My Unconventional Online Dating - Chapter 17

Tan Xialan, sitting in front of Xiao Nianyuan, turned around and asked softly, “How about this? Does it feel more comfortable now?”

Xiao Nianyuan froze for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise.

Tan Xialan could tell what Xiao Nianyuan was thinking and instinctively glanced at Ji Rongxue, who was staring at her intently. Tan Xialan’s heart tightened, and the explanation she was about to blurt out got stuck in her throat. She quickly changed her words, “I noticed you don’t seem to like crowded places much.”

After saying this, Tan Xialan turned back around and sat properly, not daring to meet Ji Rongxue’s gaze again.

Ji Rongxue was usually so gentle, so why did she become so serious when it came to Xiao Nianyuan?

For a moment, Tan Xialan even thought that if she mentioned how Ji Rongxue had always been protecting Xiao Nianyuan, Ji Rongxue might turn into a beast and pounce on her.

For the rest of the journey, Tan Xialan didn’t speak again, afraid she might say too much. Though roommates wouldn’t do anything drastic, since Ji Rongxue didn’t want Xiao Nianyuan to know, she decided to pretend she didn’t notice either.

When they finally arrived at the station, Tan Xialan quickly ran ahead and got off the bus first, acting as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Nianyuan rarely interacted with others, let alone noticed that Tan Xialan was deliberately avoiding Ji Rongxue.

But this avoidance only lasted a few minutes before Tan Xialan went back to clinging to Ji Rongxue as usual, chatting and laughing with them. To avoid leaving Xiao Nianyuan out, she kept steering the conversation toward her.

Xiao Nianyuan struggled to keep up, especially when Tan Xialan suddenly asked, “Do you have someone you like?”

Xiao Nianyuan: “?”

Seeing Xiao Nianyuan’s silence, Tan Xialan asked awkwardly, “Is this something I shouldn’t ask?”

Girls often asked each other if they had crushes—sometimes seriously, sometimes teasingly. Whether the question was earnest or playful, everyone had a way to handle it. So why did it suddenly become so awkward with Xiao Nianyuan?

Tan Xialan could tell Xiao Nianyuan didn’t like talking about this and didn’t wait for an answer before quickly changing the subject. “I heard ordering through the mini-program gives discounts. Is that true?”

As soon as she shifted the topic, everyone seamlessly followed suit, dropping the matter of whether Xiao Nianyuan had someone she liked.

If she didn’t like the topic, they could just switch to another one.

At the dim sum restaurant, the three took turns looking at the menu before ordering through Ji Rongxue’s phone. Each person added their choices before passing it to the next. After they finished, Ji Rongxue paid, and though not all the dishes had arrived yet, they split the bill evenly.

The dim sum arrived one by one, and they started eating before everything was served. Halfway through, another plate of shrimp dumplings arrived. Xiao Nianyuan paused, and Tan Xialan asked in confusion, “Was this a mistake? We already got our shrimp dumplings.”

The waiter murmured, “One moment,” before checking the receipt. After a glance, he pointed and said, “No mistake. You ordered two plates.”

The receipt was close to Xiao Nianyuan, so the three roommates leaned in to look. What they saw startled them.

Not only had they ordered two plates of shrimp dumplings, but several other dishes had also been duplicated.

The four of them exchanged glances. None of them had checked what the others had ordered earlier, and now they realized they’d doubled up on several items. Ji Rongxue smiled and said, “It’s fine. If we can’t finish, we’ll take the leftovers back and have them as snacks for lunch.”

Since the order had already been placed and none of the four had any objections, they had no choice but to proceed.

They had ordered too much, leaving quite a bit uneaten—soup dumplings, shrimp dumplings, and even an entire pot of congee.

Each of them carried a takeout bag as they left the teahouse. Just then, a child came running toward them. Xiao Nianyuan didn’t have time to dodge, so she instinctively lifted the takeout box in her hand. But the child was running too fast and collided with her forcefully, causing the box to slip from her grip and spill all over the ground, even staining her pants.

Xiao Nianyuan glanced down at the mess of congee on the floor.

Xiao Nianyuan: “…”

Today really didn’t seem like a good day to go out.

The child’s parents, who had been following behind, quickly pulled the kid over to bow and apologize. Seeing how flustered they were—and noticing they didn’t look much older than her—Xiao Nianyuan just waved it off, saying it was fine.

The parents insisted on compensating her, and Xiao Nianyuan reluctantly accepted, though thankfully they only gave her a hundred yuan.

A waiter from the teahouse handed her some tissues to clean herself up while others hurried to wipe up the spilled congee before other customers saw the mess.

After leaving the shop, Ji Rongxue asked, “Do you want to go buy new clothes?”

“No need,” Xiao Nianyuan shook her head. “I’ll just change when I get back.”

Though the stains were uncomfortable, she wasn’t in the mood to go shopping. Even though it wasn’t peak hours, there were still more people out now than late at night.

Tan Xialan chimed in, “It’s not good for you to go back like this. What if you accidentally brush against someone on the way?”

She spoke earnestly, and Ji Rongxue added, “We’ll just go in and out quickly.”

Xiao Nianyuan hesitated, and Tan Xialan sighed. “I should’ve been the one carrying it. Then you wouldn’t have gotten dirty.”

Her tone grew increasingly guilty. “If you agree to buy new clothes, I’ll do anything you ask.”

For some reason, Xiao Nianyuan thought of Lian Qiushui. Rubbing her temples, she relented, “Fine, I’ll go. You don’t have to do anything.”

Only after agreeing did she realize what she’d just done. She felt inexplicably strange—why had Lian Qiushui come to mind? And why did thinking of her make her agree so easily?

The teahouse was near the city center, a bustling area, and a large shopping mall was just a short walk away. The four of them headed inside, scanning the stores for clothes that would suit Xiao Nianyuan’s style.

Xiao Nianyuan dressed simply. Take her current outfit, for example—a short-sleeved blouse and long pants, both in plain styles. They looked good on her purely because of her figure and striking features. On anyone else, they’d just be ordinary clothes, but on her, they somehow gave off a model-like vibe.

She was a natural clothes hanger—anything she wore would look good. With just a little effort, she could easily turn heads, if not 100% of the time, then at least 80%.

“Would you like to try a dress?” Tan Xialan asked eagerly. “You’d look amazing in one.”

With Xiao Nianyuan’s looks and figure, anything would suit her, and a dress would be no exception.

Xiao Nianyuan shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m not used to wearing dresses.”

It wasn’t that she’d never worn skirts before, but ever since she became more self-aware, Xiao Nianyuan had stopped wearing them. Whenever she wore skirts, people would always criticize her for doing this or that wrong.

At five or six years old, she was at that mischievous age—both boys and girls would run around the streets, getting covered in dirt. Xiao Nianyuan had grown up in the suburbs, where there was a small grove, so playing in the dirt was inevitable.

If a girl wore a skirt while playing in the dirt, she’d get scolded. Xiao Nianyuan hated being lectured, and on top of that, wearing a skirt meant worrying about branches snagging it. Pants were just simpler.

After wearing pants for so many years, her family never insisted she wear skirts. So now, suddenly being asked to wear one made her feel completely uncomfortable. She might wear a skirt someday—just not now.

Ji Rongxue looked a little disappointed but smiled and said, “If you don’t like it, then we won’t buy skirts. Pants are fine.”

Tan Xialan still wanted to push for it—she thought Ji Rongxue would want to see how Xiao Nianyuan looked in a skirt. But Ji Rongxue just glanced at her and shook her head slightly. Tan Xialan sighed. “Alright, fine.”

If Ji Rongxue wasn’t going to insist, she had even less reason to force Xiao Nianyuan into a skirt.

Ji Rongxue and the others genuinely wanted Xiao Nianyuan to buy clothes she liked. They browsed several stores before finding one that carried styles Xiao Nianyuan usually wore. As soon as they entered, a shop assistant approached them.

“We’ll look around ourselves,” Ji Rongxue said before the assistant could start explaining. The assistant smiled, nodded, and stepped aside.

The store had a lot of clothes. Originally, the plan was just to shop for Xiao Nianyuan, but Tan Xialan ended up spotting things she liked too, holding up outfits and asking the others if they suited her.

Xiao Nianyuan didn’t need input from others, so she let Ji Rongxue and the rest help Tan Xialan instead. She felt more at ease browsing alone.

Most of the clothes in the store were fairly ordinary, though occasionally there were some with more unique designs. Xiao Nianyuan would glance at those a little longer but never felt the urge to try them on.

Footsteps sounded at the entrance. Xiao Nianyuan looked over—other customers had arrived. The shop assistant immediately went to assist them, just as they needed recommendations.

Xiao Nianyuan casually picked out an outfit, thinking it would do, and was about to say she’d take it when she noticed Tan Xialan heading into a fitting room with some clothes. The store had two fitting rooms, so after a brief pause, Xiao Nianyuan went into the other one.

After trying on the clothes, she checked herself in the mirror and thought they looked decent. But after observing for a moment, Ji Rongxue said, “This set doesn’t really suit you.”

Xiao Nianyuan looked down at herself again. She couldn’t tell whether the clothes suited her or not—she just thought they looked fine and felt comfortable. But if Ji Rongxue said so, there must be a reason.

Ji Rongxue wasn’t just being picky. Though Xiao Nianyuan had a model-like figure and could pull off anything, this outfit was too plain—completely white from top to bottom, without a single embellishment.

Since Ji Rongxue said it didn’t look good, Xiao Nianyuan decided to try something else.

She went back to change, but as she was about to leave, she noticed a smudge on the collar—like it had been stained with makeup.

Xiao Nianyan froze for a moment. She hadn’t worn any makeup today, so she had no idea when this cosmetic stain had appeared. There was no way she could have accidentally smudged it herself.

Holding the clothes, Xiao Nianyan stepped out of the fitting room. The moment she emerged, a shop assistant suddenly rushed over and snatched the garment from her hands.