A Day of Shopping, a Movie Date, and a Quiet Revelation

“Xiaoran, I’m ready…”

Hearing Jiang Zilin’s faint voice, Chen Ran turned his head.

He saw the pretty woman nervously tidying her disheveled golden hair. Her dark green dress shimmered with a soft, starry luminescence, like fine gauze.

This made Jiang Zilin appear as if she had stepped right out of a fairy tale, a petite princess.

However…

She was still wearing a mask and sunglasses, making her look like nothing short of a pure suspicious character!

Chen Ran stepped closer.

Under Jiang Zilin’s gaze, which resembled that of a startled little rabbit.

He removed her sunglasses and mask, revealing her utterly charming, small round face and a pair of sparkling, azure blue eyes that suddenly appeared before him.

Jiang Zilin’s face instantly flushed crimson.

Perhaps she had been in a perpetually “flushed” state, for her small face now looked as if it had been thoroughly cooked, terrifyingly hot yet adorably pulsating with each breath.

“Hmm…”

After removing Jiang Zilin’s disguise, Chen Ran took a couple of steps back, surveying the beautiful woman before him from head to toe.

“It’s quite lovely.”

The dress fit perfectly and was the kind of conservative style she wouldn’t dislike, making Jiang Zilin appear both dignified and grand, like a princess or the eldest daughter of a prominent family destined to inherit their estate.

Jiang Zilin herself seemed quite fond of it.

She kept looking down at it, letting out a silly “hehehe” giggle.

But…

“Ugh! Xiaoran! Big Sis is going to suffocate!”

“…”

Because the dress was a very conservative style, it completely covered her chest, which, in turn, caused Jiang Zilin’s two exceptionally well-developed, soft mounds to be compressed, making them appear inexplicably larger to the naked eye.

‘How indecent.’

Chen Ran couldn’t help but think this, feeling an urge to thoroughly ‘discipline’ this “fatty”!

“It seems a bit ill-fitting.”

“Hmm…”

“Want to try another one?”

“Then Xiaoran, turn around quickly!”

“Alright, alright.”

Turning his back once more, Chen Ran watched as Jiang Zilin tried on several more outfits, all of which, in his opinion, were quite attractive.

Most of them, however, were somewhat ill-fitting—after all, what normal girl had a bust as exaggerated as Jiang Zilin’s?

Consequently.

In the end, only a denim overall dress, paired with a blue and white striped shirt, an outfit designed for a casual, cute street style, fit Jiang Zilin perfectly.

In fact.

She usually wore clothes like this—loose shirts, hoodies, paired with jeans or cargo pants.

Despite this, Jiang Zilin still cast longing glances at the dark green long dress she had tried on first.

“Then let’s buy the dress?”

“But I can’t wear it normally…”

“Let’s buy both, the overalls and the dress.”

“Huh?!”

“It’s fine, Big Sis Lin, buying an extra outfit is no big deal, and besides…”

Chen Ran said, winking and coaxing Jiang Zilin before him.

“Just don’t tell Big Sis Cold and Mom, and they won’t know I bought Big Sis Lin two gifts.”

The woman’s face instantly flushed even deeper red.

And so, it was decided.

After Jiang Zilin changed back into her original plain attire, she took the mask and sunglasses from his hand and put them back on her face.

Clearly.

Without this ‘disguise’, Jiang Zilin wouldn’t be able to leave the changing room.

They purchased the clothes and paid.

It didn’t cost much—all the gifts for her and her mother combined amounted to only about a thousand yuan.

This was mainly because Jiang Zilin wouldn’t allow him to buy anything expensive; otherwise, Chen Ran would have loved to experience the feeling of grandly waving his hand in a luxury store and having the assistants pack everything up for him.

With their shopping complete.

Chen Ran then took Jiang Zilin to see a movie.

This girl had clearly never been to a cinema before; she spent ages just looking at the tickets before finally choosing an animated film.

Chen Ran couldn’t help but tease her.

“Who goes on a date to watch two-dimensional anime, Big Sis Lin?”

“It’s just an animated movie, so what! Hmph, you normie Xiaoran, I hate you!”

“…”

‘She’s flustered, flustered again.’

The evening show at the cinema was sparsely attended, which significantly eased Jiang Zilin’s demeanor.

Especially after they entered the screening room and settled into their seats.

As the movie began.

The cinema’s pure white lights abruptly extinguished, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness.

Chen Ran could distinctly feel Jiang Zilin’s soft, pliant body beside him instantly relax, leaning against him. Her mask was pulled down, and she was now happily “gugugugu”-ing, devouring her popcorn and milk tea.

Watching the woman cradle her extra-large, full-sugar milk tea.

Chen Ran couldn’t help but marvel, ‘No wonder this Jiang Zilin is so “plump,” but what’s infuriating is that her plumpness settled in all the right places!’

The plot of the animated film was quite simple.

It was a romance.

It depicted the story of childhood sweethearts, a boy and a girl who grew up by the sea in the countryside, were separated during middle school due to a transfer, and eventually reunited in a big city.

Because the male and female leads didn’t end up together, Jiang Zilin even cried “wuwuwu.”

Her eyes behind the sunglasses were red and swollen, prompting him to wipe away many of her tears.

“Ugh… Aren’t you sad, Xiaoran?”

“Sad about what?”

“What if Xiaoran leaves Big Sis too, just like in the movie!”

“I won’t.”

Chen Ran considered for a moment, then spoke softly.

“I only live the life I choose to live, so that won’t happen.”

“Huh? Xiaoran, you’re starting to say strange things Big Sis can’t understand, just like Cold!”

“Mmm…”

Chen Ran smiled, continuing to wipe away the tears from Jiang Zilin’s eyes.

In the darkened cinema, Jiang Zilin reverted to her usual chirpy, lively self, constantly whispering in his ear.

Chen Ran realized.

For her, perhaps, as long as she didn’t see many people around her, her overall state wouldn’t be so bad.

That was why.

She always kept her head down when out, only looking at the ground, and wore sunglasses, all to avoid looking at others.

Even seeing her “own” reflection in the changing room mirror filled her with fear.

Why was that?

After the movie, they emerged from the department store and boarded the sparsely populated last subway train.

Chen Ran listened as Jiang Zilin began to speak about herself.

“It’s not because I encountered something terrifying as a child and developed some psychological trauma… Of course, normally, that’s how people who aren’t ‘normal’ become that way; there’s always a cause and effect.”

“Of course, there are people like that, but Big Sis is just naturally this way. It’s been like this since I was born, since I could first remember things.”

“Mom says I always liked to hide alone when I was little, and I’d cry whenever I saw people.”

Sitting in the nearly empty subway car, Jiang Zilin sighed, leaning halfway against him as she quietly spoke…