CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75 DO YOU... HAVE A GIRLFRIEND? (SEEKING FOLLOWERS, DEAR READERS)

Lin Xiran saw Lin Huahua and the others enter the school, and suddenly felt some inexplicable nervousness, but it wasn’t appropriate to just say goodbye to Zhang Jingdong, so she had to stop walking.

Zhang Jingdong noticed her nervousness and immediately said, "Let’s go, it’s getting late, I’ll walk you back to your dormitory!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiran was a bit surprised, and then nodded, "...um."

Although East River Art College is not very big, it still takes more than twenty minutes to walk from the school gate to Lin Xiran’s third female dormitory building.

During the first ten minutes of the walk, neither of them spoke a word, just quietly walking side by side.

It was only when they passed the basketball court that Lin Xiran took the initiative to break the silence: "Thank you for tonight. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have been arranged by everyone for different things."

Zhang Jingdong unassumingly asked, "Just because you don’t have a boyfriend?"

Lin Xiran nodded shyly, "Mostly because all of them have boyfriends, and they have always wanted to find me a boyfriend, so..."

Lin Xiran adorably shrugged her shoulders.

Zhang Jingdong then suddenly asked somewhat unexpectedly, "If you had to score my performance tonight out of 100, what would you give?"

Lin Xiran was taken aback for a moment, thought briefly, then replied, "98 points, especially when you were singing at the KTV earlier, I really didn’t expect you to sing so well, almost exactly like Jacky Cheung himself!"

Zhang Jingdong then stopped walking, turned to face her, "Shouldn’t the masterstroke have been when I reached out to you while singing the first song? I believe at that moment, they all completely believed I was your boyfriend!"

Lin Xiran lowered her head, bashfully overwhelmed.

After a while, she met Zhang Jingdong’s gaze again, "...Alright, indeed!"

Zhang Jingdong smirked, "Since you’ve given me such a high score, how about this, let’s collaborate long-term!"

"Long-term collaboration?" Lin Xiran pursed her lips, "What do you mean?"

"It means I’ll continue to pretend to be your boyfriend. As for my compensation... for now, let it be that if I need your help in the future, you must help me unconditionally. How about that?"

Seeing Lin Xiran hesitating, Zhang Jingdong continued to tempt, "Think about it, your roommates today have already taken us for a couple.

"If we suddenly stop being in touch from tomorrow, they’ll definitely think we have broken up, and then they’ll start worrying about finding you a boyfriend again."

Lin Xiran, actually quite satisfied with this fake boyfriend arrangement deep down, immediately nodded upon hearing this, "Alright, you’re right... let’s do as you say!"

Seeing her agreement, Zhang Jingdong then extended his hand, "Then... I look forward to our pleasant cooperation!"

Lin Xiran pursed the corners of her lips, and then reached out her hand and shook his.

This time Zhang Jingdong said, "To not expose us in front of others in the future, I’m going to ask you some basic questions now, just answer them truthfully?"

Although Lin Xiran hesitated a bit, she felt his point was quite reasonable and nodded, "Alright, ask."

Zhang Jingdong looked into Lin Xiran’s eyes deeply, then begun the questioning.

"What’s your favorite color?"

"Red."

"What are your favorite food and fruit respectively?"

"Hot pot and lychee."

"What is your biggest hobby?"

"Dancing."

"Where do you most want to visit?"

"The North Pole."

"Why?"

"I want to see the auroras."

"What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had?"

Lin Xiran frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then replied, "Once I dreamed that I flew to the moon, then became friends with Chang’e, and even danced and sang with her."

Zhang Jingdong nodded naturally, "That is indeed a bizarre dream."

"Alright, it’s getting late, let’s stop here for today, we can continue asking some other time."

Lin Xiran blinked her beautiful eyes and asked, "Shouldn’t I ask you a few questions too?"

Zhang Jingdong, seeing that this girl had finally returned to her innocent and cute self from yesterday, immediately cracked a smile, "Alright, go ahead and ask."

Lin Xiran pouted and asked, "What is your favorite color?"

"Black."

"What’s your favorite food and fruit?"

"Hotpot and peaches."

Lin Xiran didn’t expect that Zhang Jingdong, a guy, would like to eat peaches. A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth as she continued, "Where is the place you most want to visit?"

"I hadn’t thought about it before, but now... the Arctic, because I want to see the legendary aurora."

A mysterious thrill rose in Lin Xiran’s heart, and she nonchalantly asked, "What’s the strangest dream you’ve ever had?"

"I’ve had the exact same dream three times. In the dream, I needed to pee, and just as I left the house, I ran into a killer. Then I started running, and the killer kept chasing me."

"In the end, I somehow ended up in the Taklamakan Desert and finally got rid of the killer. Then, relaxed in body and mind, I peed. As a result, the vast desert suddenly turned into a lush green prairie."

Lin Xiran couldn’t help but chuckle, "That dream of yours is indeed bizarre!"

Just then, Lin Xiran hesitated for five seconds before shyly asking, "One last question, do you... do you have a girlfriend?"

"Of course I do!"

Lin Xiran’s eyes dimmed. Just as she was about to ask further, she saw Zhang Jingdong suddenly pointing at her, "Far in the horizon, close in front of the eyes!"

"Lin Xiran, when acting, you must fully immerse yourself. Starting now, we really must treat each other as real partners, otherwise if a detail is off, we could be exposed, understand?"

Lin Xiran suddenly realized and felt slightly relieved, "You’re right, I’ll pay attention from now on."

Zhang Jingdong touched his nose, "Alright, let’s go inside. Rest early, it’s good for the skin!"

"...Yeah."

Lin Xiran nodded and then walked a few steps back, watching Zhang Jingdong. Just as she was about to turn around, Zhang Jingdong stopped her.

"Hold on!"

Lin Xiran turned around, somewhat puzzled, "What’s up?"

"I’m a guy, and I’m embarrassed to take advantage of you, but you must remember, in the future when we part, we might not kiss, but we must hug, understand?"

It took Lin Xiran a full five seconds before she finally nodded, "...Alright."

Saying that, she went back to Zhang Jingdong and slowly opened her arms.

Zhang Jingdong felt delighted and opened his arms too, hugging her.

He lightly sniffed her body fragrance, then nodded contentedly, "Alright, let’s go in. But remember, from now on, this is a fixed routine. No matter where we are, no matter if someone sees us or not, we must keep up this habit."

Lin Xiran bit her lip, "...Yeah, I got it!"

Saying that, she turned to walk away, but just as she entered the hallway, she suddenly came back.

"Wait a minute..."

This time, it was Zhang Jingdong’s turn to be puzzled. He turned around, asking tentatively, "What’s wrong?"

At this moment, Lin Xiran came near and then opened her hand, "Here, this is for you. It’s too valuable, I can’t accept it!"

Zhang Jingdong suddenly realized, casually saying, "This is a prop, and everyone in your dormitory saw it today. If you don’t wear it later, they will definitely have all sorts of suspicions."

"And besides, since today is your birthday and we have this relationship now, just wear it without worries. Even if you lose it, it doesn’t matter, I’ll give you a better one later!"

Although Lin Xiran felt somewhat reassured by these words, she couldn’t help saying, "But still..."

"What are you hesitating about? We spent half the day on this. If a prop causes us to be exposed, then all our efforts were for nothing."

"And besides, this thing isn’t made of paper. You could wear it for ten or eight years without it breaking, so just wear it with confidence!"

"Come on, go inside. I should head back too!"

Zhang Jingdong waved his hand toward Lin Xiran and deliberately turned and walked away.

Lin Xiran watched his gradually receding figure, looked at the ring in her hand, and reluctantly put it back on.