Subculture Night Owl × Subculture Night Owl

§252

“Sugarcum?”

Murong Jihua watches in confusion as the mysterious Xüeru mysteriously retrieves a mysterious packet of mysterious popping candies from a mysterious pharmacy.

Yet his instinctual wariness towards danger makes him take half a step back.

Xüeru, smiling with her two cute canines out, shakes the packet of ‘popping candies’ in her hand and explains quite seriously,

“Yeah, you’ve even got the engagement rings prepared, so we’re obviously moving on to the next step——Uncle, you really don’t know my older brother well enough yet. His acceptance for what you’d call ‘newfangled’ is extremely high!”

§253

Applause!

Such logic! Much reason! As expected of the omnipotent bishoujo who has been nurtured for over a dozen years by her Gary Stu leader. Her speech is so convincing it’ll win diehard converts even if she were spouting BS.

Still, Murong Jihua gulps, yet unable to grasp what the packet of popping candies actually did.

He feels slightly guilty.

For he isn’t really going to treat He Jünle as… He just has to borrow his omnipotence and play house as a couple for a few days, in order to fool the mad female deuteragonist, Her Highness Elizabeth. He would much rather not overdo or overcomplicate things.

He’s already determined that, when everything is said and done, not just merely supporting a Jünle Gang, but if the young man really had the ambition for recreating the Dynastic emperors’ harem of 3000, he’ll still offer, to his utmost limit…

Financial help.

In any case, his original plan was just to drag He Jünle here via Xüeru’s help——Who’d know the gal’d be so passionate!

‘Though, does dating really require all this much?’

Murong Jihua continues observing the ‘popping candies’ in his hand over and over, but then convinces himself by thinking,

‘Oh well, just treat it as a romantic exercise for preparing Su Xiaomo’s surprise dates in the future.’

§254

And then, after carefully scrutinising the packaging of Sugarcum, Murong Jihua finally manages to extract this information from the small print,

‘Cum sweetener (strawberry) – Turn your milk, into her fruit tea~’

Murong Jihua is going “fuck” inside.

§255

Ah, us common folk~
Are really so glad~
That in a thousand households~
There is but one voice~

The sun settles. A starry night ensues.

The girl in her school uniform, walking next to the city river, is hopping about (TL: This literally screams anime river scene stock footage), her boombox is playing a song at high volume. She is holding a permanent black VIP membership card of the bubble tea store at her school’s entrance, so happy she could sprout wings and fly.

About ten metres behind her, is a man that practically blends into the night.

Black sunglasses, a black trenchcoat and a black tall hat.

Under Xüeru’s suggestion, he ended up buying out a jeweller’s, (forced to) book three whole wedding photo studios, acquired yearly VIP status for an adult toys store and even bought an entire island for vacation in the East Sea of Country A, signing several documents for transferring mansion ownership. Murong Jihua’s feelings right now are merely,

Too tired to love.

§256

The little sparks dotting the river are the tourists’ rowboats moving about.

The light cast on Murong Jihua’s face makes his sharp but tired features look more gentle and perhaps erotic.

Xüeru suddenly stops and, seeing Murong Jihua look towards the river, is chuckling inside while asking,

“Big uncle, do you want a river trip with my older brother here? In the darkness of night, this is a super famous spot for couples to date and go ‘chuu.'”

“…
I do.”

§257

He does.

Yet, he has no time nor mood for trivial fun under the threat of his entire existence being annihilated.

Even if He Jünle would agree to his deal, and to make a show, they would row a boat together in the river under the starry sky, it would merely be——

Fake.

‘Really, the world is fake. From Su Xiaomo, to Her Bollocks Elizabeth, to Murong Jihua, to——He Jünle,
Only Yan Jihua, is real.”

A motorcycle zooms past, snapping Murong Jihua from his mysteriously apathetic philosophical state, and slaps his own cheeks, cheering himself up, thinking,

‘Forgot how you died in the first place?! Stop distracting yourself when playing an otome game!’

§258

Xüeru was quiet for once during the few minutes that Murong Jihua seemed to be blanking out. She only showed a smile again when she noticed that the CEO has snapped out of whatever unreadable emotional state he was in.

“Right——Big uncle will definitely have a lot of chances to enjoy your time with my older brother in the future. Now, let’s go to the last, and the most, most most most important step!”

“Right now? When it’s so late?”

“Tch, it has to be at night! Uncle, did you know that we modern folks all have a ‘subculture night owl’ living inside of us? We grow emotional, sentimental, poignant——Just remember what you were experiencing, am I right?”

“So?”

Xüeru makes a naughty blink and pokes her lips with her index finger to say, “my older brother, he’s the subculture night owl of all the subculture night owls, and… Ehehe~”

§259

It is only the second day that Murong Jihua has realised, that Xüeru’s unfinished sentence was –

‘When a subculture night owl meets alcohol, a chemical reaction occurs.
A reaction commonly known as a ‘Big Bang.”

§260

Murong Jihua is still a little bit dazed when Xüeru has led him to the entrance of a small bar;

Yet, fifteen minutes later, his jaw is on the floor when Xüeru is carrying someone outside of the bar.

Mr Gary He, how many unassuming but super capable persons are hidden all around you?!

How is this girl that isn’t even 1.6m (TL: ~5’3″) tall carrying a 1.8m (TL: 5’11”) drunk-ass grown man like a burlap sack on her shoulders and still walking with a leap in her steps?!

Xüeru continues her little run towards Murong Jihua who is shrinking down in the shadows of the corner of the street. She then coyly hollers and throws He Jünle over at him from her shoulder.

Completely catching Murong Jihua off guard, he almost ends up dropping He Jünle to the ground. Xüeru gives him a super obvious roll of her eyes.

“Did you know how difficult it was to steal my older brother out from the Jünle Gang parties? It’s a relieve they were all drunk beyond the stars, or I might have had to waste time knocking them out myself.”

The hopelessly drunk is always unusually heavy, and it takes some effort for Murong Jihua to finally lean him against his own shoulders without sliding right off——

His image of this macho girl is completely upended now.

He sure made a good investment for that bubble tea money!

§261

But wait,

Why is she handing him a completely irresponsive drunk?

Like, he can’t propose, or even negotiate.

What, is he to watch him sleep while counting his eyelashes for fun?

§262

It seems she knows exactly what CEO Murong is thinking, and gives him a reassuring glance, explaining,

“Don’t worry, I know my older brother all too well. As soon as he’s awake he’d go insa——Oh, I mean release his true inner subculture night owl nature. So everything’ll be fine, anyway——
Make sure you seize this opportunity well~!”