Transmigrating as the Female Supporting Character: Dumb with Deep Pockets - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Straight as a Ruler

Heat—intense, suffocating heat.

Su Su felt as though she were wrapped in a layer of invisible gauze. Opening her misty eyes, Chen Jia’s delicate features were right in front of her. Amidst Su Su’s startled gaze, Chen Jia slowly lowered her head, leaving a damp, warm kiss on her earlobe. Her usually clear, crisp voice was now excessively syrupy.

“Su Su… time to eat!”

She snapped awake from the dream, only to find the room flooded with daylight. Chen Jia’s voice came through the door, sweeping away the lingering traces of the sticky, romantic dream with its usual bright clarity.

Su Su’s cheeks burned. The lingering sensation from the dream made her involuntarily tense, her voice trembling as she replied.

“Oh… okay, I know! Just leave it outside. I’ll be out after I wash up.”

“Are you feeling okay? Your voice sounds a bit strange.”

Su Su cleared her throat. “No, I’m fine! Go ahead and eat, I’ll be out soon.”

Since she was so insistent, Chen Jia didn’t push further and headed downstairs.

In the bathroom, Su Su stared at her flushed face in the mirror and frustratedly ruffled her hair. “Su Su, can you please be a little more composed?”

And besides… even if she did dream about it, why on earth was she the one on the bottom? She was pretty, she was rich—it just didn’t make sense!

…

For the rest of the day, Su Su was uncharacteristically quiet. Whenever Chen Jia glanced her way, she would flinch as if burned and quickly look away. When school ended, she didn’t say a single word to Chen Jia before heading off to cheerleading practice.

Chen Jia watched her walk away, deep in thought.

On the basketball court, Ning Qingyuan was also acting strange today. Previously, she had been practically glued to Chen Jia’s side, but today she had undergone a total personality shift. She kept her distance and spoke in a perfectly normal tone.

When Su Su walked over from the cheerleading squad, she happened to see Ning Qingyuan sitting on the sidelines resting. Ning Qingyuan looked back, saw her, and waved. “Come here.”

Seeing the “Little Green Tea” acting so suddenly welcoming made Su Su immediately wary. “What do you want?”

“Oh, don’t be so hostile. I admit I was trying to get close to Chen Jia before, but can’t I apologize? I promise you, I am straight—as a ruler.”

As she spoke, Ning Qingyuan’s expression became a bit embarrassed. “I only did that because I thought you two weren’t actually together.”

Su Su was furious. “You have the nerve to call yourself straight after that? You dead Green Tea!”

Ning Qingyuan opened her mouth but found herself speechless. Thinking back on her behavior over the past few weeks, she was pretty disgusted with herself too. “I’m really not a lesbian. I just… I wanted to see if it was possible to turn someone gay.”

Su Su froze, her anger momentarily forgotten. She was far more interested in the results of Ning Qingyuan’s “experiment.”

“And?”

“The truth is, I don’t like girls. Even when I forced myself to be close to Chen Jia, I couldn’t feel anything for her.”

Su Su processed this for a moment before snapping, “Are you crazy? Why would you even test that?”

Ning Qingyuan felt aggrieved. “You think I wanted to? It started during the National Day holiday. You two were hanging around near my house, and my younger sister suddenly told me she thought Chen Jia was hot and wanted to date her. I nearly died of fright! She’s only seventeen, she’s a minor! She doesn’t even know what dating is, and suddenly she tells me she likes girls.”

Her voice became more anxious as she continued. “She only dared to tell me. If my parents found out, they’d break her legs. She swore to me that her ‘radar’ was 100% accurate and that Chen Jia was a total ‘top-tier’ lesbian. I couldn’t see it at all. Aside from being pretty, Chen Jia seemed normal to me. I watched her for a long time and realized you guys are just friends, so I wanted to test it myself to see if the ‘issue’ was with Chen Jia. But I found out Chen Jia is very straight, just like me. You’re the only one who’s gay.”

Su Su’s heart did a somersault. She didn’t have a “gaydar” at all; she couldn’t tell for the life of her if Chen Jia was queer. “Then why did you suddenly stop testing?”

“Because I couldn’t fake it anymore. Plus, my sister came back yesterday and told me her ‘top-tier’ crush is taken. She admitted she didn’t even like Chen Jia that much; she just wanted to use her as a way to come out to me and get me to cover for her in the future. My head is messier than yours right now.”

Su Su glanced at her. “I can tell.” In the few minutes they had been standing there, Ning Qingyuan had sighed countless times.

Chen Jia might be un-turnable. This news was devastating to Su Su. The two of them sat on the sidelines with such long faces that they dampened the energetic atmosphere of the court.

Chen Jia caught the scene from the corner of her eye. Frowning, she raised her hand. “Senior, I’d like to take a break.”

“Go ahead. Ning Qingyuan, you’re up.”

Chen Jia sat down next to Su Su. “What’s wrong? You’ve been upset since this morning.”

Su Su snapped out of it, looking at Chen Jia’s features so close to her own, and suddenly remembered her dream from the night before. She felt a mix of shame and sadness. She shook her head. “Nothing.”

Ning Qingyuan, watching the two of them, let out a heavy sigh. “The one you can’t have is always the one that keeps you restless.”

Chen Jia didn’t quite follow. “Hmm?”

“Nothing. My turn, right?” She tied back the loose strands of hair on her face, patted Su Su’s shoulder, gave one last sigh, and left.

“When did you two get so close?” Chen Jia asked.

“Who’s close to her?”

Even if the misunderstanding was cleared, it didn’t mean they were friends. Chen Jia felt Su Su was hiding something. She knew everyone was an individual, but Su Su’s clear distress was only going to get worse if she bottled it up. She looked Su Su in the eye and said seriously, “If something is bothering you, you have to tell me.”

“Okay.”

But I can’t say it. If I do, it’s over. We won’t even be friends. Su Su forced a smile. “Really, don’t worry about me. I just had a sudden mood swing, I’ll be fine in a bit. You’re actually pretty good at basketball.”

She stiffly changed the subject. Chen Jia pursed her lips, not calling out the lie. “Yeah, I played a bit back in school.”

Su Su squeezed her palms and finally asked the question she’d been harboring for a long time. “Chen Jia, everyone is starting to date now that we’re freshmen. Do you… do you want to date someone?”

Chen Jia was confused by the pivot. “Why do you ask?”

Su Su’s smile was strained. “Because even more people have been asking me about you lately.” The “Confession Wall” drama had only lasted a few days, but Chen Jia’s performance at the Arts Festival had drawn a lot of permanent attention. Su Su regretted not anticipating this.

Chen Jia reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Su Su’s ear. “Your black roots are showing. Time for a touch-up.”

“Huh?” Lost in her melancholy, Su Su didn’t expect the comment. She touched her hair; she had noticed it today, too. “I’ll just dye it all back to black in a few days.” Black was easier—no fading, and it matched Chen Jia’s.

“You haven’t answered my question yet. Have you thought about dating?”

Su Su figured that until Chen Jia actually started dating someone, she could slowly test the waters. What if? What if it worked? Even though her aunt had warned her countless times not to break that “window paper” if she wanted to stay friends, Chen Jia was like a delicious little cake right in front of her every day. She didn’t have the willpower to keep from wanting a bite. Her gaze lingered on Chen Jia with a heat she didn’t even notice.

“I don’t have any plans for that. I just want to study hard, make money, and pay you rent.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

In both her past life and this one, dating had never felt like a necessity to Chen Jia. She felt that living her own life well was the priority. As for romance—she was perfectly happy on her own, so why complicate things?

Hearing her so serious, Su Su breathed a sigh of relief. “Right. You can’t date right now. You need to focus on making money to pay me rent.”

The rent was secondary; the “no dating” was the goal.

That evening, Ning Qingyuan insisted on treating Chen Jia to dinner. “I was a bit too enthusiastic before and probably scared you, right? Don’t take it to heart. I’m sincerely treating you today. Also, let’s talk about the competition. With the three of us together, we’ll be much stronger.”

“I’m really not good at that stuff. You two should just go.” Chen Jia didn’t want to waste her time on something she wasn’t skilled at.

“That won’t do! If you’re not good, you can learn. You’re so smart, you’ll pick it up in no time.” In her excitement, Ning Qingyuan grabbed Chen Jia’s hand, only for Su Su to brush it away.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to,” Su Su snapped. “You’re just bad at other subjects and want Chen Jia to carry you.”

Ning Qingyuan didn’t look ashamed at being called out. “Hey, another friend is another path, right? We’re all friends here.” She winked at Su Su, her expression full of meaning.

Su Su clenched her fists. That dead Green Tea was actually threatening her! Fine, she was good. Besides, having another award would be good for Chen Jia.

“I think she has a point,” Su Su said, helping to persuade her. “Like you said, competitions are good for your resume. It would be good for you.”

Chen Jia looked at them suspiciously. “Are you two hiding something from me?”

It wasn’t her imagination—whenever Su Su and Ning Qingyuan spoke, there was a subtext she couldn’t grasp. She felt a sudden, sharp pang of urgency, as if Su Su was about to be snatched away. Without realizing it, Chen Jia—who had never had close friends—had begun to cherish Su Su so much that she didn’t want to share her friendship with anyone else.