So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 19
by Little PandaWe Are a Couple
“What!” Chi Qian was suddenly startled.
Shi Jinlan’s uncle was truly something else; only a week had passed, and he’d already found his way to Xiao Yu Island.
No, she has to find a way to get this man to leave——
“Let me see, who is this person.”
Just then, Auntie Zhou’s loud voice carried over.
With the air of a proprietress1, she didn’t let the man stop her, taking the photo from the front desk lady’s hand as she spoke.
Auntie Zhou had met Shi Jinlan before. Chi Qian’s heart was clutching a handful of cold sweat, and she lifted her foot, about to run over.
But unexpectedly, Auntie Zhou studied it for a good while before shaking her head with certainty. “Never seen her.”
“Are you sure you’ve never seen her?” The man wouldn’t give up2.
“Nope.” Auntie Zhou returned the photo to the man, smiling as she said, “With this girl’s aura, forget about me—anyone who’s seen her would recognize her at a single glance. How could they possibly forget? If I say I haven’t, I really haven’t. Why would I lie to you?”
“I see…” The man felt what Auntie Zhou said made sense and dejectedly took back his phone. “Thank you. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“You’re too polite.” Auntie Zhou replied with a smile, then glanced at the check-in registration on the computer. “Sir, have you checked in yet?”
The man, who had just been about to leave, stopped in his tracks.
He looked at the beaming Auntie Zhou and felt an invisible pressure.
He was a stranger in a strange land; it was best not to stir up trouble, lest he beat the grass and startle the snake3.
So the man feigned a moment of realization and, with an apologetic smile, pulled a card from his pocket. “I almost forgot. A deluxe suite, please.”
“You got it.” Auntie Zhou swiped the man’s card efficiently and pointed the way for him. “Take the elevator in the right corridor straight up to the second floor.”
“Many thanks.” The man nodded, taking the room key and his bank card.
Chi Qian, having watched the entire exchange, couldn’t help but admire Auntie Zhou’s adaptability.
As she was smiling, Auntie Zhou walked over to her. “How’s our family’s hot spring?”
“A natural hot spring is beyond reproach4, of course. Thank you, Auntie Zhou,” Chi Qian replied.
Auntie Zhou: “Since it’s good, you should come more often with that one of yours5.”
Hearing “that one of yours,” Chi Qian froze for a moment.
The term irrefutably designated Shi Jinlan as hers, and the sense of intimacy was ready to come out at a call6.
Chi Qian’s heart inexplicably skipped a couple of beats.
Then, her reason suppressed this abnormal fluttering.
——Auntie Zhou doesn’t know that Shen Lan is Shi Jinlan’s alias; she’s just deliberately avoiding using her name.
Auntie Zhou’s movements were cautious as she leaned in close to Chi Qian’s ear. “That man just now was asking about Miss Shen. I didn’t think he was a good person, so I turned him away.”
“He’s staying here now, so I’ll keep an eye on him. But you two should also be careful for the next few days. If there’s nothing else, you should head back. Don’t run into him.”
“Okay.” Chi Qian was extremely grateful for Auntie Zhou’s righteous act7 and nodded before starting to walk back.
But she had only taken two steps when she remembered something and braked to a halt8. “Auntie Zhou, that…”
“I’ll tell everyone here, don’t worry.” Auntie Zhou understood what Chi Qian wanted to say and assured her, “You’re good kids, and you helped our family’s Xingjie so much. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Thank you.” Chi Qian nodded, thanked Auntie Zhou again, and hurried back.
The entire way back, Chi Qian was thinking about how she could protect Shi Jinlan.
Thirteen had only given her a rough story synopsis back then; she had no idea how Shi Jinlan had avoided her uncle’s men during this search.
What was more fatal9 was that she couldn’t contact Thirteen right now. Chi Qian wanted to get her hands on a God’s-perspective plot golden finger10, but there was no way.
See? She knew the System was unreliable!
Filled with thick resentment, Chi Qian yanked open the door to their room.
Shi Jinlan was already dressed in the clothes she had arrived in, sitting in her wheelchair and holding a book she had gotten from who-knows-where.
The steam from the hot spring laid out a white film11 in the room. Shi Jinlan sat against the light, her tall, slender figure precipitating a layer of quiet12.
Chi Qian stood stunned at the door, the hostile energy on her body miraculously vanishing in an instant.
As her reason returned to its cage13, Chi Qian looked at Shi Jinlan’s wheelchair, still distinct in the dense mist, and thought it was too conspicuous. “Miss Shen, when we go back, I’ll give you a ride on my bike.”
Shi Jinlan was sharp. She raised her eyes, studied Chi Qian’s expression, and asked, “What happened?”
“Just now, a man was asking about you. Auntie Zhou didn’t think he looked like a good person, so she turned him away,” Chi Qian answered. “He’s staying here now, so let’s not run into him.”
Hearing this, Shi Jinlan’s gaze sharpened instantly. “What did the man look like?”
“Skinny, about half a head shorter than Grandpa.” Chi Qian gestured based on her memory. “He has a crew cut and his eyes aren’t big.”
Shi Jinlan realized at once: it was Shi Cheng’s chief secretary.
These people really move fast.
Shi Jinlan’s eyes grew cold, and a sneer was pulled from her lips.
Black flames continuously devoured the surrounding white mist, and watching it made Chi Qian’s heart jump and her gallbladder tremble14.
She knew Shi Jinlan wasn’t directing it at her. Looking around the room, she said, “I think we should pretend to be besties on vacation here. We can carry one of the island’s cultural and creative tote bags15, pack a planner16, towels, cookies, water…”
Just as Chi Qian was calculating this, Shi Jinlan’s cold, astringent voice cut her off. “Besties staying in a couple’s room?”
The simple, flat question, wrapped in hot steam, pounced into Chi Qian’s ears.
She stared blankly at the doubt in Shi Jinlan’s eyes, blinking several times, as if she’d taken in too much information and her CPU couldn’t process it17.
This setup really did have a bit of a problem.
But she and Shi Jinlan couldn’t even be considered besties right now, yet they were still staying in a couple’s room.
However, the people from Shi Jinlan’s world were all human spirits18; a setup like this was indeed a flaw.
Since they were already staying in a couple’s room…
“Then as a couple, we’d be even less suspicious!”
Chi Qian looked at Shi Jinlan with brightly shining eyes, the trouble and distress that had been coiled inside her instantly vanishing without a trace.
With a stroke of genius, she thought, Shi Jinlan’s uncle would never imagine that his niece, stranded on an island, would get together with someone so quickly—and a woman, at that!
It’s just for the disguise anyway, it’s not real.
Shi Jinlan will definitely understand.
“I understand.”
Just as Chi Qian expected, Shi Jinlan nodded with clear understanding after hearing her words.
Then, she lifted her eyelashes.
Through the white, hazy mist, she looked at Chi Qian with a gaze that was both scrutinizing and held a special meaning19. “From now on, we are a couple.”
The author has something to say:
Lanlan expresses her thanks to Mr. Shi Cheng for the assist20; she will leave him a whole corpse21 in the future OvO
PS: I added a little something to the end of the last chapter, you can go back and take a look. Tietie~22
Footnotes
- Hanzi: 老板娘 | Pinyin: lǎobǎnniáng | Explanation: The female boss of a business, or the boss’s wife. Here, it refers to her authoritative demeanor.
- Hanzi: 不死心 | Pinyin: bù sǐxīn | Explanation: Literally “not a dead heart”. An expression meaning to not give up on something, to refuse to accept defeat or failure.
- Hanzi: 打草惊蛇 | Pinyin: dǎcǎojīngshé | Explanation: A Chinese idiom (Chengyu) that means to act rashly and alert the enemy or opponent to one’s intentions.
- Hanzi: 没的说了 | Pinyin: méi de shuō le | Explanation: A colloquial phrase meaning something is so good that it “goes without saying” or there’s nothing negative to say about it.
- Hanzi: 你家那位 | Pinyin: nǐ jiā nà wèi | Explanation: Literally “that one from your house”. A common, familiar, and slightly teasing way to refer to someone’s significant other or spouse.
- Hanzi: 呼之欲出 | Pinyin: hūzhīyùchū | Explanation: A Chinese idiom (Chengyu) that means something is so vivid and lifelike that it seems ready to emerge or speak at any moment. Here, it describes the palpable feeling of intimacy.
- Hanzi: 仗义之举 | Pinyin: zhàngyì zhī jǔ | Explanation: An act of justice, righteousness, or chivalry; sticking up for a friend or what is right.
- Hanzi: 刹住了脚 | Pinyin: shāzhùle jiǎo | Explanation: Literally “to brake one’s feet”. A vivid way of saying someone stopped abruptly.
- Hanzi: 要命 | Pinyin: yàomìng | Explanation: Literally “to want life”, but used colloquially to mean “fatal”, “terrible”, or “to an extreme degree”.
- Hanzi: 上帝视角的剧情金手指 | Pinyin: Shàngdì shìjiǎo de jùqíng jīnshǒuzhǐ | Explanation: A combination of two web novel/gaming slang terms. “God’s perspective” (上帝视角) refers to an omniscient point of view, while “plot golden finger” (剧情金手指) refers to a plot-related cheat or special ability. Together, it means an omniscient cheat ability related to the plot.
- Hanzi: 白翳 | Pinyin: báiyì | Explanation: A literary term that can mean a white film or haze. It is also a medical term for corneal opacity, lending the image a delicate, slightly obscuring quality.
- Hanzi: 析出一层安静 | Pinyin: xīchū yī céng ānjìng | Explanation: A poetic phrase. “析出” (xīchū) is a chemical term for “to precipitate” or “to crystallize out”. The imagery suggests that her quiet presence solidifies out of the atmosphere.
- Hanzi: 理智回笼 | Pinyin: lǐzhì huílóng | Explanation: A vivid phrase meaning “reason returns”. “回笼” (huílóng) means to return to a cage or steamer, implying that one’s rationality has been collected and put back in its proper place.
- Hanzi: 心惊胆战 | Pinyin: xīnjīngdǎnzhàn | Explanation: A Chinese idiom (Chengyu) describing a state of extreme fear and terror; to be scared out of one’s wits.
- Hanzi: 文创包 | Pinyin: wénchuàng bāo | Explanation: Abbreviation for “文化创意包” (wénhuà chuàngyì bāo). Refers to merchandise, often bags, sold at tourist or cultural sites, featuring unique local designs.
- Hanzi: 手账本 | Pinyin: shǒu zhàng běn | Explanation: A personal planner or journal, often decorated. Popular in East Asian youth culture.
- Hanzi: cpu处理不过来了 | Pinyin: cpu chǔlǐ bùguò lái le | Explanation: A popular internet slang phrase used when someone is confused, overwhelmed, or unable to think clearly, comparing their brain to an overloaded computer processor.
- Hanzi: 人精 | Pinyin: rénjīng | Explanation: Literally “human essence/spirit”. A colloquial term for someone who is extremely shrewd, perceptive, and worldly-wise, often with the ability to read people and situations with uncanny accuracy.
- Hanzi: 别有意味 | Pinyin: biéyǒuyìwèi | Explanation: A phrase meaning to have a deeper, hidden, or otherwise special meaning; to be significant in a way that is not immediately obvious.
- Hanzi: 助攻 | Pinyin: zhùgōng | Explanation: A term from sports or gaming meaning “assist”. In social contexts, it means to act as a wingman or to unintentionally help someone achieve a goal, especially a romantic one.
- Hanzi: 留个全尸 | Pinyin: liú ge quán shī | Explanation: A dark humor phrase meaning “to leave a whole corpse behind”, implying a less gruesome death as a form of mercy.
- Hanzi: 贴贴 | Pinyin: tiētiē | Explanation: Literally “stick stick”. A cute internet slang term expressing affection, like cuddling, nuzzling, or being close to someone.
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