Chapter 16
The middle-aged woman only released Xu Chuanchuan's arm after finishing her call. Smiling apologetically, she said, "I'm sorry. I got a little too excited."
"It's okay," Xu Chuanchuan said as she waved her hand to shake off the sweat stuck on it.
While picking up the farm produce on the ground, the middle-aged woman said, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would've had to sleep on the street tonight. These are all things I brought from home. Feel free to take some."
"No no, you can keep it for yourself."
"This… How can I do that?"
Smiling, Xu Chuanchuan said, "I'm on a phone plan. Your call just now didn't cost me anything. Auntie, you wait here for your friend to come. We still have things to do, so we'll go first. Bye-bye!"
The middle-aged woman bowed to Xu Chuanchuan and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much."
Finding the situation awkward, Xu Chuanchuan quickly dragged Xu Xiangxiang toward the mall.
While struggling to keep up with her elder sister's pace, Xu Xiangxiang said, "Sis, you should avoid such encounters in the future. Why did you even bother helping? Don't you have any sense of caution at all?"
"She didn't look like a bad person."
Xu Xiangxiang snorted and said, "How gullible are you? Some criminals are even better actors than actual actors. If criminals can be seen through so easily, there wouldn't be so many unfortunate incidents taking place in society. Why are you glaring at me?"
Placing her free hand on her hip, Xu Chuanchuan said frustratingly, "Why are you such a nag?"
"I'm worried about you."
Xu Chuanchuan looked back and saw that the middle-aged woman was no longer standing there. When she recalled the middle-aged woman carrying so many things on her small frame, she couldn't help but find the scene to be heartbreaking. After all, the middle-aged woman looked like a scavenging vagabond from afar.
Xu Chuanchuan then muttered softly, "I was just thinking what would happen if mom came across a similar situation. If all passersby behave like you and refuse to help her, what should she do?"
Xu Xiangxiang grew silent after hearing these words.
…
After breakfast, the two sisters strolled around the mall. There were a lot of stores here and a wide range of goods.
"Sis, look. Doesn't this bag match my outfit?"
Inside the fashion store of a certain popular brand, Xu Xiangxiang found herself attracted toward a certain bag. The moment she held the bag in her hands, she couldn't bring herself to put it down again. After twirling in front of the mirror several times, she called out to Xu Chuanchuan, only to get silence as a response.
Xu Chuanchuan currently sat on a lounge chair inside the store. She stared outside the store as if in a daze.
Xu Xiangxiang walked up to her elder sister's front and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Pushing her little sister aside, Xu Chuanchuan replied, "I'm looking at a beauty."
"Where?" Xu Xiangxiang followed Xu Chuanchuan's line of sight and found a beautiful woman currently trying on shoes in the shoe store across the corridor. There was a man crouching in front of the woman, holding up her exposed ankle. He was the woman's boyfriend by the looks of it.
After subconsciously letting out a "wow," Xu Xiangxiang said, "What beautiful legs!"
Xu Chuanchuan sent a strange glance at her little sister.
Xu Xiangxiang didn't notice Xu Chuanchuan's gaze. However, the allure of a beautiful woman did not surpass that of handbags. She quickly withdrew her gaze and said to Xu Chuanchuan, "Sis, this bag looks wonderful."
Raising an eyebrow, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "You want to buy it?"
Xu Xiangxiang nodded repeatedly.
In response, Xu Chuanchuan pinched the handbag's label and showed the price tag to Xu Xiangxiang. She then said, "This is half of my monthly salary. Don't even think about getting me to pay."
"Tsk, I never said I was asking you to pay," Xu Xiangxiang said. However, when she returned the bag to its original spot, she looked as if someone had just cut a piece of flesh off her body.
Ignoring her little sister's agonizing look, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Let's go. I'll buy you some sunscreen."
The cosmetic shops were located in another wing. On the way, Xu Xiangxiang continuously shuttled between stores, touching and looking at various products. Even without buying anything, she had endless fun window shopping.
Compared to Xu Xiangxiang, Xu Chuanchuan looked a little out of form.
Noticing her elder sister's abnormality, Xu Xiangxiang asked, "What are you looking at again?"
A gleam flashing across her eyes, Xu Chuanchuan replied, "Nothing."
Xu Xiangxiang looked up at these words. She then spotted two unfamiliar women trying out dresses nearby. Apart from these two beautiful women, she found nothing else of note.
Xu Chuanchuan nudged her little sister and said, "Let's go."
"Oh."
Xu Chuanchuan let out a deep sigh. She felt as if her mind was a little off today.
When Xu Xiangxiang was looking at bags before, Xu Chuanchuan took notice of a woman in the shop across the corridor. The woman in question was a standard beauty. She had long and soft hair, a body with all the right curves, and a set of fair and slender legs. Xu Chuanchuan inadvertently found herself taking a closer look at this woman.
At the time, Xu Chuanchuan had automatically ignored the man crouched beside the beauty. As she observed the woman's every action, she began recalling the words Ange said to her last night.
The most direct way to determine a person's sexual orientation was to see which gender this person showed sexual urges toward.
However, even after sneaking glances at beautiful women all day, she did not give birth to any sexual thoughts. Even if she was bent, there was no way she would fall for the other party after a few glances.
Of course, Xu Chuanchuan's heart wasn't completely void of thoughts when she was conducting her observation. Whenever the woman in the shoe store tried walking in the shoes she tried, her actions would cause her long hair to shield her face from Xu Chuanchuan's line of sight. At these times, Xu Chuanchuan found herself thinking of a very inappropriate person.
Xu Chuanchuan actually thought of Murong Shi…
Xu Chuanchuan even made comparisons with the beauty in the shoe store with Murong Shi…
Fortunately, Xu Xiangxiang had saved Xu Chuanchuan in time. Otherwise, Murong Shi's beauty would've bewitched her and led her astray.
If anyone was to blame, it would be Murong Shi for having such a beautiful face and excellent figure. Not to mention, Xu Chuanchuan's first meeting with Murong Shi was simply unforgettable.
However, it was in the nature of humans to appreciate and admire beautiful things. Xu Chuanchuan still felt that she was "normal" so far.
…
A call woke up Murong Shi. Opening her eyes, she found that Jiang Shaohua had called her, so she rejected the call without a second thought.
Fortunately, the other party was smart and did not continue disturbing her.
Unfortunately, sleep wouldn't come to her no matter how hard she tried.
The thick curtains blocked all sunlight from entering her room. Lacking the motivation to turn on the lights, Murong Shi simply laid on her bed and played with her phone.
When she opened Weibo, she heard a "ding-dong" sound, indicating that she had an unread message.
It was a private message, and the sender was "I Love Malatang," the person who sent her erotica some days ago.
Murong Shi stared at the emoticon that represented a kiss for a long time before slowly typing a reply.
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "Do you always randomly kiss people?"
When reading Xu Chuanchuan's novels, Murong Shi recalled that the most frequent word she saw in the Author's Notes was "muah." She got goosebumps whenever she saw this word.
I Love Malatang: "No? I'm only expressing affection. [Aggrieved]"
Murong Shi was a little stunned.
The time between the two messages was less than ten seconds. The other party was actually online.
Murong Shi didn't expect for Xu Chuanchuan to reply so quickly. While she was hesitating, the other party sent her another message.
I Love Malatang: "Do you not visit Weibo frequently? I don't see you making any posts."
Doesn't this mean she already visited my homepage?
Fortunately, Murong Shi only used Weibo as a form of killing time. She did not follow anyone she knew in real life. She also couldn't be bothered to post her personal details on her account. Since Xu Chuanchuan didn't know her identity, then she had nothing to be afraid of.
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "Only occasionally."
Following this, Murong Shi heard another "ding-dong." This time, it was the system notifying her that she had gained a new follower. When she tapped on the icon of this new follower, she found that Xu Chuanchuan had followed her.
After pondering for a moment, Murong Shi also followed the other party.
I Love Malatang: "So, are you Passerby?"
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "Mhm."
There was no point to keep Xu Chuanchuan guessing. Not to mention, there was no way the ID "Passerby" could form a link to her real identity, so Murong Shi decided to just admit to Xu Chuanchuan's question.
I Love Malatang: "Thank you for liking my books. [Shy] Thank you for giving me so many Deep-waters. [Shy]"
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "No problem. I just happen to have misclicked."
When Xu Chuanchuan saw these words, she stopped walking all of a sudden. Caught off guard, Xu Xiangxiang crashed straight into her back with a "thud."
"Sis, what are you doing? Why do you keep looking at your phone?" Xu Xiangxiang pouted.
Sheepishly, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Someone's looking for me. I was replying to a Weibo message."
Xu Xiangxiang didn't doubt her elder sister's words. She then dashed into a nearby jewelry store without another word.
After Xu Xiangxiang was gone, Xu Chuanchuan returned her gaze to her phone and quickly typed: "Regardless, thank you very much. [Hug] That… If you really misclicked, I can refund you half the money. The other half has already been taxed by jjwxc. [Aggrieved]"
On the other side, Murong Shi suddenly felt like being playful. After reading Xu Chuanchuan's message, she chuckled and muttered to herself, "How gullible."
Her mind clearing up, Murong Shi stretched and turned on the lights. Just as she was about to get out of bed, she heard another "ding-dong."
I Love Malatang: "There's something I need to confess. I didn't write the meat you read… That's why, I feel quite guilty for receiving the Deep-water you sent last time…"
Murong Shi's body paused.
She didn't write it?
Realization dawned upon Murong Shi. It was no wonder why she felt such a strong sense of discrepancy when she read the short erotica. Xu Chuanchuan looked like a muddle-headed person, while the short erotica was explicit beyond description. Even if Xu Chuanchuan was hiding her true personality, there was no way there would be such a huge difference between her facade and real personality.
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "So, you plan to refund half of my money?"
I Love Malatang: "It's possible… I can send you a red packet using my author's account. Jjwxc will charge a small processing fee and refund the remainder to you."
Something like that is possible?
Murong Shi fell silent for some time. She wasn't lacking that bit of money. The only reason she had said so much in the first place was because she had nothing better to do.
After thinking over the matter for some time, Murong Shi found this situation to be somewhat interesting. If they met in the company normally, Xu Chuanchuan would never dare speak to her in such great length, let alone taking the initiative to strike up a conversation and acting cute in front of her.
Since neither of them could see each other's faces right now, Murong Shi felt like being playful again.
There Exists No Poem in a Girl's Feelings: "Troublesome. Forget it. Just write a new one as compensation."
I Love Malatang: "!!!"