The Aloof Film Queen Gets Entangled by a Sweet Little Omega - Chapter 8

So, You Two Are Dating?

A gust of cold wind blew past, causing the bare-legged “Little Bunny” to shiver involuntarily. Snapping back to her senses, she lowered her head and handed over the bag in her hand, her tone somewhat muffled.

“Sister, your clothes… I’ve washed them clean. I’m really sorry about that day.”

Luo Xiao watched her quietly for a moment before looking down to take the bag. Her voice was calm: “It’s alright.”

With that, she handed over the bag she had been carrying. Inside was a fragrant roasted sweet potato; its honey-like aroma was mouth-watering.

Shi Rui swallowed hard. Before her brain could even process it, her hand had already taken the bag. She chirped in surprise, “Wow, thank you, Sister! What a coincidence—I was actually craving this today, but the owner had already driven off on his little tricycle when I got there.”

A crack appeared in Luo Xiao’s perpetual ice-queen facade. She replied somewhat unnaturally, “Mhm. He drove to the bottom of my apartment building, so I bought it while I was at it.”

The Beta standing nearby grinned and chimed in as a witness: “Exactly. That owner pedaled thirty kilometers on his little tricycle just to reach the bottom of her building.”

Shi Rui glanced at the Beta. She wasn’t quite used to the woman’s eccentricities, but hearing those words made her feel quite warm inside.

Emboldened, she mustered the courage to ask the person in front of her, “Sister, are you… free tomorrow?”

“What is it?” Luo Xiao asked back.

Shi Rui’s face turned bright red. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum: “I want to… go out and play with you.”

As the words fell, a look of difficulty crossed Luo Xiao’s face. She looked back at Qi Ran, who shrugged helplessly, indicating there was nothing she could do.

“I have work tomorrow,” Luo Xiao said softly, carefully observing the little bunny’s reaction.

Shi Rui froze for a second, feeling a bit awkward, but she quickly adjusted. She replied with a beam, “No worries, no worries! Work comes first. You go ahead and handle your work, Sister. I’ll go out with my roommates tomorrow; we can make plans for next time.”

She spoke very quickly, as if trying to mask her disappointment. It made Luo Xiao feel a pang of pity.

The night wind was quite strong. Since Shi Rui was dressed lightly, she couldn’t help but sneeze. Before she could say anything, a warm garment drifted lightly onto her shoulders. Looking up, she saw that Luo Xiao had draped her own denim jacket over her.

“This…” Shi Rui started to speak, but the person in front of her said gently, “It’s autumn; the nights get cold. Go back to the dorm first. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow after I finish work.”

Along with the wind came the scent of the woman before her, wrapping around her entirely.

Shi Rui’s face flushed instantly. Her mind went blank, and she could only lower her head, pursing her lips as she whispered, “Oh. Then, goodnight, Sister.”

“Goodnight.”

Luo Xiao didn’t intend to leave immediately; she remained standing there.

Not far behind, the dorm supervisor was already urging her, “Student, I’m about to lock the doors. Are you coming in?”

“Oh, oh! Coming, Auntie!”

Shi Rui panicked slightly at the words. Forgetting everything else, she just turned to the person in front of her with a red face and nagged, “Sister, be careful driving back tonight. Drive slowly.”

“Mhm. Go on in.”

Luo Xiao’s expression remained calm. Standing in the wind, she seemed to merge with it—intangible and unreachable.

The Little Bunny felt a bit reluctant to leave, but she didn’t say anything more. She flashed a smile, waved, and then hopped back inside, clutching her roasted sweet potato.

The supervisor waited until she was inside before locking the door. Seeing how happy the girl was, she asked with a smile, “Is that your Alpha?”

“No, Auntie,” Shi Rui shook her head, muttering softly, “Not yet.”

Seeing her face so red, the supervisor assumed the girl was just shy and stopped teasing her. Waving her off, she said, “Alright, it’s late. Hurry back and get some sleep. Don’t think you can stay up late just because there are no classes tomorrow on Sunday; young people need to take care of themselves, too.”

With that, the supervisor opened her thermos, took a sip of her health tonic soup, and strolled back to her room.

Shi Rui lightly sniffed the sweet scent in the air and called out loudly, “Got it, Auntie!”

She hurried into the elevator. When she returned to the suite, her roommates had already turned in, but hearing the door open, they all popped their heads out simultaneously.

“Whoa,” Ming Qing was the first to exclaim. She ran out without even putting on shoes, circled Shi Rui twice, and then asked loudly on purpose, “What is this you’re wearing?”

At this, Rong An and He Qianqian became curious as well, standing by and waiting for her response.

Shi Rui tugged at the jacket draped over her and replied softly, “It was because the wind downstairs was too cold… I sneezed, so Sister draped it over me.”

Feeling a bit guilty, she quickly held out the bag of roasted sweet potato and asked with a smile, “Sister also bought me a roasted sweet potato. Do you guys want some?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized something was wrong. It seemed… even worse now.

Rong An and He Qianqian looked worried, while Ming Qing crossed her arms and gave a proud, haughty huff. “I told you my ‘ship’ was real! You guys said I was playing matchmaker randomly. Look for yourselves—does this look random?”

Rong An and He Qianqian looked helpless, both admitting they had been wrong earlier. This made Ming Qing’s ego soar even higher.

Shi Rui was completely bewildered and asked blankly, “What are you guys talking about?”

The three exchanged a look and a smile, shaking their heads in unison. Ming Qing urged, “Nothing. Hurry up and try the sweet potato; see if it’s good.”

“I already had a little bit in the elevator. It’s super sweet!” Shi Rui held it out again. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”

“Not me. I’ve already brushed my teeth,” He Qianqian was the first to decline.

Ming Qing also shook her head, baring her white teeth in a grin as she teased, “I’m a sheep, I don’t eat ‘dog food’ (public displays of affection).”

Since they wouldn’t eat, Shi Rui turned to ask Rong An, “Rong-Rong, do you want a taste?”

Rong An’s eyes lit up—she clearly wanted some—but after swallowing hard, she shook her head and sensibly declined: “I better not. I still have so many snacks I haven’t finished. Since Sister bought this for you, you should eat it all yourself.”

It’s one thing if Ming Qing and Qianqian won’t eat, but why is even Rong-Rong refusing?

Shi Rui felt puzzled and was about to ask, but the phone in her pajama pocket rang. Seeing it was a message from “Sister,” she immediately went hopping back to her room, leaving all her confusion far behind.

The remaining three stood there. Ming Qing curled her lip and whispered, “See that? She just bounced away exactly like that.”

After saying this, she mimicked Shi Rui, “goat-hopping” back into her own room.

“Let’s head back to our rooms too,” Rong An said to He Qianqian. They turned off the main dorm light and retreated into their own little nooks.

Shi Rui placed the sweet potato on her desk, replying to messages while she ate.

[Are you back in the dorm?]

[Mhm, mhm!]

The Little Bunny sent an emoji. She scooped a spoonful of the sweet, golden center, biting the spoon as she typed:

[Thank you for the roasted sweet potato, Sister.]

[You’re welcome. Get some rest after you finish.]

Looking at that sentence, Shi Rui kicked her legs happily. she scrolled through her sticker library and picked one to send.

Green Little Crocodile: “Mhm-mhm” .jpg

Luo Xiao looked at it and couldn’t help but stroke the screen, as if that little green crocodile were Shi Rui herself.

“What time does the reshoot end tomorrow?”

Qi Ran, who was driving, didn’t even have to think: “4:30 PM.”

Luo Xiao nodded. She put her phone away, leaned back to rest with her eyes closed, and said softly, “Book the earliest flight back once it’s over.”

“That’s a rush,” Qi Ran said, surprised. She glanced at Luo Xiao through the rearview mirror but thoughtfully kept her mouth shut. It was rare to see Luo Xiao looking tired; it was better not to disturb her.

On Sunday morning, Shi Rui woke up very early. While still dazed, she reached for her phone by the pillow and discovered a message sent late last night.

It was a picture of a boarding pass with the destination: Beijing.

[Going to work.]

The words were very old-fashioned and stiff—like an awkward “reporting in”—but they instantly chased away Shi Rui’s sleepiness. Her eyes went wide as she read the two messages again. Then, squinting with a smile, she hugged her phone and burrowed back into the covers for a sweet morning nap.

By late September, the scent of osmanthus near the playground had grown even more intense.

After waking up at noon, Shi Rui and her roommates went to collect their textbooks for the semester. Not wanting to go back to the dorm just to come back down for food, they decided to carry their books straight to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was packed at this hour. With the sophomores and juniors back on campus, it was a sea of people.

Shi Rui and her group finally managed to snag a table that had just been cleared. They left Qianqian to guard the books while the others split up to “raid” the food stalls.

The first window at the south entrance was a cold drink shop running a promotion today: buy one pound of fruit salad, get half a pound free. Shi Rui loved it, so she pulled Rong-Rong along to get two large boxes, adding plenty of popping boba.

Then—click—she took a photo and sent it to “Sister.”

By the time they fought their way back to the table, the surrounding lines were overflowing, and waves of heat rolled through the room.

Ming Qing sat with a blade of grass (a gift from a shop owner) in her mouth to taste, saying lazily, “If I’d known it would be this crowded, we should’ve taken the books up first and just ordered takeout.”

Shi Rui poked a grape into her mouth with a fork, then leaned in to fan her with her hand, smiling sweetly. “Better now, Qing-Qing?” she coaxed gently. “Just hang in there for a bit; we’ll leave as soon as we finish eating.”

Rong An and He Qianqian joined in the persuasion. Ming Qing sighed, took the grass out of her mouth, tossed it in the trash bag on the table, and started eating her pasta.

Shi Rui ate with her head down, but her eyes kept flickering to her phone.

After she had fully woken up that morning, she had messaged Sister to ask if work was tiring, told her to take care of her health, and not to overwork herself. She had just sent the photo too, but she hadn’t received a reply yet.

Maybe she’s just too busy, she thought.

Beside her, Ming Qing had already started talking about National Day plans. “Are you guys going home? If not, we can go mountain climbing together.”

This Sunday was National Day; they really did need to start planning.

“I’m fine with whatever,” Shi Rui replied to them while picking up her phone to take another picture of her meal to send to Luo Xiao.

However, before she could edit the text, Ming Qing’s teasing voice came from beside her.

“Yo, yo, yo… who are we ‘reporting’ to now?”

Shi Rui looked up to find Rong An and He Qianqian looking back with equally curious expressions.

He Qianqian went straight to the point, asking with a dazed, cute expression: “Bunny, are you two… dating now?”

Support The Aloof Film Queen Gets Entangled by a Sweet Little Omega