Chapter 33: Chance Encounter

Although Jiang Ling truly believed Song Meng was an unequivocal bad woman, under the current circumstances…

Without a word, Jiang Ling leaned into Song Meng’s embrace, then clutched her arm tightly with a terrified expression, almost shouting out loud:

“Comrade, you’ve finally come to save me!”

Song Meng smiled at her appearance, instantly picturing a little kitten with its fur standing on end, and reached out to stroke Jiang Ling’s smooth black hair.

“Shh—”

Immediately, she was shot a sharp glare.

But Jiang Ling didn’t move away at all, still leaning against Song Meng. The flyer in her hand was hastily folded and stuffed into her pocket, her eyes darting nervously.

Song Meng realized she wanted her to face those two people, so she tilted her head slightly and said, “I’m going to charge a fee later, you know.”

“You!”

Jiang Ling raised her eyebrows in surprise but could only pinch Song Meng’s sleeve with a finger in mock menace, mumbling softly, “You profiteer…”

Song Meng laughed in agreement without denying it.

“Uh, you’re Song Meng?”

Seeing the situation, the senior girl froze for a moment, then tentatively called out Song Meng’s name, looking somewhat astonished.

“Yes.”

Song Meng’s gaze shifted to her, the playful smile fading into a gentle, outward expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t know she had her eyes on you.”

After saying that, the two who had been closing in turned around swiftly and left to find someone else.

Jiang Ling stood there dumbfounded, staring at their departing backs. She quickly withdrew her arm and looked at Song Meng, trembling slightly, “Um, you’re not some kind of social troublemaker, are you…?”

Hearing her extremely tactful accusation, Song Meng smirked and stared at Jiang Ling with interest, retorting,

“What do you think?”

A long silence followed.

Jiang Ling pursed her lips and thought for a moment before decisively turning and running off.

Stacking up troubles—she really had gotten involved with someone serious!

However, she hadn’t even run a few steps before being firmly grabbed from behind, unable to move.

“Using me and then running?”

Song Meng whispered near her right earlobe, “Really a woman who starts and then abandons.”

Almost instantly, Jiang Ling felt half her body go numb and tremble, causing her legs to shake uncontrollably as she collapsed weakly into Song Meng’s arms.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t kill me!”

Jiang Ling covered her face, repeating frantically.

“…Pfft.”

Seeing this, Song Meng covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, speaking with some helplessness, “I don’t think I’ve done anything yet.”

Hearing that, Jiang Ling cautiously said, “That senior just now looked really scared of you, and the last time you hit that guy, it was really…”

“Really?”

Song Meng brushed away her hand from her face, revealing eyes that looked shaken and helpless.

Jiang Ling didn’t resist and quietly answered, “Really cool, so I reasonably guessed you might have some kind of untold background, and then—”

“Then you ran away out of fear?”

“Um… no! I didn’t do anything to wrong you!”

At this, Jiang Ling instinctively nodded, then hurriedly waved her hands with astonishing speed:

“Even though I often say you’re harassing me and pretend not to see your messages, I think you’re a kind, beautiful, smart, and lovely woman, so please don’t kill me, boohoo!”

Listening to her rapid-fire string of words, Song Meng couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “I’m the vice president of the student council. The student council is recruiting lately; she probably thought I’d already picked you, so she left so quickly.”

“…Then what about the last time you hit that guy?”

“Hmm, I just slapped him on instinct, no training.”

After answering honestly, Song Meng noticed Jiang Ling, who had been tense, staring at her with a touch of grievance.

“You should’ve said that earlier! You scared me to death!”

Jiang Ling immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief; a few seconds ago, her nerves had frayed so badly she almost considered what last words to leave to Bai Xue and the others.

The two walked together, and Song Meng keenly sensed Jiang Ling’s distraction, so she asked, “Do you have something on your mind?”

“Yeah… I do.”

Jiang Ling then told her everything about choosing a personal talent to showcase, ending with a troubled look, “Which one should I pick?”

Singing was her comfort zone, but dancing was a bit of a stretch. That song “Dangerous Party” was something Fang Wannian had patiently taught her every day, finally producing a relatively good result.

But she couldn’t always trouble her teammates to help.

Seeing Jiang Ling troubled in thought, Song Meng was silent for a moment before coming up with an idea: “Then why not pick a dance that’s popular but not too difficult?”

She personally hoped Jiang Ling would step out of her comfort zone and try something different.

Of course, there was no point wishing for overnight success. Compared to that, short video apps always had monthly dance challenges that were trending and not too hard, which could perfectly meet Jiang Ling’s needs.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling’s eyes lit up.

So that’s how she planned to solve it?!

She immediately pulled out her phone to browse and indeed found a recent trending girl group dance called “Magnetic,” a pure and cute style, with the chorus widely circulated.

Jiang Ling instantly set her practice target and gratefully looked at Song Meng, “Thank you.”

“Words only?”

Song Meng seemed a bit dissatisfied and pinched her cheek.

“Don’t—stop touching!”

Jiang Ling slapped away her careless hand, feeling a bit guilty.

After all, since meeting Song Meng, she had helped her a lot; it was hard to express thanks in just a few words.

“How about this—you promise me one thing, and I’ll tell you when I think of it.”

In the end, Song Meng proposed a compromise.

Although Jiang Ling clearly sensed some hidden meaning behind that smile, she still pursed her lips and agreed.

Ah well, things will be sorted out when the time comes!

Anyway, Song Meng probably won’t eat her… probably?

Back home, Jiang Ling immediately replayed the dance tutorials repeatedly, throwing herself into practice.

After all, the evaluation deadline was coming soon.

After practicing for a while, Jiang Ling stopped to take a short break, reaching for her water bottle only to find it completely empty.

She glanced at the time; it was almost mealtime. So she decided to go to the convenience store to buy something to get by.

There was a convenience store nearby downstairs. Jiang Ling picked up some biscuits, bread, and instant noodles to stock up so she wouldn’t waste time running down repeatedly. She also grabbed a chilled soda from the freezer, satisfied, and went to the counter to pay.

Just as Jiang Ling placed her items on the counter and took out her phone to scan the code, her eyes met the cashier’s, and she froze in place.

Huh?

The cute girl in the cashier uniform, efficiently working—

It was definitely Mo Ran, wasn’t it?