Chapter 101: Chapter 71: How Come It’s a Xiaonan’niang?

“That was my cousin! She came to Lanjing to visit a while ago. I showed her around a few tourist spots, and she’s already gone back.” Jiangg Yao waved her hands frantically, blurting out a clumsy excuse. Her expression, however, was unspeakably stiff, her face turning deathly pale in an instant.

Chen Yuan gave her a puzzled look. Something felt off. He had just asked casually, so why was her reaction so extreme? It was true that he had never heard Jiangg Yao mention having a sister.

But he didn’t press the issue. The reason was simple: a couple probably had to reach a certain level of intimacy before they’d even think about introducing each other to family. That was a step usually taken when marriage was on the table.

There’s a saying that goes, if you’re not sure about something, don’t make it public knowledge. It’s best if the two end up together, but if they eventually go their separate ways, it gets awkward when friends and family ask.

Relationships had to progress step by step, starting with friendship.

Chen Yuan could understand. He just gave Jiangg Yao a brief glance and said no more.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Are you trying to get yourself killed…?”

Having dodged that bullet, Jiangg Yao felt her heart, which had leaped into her throat, begin to settle. It was still pounding wildly, though, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. She lowered her voice and glared at Wan, her eyes full of menace, as if she were about to swallow her whole.

Wan’s eyes widened in fear. Realizing she had misspoken, she nodded vigorously.

“Phew~”

The hand covering her mouth relaxed. Wan gasped for air a couple of times and swallowed hard.

Having twin sisters would seem like something worth showing off to most people. After all, it meant two people who looked exactly alike—a phenomenon that accounted for only one percent of all recorded twin births.

But Wan didn’t know that while this was something you could say anywhere else, to Chen Yuan, it was undoubtedly a forbidden secret.

’No guy would be okay with his first relationship being a game where two girls were fooling him.’

’It was deceit, it was hypocrisy, a violation of the principles of a relationship.’

That’s why even Jiangg Ning didn’t dare reveal it. She was afraid that telling him how they both used the same account during their online relationship, taking turns chatting with him, would disgust Chen Yuan.

Now, they were stuck in a situation where one mistake had led to another.

The atmosphere at the anime convention was cheerful and lively. Jiangg Yao excitedly pulled Chen Yuan and Wan along to buy some merchandise, one on her left hand, one on her right. At that moment, she felt incredibly happy, all her worries forgotten.

「 … 」

“Hi, Miss, could we get a picture together?”

As the three of them were walking toward a booth, a girl cosplaying as Naxitan approached them. She directed her question at Wan, her tone cautious and exceptionally friendly.

Wan was also in costume, dressed as her favorite anime character: Takanashi Rikka, the female lead from *Chunibyo and Other Delusions*. And you had to admit, she really suited the role, especially her height. It was like a perfect replica.

“Of course.”

Wan lifted her eyepatch, sized up the other girl with her golden-colored contacts, and then moved closer to strike a pose.

“I’ll take the picture for you two.” Jiangg Yao took the phone the girl offered, framed them both in the shot, and with a CLICK…

“Got it.”

“Thank you, Miss. But… could I take one more?” The girl smiled shyly, but her voice sounded a little odd. At least, that’s what Chen Yuan thought, though he couldn’t put his finger on what was strange about it.

“Should we try a different pose? I can do Rikka’s classic move,” Wan said, shaping her hand as if holding an umbrella. She put on a stern face, channeling the cool and imposing aura befitting the “Evil King’s True Eye Messenger.” “I’m ready.”

“Sorry, not with you.”

“Eh?!”

“I’d like to…” The girl held up a finger, smiling bashfully, and pointed past Jiangg Yao… at Chen Yuan. “Take a picture with him.”

“Huh? I’m not a cosplayer.” Chen Yuan quickly waved his hands, completely bewildered.

“No, you look a lot like the lead actor from a movie I love, one directed by Shunji Iwai.” The girl pressed her lips together, cautiously leaned in, and asked softly, “Is that okay?”

Chen Yuan was completely baffled. ’Growing up, no one ever told me I looked like some celebrity.’

’Shunji who?’ He knew nothing about the entertainment industry, let alone the foreign film scene.

He instinctively started to refuse, just raising his hand, but Jiangg Yao, acting uncharacteristically, took the initiative and raised the phone.

“Then I’ll take it for you two.”

“Thank you, Miss! You’re so nice!” The girl bowed slightly. She seemed like the polite and well-mannered type, and she had a faint scent of jasmine about her, which both Jiangg Yao and Wan noticed.

’To my surprise, Jiangg Yao actually agreed to me taking a picture with another girl… Given her jealous and petty nature, this is truly strange.’

Facing the camera, Chen Yuan didn’t strike any pose, just stood there stiffly and forced a smile. The girl, in contrast, leaned in closer to him, looking quite intimate, her eyes crinkling as she smiled.

“Got it.”

The girl cosplaying Naxitan took her phone back from Jiangg Yao. She looked down, swiping through the screen for a moment. When she looked up, her face was beaming with a happy smile.

“It turned out great. I have to thank you again.”

“You’re being too polite. It’s nothing.”

“Oh, right, I have one more request… though it might sound a bit forward,” the girl said, turning to gaze at Chen Yuan. She asked earnestly, “Your hands are really nice, too. Can we compare them?”

“How…?”

“Like this, hold them out.”

She took Chen Yuan’s hand, pressing their ten fingers gently together to compare. All of this happened under Jiangg Yao’s watchful eye. What was utterly astonishing was that Jiangg Yao had no reaction at all; she just exchanged a look with Wan and quietly watched the girl.

“Your hands are so big. They make mine look so small,” the girl said in a delicate, sweet voice.

“…If there’s nothing else, we should get going.” A wave of goosebumps inexplicably broke out on Chen Yuan’s arm, and he quickly pulled his hand back.

“Can I add you on Green Bubble, handsome…? You smell so good.”

“No. Stay away from me.”

“Really? I don’t have any other motive, I just want to get to know you better.”

Jiangg Yao and Wan stood to the side, watching Chen Yuan practically flee in terror. They were laughing so hard they could barely breathe, clutching their stomachs and doubling over with mischievous glee.

’Otaku girls are like this…’

After a while, Chen Yuan finally managed to escape the “girl’s” pestering. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he had made a full lap around the second floor by the time he got back to Jiangg Yao.

“I don’t know… she seemed weird,” Chen Yuan said, panting.

“You couldn’t tell? He’s a guy.”

“What? No way, his voice was clearly a girl’s.”

“That’s voice changing,” Wan explained smugly. “All Xiaonan’niang know how to do it; it’s one of their required skills. Looks like he’s taken a liking to you.”

“No wonder you didn’t stop him. So he was a guy this whole time… That’s terrifying. I couldn’t tell at all. He even had a chest.” Chen Yuan pulled Jiangg Yao over, ready to give her a good rap on the head.

“You’ll get used to it. There are lots of crossdressing masters at conventions. Sometimes even I can’t tell the difference.”

“Why would a guy want to be a Xiaonan’niang?” Chen Yuan asked, not understanding.

“It’s a personal hobby, y’know. Sometimes people do things others can’t understand. Like that popular light novel author from the Neon Country. He likes to write while wearing stockings; they say it gives him more inspiration.”

“?”

Chen Yuan froze. He briefly pictured the scene in his mind and was well and truly shocked by the world of ACG.

「 … 」

At the anime convention, in the first-floor public restroom.

Sure enough, the men’s restroom was filled with crossdressing masters changing their clothes. The young Xiaonan’niang who had asked Chen Yuan for a photo earlier also wandered in. He was looking down at his phone, expertly using a photo editing app. He added a filter to his picture with Chen Yuan, planning to smooth the skin and brighten it. His fingers moved so fast they left afterimages.

“Rui, where’d you go? You weren’t answering your messages.”

In front of the sinks, another Xiaonan’niang was drying his hands and walked over.

“I went to get a picture with someone. I met this guy who had this special vibe, totally my type. Too bad…” The guy called Rui was no longer using his fake voice. He spoke normally, his tone full of regret. “He probably has a girlfriend.”

“A special vibe? That sounds pretty abstract. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like that in real life.”

“That’s because they’re rare! That’s why you have to be proactive. Here, look, I got a picture with him.”

Rui looked up at him for a second, then looked back down. The filter had been applied to the photo. The Xiaonan’niang he was talking to leaned over, curiously staring at his phone screen.

But with just one glance.

The expression on the handsome Xiaonan’niang’s face instantly froze.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep