Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: “Can You Continue to Like Me?”

 

The hand was suddenly taken, soft and warm—a feeling she liked.

 

Lin Anran’s lips involuntarily curved upward, but when she met Jiang Zhi’s teasing smile, her face immediately hardened.

 

“Why are you holding my hand? You’re acting weird. Don’t hold my hand. I don’t like it.”

 

Jiang Zhi’s smile momentarily froze. Was she wrong?

 

If she didn’t want to go to the wet market to hold hands, Jiang Zhi couldn’t think of any other reason why she would insist on going there.

 

Just as Jiang Zhi was feeling confused, she felt Lin Anran grip her hand tighter, opening her fingers and interlocking them.

 

Fingers intertwined.

 

Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow. It seemed Lin Kitten was talking backwards again. She claimed she didn’t like holding hands, but letting go was impossible. Not only did she not let go, but she held on tightly, fingers interlocked, afraid of being released.

 

Jiang Zhi stifled a laugh. She couldn’t laugh out loud, or this person would get angry again.

 

The two ultimately didn’t go to the wet market, heading instead to a nearby fresh food supermarket.

 

All the way there, they held hands.

 

Jiang Zhi discovered a strange phenomenon…

 

As long as they were holding hands, the usually noisy and endlessly critical young miss acted like a “well-behaved” button had been pressed. She became exceptionally quiet and obedient, following along meekly.

 

Jiang Zhi turned to look at her several times, noticing that not only was she well-behaved, but she was also swaying her head and walking with light steps.

 

Happy and slightly goofy.

 

Jiang Zhi turned away and secretly smiled. Was holding hands really that joyful?

 

Well, it seemed it truly was. Not only was Lin Anran happy, but Jiang Zhi was very happy too.

 

Upon reaching the supermarket, Jiang Zhi was in charge of selecting ingredients, and Lin Anran was in charge of following her.

 

“Besides beer duck, is there anything else you’d like to eat?” Jiang Zhi asked her.

 

“Anything is fine.” Lin Anran was happy holding hands and wasn’t picky about anything else.

 

Jiang Zhi: “Okay, then I’ll decide as I shop.”

 

After circling the supermarket and buying the necessities for the beer duck, she also bought some spare ribs and just enough bok choy for one meal.

 

She didn’t buy too much; enough for one meal was sufficient. Since they were moving soon, buying too many ingredients would just lead to waste.

 

While shopping, Lin Anran acted as a shadow, following closely. When selecting vegetables, they briefly let go, but as soon as the choice was made, Lin Anran’s small hand would immediately reach out to hold hers again.

 

Sometimes, when Jiang Zhi didn’t react quickly enough to hold her hand, Lin Anran wouldn’t explicitly say she was unhappy. Instead, she would cause trouble and start cursing.

 

The main issue was that sometimes her cursing wasn’t just directed at Jiang Zhi; she would randomly pick on passersby…

 

Jiang Zhi was startled by her several times, awkwardly and apologetically bowing to the strangers.

 

Once Jiang Zhi took her hand, she would stop causing trouble and cursing, becoming incredibly obedient, as if the person who was just yelling wasn’t her.

 

Jiang Zhi suspected that the 24-hour bodyguards Lin’s family assigned to Lin Anran weren’t worried about malicious intent toward her, but purely worried that she might get beaten up by strangers.

 

Exiting the supermarket, Jiang Zhi held the grocery bag in one hand and the trouble-making kitten’s hand in the other. Both her hands were full.

 

Seeing a truck selling tangerines by the roadside, Jiang Zhi asked Lin Anran if she wanted any.

 

Lin Anran was in a good mood from holding hands and liked everything, so she naturally agreed.

 

“Boss, how much are the tangerines per pound?” Jiang Zhi released Lin Anran’s hand and picked up a tangerine to examine it.

 

The boss put down the phone he was playing with, stood up, and enthusiastically replied: “Tangerines are three yuan a pound. They are big and sweet. You can try one.”

 

The boss immediately peeled a tangerine and handed it over.

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t hesitate, eating a segment. The tangerine was juicy, sweet, and very fresh.

 

She peeled off a segment and offered it to Lin Anran’s mouth: “You try it too.”

 

Lin Anran was still sulking about not holding hands. The sudden tangerine near her mouth caught her off guard.

 

Jiang Zhi tilted her head toward her: “Try it.”

 

Lin Anran opened her mouth and gently took the tangerine segment. Her lips accidentally brushed Jiang Zhi’s fingertip.

 

Her breathing seemed to hitch for a moment following the accidental touch.

 

Jiang Zhi withdrew her hand awkwardly, letting it hang by her side, fingers curled. The sensation of Lin Anran’s lips still lingered on her fingertip.

 

In truth, there wasn’t much of a sensation; it happened in an instant, too fast to feel anything.

 

But Jiang Zhi’s mind wandered. She suddenly pictured Lin Anran gently nibbling her fingertip—a slightly suggestive thought.

 

“How is it? Isn’t it sweet? My tangerines are fresh and sweet. Three yuan a pound is very cheap,” the boss enthusiastically promoted.

 

Jiang Zhi snapped back to attention, shook her head, trying to clear away the messy thoughts: “It is quite sweet. I genuinely want to buy it, but three yuan a pound isn’t cheap. They are only two and a half at the supermarket…”

 

Jiang Zhi bargained with the boss. Just as the boss was about to agree to two and a half yuan a pound, Lin Anran started interfering.

 

“Just buy it already! Why are you so cheap, arguing over three or five yuan? Stop dawdling, it’s a waste of time!”

 

The boss, ready to concede, immediately retracted his offer.

 

The tangerines that could have been bought for two and a half yuan per pound ended up costing three yuan per pound.

 

Jiang Zhi: “…”

 

Forget it, three yuan a pound is fine. The tangerines were sweet, so it wasn’t a total loss.

 

“Next time when I’m bargaining, don’t talk,” Jiang Zhi instructed.

 

“I will talk,” Lin Anran snapped back.

 

Lin Anran remained uncooperative until Jiang Zhi took her hand again.

 

“Fine, I won’t talk next time you bargain. But speaking of which, you pretended to bargain for ages and still ended up paying the original price. Humph, ridiculous.”

 

Jiang Zhi was speechless.

 

The failed bargaining was all thanks to Lin Anran.

 

“What? Not convinced?” Lin Anran squinted.

 

“Convinced, completely convinced. How could I not be convinced?” Jiang Zhi shook her head.

 

“I can tell you’re not convinced. It’s just bargaining; do you think I can’t do it?”

 

To prove she could, she walked straight up to a roadside fruit stand, pointed at the tangerines, and said:

 

“How much per pound?”

 

“Four yuan a pound for these.”

 

“Sell them to me for two and a half yuan a pound. Bag them up immediately,” she commanded. “Why aren’t you bagging them? Hurry up, don’t be so slow. I don’t like dawdling.”

 

“What’s with that face? Do you know how to run a business? Why are you making that shifty, monkey-like expression? Did you evolve from a monkey?”

 

The boss’s eyes widened in disbelief.

 

Lin Anran persisted: “You already look weird. Stop squinting and staring. It’s hideous…”

 

Jiang Zhi quickly pulled her away.

 

She was truly a magnet for trouble.

 

“Why are you pulling me away? I was about to successfully bargain! Why did you interfere?”

 

“That wasn’t successful bargaining. I think you were successfully heading toward a beating.”

 

Lin Anran was indignant: “I was just politely bargaining with him. Why would he hit me?”

 

Jiang Zhi choked. She looked back at the fruit stand. Fortunately, the person didn’t chase after them.

 

“In any case, don’t bargain anymore. We don’t need that little bit of money, okay?” Jiang Zhi smiled. She preferred to pay more than to have Lin Anran “bargain” again.

 

Back home, Jiang Zhi went to the kitchen to busy herself, and Lin Anran didn’t stay idle, diligently following her around.

 

The kitchen was already small, and she insisted on being there. Jiang Zhi couldn’t tell her to leave, or she would get angry.

 

“Your fever just broke. Can you cook? Don’t suddenly faint or have your fever come back. I’m warning you, if you get a fever again, I won’t take care of you. Don’t even think about it. Don’t cause me any more trouble, you Trouble-Maker.”

 

Jiang Zhi put on her apron, busy preparing the ingredients, and vaguely humored her: “Mhm, got it.”

 

Lin Anran: “Since you’re not fully recovered, I can reluctantly help you. Aren’t I considerate? Where else would you find such a considerate friend? Wait, no, we broke up our friendship, so we’re not friends.”

 

Jiang Zhi paused her work, turned to look at her, and remained silent for a moment.

 

If she asked Lin Anran to help, she certainly would—and helping in a clumsy way was still a form of help.

 

Lin Anran: “Tell me, what do you need me to do?”

 

Jiang Zhi wanted to say, Leaving would be helping, but she definitely couldn’t say that. She could only assign her a relatively simple task: “See the bok choy? Help me pick through it.”

 

The young miss, who had never done manual labor, tilted her head, trying hard to understand what “pick through” meant.

 

Jiang Zhi explained patiently: “It means removing the older leaves and the rotten ones, like this.”

 

She picked up a stalk of bok choy and demonstrated expertly.

 

Lin Anran watched carefully, then picked up a stalk herself, following Jiang Zhi’s method, leaving the tender parts and discarding the old ones.

 

Jiang Zhi touched her head and complimented her generously: “Not bad, not bad. You learned quickly. That’s how you do it.”

 

Lin Anran hummed contentedly: “Of course. I can certainly pick through vegetables.”

 

Jiang Zhi smiled faintly, turned around, took out the pre-cut duck that had already been processed at the supermarket, and began washing it.

 

“We are both cooking in the kitchen, so why do you have an apron and I don’t?”

 

“There’s only one in the house.”

 

“I want to wear one too. Why do you get one and I don’t?”

 

Great, she’s starting to cause trouble again.

 

What could she do but humor her?

 

Jiang Zhi took off the apron and handed it to her: “Fine, fine. Here you go.”

 

Lin Anran took it, spread it out to look at it, and grimaced with disdain: “What is this tacky pattern? It’s colorful and ugly. I don’t like it.”

 

“Jiang Yi, your taste is terrible. Don’t buy ugly things like this in the future.”

 

Despite her complaints, she still intended to wear it. Jiang Zhi didn’t know why she insisted on wearing an apron; perhaps she felt that since Jiang Zhi wore one, she had to wear one too?

 

She didn’t understand. She decided to just let her be, mainly because she had no other choice.

 

Lin Anran put on the apron and twisted her body, trying to tie the belt behind her.

 

After struggling for a long time without success, she started getting angry: “What kind of terrible design is this? Is the person who designed this apron an idiot? Why did they put the string in the back? How am I supposed to tie it?”

 

“I’ll help you tie it.” Jiang Zhi put down her work, washed her hands, and dried them.

 

She glanced at the bok choy on the table. In all that time, Lin Anran had only picked one or two stalks. She hadn’t done any real work, yet she insisted on wearing the apron and couldn’t even tie it. She was nothing but a distraction.

 

She was about to walk behind Lin Anran to tie the apron strings, but stopped abruptly halfway through the motion.

 

Jiang Zhi used to watch TV shows and never understood one particular scene: when couples helped tie an apron belt, the show always featured the person wrapping their arms around the other from the front to tie the belt.

 

It would be easier and simpler to just walk behind them, wouldn’t it?

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t understand that trope, but now she seemed to get it.

 

Was that really about tying an apron? No, it was about flirting and creating intimacy…

 

Jiang Zhi’s quick-witted brain spun, applying the lesson immediately.

 

She didn’t walk behind her. She approached from the front, wrapped her arms around Lin Anran’s waist, slowly traced the belt, and slowly tied it.

 

She deliberately slowed down her movements, making them even slower.

 

Only when she felt the person in her arms’ breathing deepen slightly did she slowly release her embrace, adding in a gentle voice: “It’s tied.”

 

So dramatic… but it seemed to work well.

 

Lin Anran looked dazed. It took her a while to recover. She murmured “Oh.”

 

Lin Anran looked up slightly at Jiang Zhi. Jiang Zhi met her gaze. In the confined kitchen, their eyes met, their glances lingering, creating a thick, ambiguous atmosphere.

 

Lin Anran’s eyes were beautiful, perfectly refined. When she looked at someone, her eyes seemed to be filled with starlight.

 

The vast starlight seemed to be saying one thing.

 

She was waiting for her to kiss her.

 

Jiang Zhi: “Can I take back what I said before?”

 

Lin Anran: “What?”

 

“‘Don’t like me,’ that phrase,” Jiang Zhi gazed at her, attentive and gentle: “Can you continue to like me?”