New Friend (?)

Roulan looks behind her and sees the girl from earlier.

Her mouth automatically formed a smile, causing the girl beside her to scoff in the process.

"Please don't be; I even got the drink you wanted."

The girl smiles widely, shaking her head as she pushes her credit card towards the cashier and nodding her head as a sign of approval.

The cashier grabs the girl's credit card, beeping it as the payment processes, and the girl gets a notification on her phone saying the payment went well.

"And don't think of that; I can tell the two of you are friends, so welcome to Abrington!"

The girl cheerfully said this, bowing down as she grabbed her credit card back from the cashier.

Roulan could only smile and bow down to show her gratitude. Not wanting to come across as rude, she couldn't help but pull her hand out.

"You're so nice; I'm Roulan; what's your name?"

The girl smiled widely, accepting Roulan's awaiting hands, and gave her a firm nod.

"Lanying, Yi Lanying."

-

"Why would you agree!? We didn't even know who she was!"

Yanmei pulled Roulan away from Lanying, whispering at the younger woman as she glanced at the woman who was looking around, giving them privacy.

After the convenience store moments, Yanmei wanted to explore more, so she asked Roulan to go with her to the mall.

Of course, Roulan, thinking that she wouldn't be doing anything, agreed with what the older woman wanted.

And Lanying happened to hear what the two were talking about and decided to offer them a tour around the city.

And Roulan, thinking that Lanying is someone who has been in Abrington for a few years, agreed to the woman's offer.

Everything happened when Yanmei was talking on her phone, asking someone to grab her purse, which contains all of her money.

She doesn't even understand what the two are talking about, even though she and her father have been traveling to Abrington a lot since she was a kid.

But because of her money and laziness, she always has someone who knows the language of the country they are in.

Either one of the guards or Guang, who would always come with them whenever she had the time.

"Yanmei, she knew the city better than we do."

"I can get us everywhere! I've been here a couple of times!"

"And she's been here for a few years now."

Roulan looks at Yanmei blankly. Why would she let Yanmei, who has been here a couple of times, guide her in a different country and city?

She doesn't even know their language that well! It's a good thing it's one of the languages that Roulan is currently studying.

Yanmei then looks at Roulan with her eyebrows furrowed. Does she not trust her? Is that why she's asking someone to help her around the unfamiliar city?

Roulan couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion, not wanting to have Yanmei ignore her because she'd surely want Roulan to ask for forgiveness of someone she knew was the right thing to do.

"It's not that I don't trust you, ok? I just feel like it would click more if we were to ask someone who has been in the country for a few years."

Well, she does have a point.

But Yanmei didn't want to admit that, and it shows in her action, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do you think I'll let you get lost? No! That means I'll be a widow even before we get married."

"How can you be a widow when we're not married?"

Roulan has her eyebrows furrowed, clearly not understanding how Yanmei's mind works.

"Because..."

Yanmei stops. What was she going to say even? It doesn't make sense if she were to voice out her thoughts.

"You two, let's go now! I already have a reservation."

The moment between the couple was interrupted when Lanying approached them a little.

Roulan, who has her eyes on Yanmei and is waiting for the older woman's answer, looks at Lanying and smiles widely.

"I couldn't be more happy that you helped us."

"As I said earlier, it's welcome from someone in Abrington!"

Lanying smiles widely and grabs Roulan's wrist, dragging the girl towards the mall as Yanmei groans and stomps her feet.

"How can she just leave me here?"

Yanmei follows the two, her eyes darting at their linked arms together, and she can't help but glare at Lanying.

"Are you sure? I mean, I can pay for the food."

"Hey! That's alright for me, ok? Besides, aren't we friends?"

The two stop for a while, causing Yanmei to stop as well, as they both talk about something the older woman couldn't pinpoint.

Yanmei's eyes widen at the sudden proximity of the two. Lanying smiles widely as she crashes her chest against Roulan's left arm.

Yanmei scoffs before walking between them, pushing Lanying away from Roulan as she lays her head on the taller woman's shoulder.

"Roulan, let's go over there; there's a beautiful stuff toy."

"What? A stuffed toy?"

Roulan was pulled into a store as Yanmei glared at Lanying, who only smiled at her and shook her head at the action the older woman just showed.

She followed the couple inside and saw that Yanmei was asking Roulan to pick between the teddy bear and the panda stuffed toy.

"Yanmei, are you a child?"

"What? Is it bad to buy one?"

Yanmei furrows her eyebrows, her hand crossing her chest.

"No, but-"

"Yeah, it's not that bad, so tell me, what should I buy between the two?"

Yanmei pushes the question, pushing the stuffed toys on Roulan's face as the taller woman takes a step back a little.

"I think the panda one is cute."

Lanying voiced out, walking behind Yanmei as she went towards the side of the couple that was about to argue.

"Am I asking for your opinion?"

Yanmei rudely asks, her eyebrows raising as Lanying raises both of her hands over her head.

"Sorry, I thought you wanted to know."

Ok, wait, you can speak Chinese!?"

Roulan couldn't help but open her mouth in surprise.

All this time, Lanying has been able to understand what they were talking about because she can speak Chinese!

Yet the girl didn't tell her she could understand and speak it.

She even let herself get a little embarrassed, as she's not that fluent in English. Not wanting to be rude and ignore the kind-hearted woman, she let go of all the possibility of even pronouncing the words wrongly.

Lanying looks at Roulan and smiles widely.

"Sorry."

"Dang, I was worried about my pronunciation, and yet you know how to speak Chinese?"

"I may have been born and raised here, but in our house, my parents speak Chinese."

"And hey! I like your English; it's cute."

Lanying winks at Roulan before walking towards the other aisle, pissing Yanmei even more.

The older woman scoffs and throws the stuffed toys towards Roulan, snapping the taller woman out of her thoughts.

"Pay for that!"

Yanmei scoffs and stomps away from Roulan, the taller woman scratching her head in the process.

"Hey! I don't have any money to pay for this!?"

Roulan ran after Yanmei, pushing the stuffed toys towards the older woman as Lanying watched them with a smirk.