“Aunt Yi, take care…”
“Hahaha… Yi is just next door. Xiao Yuan, did you come looking for me?”
“All right…”
After seeing Aunt Yi off, the mother and daughter went back to packing their things.
Lin Xinyuan didn’t bring back many items herself, only the valuable and useful ones.
The rest of the miscellaneous stuff was still at the rented place and wouldn’t be needed for long anyway.
Once she finished packing, she sat on her bed scrolling through her phone, replying to a message from that stinky blond—he was asking if she had arrived home yet.
That guy… when did he start caring about me?
She scratched her head, unable to understand it but somehow feeling it was only natural.
It seemed… not a problem?
Whatever…
Lin Xinyuan didn’t dwell on the matter, just thinking their relationship was good, so naturally, she didn’t assume Qin Nanfeng had feelings for her.
Not to mention, that was impossible—he knew her background.
The barbecue buffet incident before was just a fluke…
He didn’t even know back then, and now that he does, how could that happen!
Besides, how could she possibly like that stinky blond!
Nantong, right?
… Thinking about it is pretty gross…
And a jerk too…
By the way… how long has it been since that guy played around with a new girlfriend?
Lin Xinyuan thought this and felt a strange discomfort for some reason.
But she convinced herself it was just dissatisfaction with the stinky blond, after all, he’d been ruthlessly exploiting the school’s dating resources!
Snatching others’ partners was one thing, but before, he even ended up with her ex-girlfriend…
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since she’d heard anything about the stinky blond’s antics.
Heh heh heh… surely he wasn’t scared off by me?
With this thought, she smiled inwardly, happily shaking her little head as she casually sent out the edited message.
“I arrived a few hours ago, just finished tidying up.”
After sending it, Lin Xinyuan thought for a moment, took a photo of her room, and sent it as well.
Thousands of miles away in Tianbei City, inside an office of a tall building, a young man sat at his desk.
Seeing the girl’s message and picture, he smiled slightly.
“Hm, the room really suits your style.”
His words were heartfelt.
In the picture, from the bed curtains to the bedding, the decoration all exuded a simple and elegant vibe.
However, the girl on the other end didn’t quite agree.
After all, the room’s decoration was uniform throughout her house—not just her room but the other two rooms as well.
And this was considered the cheaper type of decor…
So when Qin Nanfeng sent that message, Lin Xinyuan’s first reaction wasn’t good.
Is he teasing me?
Saying I’m poor and shabby?
The girl pouted, “Yes, yes, it suits my style.”
After sending this, she felt it wasn’t enough, so she followed up with, “I feel like the curtains in your house must be gilded, right?”
What she said sounded like a compliment to Qin Nanfeng, but actually implied his temperament was like gold…
“Heh…”
On the other side, Qin Nanfeng chuckled when he saw this.
Goodness, so it was a misunderstanding…
And she’s still so grudging…
Thinking this, the scene of the first time he met the girl floated up in his mind.
Clad in flowing white clothes, she really matched her temperament…
But contrary to her appearance, she had tried to use that thing to change her looks to trick him.
Unexpectedly, failing the theft cost her dearly, turning herself into what she was now…
Now recalling it, Qin Nanfeng didn’t know whether to laugh or feel something else, a mixture of anticipation and sentiment.
He couldn’t help but think of the catalyst for all this—his so-called ex-girlfriend…
Li Xue.
He really wanted to thank her for sending him such an interesting gift…
Qin Nanfeng’s laughter deepened, full of disdain and mockery in his eyes…
He was about to reply when suddenly the girl sent another message.
“Never mind, I have something to do.”
Qin Nanfeng’s eyes flickered; he deleted most of the words he had typed and finally sent only one character: “Okay.”
After replying, he put down his phone, ready to continue his work, when a knock came from outside the office.
“Come in.”
The door opened after his voice.
“What is it?”
“Boss, President Huang from the Xun Teng Game Platform is here, waiting in the lobby. He wants to discuss putting our new game on their platform.”
“Tsk… so he really came…” Qin Nanfeng narrowed his eyes. “Let’s go see what he has to say…”
“Yes.”
Lin Xinyuan carried a bag in each hand, wandering through the Supermarket with her mother.
The cold night was falling fast; although it was just past six, the sky outside had already darkened.
But inside the mall, there were still quite a few people.
Both mother and daughter were strikingly beautiful, attracting more than a few glances from passersby.
Lin Xinyuan followed tightly behind her mother, feeling uneasy, her head slightly lowered as she stared at the floor ahead.
Originally, she hadn’t wanted to come, but after her mother asked, she thought it over and followed along.
At least she could help carry the bags…
Though this wasn’t the first time these past few days she appeared in public in such a completely feminine form, the stares from others still made her uncomfortable.
Not to mention she never liked being the center of attention…
Her mind was distracted, and her face grew a little pale again.
Her fingers clenched the bag handles so tightly that the pressure left red marks on her fair skin.
“Xiao Yuan?”
Hearing her name, the girl slowly came back to herself and looked up. “Huh?”
Only then did she realize they had reached the checkout counter and hurriedly handed the bags to the cashier.
Lin’s mother frowned slightly, saying nothing, but a deep worry showed in her eyes as she noticed her daughter’s paler face…
Carrying the groceries out of the supermarket, the two headed home.
They didn’t have an electric bike—since almost no one had been home before, they hardly needed one, so they never bought it.
The Supermarket wasn’t far from the residential complex; walking slowly, it would take no more than ten minutes, which they treated as a stroll.
Walking beside the road, Lin’s mother looked gently at the girl and said, “If you don’t want to come in the future, then don’t…”
“…”
Lin Xinyuan silently nodded.
She didn’t expect so many people to still be at the Supermarket at night.
The two were silent for the rest of the walk.
Come to think of it, not only did the mother and daughter look alike, but their personalities were somewhat similar—both were rather quiet.
Once home, Lin’s mother prepared to cook.
The girl wanted to help but was immediately and decisively rejected, sent out of the kitchen.
Seeing this, Lin Xinyuan had no choice but to return to her room, idly opening her phone to check for new messages.
But neither the pinned chat with the stinky blond nor the 308 Dormitory Group had any updates.
No need to say about the former; the latter’s last message was from a few hours ago.
Lin Xinyuan guessed they had finished dinner and started gaming again.
She really envied their closeness…
But unfortunately… such moments would only grow fewer and fewer from now on…
Even though it seemed like her relationship with Xiong Wei and the others was still the same, gender differences would ultimately drive them apart…
Whether it was them or her, they would have to keep their distance…
In fact, ever since he became her, their paths had been diverging, not just gradually drifting away.
Her gaze shifted downwards, and she saw a red dot—Leitang’s message.
Looks like it was sent on the way back?
She had been carrying groceries then, so she couldn’t respond.
Lin Xinyuan opened Leitang’s chat and couldn’t help but smile.
“Hmm… A-Yuan, I want to go home too! Ah, we have finals, but I’ve just been skating by. Crying.JPG”
“Can’t take it anymore! I miss you so much! When you get back, we have to hang out! And eat delicious food. ChubbyFace.JPG”
“Hey, A-Yuan, why aren’t you saying anything? Angry.JPG”
“Hmph, ignoring you! Tsundere.JPG”
“Confused.JPG”
Reading Leitang’s messages, Lin Xinyuan typed back, “Sorry, A-Tang, I was busy earlier.”
“Okay, when you’re back we’ll hang out.”
Just as she sent those two sentences, another message came through immediately: “Oh, that’s fine! No worries!”
Lin Xinyuan scrolled through videos while chatting casually with Leitang.
About forty minutes later, her mother’s voice called out, “Xiao Yuan, dinner’s ready!”
“Got it!”
Lin Xinyuan replied, growing somewhat used to being called that by her mother.
Except for the initial shock that day, she no longer felt much.
She said goodbye to Leitang and put down her phone.