Title: The OOC Villainess and the White Moonlight Heroine are BFFs
Translator: Little Bamboo Spirit
Chapter 16 - White moonlight, I didn't expect you… okay, fine, those parts are the most eye-catching (1)
Go back to four hours ago.
Since Yue Xia had seemed very busy recently, Jiang Shuyao was surprised when she heard a knock on her door. "What's wrong?"
Yue Xia met Jiang Shuyao's deeply concerned gaze. She shook her head and got straight to the point. "Want to go out to play?"
Jiang Shuyao paused in surprise. "Huh?"
Perhaps, it was because Yue Xia's acting skills at the engagement party were too good. Jiang Shuyao was genuinely worried about Yue Xia's mental state. Although Yue Xia looked like she was full of vitality now, Jiang Shuyao didn't dare to be negligent. She gingerly asked, "Are you in a good mood today?"
"I'm feeling great!" Yue Xia skipped over to her bed with a smile. "Today's a sunny day."
Jiang Shuyao saw her smiling almond-shaped eyes and smiled a bit too.
… Now that she thought about it, she had been in a good mood recently too.
She had originally viewed staying at the Yue's as a last resort for the sake of Yue Xia's mental health. She had also been worried that her staying here would cause trouble for Yue Xia's family. Contrary to her expectations, these past days turned out to be the most relaxing time for her in a long time.
During business hours, there was usually no one here. Yue Xia didn't have servants that would roll their eyes at her or look at her weirdly. Yue Xia didn't have family or friends that looked down on her no matter how hard she tried.
She didn't have to rack her brains every day to try to get other people to like her. She woke up at sunrise and went to rest at sunset. When she was idle, she would help out by watering and tending to the plants. She felt like her shackles had been released.
It was only now that she suddenly remembered that she hadn't seen Shi Qingyin in a while.
She had been wondering last night if maybe she wasn't ready to get married. Everyone had pushed her to get engaged, and the matter had been decided without her seriously thinking whether that was something she wanted.
"Where do you want to go?" Jiang Shuyao saw Yue Xia lingering by the side of the bed. She gently asked in a tone used to speak to children, "I don't know of any fun places around here."
Yue Xia was a bit puzzled and asked the system for every scrap of information: [How old is the female protagonist?]
The system slowly came online. [25 years old.]
Yue Xia: [.]
Shuyao was so young. She was only three years older than her. So why did Shuyao look at her like she was a child?
Yue Xia took her phone out of her pocket to show Jiang Shuyao the VIP tickets she had bought.
Yue Xia got her wish. Jiang Shuyao's gaze changed from looking at her like she was a child to looking at her as if she was a misbehaving child. Her pupils dilated. "You… want to go there?!"
Yue Xia calmly nodded.
Jiang Shuyao was utterly terrified. "It… isn't good for girls to go to places like that. How about we go somewhere else?"
"That place is a nightclub," Yue Xia very seriously said, "And I want to see pole dancing."
"H-how could you say something like that?!" Jiang Shuyao's face had turned red. "I can go with you to other places, but…"
She had never gone to a nightclub! This was a nightclub! There would be all sorts of people there. In her cognitive scope, only unsavory people would go to nightclubs, but now Yue Xia…
Yue Xia immediately started performing. Looking as if she was about to start crying the next second, she said, "If I can't go, then everything about me will be destroyed: from my face to my body, from my social etiquette to my good moral character and temperament, and even my soul."
Jiang Shuyao: "..."
Yue Xia said, "Pretty please, this is my lifelong wish."
Jiang Shuyao hesitantly answered, "Then, um, okay."
Yue Xia cheered, "Yay!"
Jiang Shuyao slowly went to prepare for going out.
The system had been indifferently watching Yue Xia's performance. It couldn't stand it anymore. [How come you don't act like this in front of other people?]
Yue Xia: [Like what?]
The system tried its best to organize its words. [Like, you're suddenly much more innocent and kind-hearted.]
Yue Xia didn't quibble over the system's weird wording. She sighed. [It's probably because people subconsciously soften their tone when they're facing baby animals or cute children. She gives off a similar feeling. Besides, I have to find a chance to tell her the truth. I can't keep this up.]
Previously, Jiang Shuyao had indirectly inquired with a worried look about her high school affairs. She wanted to find the crux of her psychological problem to help her, but Yue Xia's psychological shadow didn't exist. She had always been the one casting shadows in other people's hearts. So, she could only dejectedly lower her head and remain silent. Every time, she could fool Jiang Shuyao with that combo.
Yue Xia used to be infuriated by the female protagonist's irrational, baffling behavior when she read old-fashioned novels, but when she really met such a person, she couldn't bear to say anything harsh.
"Yue Xia." Jiang Shuyao's voice came from the door.
Yue Xia raised her head and looked over there. Jiang Shuyao had changed into a short black dress. Actually, it wasn't that short. It covered her knees.
Jiang Shuyao anxiously asked, "Is this okay?"
Yue Xia blinked and didn't say anything.
Not getting a response, Jiang Shuyao wilted like cold water was poured on her. "... Umm, yeah, I don't look good in this kind of clothing."
Shi Qingyin liked her wearing white and didn't like her wearing dresses that went above her knees. He also didn't want her to wear any make up. He would get angry if she wore anything he didn't like. This short dress had been buried in her closet for a long time. She just had a sudden thought…
"Not at all." Yue Xia stood up and circled her. "It looks good."
Jiang Shuyao blanked. "Ah?"
Yue Xia seemed as if she misunderstood what she meant. She pondered for a moment and answered, "Although I can't pinpoint what's good about it, it looks very good nonetheless."
Jiang Shuyao's legs were long and straight, her ankles were slender, and her skin looked even whiter when she was wearing black. Yue Xia was clearly blind when it came to fashion and aesthetics, but she still confidently repeated, "I think it looks very good!"
Jiang Shuyao blushed. She stood there and hesitated for a long time. In the end, she didn't change out of her dress.
Jiang Shuyao faced the makeup mirror and hastily took out BB cream to apply. From her peripheral vision, she saw Yue Xia boneless lying on the bay window. Yue Xia took out her phone as she lazily basked in the sun. Every now and then, her toes would touch the floor. Her hair looked golden under the tranquil sunlight. She looked like a golden retriever that was about to rest.
She didn't look like she was going to urge her to hurry up.
Jiang Shuyao's hand slowed a bit. As if she was explaining something, she hastily said, "It's because I haven't gone to a place…"
She swallowed the rest of her words. It felt a bit superfluous.
Yue Xia turned over and casually replied, "Mhm. It's a sense of ceremony."
Jiang Shuyao didn't understand her meaning, but she soon heard rustling behind her. Yue Xia had gotten up and reached her side without her knowing.
Yue Xia raised her face and said, "There will be a lot of lights there."
Jiang Shuyao: ".... Umm?"
Yue Xia closed her eyes. "Put some sparkly stuff on me too."
Jiang Shuyao: "?"
She woodenly dipped her finger in her eyeshadow palette and carefully brushed fine glitter over Yue Xia's soft eyelids.
Yue Xia slowly opened her eyes. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on her. In the spots where Jiang Shuyao's fingers had touched, it looked like a Milky Way that resembled light reflecting over the scales of a school of fishing swimming. "It's so sparkly~"
As Jiang Shuyao looked at Yue Xia's big smile that revealed her pointy canine teeth, she inexplicably became excited about going out and lost her original unwillingness.