Unlike Zhou Ran’s side, when Le Ning got home, she actually felt a little regret.
How did she just lend her car to him? Didn’t that mean they’d have to interact again?!
Was she stupid?!
Le Ning let out a wail. She was definitely influenced by her silly, innocent little brother Le Luo.
She sighed and patted her own face.
Still… there was a tiny bit of comfort.
After touching up her makeup earlier, it still looked perfect—no smudging.
Le Ning walked into the bathroom in a pretty good mood to remove her makeup and shower. Deep down, she felt just a teeny, tiny bit smug.
When she came out after her shower, the bored and lonely Ruan Qiu was already howling in the group chat.
Ruan Qiuqiu: [So bored! Someone come talk to me!]
Ruan Qiuqiu: [Ning Ning, are you done with your date with Zhou Ran yet?]
Le Ning Doesn’t Like Lemons: [??? What date? When did I ever go on a date with Zhou Ran?!]
Chuchu is Chuchu: [Pickled fish.]
Le Ning Doesn’t Like Lemons: [That was a total accident!]
Ruan Qiuqiu: […So you finished eating and went home?]
Le Ning Doesn’t Like Lemons: [Of course! Or what—spend the night together outside?]
Ruan Qiuqiu: […A man and a woman alone… it’s not impossible?]
Le Ning went silent.
After a moment, she replied to Ruan Qiu and the others: [Tease me all you want, but don’t joke like that in front of Zhou Ran.]
She thought back to the indulgent, doting look on his face when he said “someone.”
Zhou Ran… probably already had someone he liked.
Once she said that, Ruan Qiu and Ji Chuchu immediately understood.
The two quickly changed the subject and started talking about other things.
Suddenly, Ji Chuchu sent a message @-ing Le Ning in the group: [Right—going to the school anniversary?]
Their high school alma mater was about to hold its centennial anniversary celebration.
The school had a long history and an excellent reputation. Over the years, it had produced a tremendous number of outstanding talents and elites.
Le Ning had already seen mentions of this anniversary in the group chat before. When Ji Chuchu asked her earlier, she had been busy and simply replied that she’d decide later.
She glanced at the date: [Half a month from now?]
Ruan Qiuqiu: [Go go go! In half a month you probably won’t be busy anyway.]
Chuchu is Chuchu: [Yeah, go join the fun.]
Le Ning checked her work schedule. She really didn’t have anything major coming up, so after thinking it over, she agreed.
That night, Le Ning unexpectedly had a dream about her long-lost high school days.
Actually—aside from that one rejection—her high school life had been quite enjoyable overall.
Over the next two days, Le Ning barely left the house.
She ordered takeout for every meal and spent her days happily experimenting with new makeup looks at home. It was very relaxing—until someone inevitably came along to ruin her good mood.
Today, right after lunch, as she was planning an evening makeup livestream for her fans, her phone buzzed.
Le Ning looked down and raised an eyebrow.
The next message from the same person came in immediately.
[Sis, did you forget what day it is today?]
[It’s Dad’s birthday. You forgot?]
[Yesterday Dad was still talking about you. He asked me to see if you wanted to come home for dinner.]
Le Ning’s lips curved in a faint, mocking smile. A flash of sarcasm passed through her eyes.
She checked the date—yep, it really was that man’s birthday.
As the other person sent message after message, Le Ning let out a cold laugh and replied: [1. I don’t have a younger sister. 2. The old man isn’t so senile that he’s forgotten my phone number. If he wants me home for dinner, he’ll tell me himself. No need for anyone else to pass the message.]
After firing back, Le Ning happily put her phone away.
A few minutes later, as expected, the old man called.
“Ning Ning.”
“Here.”
Le Ning was in the bathroom washing her face, thinking about what makeup look to do today while she rinsed.
She still had a bunch of unopened eyeshadows and foundation liquids. Maybe she should try some new ones tonight.
The man’s voice came through the speaker—slightly hoarse, with a heavy nasal tone.
“Have you eaten?”
Le Ning grabbed a nearby towel and wiped her face while asking, “Lunch or dinner?”
Tang Guangyuan choked for a second, coughed, and tried to sound a little more serious. “Lunch, of course. Will you come home for dinner tonight?”
Afraid she’d refuse, he quickly added, “It’s Dad’s birthday tonight. Can you come keep Dad company for a meal?”
Le Ning gave a light laugh and raised an eyebrow. “Sure. I’ll come back later.”
Hearing that, Tang Guangyuan sounded both surprised and delighted. “Good, good, good! Then Dad will ask Auntie to make your favorite sweet-and-sour pork ribs.”
“Mm.”
After hanging up, Le Ning lowered her eyes to look at her phone. A tiny curve tugged at her lips before she picked it up and headed to her vanity.
Once again, Le Ning started a livestream with zero advance notice.
Her fans were ecstatic—practically flying with joy—and flooded the chat with comments.
[AHHHHH Lemon’s beauty strike is here again today!]
[I, the loyal Bilibili lurker, have won the lottery.]
[Wuwuwu Lemon, when are you going to give us a heads-up?! You just go live out of nowhere—us students can only sneak-watch during class~]
Le Ning watched the barrage, lips curving upward. Her eyes were especially bright, her skin like white porcelain. Even bare-faced, she glowed.
“Sorry about that.”
Her voice was soft. “I originally planned to go live tonight, but I have to head out for dinner later, so I started early.”
Fans immediately said it was fine—they didn’t mind coming back for a second session tonight.
Le Ning pinned all her hair up, gave a sudden smile, and said, “Today we’re trying new products. I bought a bunch of stuff recently that I still haven’t opened, so I’ll do some reviews while we’re at it.”
She started with her usual skincare routine, then sunscreen, then primer.
Le Ning’s skin was already excellent, so she didn’t spend much time explaining the first two steps she’d used before. When she got to foundation, she shook the bottle. “Today we’re using a new one—this is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation. Ruan Qiu told me the finish is nice, so let’s give it a try.”
She faced both the camera and the side mirror without any hesitation, fully exposing her bare face.
Fans in the chat went wild: 666.
Only Le Ning would dare go this bold—no filter, just raw.
After testing it, she said, “Not bad. It’s pretty seamless. If it doesn’t budge tonight, I’ll recommend it to you all.”
She continued with her routine.
Suddenly, she noticed a comment and laughed. “I’m not doing soft-girl style today. Today we’re going for imperial-sister/queen energy.”
Barrage: [Then Lemon, what should we pay attention to for imperial-sister makeup?]
[Lemon, I want to learn from those imitation tutorials you did before—what are the key points?]
Le Ning answered everything openly: “To change your overall vibe and aura, eyebrows, eyeliner, and eyeshadow are the most important…”
She even specifically pointed out a few key tips from when she imitated a certain celebrity’s look in the past.
Suddenly, someone in the chat asked:
[Lemon! What if we want to imitate YOU—what should we focus on?]
[Lemon Lemon! I want to copy your peerless beauty face!]
[Wuwuwu if I had Lemon’s skills, would I still be single?!]
Le Ning smiled. “Imitate me? My eyes are actually the most distinctive feature. As long as you get the eyes right, there’s not much difference.”
She added, “If anyone tries to imitate me, remember to @ me on Weibo. I’ll give you feedback.”
As she spoke, her hands never stopped moving.
When she got to eyeshadow, Le Ning chose TF04—the classic reddish-brown shade. For blush, she picked Canmake petal blush and lightly swept it on to finish.
When choosing lipstick, Le Ning deliberately paused for a moment.
“Didn’t I mention earlier that I have dinner plans later?”
She smiled. “There’s a bit of a battle tonight, so my makeup today is quite different. I picked a lipstick with more presence too.”
She picked up the Givenchy #333 that was set aside and said with a smile, “Apparently this one is being called ‘noble ruby red’ right now. It’s supposed to give off a very commanding aura when you wear it.”
After saying that, under the fans’ eager, burning gazes, Le Ning had already finished applying the lipstick.
The moment it went on, it instantly elevated her entire look by several levels.
The whole makeup no longer felt soft-girl at all—now it was cool, sharp, and full of allure.
[Wow wow wow!! I’m in love!]
[Mommy, does this lipstick really have that kind of magic power? I just watched Lemon’s aura level up right in front of me.]
[So gorgeous!]
[Wuwuwu let me drown in Lemon’s beauty world forever.]
After finishing her makeup, Le Ning did a slow turn.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s livestream. If I have time later, I’ll post the tutorial online. See you all!”
After ending the stream, Le Ning ran to her walk-in closet and pulled out a big pile of clothes.
There was still plenty of time—she could take it slow and choose carefully.
In the end, Le Ning picked a set of British-style pinstripe suit.
When she sent the full-body photo to the group chat, Ruan Qiu’s rainbow compliments arrived first.
Ruan Qiuqiu: [AHHHHHH today’s Ning Ning is serving!! When you go handsome mode, men have no chance left!]
Ruan Qiuqiu: [Mommy, this outfit is killing me today.]
Le Ning Doesn’t Like Lemons: [Does it have presence?]
Ruan Qiuqiu: [Presence?! This is overflowing with it. Even I, a woman, am falling for you. So handsome and so cool.]
Ruan Qiuqiu: [Post this on Moments. No one will dare say it looks bad. You’ve got that vibe today—are you going home to deal with the stepsister?]
Le Ning laughed. She replied with one word, then looked at the person in the photo and curved her lips.
Honestly, she was quite satisfied too.
Ping’an District Criminal Investigation Brigade.
When Xie Wei came out of the pantry holding a cup of instant noodles, Zhou Ran was standing in the lobby staring at the wall.
The wall was covered with contact information for several victims.
The past few days had been tense for everyone. The killer still hadn’t been found, and there were no leads at all.
The victims had no apparent connections whatsoever.
For a moment, it felt completely impossible to even start.
Xie Wei paused and looked at Zhou Ran. “Captain Zhou, want something to eat?”
Zhou Ran glanced at him faintly. “No need.”
Xie Wei sighed. “There’s no point rushing. Let’s wait for Xu Zhi and the others to get further results.”
Zhou Ran didn’t respond. After a pause, he said, “Pull up the surveillance footage from that road section again. Take another look.”
“Yes, sir.”
After reviewing it, Zhou Ran’s brows stayed tightly furrowed.
Xie Wei cautiously ate his noodles beside him. After a while, he called out, “Oh right, Captain Zhou.”
Zhou Ran looked over.
Xie Wei asked, “I remember Miss Le is a makeup blogger. The cosmetic residue we detected on the body—wouldn’t it be better to ask her about it?”
Zhou Ran’s expression froze for a second. He twirled the pen in his hand, voice cold. “Ask what?”
Xie Wei: “…”
Yeah… that did seem hard to ask about.
He quietly ate his noodles and pulled out his phone to relax a bit.
They’d been sleeping at the station for two days straight.
Suddenly, Xie Wei exclaimed again, “Captain Zhou, Miss Le really is so handsome today.”
His eyes lit up as he turned toward his captain with a gossip-hungry look. “Look at her Moments—she’s so handsome even men feel ashamed.”
Zhou Ran: “…”
After changing, Le Ning planned to head to the mall first and at least buy some kind of gift to make it look like she cared.
Right as she stepped out, she got a call from a certain man.
Seeing the caller ID, Le Ning was actually a little surprised.
“Hello.”
Zhou Ran’s voice came through low and deep, carrying a slight electric current that made it sound even more husky.
“Where are you?”
Le Ning let out a soft scoff and smiled faintly. “Why?”
She pressed her lips together. “Captain Zhou ready to return my coat?”
“Mm.”
He asked, “Do you have time now?”
Le Ning listened to his voice and felt an inexplicable wave of restlessness.
Her emotions were unusually unsteady. She pursed her lips, thinking how he’d gone days without a word, and the first message he sent was about returning clothes—kind of amusing, actually.
She quickly said, “I’m about to head out. If you’re returning the coat, hurry up.”
Zhou Ran glanced at the neighborhood in front of him and replied, “I’m waiting downstairs.”
Le Ning: “…”
When Le Ning reached the neighborhood entrance, Zhou Ran was already there.
The moment she appeared, his gaze turned toward her.
After seeing the person walking over, his eyes paused for a few seconds. Xie Wei’s words from earlier suddenly echoed in his mind—Miss Le really is so handsome today.
He looked at her and silently agreed.
As Le Ning got closer, she noticed Zhou Ran was smiling.
Her eyelid twitched. She vaguely felt like he might be laughing at her.
Could it be… she looked ugly in this outfit today?!
Or had her lipstick smudged?
No way.
Thinking that, Le Ning couldn’t hold back anymore and asked directly, “What are you smiling at?”
Zhou Ran raised an eyebrow, his gaze lingering on her face. “Hm?”
Le Ning said bluntly, “You were just smiling.”
Zhou Ran heard her and asked with amusement, “And?”
Le Ning paused, then glared up at him. “No ‘and.’ Where’s the coat.”
She stretched out her hand. “Give me the coat.”
Zhou Ran looked at her open palm. Her hand was genuinely small and looked soft and plush.
The touch would probably feel very nice.
Le Ning felt uncomfortable under his gaze and asked coldly, “Weren’t you supposed to return the coat?”
Zhou Ran let out a soft laugh and said in a low voice, “Why is your temper still so short?”
Le Ning didn’t respond.
Zhou Ran glanced at her tense face, opened the car door, and handed her the coat.
Le Ning took it without even looking and turned to leave.
After just two steps, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
The man’s palm was scorching hot, with a slightly rough texture that burned against her skin. He called out, “Le Ning.”
Le Ning’s body stiffened. She instinctively turned her head.
Zhou Ran dangled her car keys and gave a light laugh as a reminder. “You probably need this too.”
Author’s Note:
Rounded up, that basically counts as holding hands!!!
Sigh~ Captain Zhou is starting to flirt!! Let’s see how long our Ning Ning can hold out!!!