68. I Can’t Be Turned into a Useless Beauty!
“Ugh, this is giving me a headache. Xiaoxi, did Xue’er do anything to you?” Xia Zhibai set a bag filled with snacks on the small dorm room table.
Ruo Xiaoxi, sitting on the bed, shook her head innocently. “No, she helped me carry my luggage to the dorm and even made my bed. Sister Xia, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, of course. I heard you came alone, with all that heavy luggage…”
“Because… because my parents aren’t home, so I came by myself.” Ruo Xiaoxi realized she hadn’t told Xia Zhibai that she lived alone.
She’d been afraid that if she told her, Sister Xia would barge in whenever something happened.
“Honestly, how could they not even see their daughter off to high school? Even if they’re busy with work, at least one of them should have come. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to meet you. I was welcoming new students at the front gate…”
“It’s okay… Anyway, Sister Xia was busy welcoming other juniors and forgot about me. I was fine on my own. Senior Yin Huixue helped me. Sister Xia is so busy… maybe I should just stick with Sister Huixue from now on…”
Ruo Xiaoxi pouted, feigning annoyance. Though her words said ‘it’s fine,’ her voice trembled with wounded pride—a mix of grievance and quiet injustice. Paired with her heartbroken yet resolute expression, it nearly shattered Xia Zhibai’s heart just to listen.
Xia Zhibai immediately crouched down in front of Ruo Xiaoxi, gently taking her small hands in hers, her face filled with guilt and remorse. “I’m so sorry. I assumed your parents would be with you.”
“If I had known, I would have asked you which gate you were coming through and waited for you. I didn’t take good care of you, and seeing you like this makes me feel terrible…”
The thought of Ruo Xiaoxi struggling alone with her heavy bags, navigating the crowds of students being greeted by their parents, standing at the gate, looking around hopefully for her, only to be disappointed and having to head to the dorm alone… it tugged at the softest part of Xia Zhibai’s heart.
Especially since she kept saying she wanted Ruo Xiaoxi to be her girlfriend. If she couldn’t even handle this small matter, how could she protect her? No wonder Ruo Xiaoxi wanted to go with other seniors.
“Huh?” Ruo Xiaoxi blinked. Why did Sister Xia look like she was about to cry?
She had just said it casually, putting on a bit of a show, but how had she managed to make Sister Xia almost cry?
“Ahem, i-it’s okay, I don’t mind,” Ruo Xiaoxi coughed awkwardly, but Xia Zhibai remained guilt-ridden, wondering how she could apologize and make it up to her.
“I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t care about you. I just didn’t think it through, and I let you down…”
“It’s alright, Sister Xia. What’s wrong? I forgive you. Don’t be sadder than me.”
Ruo Xiaoxi patted Xia Zhibai’s head, gently comforting her.
Wait a minute, shouldn’t she be the one being comforted?
Sister Xia was so embarrassing! The most embarrassing senior ever! How could she almost cry in front of her junior? She was probably imagining some self-pitying scenario in her head.
But Sister Xia was truly a good person, always so thoughtful and caring towards her. It often touched Ruo Xiaoxi.
Xia Zhibai, on the other hand, was even more touched. Ruo Xiaoxi didn’t seem to blame her at all. Instead, she was so understanding and forgiving. How could there be such a wonderful girl as Xiaoxi?
“…” Ruo Xiaoxi felt like she was somehow PUAing Sister Xia.
“Right, I brought you some snacks, in case you get hungry tonight.” Xia Zhibai stood up, picking up the bag of snacks. “You seemed busy during the latter part of the summer break. What were you up to?”
“Oh, I had a temporary summer job.”
“A summer job? Are you short on money?”
“Not exactly short, but I didn’t have quite enough, so I earned a little extra…”
“Doing what?”
“I was a children’s clothing model at a clothing store.” Ruo Xiaoxi scratched her cheek, embarrassed.
Even though she was a high school student, when she asked the store owner if they needed any help, she was immediately chosen to be a children’s clothing model! Children’s clothing!
Even more infuriating was the fact that the children’s clothes didn’t look out of place on her. She blended seamlessly into the elementary school demographic.
“Pfft, a children’s clothing model? Did you take any photos?”
“Of course not! I had to keep telling myself to pretend to be a little kid just to get through it. Thinking back on it makes me want to curl up in embarrassment!”
Ruo Xiaoxi blushed, her cheeks puffing out like a pufferfish as she glared at Xia Zhibai.
Xia Zhibai gently cupped her cheek. “You don’t have to push yourself so hard next time. If you need money, you can always come to me. But you’re so stubborn, you wouldn’t even let me pay for your clothes. When will I ever hear you say, ‘Sister, I don’t want to work hard anymore’?”
“This must be your evil plan, Sister Xia! To turn me into a useless person who only knows how to whine, so I become so helpless that I can’t leave you, right?!” Ruo Xiaoxi put her hands on her hips, as if she had seen through everything.
“It’s okay. Even if you become a useless beauty, I’ll still take care of you.”
“D-darn it, you really are thinking that!” Ruo Xiaoxi clenched her fists. No, she couldn’t become useless. She was a vampire princess!
These days, vampire princesses were too weak, completely domesticated into fluffy potential. So she would become a world-destroying vampire loli and revive the glory of the vampire race! It was her duty!
She might be weak now, but she had to have ambition!
“It’s still early. Why don’t I show you around my dorm? It’s just downstairs. I’ll take you there once, so you can come find me anytime.”
“Eh? The second-year dorms are downstairs? Does that mean there are lots of seniors there?”
“Um… Um? What’s wrong? What are you planning?” Xia Zhibai sensed something amiss.
“N-nothing, nothing!” Ruo Xiaoxi quickly waved her hands. She wasn’t planning anything. She would always love Sister Xia, devoted to her, body and soul!
“Aren’t you supposed to be welcoming new students, Sister Xia? If you skip out to show me around, then…”
“It’s fine, I took care of some things in advance and handed over the rest. I took a short break to come see you. Come on, let’s go to my dorm.”
“Okay.” Ruo Xiaoxi nodded, slipping her small hand into Xia Zhibai’s and looking up at her with a sweet, innocent smile.
Xia Zhibai froze, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Xiaoxi’s sweet smile seemed to bring springtime to her world.
She tightened her grip on that small, cool hand, her heart overflowing with happiness as she led Ruo Xiaoxi to the second-year dormitory.
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