Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 26.1

Chapter 26.1: “Hurry and Put Your Clothes On, Don’t Take Them Off.”

 

“Knock, knock.”

 

Following two knocks on the door, a cold voice came from inside the study: “Enter.”

 

Lin Yishu pushed open the wooden door of the study, a faint smile on her face: “Sister, still busy?”

 

Lin Han, sitting at the desk and examining a document in her hand, looked up at her coolly and hummed in acknowledgment.

 

Lin Yishu walked closer, coming to the front of the desk, “Very busy?”

 

“Not bad.” Lin Han was a woman of few words, often speaking in monosyllables or short phrases.

 

Lin Han’s personality was just like this: cold and detached, not intentionally aloof.

 

Just as Lin Yishu was about to speak, her gaze swept across the corner of the desk and landed on a document.

 

Her eyes fixed on the document, and she stopped what she was about to say.

 

Lin Han also noticed her gaze but had no intention of hiding it. She stated frankly: “I asked someone to look into Jiang Yi’s personal information a while ago.”

 

No bad habits, doesn’t smoke or drink, a very ordinary but harmless person.

 

Lin Yishu looked at the personal information file on the desk, hesitated for a few seconds, and asked carefully: “Not stopping it means you don’t object to Anran having this friend, right?”

 

Lin Han picked up her fountain pen and signed her name at the end of the document. Her strokes were sharp, just like her—cold and without much emotion.

 

“It’s a good thing for Anran to have friends,” Lin Han said casually.

 

“What if it’s not just friends?” Lin Yishu probed.

 

Her little sister’s intentions were too obvious. As the second sister, she felt it was appropriate to give Lin Han a heads-up to prevent things from escalating too dramatically later on.

 

Lin Han finished signing, closed the document, put it aside, and picked up a new document requiring approval to read: “Just say what you mean.”

 

Lin Yishu touched her nose and cleared her throat: “How should I put this… it’s just that…”

 

Lin Han put down the document and looked up at her: “You want to say that Anran likes her, perhaps wants to date her, is that right?”

 

Lin Yishu looked surprised. Lin Han was a total work machine; apart from work, she had nothing else, seeming like a typically old-fashioned and conservative person.

 

She hadn’t expected her to know about this, and she didn’t seem resistant?

 

“As long as Anran is happy. Whether it’s making friends or dating, just let Anran keep a pet she likes,” Lin Han said dismissively, twirling the fountain pen in her hand.

 

But Lin Yishu frowned when she heard this.

 

Pet? That word, used to describe a person, was not friendly; it carried the mockery of someone in a superior position.

 

“Did you come to me for something specific?” Lin Han’s cool voice interrupted Lin Yishu’s thoughts.

 

“My dance competition results are out. I got second place…”

 

Before she could finish, Lin Han directly interrupted: “Is second place a result worth mentioning? It’s not first.”

 

Lin Yishu’s enthusiasm for sharing her results instantly cooled.

 

“That’s enough. You can leave. I’m busy and don’t have time to listen to your failing results.”

 

Was anything less than first place a failure?

 

Lin Yishu lowered her eyes, concealing her disappointment.

 

“Sister, I tried my best…”

 

“You may leave.”

 

Right. Her sister had always been like this. To gain her approval, she had to be first, always. Even occasionally getting second place would be ruthlessly and completely rejected.

 

It had been this way since childhood.

 

“Where are we going?” Jiang Yi walked forward, and Lin Anran followed closely, skipping and lively.

 

“Home, my scooter is parked up ahead, you…” you should go back to your own home.

 

Before she could finish her sentence, the person who had been following beside her suddenly turned into a rocket, shooting forward with a whoosh, finally stopping beside the electric scooter.

 

Seeing her standing obediently next to the scooter, Jiang Yi understood perfectly: she meant, I’m not going back to my house; I’m going to yours.

 

Jiang Yi knowingly asked: “You’re coming to my house?”

 

Lin Anran pushed her half-rimmed glasses up with her middle finger: “I was planning to go home, but since you insisted on inviting me to your place, I’ll humor you.”

 

Jiang Yi chuckled: “Yes, yes, yes, I invited you, I absolutely insisted on inviting you, is that better?”

 

Lin Anran squinted at her: “Stop saying useless nonsense, hurry up and unlock this broken vehicle.”

 

Jiang Yi found the key from her canvas bag, crouched down to unlock the scooter, and handed her the helmet.

 

“Where is my pink helmet? I haven’t worn it once,” Lin Anran looked at the dull black helmet and questioned: “Did you return my helmet, by any chance?”

 

She instantly became agitated, clearly about to throw a tantrum.

 

Jiang Yi quickly cut her off: “How long ago was that? The seven-day no-reason return period passed long ago, it can’t be returned. You don’t ride my scooter often, so the helmet is just sitting at home; I didn’t bring it.”

 

Lin Anran was slightly satisfied only after hearing the words “can’t be returned,” and she snatched the helmet Jiang Yi offered.

 

“You didn’t not want to return it; you just couldn’t. You poor ghost, unwilling to spend even 99 yuan,” Lin Anran scoffed.

 

The helmet pressed against the arm of her glasses, and Lin Anran slightly frowned, uncomfortably adjusting the helmet’s position.

 

Jiang Yi saw all her movements and said with a smile: “Why are you wearing glasses with no lenses? For aesthetics?”

 

Lin Anran stopped adjusting the helmet, glanced at her, said nothing, and continued adjusting. But the glasses kept pressing against her ear, which was very uncomfortable.

 

“It’s really uncomfortable wearing glasses and a helmet, don’t you think?” Lin Anran asked.

 

“Because I’m used to wearing them,” Jiang Yi reached out and took the glasses off her directly: “If it’s uncomfortable, don’t wear them. I’m near-sighted, so I have no choice, but you aren’t.”

 

“Also, why are you dressed like this? This suit and glasses don’t suit you at all, okay? It looks so strange and unnatural to me.”

 

Lin Anran snatched the glasses back, glaring at her: “A tasteless bumpkin!”

 

Jiang Yi wasn’t annoyed; instead, she laughed.

 

Lin Anran pouted, her eyes full of indignation. After getting on the scooter, whether intentionally or accidentally, she pinched Jiang Yi’s waist.

 

“Ah, stop pinching, that hurts.” Jiang Yi looked back to warn the person behind her.

 

“Does it hurt? I don’t think so.” Lin Anran withdrew her hand, instead gripping a corner of Jiang Yi’s clothing.

 

The electric scooter sped along the road, the wind whistling past their ears.

 

“Are you cold?”

 

“What did you say just now?” The wind was too strong, and Jiang Yi didn’t hear her clearly.

 

Lin Anran leaned closer, resting her chin on Jiang Yi’s shoulder, helmet touching helmet: “I asked if you are cold.”

 

Jiang Yi: “Of course I’m cold. I gave you my jacket.”

 

Lin Anran: “Just because you said that, doesn’t mean I’m going to give it back.”

 

“If you’re not giving the jacket back, why did you ask if I was cold?”

 

“Because I want to.”

 

Lin Anran wanted to say, if I hold you from behind, you won’t be cold, but the words turned into…

 

“Serves you right, I hope you freeze to death.”

 

Jiang Yi, facing the cold wind ahead, shivered and threatened: “Do you believe I’ll snatch my jacket back?”

 

Lin Anran wrapped herself tighter in the jacket, silently increasing the distance between herself and Jiang Yi, afraid she might actually stop the scooter and try to take it.

 

After being exposed to the cold wind for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived. Jiang Yi parked the scooter, rubbed her cold, stiff hands until she regained some feeling, and then looked towards the entrance of the apartment building.

 

Lin Anran, wrapped in Jiang Yi’s plaid-patterned jacket, stood at the entrance of the dilapidated apartment building. Her hair was messy from wearing the helmet, and she was obediently waiting for Jiang Yi to park and come over.

 

Jiang Yi watched this scene. The external temperature was very cold, but her heart felt strangely warm.

 

“The scooter’s parked. Let’s go up.” Jiang Yi quickly walked up to her.

 

“So slow.” Lin Anran instinctively complained.

 

Jiang Yi walked in front, and Lin Anran followed behind.

 

“Why hasn’t the light on the second floor been fixed? Does this community not have property management? Is no one responsible for fixing it? What if someone falls in the pitch dark?” Lin Anran grumbled discontentedly:

 

“The handrail on this staircase is covered in a layer of dust. Why hasn’t anyone wiped it? Is the property management just for show?”

 

“What is that smell? It stinks! Why does the family on the third floor leave their shoes outside the door? It reeks! How can they have such poor etiquette?”

 

Lin Anran lifted her leg, ready to kick the door on the third floor.

 

Jiang Yi quickly grabbed the little troublemaker: “Stop, stop, calm down.”

 

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Jiang Yi looked down to find her key. Lin Anran, meanwhile, was stomping her feet because if she didn’t make a sound by stomping, the motion-sensor light wouldn’t turn on.

 

After stomping twice, Lin Anran became impatient: “What kind of broken thing is this? How can this be called a motion-sensor light? I made such a loud noise, why won’t it light up?”

 

Whoosh, it lit up.

 

Because Lin Anran’s shout was loud enough…

 

Jiang Yi was opening the door, and Lin Anran stood next to her: “Why is there an advertisement pasted on the door again? Didn’t you just clean it off last time? Why do these people stick ads on people’s doors? That’s despicable!”

 

Blabbering… blabbering…

 

Lin Anran’s mouth didn’t stop during the entire climb up the stairs. Jiang Yi felt a little tired just listening to her.

 

It had been a while since she heard her nag like this. It was noisy and hurt her ears, but she also felt kind of nostalgic…

 

Annoyed that Jiang Yi was too slow in opening the door, she habitually went to kick it.

 

Jiang Yi quickly pulled her away.

 

“See that?” Jiang Yi pointed to a dent at the bottom of the door: “The door is already damaged from your kicking.”

 

Lin Anran glanced at it, unconcerned: “Your door is poor quality.”

 

Jiang Yi: “The landlord came to collect rent a while ago, saw this dent, and asked me to pay for the damage or the repair. As the culprit, you have to pay for this.”

 

Lin Anran looked displeased: “Fine, I’ll pay, I’ll pay. You really are a pauper, asking me for even this small amount of money. Beggar.”

 

“Not only will I ask for it, but if you don’t change this bad habit, you’ll have to pay me double if you kick it again and damage it.”

 

“I’ll pay, I have money!”

 

With that, she kicked the door a few more times in defiance, making the dent even deeper.

 

Jiang Yi looked at her helplessly. Forget it, hoping she would change her habit of kicking doors was as likely as hoping the sun would rise in the west.

 

Entering the house, Jiang Yi immediately grabbed a jacket from the hanger and put it on. She had been chilled throughout the journey.

 

“Keep yourself entertained for a bit. I’m going to make ginger tea.” Jiang Yi instructed her, then headed into the kitchen.

 

Lin Anran had been exposed to the cold wind outside the convenience store for so long; she must have caught a chill. She absolutely had to make her a cup of ginger tea to expel the cold and prevent her from catching a cold.

 

Jiang Yi was busy in the kitchen, while Lin Anran was inspecting the living room. Every time she came, she had to check the place, although Jiang Yi didn’t know what exactly she was looking for.

 

Halfway through her inspection, Lin Anran came to the kitchen doorway: “What are you doing? Why did you leave me out here alone? That’s so rude. Don’t you know you should entertain me, your guest?”

 

“I haven’t seen you being very courteous, my guest,” Jiang Yi replied while slicing ginger: “You continue to entertain yourself. Don’t come bothering me.”

 

Lin Anran scoffed, but surprisingly didn’t cause any more trouble, though she also didn’t leave.

 

In the tiny kitchen, Lin Anran followed her like a little shadow, not helping, but mainly just getting in the way.

 

Jiang Yi: “Can you go out and entertain yourself? Why are you trying to squeeze into this tiny kitchen?”

 

Lin Anran pretended not to hear, staying put, and occasionally poking at the ginger slices Jiang Yi had prepared on the cutting board.

 

Jiang Yi sighed. She regretted making up with her so soon. She truly was a high-maintenance guest.

 

“Why is your ginger tea so dark, like Chinese medicine? Did you poison it?”

 

“You’ve been watching the whole time. How would I have a chance to poison it?”

 

“I won’t drink it,” Lin Anran shook her head vehemently: “It looks disgusting.”

 

Jiang Yi placed the ginger tea on the table: “Drink it within five minutes.”

 

Lin Anran: “I said I won’t drink it, and I won’t.”