Accidentally Pursued The Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 9
Seeing the fleeting shock on Xie Qiaoyu’s face, Shen Mian knew she had achieved her goal.
Anyone who knew a man had issues in that area wouldn’t date him, right?
Even if they liked him a lot… they would at least have to consider it carefully before agreeing.
For a moment, Shen Mian felt sorry for Lu Jingchen, but thinking of how such a wonderful person like Xie Qiaoyu was treated by him, Shen Mian felt that what she did was already lenient.
Both of them had small appetites, and they were already full after eating some fried skewers.
Seizing the opportunity to spend more time together, Shen Mian said, “Sister Qiaoyu, I’ll take you to eat something else tomorrow.”
Xie Qiaoyu’s eyelids twitched slightly. She wasn’t used to Shen Mian’s enthusiasm yet.
But she had to admit that being with Shen Mian was very comfortable. Regardless of the time or place, Shen Mian was someone who could make Xie Qiaoyu feel at ease.
Xie Qiaoyu nodded. “Okay, but I’ll treat you tomorrow.”
Shen Mian didn’t dwell on this. If Xie Qiaoyu was portrayed as a Cinderella character, then she would never let her spend money no matter what.
But she didn’t refuse now because she knew that Xie Qiaoyu was not short of money at all, and also because Xie Qiaoyu’s inherent pride wouldn’t allow her to owe others.
Xie Qiaoyu had put on light makeup today. After eating the fried skewers, most of the lipstick on her lips had faded, so she had to take out her lipstick and cushion foundation to touch up her makeup slightly.
While Xie Qiaoyu was doing her makeup, Shen Mian wasn’t idle either. She got up and went to Brother Wang’s side, saying a few words.
When she returned to the small table, she saw Xie Qiaoyu had already stood up from the small stool, elegantly holding her bag with both hands, and smiling gently at her. “I’ll take you home.”
The corners of Xie Qiaoyu’s lips curled into a beautiful arc, and the white teeth visible between her lips showed that this smile was genuine.
Shen Mian was stunned.
This should have been the first time she had seen such a smile.
In her previous life, every time she saw Xie Qiaoyu, due to her jealousy, the two of them were always in a tense state.
Oh, the tense one was her.
Xie Qiaoyu at the time didn’t even look at her.
She was like a white mouse, jumping back and forth in the cage created by Xie Qiaoyu’s gaze.
Seeing Shen Mian just staring at her without saying anything, Xie Qiaoyu thought her lipstick wasn’t applied properly, and her smiling lips suddenly tightened.
Just then, someone passed between the two of them, and the fleeting figure interrupted their eye contact.
Unable to see the smile anymore, Shen Mian quickly came back to her senses, automatically ignoring her pounding chest, and shook her head in refusal. “I’ll just take a taxi back.”
Xie Qiaoyu looked at Shen Mian.
“Going back and forth will take too long, and I’m afraid it’s not safe at night. If you go back earlier, you can rest earlier.”
“Then…”
Shen Mian walked closer, and Xie Qiaoyu pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Shen Mian.
There was oily residue from the meat skewers on Shen Mian’s lips, shiny and glistening.
“See you tomorrow?”
Shen Mian took the tissue and wiped her mouth haphazardly. “Okay! See you tomorrow~”
Xie Qiaoyu suddenly reached out. “Give me the paper.”
Shen Mian thought Xie Qiaoyu wanted her to throw away the trash. “Ah? I’ll just throw it away myself in a bit.”
Xie Qiaoyu didn’t speak but pulled out another piece of paper.
Shen Mian felt a little embarrassed. It turned out she had overthought it.
Then what was she going to do?
Shen Mian stared at Xie Qiaoyu’s every move without saying anything.
She saw Xie Qiaoyu’s slender wrist turn and lift, and the white tissue landed on the corner of Shen Mian’s mouth.
Feeling the softness of the tissue, Shen Mian looked up at Xie Qiaoyu.
Xie Qiaoyu was looking intently at the corner of Shen Mian’s mouth, not noticing that Shen Mian was looking at her.
After wiping it twice, she looked up and met Shen Mian’s gaze.
She smiled faintly. “This part wasn’t wiped clean.”
“Oh, oh.”
Shen Mian felt a moment of panic.
She had intended to get close to Xie Qiaoyu, but she wasn’t used to such intimate gestures.
After all, just a few months ago, Xie Qiaoyu was still the person she hated the most in her heart.
Shen Mian’s feet silently moved backward a little.
Xie Qiaoyu also noticed Shen Mian’s movement. Her smile froze, and she withdrew her hand.
“I’ll go first.”
Shen Mian immediately waved. “Okay, be careful on the road.”
••••
Watching Xie Qiaoyu leave, Shen Mian didn’t immediately hail a taxi but turned around and walked to Brother Wang’s stall. “How’s your consideration? What I said earlier, I’ll come help you every Saturday and Sunday night.”
“It’s okay, but are you really just asking for a few fried skewers as payment?”
“Who told you it was just a few?”
Hearing this, Brother Wang’s heart sank. He shouldn’t have believed this beautiful girl’s words.
Saying she would come help him for just a few fried skewers. How could there be such a good thing in the world?
He didn’t earn much, and his money wasn’t enough to hire someone.
Just as he was about to refuse this beautiful woman, he heard her say:
“I said all you can eat, okay?”
“All you can eat?!” Brother Wang smiled. “Okay! That’s easy! I have plenty of skewers, definitely enough to fill you up.”
Brother Wang’s quick agreement wasn’t without thought. He had seen Shen Mian’s appetite; she couldn’t eat too many of his skewers.
But when he was closing his stall at twelve o’clock and watched Shen Mian skillfully pick up no less than ten skewers, regret suddenly surged in his heart.
“Look at you, these are for my eldest brother. He especially loves your fried food.”
Shen Mian took out her phone and paid the price.
While the skewers were being fried, Shen Mian started chatting with Brother Wang.
“My second brother also likes to eat them, but he’s working in the deep mountains and forests now and can’t eat them.”
Shen Mian’s second brother was a celebrity whose stage name was Shen Xiu.
But his real name wasn’t as grand as his stage name. Shen Xiu’s real name was Shen Bao.
Because he was the second child and the apple of his parents’ eyes, he was simply named after the character “Bao” (treasure).
This was also the reason why, in her previous life, no matter how Shen Xiu tried to please Shen Mian, Shen Mian still disliked him.
Because Shen Mian was an unplanned accident outside of her parents’ intentions.
But by the time they found out, it was too late for an abortion, so they had no choice but to give birth to Shen Mian.
Shen Mian, who didn’t know these things, didn’t have a terrible relationship with Shen Xiu and her parents. It wasn’t until she was seven years old that she inadvertently heard her parents talking about this, and she changed.
She became prone to tantrums and acted like a princess, which led to the originally warm and harmonious family relationship becoming cold.
But in fact, from childhood to adulthood, her parents hadn’t owed her anything…
Thinking of all the past events, Shen Mian began to miss Shen Xiu in her heart.
But the film crew he was working with was closed off, and he couldn’t even use his phone.
Otherwise, she could have called Shen Xiu.
Brother Wang didn’t know these things. Hearing that her second brother was working in the deep mountains and forests, he immediately thought of a hardworking laborer. He warmly comforted her, “That’s easy. When he comes back, you can bring it to him then.”
Shen Mian smiled. “Mm.”
••••
At one o’clock in the morning, Shen Mian arrived home.
All the lights in the house were off, and it was pitch black.
Only a bright, glowing light source on the sofa was waiting for her.
“Brother?” Shen Mian looked at the person sitting on the sofa.
The bright light source was Shen Zhixing’s laptop, which he had placed on his lap. Shen Mian glanced at it; an Excel spreadsheet was displayed, indicating he was working.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“Taking Mom’s place to wait for you here.” Shen Zhixing glanced sideways at Shen Mian.
Afraid that Shen Zhixing would ask her where she had gone and what she had been doing, or lecture her for coming back so late, Shen Mian immediately squatted down to curry favor. “Perfect timing, I brought back some delicious food for you.”
Hearing that his sister had brought him something, Shen Zhixing’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but his voice remained calm. “What is it?”
“Fried skewers!”
Shen Zhixing looked at the oily sheen seeping through the plastic bag, his brows furrowing deeply. He said sternly, “Throw them away.”
Then he looked at Shen Mian. “Eat less fried food.”
Shen Mian waved the skewers in front of Shen Zhixing’s face. “Take a bite.”
“No.”
“No? Then you’ll regret it.”
After saying that, Shen Mian sat down beside Shen Zhixing and placed the bag of fried skewers on the coffee table.
Without Shen Mian’s hand gripping it, a small gap appeared at the opening, and a faint aroma wafted out.
Shen Mian opened the bag.
The aroma grew stronger. Shen Zhixing, who had only eaten a little for dinner, shifted slightly to the side. Seeing Shen Mian take out something dripping with oil and prepare to put it in her mouth, Shen Zhixing said sternly, “Go throw it away.”
But Shen Mian wasn’t intimidated by Shen Zhixing. Instead, she shook her head. “Save food, starting with me.”
The hand Shen Zhixing had raised to throw it away paused.
Shen Mian tilted her head and looked at the man. “Brother, are you really not going to eat any?”
She saw nothing but disgust in Shen Zhixing’s eyes.
Shen Mian took out a skewer and held it to Shen Zhixing’s lips. “Sister Qiaoyu ate it and said it was delicious.”
Shen Zhixing frowned. “You only took Miss Xie to eat these?”
“Sister Qiaoyu didn’t mind.”
The fried skewer touched Shen Zhixing’s lips, and he had no choice but to open his mouth and swallow it.
And then…
Shen Mian’s hand was empty.
The skewer she had just been holding had been taken away by Shen Zhixing.
The two siblings sat on the sofa like that, eating the very thing Shen Zhixing had just expressed extreme disgust for.
“Oh right, Brother, I heard Sister Qiaoyu say she saw you with Lu Jingchen. What was that about?”
“Adult matters, children shouldn’t interfere.” Shen Zhixing picked up another skewer after saying that.
Shen Mian: “Saying one thing and doing another.”
Shen Zhixing said lightly, “Huh?”
“Brother, I’m just kidding. I specifically brought these back for you to eat. You eat first, I’m going upstairs to sleep.”
Shen Mian quickly turned and went upstairs, looking as if a beast was chasing her from behind.
Shen Zhixing didn’t move.
When he heard the sound of a door closing on the second floor, a soft chuckle escaped his thin lips.
Shen Mian returned to her bedroom.
Thinking of Shen Zhixing’s cold snort just now, she felt a bit scared afterward.
After washing up, Shen Mian glanced at the time on her phone.
Half-past one in the morning.
As if thinking of something, Shen Mian opened Shen Zhixing’s WeChat:
[Dear handsome brother, do you happen to have Sister Qiaoyu’s phone number? I want to add her on WeChat to ask about something we learned this afternoon. There’s one part I don’t understand.]
The other side quickly replied:
[Tell the truth.]
Shen Mian chuckled softly. As expected, her brother understood her best. So she didn’t pretend to be a good student and said directly:
[…I want Sister Qiaoyu’s phone number.]
[159…]
Shen Mian: [Thank you, brother. I’ll bring you something delicious tomorrow.]
A minute later:
[Mm.]
Shen Mian copied the phone number Shen Zhixing sent, clicked “Add Friend,” and filled in “Shen Mian” for the verification message.
Sure enough, Xie Qiaoyu quickly accepted her request, and the two became friends in less than thirty seconds.