Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: You Are My First Time

Jing Yuan immediately sat up, wanting to move further away from Xie Mianzhi, but her arm was held by Xie Mianzhi.

In such a confined space, Xie Mianzhi asking her such a question, and being so close… this was not a good sign.

Jing Yuan looked at Xie Mianzhi’s habitually smiling face. Although she knew the other person was probably just teasing her, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter in her heart.

She swallowed with difficulty. After a few seconds of pause, she tried very hard to deny it in a completely serious manner: “Of course not.”

She didn’t know how Xie Mianzhi could be so unreserved in teasing her; it seemed like the other person was always like this.

But why wasn’t she angry at all?

Xie Mianzhi narrowed her eyes, watching the little savior’s shy and awkward chain reaction. She was just making a joke, but this person was really timid and took everything seriously.

“If I kissed you, would you push me away?” Despite herself, she couldn’t help but continue asking, because looking at Jing Yuan’s slightly parted lips, she was indeed a bit tempted.

“Eh!?”

“I’m kidding,” Xie Mianzhi took in Jing Yuan’s surprised expression this time. She knew that if she continued, Jing Yuan would likely flee. “Then hurry up and buckle your seatbelt.”

As she spoke, Jing Yuan quickly buckled her seatbelt and sat quietly.

Xie Mianzhi then drove her limited edition sports car out of the garage.

**

Inside the car

There was silence for a while.

The two remained silent, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

It wasn’t until Xie Mianzhi wanted to adjust the temperature inside the car. She had been feeling a bit warm, whether it was due to inner restlessness or bodily heat.

But when she noticed Jing Yuan’s heavily layered clothing, she first asked, “Do you mind if I turn it down a bit?”

It took a while for them to start talking again. Jing Yuan reacted quickly, answering, “I don’t mind.”

“But won’t you be cold?”

“I’m not cold,” Jing Yuan knew that her long sleeves and body temperature had misled the other person. She proactively reached out and adjusted the temperature Xie Mianzhi wanted, dispelling her concerns. “Is this okay?”

23.5∘C.

Xie Mianzhi was slightly surprised to see the temperature Jing Yuan set for her. “How did you know I wanted this temperature?”

Jing Yuan was clearly a bit shy. She paused before slowly opening her mouth: “I saw it on the room temperature display when you were at my house.”

Xie Mianzhi was a little surprised that this person was so observant.

“Did you specifically remember it?” Xie Mianzhi chuckled and asked in return.

This question made Jing Yuan even more bashful. She didn’t exactly ‘specifically’ remember it, but she was just very sensitive to anything谢 Mianzhi did. Jing Yuan attributed this to being sensitive to numbers and having a good memory.

“Because you always set this temperature,” Jing Yuan explained.

She hadn’t finished speaking before Xie Mianzhi countered, “Wait, ‘always’? What ‘always’? It makes it sound like I’ve lived at your house for a long time. Were you actually thinking, ‘When is this Ms. Xie going to leave?’ and then secretly super happy when I finally did?”

“No, of course not!” Jing Yuan immediately denied it. Xie Mianzhi had completely misunderstood her. Her voice was noticeably higher than her usual low tone, with a slight emotional fluctuation.

Xie Mianzhi, driving the car, was startled by the little savior’s rare intense reaction. She looked at an intersection ahead, gazed at it, and then pulled the car over to the side of the road, deciding to look at Jing Yuan.

How rare. This person was a little worked up.

“Alright, I was just asking.”

“I apologize, I just wanted to say you misunderstood my meaning.” Seeing that Xie Mianzhi had deliberately stopped the car and was looking at her, waiting for her to speak, Jing Yuan had no choice but to push herself to explain.

She didn’t want Xie Mianzhi to misunderstand her.

She had never thought about wanting Xie Mianzhi to leave early. In fact, she felt a slight attachment to the feeling of the other person staying in her house.

“Then what did I misunderstand?” Xie Mianzhi played dumb. She just wanted to tease the other person into talking more.

“Because you were at my house, I would notice you. 23.5∘C is actually a bit cold. One time I turned it up a bit, and you turned it back down again,” Jing Yuan explained in a calm voice.

“No wonder I woke up hot on the lounge chair that time! So it was you, and you even covered me with a thick blanket.” Xie Mianzhi felt a little embarrassed. She had thought she’d remembered it wrong; the air conditioning had clearly been set low but had gone back up to 26∘C.

“I was afraid you’d catch a chill.” Jing Yuan answered very sincerely. Humans are fragile and troublesome; catching a cold would be uncomfortable.

But she hadn’t anticipated Xie Mianzhi was so sensitive to heat.

Xie Mianzhi looked at this straight-laced person, who, despite her young age, had the air of an old cadre, just short of holding a thermos mug. However, since the other person was concerned about her, it was acceptable.

But had she ever cared for anyone else?

Thinking of this, Xie Mianzhi blurted out, “What about other people?”

“What?”

“I mean, how do other people usually respond to your concern? No one has ever raised the temperature and covered me with a blanket. I need to learn how to respond to your concern.” Xie Mianzhi’s expression was indifferent, but she wouldn’t admit that her words were tinged with a little jealousy.

Jing Yuan felt a bit helpless listening to the other person’s cryptic words. She didn’t know what Ms. Xie meant. Was the other person angry because she had taken the liberty of doing these small things?

Or what? It seemed like the other person had a slight resistance to it.

She could only answer honestly: “There is no one else. This is my first time doing something like this. It was indeed wrong of me to make you hot that time.”

Xie Mianzhi listened quietly to this person’s sincere confession, and a faint smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

The first time she showed concern for someone, it was for her, and she hadn’t done it for anyone else. Very good.

“Thank you, Jing Yuan,” Xie Mianzhi said to the person in front of her. She gently tapped the back of the other person’s hand with her finger, and said tenderly, “In the future, you have to tell me when you do these good deeds.”

“It was a ‘good deed’ that was messed up,” Jing Yuan felt that calling it a good deed was a bit of a stretch. Her good intentions had resulted in a bad outcome.

“Oh, you have a good sense of dry humor. You really must tell me everything. If I develop a heat-related illness in the future, I’ll have to seek compensation from the perpetrator. I’ve always been a person who takes care of every detail,” Xie Mianzhi said, feigning a terrifying expression, and then opened the car door and got out.

She only said one sentence under Jing Yuan’s bewildered gaze: “Be a good girl and wait for me in the car.”

After that, Jing Yuan watched Xie Mianzhi enter a very distinctive, European-style flower shop named “Mrs. Lily’s Florist.”

What was Xie Mianzhi doing at a flower shop?

**

As the old-fashioned bell on the door lightly chimed,

A tall woman wearing a black haute couture dress walked in. Although her expression was elegant and somewhat haughty, the way she looked around made her seem very much like a first-time customer at a flower shop.

“Hello, may I help you with anything?” A beautiful woman who looked very approachable walked out from the inner room, clutching a small bouquet she was tending to.

Xie Mianzhi turned around and gazed at the owner with her beaming smile, who was gently offering to help her select flowers.

Xie Mianzhi was silent for a moment. She did indeed need help.

She had received many flowers, all kinds, vibrant and dazzling, but this was genuinely her first time coming to a flower shop.

She was actually not knowledgeable about flowers and didn’t understand the meanings associated with them. However, when she saw the bouquet the owner was tending to, she suddenly became interested.

“What kind of flower is that?” she asked.

“Are you referring to this one? This is Fairy Snapdragon (also known as Dwarf Snapdragon or Linaria maroccana). It was freshly picked today, and the quality is exceptionally good.” The owner personally held up this newly introduced flower, showcasing it for this customer who clearly had high standards.

“Fairy Snapdragon?” It was the first time Xie Mianzhi had heard this flower name.

“Yes, because the blossoms resemble little goldfish strung along the branches, it’s endearingly called ‘Fairy Snapdragon’ (‘Jī Jīnyú Cǎo,’ or ‘Little Goldfish Grass’).” Seeing Xie Mianzhi’s interest, the owner deliberately picked out several bouquets of Fairy Snapdragons in different colors to show her. Girls always seemed to love this kind of flower.

The pink and white blossoms indeed trembled in the light like lively, swimming little goldfish.

‘Little Whale’ (Xiǎo Jīng Yú).

The homophone popped into Xie Mianzhi’s mind, and suddenly, the bouquet seemed even more beautiful. She hesitated for a moment before asking, “I want to give it to someone, is that okay?”

“Is it for your lover? The language of this flower is ‘Please notice my love.’ It’s truly very romantic and perfectly suited for giving to someone you love~”

Lily smiled as she explained the meaning of the Fairy Snapdragon. She noticed that the originally proud and cold black-dressed female customer looked a little shy after hearing it, and she could roughly guess it was for a lover.

Please notice my love.

Xie Mianzhi repeatedly pondered the flower language in her mind, staring blankly at the Fairy Snapdragons.

“Is this flower language common?” Xie Mianzhi snapped back to reality and paused. She didn’t want a ubiquitous flower meaning; it didn’t fit her status, and it wasn’t suitable for the person she was giving it to.

She wanted to give Jing Yuan something unique.

“Are you asking if there are other flowers with the same meaning?”

“Yes.”

Seeing this, the owner immediately realized that the person the customer wanted to gift this to was extremely precious. She also stated seriously, “No, only the Fairy Snapdragon has this flower language. You can rest assured.”

Ah, the only flower language.

Xie Mianzhi no longer hesitated and decisively purchased the bouquet. “Then please wrap it for me.”

**

After swiping her card, Xie Mianzhi quickly left the flower shop, holding the bouquet, and walked towards her car.

She bent down slightly and deliberately peeked through the car window at the little savior, who was sitting ramrod straight.

She knocked on the car window.

Their eyes met.

Jing Yuan visibly sighed in relief when she saw her arrive.

In fact, the moment Xie Mianzhi entered the flower shop, Jing Yuan’s gaze had been silently observing her through the glass window. She didn’t know Xie Mianzhi’s intention for buying flowers, but she had to ensure that the other person was safe in the flower shop, especially since Xie Mianzhi wasn’t accompanied by the assistant named Rong Cheng.

If there was any sudden situation, she would rush in immediately.

However, Xie Mianzhi had no idea what Jing Yuan was thinking; she was just worried that the other person was sitting so stiffly and restrained in the car.

Thinking this, Xie Mianzhi gently opened the car door and quickly slipped into the car.

“Have you been waiting long?” Xie Mianzhi casually asked.

“Not really, you—” Jing Yuan looked at Xie Mianzhi, wanting to voice her confusion about why Xie Mianzhi had gone to buy flowers, but then worried about whether her identity made it appropriate to ask such a personal question. After all, their relationship wasn’t yet at the point where she could ask anything, was it?

“Ta-da!” Xie Mianzhi didn’t wait for Jing Yuan to continue asking questions and presented the beautiful bouquet in her arms to the little daze next to her. “This is for you.”

“This… is for me?” Jing Yuan was clearly surprised by Xie Mianzhi’s gesture of giving her flowers. Her eyes even widened as she looked at the beautifully wrapped pink blossoms clustered in front of her.

Xie Mianzhi tilted her head, observing Jing Yuan’s surprised little expression, and deliberately spoke in a roundabout way, “What’s wrong? Don’t you remember what I said?”

Reminded by the other person, Jing Yuan’s rapidly working mind very clearly recalled a sentence Xie Mianzhi had said when they parted ways that day:

‘If we can see each other again next time, I’ll bring a bouquet of flowers.’

She had thought Xie Mianzhi was just saying it casually at the time.

“Ah, judging by your expression, you really don’t remember. Such a bad memory for someone so young. Never mind, I said before that the next time I saw you, I’d bring a bouquet of flowers, so here you go.” Xie Mianzhi wasn’t annoyed. Seeing that Jing Yuan didn’t answer, she said it herself.

“It’s very beautiful.”

“Hmm?”

“These flowers are very beautiful.” Jing Yuan didn’t argue. Instead, she gazed at the bouquet with gentle eyes, offering a heartfelt compliment.

Xie Mianzhi could tell the other person genuinely liked the flowers and felt very happy. Heavens knows, this was her first time giving flowers to anyone, regardless of gender.

She was a little nervous inside, afraid the other person wouldn’t like them.

“Jing Yuan, do you know what this flower is called?” Xie Mianzhi thought Jing Yuan probably didn’t know.

Jing Yuan carefully looked at the small pink and white flowers clustered in strings on a single stalk. It was indeed the first time she had seen them.

She shook her head. She wasn’t sensitive to flowers. In all this time, no one had ever given her flowers.

“Fairy Snapdragon. The florist owner introduced it to me just now. It’s the first time I’ve seen it too.”

“Then you…” Jing Yuan found it a bit strange. She thought most people who go to a flower shop would buy a flower they were familiar with.

“Because…” Xie Mianzhi paused.

The flower language of the Fairy Snapdragon flashed through her mind: Please notice my love.

Xie Mianzhi stared into Jing Yuan’s eyes, fixating on her for several seconds. She was very curious if Jing Yuan would understand if she told her this.

But she changed the subject, explaining playfully instead:

“Because don’t you think these little flowers look like little goldfish? Your name also has the character for ‘whale’ (Jīng) in it. Little goldfish, little whale (Xiǎo Jīng Yú), they match you well. So I wanted to give them to you, Little Princess Jing Yuan.”