Chapter 142: My house was robbed?

“Huh?”

Jiang Ling almost reflexively hugged her own petite body, then stared at Shen Yue—who had an utterly frank and open expression on her face—with eyes widened to the extreme in shock. A chill ran faintly down her spine.

You fcking want to sleep with me too?!*

Of course, there was no way she would actually say that out loud in front of Shen Yue. So she desperately suppressed the turmoil inside her and cautiously asked:

“Um… what are we going to your house for?”

“To make Ranran apologize to you.”

Shen Yue lifted her eyelids slightly. That adorable, round, loli-like little face was filled with seriousness, which somehow made the whole scene oddly comical.

Hearing this, Jiang Ling first let out a breath of relief—then immediately started waving her hands frantically.

“No no no, there’s really no need to go to so much trouble! She only did it because she was worried about you…”

“Part of it is that, yes. But another part is because she just loves stirring up trouble and can’t sit still. I’ve scolded her for it many times, yet she still doesn’t learn.”

When talking about her younger sister, Shen Yue’s expression became much more animated, but there was also a trace of a familiar fear in her eyes—something Jiang Ling had seen before.

She occasionally felt the same way when looking at Mo Ran.

“Anyway, I also have some things I want to talk to you about. Or… do you have plans tonight?”

Shen Yue was already mentally rehearsing how she would make Shen Ran perform a kneeling apology滑跪 to Jiang Ling, while casually asking about her evening schedule.

The moment she heard that Shen Yue wanted to talk to her, Jiang Ling naturally didn’t want to miss the chance. But almost instantly, the memory flashed back of the NOVA unnies giving her that smiling-but-not-really-smiling look this morning. Her heart gave a little shiver.

“…No plans.”

After hesitating for a long while, she finally gritted her teeth and forced herself to agree.

This is for NOVA’s sake!

So surely… surely they wouldn’t overreact to her missing just one tiny appointment, right?

Jiang Ling thought about it for a few seconds, then cheerfully tossed the whole worry out of her mind.

Eh, whatever—I’ll deal with it when the time comes~

After they happily stuffed themselves at the burger place, they took a car back to Shen Yue’s house.

According to Shen Yue, this was a small place she had bought with the savings she had accumulated before. It wasn’t big, but it had everything one needed.

The moment they stepped inside, Jiang Ling caught a faint, sweet fruity fragrance. She changed into slippers and followed Shen Yue to sit down on the soft, cushy sofa.

The apartment really was quite small—smaller than most places Jiang Ling had been in—but it genuinely lacked nothing. A small sparrow, yet complete with all five viscera.

“She’s probably still out causing trouble somewhere. You sit and rest first. I’ll go cut some fruit.”

Earlier Jiang Ling had seen Shen Yue go into the bedroom and hadn’t known what she was doing. Only when Shen Yue came back out wearing loose, comfy home clothes did she understand.

Shen Yue’s build was similar to hers—both on the petite and delicate side. Not tall, slender frame, flat chest that could at best be described as “a young lotus just showing its tip.”

Although she didn’t mean to stare, Jiang Ling still accidentally caught several glimpses through the thin fabric. Her ears instantly turned red. She pressed her lips together and lowered her head, suddenly feeling a bit shy.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

But Shen Yue immediately noticed Jiang Ling’s poorly concealed reaction. While walking toward the kitchen, she asked in confusion.

“No.”

Jiang Ling shook her head quickly and changed the subject:

“What fruit do you have?”

“I don’t eat it often, so I only have some strawberries and oranges. Do you like them?”

Shen Yue opened the almost-empty fridge and looked a little annoyed.

“I should’ve bought more earlier.”

Seeing this, Jiang Ling hurriedly stood up and walked over.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! I actually don’t eat much fruit either. You really don’t need to go out of your way.”

After a long round of polite back-and-forth, Shen Yue still wasn’t completely reassured. She took out her phone and started typing.

“Never mind. I’ll just tell Ranran to bring some food back. That way we won’t get hungry while writing songs tonight.”

“Writing songs?”

Jiang Ling sharply caught the keyword. Her voice carried obvious surprise.

“You’re writing songs tonight too?”

Shen Yue put her phone away. Under the dim, dappled light of the room, she looked straight at Jiang Ling with serious eyes.

“I’ve thought about it for a long time… and I feel that selling the song to you guys might actually be a pretty good choice.”

The statement came so suddenly.

Even though Shen Yue’s expression was focused, her tone wasn’t particularly grave—it sounded more like casual chit-chat between friends. Jiang Ling couldn’t tell whether this was real or not. She blinked, then unconsciously leaned closer.

Their distance shrank instantly—close enough for Jiang Ling to carefully examine every detail of her face.

“No mole… it’s not Shen Ran—”

“Is this for real this time?!”

Jiang Ling’s expression instantly brightened. Her gaze eagerly chased Shen Yue’s pupils, terrified she might suddenly take it back.

In her excitement, she even unconsciously grabbed Shen Yue’s slender white shoulders and gently shook them. Her beautiful little face was radiant, like glaciers melting into spring.

She was genuinely, truly happy.

Not only did this mean NOVA’s title track now had a real chance—it also meant Shen Yue seemed to be (even if just a tiny bit) trying to open up to the outside world again. Even the smallest step forward was worth celebrating.

Shen Yue was caught off guard when her shoulders were suddenly grabbed. It took her a moment to react. Only when she saw the urgency practically overflowing from Jiang Ling’s face did she awkwardly nod, then instinctively try to take half a step back to regain some distance.

But Jiang Ling didn’t give her that chance.

With her lips curved upward, she swiftly pulled Shen Yue into a tight hug.

Jiang Ling used to be someone who really disliked physical contact. But after the “patient guidance” of the NOVA unnies, she gradually came to feel that skin-to-skin touch could convey many things words never could.

Right now, for example—she was bursting with joy but too tongue-tied to say anything properly. So she simply hugged Shen Yue tightly, trying to transmit her bubbling happiness through the embrace.

Before she could say anything more, there came the sound of the electronic lock beeping outside the door.

Beep—beep—click.

The door seemed to have opened.

The hallway sensor light was dim. After opening the door, Shen Ran gave a very soft “tch”, then stepped inside, carrying a supermarket bag full of snacks—mostly things Shen Yue liked.

Shen Ran had originally been wandering aimlessly outside.

The previous meeting with Jiang Ling had been a huge disappointment—no fun at all. So she had simply switched targets, planning to look for the next source of amusement.

But when Shen Yue told her to come home, no matter how unwilling she was, Shen Ran still had to obediently return in front of her older sister.

She sighed, put on a bright smile, and headed toward the kitchen to put the groceries away. She pushed open the half-closed door and said:

“Jiejie, I bought stuff—look, you…”

Shen Ran’s voice abruptly stopped the moment she saw her older sister shyly nestled in Jiang Ling’s arms.

The shopping bag in her hand fell to the floor with a plop.

Wait—

Did someone break into the house?!