Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: “Are You Being Perfunctory With Me?”

 

“Isn’t it enough to work during the day? You’re still doing another part-time job after work? Were you born loving work?”

 

Lin Anran stood in front of the cash register, watching the person putting on the convenience store uniform with incomprehension.

 

“Who in this world is born loving work? It’s just necessity.” Jiang Zhi neatly slipped on the green work vest.

 

Lin Anran scanned her outfit up and down. Under the green vest was a standard white shirt, her hair tied back in her unchanging low ponytail, her nose supporting her unchanging black-rimmed glasses, and on her wrist, her unchanging plain red bracelet.

 

Her overall look earned two words from Lin Anran: “So tacky.”

 

Jiang Zhi shrugged: “See the rest area by the window? If you get bored, go sit there and play on your phone.”

 

The tone, like coaxing a child, greatly displeased Lin Anran: “I want to go home.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “If you can manage to stay home alone, then go.”

 

Lin Anran choked, finally pouting and sitting down grumbling in the rest area by the window.

 

Jiang Zhi chuckled and shook her head. It seemed her previous speculation about her was spot on: she was just afraid of staying home alone—the timid, face-saving, and fiercely arrogant third Miss Lin.

 

“This broken stool is too hard. I don’t like it. Change it for a soft, leather one.”

 

“I don’t have one. Make do with it.”

 

Lin Anran sneered: “A useless beggar.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “Oh my, a change of word! Now it’s ‘beggar,’ no longer ‘pauper’?”

 

Lin Anran glared at her: “Is there a difference between the two?!”

 

Jiang Zhi laughed softly, not teasing her further, and walked to the cash register to check the accounts.

 

Soon, Lin Anran’s complaints resumed.

 

“This broken window is filthy. I don’t like it. Come and wipe it.”

 

“You wipe this broken table too.”

 

“I don’t like anything here.”

 

Her mouth didn’t stop, criticizing and nitpicking endlessly.

 

Jiang Zhi let it go in one ear and out the other. When she had a moment, she’d respond. When busy, she naturally didn’t have time to deal with her.

 

An hour passed. Apart from being a bit noisy, Lin Anran was relatively trouble-free.

 

The next second, the phrase “relatively trouble-free” seemed to need retracting, because…

 

Jiang Zhi was ringing up a customer when Lin Anran, clacking her high heels, rushed over.

 

Ignoring the fact that Jiang Zhi was working, she held out her hand, showing the mosquito she had smacked dead in her palm: “A mosquito! There’s a mosquito here, and it’s biting me.”

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t even look, simply made a perfunctory “Oh,” and continued checking out the customer.

 

“It’s so itchy and annoying! This place isn’t fun at all. I want to go back. Take me back right now.”

 

Her commanding tone caused the waiting customers to turn their heads and look at her.

 

Jiang Zhi glanced at her, ignored her, and continued scanning and checking out the goods.

 

Seeing that Jiang Zhi was ignoring her, Lin Anran got angry and reached out to grab Jiang Zhi’s scanner gun.

 

Jiang Zhi gave a sharp “Tsk,” frowned seriously, and looked at her.

 

Lin Anran stopped her movement, reluctantly withdrew her hand, mumbled discontentedly, and then turned back in a huff.

 

“I apologize, my friend speaks a little loudly and is a bit noisy, please don’t mind her.” Jiang Zhi packed the items into a shopping bag and handed it to the customer: “That will be ninety-seven yuan. Please scan the code here.”

 

The customer nodded, scanned the code, paid, and left with their items.

 

Lin Anran sat by the window, her back to Jiang Zhi, likely sulking.

 

This little princess had a bad temper and was habitually self-centered, but as long as one was slightly serious, like just now, she would quickly realize that a certain action was unacceptable and would stop promptly, even if she did so grudgingly.

 

Actually, she was quite obedient.

 

Jiang Zhi found a bottle of mosquito repellent from the drawer and walked toward her.

 

“Miss Lin.” Jiang Zhi called her.

 

The person sitting by the window stared straight ahead, tilting her head arrogantly, clearly still holding a grudge.

 

Jiang Zhi placed the mosquito repellent on the table.

 

She left after placing it down. Soon after, she heard Lin Anran’s impolite question: “What is this trash? Why did you put it here?”

 

There were no customers at the moment. Jiang Zhi was organizing the shelves. Hearing the voice, she didn’t stop her actions and responded faintly: “Didn’t you say there were mosquitoes? This is for repelling them.”

 

Lin Anran picked it up, examined it, and smelled it, then pushed it away in disgust: “It has a strange smell. It doesn’t suit my style. Only beggars like you would use this kind of weird thing.”

 

Jiang Zhi looked back at her and said with amusement: “It seems you really want to be friends with the mosquitoes. If you don’t use it, keep feeding them.”

 

Lin Anran seemed to have caught a key phrase and immediately looked over: “What friends? You just told that bald guy I was your friend! Who is your friend? I don’t have such shabby beggar friends like you.”

 

Jiang Zhi paused for a moment, realizing the “bald guy” she mentioned was probably the customer who had just checked out. When Jiang Zhi apologized to the customer, she casually used the term “my friend.” She hadn’t expected Lin Anran to overhear and take offense.

 

“Alright, alright, I’m not your friend.” Jiang Zhi smiled good-naturedly.

 

Her intention was to comply with Lin Anran, but unexpectedly, as soon as she said this, Lin Anran raised her eyebrows, slammed her hand on the table, and seemed even angrier.

 

Jiang Zhi: “…”

 

What had she done to offend her now? Lin Anran said she wasn’t her friend, and she agreed. Wasn’t that compliant enough?

 

Jiang Zhi sighed silently. Forget it, forget it. Why argue with this young lady.

 

“But speaking of which, descriptions like ‘bald guy’ are fine for us to use privately, but never say them to someone’s face. I’m afraid you might get beaten up,” Jiang Zhi suggested kindly.

 

“Hmph,” Lin Anran dismissed her words.

 

Jiang Zhi squatted on the floor, deeply engrossed in organizing the merchandise on the lower shelves. Suddenly, she felt a light kick on her back from a toe.

 

She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Only the third Miss Lin would use this method to call someone.

 

“What are you doing? Squatting here all sneaky?” Lin Anran stood with her arms crossed, her chin slightly raised.

 

“I’m working. What does it look like I’m doing?” Jiang Zhi looked up at her helplessly again.

 

Lin Anran cleared her throat: “Jiang Yi, although you are a bit shabby, a pauper, practically a beggar, and very tacky, you are… marginally acceptable.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “?”

 

Seeing that she didn’t understand, Lin Anran was instantly annoyed. After cursing, “You shabby ghost,” she stormed off angrily.

 

Jiang Zhi: “??”

 

What was she doing? She suddenly ran over to say that she was “marginally acceptable,” and then stormed off. Was she bored?

 

Lin Anran, sitting by the window, was pounding the table with her small face puffed out, muttering: “Shabby ghost, I don’t want to be friends with you. You’re not worthy.”

 

Slap

 

Slap, slap

 

Lin Anran was battling wits and strength with a mosquito.

 

She leaned to the left, clapped her hands, making a slap sound, stood up, and clapped her hands again.

 

In the end, she seemed to have lost the fight to the mosquitoes and reluctantly, but necessarily, picked up the mosquito repellent on the table.

 

Jiang Zhi occasionally glanced at her during work, taking in all her awkward antics.

 

This earned her a murderous look from Lin Anran when she looked back, along with the two words “pauper” that could be read clearly from her mouth shape.

 

Jiang Zhi shrugged, unconcerned.

 

“How much longer until you get off work?” This was the nth time Lin Anran had asked this question.

 

Jiang Zhi patiently answered again, as usual, but knew that, inevitably, she would be asked again in half an hour.

 

However, she seemed to have miscalculated this time. When it was time to get off work and she finished handing over tasks to her colleague, taking off her convenience store uniform, she suddenly realized that for quite some time, she hadn’t heard Lin Anran’s noisy voice.

 

That was strange. It was so quiet.

 

She looked up and smiled knowingly—it turned out Lin Anran was asleep, face down on the table.

 

Well, this person was only quiet and trouble-free when she was asleep.

 

The colleague she was handing over to was a university student nearby named Xiao Man, who worked here part-time during her spare time to earn money. Like Jiang Zhi, she was someone who needed to squeeze in time for side jobs to earn money.

 

“Sister Zhizhi, and your friend?” Xiao Man asked.

 

“Hmm, friend…” Jiang Zhi said, then retracted: “Not really a friend.”

 

She couldn’t say they were friends. Lin Anran felt she wasn’t worthy, and if she heard that, she would throw a fit.

 

“Why aren’t you friends? She’s waiting here for you to get off work. But your friend…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“She’s really good-looking, so delicate and beautiful, and very elegant, like a celebrity,” Xiao Man praised sincerely: “Didn’t you notice that business at the convenience store was better today? I saw several passersby look at her through the window and deliberately come in to buy things just to get a closer look at her.”

 

Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow, noncommittal.

 

A quiet Lin Anran was indeed beautiful and refined. She was truly like a princess, and simply sitting there naturally attracted attention.

 

That was, assuming one ignored her bossy, demanding, and critical demeanor when she wasn’t quiet.

 

Jiang Zhi suddenly thought of her unrestrained mouth, constantly cursing people as “bald” and “pauper,” using various words that weren’t exactly vulgar but definitely unpleasant. Had she never been beaten up thanks to her good looks?

 

Being good-looking seemed to have the ability to moderately reduce other people’s anger.

 

She walked to the window and looked down at the person sleeping soundly on the table. She didn’t know what she was dreaming about, but she made a little smacking sound with her mouth, looking quite cute.

 

The mosquito repellent next to her, the whole bottle, was used up…

 

No wonder a strong, nose-stinging smell of mosquito repellent wafted over when one got close.

 

Seeing her sleep so soundly, Jiang Zhi was a little reluctant to wake her. Checking the time, she saw it was still early and pulled up a stool next to her to sit down.

 

Whoosh, the person who was sleeping sweetly suddenly sat up. The first thing she said was: “Jiang Yi, how much longer until you get off work? I’m so annoyed and bored. I can’t stand this broken place for another second.”

 

Jiang Zhi let out a muffled laugh.

 

Lin Anran opened her sleepy eyes and subconsciously wanted to rub them.

 

Jiang Zhi quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her action: “You’ve got so much mosquito repellent on your hands, you can’t rub your eyes.”

 

“Oh,” Lin Anran yawned, her voice husky: “When do you get off work?”

 

The headlights of a passing car outside shone in, illuminating Lin Anran’s delicate, fair face. Her eyelashes fluttered, bathed in a hazy, dim light.

 

In the moment their eyes met, Jiang Zhi felt a subtle moment of heart-fluttering, but it quickly vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. The only thing remaining was the pungent smell of mosquito repellent in the surroundings.

 

Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes and smiled softly: “Let’s go.”

 

“Go? Can we go home?” Her sleepiness immediately halved, and she eagerly hurried to keep pace with Jiang Zhi: “Finally, we can go home. Don’t come to work here tomorrow, understand?”

 

Jiang Zhi: “I didn’t hear you.”

 

“What kind of attitude is that? How rude! You’re not deaf, how could you not hear me?”

 

“My dear Miss Lin, I have to work to earn money.”

 

“Who’s your dear? You’re not even worthy of being my friend, and you want to be my ‘dear’? Shameless.”

 

Jiang Zhi looked at her helplessly and exasperatedly: “It’s just a friendly term of address.”

 

Lin Anran: “Don’t address me casually.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “Alright, alright, I won’t call you that anymore.”

 

“Jiang Yi…”

 

“My name is Jiang Zhi.”

 

“Why is it Jiang Zhi again? Didn’t you say your name was Jiang Yi before? Why does your name keep changing?” Lin Anran had a bit of a way of twisting the truth.

 

“Forget it, forget it. Call me whatever you want.”

 

“Who wants to call you anything?”

 

Jiang Zhi pulled out her key, bent down, and unlocked the chain on the electric scooter.

 

Lin Anran stood behind her with her arms crossed, looking puzzled: “Why lock up this broken thing? Who would steal it?”

 

Jiang Zhi put the lock away and handed her the helmet: “Aren’t your throat tired? Talk less. Get on.”

 

“Why is it still this helmet? Didn’t I say I wanted you to buy me a pink one?”

 

She reluctantly took the helmet and put it on, her mouth not stopping for a moment: “Hurry up and change it for a pink helmet.”

 

Jiang Zhi humored her as usual: “Alright, alright, alright.”

 

“All you say is ‘alright,’ but I haven’t seen you buy it.”

 

“I will buy it, I will buy it.”

 

“Are you being perfunctory with me?”

 

Jiang Zhi was surprised. She just now realized she was being perfunctory with her?

 

“I’m telling you, you’d better be nice to me now. Although I don’t have money at the moment, when I go home, I might give you a little money if I’m in a good mood, pauper. You’re very short on money, aren’t you?”

 

“Is that so? Then I really should be nicer to you.”

 

“You opportunist!”

 

“Hahaha,” Jiang Zhi laughed, her shoulders shaking: “Then Miss Lin must not forget that I, this opportunist, is waiting for you to dispense some money.”

 

Lin Anran scoffed: “A spineless beggar.”

 

The third Miss Lin seemed to be in a better mood. Sitting on the back seat, she pinched the corner of the clothes of the person in the front seat, wiggling her fingers left and right.

 

Disdainful, yet not quite disdainful.