Troublesome – Chapter 125

Side CP Extra

Are you still nervous now?

Hua Luo stared at Bai Mao, completely dumbfounded, her mind a ball of paste¹. A blind date? A blind date with her? Xiao Yu’s words flashed through her mind.

“Hey, Teacher Bai is interested in you.”

“Where’s your Teacher Bai.”

“I think Teacher Bai’s motive isn’t pure.”

“Would someone who is socially phobic² even keep a cat?”

“If your blind date was Teacher Bai, what would you do?”

She—

It had just been a hypothetical before. Now that she was truly facing this situation, Hua Luo’s heart felt like fireworks were exploding inside, an indescribable feeling. She was indeed very slow when it came to romance. In school, she’d liked a girl and walked home with her for half a year, only to find out later that the girl was actually her best friend’s girlfriend!

When Xiao Yu first got to know her, she said Hua Luo had great wisdom appearing foolish³ when it came to relationships. Later, she said, “No, you’re just foolish.”

So, she had truly never considered that Bai Mao would like her.

How could it be?

Teacher Bai was so outstanding, a goddess-like existence. In her heart, she was someone who couldn’t even be profaned in jest. How could such a person possibly take a fancy to her?

Hua Luo swallowed, looking at Bai Mao, her voice trembling. “Teacher Bai, are you talking to me?”

Bai Mao took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Hua Luo was baffled. “Why?”

Bai Mao: “What do you mean, why?”

Hua Luo said, “Why me? I have so many flaws. I’m especially lazy; I usually don’t get out of bed until ten at home. And I have severe procrastination.”

Bai Mao turned her head. Hua Luo figured she must have gotten truly anxious, as her eyes were red and her speech was incoherent. She spoke, “Hua Luo.”

Hua Luo’s voice stopped abruptly, and she lifted her eyes to meet Bai Mao’s gaze.

The nervousness Bai Mao had originally felt miraculously eased. The hand gripping the steering wheel slowly relaxed. She shifted a little closer to Hua Luo, her five fingers uncurling and then clenching again, still not touching Hua Luo’s hand.

She said, “Are you willing to go on a blind date with me?”

“I…” Hua Luo was so agitated her hands and feet were at a loss⁴. Her heart pounded nervously. Just as she opened her mouth, her heart felt like it was about to leap into her throat. She took two deep breaths and said, “I’m afraid Teacher Bai will regret it.”

Bai Mao said, “I won’t.”

Her tone was brief and certain, cutting off all of Hua Luo’s negative assumptions.

“You really won’t?”

Bai Mao nodded. “I really won’t. So, are you willing to go on a blind date with me?”

Hua Luo clasped her hands, her nails digging into her palms. At this moment, a sudden shyness overcame her. Shedding her usual carefree demeanor, her face was now bright red. She scratched the hair below her earlobe with her right hand and said softly, “I’m… I’m willing.”

Bai Mao watched her for several seconds before saying, “Then let’s go home first.”

Home?

Hua Luo wanted to grin foolishly but forced herself to hold it back. Her round eyes darted about before she lowered her head to feign playing with her phone, concealing her smile.

In the group chat, Xiao Yu was at-ing her: 【Did the blind date work out? Did you see the person? How was it?】

Hua Luo: 【I saw them.】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【Was it a success?】

Hua Luo’s typing hands paused. She wrote, feigning profoundness: 【It was a failure, but not a complete failure.】

Xiao Yu: 【?????】

Xiao Yu: 【What do you mean, did you turn them into a cannon friend⁵?】

Hua Luo: ……

She sent: 【No, that blind date failed, but I succeeded at another blind date later.】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【With who?】

Hua Luo: 【Teacher Bai.】

Xiao Yu: 【Oh.】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【Oh.】

What does that mean? What do you mean, ‘oh’? Are you still my best friends! So mean! Her succeeding on a blind date meant she was about to start dating! Back when she found out Lu Zhenqiu and Teacher Jin were together, she was so excited she almost couldn’t sleep. How could Lu Zhenqiu and Xiao Yu have no reaction at all!

Hua Luo puffed out her cheeks, wanted to type, but then shut off her phone in a huff.

A doot doot doot vibration—the group chat had started up again.

She couldn’t contain her curiosity and opened it to take a look.

Xiao Yu: 【Knew Teacher Bai’s intentions long ago, not surprised.】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【Want to come out for dinner tonight? My treat @Hua Luo.】

Hua Luo, who had just been declaring her anger, immediately replied cheerfully: 【Okay.】

Only after sending it did she turn off her phone. The black screen reflected her own smile—a very unrestrained smile.

Hold it in! Hold it in!

Hua Luo immediately sat up straight, trying to put on a serious expression. But when she glanced at Bai Mao beside her, she couldn’t help but smile again. She called out, “Teacher Bai.”

Bai Mao turned her head, the lines of her profile clear and gentle. Hua Luo said, “Qiuqiu asked us to go over for dinner tonight.”

“Her treat.”

Bai Mao nodded.

Hua Luo added, “I just told them about our blind date.”

Bai Mao: “I know.”

Hua Luo pinched her thigh to stop the urge to grin foolishly, but her eyes kept darting towards Bai Mao. It was so strange. Before she knew Bai Mao’s feelings, she could act normally around her. Ever since finding out, she couldn’t help but want to sneak glances.

The more she looked, the happier she felt. It was truly bizarre.

It was just past two o’clock when Hua Luo and Bai Mao got home. Bai Mao asked Hua Luo if she was going to pile up words⁶ for that evening’s update. Hua Luo wanted to write, but her mind was a complete mess right now; she definitely wouldn’t be able to. She said, “I’m not updating today. I’ll post a leave of absence note⁷ in a bit.”

Bai Mao had no objections.

Hua Luo sat at her computer to post the leave of absence note. After she was done, she casually clicked into a forum and saw a post on the homepage: 【Yearly Fantasy: What does it feel like to be with your goddess?】

——Goddess? Then I probably wouldn’t want to do anything but stare at her.

——Dude upstairs, are you donkey-ing me⁸? If you were really with your goddess, you wouldn’t do anything? Is there something wrong with you somewhere?

——Just got back from a dream, thanks for the invite. In the dream, I did the ‘jiang jiang niang niang’⁹ with my goddess for eight hundred rounds. The goddess wore me out.

Hua Luo glanced sideways at Bai Mao, who was still revising a script.

She held her phone and replied: 【Actually just succeeded on a blind date with my goddess.】

【?????】

【????????????】

【Has this sister not woken up from her dream yet?】

Hua Luo suppressed a laugh, fighting the smug urge to show off, and typed seriously. A voice came from beside her, “Want something to drink?”

“Anything is fine with me.” Hua Luo looked up after speaking and saw Bai Mao looking at her phone. She slapped a hand over the screen! A small gap was visible at the edge of her fingers. Bai Mao asked, “What are you looking at?”

Hua Luo had the feeling of ‘no three hundred taels of silver buried here’¹⁰. She said, “Nothing.”

Bai Mao didn’t press further and got up to get water. Hua Luo watched her slender back busy in the kitchen and rubbed the head of the little milk cat. Bai Mao walked over to her side and handed her a glass of water. Hua Luo took a sip of the warm water and saw Bai Mao sit back down at her computer to type. She looked down at her screen; Bai Mao had sent her a link to a post.

【Yearly Fantasy: What does it feel like to be with your goddess?】

Hua Luo nearly spat out a mouthful of water. She covered her mouth, swallowed, coughed twice, and thumped her chest. Only when she could breathe properly again did she reply to Bai Mao: 【Teacher Bai, you’re looking at this post too.】

After sending it, she stared at the word “goddess.”

Hua Luo: 【Teacher Bai, I didn’t post that, I really didn’t. I only replied with one sentence.】

It’s over, it’s over. Will Bai Mao think she posted it out of smugness?

Just as Hua Luo was about to get up and explain to Bai Mao, she received a message from her: 【I know. I’m the one who posted it.】

Oh, oh? Oh!

Teacher Bai was the one who posted it?

Hua Luo was so shocked her jaw dropped. She checked the posting time—last night. Could this “goddess” be referring to—Hua Luo really didn’t want to do something so silly, but she truly couldn’t believe it. In Bai Mao’s heart, she was considered a goddess?

Someone come and strangle her!

Otherwise, she was really going to start waving her hands and dancing with her feet!¹¹

Hua Luo tried her best to control herself, but in the end, she couldn’t. She shot up from her seat and said to Bai Mao, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Bai Mao watched her dash into the bathroom in a flurry and smiled.

Hiding in the bathroom, Hua Luo’s face was red with excitement. She splashed cold water on her face, finally managing to cool down a little. But when she opened her phone and saw that post, the excitement swept over her again. She dawdled for a long while before coming out. Bai Mao was feeding the little milk cat—goat’s milk she had prepared, in a white, floral porcelain bowl bigger than the kitten’s face. Bai Mao knelt beside the kitten, sunlight slanting across them both, creating an indescribably gentle scene.

Suddenly, Hua Luo wasn’t so shy and nervous anymore.

She also walked over and knelt beside Bai Mao, watching the kitten lap up the milk. It got milk all over its face, and the whiskers around its mouth were soaked. Hua Luo felt like smiling as she watched. She said, “So cute.”

Bai Mao turned to look at her flushed face and also said, “So cute.”

Hua Luo buried her face in her arms, leaving only her eyes showing.

The dinner was scheduled for just after five o’clock at the hot pot restaurant they often frequented. Lu Zhenqiu had sent a message to Hua Luo and Xiao Yu in advance, reminding them about the evening rush hour traffic and telling them to leave early. Hua Luo sat in the living room waiting for Bai Mao to change. A light red, high-collared, lace-trimmed knit sweater, jeans, and a light gray down jacket over it. It was a long, waist-cinching style, worn open. The knit sweater clung to her good figure, which was exquisite and well-proportioned. Hua Luo saw her own reflection in the mirror.

So casual.

She once again wondered what on earth Bai Mao liked about her.

Average looks, no particular strengths, and slow when it came to romance. As the car was nearing the hot pot restaurant, Hua Luo finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Teacher Bai, can I ask you a question?”

Bai Mao nodded. “What is it?”

Hua Luo said, “What do you like about me?”

Bai Mao was still holding the steering wheel. As she was reverse parking the car, the vehicle wasn’t as straight as usual; it was a bit crooked. She had to try twice before getting it in. After getting out of the car, she stood in front of Hua Luo and said, “Why do you ask that?”

Hua Luo lowered her head. “Because I really have a lot of shortcomings.”

Bai Mao asked, “Who doesn’t have shortcomings?”

Hua Luo was stumped. After several seconds, she said, “But, but mine are more obvious. I’m very nervous right now. When I get nervous, I talk a lot. I’ll be even more nervous when we go inside. What if I say something nonsensical? I’m afraid I’ll give you…”

Before she could finish, her right hand was gently taken.

Bai Mao’s slender fingers took hold of her palm. The touch was light, yet it was like an electric current that shot through Hua Luo’s entire body in an instant, leaving a tingling numbness. Her mouth was still open, but no sound came out.

It suddenly became quiet all around.

Bai Mao looked down and held her hand, a little more firmly this time. She asked, “Are you still nervous now?”

Hua Luo’s heart was pounding as if a sky-rocketing monkey¹² had been stuffed inside it. She couldn’t even speak properly, stammering out, “N-no, not nervous anymore.”

---

---