My Girlfriend is a Cold and Aloof Sickly Beauty 147

Chapter 147: An Invitation to the Bar

Xiao Luohan, who had just closed her eyes: ?

“What’s wrong?” she asked, gently patting the wriggling person’s back. “Still trying to act cute with me?”

Jiang Xue originally wanted to tell the truth, but then she felt that it would sound like she was blaming Xiao Luo for being too much, and even though this was just a figment of her imagination, she still didn’t want Xiao Luo to feel guilty or self-conscious.

So she nodded vigorously. “Yes! Don’t you like cats?”

“…What does liking cats have to do with acting cute?” Xiao Luohan asked, puzzled.

“Don’t cats like to snuggle and nuzzle when people are just about to fall asleep, or when they’re sleeping soundly?” Jiang Xue silently thanked the white cat, and even more so A-Xi, who loved complaining about her “cat-repelling daily life,” for providing her with material for this lie.

Xiao Luohan paused, then recalled that the first time Jiang Xue had come to her, she had transformed into A-Xi’s white cat and carried her back to Wangmei Pavilion.

And then, while she was unconscious, had even snuggled into her bed and slept with her.

She really was like a cat.

Contented, she hugged Jiang Xue tighter, gradually falling asleep amidst Jiang Xue’s occasional nuzzling.

The next morning, when she opened her eyes, she was indeed no longer in the dream. Jiang Xue, in her cat form, was clinging to her, muttering “Just you wait, Cang Ling.”

Xiao Luohan: …

Although she knew that Jiang Xue was intelligent and perceptive, she shouldn’t have guessed that the dream was woven by Cang Ling, right?

Thinking this, she still sent a message to Cang Ling while Jiang Xue was still asleep: 【Have you been teasing A-Xue?】

She was used to addressing Cang Ling formally in private.

Cang Ling replied instantly: 【No, why would I tease her?】

【Yu: A-Xue was sleep-talking, telling you to “wait.”]

This made Cang Ling send a series of question marks.

Since Cang Ling hadn’t learned to lie yet, if she said no, then it was no. Xiao Luohan stopped there, got out of bed, washed up, got dressed, and checked her luggage.

Soon, it was time to leave. She carried her suitcase to her uncle’s car with one hand, waved to the horse tied up in the small courtyard, got in the car, and watched the scenery recede, feeling a little dazed.

It was strange. The last time she left this place, accompanied by the Jiang sisters on the plane, she had been confused and even a little apprehensive about this world.

Now, she had truly become one of them, their most important family member, and Jiang Xue’s beloved.

“I regretted not seeing Xiao Luo’s reaction to her first plane ride last time,” Xie Xitong said, peeking over at Jiang Xue and Xiao Luohan’s seats after the plane stabilized. “But I’ve seen it twice this time, how nice~”

“Why aren’t you sitting with my sister?” Jiang Xue sensed something was up, seeing her wandering over here, so she pulled her in and turned the swivel chair so that Jiang Mei could only see the back.

“Because Mei-jiejie is in a confused state. We have to give her some space, so she can figure things out herself,” Xie Xitong said, her words sounding like those of a “heartbreaker.”

But Jiang Xue was strangely silent—it seemed to be true. Her older sister was the type who wouldn’t react when someone was around, even taking their presence for granted.

When someone wasn’t around, she might be calm at first, but after a while, she would start “overthinking.”

Reflecting on whether she had done something wrong, if she had been annoying, and in the end, she would try to “apologize” with a large sum of money or a promise.

…Anyway, she had experienced this when she was little, after all, it was also her older sister’s first time having a younger sister.

Jiang Xue composed herself, but still felt something wasn’t quite right.

With her older sister’s age and experience, such things, which had long become “dark history,” shouldn’t be happening again, right?

Xiao Luohan, although she didn’t have similar experiences, didn’t agree with this approach. She frowned slightly and asked, “Isn’t this hurting Mei-jiejie’s feelings?”

“I don’t think so. If I notice something’s wrong with Mei-jiejie, I’ll take responsibility,” Xie Xitong said, taking out a board game from her backpack. “And if I really wanted to hurt someone’s feelings, I would keep it a secret from beginning to end, why would I explain it to you two, who are so close to her?”

Xiao Luohan couldn’t refute this and couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Mei, who was working on her laptop, probably wanting to do some offline work during the five-hour flight.

She didn’t interrupt, taking the cards Xie Xitong was dealing and joining the game.

What Xiao Luohan didn’t know was that Jiang Mei was “analyzing” the situation in a password-protected document.

“Do you really have to analyze everything so thoroughly?” Xiao Linghan, in her consciousness, found it amusing. “This is your relationship, not a film analysis project!”

“A-Xi is nine years younger than me, I have to find the root cause,” Jiang Mei replied curtly.

“What if love just arises without reason?”

“Then I’ll find the specific event that made me ‘feel’ something.”

“…” Xiao Linghan felt that this person was hopelessly stubborn, so she simply turned her attention to the small robot, bouncing over to Cang Ling’s side and accompanying her in meditation.

Even in this world with advanced science and space exploration, people from the Office of Astronomy still thought, “If we’re closer to the sky, will we receive more spiritual energy?”

The day after they returned home, the package Xiao Luohan had shipped also arrived.

Jiang Xue carried the package to their bedroom, closed and locked the door, then took out the tools and carefully and reverently opened it.

…Then, closing her eyes, she placed the unpacked items on the floor, listening to Xiao Luo remove the inner packaging.

Jiang Xue still hadn’t figured out how to tell Xiao Luo about the dream before they returned, or how to indirectly ask about the existence of her “dark side.”

The “dark side” was a very private matter, and sometimes, even the person involved wasn’t aware of its existence.

Although she felt that, as both a girlfriend and a family member, she should ask as soon as possible, life had been peaceful recently, and there hadn’t been a suitable opportunity. Asking directly might be offensive, and whether she could get a definite answer was uncertain.

Jiang Xue decided to put it aside for now. There was still time, and maybe the opportunity would arise when they were busy again.

“Aren’t you going to look, A-Xue?”

Xiao Luohan’s voice brought her back to her thoughts.

“I’m afraid I’ll blush again,” Jiang Xue admitted honestly.

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was thin-skinned, or because she lacked experience, but even just a piece of clothing, held before her for a few seconds, could make her ears burn.

“I won’t laugh at you,” Xiao Luohan said with a smile. “I’m not embarrassed, firstly because I’ve done some research, and secondly, I’ve seen many extravagant things before the marriage alliance.”

“Compared to those, these items, openly displayed and categorized in a professional store, actually make me feel more at ease.”

“Besides, only couples with a close relationship would visit a store like this and buy these things, right?” she said, slowly unwrapping a fluffy cat tail. “It’s precisely because of this that I can face this calmly. I’m still a young girl at heart, not much more mature than you.”

“That’s true, but…” Jiang Xue hesitated, then mustered her courage, opened her eyes, looked at what Xiao Luohan was holding, and whispered, “I’m still a little embarrassed…”

Perhaps because she was good at drawing and enjoyed looking at various “images,” whenever she saw such props, she would automatically imagine herself or Xiao Luo wearing them.

The new items needed to be cleaned, so encouraged by Xiao Luohan, Jiang Xue helped wash some of them.

Then the problem arose.

Although the ensuite bathroom had a washing machine, they still had to hang the clothes on the balcony to dry.

Asking A-Xi to dry them for them wouldn’t be refused, but Jiang Xue had some pride.

Xiao Luohan, however, felt that this was a good opportunity to confess to the family elders. “We haven’t told Mom and Mom about ‘growing up’ yet, have we? With their experience, they’ll definitely understand when they see the clothes and accessories drying.”

Jiang Xue instinctively thought of Ms. Wei or Ms. Jiang… no, no, the first person to witness their “growth” should be Sister Cheng. Imagining the usually taciturn Sister Cheng standing silently before their clothes, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

“It’s okay, we’ll have to face it sooner or later,” Xiao Luohan said, patting her back with the hand that hadn’t touched the package. “By the way, do you still remember promising me that we would go to a ‘quiet bar’ after the college entrance exam?”

That was something they had discussed before their coming-of-age party.

Jiang Xue, of course, hadn’t forgotten. While they were still abroad, she had even secretly asked the racetrack owner if there were any bars nearby, but the owner had suggested they try it back home.

“Compared to your side, the bars here are ‘too wild.’ I’m afraid you two newly-adult children will be scared, and it will ruin your first impression, giving you a complex about going to bars in the future,” the racetrack owner had said.

So the matter had been put on hold, and she hadn’t mentioned it to Xiao Luo.

“Of course I remember!” After quickly reviewing her thoughts, Jiang Xue immediately replied, “When do you want to go?”

“Let’s find a night when Mom and Mom are both free,” Xiao Luohan suggested. “It’s our first time at a bar, and having an elder with us will probably make them feel more at ease.”

“That’s not necessarily true…” Jiang Xue said. “You should know by now that many children here are well-behaved in front of their parents, but show their true colors as soon as they’re gone.”

“But they probably already know our true colors, right?” Xiao Luohan said, wringing out the water from the clothes and placing them on the table beside Jiang Xue.

Jiang Xue had only been complaining out of habit. Actually, she had the same thought as Xiao Luo.

It was difficult for them to hide their thoughts. Even if their mothers were just sitting there, they could tell if they had “grown up.”

So the newly bought clothes were hung openly in the drying area, some items were placed on the bathroom shelves and the nightstand, and even a few were placed on the bookshelf.

The invitation to the bar was sent to their mothers by both Jiang Xue and Xiao Luohan.

They specifically bought stationery that Ms. Wei and Ms. Jiang liked, and to make it more formal, they even sealed the envelopes with wax and placed them on their mothers’ nightstands.

That night, the two mothers, having been informed by Sister Cheng beforehand, sat on the edge of their bed, forcing smiles as they opened their invitations.