Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: “The Studious Lin Kitten.”

 

After taking a shower and drying her hair, Jiang Zhi returned to the room and immediately saw Lin Anran sitting half-upright in bed.

 

She was wearing pink pajamas, her long, curly hair draped over her shoulders, looking like an exquisite doll, almost unreal in her beauty.

 

Jiang Zhi gazed at her delicate, flawless features, momentarily stunned and bewildered. When she snapped back, what slipped out was, “It’s time to sleep, why are you still wearing makeup?”

 

Lin Anran’s deliberately posed and overly dramatic expression froze.

 

“I’m not wearing makeup,” Lin Anran denied.

 

“What do you mean you’re not wearing makeup? Do you think I’m stupid? I don’t wear makeup, but I can certainly tell,” Jiang Zhi said, amused.

 

Lin Anran gritted her teeth, articulating every word: “I. Am. Not. Wearing. Makeup!”

 

Jiang Zhi sighed, glanced around the room, and her eyes settled on the vanity by the window.

 

She walked over and rummaged through the various bottles and jars.

 

“What are you looking for?” Lin Anran threw off the covers, put on her shoes, and walked over.

 

“Makeup remover. To help you take it off,” Jiang Zhi replied casually.

 

Lin Anran’s movement to peer over froze.

 

Jiang Zhi picked up one of the bottles: “Found it.”

 

Lin Anran backed away: “I told you I’m not wearing makeup…”

 

Before she could finish, Jiang Zhi grabbed her directly: “Come here. I’m going to take off your makeup. Wearing makeup to sleep, do you still want your face? You’ll break out in acne tomorrow.”

 

She dragged Lin Anran over, settled her in front of the vanity, and poured makeup remover onto a cotton pad.

 

“Cooperate,” Jiang Zhi’s tone was serious.

 

Lin Anran pouted, unhappy, but obediently tilted her head back.

 

Jiang Zhi bent closer, gently pressing the cotton pad onto her face to help remove the makeup.

 

Lin Anran grumbled under her breath, not saying anything nice—she was cursing.

 

While removing her makeup, Jiang Zhi automatically ignored her curses and said earnestly:

 

“You look beautiful with or without makeup. You don’t need to deliberately put it on for me, and you don’t always have to try to look your best in front of me. I’m your girlfriend. You just need to be comfortable and relaxed around me.”

 

Lin Anran frowned: “The internet doesn’t say that.”

 

Jiang Zhi tapped her between the eyebrows: “Stop looking at all that nonsense online.”

 

Lin Anran wouldn’t listen: “You don’t understand. I’m learning good things.”

 

Jiang Zhi: “…”

 

Learning good things? Jiang Zhi felt she was only learning strange things, and she wondered what she was researching and tinkering with on her phone every day.

 

Yesterday, Jiang Zhi accidentally glanced at her phone, and Lin Anran nervously covered it up, looking guilty and sneaky.

 

When asked what she was doing, she claimed she was conducting academic research. Jiang Zhi was deeply skeptical, always feeling like she wasn’t up to anything good…

 

“Alright, it’s off. Go wash your face,” Jiang Zhi patted her face.

 

Her skin was clear and translucent, without visible pores. Makeup actually concealed her natural liveliness and charm.

 

Despite this, Jiang Zhi rarely criticized her preferences because she knew Lin Anran liked makeup, just as she liked nail art, covering her phone with sparkling crystals, and having a room full of pink.

 

Although Jiang Zhi disliked makeup, nail art, sparkling phone cases, and pink, she respected Lin Anran’s preferences and was willing to engage with the things she liked.

 

“You look beautiful bare-faced. Don’t put on makeup first thing in the morning, and don’t forget to take it off late at night.”

 

“But the internet says…”

 

“Stop learning that kind of nonsense online. Our relationship is between the two of us. Why listen to others? Just listen to me. Our mutual comfort is what matters most.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Did you hear me?”

 

Lin Anran didn’t answer.

 

Jiang Zhi felt helpless. It seemed she hadn’t really taken it in and planned to continue learning from the internet.

 

“Delete that relationship expert you follow,” Jiang Zhi pointed at her phone.

 

Lin Anran was startled at first, then became agitated: “You, how did you know? You’re peeking at my phone again!!”

 

Jiang Zhi: “Who was peeking? You never chat with that person out of my sight. I just glanced and saw it. Plus, you saved her as ‘Relationship Expert’ in your contacts. It’s hard for me not to know what you’re chatting about.”

 

Lin Anran glared angrily: “You’re making excuses! You were peeking!”

 

“Fine, fine, I was peeking. Don’t learn those dating strategies from her anymore. It would be one thing if you learned them well, but you always turn out like a poorly copied imitation.”

 

“Shut up! I’m not talking to someone who peeks.”

 

Lin Anran declared a one-sided fit of anger and stormed out of the room.

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t chase her. She yawned, feeling tired and ready for bed. Just as she lay down, the door was kicked open with a thump.

 

Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow. Just as expected, she came back after exactly one minute of being mad. Her angry period usually fluctuated between one and five minutes if not coaxed. Once the time was up, she would return… to curse…

 

“You’re asleep? You’re actually asleep? How dare you sleep! Get up!”

 

Jiang Zhi propped her head up with one hand and patted the space next to her on the bed: “Stop making a fuss. It’s the middle of the night. Even if you’re not tired, I am. Come here and sleep.”

 

Lin Anran muttered a few curses, then happily climbed onto the bed, rolling right into Jiang Zhi’s arms.

 

Jiang Zhi hugged her, rubbing her chin against the top of Lin Anran’s head, and said, “Turning off the light now.”

 

Lin Anran said, “Oh.”

 

Click, the switch was pressed, and the brightly lit room went dark.

 

The quiet darkness was perfect for sleeping.

 

But the silence was too much; Jiang Zhi was unaccustomed to it. In her previous small rental, there were stacks of food stalls and BBQ vendors downstairs, always noisy, sometimes not quieting down until midnight.

 

Jiang Zhi had grown accustomed to that noise. The sudden absence of those sounds felt strange, but thankfully, having a familiar person in her arms eased the discomfort.

 

Jiang Zhi had never shared a bed with anyone, but every time she slept with Lin Anran, she felt incredibly secure.

 

“Are you asleep?” Lin Anran suddenly asked.

 

Jiang Zhi hummed in response: “Can’t sleep?”

 

Lin Anran: “A little.”

 

Jiang Zhi had actually just drifted off. She blinked, shaking off the sleepiness: “Then I’ll talk to you for a bit.”

 

Lin Anran played with her clothes: “Talk about what? I don’t know what to talk about.”

 

Jiang Zhi laughed: “You’re a chatterbox. Is there ever a time when you don’t know what to talk about?”

 

“Who’s a chatterbox? Are you sick, Jiang Yi? I’ve noticed you don’t know how to talk properly, always saying things people don’t like. Just shut up.”

 

“You’re cursing again. I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to sleep.”

 

“No, you won’t!”

 

She shook Jiang Zhi, trying to completely drive away any sleepiness so she would be forced to chat with her.

 

The person who had just claimed she didn’t know what to talk about started chattering away non-stop. Lin Anran could keep talking without any response from Jiang Zhi.

 

Jiang Zhi listened quietly, occasionally humming to show she was still listening.

 

“Jiang Yi, what is your dream?” The topic randomly shifted to dreams.

 

Jiang Zhi fell silent, unsure how to answer for a moment. Lin Anran was born with a silver spoon, owning everything from birth. She probably wouldn’t understand that someone like Jiang Zhi would consider buying a small house and car a dream.

 

Most importantly, she was afraid that if she admitted her dream was to buy a car and a house, Lin Anran might misunderstand it as asking her for those things, because Lin Anran could indeed afford them and could easily fulfill her “small dream.”

 

Before Jiang Zhi could struggle with how to answer, Lin Anran answered for her.

 

“I know what your dream is,” Lin Anran moved back slightly, resting her head on the pillow, lying face-to-face with her: “Your dream is the piano, right?”

 

Jiang Zhi was slightly confused: “Why would you think my dream is the piano?”

 

Jiang Zhi and the piano were completely unrelated. Jiang Zhi hadn’t even touched a piano her entire life.

 

“Don’t deny it. I know everything. Isn’t your idol Wen Yan, the pianist? The one who looks harmless but is actually full of malicious schemes. Your taste in idols is very ordinary,” Lin Anran expressed her dissatisfaction.

 

“She is not full of malicious schemes. You haven’t even met her,” Jiang Zhi said helplessly.

 

Lin Anran sat up, looking down at her: “You still don’t believe me? I’m a good judge of character. I have sharp eyes, you know.”

 

Jiang Zhi pulled her back down: “Don’t get excited.”

 

“Your lock screen wallpaper is Wen Yan.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Mhm? Just ‘Mhm’? Why would you have a bad person as your lock screen wallpaper? Change it.”

 

After all the talk about her being full of malicious schemes and a bad person, the ultimate goal was actually just dissatisfaction with the lock screen wallpaper.

 

Jiang Zhi: “I just admire her as an idol. Are you even jealous of that?”

 

Lin Anran: “Who’s jealous? Don’t say such sick things.”

 

“I’ll change the wallpaper tomorrow,” Jiang Zhi pinched her nose: “Satisfied?”

 

“Who cares? I don’t care who your wallpaper is, okay? Don’t be conceited or imagine things.”

 

Lin Anran scoffed, then abruptly changed the subject: “Remember to change it to my photo.”

 

Jiang Zhi burst into laughter: “Okay, I’ll change it to yours.”

 

“So, do you actually like the piano? If you don’t like the piano, why do you idolize Wen Yan? That bad person, besides being good at piano, has a black heart. What do you like about her?”

 

“I don’t like the piano. I actually know nothing about it. I idolize her because…”

 

In the dark, Lin Anran blinked, quietly listening to Jiang Zhi’s not-so-interesting past.

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t have a habit of idolizing stars. She only admired Wen Yan as an idol because of some childhood experiences.

 

When her grandmother was still alive, she once pointed at the little girl playing the piano on TV and said, “My Zhi Zhi is just as pretty as that little girl playing the piano on TV.”

 

The girl on TV was fair-skinned, gentle, and harmless, while little Jiang Zhi outside the TV was ordinary.

 

But her grandmother, who looked at her granddaughter with boundless affection, always thought her own grandchild was the prettiest.

 

Grandmother loved watching the little girl play the piano. Little Jiang Zhi would sit with her grandmother in front of the TV to watch.

 

Later, after her grandmother passed away, Jiang Zhi had no one to share her thoughts about her only relative. The wristband on her arm was a form of remembrance, and idolizing Wen Yan, who was playing the piano on TV at that time, was also a way to express her longing.

 

She didn’t like the piano, nor was she truly star-struck. She simply missed her grandmother too much…

 

“Do you miss your grandmother very much?” Lin Anran asked.

 

Jiang Zhi didn’t answer, but Lin Anran sensed her low mood.

 

“Are you sad?” Lin Anran asked.

 

Jiang Zhi shook her head: “No.”

 

Lin Anran: “Yes, you are.”

 

Jiang Zhi looked at her helplessly: “Fine, a little. So are you going to comfort me?”

 

Lin Anran kept a serious face for a long time without speaking.

 

Just when Jiang Zhi thought she was trying to figure out how to comfort her, expecting a few heartfelt words, Lin Anran eventually struggled out: “Don’t be sad. I don’t like it.”

 

She had overestimated her. Of course, she wouldn’t know how to comfort someone.

 

But her presence and listening were, in themselves, the best comfort. Comfort never needed flowery language; the best comfort was a sincere heart.

 

A sincere heart was the rarest thing in the world.

 

Lin Anran’s heart was pure and genuine. Jiang Zhi had always known this and had been moved by it countless times.

 

Jiang Zhi leaned in and gently pecked her lips: “I’m not sad. I have you now.”

 

A person who had nothing suddenly possessed the most brilliant moon in the world. It felt unreal, making her fear it was all a dream.

 

Because of Lin Anran’s presence, she was no longer living alone in the world.

 

While Jiang Zhi felt happy and secure, she also felt fearful and anxious.

 

She was afraid Lin Anran would suddenly disappear, leaving her alone in the world again.

 

Although she had prepared herself from the very beginning to let go if Lin Anran got tired of her, and had promised herself not to be greedy.

 

But she had underestimated human greed.

 

She had become greedy.

 

She hoped Lin Anran would never leave, would stay with her forever, just like this, accompanying each other and sleeping side-by-side.