I'm Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

Chapter 136: Chapter 128: The Transmigrated Fox Spirit

Lin Zhengran and Jiang Xueli took a car back to the studio, then walked home together.

On the way home, Jiang Xueli was glued to the Rising Star Chart. Ordinarily, a chart like this wouldn’t get much attention.

Even with fans of Lun Jie and Sty paying attention, the hype for a small-town competition could only go so far. But because of the fiasco in Jiang City, something strange happened.

For some reason, a flood of online users started getting curious about what this music competition was all about.

Many of them gave the songs a listen, which, by a strange twist of fate, pushed the chart’s play counts to an unprecedented level.

In just one hour, the songs had already racked up several thousand plays.

Jiang Xueli’s song had climbed into the top fifteen.

”Top fifteen!” Jiang Xueli announced every time her rank climbed, her twin pigtails bouncing with each excited little hop.

Lin Zhengran reminded her, ”It’s good that you’re invested in the results, but you don’t have to stare at your phone the whole time, do you? What’s the matter, are you nervous?”

”Nervous?”

Jiang Xueli suddenly put her phone away, trying to act as casual as Lin Zhengran. ”Of course I’m not nervous! Didn’t I tell you I’m going to win? I was just taking a look.”

Lin Zhengran gazed ahead. ’He Qing and Jiang Xueli’s performances are over,’ he thought. ’Although the final results of the music competition won’t be out for another two weeks, the two of them can finally get a bit of a break.’

On their way home, a couple on the street brushed past Lin Zhengran and Jiang Xueli.

The couple was holding hands, talking and laughing sweetly.

He caught a snippet of their conversation; they seemed to be talking about a movie.

”I heard there’s a really popular movie out called ’A Romantic Farce.’ Should we go see it tomorrow?”

”Yeah, let’s do it! We can go downtown tomorrow, see the movie, and then get a hotel room nearby for the night instead of going home.”

Jiang Xueli, walking beside Lin Zhengran, overheard the couple’s exchange.

Her cheeks flushed bright red.

’She felt a pang of envy. Not for the hotel room, of course, but for the date itself...’

’But then she had a sudden realization. ’Wait, I’m Zhengran’s girlfriend now. What do I have to be envious about?’’

’Hold on... If I’m his girlfriend, why do I have to wait until I win the competition to go on a date with Zhengran? To go see a movie with him?!’

’Why can’t we just go?!’

Seeing the series of expressions cross Jiang Xueli’s face as her thoughts ran wild, Lin Zhengran had a good idea of what was on her mind. ”What are you thinking about?”

”Huh?” Jiang Xueli clasped her hands behind her back, her face reddening. ”Nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything. At most, I was just thinking...” She struggled to muster up her courage.

”I was just thinking... the results won’t be out for another two weeks, but there’s still one day of the holiday left tomorrow... Logically, tomorrow should be time you spend with me, right? We’re not going to practice singing again tomorrow, are we?”

She hemmed and hawed, wrestling with her own pride. ”Since the performance part of the competition is over for now, it stands to reason that we could do... other things tomorrow, right?”

She waited expectantly for Lin Zhengran to say something.

But Lin Zhengran decided to tease her. ”Is there anything else to do? Don’t you like practicing? I think it’s pretty fun.”

’This guy is such a big idiot!’ Jiang Xueli thought.

’Why won’t he let me call him a big idiot when he so clearly is one! He is! He is! He is!’

She frowned. ”That’s not what I meant. I mean, practicing is fun, but...”

”But?” Lin Zhengran asked.

Jiang Xueli faltered. ”But... since the competition is on hold for now, we could...” She suddenly lowered her head, her face beet red. ”We could go on a date... We can’t just practice every single day. I want to go on a date.”

”I didn’t quite catch that. Could you say it a little louder?”

Her face flushed, Jiang Xueli shouted, ”Argh! I said I want to go on a date! I want to go on a date with you, you idiot! We’re finally a couple, things can’t just stay exactly the same as before!”

Lin Zhengran watched her, taking in her bashful expression after her outburst.

The girl lowered her head again. ”But it depends on what you want, too. Even if I want to... you have to be free for it to happen.”

Lin Zhengran replied simply and directly.

”Let me think... Okay, how about this? I promised you two things before, so let’s split them up. After the results come out in two weeks, I’ll take you to the zoo. And for now, to celebrate you making it onto the Rising Star Chart, how about I take you to a movie tomorrow?”

”Huh?” Jiang Xueli’s conflicted expression melted into delighted surprise. She looked up, her eyes sparkling. ”For real? Really?! You’ll take me to a movie tomorrow!”

”Yep. I’ll take you to a movie tomorrow. Let’s see that romance flick the couple was talking about.”

”Okay! I’ll buy the tickets! My treat!” she asked excitedly. ”What time are we meeting tomorrow?”

”How about eight in the morning? You’ve been exhausted these last couple of days, so you can sleep in a bit.”

”Okay! Then I’ll call you at eight tomorrow!”

Jiang Xueli beamed, and her steps became even more jaunty.

When they reached the intersection near both of their homes, Lin Zhengran and Jiang Xueli waved goodbye and went their separate ways.

Jiang Xueli was still skipping when she got home.

She chanted to herself in a sing-song voice, ”Going to the movies, going to the movies~ Going to the movies with Zhengran.”

She was the very picture of a girl deliriously happy.

[These last few days, you accompanied Miss Jiang to a grand Jianghu faction tournament. Under your guidance, Miss Jiang was unstoppable, stunning the entire audience and securing a top-ranking position. However, during the competition, you discovered a malicious faction attempting to sabotage the event.]

[At the same time, you inadvertently learned that the Human Emperor Empress herself was a secret backer of this tournament. You have a past connection with the Empress, and after a brief deliberation, you decisively eliminated the malicious faction, allowing the competition to proceed as planned.]