Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: “What Kind of Person Does Jiang Zhi Like?”

After washing the dishes, Jiang Zhi pulled a towel to wipe the water from her hands. Turning around, she met Lin Anran’s direct gaze.

Lin Anran was slumped on the dining table, listless, looking over with an eager, pained expression, as if someone had bullied her. She looked quite pitiful.

Realizing Jiang Zhi was looking, she awkwardly tilted her head away.

Jiang Zhi paused her hand-wiping motion, lowering her gaze to the faded, plain red bracelet on her wrist.

Everyone has things they care about, inviolable sensitive points. The bracelet that Lin Anran had called ugly and said should be thrown away was one of the few things Jiang Zhi truly cared about.

She knew Lin Anran meant no harm; Miss Lin’s speaking style was simply like that, with few pleasant words.

She had known this all along, but the anger and annoyance were subconscious reactions.

By now, the anger had mostly subsided.

However, Jiang Zhi did not intend to reconcile immediately. She decided to use this opportunity to deliberately give her the cold shoulder. She had been subjected to constant trouble recently, so she needed to return the favor a little and teach her a small lesson.

Jiang Zhi harbored some mischievous thoughts of petty revenge.

She deliberately avoided looking at her and walked past her.

Lin Anran pouted, watching the departing back resentfully.

Suddenly, Jiang Zhi turned back. Lin Anran’s expression froze, and she hastily looked away.

“You haven’t changed your clothes or tidied up. Are you planning not to go to work today?” Jiang Zhi’s tone was flat, revealing neither good nor bad emotions.

Lin Anran secretly glanced at her, responded with a muffled “Oh,” and returned to her room to change and tidy up, her head bowed.

Jiang Zhi couldn’t help but smile, but quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and maintaining her angry, cold demeanor.

By the time Lin Anran emerged from the room, Jiang Zhi was already waiting for her by the door.

“If you’re ready, let’s go.” Jiang Zhi dropped a few lukewarm words, didn’t look at her, opened the door, and walked out.

Lin Anran watched the retreating figure, unhappily biting her lip, then hurried to catch up.

Jiang Zhi was half a head taller than Lin Anran, and that extra height seemed to be in her legs, because Jiang Zhi was walking exceptionally fast. Lin Anran couldn’t catch up even at a slight run.

Seeing Jiang Zhi walk further and further away, a feeling of grievance suddenly welled up in Lin Anran as she ran.

She stopped in her tracks, refusing to chase any longer, and stood rooted by the staircase.

She didn’t want to go to work, and she didn’t want to deal with Jiang Zhi anymore. Sulking and feeling wronged, she plopped down on the stair step.

She hugged her knees, resting her chin on them, like a miserable cat driven out of the house with nowhere to go.

She would go home later. She didn’t want to live with this mean Jiang Zhi anymore. She’d live alone, and she wasn’t scared. Not at all.

Not scared!

She buried her head completely into her knees.

Jiang Zhi is really a mean person.

Her nose felt sour.

“Why didn’t you follow? What are you sitting here for?”

It was Jiang Zhi’s voice, a soft and gentle voice.

Lin Anran looked up abruptly. Jiang Zhi, who had walked away, had unexpectedly returned and was now standing in front of her.

One sitting, one standing, in the dim, old stairwell, their eyes met in the up-and-down glance.

Clack. The usually slow-to-respond sound-activated light switched on at that moment.

The dim yellow light illuminated the stairwell, and also illuminated Lin Anran’s eyes, making them sparkle faintly.

She stared at her in a daze, surprise in her eyes, but following the surprise was grievance: “Why did you walk so fast? I couldn’t catch up to you.”

Her tone was still fierce, but subtly different from her usual fierceness.

It inexplicably softened Jiang Zhi’s heart, and her voice involuntarily softened: “Was I walking very fast?”

Lin Anran nodded vigorously: “Very fast! You didn’t even wait for me.”

Jiang Zhi smiled: “I’m back to get you now, aren’t I?”

Lin Anran glared, fiercely declaring: “Too late! It’s too late! I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

Jiang Zhi reached out her hand to her: “Alright, let me help you up.”

Lin Anran looked at the hand extended toward her—slender and long, with neatly trimmed, rounded nails. Lin Anran always liked to wear various types of manicures, believing that was the prettiest.

But seeing Jiang Zhi’s hand now, her views seemed to shift slightly. She suddenly felt that bare fingers, clean and simple, were equally beautiful.

Only the plain bracelet on her wrist seemed unsightly, no matter how she looked at it.

Who is it, really? Who gave it to her? She treasures it so much that just saying it was ugly made even a good-tempered person like Jiang Zhi instantly cold.

Is the person who gave her the bracelet someone Jiang Zhi likes?

Does she still like that person now?

What kind of person does Jiang Zhi like?

“Why are you spacing out again? Are you planning to keep sitting here?” Jiang Zhi withdrew the hand she had extended, somewhat disappointed.

Just as her hand was halfway retracted, Lin Anran’s hand eagerly grasped hers.

The moment their hands touched, Jiang Zhi’s expression slightly paused. A subtle, almost imperceptible ripple seemed to spread across her heart as Lin Anran’s hand rested on hers.

Before the faint ripple could dissipate, Lin Anran used the grip to stand up, but her motion was too abrupt. The instant she rose, she bumped right into Jiang Zhi’s face.

It was close—so close that their lips were almost grazing the other’s cheek.

She was glad it was “almost,” but also regretful that it was just “almost.”

The air seemed to stand still for a second.

Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes, her gaze briefly but inevitably resting on Lin Anran’s lips. Usually, she wore lipstick, brightly colored, reflecting her flamboyant and arrogant personality.

But today, she wasn’t wearing any. Her lips were light pink, devoid of aggression, looking like jelly, tempting one to take a bite.

The thought was sudden and absurd.

Jiang Zhi collected her thoughts, took a slight step back, creating distance.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Zhi said.

The two walked down the stairs, one after the other.

The stairwell of the old complex was dusty and grey. The walls were covered with various chaotic advertisements for lock-picking and pipe unclogging, and the sound-activated light above flickered on and off.

Jiang Zhi deliberately slowed her pace, waiting for the little cat behind her, afraid that the small cat might feel wronged and stubbornly refuse to move again.

She had intended to give her the cold shoulder, but less than ten minutes later, she couldn’t bear it. She even felt a little guilty, as if she had truly bullied and abandoned her.

She rode the small electric scooter, which was charging at the station downstairs, over and stopped it by Lin Anran’s feet: “Get on.”

She handed her the helmet.

Every time Lin Anran took the helmet, she would complain about it and ask why the helmet she ordered hadn’t arrived yet.

The delivery should have arrived in three days, but the seller was slow to ship. Jiang Zhi suggested switching vendors, but Lin Anran refused.

She didn’t like the ninety-nine-yuan helmet before, complaining it was cheap, but now when asked to switch, she refused, insisting on waiting for the one the slow vendor was shipping—a strange thought process.

This time, unusually, Lin Anran took the helmet without her usual complaints and put it straight on.

She was becoming increasingly obedient. Perhaps Jiang Zhi’s cold shoulder earlier had deterred her from making trouble.

Jiang Zhi felt like laughing and actually let out a chuckle.

Lin Anran looked at her discontentedly, instinctively retorting: “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny…”

Her retort stopped abruptly mid-sentence, as if she remembered something. She swallowed the rest of her words, while secretly observing Jiang Zhi’s expression.

Her face was etched with caution.

Jiang Zhi pretended not to notice her subtle expression, patting the back seat: “Hurry up and get on, or we’ll be late if you keep dawdling.”

Seeing that Jiang Zhi wasn’t angry, Lin Anran breathed a sigh of relief, then raised her chin, becoming arrogant again, though she didn’t dare to curse.

Of course, this was likely only temporary. Miss Lin would probably start cursing again soon.

Lin Anran sat on the back seat as usual, her fingers pinching a corner of Jiang Zhi’s clothes.

The small electric scooter moved smoothly on the road. Street scenes passed by, and the sound of the wind whistled past their ears.

Jiang Zhi hadn’t tied her hair up today. Her strands flew in the wind, carrying the fresh scent of shampoo, lightly brushing against the face of the person in the back.

This made Lin Anran’s face tickle. She didn’t move away from the hair; instead, she instinctively leaned in a fraction closer.

The hand pinching the corner of Jiang Zhi’s clothes tightened.

Her heart strangely skipped a beat—a very peculiar feeling she had never experienced before.

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