Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: “She is Mine.”

Possessiveness

Could Lin Anran possibly be…

Impossible, no, absolutely not. As the thought arose, Jiang Yi immediately performed a triple self-denial.

She had nothing—her looks were only modestly attractive, her abilities were limited to being hardworking and enduring hardship, she lacked any family background, and she was greedy and cheap, unwilling to even buy her the $5,888 takeout just now.

What could Lin Anran possibly see in her? Someone from her background and social class had seen every kind of excellent person. How could she bypass all those top-tier people to like her? She wasn’t blind.

To be self-deprecating, for her to even consider her a casual friend was already a massive overreach for Jiang Yi.

After this analysis, the fleeting thought was immediately suppressed by Jiang Yi.

But after a short while, it resurfaced: if not, why would she say such a misleading thing in her sleep?

Also, if they were just ordinary friends, would she really get angry and cut off contact for a month over such a small misunderstanding? Isn’t it normal for a friend to have other friends?

Jiang Yi observed Lin Anran with uncertainty.

Lin Anran’s shy expression had long faded. She glared: “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Yi was so engrossed in her thoughts and observations that Lin Anran’s shout startled her.

She felt like she was overthinking things…

After much contemplation, she decided to try a small test, mainly for her own peace of mind.

Jiang Yi cleared her throat: “Ahem, did you have a dream last night or something?”

Lin Anran’s expression froze, but she quickly masked it: “What nonsense are you talking about? I didn’t dream.”

“Why didn’t you dream? I went into your room last night and heard you talking in your sleep. You said…”

“What?” Before Jiang Yi could finish, Lin Anran immediately became agitated: “You actually ran into my room in the middle of the night? What were you trying to do? Are you a voyeur?!”

Jiang Yi: “…”

As Lin Anran spoke, she even backed away: “Don’t harbor any improper thoughts about me. It’s impossible for me to like you. Don’t cling to such unrealistic fantasies.”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Okay, I really was overthinking it. Thinking too much.

Given Lin Anran’s reaction, how could she possibly like her? This young miss probably couldn’t even distinguish what “liking” meant.

The reason she would say things like, “You can only have me as a friend, and you can’t like anyone else,” was entirely due to her domineering personality.

Third Miss Lin had a possessive streak toward everything, including friends, because she was spoiled growing up and always got what she wanted, without exception.

As for the sleep-talking, perhaps she genuinely dreamed that Jiang Yi was taking liberties with her?

While it was strange for her to have such a dream, dreams are inherently whimsical and not something that can be considered reliable evidence.

In summary, after this round of probing, Jiang Yi was basically certain that Lin Anran likely had no romantic feelings for her. Her approach to friendship was just overly aggressive and controlling.

For a moment, her mood was subtle.

She couldn’t call it relief, nor could she call it disappointment. She truly couldn’t describe exactly what she was feeling.

Jiang Yi shook her head, trying to clear the messy thoughts.

Lin Anran usually clapped her hands and left after eating, completely oblivious to cleaning up the dishes, but today, she actually…

“What are you doing?” Jiang Yi asked, puzzled, watching her tidy up the takeout boxes on the table.

“What do you mean, ‘What are you doing’? Can’t you see? I’m cleaning up. Your illness isn’t completely gone yet. I have to take care of the patient. You should be grateful to have such a thoughtful and gentle friend like me.”

Thoughtful and gentle? How did she relate to those two words?

Jiang Yi: “Please stop. What kind of cleaning can you do? It’ll be harder for me to clean up after you. Go entertain yourself.”

Lin Anran, holding the takeout packaging she had just gathered, slammed it angrily onto the table because of that sentence: “Why can’t I clean up?”

Jiang Yi looked at the knocked-over takeout box, the soup spilled onto the table and dripping onto the floor.

She sighed. Originally, she only needed to clean the table. Now, thanks to Third Miss Lin’s attempt to clean up, she had to mop the floor too. The workload had doubled.

Before going to sleep that night, Lin Anran stood at the bedroom door, staring at Jiang Yi, who was mopping the living room floor.

Jiang Yi looked at her in confusion. What kind of trick was she pulling now?

“I’m going to sleep. I’ll lock the door from the inside. Because of your previous offenses, I must warn you: do not try to pick the lock and sneak in to look. Get rid of your voyeuristic tendencies.”

After speaking, she slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

Jiang Yi twitched her lips, both annoyed and amused.

Creak. The door opened again, and Lin Anran said something bizarrely: “Do you have anything else to say?”

Jiang Yi: “I actually do. Can you close the door gently? If you break it, you’ll have to pay the landlord…”

Before she could finish, there was another “bang” as the door was shut very forcefully. She could vaguely hear the person inside cursing her as a poor ghost and a beggar.

Jiang Yi’s cold came and went quickly. By the next day, she was basically vibrant and back to work.

However, the nature of her job at the magazine office became a bit strange.

Because Lin Anran had taken up a manager position, she transferred Jiang Yi to be her assistant. This resulted in Jiang Yi’s job transforming into a full-time position accompanying Lin Anran for fun.

Jiang Yi couldn’t complain, after all, the magazine office was a small property of the Lin family. If Lin Anran, the manager, wanted her assistant to accompany her for fun, Jiang Yi truly had no choice but to obey and play along.

But, Jiang Yi felt that accompanying her was more exhausting than actual work.

It was too tiring!

Lin Anran truly loved shopping and getting manicures. She could shop for an entire day without needing a rest.

Jiang Yi admired her stamina. Lin Anran wore high heels, yet her feet didn’t hurt, and she bounced around happily. Jiang Yi wore flats, and her feet felt like they no longer belonged to her.

Of course, this might also be due to the heavy bags Jiang Yi was carrying.

Jiang Yi’s left and right hands were laden with shopping bags, filled with all sorts of things Lin Anran had bought.

“Why are you walking so slowly? Hurry up and catch up. You’re a very unqualified assistant, and I don’t like it.”

Jiang Yi stopped and simply gave up: “I can’t carry any more. I’m done shopping. I’m going back to the company.”

Lin Anran: “This is barely anything! I still have half of what I want to buy left. No, I’m going to keep shopping.”

Jiang Yi: “I’m going back to the company.”

“I’m the manager, and you’re the assistant,” Lin Anran raised an eyebrow, putting on airs of authority: “As a subordinate, you have to follow orders.”

Jiang Yi: “You can fire me.”

She said that, turned around, and walked away with all the large and small bags.

Lin Anran watched her walk away, stamping her feet in anger, then quickly ran after her: “Wait for me, you unqualified assistant! You don’t even have the stamina to shop. So useless.”

Jiang Yi repeated the same line: “You can fire me.”

Lin Anran’s chest heaved with rage.

After putting the large and small bags into the trunk, Jiang Yi shook her sore hands, feeling like accompanying Lin Anran shopping was equivalent to manual labor.

Perhaps it wasn’t a mistaken feeling; it was manual labor.

“It’s almost time for my shift, so no need to take me back to the company. Go straight to the convenience store,” Jiang Yi said, checking the time.

“Why are you still going to the convenience store? That pays so little! Quit the job! You resign!” Lin Anran complained: “You spend the remaining five hours playing with me. I’ll pay you overtime, which is more than what the convenience store pays.”

Jiang Yi was shocked. She shook her head vehemently: “No. At least let me catch my breath. Let me rest for five hours.”

Lin Anran narrowed her eyes: “What do you mean? Accompanying me is so exhausting that you can’t catch your breath?!”

Jiang Yi remained silent, confirming it implicitly.

Lin Anran was so angry that she clenched her fists, making a crack sound.

Jiang Yi pointed at her small fist, knowing her nature well, and warned: “No hitting.”

Slap.

A punch landed on Jiang Yi’s arm, making her gasp in pain.

When Lin Anran got angry, she liked to curse and nitpick. Now, she had added hitting and biting to her repertoire…

Jiang Yi didn’t know what she had done to provoke her yesterday, but she had a bite mark on her arm that still hadn’t faded.

Lin Anran might genuinely have been a cat in her past life. She liked to get flustered, scratch, and bite. She possessed almost all cat habits.

But cats aren’t usually very affectionate, are they? Cats generally don’t like overly clingy owners. Yet, Lin Anran was clingy all day, insisting on being with her, wanting to be by her side virtually twenty-four hours a day.

Just like now, Jiang Yi was working at the convenience store cash register, and Lin Anran stood beside her, chin raised, giving her tough talk.

“You want to catch your breath? Don’t even think about it. If you’re working here, I’ll wait here. I’m also going to stay at your house. Don’t even think about catching a single breath. You have to be with me twenty-four hours a day.”

Jiang Yi’s head felt huge. Sometimes, she really wanted to suggest that Lin Anran make a few more friends, because being her only friend was immensely stressful.

Lin Anran got tired of standing, cursed a couple of times in dissatisfaction, and then went to the seating area by the window.

During brief breaks from work, Jiang Yi would glance at the seating area. Every time she looked over, she would meet Lin Anran’s gaze, which would be followed by a scolding.

Of course, the scolding wasn’t the point. The point was, was she staring at her the entire time?

Not playing on her phone, not doing anything, just constantly staring at her?

At 11 PM, Xiao Man came to take over the shift, constantly glancing back and forth between Jiang Yi and Lin Anran, chuckling occasionally.

Jiang Yi knew exactly what she was thinking. She blinked, giving her a warning look.

Xiao Man smiled sheepishly and restrained herself a bit.

Jiang Yi didn’t know what was wrong with Xiao Man these past few days. Maybe she had been reading too many novels; she had started shipping a couple.

Reading novels was normal, and shipping couples was normal. What wasn’t normal was that she was shipping her and Lin Anran.

It was very awkward for Jiang Yi.

“Can you stop with your wild, imaginative speculation? Do you think this is appropriate?” Jiang Yi whispered, afraid Lin Anran in the seating area might overhear.

“Sister Zhizhi, I didn’t say anything,” Xiao Man said, looking innocent.

“You didn’t say anything, but the way your eyes kept darting back and forth between her and me has said it countless times.”

Xiao Man touched her nose: “I haven’t.”

Jiang Yi was about to say more when Lin Anran scurried over: “What secrets are you two whispering about? Why are you standing so close?”

“Jiang Yi, don’t stand so close to her. I don’t like it.”

“Jiang Yi, you promised you wouldn’t make other friends. Don’t even think about becoming friends with her. You can only have me as your friend, so don’t be fickle, and especially don’t cheat on me.”

The eyes behind Jiang Yi’s black-rimmed glasses twitched twice. What do you mean, “cheat on me”… Now, it really couldn’t be explained away. Anyone hearing those words would not believe it was a pure friendship.

Sure enough, Xiao Man consciously distanced herself, suppressing a smile, wearing an expression that said, “I knew it! I knew it!”

Actually, Xiao Man couldn’t be entirely blamed for the wrong impression. Lin Anran’s possessiveness toward her friend was indeed so immense that it easily led to misunderstandings.

After all, Jiang Yi herself had briefly misunderstood.

“And you,” Lin Anran looked at Xiao Man, warning her sternly: “She is mine. If you are desperate for friends, I can introduce you to some. Don’t go after my person.”

Xiao Man bit her lip, trying hard to stifle her laughter, and nodded: “Okay, okay, I’ll keep my distance from her.”

Lin Anran then looked back at Jiang Yi, giving her an equally stern warning: “The same goes for you. Mind yourself, be self-respecting, and don’t let me catch you doing something like this again.”

Jiang Yi: “…”

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