Chapter 12: The First Time Stealing a Kiss
A few days later, Jiang Muye… no, wait—the story picks up elsewhere.
“Are you there?” Leng Ruoli asked.
“I’m here,” Jiang Muye replied.
She waited a few dozen seconds before sending the next message.
“Can I ask you for a favor? It might be rude of me, but I’ve got no other choice, and there’s no one else to help me. But of course, if it puts you in a spot, you can turn me down.”
“What is it?” he asked.
He was very confused.
From the look of it, she found it hard to bring it up.
What could it be that would put him in a spot?
As he wondered, another message came through.
Jiang Muye’s eyes went wide.
Suddenly his face burned like fire.
Yeah. It really was hard to bring up.
Five minutes later, in the store.
The system chimed, 【Congratulations, Host. You have checked in at the store and received 200,000 rmb.】
Wearing a black cap pulled low, Jiang Muye showed up quietly in the furthest corner of the store.
His eyes burned as he stared.
There were cotton triangle ones, sexy lace ones, silk bow-flower ones, and the kind straight out of the kink aisle, barely a single layer thick.
Jiang Muye felt needles pricking his back.
His choice paralysis kicked in all at once.
He had no way of knowing which one to pick.
If it were for a girlfriend, then obviously the sexiest, hottest kind would be best, but if it was for Leng Ruoli…
Jiang Muye’s ears started burning.
While he stood there dithering over what to choose, the shopkeeper came over and started introducing products to him.
“Young man, are you wearing these yourself or are they for a girl?”
Jiang Muye: Shopkeeper, you know too much.
He flushed red and forced himself to say firmly, “Definitely for a girl! I’m a real man!”
The shopkeeper nodded and said with a smile, “Don’t be shy. I get plenty of boys in here buying for their girlfriends.”
“Not for a girlfriend,” Jiang Muye clarified, but the shopkeeper gave him the look of kid, you really know how to play, which made his face turn bright red.
He’d never been this embarrassed in his life.
“Just this one,” Jiang Muye said on instinct, grabbing a packaged pair of underwear, then pulled his cap down and headed straight for the maxi pad aisle not far away.
He glanced at the message Leng Ruoli had sent.
Sofy, Little Wings, ultra-thin pure cotton, daytime, 240…
Problem was, he couldn’t find any of it!
The sheer variety left him dizzy.
This was his first time buying this kind of thing.
After comparing for ages, he finally found a pink package. He hurried to take the underwear and the pads to the register.
Once the checkout was done, Jiang Muye fled fast.
He couldn’t give the shopkeeper the chance to laugh at him.
【Congratulations, Host. You checked in at the store for ten minutes. You are now rewarded with 500,000 rmb.】
Thankfully there was still money to be had, which soothed Jiang Muye’s young, fragile heart a little.
Jiang Muye soon reached the entrance to the girls’ bathroom on the second floor of the teaching building.
He sent Leng Ruoli a message to let her know he was at the door.
Moments later, he heard footsteps from inside.
Soon, her shy face appeared before Jiang Muye’s eyes.
Her skin was entirely red, giving off a feast-for-the-eyes kind of appeal. Her long, thick lashes trembled, and her white teeth bit her pink lips. Embarrassed, she said, “Thank you.”
Little White Dove’s words about Leng Ruoli liking him echoed in his head, and Jiang Muye couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
“No problem.”
“Can you wait for me a bit?” She lifted her brimming, watery eyes, pleading.
She really had gotten her period.
Of course, it was also Mi Lu who had coached her into using this trick to make Jiang Muye bring her pads, since it would heat things up between the two of them.
From whatever underwear he bought, they could tell what kind of person he was.
Whether he was a pure-hearted young boy or an old hand behind the wheel, it would be obvious at a glance.
Jiang Muye’s heart quivered, and he rubbed his nose. “I’d better go first. This is the girls’ bathroom entrance, after all. It wouldn’t be good if someone saw. It’d hurt your reputation too, and there’d be rumors.”
“What rumors?” Leng Ruoli blinked.
“Like you liking me… saying the two of us are dating, cough cough cough, so we’d better keep our distance, to avoid affecting you.” Jiang Muye was a bit embarrassed at first, but then he thought, I’m a man, what am I being so bashful for.
So he said it outright.
Leng Ruoli’s autumn-water eyes curved, and then she stood on her tiptoes and, under Jiang Muye’s astonished gaze, kissed his handsome face.
“They’re right. I like you!”
The warm, sweet heat on his cheek reminded Jiang Muye.
He had been kissed.
Forcefully kissed, even.
Jiang Muye covered his cheek in shock.
He saw that after kissing him, Leng Ruoli’s pretty face was flushed red, a sweet, happy smile floating on it.
“I won’t be swayed by others, because the only person who can sway me is you!”
“Liking you isn’t a passing whim—it’s the result of careful thought after a long time in the making. Jiang Muye, I like you. The kind of like where I really, really like you!”
Leng Ruoli had thrown caution completely to the wind now. Her hands tugged nervously at the hem of her skirt, but the words she cried out were firm and bold.
Her affection was like spring water brimming over in her eyes, impossible to dispel and clear for all to see.
Jiang Muye’s heartbeat drummed like a war drum, thump thump thump.
His body temperature kept rising.
A little blood surged with excitement.
But after his brain froze up, it began to clear again.
“I admit your confession is very moving. I think any other guy faced with your confession wouldn’t turn it down.”
“But sorry, that doesn’t mean I won’t.”
Jiang Muye took a deep breath. “I haven’t gotten over my last relationship yet, so I’m not ready to accept the next one.”
He had already braced himself for Leng Ruoli to curse him out, or even to break down in tears in front of him.
But Leng Ruoli lifted her chin, and the corner of her mouth turned up. “As expected of the boy I like.”
Jiang Muye looked blank. “???”
This wasn’t quite what he had expected.
In an instant, a projection fell right in front of Jiang Muye.
He saw Leng Ruoli step closer, those clear, bright fawn-like eyes carrying a gentle smile.
“The Jiang Muye I know is a boy who takes feelings seriously. If you’d accepted my confession, that would have been jumping straight from one to the next. Obviously you’re not the kind of boy who plays with feelings.”
“Listen. I’m going to chase you, and in this life, I’ve decided on you!” Leng Ruoli’s eyes curved, her cheeks red.
Jiang Muye was astonished.
Suddenly he felt flustered and frantic. “Go change your pad. I’m leaving first.”
He walked off quickly.
His steps were a little unsteady.
His whole head felt woozy.
He had been confessed to. And kissed.
Leng Ruoli had even said she wouldn’t give up. Just what about him attracted her?
Jiang Muye couldn’t figure that one out himself.
And after watching Jiang Muye leave, Leng Ruoli instinctively touched her own lips.
Still warm.
The most important thing was that she had kissed Jiang Muye!
So happy. She had finally confessed, with Mi Lu’s encouragement.
Even though it hadn’t succeeded, she believed that in the near future, Jiang Muye would definitely be moved by her.