PSMD – Chapter 50

Yao Yao was Shen Ningruo’s childhood friend. In all these years, she had never seen Shen Ningruo hold anyone’s hand.

Back in elementary school, when the school taught ballroom dancing, pairing one boy and one girl, Shen Ningruo counted the number of students in the class. Great, there was one extra girl, so she sat aside and watched everyone dance.

While others danced, she did her homework, and the teacher didn’t force her.

At that time, many little boys in the class were heartbroken. Who wouldn’t want to dance with Shen Ningruo, who looked like a doll?

But this doll only had eyes for studying.

Yao Yao really wanted to hold an elementary school reunion now, to let those little boys who used to like Shen Ningruo see what she’s like now. But this thought was just a thought; it was impossible to actually do it.

She always felt that others weren’t good enough for Shen Ningruo, especially Guo Ming’an, who got engaged to someone else but still came looking for Shen Ningruo as a pre-wedding diversion. Every time she thought of it, she felt extremely angry.

Fortunately, Shen Ningruo didn’t fall into the trap, which made Yao Yao breathe a sigh of relief.

But now, seeing Shen Ningruo walking towards her in broad daylight, holding the little sister’s hand, she felt strange everywhere. Her gaze fell on their clasped hands, and her throat tightened again.

The word “shocked” wasn’t enough to express her inner feelings.

When they stood in front of Yao Yao, Qiu Yang finally withdrew her hand. Then she heard Shen Ningruo start the introductions: “Yao Yao.”

“Qiu Yang.”

Yao Yao put away her thoughts and extended her hand to Qiu Yang: “Hello, I’m Ruoruo’s friend, Yao Yao.”

“Hello.”

“Qiu Yang.”

The agreed meeting place was on a street in the city center area. There was a row of trees planted here, with benches under them, and shops on both sides, currently bustling with customers.

It was a bit noisy.

“What are you buying?” Yao Yao walked to Shen Ningruo’s right, looked at the shops on both sides, and was a bit confused.

The things sold on this street were relatively cheap. Yao Yao hadn’t been here for several years, and neither had Shen Ningruo. Before, even when they went shopping, they usually went straight to the luxury goods building nearby.

Coming here now surprised Yao Yao.

“Buying photo frames.” Shen Ningruo glanced at Qiu Yang, who was slightly lowering her eyelids, quietly listening to them talk.

Yao Yao nodded, instantly understanding: “Okay.”

There was an accessories store not far away that sold photo frames. Qiu Yang pursed her lips slightly, pointed in that direction, and said, “Here.”

The four photo frames she bought for Shen Ningruo last time weren’t from this specific store, but they were also bought from an accessories store.

“Okay.” Shen Ningruo smiled. Their hands accidentally brushed against each other the next second, like an electric shock, and both their expressions were slightly unnatural.

However, Shen Ningruo knew why Qiu Yang pulled away; it was simply because she wasn’t used to it.

It was fine when surrounded by strangers, as no one knew them, but having an acquaintance made Qiu Yang uncomfortable, especially since they weren’t in a romantic relationship.

Yao Yao knew she was a third wheel. She wanted to leave but didn’t want to, caught in a dilemma.

She wanted to leave because Qiu Yang and Shen Ningruo had originally come as a pair, without others disturbing them, and when Shen Ningruo called her, she hadn’t mentioned there was someone else, otherwise she definitely would have declined on the phone.

She didn’t want to leave because she was still a bit curious about Qiu Yang. This little sister looked very well-behaved. This was Yao Yao’s first impression of Qiu Yang, but she wanted to know what it felt like to interact with this little sister.

Yao Yao was good at socializing; the number of contacts in her WeChat list was much larger than Shen Ningruo’s. Therefore, Qiu Yang became her current subject of study. If Qiu Yang did anything that made her uncomfortable, she would basically not appear in front of them again.

Because this was Shen Ningruo’s business. If Shen Ningruo thought someone was good, then they were good. Was it her place to point fingers?

When she was with someone before, Shen Ningruo would never come and tell her what that person was like; she would just often avoid seeing them.

However, from this short time, Yao Yao’s impression of Qiu Yang was quite good. Her voice was soft and gentle, but it wasn’t intentional; it was naturally like cotton candy.

“Do you have any plans for the next couple of days?” Shen Ningruo asked Yao Yao. The three of them entered the somewhat crowded accessories store one after another.

Yao Yao gave a wry smile: “What plans could I have? I have to work overtime at the company tomorrow, still have some things to deal with.”

“I’m not you, Director Shen. I don’t have it as easy as you.”

Yao Yao had inherited her family’s company. Her younger brother was still in college, so the burden fell on her. She was basically the type who was as serious at work as she was informal in private.

Compared to her, Shen Ningruo was indeed a bit more relaxed. She smiled, then heard Yao Yao mention Qiu Yang: “Yangyang, is there anything you want to buy?”

Yao Yao wasn’t reserved at all, already calling Qiu Yang “Yangyang.”

But Shen Ningruo didn’t mind. As long as she didn’t call her “Xiao Yang” like she did.

“Me?”

“I need to buy a few photo frames too.”

Shen Ningruo tilted her head, her ears subtly perking up. Qiu Yang glanced at her, a shallow dimple appearing by her lips: “I have a cat, I want to put up some photos of my cat.”

Yao Yao saw Shen Ningruo’s slightly deflated look and couldn’t help but laugh. She patted Shen Ningruo’s shoulder with one hand and said, “A cat owner? So envious. What breed is it?”

“British Shorthair Golden.” Qiu Yang’s smile didn’t fade when she talked about Pingzi. “He’s just over ten pounds now, a bit chubby, and has a very good temper.”

Yao Yao looked at Shen Ningruo again, finding her friend’s current expression even funnier, but she forced herself to hold it in, trying hard to make her tone sound much more normal: “That’s great, feels good to pet.”

“Yes.”

As Qiu Yang finished speaking, they had already reached the photo frame section.

This accessories store had two floors and sold many things. Even photo frames had several rows, making it a bit dazzling for shoppers.

Shen Ningruo, however, felt that none of them were as nice as the ones Qiu Yang bought for her. She picked one up and put it down, then turned around and saw Qiu Yang choosing very seriously, looking at the material one moment and the feel the next.

Yao Yao wasn’t interested in these and was just idling by. Mainly, she wasn’t buying photo frames anyway, so she left the stage to Shen Ningruo and Qiu Yang.

Shen Ningruo really couldn’t choose. She put down another one, then looked at Qiu Yang somewhat pleadingly: “I can’t pick.”

Buying them herself didn’t feel as meaningful.

And Qiu Yang’s basket already had several in it.

“I know.” Qiu Yang looked at her, her eyes curving slightly. “I’m buying them.”

Shen Ningruo: !!!

Shen Ningruo didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say “thank you” but felt it would be too distant between her and Qiu Yang. She didn’t want to be so distant, so she changed it to: “Okay.”

Yao Yao listened to their conversation from the side, her emotions complicated for a moment. In the end, she blamed it all on Yue Chu.

Why was Yue Chu working! Why was she a late-night radio host again!

But thinking that was one thing; she still kept an eye on the time. When nine o’clock arrived, Yue Chu would start her broadcast, and she had even brought headphones specifically.

No matter what, this was Yue Chu’s first appearance on the radio in Yuncheng, and she would definitely listen.

Now, with ten minutes until nine, Yao Yao felt inexplicably nervous. She opened her WeChat chat with Yue Chu. The surroundings were noisy. She thought for two seconds and sent Yue Chu a “Good luck.”

The next second, Yue Chu called. Yao Yao nearly jumped up. She turned to Shen Ningruo and said, “Ruoruo, I’m going out to take her call first.”

“Go ahead.”

By the time Yao Yao walked out of the store and was out of sight, Qiu Yang had just finished choosing the photo frames. She had picked out a total of eight.

Shen Ningruo’s eyes were bright, and she felt that these photo frames, which she had just thought looked mediocre, suddenly became much nicer.

Qiu Yang looked around, then met Shen Ningruo’s gaze and asked, “Do you want to buy anything else?”

“Let’s browse.”

Since Yao Yao was on the phone, Shen Ningruo wanted to spend more time with Qiu Yang.

“Okay.” Qiu Yang blinked, having no other opinions.

They continued walking inside, one after the other, passing the stationery section, then the earring section, and finally, Shen Ningruo stopped at the toy section.

Qiu Yang walked two steps forward before realizing Shen Ningruo had stopped. She followed Shen Ningruo’s gaze and saw a smiling, pure white little sheep plushie.

This plushie was a bit bigger than the one Shen Ningruo gave her in Xicheng before, but it looked just as cute.

“I’m buying this,” Shen Ningruo said, pointing at the little sheep plushie and looking at Qiu Yang.

This was something Shen Ningruo wanted to buy, so Qiu Yang wouldn’t stop her: “Okay.”

Yao Yao finished her call in a great mood and happened to see Qiu Yang and Shen Ningruo coming out after paying. Shen Ningruo, who had never been interested in plushies, was holding a little sheep plushie in her arms.

Yao Yao: …

Damn.

But it was almost nine o’clock anyway. Yao Yao didn’t hesitate much and said goodbye to them. She still wanted to listen to Yue Chu’s radio show seriously, just like on many nights over the years.

As soon as Yao Yao left, Shen Ningruo coughed twice, pretending not to care, and took Qiu Yang’s hand. This time, she wasn’t just holding it normally, but interlacing their fingers like before, giving the exact same reason: “Afraid you’ll get lost.”

Qiu Yang: “Okay.”

She could clearly feel the change happening between her and Shen Ningruo. This change made her ears quietly turn pink.

They walked through the crowd again and finally returned to the car. The photo frames and plushie were put in the back seat.

Qiu Yang fastened her seatbelt, waiting for Shen Ningruo to drive her back, but Shen Ningruo didn’t move for a long time. She just tapped the steering wheel twice with her fingertips before turning to look at Qiu Yang.

The light was dim, and Qiu Yang’s eyes were exceptionally bright. Shen Ningruo rubbed the steering wheel with her fingertips, then coughed and said, “I want to pet Pangpang.”

“Okay.” Qiu Yang nodded. “I added you on WeChat, I can send you photos of him, videos too.”

Shen Ningruo was choked up for a moment, said “Oh,” and added, “Right.”

She gave a wry smile and agreed, “You’re right.”

Qiu Yang cleared her throat, suppressing her smile, and said seriously, “Let’s drive.”

“Driver Shen.”

Shen Ningruo raised an eyebrow: “Isn’t there any payment for being a driver?”

“I gave you a few photo frames, isn’t that payment?” Qiu Yang’s tone was strange.

Shen Ningruo quietly exhaled. She gave up. Just as she was about to fasten her seatbelt, Qiu Yang’s hand pressed on her shoulder, kissed her on the cheek, and then smiled sweetly: “You still want to sleep with me even though you’re not over your cold, Ruoruo?”

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