Chapter 13: The Big Thunder Girl (💣Eight💣)

Since this morning, Pei Xingyan’s right eyelid just wouldn’t stop twitching.

But people always have clever explanations for these things. If it’s the left eyelid twitching, they’d cheerfully say, “Maybe I’ll get rich today.” If it’s the right eyelid, they’d say something like Pei Xingyan: “Superstitions are nonsense,” and then toss the thought to the back of their mind.

He still needed to meet Su Shanshan today, even though this girl always gave him a faint sense of unease.

A gentle and considerate pretty girl, who even gave you a huge sum of money, all for the purpose of having a sweet romance with you…

Honestly, he still felt there was a higher chance she was trying to scam him for his kidneys.

Sometimes Pei Xingyan just couldn’t figure it out. He really didn’t understand how Tang Xin managed to find such godlike clients. The previous one, Lin Xiaoyu, wasn’t typical at all; she never acted like a client, more like she was spending money to make friends.

And Su Shanshan was even more so. Although she had the awareness of “I paid, so I’m the boss,” she never even lost her temper.

She might as well be a bit more bossy—at least then Pei Xingyan would feel more at ease taking the money.

Thinking about all this, he stepped into the same abandoned classroom from yesterday.

Su Shanshan was already there, quietly curled up in a corner, gazing absentmindedly out the window.

She looked as still as a meditating old monk, not a trace of liveliness. Pei Xingyan followed her gaze, but that spot was empty—she was just staring blankly into space.

Pei Xingyan cleared his throat softly. Her small ears twitched, and then, in an instant, she seemed to come alive, vitality surrounding her.

She stood up in surprise, wanting to pounce over, but at the last moment remembered the promise she’d made, slammed on the brakes, and could only smile shyly.

Pei Xingyan returned her smile. Though he still had his worries, at the very least, he should treat this girl gently.

A little kindness never hurts.

Su Shanshan trotted over, and the first thing she did was close the door again.

She hurried to explain, “Don’t worry, I just don’t like being watched while I work, that’s all, I don’t have any weird intentions…”

Pei Xingyan nodded firmly, found a stool, and sat down, showing he had no intention of leaving.

The smile on Su Shanshan’s face grew sweeter and sweeter. She found a stool of the same size and sat down beside him.

And then the two of them lapsed into awkward silence.

Pei Xingyan hadn’t lied to her—he really had never dated before, and his relationship with Ye Ziwei couldn’t be called romantic. He truly had no experience with how couples are supposed to interact.

As for Su Shanshan, there was even less to say. If you swapped her gender, she’d absolutely be the kind of “kitchen boy” who gets roasted online every day. The fact she hadn’t already said something totally off-putting was already impressive.

The two of them sat together awkwardly, not too close but not too far either, but after quite a while, not a single word was spoken.

To avoid curling his toes in embarrassment, Pei Xingyan racked his brain for something to talk about.

He glanced sideways—Su Shanshan was still wearing her thunder-style outfit, only now without the fake blood streaks drawn with red medicine on her arms.

That really was just part of her disguise.

Looking more closely, her waist was impressively slender, just a handful, easily wrapped up with one arm. Her figure was great, with long, delicate legs. Even though she wore opaque black stockings, her current posture still revealed a bit of scenery, and she was showing it off to him without a hint of defense, making it impossible for him to look away.

“You haven’t told me about your clothes yet, have you?” Pei Xingyan suddenly thought of a good topic. He reminded her, “And yesterday, I asked if you were a cosplayer, but you didn’t answer me.”

Su Shanshan snapped out of her daze, finally having something to talk about. She immediately perked up, tugging at her clothes and eagerly introducing them, “This? I’m really not a thunder girl, and not a cosplayer either, it’s just my job.”

“So, you’re a model?”

“No, not that. Actually, I do some part-time work as an illustrator. Sometimes the commissions I get, whether commercial or private, have really weird requirements. I have to try to experience it myself before I can create something.” She explained slowly, “You know what an illustrator is, right? Like in those anime mobile games, the character art is all drawn by illustrators.”

“Yeah.” Pei Xingyan nodded, taking the initiative to keep the conversation going. “So do you work for yourself or with a company?”

He actually knew a bit about the industry. After all, he was an old hand in the anime scene, so he knew that Su Shanshan saying she did part-time illustration basically meant she was a freelance illustrator.

But now wasn’t the time to act like an expert. It was better to use this as a way to keep the conversation going.

Awkward silences are never good in any relationship.

“I work for myself!” Now that the topic was her specialty, Su Shanshan looked very happy and excited. She pulled out her phone and showed it to Pei Xingyan. “Look, this is my account. I have quite a lot of followers, right?”

She waited expectantly for Pei Xingyan’s reaction.

Pei Xingyan was actually a bit shocked—not because of her seven-digit follower count, but for another reason.

He had some understanding of the illustrator community. People who make a living online usually go out of their way to keep their real-life identity a secret, or else it leads to a lot of trouble.

For Su Shanshan to show him her main account like this was no different from lifting her skirt and showing him her underwear.

Maybe even more so. Some people won’t even tell their boyfriend, girlfriend, or parents about their online identity.

This Su Shanshan was almost too sincere…

“That’s amazing!” But Pei Xingyan still gave her plenty of face, showering her with praise.

Compared to Lin Xiaoyu, Su Shanshan was much better, but she wasn’t immune to flattery either. She swayed her head, basking in the compliments.

“It’s not that big a deal,” she said, though her tone was clearly fishing for more praise. She went on to brag, “This thunder-style commission is a commercial job, worth over fifty thousand!”

“Wow!” Pei Xingyan cooperatively acted surprised.

She spilled all her details without holding back. Maybe it wouldn’t take a day for her to tell Pei Xingyan her ID number and bank password too. “It’s nothing, and that contract I signed with Tang was basically all my savings from last year…”

Pei Xingyan’s heart skipped a beat. Five hundred thousand a year—that was definitely not a small sum.

He’d originally thought she was some rich girl just looking for fun, but it turned out she was a self-made girl.

But now, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of a moral burden.

His original plan to just muddle through began to change a little. He could take money from the rich without a second thought, since those people could afford to lose it.

But for people who worked hard for their money, every cent was hard-earned.

He felt a bit ashamed.

“How about letting you take care of my salary card from now on?” Su Shanshan had a vivid imagination and started picturing their future life together. She couldn’t help but ask with anticipation.

“Let’s talk about that later…” Pei Xingyan didn’t dare accept; he could only brush it off.

“Well… I need to take some reference photos here later, can you stay and keep me company?” Su Shanshan asked cautiously, watching his expression closely. “Of course, if it’s inconvenient for you, it’s totally fine, you don’t have to worry about me…”

Pei Xingyan knew full well that refusing now would be a bad idea. He volunteered, “Just keeping you company seems too useless. I happen to know a little about photography. How about I help you take the photos?”

Su Shanshan was finally overwhelmed with joy and immediately hugged his arm, snuggling it to her chest and acting all cutesy.

Whether she was a thunder girl or not, Pei Xingyan didn’t know.

But right now, he could feel that she was definitely a big thunder girl.

An intense sense of pressure wrapped around his arm, her whole upper body pressed against him, and the rich sensation filled his entire arm.

Now it was his turn to be floating on air.