“Then when can I agree to your pursuit?”
Yang Shuli had already changed into a brand-new dress, one Xu Nian had taken her to buy at the big shopping mall.
Yang Shuli remembered that this style of clothing seemed to be called Lolita. She always felt it was a bit too foreign-looking, with a hint of princess vibe.
She didn’t really mind or care. As long as she could wear the clothes, it was fine—especially since Xu Nian seemed happy seeing her in this outfit.
Xu Nian appeared to really like this kind of thing, including the cat ears from before. The mixed-up Xu seemed to have a soft spot for cute items.
He didn’t look like a yakuza boss at all, even though he had already retired.
“I can decide when it’s okay,” Xu Nian replied.
“Then are you chasing me, or am I chasing you?”
“I’m chasing you.”
Yang Shuli always felt that Xu Nian’s words were a bit baffling.
He was clearly saying he was the one pursuing her, but when they could become a couple depended on Xu Nian’s opinion.
Or was this what real dating was like? This utterly free-flowing, no-priority dynamic.
Yang Shuli understood—this was truly equal love.
Then, something else suddenly occurred to her.
“Lao Xu, it seems you really can’t agree,” she said, holding a grilled squid in her left hand and cotton candy in her right, momentarily unsure what to eat. “If you agree, then I’ll probably turn back into a guy.”
“No, you won’t,” Xu Nian said. “The Probationary Goddess who turned you into this called me. Even if you and I confirm our relationship now, you won’t change back.”
“Oh, I see.”
Xu Nian placed his hand on Yang Shuli’s head.
After a little time together, Yang Shuli was at least not as uneasy as she had been at the start. Even without holding Xu Nian’s hand, she was fine.
Of course, she still couldn’t bear to stray far from Xu Nian, sticking close to his side like some clingy pet. Xu Nian knew that thanks to this incident, he seemed to have taken another step closer to the center of Yang Shuli’s defenses.
But not completely.
He wasn’t the type to pop the champagne at halftime. Unless victory was absolutely certain, he wouldn’t relax.
Yang Shuli still wasn’t very concerned about everything around her.
Her unease stemmed from her fear of danger.
What about the rest?
From beginning to now, she had changed into women’s clothes, even let Xu Nian put cat ears on her, and had no normal reaction—no shyness, no disgust, just calm acceptance.
Faced with love and pursuit, she didn’t care what it meant. She only knew that this way she could bind Xu Nian to her, keeping him from leaving.
It was as if she were living someone else’s life, as if the real Yang Shuli should have died long ago.
Her psychological issues were still there.
And they hadn’t weakened at all.
Xu Nian was sure that even if he asked Yang Shuli to go open a hotel room right now, as long as he gave a somewhat logical reason, she would follow him while holding grilled squid and sugar-coated hawthorns.
Because Xu Nian was now very important in her heart.
“Will you be scared sleeping alone tonight?” Xu Nian asked Yang Shuli.
This was a very serious question.
If Yang Shuli said she couldn’t sleep, he would try staying at a hotel outside.
“Yes, but I think I can sleep,” Yang Shuli said. “My roommate will be in the dorm, so it should be fine.”
“Alright, if you can’t sleep, call me. I’ll keep the phone on and accompany you while you sleep.”
Xu Nian looked toward the fruit shop.
“Do you want cherries?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow. The ones tonight aren’t fresh. We’ll wait for the new delivery tomorrow.” Xu Nian would fulfill any request Yang Shuli had, but he preferred to give her something to look forward to, making her feel that being with him had promise.
Just a small trick.
“Oh, okay.”
The two arrived at the school gate, but Yang Shuli didn’t let go of his hand.
The male and female dorms were not in the same direction from the gate. Normally, they would have parted ways here.
But this time, Yang Shuli didn’t want to.
“Can you walk me to the dorm building before you leave?”
Xu Nian gave a gentle smile. “Of course.”
“A guy walking a girl to her dorm building—it really feels like we’re a couple,” Yang Shuli remarked.
But Xu Nian was still carrying a bag with the somewhat dirty clothes Yang Shuli had changed out of.
He knew that if Yang Shuli washed them herself, she usually wouldn’t do it thoroughly. Normally, she would save up two or three days’ worth of clothes and then toss them all into the washing machine with her roommate’s.
Yang Shuli only seriously scrubbed stains when she got food on her clothes—obvious ones.
The two walked hand in hand to the bottom of Yang Shuli’s dorm building.
“Like I said before, if you can’t sleep, call me,” Xu Nian said. “I’ll answer voice or video calls.”
“You’re really good to me.” That came out of Yang Shuli’s mouth.
“Because I’m pursuing you,” Xu Nian said, as if it were only natural. “And besides, wasn’t I good to you before?”
Yang Shuli thought for a moment, then stuck her tongue out at Xu Nian.
After that, she skipped toward the dormitory entrance.
Yang Shuli’s mood was no longer so tense. In fact, she was a little happy.
Xu Nian was pursuing her now, which meant that until she refused or they reached a happy ending, he wouldn’t leave her.
So she had to be good to him too. Otherwise, based on the cheesy web novels she’d read, there was always a male lead who stopped pursuing halfway because the female lead didn’t give positive emotional feedback.
That would feel even stranger. Was it Xu Nian pursuing her, or was she pursuing him?
She couldn’t figure it out.
She couldn’t reach the key that was always on the doorframe of the dorm, so she usually knocked for her roommate to open the door.
But this time, the dorm door was ajar, as if the last person to go in had forgotten to close it.
As soon as she pushed the door open, Yang Shuli saw Ye Qingchang lying on the floor, facing a small cat.
Between her and the cat was a blob of yellow, sticky-looking stuff.
“Who dropped this?”
“Shh!” Ye Qingchang looked up and saw Yang Shuli’s new outfit.
Of course, because she had woken up late that morning, she had no idea what Yang Shuli was wearing when she went out, let alone that Yang Shuli had just changed into new clothes after a harrowing kidnapping.
“I’m trying to feed this kitten cold medicine now. But cats usually won’t eat stuff that tastes bad, so I mixed it into a cat treat. That way, I can get the cat to eat it without it noticing.”
Then, right in front of them, the cat used its paw to pick out the cold medicine hidden in the treat and ate it separately.
Yang Shuli clapped repeatedly. “Its first lesson to you is called sincerity.”