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By the time Qin Juran hung up the call, Ruan Nan was still encircled in her arms, so she heard the entirety of Zhou Ziqing’s muffled shouting from the receiver. Her body unconsciously stiffened, and she awkwardly explained while trying to move away, “Zhou Ziqing is really out of line sometimes…”
Instead of replying, Qin Juran used an arm to pull her tighter, then softly let out the words, “Don’t move.” She rubbed against the space between her shoulder and neck, just like a doting cat, then took a deep breath and finally let go.
Qin Juran got out of bed and quickly went to sit at her desk. The rays of morning sun shone upon her back, highlighting the curves of her body, which were covered by her short white silk nightgown. Her long white legs were loosely crossed, and the dark tattoo on her ankle was especially eye-catching.
Qin Juran casually tousled her hair and peered at Ruan Nan, who was still sitting on the bed: “I don’t care about what anyone else thinks of me.”
Ruan Nan paused, her eyes landing upon the band-aid on her knee. She frowned and asked, “You got hurt?”
Qin Juran also froze, then turned her head and replied, “It’s nothing.”
After pouring Ruan Nan a glass of water, Qin Juran went to change and wash up. Taking into consideration the tattoo on her ankle, she chose a tight-fighting t-shirt and a pair of long jeans.
She offered her clothes to Ruan Nan, but her entire closet was full of white, which was not much to Ruan Nan’s style. In the end, she selected a short white dress.
Qin Juran sent Qin Julai a message to let him know that she was about to use the restroom, so he shouldn’t come out. But as she led Ruan Nan there to wash up, they just happened to bump into Qin Haotian in the hallway.
The two girls stared at Qin Haotian while he stared back, before Ruan Nan hurriedly greeted, “Good morning, Uncle.”
Qin Juran also followed up, “Morning, Dad.”
“…..”
Qin Haotian beamed and nodded towards Ruan Nan, “Ranran’s classmate?”
Qin Juran briskly nodded and replied, “She’s the one who dropped me off. Since something happened with her family yesterday, I offered for her to stay over here last night.”
Qin Haotian looked back and forth from Ruan Nan to Qin Juran. He exclaimed, “What time did she arrive, how come you didn’t even tell your Dad? Did you eat dinner last night? Ranran, you didn’t even properly receive your guest!”
“It was too late last night, so I wasn’t able to tell you guys,” Qin Juran explained, nudging Ruan Nan to go to the bathroom first. Since Qin Juran hadn’t come back home in a long while, all the toothbrushes and toiletries were brand new.
Once Ruan Nan was inside, Qin Haotian hurriedly dragged Qin Juran into the living room, a mysterious expression on his face: “Ranran, is that the girl you were talking about the other day?”
“Huh?” Qin Juran’s eyes widened in surprise. How did he know?
Qin Haotian’s face morphed into an expression that seemed to say, “I must’ve guessed right.” He spoke secretively, “You can’t hide it from your Dad. Dad has never seen you treat any other girl so meticulously.”
The original Qin Juran was rather aloof and didn’t seem to care for any of the other female students her age, so she always gave Qin Haotian a sense of alienation.
Qin Juran’s face reddened and she forced out a cough. In a low voice, she answered, “Dad, we’re not together yet.”
“You’re still chasing her?” Qin Haotian asked, surprised.
“…..” Well, at least now she knew where Qin Julai’s knack for hitting the nail on the head came from.
“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’m taking it slow.” This was the first time Qin Juran ever discussed these kinds of matters with her elders, so she couldn’t help feeling a bit shy.
“It takes six hours to drive from your school to our home – and you said that she was the one who drove you here?”
Qin Juran nodded.
“Alright, I understand.” Qin Haotian smiled mischievously as he walked away.
Sensing that he was up to something, Qin Juran quickly grabbed his elbow: “You don’t need to, Dad…”
“Don’t you worry, Ranran. I know what’s proper and what’s not, I won’t embarrass you.”
“That’s not it, Dad, I didn’t mean it like that…You’re not worried that she’s not a ‘good girl’? Or that it’ll turn out like before with Fan Chuan…”
Qin Haotian firmly nodded his head, looking directly into Qin Juran’s eyes, “Daddy believes that someone who would make such a long trip just to drive you home, and who doesn’t look down upon our family circumstances, could not be a bad person.”
After saying this, Qin Haotian walked towards the doorway. Qin Juran felt a warmth in her heart as she moved to follow him. Ruan Nan had also just finished washing up and walked out of the bathroom. Seeing her, Qin Haotian laughed and walked over, “You are Nannan, right? You left in such a rush last night you didn’t get to eat the dinner that Uncle cooked! You must stay for lunch today, at least – Uncle will cook you our family’s best dishes!”
Ruan Nan froze midstep and glanced somewhat helplessly towards Qin Juran.  Qin Juran rubbed her nose and replied hesitantly, “How about next time, Dad? What if she has something to do?”
“It’s a holiday, what is there to do? Last time it was raining, and you didn’t even invite Nannan to come in for a meal – that wasn’t right. So, today you need to make it up to her.”
“So that’s that, then. Once it’s around 2 p.m., most of the customers will be gone, so we shall eat then. We have all sorts of snacks around the house, eat anything you like. I’ll go make you guys some breakfast right now.”
Even though Ruan Nan had planned to leave after she washed up, seeing Qin Haotian’s such natural enthusiasm, she was unable to refuse him. She looked towards Qin Juran, who seemed to agree, and lightly nodded.
""
By the time the two got ready and went downstairs, Qin Haotian had already laid out a sumptuous breakfast on the table. Qin Julai was also sitting there, and he greeted Ruan Nan politely as she walked in, “Good morning, Older Sister.”
…..For some reason, Qin Juran felt that his voice sounded sweeter than usual.
Ruan Nan nodded and let out a soft laugh in Qin Julai’s direction, knowing that he was the little brother who helped her last night. At that moment, Qin Juran noticed the dimple in her left cheek that only emerged when she was laughing. It was especially cute.
…..It seemed that she had never laughed like that with her before.
Qin Juran pressed her lips together and pushed Qin Julai’s plate further away from him.
Qin Julai seemed to be naturally sociable, chatting with Ruan Nan throughout the meal. Qin Haotian also didn’t eat with them, letting the youngsters chat freely.
The whole time, Mama Qin was nowhere to be seen. When Qin Juran asked after her and heard that Mama Qin had a headache and was sleeping in, she quickly went to bring up some bread and milk.
She came back to see that Qin Haotian was no longer in the kitchen, and was instead by the table talking with Ruan Nan, the latter having a polite smile plastered on her face.
Qin Juran walked over: “What are you talking about, Dad?”
Qin Haotian replied straightforwardly, “Nothing much, just asking Nannan what she wants for lunch and whether she has any dietary restrictions.”
“Oh, that’s right – Lailai also has to go back to his dormitory once school starts, but the supermarket by his school is too small. Could you go to the market later to buy some food and supplies for him? Nannan, you could go along as well if you don’t have anything else to do?”
“Ah…okay.” Ruan Nan nodded.
Qin Haotian was the type of father who called his daughter “my precious” and his son “brat”; he didn’t seem like the type to have the older sister accompany the younger brother shopping. Before Qin Juran could ask, Qin Julai beat her to it: “Dad, I can go by myself. What’s the point of troubling Older Sister?”
Qin Haotian frowned at Qin Julai and responded firmly, “You always choose the worst things with that careless attitude. It’s better to let your sister help.”
“Hey, it’s just food and supplies, what’s there to choose…Aiya Dad, what’d you kick me for…”
“I’m done.” Ruan Nan gracefully placed down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a napkin. Glancing towards Qin Juran, she prompted, “Let’s go.”
The two got up and walked towards the doorway. Before they left, Qin Juran pretended to go back to get her purse, and rushed straight towards Qin Haotian: “What are you doing, Dad?”
Qin Haotian looked towards Ruan Nan and saw that she was already outside. He answered swiftly, “Ranran, don’t you know? Going shopping together is the best way to strengthen feelings between two people. You can find out each other’s favorite foods and trinkets and all those small details – it’s much more effective than going out to the movies or whatever you young people do these days.”
Qin Juran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Where did you learn that from?”
Qin Haotian raised an eyebrow: “You think that’s something I’d need to learn?”
“…..”
Alright, alright. Qin Juran slung over a small purse and grabbed the keys to her electric bike, preparing to leave. Qin Julai also wanted to join, but he was stopped by Qin Haotian’s shouts of “Go upstairs and do your homework!”
The two sat on the bike and prepared to go. Since Qin Juran had no idea where the nearby supermarkets were, she stealthily held the navigation tool open with one hand, the other hand steering the bike. After a long detour, they finally arrived at a large supermarket.
The girls grabbed their bags and walked towards the market. On the way, Qin Juran couldn’t help joking, “Miss Ruan, I’m sure you rarely personally set foot in a supermarket?”
Ruan Nan ignored her and in a familiar motion, went to grab a shopping cart.
The section nearest to the entrance was the meat section. Since the Ju family were restaurant owners, they certainly would have no shortage of meats. The freezer holding the mutton had a display of a small cartoon sheep. The image was both lifelike and enticing, as if it were beckoning, “Come eat me!”
Attracted by the cuteness, Qin Juran pointed to the small sheep and exclaimed happily, “Look, sheepies~” 1
Ruan Nan glanced at her, then pointed to a pig’s head nearby. She mimicked her tone of voice, “Look, JuJu.”
“…..”
The two of them were both amused by the homonym wordplay; Ruan Nan tried hard to hold a straight face, while Qin Juran let out a bright laugh. With lightning speed, she reached out to pat Ruan Nan’s head.
They made their way over to the produce section when Qin Juran realized that she didn’t know which fruits Qin Julai liked. As she sent him a quick message, she jutted her chin in Ruan Nan’s direction: “Is there anything you want to eat?”
Ruan Nan shook her head: “I don’t care.”
Qin Juran looked her up and down, then said somewhat pitifully: “No wonder.”
She tossed a papaya into the cart: “This is for you.”
???
Ruan Nan whipped her head towards Qin Juran, who was casually adjusting her shirt sleeve, flashing a sliver of her full chest in the process.
Ruan Nan let out a sarcastic laugh, and, not wanting to be outdone, also placed a grapefruit into the cart: “This is for you.”
She continued, “To reduce your body heat.”
Tch…In a smooth motion, Qin Juran pulled Ruan Nan to her side and muttered right into her ear, “Last night already did the trick.”
This supermarket was quite busy, and in the middle of the fruits and vegetables section, Qin Juran’s little display caught the attention of all the passing aunties and uncles. Ruan Nan’s face burned up in an instant.
Just then, a message from Qin Julai came in. Qin Juran glanced at it, then picked up a bag of tangerines and let it sway in the air: “This is for us.”
Footnotes
she says the word “sheep” in an endearing, child-like manner, saying “yang yang”, which would literally be “sheep sheep.” Similarly, Ruan Nan then calls the pig the cute-ified version of her last name, “JuJu.”