Chapter 32: It’s Me, Chuyao

“W-What’s wrong? I didn’t even provoke you today.”

After class, on the path outside the classroom, two girls stood on opposite sides of the junction. The bustier one said this to the white-haired one, sounding perfectly justified.

“You think you didn’t?” Shen Ning bit her silver-white teeth. “Then do you really believe the things you said to Yu Yuwei were all true?”

Xu Chuyao paused, thinking back on what she had said.

“I told her we were just casually sparring today. That’s not wrong, is it? I mean, we were casually sparring.”

“Besides the main topic, did you forget the other things you said?” Shen Ning gritted her teeth, reminding her, “Like those little gossips about you.”

With that, Xu Chuyao finally remembered. While shopping, out of boredom but high poetic spirits, she’d given their “love story” a bit of a creative spin.

“You remembered now?”

“I did, but, well…” Xu Chuyao sheepishly rubbed her hands. “I was just joking. She was just listening. I didn’t think she’d take it seriously.”

Just a little joke—why so serious?

Shen Ning was so mad she nearly laughed. “So you’re saying it’s not your fault for running your mouth, it’s her fault for believing you?”

“Well, you could say that. Or we could call Little Yu over and discuss whose fault it is. She’ll definitely make a fair judgment.”

Xu Chuyao believed that, based on Yu Yuwei’s demeanor during their first meeting, Little Yu had pretty decent emotional intelligence and would certainly be willing to help out her respected leader.

“You—!”

【Villain Points +50】

Seeing Shen Ning stride toward her with arms crossed, Xu Chuyao immediately backed away in fear. “Wait wait wait! Don’t hit me! Don’t do anything either! It’s broad daylight outside the classroom—people will see!”

Shen Ning did stop, but she looked even more annoyed. “What do you think I was going to do?!”

She wasn’t some kind of frustrated pervert! No, and she never would be!

“Well, if you weren’t, that’s even better,” Xu Chuyao blinked innocently. “We can talk things out nicely.”

Chuyao likes the villain points you’re giving her, but Chuyao’s afraid of pain, so let’s just bottle up the anger instead of using hands or feet, okay?

“Then I’ll give you a chance,” Shen Ning took a deep breath and mentally reviewed the words she had prepared. “I bought a lot of clothes today. Not sure how they’ll look on me. After school, come to my dorm and help me try them on.”

“Your dorm?”

Xu Chuyao’s eyes lit up with suspicion. “You’re not trying to lure me in and then do whatever you want to me, are you?”

Shen Ning stepped forward, fists clenched. “If I wanted to do something, I could do it right here.”

“Okay okay okay, I’ll go! I’ll go, alright?”

Gosh, this female lead is so intense. Even if you’re not shy, Chuyao is!

The break ended and, with the bell ringing, the two girls returned to the classroom and sat in their seats.

“Good afternoon, class.”

“Good afternoon, teacher~”

“Today, we’re going to talk about something everyone’s curious about—how to boost your spiritual power. Now that you’re all around eighteen years old, your bodies are mostly developed. You’re no longer stuck at the bottleneck of Level Two ascension. Your most important goal now is to reach that bottleneck. Our class is generally behind in this area, so we’ll be picking up the pace…”

So aggressive now. Just half a month ago, they were still preaching patience and inner cultivation. Now the class content and philosophy had completely changed.

Watching Teacher Hu talk confidently from the podium, Shen Ning thought to herself. But she was already at Level Two, and her way of increasing power was different from everyone else’s. These theory classes were even more useless to her than regular academic subjects.

She glanced across the classroom and saw Xu Chuyao whispering with her deskmate instead of paying attention. Most likely complaining about her.

Well, to be fair, Xu Chuyao was already at the peak of Level One. This class was useless to her too.

Shen Ning recalled her behavior at the mall today, and the way she still managed to make fun of people even on the battlefield. Her lips twitched slightly.

Such a naturally mischievous creature. If she helps me complete the “I love you” mission tonight, I’ll let her off the hook for all the nonsense she said earlier. But if she doesn’t cooperate, then I’ll…!

“Shen Ning, Shen Ning!”

A voice from the back—Little Snow’s—snapped her out of her thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Good news! The old newspapers my dad helped me track down just arrived. But there are a lot of them, and I haven’t had time to sort through them yet. I’ll take a look tonight…”

“Shi Lei, what are you two whispering about during class?” Teacher Hu knocked on the podium. “Shen Ning is already at Level Two. What level are you? Still daydreaming!”

“Sorry, teacher.” Little Snow apologized while sneaking in a few words to Shen Ning. “Let’s talk more during tomorrow morning’s culture class.”

Shen Ning used the moment to pass him the magnifying glass she bought earlier. But Little Snow didn’t have time to thank her.

Elsewhere, just as Shen Ning predicted, Xu Chuyao was indeed recounting what had happened on the path to her roommate. As for Shen Ning’s invitation to come to her dorm tonight, Xu Chuyao confidently declared:

“It’s a Hongmen Banquet. Danger’s written all over it!”

Mi Xiaolu blinked. It was the second time she’d heard that phrase. She knew Chuyao wanted her to respond with the matching line, but Xiaolu really hadn’t watched many pre-Awakening-era films.

After thinking for a few seconds, she asked, “So you agreed to go?”

“Of course I agreed. Even if it’s a Hongmen Banquet, think about it—who invited who?” Xu Chuyao spread her hands. “Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang. And what happened later? Liu Bang became Emperor!”

Mi Xiaolu understood now—her roommate planned to go to Shen Ning’s dorm and become the Emperor.

With the sincerity of a good friend, she gave earnest advice: “Xu Chuyao, that’s still her turf. When you’re under someone’s roof, maybe try toning it down a little?”

“Don’t worry, I know that.” Xu Chuyao replied casually. “I’m not stupid.”

Chuyao, you know, is actually a very good girl.

After school, Shen Ning took the chance to hand over some items she had bought on behalf of Li Renhao. The grateful boy was nearly in tears as he thanked her profusely.

Shen Ning casually asked how he usually got his girlfriend to say “I love you.”

Li Renhao scratched his head, looking confused. “She’s said it before… Do you mean like that?”

“Never mind.”

Guess I’ll have to figure it out myself.

By then, Xu Chuyao was already waiting at the classroom door. Shen Ning noticed her waving and smiling sweetly at passing classmates—cute as ever.

Though usually aloof, Chuyao somehow still had great popularity. Maybe that’s what Yu Yuwei meant by “easy to get along with.”

Once most classmates had left, Shen Ning finally walked over. “Let’s go.”

“Mhm,” Xu Chuyao replied in a soft, milky voice, “okay.”

Shen Ning froze for a second.

What the heck… Why the sudden cutesy tone?

Although it was weirdly adorable… yeah, actually, it was very adorable.