One Pet Gets Married

Chapter 9

"I'm fine..." Song Xici said, immediately extricating herself from Tang You'an's embrace. She tucked her hair behind her ear and limped to a nearby chair, sitting down.

Tang You'an sensed something odd about Song Xici, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Did you hurt your foot?" Tang You'an asked kindly, seeing Song Xici remove her sock to examine her toe.

"Just stubbed it on the threshold. It doesn't hurt as much now," Song Xici glanced at her, then resumed her inspection.

"May I take a look?" Tang You'an offered.

"That won't be necessary—" Song Xici looked up briefly before putting her sock back on.

Tang You'an nodded, suddenly remembering the one-meter rule. She refrained from saying more, thinking Song Xici probably didn't want her too close.

"It's not hurting much now. I'll go change, then we can leave," Song Xici said after a while, standing up and walking out.

After Song Xici left, Tang You'an sighed, returned to the wardrobe, put on a coat, and walked out.

Before leaving, Song Xici handed Tang You'an sunglasses, a hat, and a mask.

"Why wear these?" Tang You'an asked curiously.

"Because we're celebrities. There are many who like us and dislike us... Well, many who like me and dislike you. It's best to disguise ourselves when going out," Song Xici explained. "Unless you want to be pelted with tomatoes again."

"I see," Tang You'an said, donning the items with Song Xici before heading to the garage.

Seeing Song Xici take the driver's seat, Tang You'an initially moved to sit in the passenger seat. But as her hand touched the door, she reconsidered and sat in the back instead.

"Why are you sitting in the back?" Song Xici asked, buckling her seatbelt and glancing at the empty passenger seat, then turning to look at Tang You'an about to close the rear door.

"Because of the one-meter distance you mentioned..." Tang You'an hesitated, unsure whether to close the door.

Song Xici removed her sunglasses and stared at her, biting her lip before nodding. "Good memory. Keep it up. Keep it up till you die."

Tang You'an sensed Miss Song was acting strangely again.

But she couldn't understand why.

"Alright," Tang You'an finally replied, not knowing what else to say, and closed the door.

Song Xici frowned slightly, stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward.

She didn't know why, but she felt inexplicably annoyed. This rule was her own making, and Tang You'an was merely following it obediently, yet she felt unhappy.

After parking at the Jintai Mall, Song Xici slammed her door and walked away.

Tang You'an followed, maintaining about a meter's distance wherever Song Xici went.

This deliberate distance created an indescribable, eerie atmosphere between them.

"This place is called a mall. It has many shops selling food, drinks, clothes, accessories..." Song Xici explained, turning her head. "Watch carefully when I pay later."

"Mm," Tang You'an looked up at the imposing structure before her. Modern architecture was truly remarkable, albeit sometimes oddly shaped.

"Come on, follow me," Song Xici said, pulling her mask higher on her nose before entering Jintai Mall.

The mall Tang You'an was brought to wasn't in the city center, but in a more remote location. Being a weekday, there were few people around. With soft music playing, the atmosphere was quite relaxing.

As they wandered, Song Xici entered a handbag store. Under the lighting, the array of products on the shelves looked particularly beautiful.

"This bag has a nice style..." Song Xici lowered her sunglasses, picking up a black bag and examining it from different angles, her lips curving in satisfaction.

"It seems capable of holding many things. Not bad," Tang You'an commented from a meter away.

"I'll buy this one then..." Song Xici muttered, taking the bag to the counter and placing it down. She took out her phone and beckoned to Tang You'an.

Tang You'an followed without comment, still keeping her distance.

Song Xici opened her phone, clicked on Alipay, and brought up a QR code. Tang You'an mimicked her actions. Then, Song Xici showed the code to the cashier for scanning.

Afterward, Tang You'an picked up a wallet from the shelf and practiced paying with her phone. The cashier used a black device to scan the phone screen, and with a "beep," the payment was made. It was quite remarkable.

Tang You'an accepted the bag containing the wallet from the cashier, looking at the Alipay app on her phone with slightly raised eyebrows.

Song Xici then taught her how to scan QR codes for payment and use WeChat Pay.

Throughout, the two maintained a meter's distance, unlike the other girls in the mall who walked arm in arm.

"It's getting late. Let's go have dinner," Song Xici said after checking her phone as they left the store.

"Is that Sister An?!" A sweet, cloying voice suddenly called out.

Tang You'an and Song Xici turned towards the sound.

Not far away stood a girl who looked about twenty, wearing a beige coat over a white sweater and plaid skirt, with knee-high socks and brown leather shoes. Her eyelashes were thick and curled, with prominent aegyo sal, giving her a very Japanese-inspired look.

This was Shi Xiaobao, a friend of Tang You'an's original self. Although Song Xici didn't often interact with this group, she knew they were close.

Tang You'an looked at her for a while, searching through her memorized information, then smiled, "Xiaobao?"

Shi Xiaobao had known Tang You'an for a few months but had never met Song Xici in person.

"Yes, I can't believe I'd run into you while shopping..." Shi Xiaobao said, running over and grabbing Tang You'an's arm with a smile. "Maybe it's fate!"

"Indeed," Tang You'an smiled.

"Oh right, I just bought some fried chicken nuggets. Want one?" Shi Xiaobao held out a paper bag to Tang You'an.

"Are they good?" Tang You'an looked at the food curiously.

"Ahem, cough!" Just as Tang You'an reached for a skewer, Song Xici coughed violently.

Shi Xiaobao turned to look at the similarly disguised Song Xici beside Tang You'an.

"Oh... Is this..." Shi Xiaobao studied Song Xici for a moment before finally recognizing her. "Could it be Miss Song?"

Although she had never met Song Xici in person, as Tang You'an never brought her along when hanging out with their group, Shi Xiaobao had seen her on TV.

"That's right, it's me," Song Xici said.

"What a rare sight. We've never seen you out together before. Hello," Shi Xiaobao said, covering her mouth with a smile and greeting briefly before turning back to Tang You'an as if Song Xici were invisible. "Hey, I was thinking of seeing a movie later. Want to come along?"

"A movie?" What was that? Tang You'an's eyes lit up, and she turned to Song Xici expectantly. "Shall we watch?"

"Do as you please," Song Xici replied, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

"Alright," Tang You'an nodded with a smile, then turned to Shi Xiaobao. "Let's watch."

Song Xici rolled her eyes beneath her hat. She really didn't want to watch now.

Hearing this, Shi Xiaobao immediately took out her phone: "Which one do you want to see? These are the recent releases..."

Shi Xiaobao stopped walking and scrolled through the movies, showing them to Tang You'an.

Standing a meter away, arms crossed, Song Xici watched them discussing arm in arm and felt increasingly irritated.

"Hey, let's go buy some milk tea!" After deciding on a movie, Shi Xiaobao turned to Tang You'an, pointing to a nearby milk tea shop.

"Xici," Tang You'an nodded and turned to Song Xici. "Which flavor would you like? I'll buy it for you."

Having just learned to make purchases with her phone, she was eager to buy something for Song Xici.

Song Xici's face was cold, her mood inexplicably irritable. "I don't want any. You two drink. I don't like milk tea."

"Alright," Tang You'an nodded.

Alright, my foot! Song Xici watched the two walking arm in arm in front of her, feeling even more disgruntled.

"Okay then, just us~" Shi Xiaobao looked Song Xici up and down, then smiled sweetly as she led Tang You'an to the milk tea counter. In a cutesy voice, she told the shopkeeper, "One oat milk tea, less sugar."

Then, Shi Xiaobao played with her hair, looking at Tang You'an. "Sister An, what about you?"

Tang You'an looked up at the colorful array of drinks on the menu, about to order the most intriguing one, when Song Xici spoke up: "Well, you two enjoy yourselves. I have to film tomorrow, so I'll head home to rest."

With that, Song Xici smiled briefly, then walked past Tang You'an without looking back. She ran down the escalator, left Jintai Mall, and stormed towards the parking lot, fuming.

After reaching her car, Song Xici got in and stared ahead, breathing heavily.

"Married and still so clueless, keeping a meter's distance from your own wife while being thick as thieves with other women..." Song Xici suddenly slammed the steering wheel, narrowing her eyes. "Utterly shameless, what a disgrace!"