Green Tea Beauty

 "I’m okay, it's just a little problem." Lin Shi Cha replied frankly as she leaned closer. "Yinyin, tomorrow is the weekend, are you free?"

     Gu Yin had a dazed expression. Her gaze passed through Lin Shi Cha's expectant eyes and saw the four people behind her. All of them stared at her intently, as if they were going to rush forward to force her to change her words if she said she ‘didn’t have time’.

     Gu Yin: "... …" She nodded her head, then said in a leisurely tone, "Probably."

     Sure enough, Lin Shi Cha's eyes immediately lit up. She blinked, "Then shall we go shopping tomorrow?"

     Gu Yin scratched her cheek with one finger and braced herself to say: "Maybe that's not a good idea..." They’re actually not that familiar.

     "I’ll treat you to watch a movie."

     She immediately changed her words: "Okay."

     Gu Yin is a girl who loves all kinds of stories, whether it's TV dramas or movies. She likes to watch other people's lives on the screen, which is interesting to her. Therefore, she can be called a movie maniac.

     Her friends all disdained her for loving to watch movies and don't spend much time with her. Lin Shi Cha actually proposed it herself and paid for it. How could this not be tempting?

     Lin Shi Cha didn't expect she would switch on Gu Yin's chatter switch. The two sat on the sofa hand in hand, while Lin Shi Cha opened Meituan on her phone and asked her what movie she wanted to watch: "There are a lot of movies released recently. I haven't seen any of them yet."

     Gu Yin patted her hand in agreement: "Me too!!" There was no one to accompany her to watch the movie QAQ and going alone was too lonely.

     "Then let's watch this first. This is a science fiction movie. By the way, Yinyin, what kind of movie do you like?"

     ...

     The group of four: "... …" They were completely forgotten on the side.

     After a while, Chi Xing spoke up: "ChaCha, we can also accompany you to the movies."

     "No, I want to go see it with a girl." Lin Shi Cha had never had a girl friend, so she rejected Chi Xing without hesitation and said: "I assigned some homework for you. On the weekends, you have to finish it and I'll correct it on Monday morning."

     "That's a high school freshman course, you should be able to handle it."

     Chi Xing: "... … All right."

     When girls got together, the topics they could discuss were simply too many; from what delicious meal they ate last night, to why Hu Ge doesn't have a girlfriend, to the fact that there is a girl in their class who is extremely annoying and so on.

     In just one night, Gu Yin was successfully hooked by Lin Shi Cha to talk to her about everything.

     Huo Yi Nan chuckled: Gu Yin was still too young.

     On the way back, the night scenery was abundant.

     Passing by a night market, the lights were bright and the playful sound was endless.

     Gu Yin and Huo Yi Nan went home together.

     Gu Yin asked out of curiosity: "Lin Shi Cha is probably lying to me, right? That day you guys’ formation was that much. Moreover, at the beginning you obviously couldn't accept that you were deceived by her and even threw a temper tantrum for quite a while. How did you suddenly reconcile with each other? Did she have some serious illness?" This was only Gu Yin's speculation.

     Hearing this, Huo Yi Nan paused for a moment before turning his head to look at Gu Yin.

     Under his gaze, Gu Yin shrank her head: "What, what's wrong?"

     "I was just about to tell you this," Huo Yi Nan said in a faint voice, "ChaCha is seriously ill, and because the surgery has been delayed for too long, her life is limited to the end of this summer. Therefore, now we all unconditionally agree to whatever she asks and strive to fulfill them as much as possible.”

     Gu Yin’s mouth dropped slightly. Her eyes widened as the phone in her hand almost fell to the ground.

     "She wants to be friends with you. I know you don't like her very much, but I still hope you can be understanding based on my face. She is actually not difficult to get along with." Huo Yi Nan paused his steps. "Gu Yin, I plead with you to be her best friend during her last days."

     "Consider this a favor that I owe you. Whatever happens to you in the future, I will help no matter how hard it is—"

     Before he finished speaking, Gu Yin interrupted him with a raised voice in surprise. "What are you talking about!?"

     She was a little displeased, but was more annoyed: "Enough, I don't actually dislike Lin Shi Cha. Just now I got to know her a little and felt she was decent. Me agreeing to go shopping with her is not because of your face."

     "Besides, the two of us grew up together. Even if I did help you, what do you mean owing you a favor? Friendships aren’t this fussy." Gu Yin gave Huo Yi Nan an extremely annoyed look.

     Huo Yi Nan let out a sigh of relief. In reality, he didn't want to put Gu Yin in a hard spot either.

     Seeing him like this, Gu Yin gave him an eye roll: “Just look at how much you treasure her, why don't you smolder yourself to death?"

     "Alright, I understand. I will take good care of her."

     "By the way, tell me what taboos she has. For example, what can and can't be eaten. When shopping tomorrow, eating is a must. I don't want to make her suffer from eating something."

     "Okay, I'll text you later."

     The next day, Lin Shi Cha got up early because she wanted to go out and hang out with Gu Yin.

     Grandma Lin made a heartier breakfast today. Yesterday she baked some coarse grain biscuits to nourish Lin Shi Cha's body, but she was afraid her child wouldn’t like the taste of coarse grains, so she tried to add some dried fruits, which taste delicious and crispy.

     In addition to that, she also got up early to boil Chinese Yam Pork Ribs Soup and steamed some big buns herself.

     Lin Shi Cha took a bite of the steamed stuffed bun, then looked down at the corn pieces in the bowl: "Grandma, it's delicious ah."

     Grandma Lin squinted her eyes happily, "Then eat more or else you’ll run out of energy later when shopping."

     Lin Shi Cha’s eyes curled into crescents, "En, okay."

     The meeting place with Gu Yin was at the gate of the Lin Shi Cha community. When Lin Shi Cha arrived, Gu Yin had just gotten out of the car.

     Seeing Lin Shi Cha, she waved to her: "Right here!"

     Gu Yin was wearing a simple pink blue candy-colored striped shirt with a loose waistline. She had knotted up the lower part of the shirt to reveal her slender waist. Underneath were midsummer shorts, while she wore a pair of canvas shoes. Her rather short hair was tied up into two buns.

     This appearance was completely different from the first time Lin Shi Cha saw her with her full girlish vibe.

     Gu Yin was also checking Lin Shi Cha out. She noticed Lin Shi Cha was truly good-looking, the gentle and delicate type without aggressiveness. Today she only wore a white A-line dress with good texture, showing her two fragrant shoulders with her black and soft hair resting on it.

     Gu Yin spoke up: "Hey, what kind of lipstick do you use, it's so pretty."

     Girls' topics usually tend to revolve around cosmetics.

     Gu Yin sighed in her heart: Lin Shi Cha has the ideal first love face. Plus, her temperament was even more gentle and cute. How could she not attract Huo Yi Nan and the others?  Especially boys like Chi Xing, whose hearts were always filled with these kind of gentle girls.

     "Let's go shopping first. There aren't many people in the movie theater in the morning, so the ambience isn’t as good." Lin Shi Cha suggested with a serious face.

     Gu Yin felt the same as she nodded rapidly: "Yes, yes, yes."

     It was already around ten o'clock in the morning, and the two of them went into one store after another. Lin Shi Cha didn't buy any clothes, but instead picked out several good ones for Gu Yin and asked her to try them on.

     Gu Yin had to admit that Lin Shi Cha had a good eye. The ones she picked were all suitable for her. Though, as soon as the two of them exited a shop, Gu Yin noticed something was wrong.

     When she turned her head, she saw the two boys in the back hurriedly turn and lean against the oval fence, as if they were watching some activities held in the big square below.

     This back seems a bit familiar… …

     Gu Yin was secretly surprised and narrowed her eyes.

     "What's the matter?" Lin Shi Cha bit the straw of the milk tea and asked, confused.

     "Ah, it's nothing. Hey, I think the clothes in that store are pretty nice. I'll pick some for you."

     "Okay." Lin Shi Cha readily agreed.

     Bian Heng and Chi Xing sneaked around. When they saw Gu Yin and Lin Shi Cha enter another store, they both heaved a sigh of relief. Then, they glanced at each other as if they were fellow sufferers: "It turns out that shopping with girls is so tiring... … Is there somewhere to sit, my legs’ gonna break?" My leg is about to break." Chi Xing asked with a long face.

     "It’s not like only your legs hurt, so does mine." Bian Heng rolled his eyes at him.

     "Hey, said she didn't change into the clothes after she bought them to let me have a look..." Chi Xing complained. Sighing and leaning in front of the fence, he fantasized: "ChaCha wears school uniforms most of the time, today she looks amazing in the white dress."

     Bian Heng sneered, "I haven't settled my score with you yet. When did you go to Chacha’s house? Grandma's attitude was like seeing her own grandson when she saw you."

     Chi Xing clicked his tongue, "Watch how you speak."

     "Not only have I been to ChaCha’s house, I've also been to ChaCha’s room. How about it? Jealous? Envious? Hate?" Chi Xing raised his chin, showing off his complacency in a punchable manner.

     "Hehe." Bian Heng responded.

     While the two were whispering, someone suddenly tapped on Chi Xing’s shoulder. Chi Xing turned back impatiently: "Who, don’t you see Laozi is—"

     The arriver was Gu Yin.

     "... …How did you see the two of us?" Bian Heng felt both speechless and awkward.

     Gu Yin crossed her arms: "I was going to, why do I keep feeling that there were two sleazy guys sneaking behind us? So it was you two." Her gaze couldn’t be more contemptuous.

     Chi Xing: "Whose sleazy? Bian Heng and I are just worried about ChaCha, so we followed here to have a look."

     Gu Yin: "Are you sure you're not jealous?"

     Chi Xing/Bian Heng: "... …"

     Gu Yin changed her voice: "Sigh, ChaCha has never gone on a date with me? On what right, does she, Gu Yin, have to go out shopping and watch movies with ChaCha?"

     Having their thoughts exposed, Chi Xing said in a stinky face. "What do you want?" How are you so proficient?

     Gu Yin raised her eyebrows, "I don't want to do anything, I just want to tell you guys, your trailing is simply too terrible, that’s it. Hurry up and be careful, lest you’ll be seen by her."

     "She's currently changing clothes, so I'll go back now, otherwise she will be suspicious." Gu Yin patted Bian Heng's shoulder, unexpectedly making Bian Heng stagger.

     After Gu Yin left, Bian Heng and Chi Xing fell into self-doubt. However, they didn't doubt for long, because it was noon and Gu Yin found a restaurant for the two to eat, then booked movie tickets before heading to the cinema to wait.

     Leaving Chi Xing and Bian Heng outside.

     It didn't take long before Huo Yi Nan dragged them back. Before leaving, Bian Heng even gritted his teeth: "Gu Yin!!" Snitching is not a gentlemanly behavior.

     Chi Xing: "She’s not a gentleman to begin with." Renjia is a girl.

     At the end of the movie, Gu Yin and Lin Shi Cha left the theater side by side. Gu Yin couldn't resist asking her the question, "Which one exactly do you like?"





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Notes:
Meituan (美团): a company that provides retail services like food delivery, hotel bookings, etc, though it is most well-known for food delivery. Their app and employees can be identified by their iconic yellow color
Hu Ge (胡歌): a well-known Chinese actor, whose almost 41 years-old. The joke here is Hu Ge is known for being single (he has had one known ex-girlfriend, just not for long) as more of the younger actors have started dating and getting married. Although this joke is probably outdated now, because as of January 31st, 2023, he announced he is married and about to become a dad