Yu Qian glanced at her three close friends beside her, then looked ahead at Lin Niannian, Jiang Zheng, and Bai Qiming. She was still a little dazed. She had only planned to go shopping with her three friends, so how did it turn into such a large group outing?

Jiang Zheng had somehow managed to get his hands on a high-end tour bus, making her feel as if they had joined a travel group.

“Ah! That’s a poster of Lei Shen! I really want it!” Fang Yan leaned against the window, staring excitedly at the movie theater they passed, where a poster of her idol was displayed. She was immediately overcome with excitement.

“Cough, have some restraint.” Yu Qian reached out and tugged on Fang Yan, trying to remind her to be mindful of her image.

Fang Yan only sat back properly once the poster was out of sight, her face still filled with lingering excitement.

Jiang Zheng turned his head to glance at Fang Yan and recognized her as the girl in the photo Yu Qian had taken with You Lei.

He smiled at Fang Yan and said, “If you like You Lei that much, I can take you to meet him at the company.”

Fang Yan was tempted, but as a devoted fan, how could she force her beloved Lei Shen to ‘work overtime’ like this? After much internal struggle, she firmly declined.

After a long ride, they finally arrived at their destination— the largest amusement park in the capital.

It had been Fang Yan’s suggestion to come there. She had always loved thrilling activities, and this amusement park was home to the largest haunted house in the country. When Yu Qian asked where they should go first, Fang Yan immediately thought of it.

As they entered the park, Fang Yan glanced at the water rides with regret. She had really wanted to try the water roller coaster, but it was too cold in winter. There was no way she wanted to get wet.

“What should we play first?” Yu Qian asked the group.

Lin Niannian: “I’m fine with anything.”

Qi Yu: “Anything’s okay.”

Jiang Zheng and Fang Yan: “Haunted house!”

Hearing Jiang Zheng say the same thing as her, Fang Yan gave him a knowing smile.

The haunted house was a place for either thrill-seekers or people looking to grow closer.

Just the thought of going to the haunted house made Yu Qian’s heart tremble, but in the end, they all bought tickets.

Standing at the entrance, Lin Niannian looked nervous and instinctively grabbed Bai Qiming’s sleeve.

Bai Qiming remained calm as ever, but the slight amusement in his eyes betrayed his real emotions.

Jiang Zheng watched the two and inwardly scoffed at Bai Qiming. Even an old tortoise^[1]bastard wasn’t as good at pretending as he was.

But then he thought about how he might soon experience the same treatment and couldn’t help but grin.

Impatient, Jiang Zheng urged, “Let’s hurry up and go in.”

Yu Qian and Fang Yan stepped inside, but then Yu Qian turned around and looked at Jiang Zheng in confusion. “Why are you following us?”

Jiang Zheng put on a righteous expression. “You’re all girls. What if you get too scared? I have to protect you.”

Yu Qian: “Oh, really?”

Jiang Zheng nodded solemnly.

Yu Qian didn’t press the matter further.

As they walked deeper into the haunted house, the atmosphere grew darker and more eerie. Yu Qian tightly gripped Qi Yu and Fang Yan’s hands, her whole body trembling.

Wang Jiajia also tried to huddle closer to Fang Yan. The four girls walked in a straight line, side by side.

Jiang Zheng, walking behind them, frowned. With them pairing up like this, how was he supposed to heroically rescue a certain someone?

They opened another door, and suddenly, a severed head dropped right in front of them. Yu Qian shut her eyes tightly, her heart pounding wildly. Fang Yan, on the other hand, leaned in curiously for a closer look.

Suddenly, Yu Qian felt someone blowing on the back of her neck, followed by a light pat on her shoulder.

“Ahhhh—!” Yu Qian screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbing Fang Yan and the others as she bolted forward with her eyes still shut.

Hearing Yu Qian scream, Wang Jiajia screamed as well. The four girls immediately took off running, disappearing in a flash.

Jiang Zheng stood frozen in disbelief. He had only wanted to ask Yu Qian if she wanted to switch places, so how did she disappear in an instant?

Without thinking further, he ran after them.

The sound of footsteps from behind only made Yu Qian more terrified. Fang Yan, though confused, saw her two friends panicking and instinctively joined them in dashing toward the exit.

What was supposed to be a haunted house experience turned into an impromptu obstacle course. The actors inside, who had been preparing to scare visitors, barely had time to strike their poses before two separate groups zoomed past them.

Ghosts: “……” Did some new kind of ghost just arrive? How did they scare people this badly?

Yu Qian didn’t stop running until she saw the light at the exit.

Even though it was winter, they had all broken out in a sweat. They stood outside, panting heavily.

Moments later, Jiang Zheng emerged as well, his expression dark as he stood in front of Yu Qian. “Why did you suddenly run?”

Yu Qian, still shaken, replied, “I felt a ghost tap my shoulder and blow on my neck. It scared me to death.”

Jiang Zheng: “……” That ghost…… wouldn’t happen to be him, right?

He asked, “Did you forget I was standing behind you?”

Yu Qian: “……” She actually had.

Jiang Zheng felt that something was off about Yu Qian’s reaction. When Bai Qiming and Lin Niannian finally came out, he realized what it was.

Seeing Lin Niannian nestled in Bai Qiming’s arms, her face full of fear, Jiang Zheng cast a resentful glance at Yu Qian.

Why was Lin Niannian hiding in Bai Qiming’s embrace, while Yu Qian had bolted— so fast that he couldn’t even catch up?

Weren’t girls supposed to throw themselves into someone’s arms when they were scared? Why did Yu Qian, when frightened, act like she had taken some kind of performance-enhancing drug?

Looking at Bai Qiming’s satisfied expression, Jiang Zheng gritted his teeth in frustration.

Yu Qian’s fear came quickly and faded just as fast. Mostly because she had kept her eyes shut the whole time, so she hadn’t seen too much. Otherwise, she would probably be scared for days.

Once everyone had settled down, they got to a few milder rides before wrapping up their amusement park trip.

Jiang Zheng then took them to a restaurant he often visited. Watching the four girls eat so happily, he couldn’t help but feel that they truly were the same breed.

After the meal, the five girls made a beeline for the shopping mall. Jiang Zheng and Bai Qiming followed behind, dutifully carrying their bags— considering it a rehearsal for their future married lives.

────ρя

This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

The timing of Fang Yan and the others’ visit was impeccable. The next morning, when they pulled open the curtains, they were greeted by a vast expanse of white.

People from the South had an indescribable love for snow. Even the easily cold Qi Yu showed a hint of excitement.

The girls quickly bundled up and rushed outside, bouncing with excitement.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve seen snow this heavy.” Wang Jiajia said, carefully shaping a snowball in her hands as if it were a rare treasure.

Qi Yu nodded in agreement.

They decided to build a massive snowman and take pictures as a memento.

Seeing them having fun outside, Lin Niannian happily joined in.

The group worked enthusiastically, eventually building a nearly two-meter-tall snowman with three stacked snowballs.

Looking at the result of their hard work, Qi Yu bluntly commented, “It’s so ugly.”

The others: “……” True.

The snowballs were unevenly shaped, the proportions were completely off, and the whole thing lacked any sense of balance. Even Yu Qian felt it was a bit of a disaster.

They had planned to fix it up, but since they had rushed outside without eating breakfast, their stomachs were already protesting. So, they decided to go eat first and improve it later.

A lively group of people hurried back inside.

As usual, Jiang Zheng planned to come over and mooch a meal. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he spotted the oddly shaped snowman. He tried to hold back, but in the end, he just couldn’t resist making some adjustments.

So, when Yu Qian and the others came back outside after eating, they were greeted by a completely transformed snowman.

The originally simple smiling lips had been carved into a grin showing eight teeth— not just four on top, but four on the bottom too— turning its crescent-shaped mouth into an ‘O’.

The carrot nose had been removed and replaced with a sharp, dagger-like bridge made of snow.

A six-pack— no, a twelve-pack— of abs had been sculpted onto the snowman’s torso, with muscular arms added to the sides.

If their original snowman had been ugly, this one was downright atrocious.

Yu Qian and the others felt their blood pressure spike. Just as Jiang Zheng was about to add another handful of snow, they instantly realized what had happened.

“Jiang Zheng!” Yu Qian gritted her teeth, grabbed one of the snowman’s arms, and hurled it at him without hesitation.

Snowman: What did I do to deserve this?

Jiang Zheng ran as Yu Qian chased him, and before they knew it, the whole thing had turned into an all-out snowball fight.

In the end, Yu Qian and the others built a new snowman. But…… they still decided to sneak over to the well-crafted one in front of a nearby house to take their pictures.

There was no helping it— what they had made was just a pile of snow, while this one actually looked like a snowman.