Among Three People Walking, There Must Be One Straight Girl - Chapter 1

It was a scorching summer day. The noisy chirping of cicadas that had lasted all day was suddenly interrupted by a heavy downpour.

The rain washed away the heat from the ground, leaving a sticky, humid warmth suspended in the air, making it even harder to breathe.

With a “bang,” a car door slammed shut, brushing away the sweltering heat for a fleeting moment before it surged back again.

The person responsible for the sound stood quietly, staring at the car without blinking.

“My eldest lady, that’s my new car!” Xia Wan stroked her beloved car heartrendingly. Before she could complain, the culprit, Lan Ranxing, drifted in front of her like she’d lost her soul. Her eyes were hollow, her lips pursed, and her head drooped onto Xia Wan’s shoulder as she slowly exhaled: “I’m sorry.”

Lan Ranxing’s gaze fell on the car’s body. Indeed, the old cannot compare to the new.

Xia Wan had begged her parents for a long time to get this car. She had just picked it up four hours ago. They had gone to welcome the new car together, and Xia Wan had pulled her along, seemingly showing off: “Hehe, I finally have a car of my own.”

They had sat in the new car excitedly, screaming with joy all the way, looking at everything inside with novelty, and excitedly testing every switch they could find.

But, there is always a killjoy.

Lan Ranxing’s parents, who usually ignored her, suddenly called her and said in unison: “Daughter, you’re going to have a brother!”

When Lan Ranxing was twenty-one, her parents opened a smurf account behind her back.

After being an only child for twenty-one years, her parents—who were harmonious in appearance but divided in heart—had gone for IVF behind her back at nearly fifty years old.

Only after the melon was ripe and the fetus was stable did they dare to tell her.

As expected, how could an old person compare to a newcomer?

Lan Ranxing continued to mope by the car until a sudden rainstorm arrived, mercilessly battering the two of them.

Lan Ranxing stood frozen on the spot. The support beneath her head suddenly vanished as a force pulled her into a hot pot restaurant.

Xia Wan shook the water droplets off her body, a few of them splashing onto Lan Ranxing. She haphazardly grabbed a few tissues and stuffed them into Lan Ranxing’s hand, draping an arm over her shoulder: “Buckle up! So what if your parents are starting a smurf account? There is nothing a meal of hot pot can’t solve.”

Normally, if Xia Wan said this, the gloom between Lan Ranxing’s brows would vanish instantly. Today, she only gave a faint reply: “Okay.”

The hot pot restaurant at 8 PM was still bustling. A bright red spicy pot was brought to the table, bubbling and gurgling in no time. Lan Ranxing’s favorites—pig brains, duck blood, tripe, duck intestines, shrimp paste… were brought out plate by plate.

Usually, Lan Ranxing would standardly perform the role of the Eldest Lady nickname “Xia Wan” gave her, instructing Xia Wan on which to blanch first and which to do next.

Now, even her dipping sauce bowl was empty.

The neighboring table was chatting happily; they were as quiet as chickens.

Xia Wan prepared a sauce bowl and placed it in front of Lan Ranxing. Lan Ranxing raised her eyes, seemingly recovering a bit of energy. She jabbed her chopsticks into the sauce, stirred it rapidly, and said in a heavy voice: “I’m running away from home!”

“How many days do you plan to ‘run away’ this time?” Xia Wan unhurriedly blanched the beef, putting half into Lan Ranxing’s bowl while her eyes remained fixed on the pig brain that was almost ready.

Xia Wan was all too familiar with Lan Ranxing’s running away. It just meant leaving her house and huffing and puffing over to stay at Xia Wan’s place. After staying for a while, her parents would call and say they missed her, and she’d trot back again.

“I don’t know. Maybe for a lifetime.” The sad thoughts resurfaced, and Lan Ranxing lost interest in the meat in her bowl.

Lan Ranxing had seen too many cases where the older sister lived a lonely, helpless life after a brother was born, having to give up everything for him.

“Don’t be discouraged. You should reclaim everything you own like a female lead in a ‘cool’ novel. That fits your personality much better.”

Lan Ranxing was not one to suffer grievances willingly. All the grievances in her life were given to her by her parents. Outside, she could be described as overbearing. The only one who could coax her was Xia Wan, the childhood friend she grew up with.

“Are you saying I should kick my mom down the stairs while she’s pregnant, or just strangle that kid directly when it’s born?”

Xia Wan rolled her eyes and dropped the pig brain into Lan Ranxing’s bowl: “How can you say such things so openly?”

Seemingly afraid that the moody Lan Ranxing might take it seriously, she added: “I don’t want a childhood friend who goes to prison. Hey, just say some nice things in front of your parents and many things will pass. Didn’t you used to tell me you wanted a younger sibling?”

Lan Ranxing stabbed her chopsticks into the brain, slicing it in half, and said eerily: “That was before. People change.”

She had thought about it when she was little. How nice it would be to pet a soft, cute, and obedient younger sibling.

Back then, no matter how much she begged, her parents righteously refused her and told her: “Mom and Dad will only ever have you as our child.”

But today, everything changed.

“Ding, ding, ding~”

The phone lit up. Xia Wan hurriedly put down her chopsticks while blanching duck intestines and checked her phone.

Lan Ranxing had seen this scene too many times over the past few days—no, the past few years. It must be that little vixen named Lan Yuyue hooking up with Xia Wan again.

Not only did Xia Wan set a unique ringtone for Lan Yuyue, but she also set a custom chat background. For a period of time, her profile picture was a photo of the two of them. In the past, these were privileges only she had.

Indeed, the old is not as good as the new.

Whenever that sound rang out, her childhood friend Xia Wan’s gaze would instantly be pulled away from her by Lan Yuyue. She felt like an abandoned child, just like her parents abandoned her; Xia Wan was going to abandon her too.

Lan Ranxing stared at Xia Wan, watching her every move as if trying to see a flower bloom out of her.

Anxiety soon colored Xia Wan’s brows. Her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen, her eyes fixed on it. Her chopsticks picked up a steaming meatball that had just come out of the pot.

Scalded, she took a huge gulp of her cold drink, panting heavily, yet Xia Wan’s eyes remained on the phone screen; the person on the other end hadn’t replied.

Sensing Lan Ranxing’s gaze, Xia Wan gave a sheepish smile and flipped her phone face down on the table.

Lan Ranxing raised an eyebrow. Something was fishy—definitely fishy.

They had known each other since childhood. With any random movement from Xia Wan, Lan Ranxing knew exactly what she meant. Xia Wan had a guilty conscience.

“Xing-bao~”

The fawning voice only confirmed Lan Ranxing’s suspicion.

“No.”

Lan Ranxing refused without a second thought. She was still angry and sad. Her parents were starting a smurf account; was Xia Wan going to start one too? No, Xia Wan already had.

Clearly, they were the closest people. It was all her fault for not doing well on the college entrance exam and picking the wrong university, ending up in a different city from Xia Wan, which led Xia Wan to meet Lan Yuyue—that bad woman who stripped away her childhood friend’s attention.

Xia Wan calculated the time: “Just two hours. In two hours, I’ll definitely come back to accompany you.”

“No.” Lan Ranxing grabbed a large handful of duck intestines and blanched them in the pot.

“They’re getting old, they’re getting old!” Xia Wan couldn’t help but remind her. Lan Ranxing loved hot pot but could never grasp the timing; the food was either raw or overcooked.

Lan Ranxing still didn’t fish them out, sneering: “That’s right, they’re old, so nobody wants them. Only the tender, fresh ones are likeable.”

The last few words were squeezed out from between her teeth, clearly telling Xia Wan that she was unhappy.

Xia Wan moved to Lan Ranxing’s side, forcibly rescuing the curled-up duck intestines from Lan Ranxing’s chopsticks into her own bowl. She knew Lan Ranxing would absolutely not eat overcooked, rubbery duck intestines.

She patted Lan Ranxing’s back soothingly: “Don’t be angry. My house even has a room specially reserved for you. Yuyue is just coming over to play for a few days…”

Lan Ranxing, whose gaze was still on those red-oiled duck intestines, snapped her head around instantly, glaring fiercely at Xia Wan’s moving mouth, her eyes looking as if they were about to spit fire.

“Play for a few days! She dares to come here!” Lan Ranxing’s volume suddenly spiked, drawing curious gazes from the surrounding tables.

Xia Wan tried hard to press Lan Ranxing down to keep her from standing up.

Xia Wan wished she could slap her own mouth twice. How did she let that slip? She had planned to pick up Lan Yuyue first and act later, assuming Lan Ranxing would eventually accept it. But the person wasn’t even seen yet, and the secret was out.

The gunpowder between these two through the screen was already comparable to a Little Boy bomb. If these two met while both were in a bad mood, wouldn’t they level the place to the ground?

After much coaxing, Xia Wan drove her beloved car to the airport.

The crowd at the arrivals level was sparse. Lan Yuyue stood conspicuously at the exit, looking at the gates with lifeless eyes. She had no suitcase, only a simple small bag—even less than what they usually carried to class.

When Xia Wan jogged to her side, she didn’t react at all.

After being called a few times, Lan Yuyue forced out her trademark smile: “You’re here.”

“Stop smiling, it looks worse than crying. Let’s go, get in the car first.” Xia Wan took Lan Yuyue’s arm as usual, subconsciously checking the time. It was enough—enough for her to settle Lan Yuyue first before heading back to the hot pot restaurant to find Lan Ranxing.

Silence filled the ride. Xia Wan waited for Lan Yuyue to speak first. Lan Yuyue and Lan Ranxing were like opposite ends of the Earth.

With one, you ask two questions and she pours everything out like beans from a jar. With the other, as long as she doesn’t want to talk, asking is useless.

Just as they sat in the car, Lan Yuyue said out of the blue: “It’s so nice to have your own car.”

Xia Wan sighed inwardly. She clearly hadn’t checked the almanac today. How did she happen to run into two emo ghosts?

“I’m leeching off my family. Your own small treasure chest could buy one of these, okay?”

Xia Wan was only slightly better than the unhelpable Lan Ranxing. Compared to Lan Yuyue, she was also a piece of rotten mud.

She had followed Lan Yuyue to do part-time jobs before. She really couldn’t handle those health-draining all-nighters, nor could she handle sucking up to those people.

“But honestly, I think it’s more reliable for you to save money for a house. This car depreciates too fast, and you can’t live in it.”

Xia Wan immediately shut up, realizing she’d said the wrong thing. She wished she could slap herself twice more. Her big mouth today was rivaling Lan Ranxing’s. Why was she stabbing people in the heart everywhere?

Lan Yuyue looked out the window, remaining silent.

A house. A house of her own.

Lan Yuyue sneered. She didn’t even have a room of her own, let alone a house.

The rows of lights on the highway flashed past her eyes. Lan Yuyue suddenly opened the car window. Sweltering air poured in, and the oppressive atmosphere spread even further.

“Is there any medicine that can make an old man die silently and without a trace?”

Silence. There was no silence to be had tonight!

Xia Wan floored the gas and almost missed the highway exit. Today was truly an ill-fated day, one wanting to kill the mother and the other wanting to kill the father—a perfect match.

Xia Wan forced herself to take deep breaths. With a bestie on the verge of madness sitting next to her, she had to remain calm: “No. You can find another way to go to prison.”

“No chance. The old man has a criminal record.” The car window slowly closed. Lan Yuyue turned the air conditioning to the maximum, letting the vent blow directly at her forehead.

Lan Yuyue hated the old man. She hated him for blocking the easiest path she could have taken. Listening to her classmates talk about taking the civil service exam and getting ashore after graduation—those were dreams forever out of her reach.

A moment later, her eyes cleared. She leaned half-limply against the seat, looking with interest at the cream-glue handmade craft holding the phone number card. The car glass reflected its true form.

A Zoraa Ballet cat and a puppy.

Xia Wan had a puppy, so that ballet cat must be who Lan Ranxing considered herself to be.

Lan Yuyue let out a light laugh. She felt that “Cute Little Ghost” suited Lan Ranxing better—haunting and never leaving.

“Your little childhood friend made that for you?”

“Yeah. Cute, right?”

“Very cute. But cuteness can’t be eaten as food. I’m hungry, I want to eat.”

Xia Wan’s hand on the steering wheel shook. She stammered: “How about I order takeout for you?”

Lan Yuyue had enough of the air conditioning and was now sober. She moved the vent to the other side, leaned slightly against the car door, and tapped her nails against her phone, raising an eyebrow: “It seems you’re eating with your little childhood friend~”

Seeing Lan Yuyue slightly regain her usual tone, Xia Wan’s heart, which had just relaxed, was yanked up again.

Lan Yuyue talked to herself: “It’s a coincidence. I’ve known you for three years and haven’t met her yet. It’s a good time to meet.”

Lan Yuyue had heard about Lan Ranxing from the first day she met Xia Wan—a person grown in a vinegar jar, overbearing, unreasonable, and a little childhood friend who questioned her taste.

Heh. People could question her character, but her taste absolutely could not be questioned.

By the time the car stopped in front of the hot pot restaurant, Xia Wan was full of regret.

Although these two hadn’t met in person, they had exchanged a few sharp words through the screen. Meeting like this… Xia Wan comforted herself: in a public place, even if Lan Ranxing had no sense of decorum, Lan Yuyue still had some.

Lan Yuyue intimately took Xia Wan’s arm. It was too late for Xia Wan to pull away.

At past 10 PM, the restaurant was mostly empty. The table they occupied gave a straight view of the front door, and Lan Ranxing was sitting facing exactly that way.

The steaming mist from the pot blocked their vision, yet both knew exactly who the other was.

Lan Ranxing’s hand holding the chopsticks tightened. The meatballs were being boiled to the core, while her gaze fixed on the person behind the steam.

A long white dress came into view, with a brown braided chain wrapped around the waist, outlining her waistline. Right next to it was her hand, currently clutching Xia Wan’s arm.

Moving her gaze upward, Xia Wan’s thin sun-protection jacket didn’t cover Lan Yuyue’s distinct collarbones. Lan Ranxing subconsciously touched her own collarbones.

Mmm. She had them too, no worse than Lan Yuyue’s.

Looking further up, above the slender, fair neck was an exquisite small face. The corners of the mouth were slightly upturned, and the eyes were curved—it was a provocation, a total provocation.

Lan Ranxing’s scrutinizing gaze instantly transformed into a provocative one.

While Lan Ranxing was sizing up Lan Yuyue, Lan Yuyue was also sizing her up.

Seeing Lan Ranxing sitting upright in her seat with a defensive look, Lan Yuyue’s first impression was that her self-perception was correct. She looked exactly like a Ballet cat hissing at people.

Lan Ranxing’s hair was draped casually on both sides, with stray hairs falling by her temples. The fuzziness seemed to invite Lan Yuyue to pet her.

Lan Ranxing’s entire body was tense, the veins on her hands distinct from the force she used. Her pursed lips and tightly knit brows told the intruder clearly: You are not welcome here.

Meeting the scrutinizing gaze, Lan Yuyue suddenly covered her chest, her delicate brows knitting slightly. She leaned onto Xia Wan as if losing strength, her sun-protection jacket slipping down to reveal a tender shoulder, a thin strap holding the dress up: “Xia Wan, my heart hurts.”

Lan Ranxing’s eyes widened in disbelief. This Lan Yuyue actually dared to provoke her so blatantly to her face—this was pure seduction! Seducing her childhood friend!

“If your heart hurts, go see a doctor. Xia Wan can’t cure diseases.”