The Art of Girlfriendhood

The small car whirred along, its occupant’s heart thrumming a frantic rhythm.

Fortunately, they had already turned off the main road onto a smaller one, where traffic was lighter and speed less of a concern.

Luo Xuan gripped the steering wheel, her heart pounding.

Her sudden impulse had led her to be a little too bold; having uttered such words, she wondered how Bai Jingjing would perceive her.

If such a request were truly made, how should she respond, and would she even agree?

‘That might not be good…’

“I can cook for you, clean, do housework, things like that,” Bai Jingjing tentatively asked after a moment of thought. “Is that okay?”

‘As expected, she’s so innocent; she hadn’t thought in that direction at all.’

Luo Xuan secretly let out a breath, yet felt a slight pang of loss.

The car stopped outside the residential complex gate. Rather than rushing to open the door, Luo Xuan picked up her phone and said, “I’ll transfer the rental fee she paid to you.”

Bai Jingjing quickly received the transfer notification. Upon seeing it, she was so startled her whole body jumped. “Two hundred thousand? That’s far too much.”

Luo Xuan pursed her lips, thinking, ‘I had a hard time convincing her to lower it. If she had gone with her initial plan, it would have truly been ‘life-buying money’ (TL Note: A colloquial term for an exorbitant amount of money, often implying it’s enough to save a life or buy freedom).’

“She renewed for another month,” Luo Xuan explained. “This is the full amount.”

Bai Jingjing slightly furrowed her brows. “It’s for a month, but it’s only a few weekends. Besides, I haven’t really done anything.”

Just some housework, and sleeping while being held at night.

“Exactly. She just wants you to cook and do housework for her. Xia Chu, that girl, definitely has a problematic understanding of girlfriends.”

Luo Xuan sighed with emotion. A sudden idea sparked, and glancing left and right, she pretended to be casual as she said, “Doing just these things, it’s no different from you doing things for me in place of rent. When you think about it, it almost seems like you’re being my girlfriend too.”

Bai Jingjing responded with a muffled, “Mm…”

‘She ‘mm’-ed. She actually ‘mm’-ed.’

Luo Xuan’s thoughts ran wild; she wondered if Bai Jingjing’s ‘mm’ signified agreement with the first part of her sentence, or the latter.

‘There was a fundamental difference, after all.’

The car doors remained closed; neither of the two girls was in a hurry to get out. They sat in the car, lost in their own thoughts.

Luo Xuan, cautious, glanced left and right as she thought, as if afraid her private thoughts would be discovered.

Bai Jingjing, on the other hand, was much more open, cupping her delicate cheek in her hand, her pretty brows slightly furrowed, appearing to be a thoughtful intellectual.

“Um, Bai Jingjing, actually, while you’re staying at my place these days, if you ever need anything,” Luo Xuan stammered, “you can still come to me for guidance, just like the other day…”

“Sister Luo,” Bai Jingjing suddenly spoke at the same time. “Please teach me more.”

“Just like we did the other day… Eh? Eh?”

‘What happened?’

Luo Xuan paused, slightly stunned, only to hear Bai Jingjing continue, gazing out the window:

“You’re right. If it’s just doing a bit of housework, that hardly counts as being a girlfriend.”

‘Cooking, washing dishes, scrubbing clothes and ‘panties’ (TL Note: A Japanese loanword for ‘panties’ or ‘underwear’, often used in a cute or slightly suggestive context)—could that truly be called a girlfriend?’

‘That would be an hourly worker.’

“So…”

“So I need to try harder; I must live up to Sister Xia’s trust… and the rental fee,” Bai Jingjing said earnestly. “Please, Sister Luo, teach me a few more techniques.”

Luo Xuan felt a little dizzy, as if life itself was truly wonderful in that moment.

‘But wait a moment, the ‘techniques’ Bai Jingjing mentioned… were they the innocent kind, or the not-so-innocent kind?’

“What exactly do you mean by ‘techniques’?” she carefully asked. “Are they the ones I taught you the other day?”

“It’s about how to interact with Sister Xia as a girlfriend. She doesn’t really like interacting with people, so first, I need to find a way to get closer to her,” Bai Jingjing analyzed calmly. “As for the techniques Sister Luo taught before, they’re enough for now. I’ll learn more from you if I need to later.”

‘The other day, I learned a move for ‘Tuantuan Tieties’ (TL Note: A playful term for snuggling or cuddling, implying closeness) and a move for ‘Xiaonaohu Yaoyao’ (TL Note: A playful way of saying ‘little tiger bites,’ implying gentle nips or playful teasing), but guess what? I didn’t get to use either!’

“Oh, I see…”

Luo Xuan thought for a moment and understood. It meant Bai Jingjing first needed to find a way to cultivate feelings, and at least sleep together, before she could consider anything ‘spicy’ (TL Note: A colloquial internet slang term, ‘sese,’ referring to suggestive or erotic activities).

Of course, she was unaware that her best friend and Bai Jingjing had already secretly started sleeping together, though nothing had actually happened.

Even the hugs were unconscious, happening only after they fell asleep.

That being said, Luo Xuan herself had never been a girlfriend; how was she supposed to teach this?

“Hmm, let me think. For this ‘cultivating feelings’ you want, between girlfriends, you should… try dating,” Luo Xuan said.

Though she had no practical experience herself, she had been active in online yuri communities for a long time, and had heard many practical experiences when listening to group members share their ‘dog food’ (TL Note: A Chinese internet slang term referring to public displays of affection or sweet moments shared by couples, often making single people feel ‘fed’ something unappetizing).

“Does ‘dating’ mean going shopping at the mall?” Bai Jingjing tilted her small head.

‘That might be difficult. Sister Xia doesn’t seem like the type to go out shopping; she’d rather go on Taobao and JD.com.’

“It doesn’t necessarily mean shopping. Dating is when two people go to places they want to visit and have fun together,” Luo Xuan said, drawing from her group chat experiences. “Or rather, one person accompanies the other to a place they want to go.”

Bai Jingjing paused, slightly taken aback. “But I don’t know where Sister Xia wants to go.”

“That depends on your usual interactions and conversations. In any case, there’s no rush for that; you can practice the feeling of dating beforehand,” Luo Xuan said. She opened the car door, cleared her throat, and once again, pretending to be casual, added, “Bai Jingjing, is there anywhere you particularly want to go?”

“Me?”

Bai Jingjing got out of the car and looked up at the sky. Tonight’s sky was quite clear; the clouds were sparse, and stars twinkled.

“If it’s in the provincial capital, the place I most want to visit is the Provincial Art University,” she replied.

It was a dream place she had always wanted to go, and now, thanks to Luo Xuan and Xia Chu’s success, she was very close to realizing it. If all went well, she could report to the school in a few months.

If she could go see it now, to ‘scout it out’ (TL Note: A colloquial term for ‘reconnaissance’ or ‘checking out a location in advance’) beforehand, that would be even better.

“So the Art University is the place you most want to go? From what you’re saying, is there a second place you’d like to go?” Luo Xuan asked.

“Yes, the second place I want to go, for now, might be the Provincial City Central Hospital,” Bai Jingjing answered.

She had lived there for three years. During those three years, Bai Jingjing had not only met patients coming and going in the wards but also the doctor-sisters and nurse-sisters (TL Note: ‘姐姐’ (jiějie) is used here as a respectful and affectionate term for older female doctors and nurses) who had always taken good care of her.

Thinking of this, Bai Jingjing’s heart began to pound.

She had already discovered that her ID card now showed her as female, and when she occasionally messaged people she knew in real life, she noticed their attitudes seemed to have subtly changed.

A bold guess formed in the young girl’s mind: Since this mysterious power had transformed her body and identity into that of a girl, what about the memories of the people she once knew?

She wanted to see if the doctor-sisters and nurse-sisters who had once cared for her would still recognize her.

“Good, in that case,” Luo Xuan said, clapping her jade-like hand on the car hood with spirited enthusiasm, “tomorrow we’ll go to the Art University, and the day after, we’ll go to the Central Hospital!”