Accidentally Pursued The Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 20
Hearing Xie Qiaoyu’s assessment of Lu Jingchen, Shen Mian’s heart bloomed with joy. She was no longer worried that Xie Qiaoyu would develop sparks with Lu Jingchen, and she relaxed, saying, “Sister Qiaoyu, you’ve really worked hard. Tonight, you must have a good, hearty meal to reward yourself.”
Xie Qiaoyu chuckled softly, then equally expressed concern for Shen Mian. “And you? How’s your studies after school started?”
Shen Mian’s school had already started, and today Shen Mian had only come out to help Xie Qiaoyu move because she didn’t have classes.
Hearing Teacher Xie’s question, Student Shen obediently replied, “Thanks to Sister Qiaoyu for tutoring me, not only can I keep up with everything the school teachers teach, but they even said recently that they want to send me to participate in a competition.”
Xie Qiaoyu pressed the accelerator, speeding up the car, and said genuinely, “Very impressive.”
Shen Mian immediately responded, “It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching.”
The car arrived at a large furniture supermarket. The two prepared to browse from the top floor downwards.
When Xie Qiaoyu moved out of the Xie family, she only took her clothes and shoes. Furniture like tables, chairs, and sofas were still provided by the house itself. As for other small household items like pots, pans, and water cups, Xie Qiaoyu planned to buy them all today.
Shen Mian had a great interest in shopping at supermarkets. She pushed the shopping cart beside Xie Qiaoyu, recommending items she thought were beautiful or practical. Enthusiastic Shen Mian didn’t notice that sometimes, the coaster she casually praised would be tossed into the cart by Xie Qiaoyu without even a glance.
By the time they had browsed sufficiently, Shen Mian looked at the items in the cart and found that most of them were of her preferred style, with only a few items that Xie Qiaoyu was actually interested in.
It was as if Xie Qiaoyu had lost her aesthetic sense.
Shen Mian’s face flushed slightly. “Si- Sister Qiaoyu? How come everything in here is what I like?”
“I thought they looked good, so I bought them.”
Shen Mian had originally thought Xie Qiaoyu had put them in the cart for her, but she hadn’t expected Xie Qiaoyu to buy them for herself.
Hearing Xie Qiaoyu’s words, Shen Mian picked up the topmost cup and asked in surprise, “Sister Qiaoyu, are you sure you’ll like this green worm cup?”
Xie Qiaoyu looked at it and only then realized how unique the cup’s design was. The whole cup was shaped like a standing caterpillar, with a coiled tail forming the handle. Above the rim of the cup were two distinctly black and yellow large, independent eyes.
At first glance, it was both bizarre and speechless. And this was precisely Shen Mian’s peculiar aesthetic.
Shen Mian aimed the worm’s eyes at herself, winked, then turned the front of the cup towards Xie Qiaoyu. “Sister Qiaoyu, you need to be careful.”
Xie Qiaoyu, who was disgusted by the cup’s appearance, lightly coughed and explained, “I bought this for you to drink water from when you come to my house.”
Shen Mian’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. “My exclusive cup?”
“Mm.”
“Thank you, Sister Qiaoyu!” Shen Mian said her thanks, quickly and steadily placing the cup into the cart, afraid Xie Qiaoyu would find it too ugly and put it back.
Shen Mian then rummaged through the items at the bottom of the cart and found that many of them aligned with her aesthetic preferences but had nothing to do with Xie Qiaoyu’s furniture.
Shen Mian slowly looked up at Xie Qiaoyu and said, “Sister Qiaoyu, I’m so sorry. It seems like I’m the one who came here to buy things. Don’t worry, next, I will carefully choose things that suit you.”
Listening to Shen Mian’s familiar reassurances, Xie Qiaoyu nodded slightly.
The two browsed until they reached the bedding section.
Shen Mian stopped her endless flow of suggestions and whispered, “Sister Qiaoyu, you should choose the bed sheets yourself.”
Xie Qiaoyu was a little surprised. “Why? Are you shy?”
Shen Mian shook her head, then pointed into the distance. “Not exactly. Actually, I saw that one at a glance, but you definitely won’t like it.”
Xie Qiaoyu followed Shen Mian’s finger. A set of bright red peony-patterned bedding came into view, also printed with the four large characters ‘幸福美满’ (happy and harmonious).
Xie Qiaoyu: “…”
The striking red that met her eyes was too stunning, leaving Xie Qiaoyu dazed for a few seconds. Finally, she glanced at Shen Mian’s relatively fashionable attire. “Who bought your clothes?”
“Clothes? I bought them myself.” Shen Mian didn’t understand Xie Qiaoyu’s sudden question, but she still replied truthfully.
“Then…” Xie Qiaoyu really couldn’t imagine how the taste of the person in front of her could reconcile a green worm cup with bright red floral bed sheets.
Shen Mian understood Xie Qiaoyu’s unspoken meaning. She raised her hand and scratched her head. “I’m sorry, Sister Qiaoyu, my aesthetic today is a bit rebellious, so you should choose it yourself.”
Xie Qiaoyu: “…Okay.”
After a somewhat ‘circuitous’ process of buying bedding, the two prepared to check out. But as they passed a shelf selling throw pillows, Xie Qiaoyu thought of the insufficient number of pillows on her sofa and decided to buy a few more.
The two stood in front of the shelf, discussing the pros and cons of different colors and styles, but in reality, only Shen Mian was enthusiastically discussing. Xie Qiaoyu merely made decisions among the throw pillows Shen Mian selected.
Just as Xie Qiaoyu had made her decision and was about to buy all of them to take home, Shen Mian, who was idly looking around, saw a very familiar figure in the distance. Looking closer, it was a familiar back of the head.
Xie Qiaoyu placed all the throw pillows in the cart and was about to pull Shen Mian away when she saw the person beside her take off running into the distance, calling out a person’s name as she ran.
“Yi Nian! Yi Da Nian!”
The person called by Shen Mian’s name turned around upon hearing her voice, and then felt a ball of fire pounce into his arms.
Xie Qiaoyu stood in the distance, calmly watching the two hugging tightly.
If there was anyone who was best to Shen Mian, besides Shen Zhixing, Shen Xiu, Shen’s parents, and Brother Wang, it was Yi Nian.
Yi Nian, Shen Mian’s childhood sweetheart, grew up together, inseparable. But Yi Nian went abroad for college, causing the two to not see each other for a long time.
In her previous life, she had gone abroad to visit Yi Nian for a few days, and hadn’t seen him again until her death.
Shen Mian hadn’t expected to have such a pleasant surprise just by accompanying Xie Qiaoyu shopping.
Shen Mian pulled away from Yi Nian’s embrace, punched him on his left shoulder, and said with joyous complaint, “Da Nian, why didn’t you tell me you were back in the country? Have you become estranged from me after not seeing each other for years?”
Yi Nian was only certain that the person in front of him was Shen Mian after being punched. He murmured in surprise, “Xiao Mian?”
Shen Mian hummed in response. “Yes!”
Yi Nian laughed heartily and explained, “I just got back yesterday, haven’t had time to notify you yet.”
“Alright, then what are you here to buy? I’ll help you pick!” Shen Mian noticed that Yi Nian was also pushing a shopping cart with a few items in it.
Yi Nian: “I’m back in the country for school. I recently moved to a new place, so I came to buy some appliances.”
Someone who was flipping through what Yi Nian had bought grasped the key point and asked, “Back in the country for school? Why?” *This wasn’t in her previous life, she was a bit confused.*
Yi Nian’s lips parted slightly. “I missed you, so I came back.”
Hearing Yi Nian’s seemingly confessional words, Shen Mian rolled her eyes. “Tch, you’d better be telling the truth.” Shen Mian didn’t believe Yi Nian had come back because he missed her; after all, she had heard Yi Nian say that to many girls before.
Since Yi Nian didn’t want to say, Shen Mian didn’t press further.
Looking at Shen Mian’s lively expression, Yi Nian raised his hand and ruffled the top of Shen Mian’s head, saying gently, “But I’ve bought everything I needed. I don’t need your help picking anymore. How about I treat you to a meal? To that place we used to go to.”
Shen Mian’s eyes lit up. She immediately hooked her arm through Yi Nian’s and cheered happily, “Great! Let’s go!”
After walking two steps, Yi Nian noticed Shen Mian wasn’t carrying anything and asked, “Didn’t you buy anything?”
“I…”
Shen Mian stopped.
*She seemed to… have forgotten something…*
Shen Mian’s pale neck jerked and slowly turned backward, her eyes following the movement of her neck to look into the distance. She saw Xie Qiaoyu still standing motionless in front of the throw pillow shelf. When Xie Qiaoyu saw her looking, she even raised a smile and met her gaze.
Because of the distance, Shen Mian couldn’t discern the meaning conveyed in that smile, but her legs involuntarily trembled a little.
*How could she have forgotten Xie Qiaoyu?!*
Shen Mian’s heart was suddenly filled with guilt and fear. She gently tugged at Yi Nian’s arm and whispered, “Come with me, I’ll introduce you to someone.”
Yi Nian also saw Xie Qiaoyu in the distance. When he saw Xie Qiaoyu, a flicker of confusion passed through Yi Nian’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
The two walked one after another towards Xie Qiaoyu.
Shen Mian, feeling uneasy, latched onto Xie Qiaoyu’s arm and softly introduced, “Sister Qiaoyu, this is my friend, Yi Nian.”
Then Shen Mian turned to Yi Nian and said, “Yi Nian, this is Xie Qiaoyu, my…” *Tutor? Friend? Or…* Shen Mian paused for a second before introducing, “My good elder sister.”
The three words “good elder sister” made both Xie Qiaoyu’s and Yi Nian’s eyelids twitch.
Shen Mian couldn’t help it. She had just accidentally forgotten Xie Qiaoyu and was even preparing to leave with Yi Nian. If her sixth sense wasn’t wrong, she had already sensed that Xie Qiaoyu was angry. Shouldn’t she try to please her with an honorific?
Yi Nian extended his hand. “Hello, Miss Xie.”
Xie Qiaoyu released her grip on the shopping cart and offered her hand. “Hello.”
Seeing that Xie Qiaoyu was very calm, Shen Mian secretly let out a breath of relief.
After the brief introductions, the three walked towards the checkout area.
Shen Mian gave Yi Nian a goofy smile and said, “Sorry, Yi Da Nian, Sister Qiaoyu and I have plans for hotpot, so how about we meet up next time?”
Yi Nian wasn’t angry. Instead, he smiled and said, “Okay, that’s fine with me.”
While Shen Mian was talking to Yi Nian, Xie Qiaoyu didn’t say a word. Shen Mian had no choice but to secretly take Xie Qiaoyu’s hand, which was hanging by her side. Fortunately, Xie Qiaoyu didn’t shake her off.
After leaving the supermarket, the three of them went to the underground parking lot together. Shen Mian said goodbye to Yi Nian and got into Xie Qiaoyu’s car.
After Shen Mian got into the car, Xie Qiaoyu didn’t speak.
The atmosphere in the car was eerily calm.
Shen Mian gave an awkward smile, thinking about taking the initiative to find a topic to break the deadlock. After thinking for a few seconds, she said:
“Sister Qiaoyu, I didn’t expect to meet Yi Nian here. I haven’t seen him in years. A few days ago, I was still thinking of finding a chance to go abroad to see him, but I unexpectedly ran into him today.”
“And he even said he came back to the country for school. He was so excited about going abroad back then, I don’t know why he came back.”
“He even said it was because he missed me. No matter how many years pass, his lying skills haven’t improved.”
“Oh, I guess I haven’t introduced Yi Nian to you, Sister Qiaoyu, have I? He’s my neighbor, we grew up together…”
“Shen Mian,” Xie Qiaoyu said.
Interrupted suddenly by Xie Qiaoyu, Shen Mian didn’t react immediately. “Huh?”
Xie Qiaoyu looked up into the distance, where a gray car was parked. Sitting inside was Yi Nian.
Shen Mian also followed Xie Qiaoyu’s gaze and, similarly, saw Yi Nian.
When Shen Mian wanted to turn her head to look at Xie Qiaoyu, she heard Xie Qiaoyu whisper:
“He hasn’t left yet.”
“You go get out and find him.”
T/N: Jealous ~