401. Reasoning
“Mom!”
“Oh~ It’s only been two days since you left, and you’re already speaking to me like that? If you get married in the future, will you even remember your old mom?”
“……”
After finishing dinner and typing up her work, Ning Chu had just dialed her mother’s number when she was immediately met with her mom’s snarky comments.
At that moment, she found herself at a loss for words, her questions stuck in her throat.
“Alright, spill it. What’s got you so riled up?”
Her tone softened a bit, but the complaints were still evident: “Mom~ How come you didn’t tell me I was going to grow horns?! And that I’d have a fake pregnancy before that? You nearly scared me to d*ath!”
“You’re pregnant?!”
“Fake pregnancy! Can you at least listen to the whole thing?!”
Her mother let out a sigh of relief: “You scared me! If you brought back a grandkid, I’d have to break Wen Yang’s legs!”
“Look, I get it. You want to have fun at your age, but for heaven’s sake, use some safety precautions! Who can afford to raise ten or eight kids?”
“Back in my day, I learned the hard way. If I hadn’t accidentally had you, we wouldn’t have been in such a pickle!”
“You’re saying…”
Ning Chu rested her arms on the windowsill of her rental apartment, her chin perched on her hand, gazing blankly at the pedestrians on the road below. She interrupted her mother, exasperated: “Mom, we’re getting off topic.”
She didn’t call to listen to her mother’s lecture; after that scare, she vowed not to act so carefree anymore!
Just thinking about the image of herself with a big belly sent chills down her spine…
“Oh~ Growing horns, huh?” After a moment of contemplation, her mother asked, perplexed, “Have you gone to the hospital for a check-up?”
“Yeah, I went. I thought I was really pregnant and freaked out!”
“I never grew horns either, thought you wouldn’t either~ Hmm, but you’re still developing, so it’s definitely possible.”
Normally, a succubus would take several years to fully develop, and Ning Chu had only been at it for a little over six months. To others, she still looked like a teenager…just a bit older.
Her mom, looking a bit stressed, said, “I never grew horns, but let me ask your grandmother.”
“Yeah, ask if there’s anything I should watch out for…oh, and Mom, will the horns poke my pillow when I sleep?”
“That shouldn’t happen, right?”
“Then… will the horns make my head heavy? Isn’t that bad for my neck?”
“Will they grow like a deer’s and eventually fall off?”
“Mom, if I grind my horns into powder, can I sell them to the pharmacy for some pocket money?”
Ning Chu always had a series of oddball questions, but her mom often couldn’t answer them.
After being questioned too much, her mother couldn’t contain her irritation: “I’ll call your grandma, ask her yourself. How should I know? I’m not the one growing horns!”
“Oh… but could you just ask for me?” Ning Chu quickly backed down, drawing her neck in and mumbling.
“Hang up!”
Once the call ended, she sighed gloomily and turned to see Wen Yang working on some designs at the computer.
“How’s it going?”
“Not much. My mom knows nothing,” Ning Chu moved to sit beside him, peering at the Photoshop running on his laptop, and muttered, “Could you help me edit a picture with some horns? I want to see what I’d look like.”
“They’ll look super cute, right?”
“That would be the best…”
She found herself instinctively stroking her head. Ever since learning she would grow horns, she felt a slight itch on her scalp, as if they could pop out at any moment.
She hadn’t been this anxious when her silver streaks and tail came in.
“I’m going to bed. I’m so tired…”
Ning Chu didn’t wait for Wen Yang to finish the photo; she lazily got up and flopped onto the bed.
It was that time of the month, and she hadn’t had a late-night snack last night, which left her feeling drained. Plus, her emotions had been all over the place like a roller coaster, exhausting her even further.
Usually, she could stay up until around midnight, but today, she was already fighting sleep by a little after ten.
Her class was at ten tomorrow~ She could sleep in until nine!
She didn’t even bother turning off the light. She curled up, burying her head under the covers, her breathing quickly becoming heavy and steady.
Wen Yang glanced at the bulging blanket on the bed and stood to turn off the light, but suddenly he heard loud noises from the hallway.
“Drink! Let’s keep drinking over at my place!”
“We won’t stop until we’re drunk! Whoever leaves is a dog!”
“Bang!”
The ruckus grew closer, and the neighbor’s door slammed open with a swift kick, the thunderous sound startling Wen Yang.
Already half-asleep, Ning Chu was jolted awake, her hair a frazzled mess as she frantically scrambled out from under the covers.
“What’s going on?!”
“Someone’s drunk next door.”
The front door slammed shut again with a bang, causing Ning Chu, still seated on the bed, to shiver and nearly leap out of her skin.
“Crazy people! Can’t they settle down at night?!”
She grumbled, flopping back onto the bed in annoyance: “I think I’ve seen that neighbor before—he looked polite and well-groomed. Turns out he has no manners at all!”
It was already past ten! Isn’t this officially bedtime?!
Even though the neighbor had friends over, the thin walls couldn’t muffle their noise, which sounded like they were smashing things, ringing and clattering without a break.
It was as if the walls were shaking, making her wonder what on earth they were doing to cause such a commotion.
How can anyone sleep through this?
Ning Chu tossed and turned, her frustration mounting as she vented: “It’s ten-thirty! Are they ever going to let us sleep?!”
“Ugh! I’m going to d*e~”
She rolled and squirmed on the bed, clutching her pillow in silence, staring blankly at the wall.
About half an hour later, the noise next door seemed to grow even louder, as if they were trying to tear down the entire building.
“Seriously?!” Ning Chu exhaled in despair, “It’s eleven now. Isn’t this a bit much?”
“Why isn’t the landlord doing anything?!”
“Hey! Wen Yang, where are you going?”
Noticing Wen Yang had put on his coat and was heading towards the door, she called out.
“I’m going to remind them next door.”
Ning Chu froze for a second, various news stories of drunken disturbances flashing through her mind, and she quickly warned: “They’re drunk. Please be polite and don’t start an argument.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Maybe we should just let it go? I can stay up and type—it’s not like I’m going to be getting up early for class tomorrow…”
Ning Chu’s voice trailed off, her eyes fixed on Wen Yang as he prepared to leave. Although she couldn’t see his expression, she could clearly feel an oppressive atmosphere emanating from him, his tall figure resembling a volcano about to erupt, or a ferocious beast ready to pounce. She instinctively held back her words of protest, a sense of fear creeping in.
Wen Yang was angry…
She had never seen him angry before, and she hadn’t expected it to be so intimidating.
When Wen Yang stepped out, Ning Chu quickly got up and raced to the door, peeking out into the hallway.
“Wen Yang…”
“All good.”
Wen Yang knocked on the neighbor’s door with an impassive face, and a moment later, when the door opened, a wave of alcohol scent washed over him.
“It’s eleven. Keep it down.”
“Yeah, yeah! Get off my back!”
Hearing the annoyed response, Ning Chu instinctively pulled her head back from the hallway, spinning to grab her phone from the bedside.
Oh no! I should call the police!
She hurried to her bed, snatching the phone from the nightstand just as she heard Wen Yang’s footsteps returning.
Ning Chu looked up to see Wen Yang smiling gently, his earlier intimidating aura gone: “I woke them up, it’s all sorted.”
“You hit someone?”
“Nope, they were surprisingly reasonable.”
“Really…”
