Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn?

Chapter 231: Sitting in the Arms, Pure and Innocent

“It doesn’t taste good.”

After another sip, Jiang Qin finally confirmed that this was not the same wine he drank last night. Although the brand and the bottle were the same, the taste was vastly different, as if something was missing. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact issue, so he just chalked it up to being slightly swindled.

Frequenting the river’s edge, one can’t avoid getting their shoes wet. It’s no big deal to be occasionally duped when you’re often duping others.

Jiang Qin sealed the bottle and stored it, along with an unopened one, in the cabinet, even keeping the box.

“Why keep it if it doesn’t taste good, boss?” Lu Feiyu asked, puzzled.

“It’s over eight hundred per bottle, nearly as expensive as Wuliangye. Wouldn’t it be a waste to throw it away? We can use it for gifts or hosting guests. Regardless of the taste, the price is genuine.”

“Damn, I’ve learned something new…”

Jiang Qin closed the cabinet and glanced at the class schedule on the wall. It was from last semester and outdated, so he took it down and replaced it with a new one.

At that moment, Jiang Qin remembered he was a student and decided to take a bath to attend classes fresh and make a good impression on his teachers.

Despite Jiang Qin’s habitual skipping of classes, he was quite handsome, so people tended to forgive him.

Sporting a smug smile, Jiang Qin left the Entrepreneurship Center and called the little rich lady, Feng Nanshu, inviting her to join him for a bath.

Feng Nanshu hadn’t seen Jiang Qin the whole day and was delighted at the prospect of bathing together. Jiang Qin could sense her joy through the phone, as she hastily got out of bed soon after hanging up.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the girls’ dormitory and saw Feng Nanshu. She was dressed in a yellow three-quarter sleeve shirt and a light grey denim skirt, highlighting her smooth, fair skin, slender waist, and pert buttocks.

However, Jiang Qin was surprised to see Feng Nanshu on her phone, looking as adorable as a sun-bathing tabby cat, until she saw him and quickly ended the call, running over to him.

Her cheerful steps and vivacious, pure expression brought back memories of youth for many.

“Who were you talking to? You seemed so happy,” Jiang Qin asked with a stern face.

Feng Nanshu slipped her hand into his pocket, speaking softly, “It was my aunt, asking if I had eaten.”

“Oh, you have an aunt? Is she from Shanghai or Jizhou?”

“?”

Feng Nanshu looked up at him, thinking that the handsome bear seemed a bit silly again.

Jiang Qin then realized what she meant and slowly narrowed his eyes, “You’re talking about my mom, aren’t you?”

Feng Nanshu nodded obediently.

“But I didn’t give you my mom’s phone number. How did you two start talking?”

“I memorized it the last time I answered your phone, then I secretly called once, and since then, your mom often calls me.” Feng Nanshu’s eyes were brimming with emotion.

“Often?”

Jiang Qin was momentarily speechless, impressed by his mother’s maneuvering.

So, I stubbornly refuse to find a girlfriend, and you go to such lengths? Planning to trick this naïve rich girl into becoming your daughter-in-law, right?

Indeed, the only person who could outwit him was his mother, because experience always comes with age.

Jiang Qin clicked his tongue, blaming his neighbor, Mrs. Li, for this situation. He imagined her often bringing her grandson to visit his mother since the start of the semester, and possibly even teasing her grandson in front of her.

“Friend Qin, look at our grandson, so fair and chubby. Would you like to hold him?”

Jiang Qin could almost hear Mrs. Li’s tone, truly a wonderful neighbor in the Chinese sense.

Mrs. Yuan, a strong-willed woman, surely couldn’t swallow this defeat. The only thing she lacked was a WeChat account, otherwise, she would have definitely added Feng Nanshu to the “Close and Loving Family” group chat.

Jiang Qin put his hand in his pocket, grabbing Feng Nanshu’s small hand and gently rubbing it: “Besides asking if you’ve eaten, what else did my mom say? You better tell me the truth.”

“That’s all she said.”

“Really?”

Feng Nanshu nodded firmly: “Jiang Qin, I never lie to you.”

Jiang Qin looked at her delicate face skeptically: “Did she trick you into calling her something else? Like, not ‘auntie’ but something different?”

“I… I don’t know anything,” Feng Nanshu said, slightly uneasy.

“…”

“Let’s just go take a bath.”

Jiang Qin had no way to deal with his mother’s tactics. This was a classic case of every trickster meeting their match. No matter how bold you are outside, you can’t outsmart your parents. So, he pretended to be unaware and went to the bathhouse with Feng Nanshu.

On the last day of the weekend, the bathhouse was crowded. It was rare to see many men, but there were numerous college girls with snow-white legs.

Jiang Qin found a corner, helped Feng Nanshu off with her shoes and socks, and then remembered how he was threatened with braised pig trotters the night before. He pinched her tender toes and rubbed her white feet as a way of getting back at her.

Feng Nanshu, tickled by the rubbing on her soles, almost kicked him in the face.

“Wait here for me later, don’t wander off.”

“I know.”

Feng Nanshu coolly agreed and then headed into the women’s bath wearing her slippers.

Inserting coins, running water, bathing – Jiang Qin mechanically went through these motions and then stepped out of the bathhouse, securing a hairdryer at the dressing table.

Ten minutes later, Feng Nanshu emerged, like a stunning nymph rising from the water, breathtakingly beautiful.

Jiang Qin had her sit with her back to him and carefully dried her hair, running his slender fingers through her strands.

Due to the crowd, the dressing area was congested, with several people cursing and complaining about being stepped on.

Feng Nanshu, jostled by the girls in front of her, lost her balance several times and involuntarily ended up sitting in Jiang Qin’s lap.

As more people crowded around to dry their hair, Feng Nanshu once again found herself in Jiang Qin’s arms when a girl squeezed into the space she vacated, leaving her no room to stand back up. This was an unintentional embrace.

Sitting obediently in Jiang Qin’s lap, Feng Nanshu’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, enjoying the warmth of the hairdryer. She recalled a post she had seen online stating that good friends can hug, even if they can’t kiss.

Coincidentally, Jiang Qin, feeling the small buttocks on his legs, was thinking of the same post he saw a few days ago, which mentioned that it’s acceptable for good friends to hug without crossing any boundaries.

Besides, this was a situation beyond their control, understandable.

Everyone is pure and innocent; sitting on someone’s lap is just that, nothing to be overly sensitive about. Keeping a forced distance would only seem more suspicious.

“Jiang Qin, something is poking my butt.”

“It’s nothing, just my phone in the pocket.”

Jiang Qin continued drying her hair nonchalantly, making Feng Nanshu feel utterly content.

But with drying comes waiting, and waiting is boring, so many people’s attention turned to them.

“Look at them, can such beauty even be real?”

“I know her, Feng Nanshu from the Finance Department. They say she’s the best girl at Linchuan University.”

“I always said the campus beauty contest results weren’t fair. How could they overlook such top-tier beauty?”

“People not only find her beautiful, but also lucky to have such a gentle boyfriend.”

“With such a gorgeous girlfriend in his arms, who wouldn’t be gentle?”

There were many such comments, most of them audible to Feng Nanshu, and she could clearly hear several at a time.

Though her expression remained cool, her eyes sparkled with pleasure.

After a while, Jiang Qin turned off the hairdryer. “Alright, your hair’s dry. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the cafeteria for dinner.”

“Jiang Qin, dry it a bit longer.”

Feng Nanshu wanted to sit there a bit more, enjoying the pleasant comments from the people around.

“Too much drying can damage your hair, and others are waiting in line. Let’s give them a chance, be good.”

“Mmm.”

Just as Jiang Qin couldn’t resist being called ‘brother’, Feng Nanshu couldn’t resist his ‘be good’. So she left his embrace and trotted off to change her shoes.

By the time she finished, Jiang Qin had come over. He had tied his jacket around his waist, making it look like he was wearing a skirt, fluttering as he walked.

Feng Nanshu, looking adorably puzzled, asked why he dressed like that. Jiang Qin, trying to appear cool, said it was cooler this way. (not the real reason btw)

Then, he took the locker key from his wrist, retrieved their phones and wallets, and advised, “College isn’t as complex as society, but things can still get stolen, so always lock valuables in these small lockers.”

“I can’t always bring you here to bathe, so remember this when you come alone, okay?”

Feng Nanshu stared at his phone, utterly confused: “Jiang Qin…”

“Don’t talk, follow me. Let’s go have dinner.”

Jiang Qin was cold as an unfeeling assassin.

Suppressing her questions (TL: wasn’t your phone in your pocket Mr?), Feng Nanshu followed him out of the bathhouse to the cafeteria, where they ordered three meat dishes, one vegetable, and two bowls of rice.

“Jiang Qin, you hugged me while we were bathing.”

“Good friends can hug. It’s not against the rules. Besides, it was too crowded to stand.”

Jiang Qin was focused on defending the notion of ‘friends’, unaware he had opened a new perspective for Feng Nanshu.

If good friends can hug occasionally, then they can hug every day, just like friends holding hands can do so every day.

After dinner, Jiang Qin escorted Feng Nanshu back to her dormitory. He wore his jacket, returned to his dorm, opened his laptop, and watched an episode of “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.”

“Damn, is this the Green Green Grassland Club? Why does this Pleasant Goat seem more and more provocative?”

Jiang Qin was inexplicably restless, pulling out a cigarette and smoking for a while.

“Old Jiang, I can understand you looking lovesick since it’s spring, but why are you staring at Pleasant Goat while you’re at it?”

Cao Guangyu, sitting on his bed, was utterly baffled.

AN: Shenzhen’s typhoon caused a work stoppage, and my computer hasn’t been returned, so please excuse any typos. Seeking monthly tickets.

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