My Girlfriend is a Cold and Aloof Sickly Beauty 115

Chapter 115: We Are Each Other’s Tethers

Startled by Cang Ling’s blunt reminder, Jiang Xue started walking up the steps towards Xiao Luohan.

After calming down, she tried to analyze the reason for her reaction during the walk.

It was her biggest worry, something that made her sad and even cry just by thinking about it.

Even though she was relatively outstanding among her peers, as long as Xiao Luo “went out” and entered university through the “Intangible Cultural Heritage Special Enrollment,” she would definitely meet more and more outstanding people.

And among these people, there would undoubtedly be successful professionals like Jiang Mei. Compared to them, she was far inferior in both ability and experience.

Since she wanted Xiao Luo to achieve her full potential, she had to accept that Xiao Luo would interact with, or even be surrounded by, such outstanding people.

Such a wonderful Xiao Luo, someone would definitely love her more than she did—based on this thought, when she actually saw a stranger give Xiao Luo an expensive gift, the tightly wound string in her heart snapped, and her mind went blank.

To put it bluntly, she was being selfish, wanting Xiao Luo’s gaze to always be on her, wanting their “love” to be exclusive.

When she reached Xiao Luohan, Jiang Xue felt her entire body trembling, her heart pounding as if it was about to jump out of her chest.

Looking down, she saw two gift bags in Xiao Luo’s hands. One was pink and square, containing a similarly pink gift box, and the other was the dark blue gift bag with traditional Chinese patterns that the short-haired man… no, the short-haired woman had given Xiao Luo.

—Xiao Luo hadn’t refused the gift, and it was White Day.

Just as the question “Why” arose in Jiang Xue’s mind, the dark blue gift bag was held out to her.

“Yin Yuan asked me to give you this welcome gift,” Xiao Luohan explained helplessly. “She originally wanted to give it to me before you arrived, but she panicked and ran away when you came.”

She knew that Yin Yuan was afraid of being misunderstood by Jiang Xue and ruining their White Day date, but looking at Jiang Xue’s current expression, she must have imagined the worst-case scenario.

Jiang Xue let out a short “Ah” and, her body reacting faster than her mind, quickly took the gift bag, so Xiao Luo wouldn’t have to hold it.

Yin Yuan’s gift was very light, and she didn’t know what was inside, but Jiang Xue didn’t dare look, immediately handing the bouquet of white roses and the homemade chocolates to Xiao Luo. “H-Happy White Day!”

She even stuttered, her voice trembling, with a hint of a sob.

Xiao Luohan, amused and a little distressed, felt that she should offer some comfort, a more emotionally resonant response, so instead of replying with “Happy White Day” as she had originally planned, she moved the roses aside and kissed Jiang Xue’s slightly parted lips.

She didn’t know that this kiss seemed to have triggered Jiang Xue’s tear ducts. Jiang Xue, who had been holding back, froze, then her vision blurred, and tears streamed down her face, falling onto the pure white rose petals.

Half moved, half ashamed—she had been so selfishly possessive of Xiao Luo, yet she had received such a passionate response.

Cang Ling, watching from the side, shook her head. Her earlier reminder had been useless. Jiang Xue’s emotional outburst, which she had foreseen, hadn’t been avoided. Hopefully, the tears wouldn’t ruin this date.

It was truly unbearable to watch.

She returned to the car to report the situation, disappointed.

Xiao Luohan didn’t ask why Jiang Xue was suddenly crying. Compared to asking, she felt that Jiang Xue needed comfort now.

With both her hands occupied, she simply changed the location of the kiss.

Her forehead, the corner of her eyes, her cheeks, and finally, back to her lips.

Jiang Xue was about to cough from crying, but the kiss made her hold back. After Xiao Luohan moved away, she covered her mouth and coughed a few times, then hurriedly wiped her tears with a tissue.

“Let’s talk in the car. I also have a gift for you,” Xiao Luohan said, having finished her business here, just waiting for Jiang Xue to pick her up after school on Friday.

Jiang Xue sniffled and agreed, reaching for the other gift bag, but Xiao Luohan stopped her. “I want to watch you open it.”

So she obediently followed Xiao Luohan down the steps and got in the car first.

But before she could even sit down, she felt everyone’s gaze on her.

“I take back what I said at the Lantern Festival,” Xiao Linghan said to Jiang Mei. “Your younger sister’s possessiveness is subtle, usually unseen, but when it surfaces, it’s unmatched.”

“Are you satisfied now?” Jiang Mei countered.

Xiao Linghan smiled but didn’t say anything.

Xie Xitong also wanted to say something, but she felt it wasn’t the right time, so she kept quiet. Seeing Cang Ling open her mouth, she quickly pulled her closer.

She couldn’t ruin the atmosphere!

Jiang Xue was finally able to open Xiao Luohan’s gift in peace.

When the top part of a Ferris wheel appeared before her eyes, she paused, already anticipating what she was about to see.

As expected, there was a miniature Ferris wheel, an old plum tree planted outside Wangmei Pavilion, and a diary placed on a piano, even the style was similar to the one she had lost.

After a moment of hesitation, she wound up the piano’s spring.

The piano version of A Wish Across Time washed over her like a gentle stream, carrying away the unease, frustration, and fear that had accumulated in her heart.

Jiang Xue felt like crying again, but then she thought that crying on such a happy day wasn’t appropriate, so she quickly covered her face with a tissue and held back.

She had already missed Valentine’s Day on February 14th, and the beautiful “first” Valentine’s Day memory she wanted to create with Xiao Luo wasn’t like this!

Xiao Luohan was also unwrapping the homemade chocolates she had given her.

As Cheng Shizhu had said, Jiang Xue wasn’t good at making these kinds of snacks. The surface of the chocolates was uneven and bumpy, barely maintaining a “presentable” shape.

But Xiao Luohan was very happy. Chocolates like these could only have been made by Jiang Xue.

So what if they weren’t perfect? Being able to recognize them was the best gift.

Considering Jiang Xue’s emotional fluctuations today, Jiang Mei didn’t take them to the mall as originally planned, but drove straight home, giving them some private time to calm down.

By the time the red sports car entered the community, Xiao Luohan had already eaten three chocolates.

She was indeed a little hungry, and she could happily eat them in front of Jiang Xue.

Jiang Xue was carrying Yin Yuan’s gift in one hand and carefully holding the music box Xiao Luo had made in the other. As soon as they returned to the bedroom, she placed the music box in the most prominent and safest spot.

“You should open it too,” Xiao Luohan said, sitting down and pointing at the dark blue gift box. “I don’t know what she bought, but it shouldn’t be too expensive.”

To be honest, Jiang Xue had been thinking about making friends with Yin Yuan a few days ago, but she hadn’t expected their first meeting to be so awkward.

She hurriedly opened the gift box. Inside was a set of blue and white porcelain accessories: a mouse, a USB flash drive, and a pair of earphones, simple and elegant, without any fancy decorations.

This made her relieved again. She carefully placed the gift on the bookshelf, planning to use them when her current ones wore out.

“I haven’t asked yet, but now it’s just the two of us,” Xiao Luohan said, seeing her good mood. “Why were you crying?”

She had sensed Jiang Xue’s emotions, like a mixture of relief and something regained.

Jiang Xue immediately “groveled” at the mention of this.

“I shouldn’t have doubted you!”

When watching other people’s relationships, Jiang Xue had never understood why people who loved each other would be wary of so-called “third parties” and “imaginary rivals.”

Now that it was happening to her, she understood.

Good friends wouldn’t worry about being abandoned if the other person became close to someone else, but girlfriends would, or at least, she felt that sense of insecurity.

For the first time in her life, Jiang Xue didn’t know how to deal with her selfish desires and emotions. Since Xiao Luo had noticed, she had to, as her older sister had said, “grovel” and apologize immediately.

After hearing her apology, Xiao Luohan fell into thought.

It wasn’t distrust, but “insecurity.”

Was Jiang Xue also worried about losing her?

Such a good, such a lovely A-Xue, whom no difficulty could defeat, she wanted to keep her by her side forever, how could she let her go?

“Do you remember Taoist Master Xuan Nuo’s words?” she asked. “Now, we are each other’s tethers…”

“Don’t worry! I definitely support you exploring this world on your own, and I hope you can soar even higher!” Before she could even finish, Jiang Xue immediately made a promise. “I won’t hold you back!”

“What if that’s my wish?” Xiao Luohan leaned closer. “To go to distant places, see the world, and then return to your side, be your girlfriend, your wife, even the mother of your child.”

Jiang Xue hadn’t thought about such a distant future yet. Her eyes widened as she looked at Xiao Luohan, then, after a long while, she tentatively replied, “Th-Then I’ll carry the child? That way, you can still travel…”

Xiao Luohan: …

That wasn’t what she wanted to talk about.

But since Jiang Xue dared to say such things, she must have the same wish, only worried that once it was spoken aloud, it would become a shackle.

But she actually had her own ideas.

She wanted to repay their kindness, save money for their wedding, become as excellent as Mei-jiejie, and meet many capable people to expand her network.

This way, their marriage wouldn’t be gossiped about—after all, she didn’t have her own family background in this world and was essentially adopted by the Jiang family.

But she couldn’t let Jiang Xue know about these thoughts yet, or she would definitely worry about her being under too much pressure.

So she simply continued along Jiang Xue’s train of thought. “But childbirth is very painful. Unless we both desperately want children, I don’t want us to endure that kind of pain.”

She deliberately emphasized “us,” and before Jiang Xue could reply, she gently placed her hand on Jiang Xue’s stomach. “For now, I just hope you can take care of your stomach while you’re studying. I’ll also do the same, so you can fully enjoy all the delicious food you take me to try.”

Jiang Xue hadn’t eaten anything all afternoon, and being touched and rubbed like this made her stomach growl audibly.

She looked up, embarrassed, and exchanged a smile with Xiao Luohan.

“Let’s eat something first,” Xiao Luohan said, standing up and taking her hand.