you okay?” She held Zhou Muning in her arms, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Zhou Muning was startled, her eyes fixed on Qin Xiangyi.
Then she said, “I’m fine, but why did that sign suddenly fall over?”
She still seemed confused, but didn’t try to pull away from Qin Xiangyi, clearly still feeling uneasy.
Just then, a shop employee came out to apologize to the two of them after figuring out what happened.
Huanu stood behind the employee with a smile, patting her on the shoulder, as if she’d done something to make the employee come out and smooth things over.
Once Zhou Muning realized it really was just an accident, she finally relaxed.
Then she remembered she was still in Qin Xiangyi’s arms, and said a little awkwardly, “Xiangyi, I’m fine now.”
Qin Xiangyi didn’t let go, still worried as she pressed, “Are you really okay? You don’t look so good.”
“It’s not… it’s not about the sign, I just suddenly remembered that day…” Zhou Muning’s face went even paler.
The scare just now had brought them closer, but it also triggered Zhou Muning’s stress response.
“It’s okay, it’s all over now.
He’ll never bother you again.”
Qin Xiangyi quickly comforted her, hugging Zhou Muning again.
This wasn’t the effect she wanted, but the scare had hit Zhou Muning’s most vulnerable spot, and also showed off Qin Xiangyi’s strength, making Zhou Muning instinctively start to rely on her.
