Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 120: A Paper Marriage Agreement

When Jiang Xueli woke up, her vision was still hazy as she turned to look behind her. Lin Zhengran was sitting against the bedframe, reading a book. She blinked clumsily, trying to clear her thoughts.

Her stomach wasn’t hurting as much anymore, and her mind had fully awakened.

But this time, before her awareness could fully settle, an overwhelming sense of shame rushed to her head at an unprecedented speed.

That morning, between her cramps, Lin Zhengran’s gentleness, and the lingering sadness from heartbreak, she had blabbered on and on. But she hadn’t been fully conscious of what she was saying at the time.

Now, all of a sudden, it hit her.

She had confessed that she liked him. Said that the excuse of marrying him because no one else wanted him was just that—an excuse. She even said… even if he dumped her, she would still love him wholeheartedly, that he was the only one in her heart.

Although every word had been true, she had never imagined that she would say it all to his face!

Jiang Xueli’s face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye—on the verge of explosion.

Fortunately, Lin Zhengran, ever the keen observer, noticed her unusual reaction and promptly flicked her forehead. A well-placed "forehead flick" deflated the metaphorical balloon of her embarrassment before she could start attacking him with her little fists.

Honestly, Jiang Xueli acted fairly mature and composed at school. But every time she was alone with him, she seemed to revert back to her childhood self.

He Qing was the same way.

And that little fox? She was even worse—whenever they were alone, she’d practically drape herself over him. Forget acting like an adult;she didn’t even act human—just like a fox through and through.

At this moment, Jiang Xueli clutched her forehead, wincing from the flick.

Lin Zhengran asked, "Awake?"

Jiang Xueli, still blushing, pouted. "Stupid Zhengran, why’d you hit me for no reason?"

"Does your stomach still hurt?"

Jiang Xueli thought for a moment. "N-No, not really… But I still feel a little uncomfortable. I think I should be able to practice singing in the afternoon, though."

Lin Zhengran reached out his hand. Jiang Xueli instinctively thought he was going to flick her forehead again, but instead, he gently tucked away a stray strand of hair that had stuck to her lips while she slept.

Jiang Xueli stared at his delicate movements, her heart fluttering with a girlish shyness.

Her ears turned completely red.

Maybe… maybe it wasn’t so bad that she had said those things this morning. It was embarrassing, but wasn’t it normal to say such things to her boyfriend? It wasn’t like it was something to be ashamed of.

As Lin Zhengran got up to fetch his guitar, he glanced back at her curiously. "By the way, do you want some clothes? I didn’t expect you to be such a restless sleeper. Your legs keep stretching out of the blanket—I’ve had to cover you up two or three times already."

"Huh?" Jiang Xueli looked down and realized that one of her smooth, bare legs was currently sticking out from under the blanket.

Since she wasn’t wearing leggings, the gap in the blanket even exposed a little more than just her leg.

Flustered beyond belief, she quickly yanked her leg back under the covers, burying herself inside. "PERVERT!"

Lin Zhengran sighed. "So… should I still bring you some clothes or not?"

"Of course you should!" She peeked out just enough to glare at him. "Big pervert~"

Lin Zhengran let out a helpless sigh. "You girls have been way too well-protected by me. Do you even know what a real pervert is like? Here, let me show you."

With that, he pretended to pull off his shirt.

Jiang Xueli panicked instantly and dove back under the blanket. "No! I was wrong! What are you doing?! Calm down!"

Lin Zhengran found teasing these girls to be quite entertaining—it really added some fun to life. He chuckled. "Relax, I was just messing with you. I’ll go get your clothes now."

With that, he walked out of the bedroom.

Jiang Xueli only peeked out again when she heard the door close. She huffed softly, then let out a little giggle. "Zhengran is kind of cute sometimes… even if he is a bit of a flirt."

Not long after, Jiang Xueli had changed into some comfortable loungewear and was sitting on the bed with a guitar. She even tied her long hair into twin ponytails with a couple of hair ties.

Lin Zhengran raised an eyebrow. "You’re not even going outside. Why go through the trouble of tying your hair up?"

Jiang Xueli answered matter-of-factly, "I feel like tying my hair makes me sing better. Speaking of twin ponytails, I saw this online post the other day… I forgot where exactly.

It said that this hairstyle lets boyfriends hold onto them with both hands? What does that mean? Hold onto what? I checked the comments, but they all just said ‘if you know, you know.’"

Lin Zhengran smiled knowingly. He instantly understood what those netizens meant.

"You really want to know?"

Jiang Xueli nodded. "Yeah, so what does it mean? Do you get it, Zhengran?"

"Oh, I get it," he replied with a smirk. "I’ll tell you, since you’re grown up now. Even if I don’t explain it, you’ll probably figure it out sooner or later from the internet. Come closer, and I’ll whisper it in your ear."

Jiang Xueli was intrigued. "So mysterious?"

She straightened her knees and leaned in.

Lin Zhengran whispered the meaning to her in a low voice.

Jiang Xueli completely froze for a second. Then, her face turned beet red.

She immediately grabbed both of her twin ponytails and hugged them to her chest, screaming in shame. "Zhengran, you pervert! You… You total pervert! What are you even talking about?!"

Lin Zhengran looked innocent. "Hey, you asked, didn’t you? It’s not like I brought it up on my own."

"T-That… that doesn’t matter! It’s still perverted!" She covered her head with both hands, groaning in regret. "If I had known, I wouldn’t have asked! Now I have a mental image stuck in my head!"

Lin Zhengran flicked her forehead again. "Snap out of it! Time to practice your singing!"

That knocked some sense back into her.

Of course, there was no way she was going to forget this. Somehow, she just had this feeling…

That one day, Zhengran would actually do that to her—hold onto her twin ponytails with both hands.

That afternoon, Jiang Xueli practiced guitar in bed. Ever since military training ended, she hadn’t felt this genuinely happy. Her mood was so light that when she sang, her voice was in perfect condition.

Lin Zhengran brought up something new. "Oh, right, Lily. I used to think you were too young for this, but now that you’re older, have you ever thought about turning your original songs into videos and uploading them online? You could earn some extra money and build your reputation at the same time."

Her fingers paused on the strings.

"Lily…" Jiang Xueli’s attention was completely fixated on those two syllables.

Because—Lin Zhengran had never called her that before.

Jiang Xueli spaced out for a long while until she noticed Lin Zhengran frowning at her. Quickly, she scratched her cheek awkwardly and looked up at the ceiling, blushing as she answered,

"Oh, this… let me think… Oh, right! I actually did consider it before. But back then, I didn’t think my singing was good enough, so I didn’t bother. I mean, once you post something online, people will definitely leave all kinds of comments, right? Then school got really busy, and I just forgot about it."

Lin Zhengran nodded. "Well, the number of comments wouldn’t be that high. Most videos uploaded online don’t even get bot comments. The ones you see with tons of engagement are viral hits."

Jiang Xueli blinked. "Really? I didn’t know that. But yeah, I’ve seen how hard it is for people to get popular."

"Speaking of which, shouldn’t your talent agency encourage this? It’s pretty standard for musicians to have their own video accounts."

Jiang Xueli thought for a moment. "I think they allow it. I’ve seen others upload videos before, but it doesn’t seem like anyone has made money from it."

Lin Zhengran considered this. "You can check with them before the competition. If they allow it, we can start with the upcoming town competition. I’ll record your performance separately and upload it to your personal account. This will significantly speed up your rise to fame."

After all, with his Master of All Skills ability, any video he filmed would be leagues ahead of regular content.

Jiang Xueli nodded. "Alright, I’ll go with whatever you say."

"Good."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Jiang Xueli perked up. "Oh, right! Zhengran, you didn’t forget, did you? You promised me—if I win the championship, we’ll go to the zoo and then watch a movie together."

"Of course, I didn’t forget."

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Jiang Xueli grinned in excitement. "Good!"

A zoo date… Now that she and Zhengran were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, wouldn’t that mean…?

Wouldn’t they be able to do couple-like things while walking around?

Holding hands… hugging… maybe even…

Jiang Xueli let her thoughts wander into a dreamy fantasy.

—

As autumn evenings darkened quickly, Lin Zhengran said goodbye and headed home.

Before he left, Jiang Xueli got out of bed and stood at the door, waving with a bright smile. "Bye-bye, Zhengran! Come over again tomorrow!"

"Mm."

After crossing the busy intersection, Lin Zhengran returned home, only to find an unexpected visitor—his grandfather, sitting on the couch and sipping tea.

"Grandpa? What brings you here?"

His grandfather looked up and sighed dramatically. "My good grandson! It’s only been a month, and you’ve grown even taller!"

From the kitchen, Lin Xiaoli and Lin Yingjun were tidying up.

Lin Xiaoli called out, "Ranran’s back? Ranran, Dad—go wash your hands. Dinner’s almost ready."

Both Lin Zhengran and his grandfather responded with a quick "Okay."

Lin Zhengran then turned back to his grandfather. "Grandpa, there’s no way I grew that much in just a month. So, what brings you here?"

His grandfather stood up. "Oh, I just brought some stuff for your parents from back home. But aside from that, I also wanted to talk to you about your childhood engagement. Now that you're in high school, have you met the girl yet?"

Lin Zhengran immediately thought of Jiang Qian. "I wouldn’t say we’ve officially met, but I do know what she looks like."

He didn’t mention that Jiang Qian might not even know he was her fiancé—after all, the topic had never come up between them.

"Oh? What do you mean?" his grandfather asked, confused. "Anyway, I already spoke with my old war buddy. Originally, we planned to arrange a formal meeting for you two on the second, but then we figured young people have their own busy schedules.

So, you two should arrange it yourselves. The girl’s side will be adding you tonight. Set up a time in the next few days and meet her properly. According to my old war buddy, she’s actually looking forward to seeing you."

—

In an office of a music team based in Lüteng City, a large group of singers, staff members, and executives sat in an orderly manner, attending a meeting.

At the head of the room sat the elegant and mature boss of the team—Jiang Jingshi.

She flipped through documents regarding other studios participating in the competition. "I’ve said everything I need to. Do your best in the upcoming competition. If you win the championship, I’ll have a big reward for you.

By the way, are there any particularly strong competitors this time?"

One of the executives spoke up. "President Jiang, I’ve heard of one. There’s a singer from a neighboring studio—someone named Jiang Xueli. She’s extremely talented. I heard her sing once before, and she’s really good."

"Jiang Xueli?" Jiang Jingshi raised an eyebrow. "What’s her background? How old is she?"

"She doesn’t have any major background. Just sixteen or seventeen years old. Pure talent. And from what I heard, she didn’t even learn from the studio—she has a private teacher. A boy around her age."

Jiang Jingshi’s hands froze as she flipped through the documents.

Something about that sounded strangely familiar.

She lifted her head. "What?"