(1)
“Xiao Jing, your eyes…”
“Ah…?”
An Jing, still proud of having driven away the swindler, looked at her elder sister in confusion.
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“Gold… Eh, they’ve changed back.”
“What?”
“They were golden just now, and they seemed to be glowing.”
“Just now…? I was using mind-reading just now… Ah, does that mean my eyes change color when I use my superpower?”
“It seems so, doesn’t it?”
“Uh… I’ll have to be more careful next time.”
An Jing, carrying a shopping bag, bent over awkwardly.
“Ah, quick, let’s go home, I need to use the restroom!”
“Xiao Jing, do you think you might really be entangled by a demon?”
Yu Minghui followed closely behind her, asking playfully.
“Probably not… Even if there’s a demon, I’m not afraid. A messenger of justice isn’t afraid of any demon.”
“Pfft… A messenger of justice, really…?”
***
(2)
Winter days were always short.
The sun in the sky was already preparing to set early—it was only two o’clock, but it was no longer as brilliant.
In front of the computer, An Jing rested her chin on her hand, looking at Zhu Ying’s photo on the desktop, somewhat lost in thought.
A particularly lively song was playing through the speakers, accompanied by a slight static sound.
「My heart is pounding, my passion is burning, I really don’t want to search…」
“Beep beep beep—”
The urgent notification sound startled her back to reality.
She frantically looked at the bottom right corner of the desktop.
The blinking icon was Zhu Ying’s avatar.
“Ah… When did she change her QQ Show? Bunched socks… She seemed to have worn them before.”
An Jing mumbled, focusing her attention on Zhu Ying’s reply message.
「Then there’s no helping it.」
There were no accusations or dissatisfaction as she had imagined, nor did she feel any anger.
It was as calm as if a large number of people had been invited, and then one or two not-so-important ones said they couldn’t make it.
This relieved An Jing, but it also made her feel a pang of disappointment.
To be honest, she really hoped she was special in Zhu Ying’s eyes…
If the other party had actually gotten angry, she might have secretly felt delighted.
She had even thought that if Zhu Ying strongly insisted on her going, she would push off Wang Xinru’s matter.
An Jing gave a wry smile and patted her forehead, “An Jing, An Jing, don’t think too much…”
“Beep beep beep.”
Perhaps it was because it was Friday’s PE class time, so everyone had time to play with their phones.
An Jing had just finished reading Zhu Ying’s message when she received another from Wang Xinru, 「School’s out after PE class, will you wait for me at the school gate?」
“School gate, huh…”
An Jing scratched her head.
“It wouldn’t be good if Zhu Ying saw me, even though it doesn’t really matter if I go or not, but bumping into her face-to-face, finding a new excuse would be a bit troublesome… Hmm…”
She typed a few words then deleted them, hesitating for a long time before finally deciding on a meeting spot, 「Do you know there’s a river embankment next to the school? How about I wait for you there?」
「Okay!」
The reply came quickly; her happiness seemed almost palpable through the screen.
“Hmm… time to go, school gets out much earlier on Friday…”
An Jing checked the time, then pressed refresh seven or eight times on her desktop, and finally sent one last message to Zhu Ying.
「Sorry.」
「It’s fine.」
Only then did she feel completely relieved.
“Keys, phone… Nothing else good to bring, right? Oh… a backpack, for homework.”
An Jing casually shoved her keys and phone into her pocket, then picked up the somewhat empty backpack, pushed the door open, and walked out.
“Going out?”
Yu Minghui, still watching TV, picked up a handful of melon seeds and cracked one open.
“Mm.”
“Coming back for dinner?”
“Uh… probably not?”
“If there are leftovers, I’ll save them for you.”
“I’ll probably eat out and come back later, uh—or maybe earlier. Anyway, don’t mind me. If I really don’t eat, I’ll grab something downstairs.”
“Alright, have fun.”
“I’m not going out to play… I’m going to do homework…”
An Jing argued with a slight blush, bending down to put on the new canvas shoes her eldest sister bought her at the supermarket today.
Since they were women’s shoes, they fit perfectly, and the style was quite neutral, so it wouldn’t cause her any trouble in her school life.
“I can actually wear them… size 34…”
An Jing couldn’t help but exclaim.
“It feels like they’re smaller than my old palm…”
“Are the shoes comfortable?”
Her eldest sister asked, tilting her head, cracking two more melon seeds.
An Jing stomped her feet hard, then bounced lightly in place:
“No problem, doesn’t hurt at all, very comfortable!”
“That’s good.”
“I’m off!”
“Okay, don’t get too carried away!”
An Jing acknowledged as she closed the door, then a few steps later, it hit her—she felt like her older sister’s words had a hidden meaning.
***
(3)
The sun-warmed breeze brushed Wang Xinru’s face.
Clutching her backpack strap, she hastily turned sideways, almost getting bumped by a few hurried younger boys rushing out of school.
The school gate on Friday after classes was exceptionally lively.
Some parents who usually didn’t pick up their children would come on Fridays, so there were more cars parked outside than usual.
The small shops near the school gate were almost swamped by the crowd.
The owner kept calling out prices and making change.
Among the chattering students buying things, it seemed he wouldn’t have enough even with three heads and six arms, let alone none.
Wang Xinru took a deep breath, unable to stop the smile on her face.
“So happy?”
Suddenly, she felt someone lightly pat her back.
Turning around, she saw Zhang Qiqi, who always loved to tease boys, looking at her with a mischievous grin.
“Are you finally going to succeed in ‘kidnapping’ him to your house?”
“Wh-what are you talking about… N-not kidnapping…! It’s, it’s to do homework together!”
“Hehehe… I want to go to your house to do homework too, how about it?”
“I-I-I…”
“Alright, alright, just kidding, look how nervous you are.”
Zhang Qiqi quickly walked past Wang Xinru and waved vigorously at a black car parked not far away.
“My dad’s here to pick me up, so even if I wanted to go, I can’t.”
“Hmm… Are you going back to T City today too?”
“Yes, I am. Xiao Ru, you enjoy yourself today!”
“Wh-what enjoyment…? That’s not it at all…”
Wang Xinru’s small face flushed crimson, but a stream of “fantasies” kept surging in her mind.
It wasn’t until she passed through the crowd and reached another quiet street that she snapped out of her daze.
One more street to go, and she’d be by the river embankment.
There was a road there that opened three or four years ago, but since it led to the outskirts, it remained somewhat deserted even now.
And the river embankment beside that road was a famous lovers’ spot.
Not just because it was secluded, but also because the feeling of snuggling together on the embankment was very romantic…
The treated river water no longer emitted a rotten smell; it was now very clear.
Some people even went down to catch fish in the summer.
Thinking of the meeting place with An Jing being here, Wang Xinru’s cheeks flushed again.
Walking past another traffic light, she saw, from a distance, an empty backpack tossed on the withered yellow grass by the river embankment.
Next to it sat a short-haired girl in a denim jacket and jeans, her expression looking somewhat cool.
“An Jing…”
Wang Xinru softly called out, but her voice, barely louder than a mosquito’s, dissipated in the wind before traveling far.
The latter, naturally, didn’t hear her at all.
An Jing was very different from her memory.
But perhaps that was also because she was still young back then and hadn’t fully developed.
After all, not only do girls change drastically at eighteen, but boys do too.
She now looked excessively delicate.
Her exquisite features would make many girls envious, and even without makeup, even dressed in boy’s clothes, there wasn’t the slightest sense of incongruity in calling her a girl.
***
(3)
Moreover, in recent years, androgynous beauty has become quite popular among girls, and people are now very accepting of this diverse aesthetic.
Wang Xinru’s thoughts couldn’t help but wander.
Since the beginning of junior high, she had actually heard some rumors about An Jing from the boys.
The most talked-about topic was An Jing’s size.
Almost everyone who had seen it admitted that it was very big, so big that the boys no longer felt inferior.
Because the difference was too great, there was simply no comparison.
A boy like this was probably the only one in the entire school.
“Is it really nineteen centimeters…?”
Wang Xinru swallowed, quickened her pace onto the river embankment, and waved at An Jing, almost calling out the wrong name.
“Nineteen… An Jing!”
“Huh? What nineteen?”
An Jing turned around, puzzled.
“N-nothing!”
Wang Xinru shook her head vigorously, forced a smile that looked both happy and unhappy on her long face, and asked, “How long have you been waiting here…?”
“About half an hour…?”
An Jing scratched her head.
“It feels quite comfortable sitting here, not having to think about anything.”
“Hmm… Th-that’s why many couples choose to date here…”
“Ah… ha, haha…”
An Jing, suddenly remembering this, awkwardly stood up.
“Is, is that so…? It seems that’s really the case… Then should we leave quickly? To avoid disturbing other real couples on their dates?”
Wang Xinru bit her lip.
The words she wanted to say swelled to her lips multiple times but she swallowed them back.
“Mm… let’s go to my place…”
“Okay, your house isn’t in the old spot anymore, right?”
“Mm, but it’s still a rented house.”
Wang Xinru nodded lightly.
“But… you don’t have to worry about being too loud and getting scolded by the landlord…”
“Huh?”
“Because we rented the whole building, so even if you shout really loudly, it won’t disturb, disturb anyone!”
“…What are we going to do, have a party?”
An Jing cleared her throat, tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“Even if we’re singing, I usually don’t sing those really noisy songs…”
“I, I just… I just meant… we can be more relaxed…”
“Oh, oh, I get it.”
An Jing looked as if she had suddenly understood.
In reality—
She wasn’t an idiot.
She could more or less guess what Wang Xinru was thinking at that moment…
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She’s not a dense protag!!! LETS GOOOOOOO!!!