Chapter 78 The Love-Brain Female Lead Awakens 21

The boy was fair and clean-cut, with big eyes, long lashes, and slightly long bangs that were styled well. He wore a casual outfit that looked trendy and cool, and on his feet was a pair of hard-to-get sneakers from a certain brand.

Staring at his shoes, Sang Ruo asked something completely unrelated to what he had just said. “What size shoes do you wear?”

“Huh?” The boy was dumbfounded by the question.

“I said, what size shoes do you wear?”

The boy still seemed to suspect he’d heard wrong, and answered uncertainly, “Fo… forty-five?”

Sang Ruo’s eyes lit up. She had guessed from his height and foot size that he was probably around a size forty-five.

That made things easy!

She instantly forgot about being angry and broke into a bright smile. She snapped her fingers in front of the still-bewildered boy to bring him back to his senses. “Want to buy some shoes? Don’t worry, they’re definitely authentic.”

The boy silently edged a little farther away from her. The look on his face seemed to say, “How did such a pretty girl end up becoming a social media salesperson?”

Sang Ruo smacked her forehead, realizing her words were easy to misunderstand. She simply pulled up the order details page on her phone and handed it to him, explaining, “Here’s the thing. I managed to snag a pair of shoes before, but I don’t need them anymore, so I want to sell them. I could tell from your taste in shoes that you know your stuff, so I figured I’d ask.”

She had originally fought to get those shoes as a birthday gift for Zhou Yan, but now there was no need for that anymore. The platform wouldn’t allow returns unless there was a quality issue. Back then, to get this pair, she’d mobilized her whole dorm and a bunch of other friends she knew to all try and grab them at the same time. They had camped out for several rounds before finally managing to get a pair. What a pity, a scumbag like that didn’t deserve something this good.

She had used her New Year’s money¹ to buy them, spending several thousand yuan. The more she thought about it, the more it hurt. It was nearly more than a month’s rent for her.

She had originally planned to list them on a secondhand marketplace once they arrived, but she hadn’t expected to run into a sneaker lover here. She should be able to make back a little more this way than by selling them as a normal secondhand item.

“So that’s what it is.” The boy relaxed a little. “I thought… I was being too narrow-minded.”

Looking at the product details page on Sang Ruo’s phone, he said in delight, “I wanted to buy this style too, but I didn’t manage to get it. And this color just happens to be one I like.”

Sang Ruo said, “Then think about it? You can see it’s brand new, it hasn’t even shipped yet. I’ll just charge you a round number and wipe off the extra.” It didn’t sound like much, but it would still be several hundred yuan cheaper.

To her surprise, the boy refused. “No need to round it down for me. You probably don’t know this, but this pair has already started going up in value on the secondhand market. Buying it from you at the original price already means I’m getting a bargain.”

Sang Ruo was delighted. Looks like she wouldn’t be taking a loss.

The seller was straightforward, and the buyer was honest. There couldn’t have been a better outcome than this.

Sang Ruo said, “Looks like neither of us is cut out for business.”

“Exactly. We’re both afraid the other person will end up losing out.”

That made them both laugh.

The atmosphere was fairly pleasant. In a gossipy tone, the boy asked, “So you weren’t that angry just now because you wanted to date someone and hated seeing couples show off. You got dumped?”

“You’re really nosy, aren’t you?!” Sang Ruo pouted.

She really wanted to tell him that the man she wanted to date hadn’t even become hers yet, and was currently the one making her angry. Then she looked at the shoes in the boy’s hands and remembered the youth Zhou Yan had wasted for her. Indignantly, she said, “Not dumped. I dumped the original intended owner of those shoes. A cheating scumbag should be denounced by everyone.”

At that, the boy’s eyes lit up even more, and the curve of his lips deepened.

He said, “Believe me, losing a girl as interesting, cute, and pretty as you is definitely going to be one of the greatest regrets of his life.”

Sang Ruo felt that this boy was way too familiar for someone she’d just met. After they confirmed that they both intended to go through with the deal, he started chatting with her.

She actually wasn’t in much of a mood to talk, but since the transaction wasn’t complete yet, it was necessary to maintain a good relationship. So she just followed along with the topics he tossed out.

The boy introduced himself. His surname was Tan, Tan Ye.

Maybe his personality was wild too.

Even more coincidentally, he was also from Qingyan City, and he was taking this train home as well. He also studied at Qingyang University, only he was a year above her, a junior this year.

Sang Ruo said, “That makes things easy. I don’t even need to ship it to you. We can just do cash for goods in person, and you can inspect it yourself.”

“Exactly, exactly.” Tan Ye took out his own phone and looked at Sang Ruo. “Let’s add each other so it’ll be easier to get in touch later.”

The two of them added each other on WeChat and exchanged phone numbers too.

As soon as she accepted his friend request, Tan Ye’s profile popped up. First he sent a Baymax² sticker as a greeting, then a transfer of two hundred yuan.

Sang Ruo said, “What’s this for?”

“A deposit, obviously. This way you won’t sell them to someone else.” Tan Ye grinned.

That actually made sense. Sang Ruo tapped to accept the payment and joked, “And you’re not worried I’ll take the money and run?”

“It’d be great if you did run off with it. Then I’d have the perfect excuse to ask you to compensate me with something else.”

“What?”

Tan Ye laughed again. “You actually believed that?! You’re a junior at the same university, where could you possibly run? Otherwise I’d just go wait downstairs outside your girls’ dorm every day and corner you. Let’s see what you’d do then.”

He really did seem to love smiling. The grin on his face never disappeared.

Sang Ruo imagined what it would look like if he really went to her dorm building, and the scene would definitely be hilarious.

“There are only two kinds of guys downstairs outside our dorm. Ones waiting for their girlfriends, and ones delivering food. Then suddenly mixed in there would be one debt collector, and the whole vibe would completely change.”

Tan Ye said, “If anyone asks, then I’ll say I’m… hmm, a delivery guy. I’ll say I’m bringing you food, trick you into coming downstairs, and then won’t I catch you red-handed?”

“Hahahaha, look at you.”

Sang Ruo felt this guy Tan Ye had a bit of a born drama king in him. He could actually run with her words and start acting out a whole script.

The two of them had grown up in the same city, and now attended the same university in that same city, so they had endless common topics. There wasn’t a single awkward pause. And Tan Ye really was interesting. Even ordinary words sounded funny coming out of his mouth, as if they’d been sprinkled with comedy magic. He had Sang Ruo laughing so hard that she completely forgot she’d been angry not long ago.

Sang Ruo: “What? You’re in Class Seven of No. 4 High too? I remember my second cousin on my uncle’s side is too.”

“Your cousin? What’s his surname?”

“Liang.”

“We only have one student surnamed Liang in our class. Don’t tell me it’s Liang Su?”

Sang Ruo nodded rapidly like a pecking chick, even adding a light round of applause for emphasis. The world really was small, and such a coincidence. She couldn’t believe they had run into each other like this.

Tan Ye said, “Maybe this is fate? I never expected you to be Liang Su’s younger sister. We’re pretty close, we play games together all the time. He should be back soon too, right? We can all hang out then.”

After graduating from high school, her second cousin had gone north for university instead of staying local.

“No, I have to tell him this. It’ll scare the daylights out of him.” Sang Ruo sounded excited, and to make it more dramatic, she even planned to take a photo.

Sang Ruo was about to take out her own phone, but Tan Ye unlocked his first. “I’ll do it. I’ll send it to you after I take it.”

As he spoke, he raised his phone high, preparing for a selfie.

When Sang Ruo saw that she was in the frame too, she quickly leaned her face back a little and flashed a sweet smile with a V-sign.

“Hehe, it makes my face look smaller this way.” Sang Ruo scratched her cheek and explained.

“Hahaha, your face is small to begin with,” Tan Ye said.

The high-speed train sped along, swiftly carrying travelers far from home back to their hometown.

As soon as they entered Qingyan City’s boundaries, Sang Ruo felt like even the air had grown fresher, carrying a familiar scent.

Qingyan was a tourist city, always crowded with visitors, so its infrastructure and all kinds of local transport were especially well developed.

After getting off the high-speed rail, you could take a coach straight into the city center, making it easy to get anywhere, and there were also dedicated tourist shuttle lines. The most famous attraction here was Qing River Ancient Town, right on the edge of Qingyan’s urban district.

More precisely, Qingyan had originally only been Qing River Town. It was only later, as the population gradually grew, that the new urban district of Qingyan City developed.

Sang Ruo didn’t need to take the coach. Old Sang had already promised to come pick her up.

The moment she walked out of the station, she spotted Old Sang’s sturdy figure. He was tall, and Mom said he had once been quite handsome when he was young. But now he’d put on weight, and his bearing was no longer what it had been. Still, Sang Ruo thought Old Sang was handsome even now. Looking at his beer belly, she was suddenly reminded of the scene from her dream where the police had informed her to come identify a body. Her eyes grew hot, and she went over and threw herself at him.

“Oh my, what’s wrong with Dad’s Bubu? Who bullied you?” As he spoke, his sharp gaze turned toward Tan Ye, who had come out with Sang Ruo.

Tan Ye rubbed his nose, looking a little awkward.

“It’s nothing. I just missed you,” Sang Ruo said, acting spoiled. “You said you’d come visit me, but you never did.”

“Wasn’t it because that business deal over there fell through later? I figured you’d be back for summer vacation soon anyway.”

Then she introduced Tan Ye.

“Hello, Uncle.”

“Hello, classmate.” Old Sang, completely content as long as he had his daughter, held her little hand and said politely, “Where do you live? Uncle can give you a ride.”

“No need, Uncle. It’s convenient for me to take the coach too. Thank you, Uncle. Goodbye, Uncle.”

Sang Ruo poked her dad. “Old Sang, you scared him.”

“Hmph,” Old Sang said. “Dad thinks that kid looks better than that boyfriend of yours.”

“I hereby solemnly declare that I do not have a boyfriend right now.” She had wanted one, but unfortunately someone hadn’t cooperated. For a smart, adorable girl like her to be rejected by some stinky man, the more she thought about it, the more it was all Yi Chen’an’s fault!

“Oh? So you really broke up?”

“Zhou Yan is already in the past tense. Can you stop bringing him up?”

“Good, good, breaking up was for the best. That kid never looked reliable to me.” With one hand holding his daughter and the other pulling the luggage as they headed for his car, Old Sang sharply asked, “If Zhou Yan is the past tense, then who’s the present tense? That kid from just now?”

“Dad, can you stop being such a gossip? I already told you, we just happened to meet on the train. We only chatted a little, that’s all.”

When they got home, Mom wasn’t there. Old Sang made her a bowl of osmanthus³ tangyuan.

“Have a little something first. We’ll go eat after your mom gets off work. Dad booked a table at a newly opened restaurant. Your mom and I tried it when it first opened, and you’ll definitely like their food.”

Sang Ruo bit into a tangyuan, and the rich fragrance of osmanthus spread through her mouth. It was hot, sweet, and wonderfully fragrant. This was what home tasted like. Only after eating two in a row did she say to Old Sang, who had been sitting there watching her eat, “Let’s not eat out. I learned a few dishes, so I’ll cook tonight.”

When it came to his precious daughter, Old Sang never doubted her. Even if Sang Ruo’s food turned out awful later, he would definitely keep a straight face and tell her she had potential. Sang Ruo understood him well enough on that point.

Sure enough, she heard him immediately say, “Okay, okay, okay. Dad will go cancel the reservation right now.”

He even called Mom to tell her about it, his face full of delight. From the sound of it, Mom was a little hesitant on the other end, but in the end she still agreed, probably because she didn’t want to dampen Sang Ruo’s enthusiasm.

Translator’s Notes