Facing Song Meng’s burning, almost interrogative gaze, Jiang Ling’s heart trembled. Feeling a bit guilty, she slowly averted her eyes, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Cough, this… what’s going on…?”
Her mind immediately went into a brainstorming frenzy. Then, in an unnatural tone, she whispered a defense, “Maybe it’s because my adaptability is pretty good. Yeah, that’s it!”
As if she had finally found a valid excuse, Jiang Ling’s expression finally softened. She peeked at Song Meng cautiously.
Hearing such an answer, Song Meng’s expression turned suspicious. She quietly observed Jiang Ling’s tense little face, her tone drifting. “Really?”
Feeling Song Meng’s half-believing attitude, Jiang Ling suppressed the panic in her heart and responded as calmly as possible, “Yeah, otherwise, what did you want to see?”
“Waaaah, Song Meng, you beastly bastard! I hate you! I never want to see you again in this life! Get lost!”
“Those kinds of messy lines?”
Jiang Ling performed the scene passionately under Song Meng, successfully making the slightly displeased Song Meng burst into laughter.
“Pfft, forget it then.”
Song Meng smiled, looking like she was in a good mood. She no longer continued to press down on her. Instead, she got off the bed, looking like she was going to wash up.
Watching her back as she walked into the master bedroom’s bathroom, Jiang Ling rolled over on the bed with a expressionless face. Then, she pounded her chest repeatedly, breathing heavily.
‘That scared her to death!’
‘She almost exposed the fact that she had been “done” so many times!’
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but feel indignant.
‘Ultimately, it wasn’t her fault at all!’
Jiang Ling grumbled to herself, rolling back and forth on the bed. Even when the sheets became wrinkled, she refused to stop.
After washing up, Song Meng walked out and saw her in this state. She shuffled her slippers toward the exit, her voice fading into the distance. “Go wash up. We’ll eat in a bit.”
The temptation of delicious food made it difficult for Jiang Ling to get out of bed. However, as she walked into the bathroom, she remembered she was at Song Meng’s house. Could this so-called meal be made by her?
With a curious thought, Jiang Ling finished washing up quickly and rushed to the kitchen. There, she saw Song Meng staring thoughtfully at the pot in front of her.
“What are you doing?”
Jiang Ling walked forward and saw three or four eggs and some cooking oil sitting nearby. She guessed Song Meng was going to fry eggs, but she still asked.
“I’m considering how to turn this stove on.”
Song Meng answered with a calm, unperturbed face.
This caused the expectant Jiang Ling to freeze on the spot. She weighed her words and asked, “Miss Song, do you usually cook?”
“This is probably the first time.”
As Song Meng spoke, she prepared to reach for the power plug. She was abruptly stopped by a terrified Jiang Ling, whose voice carried a hint of anxiety. “How about we just go to the breakfast shop outside!”
These words caused a flicker of displeasure to cross Song Meng’s brow. She turned to look at Jiang Ling, her voice dull. “You don’t trust me?”
“… I trust you, of course I do!”
Realizing the danger, Jiang Ling immediately changed her tune. Using words that hopefully wouldn’t hurt Song Meng’s feelings, she continued, “But it’s just such a hassle, and I’m afraid you’ll, um… get tired.”
As she spoke, her face heated up. She simply looked down and toyed with her fingers.
At first, Song Meng didn’t react. It wasn’t until she saw Jiang Ling shyly pursing her lips that she suddenly realized what she meant by “tired.” She immediately curled her lips into a pleasant smile.
Without a word, she put down the eggs. She turned and pressed Jiang Ling back step by step until she hit the double-door refrigerator. With a *thud*, there was no way out.
“Actually, I didn’t even show my true level last night.”
Song Meng propped her arm beside Jiang Ling’s head, her voice cheerful, sounding like a peacock showing off its feathers.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ling—who had been driven to a half-conscious state in the bathroom—placed her hands on Song Meng’s chest. She pushed hard… but couldn’t move her. She could only look up and meet her teasing, gentle eyes. Her voice was weak. “I’m just asking in passing, about how much power did you use last night?”
“Hmm, 40% or 50%. It was just a slight effort.”
“40% or 50%?!”
This caused Jiang Ling’s already shrinking expression to become particularly shocked. Her beautiful little face even showed a hint of terror.
‘No way, right?’
‘Absolutely impossible!’
One had to know that last night, her calves were trembling so much she almost fell to the floor. Yet Song Meng had speeded up her movements with a full smile, as if she were tireless.
Clearly, her physique was slender, and her overall temperament seemed somewhat delicate. How could her arm strength be so great? Could it be that she specifically trained for this…?
The more Jiang Ling thought about it, the more confused she became. She simply lifted her eyelashes and stared straight at her. “You… you didn’t specifically do exercises for this, did you?”
Hearing this, Song Meng seemed to fall into thought. She hummed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, allowing Jiang Ling to see the smile in her eyes more clearly.
Then, she was branded with a light kiss.
A mere taste.
“No, I’m just naturally this strong.”
Song Meng left her with that sentence. Smiling, she got up and walked out of the kitchen to find her jacket. “Let’s go. There’s a breakfast shop downstairs that’s quite tasty.”
Suddenly kissed, Jiang Ling stood there dazed, covering her lips. Her misty eyes looked over blankly, only seeing Song Meng waving at her under the natural warm light from the window.
Jiang Ling pursed her lips; the sensation was moist.
“Honestly… I’m coming!”
***
There were many food options downstairs in Song Meng’s residential area. There was a whole row of breakfast shops. Jiang Ling was dazzled by the choices but found it interesting. Listening to the occasional sound of loudspeakers blaring to attract business, her mood brightened.
“This way.”
After taking a few steps, Song Meng pointed to a shop nearby, as if they had reached their destination.
Jiang Ling followed closely behind her, her expression slightly restrained. After all, it was her first time at this shop, so she couldn’t be as at ease as a regular customer.
Song Meng was also aware of her socially anxious nature. She didn’t force Jiang Ling to order for herself, instead asking in a low voice, “What do you want to eat?”
“Same as you, or whatever is good. Just a little bit of anything is fine.”
Jiang Ling didn’t know what was tasty, so she gave the answer “whatever.” But her “whatever” didn’t mean she would be picky later; she really meant it. As long as it was delicious, Jiang Ling wasn’t picky. She was the type that was very easy to keep fed.
Song Meng wasn’t surprised by this answer and ordered two portions according to her usual habit.
The breakfast shop served the food quickly. The two of them took their respective meals to a corner and began to eat heartily.
“Mmm, this porridge is so good.”
Jiang Ling scooped a spoonful into her mouth and immediately praised it.
It was more than 100 times better than the breakfast shop near their dorm!
“If you like it, eat more.”
Song Meng watched her eat voraciously, her voice carrying a hint of deeper meaning for some reason. “Build up your body so you don’t run out of stamina later.”
Jiang Ling naturally ignored the obvious implication in her words and continued stuffing food into her mouth.
Halfway through the meal, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t returned home all night.
And Jiang Ling’s phone was almost always on silent—
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling pursed her lips and nervously turned on her phone, which had been turned off at some point.
Almost the instant it powered on, an overwhelming flood of messages poured in before Jiang Ling’s eyes.
The first thing she saw was a message from Bai Xue.
[Not coming home yet?]
[Did something happen? You haven’t replied for so long. Send me your location.]
Scrolling down, there were nearly 20 unread messages from Fang Wannan.
[Where are you?]
[What are you doing? Why aren’t you replying?]
[Jiang Ling, are you crazy? You stayed out all night and didn’t even send a message!]
And although Mo Ran only sent a few, the content was what made Jiang Ling’s skin crawl the most.
[What a disobedient bad girl. You’ll be punished when you get home~]
Lin Xiaoyu’s message was as simple as ever.
[Did someone harvest your kidneys?]
[I didn’t!]
Jiang Ling was so indignant that she replied to her message first, only to immediately receive a video call from her.
Jiang Ling picked up, intending to argue that with her IQ, her kidneys definitely wouldn’t be harvested, but she was immediately made dizzy by a jumble of voices.
“You actually know how to reply to messages?!”
Among them, Fang Wannan’s tone was the most agitated.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Jiang Ling didn’t try to argue. Instead, she forced an awkward smile. “I went out to play and my phone died. Then, uh… I was too tired and just fell asleep.”
She directly skipped the “bath” segment from last night and tried her best to act as if nothing had happened.
“Out playing? With whom?”
Mo Ran suddenly pushed her way into the frame. Her face, which usually looked like a bright little sun, was currently clouded with a dangerous aura that was hard to detect.
“Song Meng! You guys all know her!”
Jiang Ling quickly pointed the camera at Song Meng, trying to get her help to ease the current awkward and critical situation.
“Yeah, we played until we were exhausted yesterday. We didn’t stop until late at night. Lingling’s voice was really—”
Jiang Ling immediately covered Song Meng’s mouth and turned the phone back, trying hard to explain, “Haha, she’s talking about us playing video games together because Song Meng is a pro gamer!”
She didn’t know if they believed her; she didn’t even believe herself.
But she still tried her best to make up an excuse. Under the pressing voices of the NOVA members, she eventually gave in and pleaded for mercy—
“I was wrong! I shouldn’t have stayed out all night without telling everyone!”
“I promise this won’t happen again in the future. Please forgive me, waaaah!”
Since they were still in the breakfast shop, Jiang Ling tried to keep her voice down, her tears nearly falling.
Looking at her pitiful appearance, the first one to soften was Fang Wannan, who had been shouting the loudest just now. Her voice carried a bit of moderation. “Fine, it’s not a huge deal.”
“Anyway, you must come back tonight. Otherwise, just you wait, okay?”
Hearing this, the stone in Jiang Ling’s heart finally landed. She quickly promised repeatedly, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely come back obediently tonight!”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ling felt as if she had aged 10 years in an instant.
In a disheveled state, she wanted to turn off the phone screen and continue eating, but she saw the notification bar suddenly light up. A message burst into Jiang Ling’s sight.
[Do you want to go eat together?]
The message was from Shen Yue.