Chapter 40: Ning Yiyi, your face is really red.

A white leather slipper silently lifted and immediately and ruthlessly stomped down.

A “pop” that was so soft it was nearly inaudible disappeared in the “bang” of the sound of trampling. It wasn’t until the foot in the white leather shoe was lifted again that the already unrecognizable insect corpse could be seen.

What used to be a firefly that took a rest on the steps was now an shapeless mass.

However, the owner of the white leather shoes seemed like they still hadn’t vented their hatred yet. They lifted their foot and ruthlessly twisted several times before continuing up the stairs.

At the floor landing of the stairs, the toe of the shoe kicked a metal lid. It rolled into the corner and hit the wall, making a crisp sound that echoed in the stairwell.

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Yan Ziyun stopped, bent down, and picked up the lid, gripping it the palm of her hand until her palm and the joints of her fingers hurt from excessive force.

The blurry and vague photo of Lu Xu Nan and Ning Yi holding hands at school from before was still on the school forum to this day. From time to time, someone would still go and bump the post, “crying”.

When Lu Xu Nan piggybacked Ning Yi in the afternoon, he didn’t hide it. Naturally, a lot of students in the park saw them. Some people who wanted to add to the excitement directly made a post to livestream the whole thing. This time, pictures were taken from various angles and the post very quickly reached “hot.

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“Lkdt Zk kp qyjkdt kv, aktbv? Zsw nyd lhld vakr sd vbkp hypv pvalvnb sq qzyv taswde? Vascyczu sdzu csup okzz clzklhl kv… Zsw qykz yv lhlauvbkdt usw es, cwv usw’al ps tsse yv ralvldekdt vs cl rkvkqwz. Jlqsal, R fwpv vbswtbv pbl oyp qzswakpbkdt obkvl zsvwp. Rq kv’p dsv ukdtukdtukdt lhlau eyu, vbld kv’p owowow. R alyzzu nyd’v vyjl kv yduxsal, bso nyd Qse Nw yzps qyzz qsa vbkp vaknj…”

Zyd Hkuwd pnaszzle vbaswtb vbl rbsvsp kd vbl qsawx, bla qynl zkhke, cwv Pwyd Jlkzlk oyp pvkzz vokvvlakdt sd zkjl y ckae. Fbl kxxlekyvlzu qlzv lhld xsal kaakvyvle.

Jwv yp vbl taswr zlyela, pbl nyd’v iwkv kd ekptwpv xkeoyu ps pbl nswze sdzu iwknjzu nsxrzlvl vbl yppktdle vypjp okvb y nsze qynl. Ju vbl vkxl vblu alynble vbl ckszstu xwplwx, pbl pvkzz oypd’v qllzkdt kv. Bdvkz pbl ynnkeldvyzzu pyo Nw Dw Lyd.

Tl oyp pyukdt psxlvbkdt vs vbl xwplwx pvyqq. Fbl oyp y zkvvzl qya yoyu ps pbl nswzed’v blya nzlyazu yde sdzu pyo vbyv vbl pvyqq jlrv pbyjkdt vblka blyep.

Tsolhla, Nw Dw Lyd eked’v zlyhl, cwv nsdvkdwle vs pxkzl yrszstlvknyzzu yv vbspl pvyqq xlxclap vbyv bye alflnvle bkx. Ohld yqvla vbl svbla ryavu clnyxl kxryvkldv, bl eked’v qzknj bkp pzllhlp yde zlyhl, cwv nsdvkdwle vs iwlpvksd okvb vbknj pjkd.

Ohld obld Zyd Hkuwd bye y tsse alzyvksdpbkr okvb Lkdt Zk clqsal, pbl oyp ayalzu yczl vs pbyal y qlo osaep okvb Nw Dw Lyd.

Tl oyp saktkdyzzu y rlapsd sq qlo osaep yde bkp rlapsdyzkvu oyp yzps nsze, yp kq bl oyp yzoyup yzssq yde pwrlaksa. Jwv vbkp yzssqdlpp yde pwrlaksakvu kdpvlye nyrvkhyvle rlsrzl lhld xsal, xyjkdt vblx wdyczl vs blzr cwv vbkdj ycswv obyv kv oswze cl zkjl kq pwnb y csu oyp okzzkdt vs cso esod yde nbydtl qsa usw.

Lso, Zyd Hkuwd pyo y nsxrzlvlzu ekqqlaldv Nw Dw Lyd, ulv pbl sdzu qlzv ydtau yde pwnb yp pktbv wdrzlypydv vs vbl lulp.

Lu Xu Nan isn’t like this, he shouldn’t be like this.

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She found an excuse to get rid of Duan Beilei and secretly made her way over to the pillar by the staff where she could vaguely hear some conversation.

It was more or less that Lu Xu Nan wanted to buy some fireflies from the museum, but the other person wouldn’t relent no matter what.

Then both parties remained in a deadlock for almost nearly twenty minutes. Finally, Yan Ziyun saw Lu Xu Nan leave the biology museum. She couldn’t help but follow him.

She saw Lu Xu Nan do his best to catch fireflies with difficulty in the woods and followed him back to the hotel.

She hid in the shadows of the corridor, listening to him practice his lines to the air like a fool.

“For you. No need to thank me too much.”

“F*ck, that sounds kind of stupid.”

“You weren’t able to go to the biology museum because of me, these fireflies can be regarded as compensation.”

“Tsk, is my tone too stiff…”

…

Even though Yan Ziyun already knew the answer in her heart, she still felt incredibly indignant the moment she heard Ning Yi’s voice.

Why? Why was it good-for-nothing Ning Yi?

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This thought made her practically mad with jealousy.

Yan Ziyun gripped the forgotten lid as if she was holding her heart that hadn’t been taken seriously. She mumbled, “You will eventually see me…”

–

The problem of the free mineral water simply flitted through Ning Yi’s mind and left without a trace. She placed the pillow at the head of the bed, leaned back, chose a more comfortable position, and turned on the TV to kill time.

Of course, compared to watching TV, she would actually much rather do questions in <Almighty Quiz King>. Originally, she thought it would be nice to relax for a few days since this was a trip. Who would’ve thought she could trip running on flat ground? When staying in the hotel at noon, she had already worked through a comprehensive science mock exam. It was a pity that she didn’t have her phone with her right now.

Ning Yi flipped through the channels, bored to death. Suddenly, she saw two somewhat familiar faces. Once she heard that unnatural dialogue, she immediately recalled watching half an episode at the hospital before with Lu Xu Nan.

She looked at the two lovey-dovey people on the screen again and, suddenly feeling somewhat amused, stopped changing the channel and lowered her head to search through the bag of snacks.

Just as Ning Yi finished choosing and opened a bag of chips, before she could take a bite, the door of the bathroom opened and Lu Xu Nan came out along with the steam.

Coincidentally, the TV just happened to be broadcasting the male lead’s shower scene. The sound of running water paired with a half-naked closeup shot with some fiddling of the hair, then the scene changed, and the male lead walked out, wrapped loosely in a bathrobe and exchanged a very ambiguous suggestive look with the female lead on the bed.

Ning Yi heard the noise from the bathroom, shifted her gaze, and happened to make eye contact with Lu Xu Nan who was rubbing his hair with the towel.

Ning Yi: …It somehow seems like something isn’t quite right?

Lu Xu Nan was wearing a rather fitted black short-sleeve T-shirt. The figure of the 17 or 18 year old youth was already very impressive. Through the shirt, the slight but not exaggerated undulations of the contours of his muscles could be seen.

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He only rubbed a few times before draping the towel on the back of a chair. His hair hadn’t dried yet. Water fell from the tips of his hair, very quickly leaving small splotches. The T-shirt only stuck more to his body, showing his figure even more clearly.

Ning Yi felt her eyelids twitch and quickly returned her gaze to the screen.

Lu Xu Nan subconsciously looked over with her. “What are you watching?”

At this moment, the female lead on the TV was already lying on the bed, her cheeks crimson as she wrapped her arms around the neck of the male lead who was propping himself up over her. The faces of the two gradually got closer, then the scene changed, a spotless white bathrobe and a spaghetti strap dress were thrown to the ground one after the other…

With the principle of “no description below the neck” in mind, in fact, the filming of the drama can be regarded as restrained. The leads didn’t even kiss, let alone other intimate scenes.

But it still left the two people in the room, one standing and one sitting, at a loss for words. They looked away uncomfortably.

Lu Xu Nan watched Ning Yi calmly pick up the mineral water and take a sip, as if she was entirely unperturbed and used to seeing all kinds of situations.

Of course, it would be more convincing if her face wasn’t so red.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing???

This is too embarrassing, simply suffocating…

I shouldn’t be here, I should be under the car……

Lu Xu Nan was originally a little embarrassed as well, but seeing Ning Yi holding a bottle of water and pretending to be calm yet prattling on continuously in her mind, he thought that she was extremely cute.

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On a whim, he sat down opposite Ning Yi, the corners of his lips raised. He suddenly said “huh”, put his hands on his knees, pretended to be curious, and leaned toward her. “Ning Yiyi, your face is really red.”

He had just showered, the faint smell of shower gel warmed by the temperature of his body blended into another smell, but it wasn’t bad, just unfathomably oppressive.

Ning Yi instinctively leaned back while holding the water bottle, trying to put some distance between them.

But Lu Xu Nan also leaned forward a little further. His eyes narrowed, he turned his head slightly to look at the TV, and then, slowly, in an obviously meaningful tone, said, “So you like to watch this…”

“Cough cough cough!”

Ning Yi directly choked upon hearing this, and even the water in the water bottle shook a little.

Lu Xu Nan saw she was choking so much that tears were going to fall and no longer thought of teasing her.

He quickly got up and passed her some tissues. “Are you okay?”

Ning Yi didn’t take his tissues. She used the back of her hand to wipe her lips and dodged the hand he stretched over to take her water bottle, pursing her lips as she glared at him, looking very angry.

Ning Yi’s eyes were slightly rimmed with red and her eyes were covered in a layer of tears, watery and limpid from choking. When she lifted her eyes to look over, even the corner of her eyes seemed to carry a faint red.

Lu Xu Nan’s breath caught as he looked at her, his heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, he felt hot all over and he hurriedly looked away.

Luckily, this episode of the drama finished broadcasting and the voice-over announced “the good show will continue in a moment” and the screen became a commercial.

Ning Yi tightened the cap of the bottle. She didn’t lighten her strength as she set the bottle on the bedside table, causing a bang.

Lu Xu Nan’s long legs swiftly drew together and his back subconsciously straightened, like an elementary school student waiting to be admonished.

Ning Yi stiffly explained, “I just happened to land on this channel right then!”

You’re the one that likes to watch! Your whole family likes to watch!!

The evil, purposely teasing spirit that Lu Xu Nan had just now immediately became restrained. Like a wholly oppressive wolf becoming a large dog that cautiously watched its owner’s expressions in an instant, even his ears drooped.

He touched the tip of his nose and replied, “Oh, I was just joking.”

Ning Yi was still angry. She looked away and stared at the TV, pretending she hadn’t heard him.

“The internet’s first large-scale live broadcast problem-solving variety show is about to be launched. Who is the real Almighty problem-solving king? Who can claim the first million dollar prize? It’s waiting for you!”

Familiar soundtrack, familiar tempo, familiar hypnotizing three-time chant.

<Almighty Quiz King> was actually working on a variety show?

Ning Yi couldn’t help taking another look.

Lu Xu Nan’s mind wasn’t on the TV. He scratched his forehead, glanced at Ning Yi with somewhat of a headache, picked up the bag of potato chips that she opened earlier, and handed it over.

Ning Yi glanced at him. “What?”

Lu Xu Nan who rarely gave in all his life opened his mouth and drily asked, “Are you still eating? If you’re not eating, I will.”

Ning Yi’s lips became taut. She retracted her gaze and said coldly, “Not eating.”

“…” Lu Xu Nan was immediately choked off. He didn’t know what to do so that she wouldn’t be angry at him, so he could only silently eat.

“Crunch, crunch, crunch.”

Small and weak, guilty and helpless.

However, amidst that very rhythmic crunching, Ning Yi suddenly thought of the solution. She picked up the phone in the hotel room, called the front desk, and after relaying her situation, very quickly got the staff to open the door for her after verifying her identity.

Lu Xu Nan who originally thought they could spend some time alone could only lean on the doorway with a potato chip hanging from his mouth as he anxiously watched Ning Yi’s figure disappear behind the door…

What is lifting a rock and smashing your own foot? This is precisely it.