Running Away (GXG) (GIRLXGIRL) (GL)

13

“Of course! This is the first time I’m able to dress up so pretty and be up on the stage like that.”

“Forget it! You’ll just be wearing a common handmaid’s dress – you’ll blend in with the rest of us, no one will even notice you,” Feng Jing cut in from the side.

“What’s wrong, Juran?” Huang Ying noticed that Qin Juran’s expression become more and more worried at each mention of the performance, and couldn’t help feeling concerned.

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Qin Juran snapped out of her daze and replied, “That dress I picked – do you like it?”

Huang Ying hesitated, then answered sourly: “I love it – of course I do. That dress cost tens of thousands of dollars, how could I not?!”

Qin Juran thought for a moment. “How about this: we’ll go earlier tomorrow, and you can first wear my dress so your friend can take pictures of you in it.”

“Really?! Why would you do that, Juran? You – you would lend me such an expensive dress?!”

Feng Jing’s ears also perked up at Qin Juran’s offer, and she eyed the girl suspiciously.

Qin Juran flicked a glance at Feng Jing, then turned back to Huang Ying, shrugging without saying anything more.

The next morning, the three girls woke up bright and early. After Qin Juran finished tidying her bags, she once again called the bus company. Confirming her ticket for 7 a.m. outside out of the campus entrance, she sent a message to Qin Julai to ask whether he could accompany “Dad” to pick her up, since she’d feel more at ease with someone her age.

Qin Julai quickly responded with an “Okay.”

He seemed to be a good child. Qin Juran wondered whether he would like the gift she bought.

All through her phone call, Feng Jing’s ears were attentively eavesdropping. Qin Juran thought about using Fan Chuan to tease her, but then tossed the idea away after thinking about the hassle it would be.

Fan Chuan’s National Day party was a plot point of the novel story, as well as the accident that was bound to occur that night. All this time, no matter how far Qin Juran tried to stray from the original storyline, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

She didn’t know whether this world had some magnetic field of “destiny,” but until now, she still had no clue when things would begin deviating from the original story, or how.

Qin Juran inhaled a sharp breath. She casually tidied her things, then handed her dress to Huang Ying.

Huang Ying also took full advantage of this opportunity. She found a medieval European-style café nearby and dragged her friend there, spending the entire morning taking pictures.

She even brought back two portions of fried rice noodles for Qin Juran and Feng Jing for the first time ever. Without any second thoughts, Qin Juran quickly sent her money in return for the food.

Huang Ying froze, then said awkwardly, “Juran, what are you doing? You lent me your dress, so let me treat you to a meal.”

Without even sparing her a glance, Qin Juran replied, “That’s a different matter. This is for the meal.”

“What are you talking about? You say it as if you owe me.”