Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: “What Can You Possibly Like.”

 

Lin Anran nodded indifferently: “Don’t be too happy, I’m only staying for a short time.”

 

Too happy? Who was happy?

 

Jiang Zhi’s professional smile was about to freeze on her face.

 

“You’re unwilling?” Lin Anran’s arrogant eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“N-no… no,” Jiang Zhi’s eye twitched twice: “No, I’m not unwilling, it’s just that the conditions here are too modest. The room is too small, you can’t even stretch your legs, it’s a huge difference from the villas you usually stay in.”

 

“That’s enough,” Lin Anran extended her hands, admiring her newly done bright-colored manicure distractedly: “Why so much talk? It’s giving me a headache. Although this place isn’t great, pathetically small, I can manage to rough it.”

 

Jiang Zhi took a deep breath, speechless.

 

What exactly did this young lady want? Wasn’t it enough to boss her around at the company? Did she have to come to her home to do it too?

 

Although the Lin family had stopped Lin Anran’s allowance, making her go to work, experience life, temper her character, and change her awful personality, they had only stopped her card.

 

Apart from money, the Lin family had arranged her food, clothing, and shelter properly. Why would she leave her perfectly good villa and come here? Was she planning to truly experience a life of hardship?

 

It was baffling.

 

Before Jiang Zhi could figure out why, she saw Lin Anran’s nose twitch: “What is that smell?”

 

A faint, subtle smell of burning drifted in the air.

 

“My noodles!” Jiang Zhi cried out, remembering the noodles still on the stove, and immediately ran back to the kitchen.

 

Fumbling, she turned off the heat. When she looked, the bottom of the pot was burned and smoking black.

 

Burned like this, the noodles were inedible, and the pot was also ruined. Buying a new pot would be another expense. Jiang Zhi felt a pang of frustration and distress.

 

She turned to look at the person sitting still on the living room sofa, her eyes inevitably becoming a little resentful.

 

Why did this sheltered young lady come here, and insist on staying? Her thought process was incomprehensible.

 

Lin Anran leisurely got up and walked over, peering into the kitchen: “You poor people cook for yourselves often. By all accounts, you should be proficient, so how did you manage to mess up like this?”

 

That infuriating mouth of hers… Jiang Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Jiang Zhi, uncharacteristically, didn’t bother to be nice and didn’t immediately respond to her. Instead, she placed the pot in the sink and turned on the tap. With a “sizzle,” cold water hit the pot, and hot steam billowed up.

 

The smell of burning intensified and spread.

 

Lin Anran covered her nose and stepped back.

 

Jiang Zhi seemed to deliberately annoy her, stirring and scraping with a spatula. Before long, the whole house was filled with the smell of char.

 

Lin Anran kept retreating, covering her nose, while Jiang Zhi secretly chuckled, wondering how long she could endure. She figured the young lady would leave the next second.

 

But unfortunately, her hopes were dashed.

 

Lin Anran had no intention of leaving. Her tone was still bossy: “Don’t wash it, it smells. If the pot is ruined, just replace it. Anyway, that pot of yours is ugly, I don’t like it. Might as well change it.”

 

Jiang Zhi muttered under her breath: “What can you possibly like.”

 

Lin Anran folded her arms across her chest: “What are you mumbling about?”

 

“Nothing.” Jiang Zhi shrugged, forcing a smile.

 

“Your smile is ugly, stop smiling,” she ordered, frowning.

 

Great, now she wasn’t just nitpicking objects; she was starting to pick on her smile.

 

Jiang Zhi silently shook her head and cleaned up the kitchen mess. When she finished and came out, she found the person in the living room walking back and forth, surveying the room.

 

Seeing Jiang Zhi approach, Lin Anran pointed at the sofa and said, “I don’t like the color of this sofa, change it.”

 

Before Jiang Zhi could speak, the third Miss Lin pointed at the coffee table: “The coffee table is ugly, change it. And I don’t like those curtains either. Why do you still have a huge CRT TV these days? Change it to a projector. And, and…”

 

After a round of instructions, virtually all the furniture in the living room had to be replaced. She practically wanted Jiang Zhi to re-tile the floor.

 

In short, there was nothing in this place that satisfied her; everything had to be changed.

 

Jiang Zhi: “Are you done, Miss Lin?”

 

Lin Anran looked around and nodded, humming: “Just change these for now. I’ll let you know when I think of something else.”

 

Jiang Zhi looked at her sincerely: “I can’t change it. Forget about changing everything, I can’t even change one or two things.”

 

Lin Anran’s proud eyes instantly turned cold.

 

Before she could explode, Jiang Zhi explained with a smile: “I don’t have money. I’m poor.”

 

Changing furniture requires money, and where would she get the money? Forget about changing furniture, she felt heartache even ordering takeout or replacing the pot.

 

“What a big deal,” Lin Anran lifted her chin and scoffed with disdain, taking out her phone: “I’ll transfer you the money…”

 

She stopped mid-sentence.

 

She had forgotten that she was also broke now. The third Miss Lin, who usually had so much money she didn’t treat it like money, was now also a “pauper.”

 

Lin Anran cleared her throat unnaturally: “Never mind. Just leave it. If we don’t change it, we don’t change it. I can make do.”

 

Jiang Zhi pursed her lips, lowering her head to stifle a laugh.

 

“Are you mocking me?” Lin Anran’s eyes widened, instantly exploding: “I just don’t have money right now, only for a short time!”

 

Jiang Zhi humored her: “Yes, yes, yes.”

 

Lin Anran sneered: “Can’t even afford to change furniture, you’re such a pauper.”

 

Jiang Zhi continued to indulge her: “Yes, yes, yes, I am a pauper.”

 

Lin Anran rolled her eyes at her, walked to the window, opened the curtains, and looked downstairs.

 

The rented apartment was in an old, run-down neighborhood in the west of the city. The environment downstairs was bustling, or rather, to be delicate, chaotic.

 

Above, power lines and internet cables crisscrossed into a net. Below, food stalls similarly crisscrossed into a net: egg-fried rice, grilled skewers, jianbing guozi (savory crepes), everything imaginable.

 

It was genuinely full of life, but it was also genuinely noisy. However, the advantage was that the rent was cheap enough.

 

Lin Anran: “Is this a commercial street or a residential area? How are they mixed together?”

 

Jiang Zhi: “This is just how the area is.”

 

“How can I sleep with all this noise? I definitely won’t be able to sleep.”

 

“Then I’ll send you home!”

 

Jiang Zhi enthusiastically offered to see her off.

 

Half an hour later, the person hadn’t been sent back. The person who said “I definitely won’t be able to sleep with all this noise” was now lying on the bed, sound asleep.

 

Half the blanket was kicked onto the floor, her feet with red-polished toenails were exposed outside the bed, sprawled out, sleeping as soundly as could be.

 

Jiang Zhi looked at the scene, amused and annoyed.

 

She actually stayed…

 

She was resigned…

 

After a moment of hesitation, she quietly walked into the room and helped cover her with the blanket she had kicked off.

 

In the moonlight, she could vaguely see her sleeping face, finding it strangely new.

 

When she was awake, she was noisy, and nothing good ever came out of her mouth. After all, constantly calling someone a pauper or a beggar makes no one comfortable.

 

But now that she was asleep, quiet, and not talking, she seemed quite obedient?

 

Perhaps it was because she was born with a beautiful face, a princess raised in a greenhouse; her skin was several degrees fairer and more delicate than the average person’s, refined like a doll. When she was quiet, she was very pleasing to the eye.

 

Like a sleeping princess in a castle.

 

Right, such a person should be in a castle, being an unattainable princess. Why would she appear here, in a small, simple, old rental apartment?

 

Jiang Zhi chuckled softly, shook her head, and turned to leave.

 

Clang

 

She accidentally kicked a stool, producing the grating sound of the stool hitting the tile floor.

 

Jiang Zhi quickly steadied the stool and looked back at the person on the bed.

 

“She’s sleeping quite deeply,” Jiang Zhi muttered.

 

Before sleeping, she kept complaining: the bed was too hard, the blanket wasn’t silk, the pillow wasn’t soft, she even found the light fixture on the ceiling ugly. This she didn’t like, that she didn’t like. But she refused to go home.

 

Jiang Zhi initially thought she would likely have trouble sleeping, as the environment was indeed too simple for her.

 

But what was surprising was… she fell asleep instantly.

 

Not only did she fall asleep instantly, but she slept more soundly than anyone else. Unbelievable.

 

With only one room, and Lin Anran occupying the bed, Jiang Zhi naturally had to make do with the living room sofa.

 

Lying on the sofa, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

 

She didn’t want to serve this highness 24/7. Serving her at work was enough; how could she continue serving her after hours? She had to talk to the company about this tomorrow, no matter what.

 

A “grumble” sound came from her stomach, interrupting her thoughts.

 

Jiang Zhi rubbed her belly. After being bothered by Lin Anran’s sudden visit, her pot had burned, and she hadn’t managed to eat dinner. Her stomach was still empty.

 

No way, she had to find something to eat, or she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

 

Jiang Zhi got up and went to the kitchen to forage for food.

 

To save money, she often cooked, so there were many ingredients in the refrigerator. But the pot was ruined, and she didn’t want to make a fuss late at night, so she simply made a packet of instant noodles.

 

After waiting for a minute, she lifted the instant noodle lid, and hot steam and aroma wafted up.

 

The rich smell of instant noodles rushed into her nose, and Jiang Zhi couldn’t help but swallow.

 

Instant noodles were something you’d get sick of after two meals, but missed desperately after not eating them for a while. She hadn’t eaten them for a long time, mainly because they weren’t very healthy. Maybe it was her age catching up, but she had started a half-hearted attempt at healthy living.

 

She picked up a mouthful with her chopsticks, blew on it, and brought it to her mouth.

 

Bang

 

The bedroom door was suddenly kicked open.

 

Jiang Zhi’s hand, holding the noodles, trembled.

 

Lin Anran appeared at the doorway, rubbing her sleepy eyes: “What is that smell? It’s so strong.”

 

A mouthful of noodles was suspended in mid-air. She couldn’t decide whether to eat it or not, and finally put it back.

 

“I didn’t eat dinner. I was hungry, so I’m making instant noodles,” Jiang Zhi explained.

 

“I finally managed to fall asleep. Do you know how hard it is to sleep in such a noisy environment? And then you make something with such a strong smell, filling the whole house with it. You woke me up…”

 

Blah blah blah, a torrent of complaints.

 

Jiang Zhi was silent for a moment. She made it sound like sleeping was a difficult feat for her when she had clearly fallen asleep instantly.

 

Lin Anran was still chattering away, but her eyes were fixed on the bowl of noodles in Jiang Zhi’s hands.

 

Staring straight, without blinking.

 

Jiang Zhi tentatively asked: “Do you want some?”

 

Lin Anran immediately quieted down, but soon scolded: “Who cares for this kind of thing? I won’t eat this kind of junk food! Only poor people like you eat this. I’ll get diarrhea if I eat it.”

 

Half a minute later, Lin Anran was sitting at the small wooden table, slurping the instant noodles loudly.

 

She nodded as she ate, her eyes lighting up.

 

Perhaps she had never eaten this “junk food” before and found it novel?

 

Watching her wolf down the noodles, Jiang Zhi felt both helpless and amused.

 

Lin Anran saw her staring, guarded the bowl, and looked wary.

 

Jiang Zhi twitched her mouth. As if anyone would try to steal from her…

 

After finishing, she put down her chopsticks, lifted her chin, and pouted haughtily: “It’s junk food, alright. The taste is very average. Don’t bring this garbage to the table again in the future. I don’t like it.”

 

Jiang Zhi looked at the bowl on the table, which had been licked clean, even the soup was gone. She raised an eyebrow. Quite the “I don’t like it.”

 

“Are you full?” Jiang Zhi asked.

 

Lin Anran remained proudly silent.

 

Jiang Zhi: “Understood. I’ll make you another packet.”

 

Lin Anran: “Since you insist so much, I’ll reluctantly give you some face.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “…”

 

The attendant Jiang obediently got up to make her more instant noodles.