country bumpkin

Chapter 362 Confirming One's Inner Thoughts

Liu Jing stood to the side, her eyes filled with admiration and fascination. Her gaze followed Xuan Mei intently, as if everything around her did not exist.

Seeing this, Yun Ya felt even more jealous and let out a soft hum.

After the song ended, everyone applauded. Xuanmei's face flushed slightly, making her look especially adorable.

Liu Jing immediately stepped forward, handed over a bottle of water, and said with a smile, "Amei, you sang so well!" Xuan Mei took the water and said with a smile, "Thank you."

At this moment, the stall owner smiled and said, "Young lady, I didn't expect you to sing so well. You sang 'Easily Hurt Woman' just like the original singer. How about another song? I'll give you a discount."

Xuanmei was somewhat tempted and was about to speak when Liu Jing interrupted, "One more song, Ah Mei, sing one more song." As she spoke, she took out some money and handed it to the stall owner.

Xuanmei requested another cheerful song and sang it with deep emotion once again.

This time, Liu Jing swayed gently to the rhythm, a happy smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Yunya stood to the side, secretly thinking that she needed to find an opportunity to get closer to Xuanmei. She couldn't let Liu Jing steal this "good friend" that she had made first.

As the song ended, all the listeners' eyes were glued to Xuanmei. Their gazes were filled with envy and admiration.

A handsome man walked over, holding a notebook in his hand. He said to Xuan Mei expectantly, "Beautiful lady, could you please sign this for me? You sing so well, just like a big star."

Before Xuanmei could react, Liu Jing rushed over and stood in front of her, shouting hostilely, "No way, we don't know you, why should we tell you our name?"

After saying that, Liu Jing quickly turned around, grabbed Xuan Mei, and was about to leave.

Xuanmei looked at the man with the notebook a little embarrassedly and said, "Excuse me, we have something urgent to attend to, so we'll be leaving now."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Jing pulled him away. The man, stunned, came to his senses, utterly disappointed.

Yunya and her roommates then followed in their footsteps to catch up with Xuanmei and Liu Jing.

Xuanmei was pulled along by Liu Jing and jogged all the way to a corner. She stopped, hands on her knees, buttocks sticking out, panting heavily.

Xuanmei looked at Liu Jing suspiciously and asked, "Jingjing, why did you pull me away? That person didn't seem like a bad guy. Why are you so hostile towards him?"

Liu Jing stammered, not knowing what excuse to make, and could only speak her mind: "I just don't want you to have a chance to meet him. He's so good-looking, what if you fall for him? I can't just watch him steal you away."

Xuan Mei looked completely bewildered.

"What? Jingjing, what are you saying? What do you mean? How could he try to take me away? We don't even know each other yet!"

Besides, I don't even know him! How could I possibly like him! You're overthinking it."

Liu Jing thought about her own thoughts and was afraid that Xuan Mei would see through her or continue to ask questions, and her little secret would be exposed, so she had no choice but to change the subject.

"Xiaomei, you sing so well! Did you study singing professionally in school?"

"No, I just like listening to music in my spare time, and after listening to it a lot, I can sing along." Having successfully changed the subject, Liu Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone knew how she felt about Xuanmei, but Xuanmei was oblivious. She only considered her her closest "good friend".

As the two were talking, their roommates caught up. Yunya ran over and asked Liu Jing, "Why are you two running? Why are you dragging Xiaomei along? We almost fell apart from running like this."

The other roommates, who were a bit older, had already figured out the reason, but they just wouldn't say it, each wearing a smug, gossipy expression.

Seeing that Liu Jing didn't seem inclined to answer her, Yun Ya glanced at Liu Jing and ignored her, directly calling Xuan Mei back to the dormitory.

When everyone arrived, they were chattering and having a great time, but now that they're leaving, they're all silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

Xuan Mei is short and plump, but has delicate features. She speaks and acts decisively and has a somewhat boyish personality.

Perhaps it was this aspect of his personality that caught Liu Jing's attention. After all, the dormitory building for their older employees was mostly inhabited by women.

In an environment where women outnumber men, Xuanmei's personality compensates for this weakness and is attractive enough to women.

The naive and innocent young girl, Liu Jing, was thus captivated by her.

Back in the dorm, everyone put down their purchases and started discussing what interesting things had happened at the night market that day.

At this point, everyone looked at Xuanmei, and each person began to praise Xuanmei's singing.

The two girls in the dormitory started asking Xuanmei what the name of her second song was and why it sounded so good.

The older sister, Qu Xia, asked, "Xiao Mei, I really like the second song. Can you let me sing it?"

Her younger sister, Qu Na, chimed in, "I want to learn too! I want to learn too!"

Liu Jing glanced at the two sisters with a resentful look, and just as she was about to speak up to stop them, Xuan Mei spoke up.

"Sister Qu, Little Sister Qu, I have a Walkman with this song on a cassette tape. You can borrow it. You'll learn to sing it if you listen to it a lot. But if you ask me to teach you, I really don't know how."

Oh, by the way, the song is called "Too Softhearted".

After saying that, Xuanmei took out her Walkman and handed it to the two sisters. The older sister, Quxia, took the small Walkman and thanked Xuanmei with a smile.

Xuanmei smiled and said, "No need to be polite, we're all from the same hometown."

Liu Jing felt much better when she saw that Xuan Mei no longer needed to teach them to sing.

The more Yunya looked at Liu Jing's gaze towards Xuanmei, the more uncomfortable she felt. She had a strange feeling that Liu Jing was angry and wanted to take Xuanmei away from her.

Realizing this, Yunya suddenly dared not admit it. She felt that she must have been mistaken, that her feelings for Xuanmei were not those kinds of feelings, but rather the friendship between good friends.

In the following days, Yunya avoided Xuanmei, leaving all opportunities to interact with Xuanmei to Liu Jing.

In the following month, Liu Jing and Xuan Mei grew closer and closer, to the point of being inseparable.

One Sunday, Liu Jing accompanied Xuan Mei to town for shopping and a meal, while Sun Limei and several roommates stayed in the dormitory to gossip about the two of them.

Sun Limei said mysteriously, "Have you noticed that Liu Jing's gaze towards Xuan Mei is so different? It's getting more and more lingering. I think there's definitely something going on between them."

Upon hearing this, the roommates immediately became interested and gathered around.

Shang Siruo said, "Yes, Liu Jing follows Xuan Mei around all day long, eating and shopping together."

Another roommate, Shen Junru, chimed in: "Maybe Liu Jing likes Xuan Mei. In this environment where there are more women than men, it's not impossible."

As everyone got more and more excited, Yunya walked in. Hearing their discussion, her heart skipped a beat, and those strange feelings she had been suppressing resurfaced.

Yunya sat down casually, but her ears involuntarily perked up. She secretly listened to their analysis of what this "liking" really meant.