A Strange Transmigration Novel - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Shi Xu: “That’s a rather niche way of putting it. What does it mean?”
I chewed thoughtfully. “You have a ‘White Moonlight’ you loved and lost, and I just happen to look like her. So, you collected me as if I were her official merchandise.”
He said, “I have never once treated you as a substitute.”
Everyone says that believing a man’s words is a recipe for a lifetime of bad luck.
I couldn’t afford to be unlucky.
I needed to find a lie detector.
After a long day of searching, I hauled a lie detector back from a technology exhibition.
I placed Shi Xu’s hand on the device. “Say that again.”
Shi Xu: “…”
He cleared his throat and said with the utmost gravity, “I have never once treated you as a substitute.”
Good.
It was the truth.
I thought about it for a moment. “Then why don’t you ever take me to any banquets?”
Am I too embarrassing to be seen in public?
That’s how it’s always written in novels.
The overbearing CEO takes the substitute to a banquet, and his circle of scoundrel friends exchange knowing smiles, whispering about how he actually found a piece of ‘White Moonlight’ merch.
Or they might ask, “Where is your ‘Follower’?”
All the brothers have a ‘Follower’.
It’s not like Shi Xu could admit to being a man without a ‘Follower’.
He was silent for a while before saying, “Because you have social anxiety.”
I didn’t think my mental state had anything to do with social anxiety.
After pondering for a long time, I finally remembered that I had once had a ‘social anxiety’ episode.
[I have such bad social anxiety; I wait until it’s time to get off work before I even go into the office.]
[I’m so introverted; I’m too scared to speak at work. I just play a permanent game of statues.]
My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled.
I felt inexplicably relieved.
I took a deep breath. “Shi Xu, remember this.”
He gave a soft “mm” and lowered his eyes to listen. “Remember what?”
“No matter what it is, just remember it first.”
He didn’t object. “Alright.”
I wasn’t a substitute.
I felt a little happy.
My brain felt a bit itchy.
It felt like my ‘Romance brain’ was starting to sprout again.
I took Shi Xu off my blacklist.
When he suggested once more that I should be his ‘Follower’…
I flashed a smile that was Thirty percent cold, thirty percent mocking, and forty percent nonchalant. “Do you think I’m still that same poor kid from years ago?”
Shi Xu: “Then what are you?”
“I’m this year’s poor kid.”
Just kidding.
I’m a blogger with a million followers now; I don’t care about his chump change anymore.
Though, admittedly, his ‘change’ was quite substantial.
I enunciated clearly, stressing every word: “I am not that kind of person.”
The past was the past; now I’m a wealthy woman.
I could only earn money as a ‘Follower’ right after graduation, because once people get rich, they tend to become a bit more high-minded.
He lowered his eyes, his lashes masking a look of loneliness. “Can you give me a chance to pursue you?”
I said, “Try saying that another way. That phrasing is too greasy.”
Shi Xu fell silent.
Shi Xu began scratching his head in frustration.
