Chapter 58: I’ll Help You Try. It’s Just to Gather Material

The hotpot meal lasted until 1:30 p.m.

Su Huaizhou and Jiang Miao ate slowly because they were reluctant to leave such a good place to hold hands.

There was no need to worry about being caught, and they could hold hands whenever they wanted. Even if their faces turned red, they could just say they were hot from eating hot pot.

Junior Brother’s hand was big, but not in a thick way. His fingers were long and powerful. And when he held her small hand, he fully displayed what control felt like.

Being completely enveloped by his warm, strong hand gave her a deep sense of security.

Unfortunately, Su Huaizhou was sitting on Jiang Miao’s left and had to eat with her right hand.

Every time she took a bite, she couldn’t wait to place her hand on the booth again.

But she couldn’t appear too eager, so placing her hand on the booth was already her limit. The rest was waiting for Jiang Miao to reach over.

Of course, Jiang Miao was more than happy to oblige, leaving his left hand waiting on the booth.

Anyway, Senior Sister Shen Yu and Senior Zhang Panfeng, who were sitting across from them, couldn’t see what was happening, so he could enjoy Senior Sister’s soft and smooth hand without worry.

No, this was for material!

Senior Sister had said that even if they were pretending, they should be mentally prepared to make it as real as possible. Only then would the effect of gathering material be the best.

Jiang Miao fully embraced and implemented Senior Sister’s spirit of gathering material. Everything was for the sake of writing better content for his novel.

Surely, the fact that Senior Sister took the initiative to reach out her hand was to facilitate him gathering more material, right?

For such a generous gesture, Jiang Miao could only write more exciting content to repay her.

…

After lunch, the four of them rested in the hotpot restaurant until after two before continuing their shopping date.

But this time, things were different from the morning.

“Senior Sister, aren’t we going with them?” Jiang Miao asked as he followed Su Huaizhou out of the hotpot restaurant and found her walking in another direction.

“Nope. Shen Yu sent me a message,” Su Huaizhou said with a smile. “She said they wanted to try shopping alone and asked us to find something to do on our own.”

“Oh.” Jiang Miao’s gaze immediately landed on Senior Sister’s hand, and his heart stirred. “Then, Senior Sister… the two of us…”

“Of course we’re going to continue gathering materials~” Su Huaizhou tilted her head and smiled. She stretched out her hand towards Jiang Miao. “I’m your girlfriend now, remember? Junior Brother, be more proactive.”

He looked down at her hand. Her fair and radiant skin, slender and long fingers, and clean and polished nails evoked an instinctive desire to protect and cherish her.

Jiang Miao reached out and gently held Senior Sister’s hand in his palm. He turned his head to avoid her playful gaze and asked softly, “Senior Sister, where are we going now?”

“Let’s just stroll around. For gathering material, anywhere is fine, right?” Su Huaizhou said as she took out her phone. “Hold on a sec. I’ll ask Shen Yu where they’re going so we can avoid them.”

“Okay.”

It was better to be safe than sorry. Jiang Miao was still worried about being discovered.

It didn’t matter to him, but he didn’t want to see Senior Sister bear the burden of untrue rumors.

Moreover, once this matter was known, it would be difficult for them to explain.

After all, a relationship between an author and a reader was pretty unusual.

At least, this sort of thing was rare in reality.

Not to mention, it was between a senior sister and a junior brother.

Moreover, Senior Sister was actually willing to pretend to be his girlfriend to help him gather material for his novel.

Even novels didn’t dare to be written like this.

Reality was indeed stranger than fiction.

“Okay.” Su Huaizhou put away her phone. “They’re going to the arcade on the fourth floor. Let’s go to the second floor.”

“Sounds good.” Jiang Miao nodded and held Senior Sister’s hand as they headed towards the escalator.

As they stepped onto the escalator and the threat of being discovered was finally lifted, Jiang Miao felt the tension in his chest ease.

Feeling the slow descent of the escalator, he looked down at the bustling crowd in the open hall below. Sky Street’s commercial plaza was teeming with people, and he and Senior Sister were just another couple among them.

He turned to look at Senior Sister. Her beautiful, flowing hair covered half of her exquisite profile, but he could still see her alluringly rosy lips and small, elegant nose.

Feeling the real touch in his palm, Jiang Miao almost thought that he was really dating Senior Sister and strolling through the mall together.

It was supposed to be just for material, but it felt exactly like the real thing.

“Here you go.”

They reached the second floor and walked into a clothing store. Su Huaizhou grabbed a cowboy hat from a display stand and covered Jiang Miao’s head. “It goes well with your pants.”

Jiang Miao obediently became Senior Sister’s mannequin. After the hat, she put sunglasses on him, instantly transforming him into a Western cowboy.

“Senior Sister, is this what it’s like to go on a date with a girl?” Jiang Miao asked as he placed the hat and sunglasses back in their original places, still remembering that he was gathering material. “I thought it was usually the girl trying on clothes and asking if she looked good or something like that.”

“Would you really say it doesn’t look good?” Su Huaizhou picked up a sun hat and put it on her head. “Does it look good?”

“It looks good.”

“See?” Su Huaizhou spread her hands. “Although it might sound a little narcissistic, I’m pretty confident in myself.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Jiang Miao: “…”

Su Huaizhou returned to Jiang Miao’s side and said with a smile, “It’s just like how I’d say you look handsome no matter what you wear.”

“Uh…” Jiang Miao, who was on a completely different level from Senior Sister, was speechless and was a little overwhelmed by the situation.

After walking out of the store, Su Huaizhou held Jiang Miao’s hand again. Looking at a few couples passing by, she suddenly turned her head and asked, “Shall we try gathering material in a different way?”

“Huh?” Jiang Miao was stunned for a moment, wondering what she meant by ‘different way’.

But before he could figure it out, she had already let go of his hand and approached him again. She slipped her right arm under his left and gently linked them.

Jiang Miao: “?!”

“Don’t overthink it.” Su Huaizhou let her long hair fall down to cover half of her rosy cheeks and forced herself to remain calm. “I noticed many couples are like this, so I’ll help you try. It’s just to gather material.”

“But…” Jiang Miao felt the pressure coming from Senior Sister’s closeness and was at a loss for words.

He knew that Senior Sister was ample, but this was the first time he felt it so intensely at such close range.

“It’s… it’s fine, right?” Su Huaizhou brushed her hair back, her tone a bit unnatural. “You’re writing a romance novel after all. You can’t just write about holding hands.”

“Yea…” Jiang Miao nodded stiffly.

Originally, he had thought holding hands was the limit for pretending to be a couple.

After spending the entire morning adjusting to it, although his heart still raced when he held hands with Senior Sister, it no longer affected his thinking.

But before he could get used to it, she introduced a new twist.

Jiang Miao gulped and turned his head to sneak a glance at Senior Sister. Feeling the curves pressed against his side, he suddenly felt as if he were dreaming.

If it were really a dream, he really didn’t want to wake up.

If… if Senior Sister wasn’t my pretend girlfriend but really was…

Jiang Miao shook his head vigorously and immediately threw this excessive thought to the back of his mind.

Senior Sister was putting in so much effort to help him get material.

But he actually wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Such thoughts were absolutely unacceptable!