542. The Gathering
“Stop it! Don’t mess around!”
Lily, usually as composed as an iceberg, now appeared a total mess. She darted a few steps around the cramped dormitory but was quickly caught by Yan Xinya, who slammed her against the wall, pinning her hands down.
“Let go of me!”
Lily struggled desperately, but Yan Xinya’s strength was out of this world, and she easily subdued her.
“Ning Chu! Hurry up!”
Ning Chu, with a teasing smile, extended her wicked little hand and lightly pinched the flesh on Lily’s waist.
“So much meat on your waist!”
“And on your belly too!”
“The squishy feeling is really nice~ How many pounds did you gain?!”
Lily shot a mortified glare at Ning Chu, but as a succubus, her aura was always weak; her defiance made her look more like a stubborn little kitten, tempting others to bully her even more.
Seeing that look in her eyes, Ning Chu finally understood why Wen Yang always seemed more excited when she was being tough.
“Let’s say you gained thirty pounds?”
This outrageous guess caused Lily to break down instantly: “It’s only seven pounds!”
“Can’t tell at all?” Yan Xinya enthusiastically pitched, “How about you come to me for some personal training? The weight loss results are amazing!”
“Of course, you can’t tell with that long dress covering everything.”
After some playful banter, they finally released Lily, who looked like a wreck, her clothes disheveled and her hairstyle a mess, with one of her dress’s straps sliding down, resembling someone who’d just been through a rough ordeal.
Fuming, she tightened her face, lowered her head to straighten her outfit and hair, and soon enough returned to her original icy goddess pose.
Ning Chu asked in puzzlement, “How did you gain so much weight?”
After all, Lily was a magical girl; usually… well, usually she could use magic to handle physical activities, so a bit of weight gain didn’t seem too surprising.
But isn’t there a magic for weight loss?
“I know! While she was cramming for her grad school exams, she stressed out and started eating sweets! I was still staying in the dorm at that time!”
“When I’m stressed, I just want to lay in bed and zone out, not eat anything.”
“When I’m stressed, I like to drink some wine and hit the punching bag~”
After sharing their stress relief methods, Yan Xinya shamelessly snuggled back to Lily, sticking to her like a stubborn band-aid.
Checking the time, it was already a little past seven in the evening.
Ning Chu looked at Yan Xinya with confusion. “Where’s Qian Qian? Didn’t she stay with you?”
The magical girl was young; after failing her grad school exams, she ran off to rent a place with the Wolf Girl.
The Wolf Girl didn’t seem to mind looking after a little girl; they reportedly even adopted a cat together.
“She’s working overtime.” Yan Xinya casually threw her legs up on the desk. “She said she’d come over tomorrow since our place isn’t too far from school.”
Ning Chu proposed, “How about we just stay at your place tonight?”
“How would that work? There’s only one bed; even me and Qian Qian think it’s cramped.”
Lily, expressionless, said coldly, “You slept with Qian Qian.”
“???”
Both of them raised their heads in confusion, with Ning Chu reacting first and accusing Yan Xinya, “You’re worse than an animal!”
“Absolutely not!” Yan Xinya’s tail stood up, “Even though Qian Qian is cute, I don’t like girls! Plus, she’s so flat! I can’t even be bothered to touch!”
“Huh? Qian Qian is still that flat?”
She nodded vigorously, “I’ve measured it; she’s a solid A! There’s hardly any flesh.”
“And you say you can’t be bothered to touch?”
Yan Xinya, relying on her height and strength, loved to mess around with her friends, leaving Ning Chu troubled for ages.
The playful antics between girls were a bit too much for her.
But now she was used to it and could even strike back.
“Growl~”
The sudden sound silenced the dorm room, and the three of them exchanged glances.
“I’m hungry… I haven’t eaten since lunch, and my belly is protesting,” Yan Xinya said, blushing and raising her hand. “Let’s go eat? It’s been ages since we had food from the school cafeteria.”
“You really are loud about being hungry~”
Ning Chu muttered, having never heard someone’s stomach growling echo around the room like that.
“Is it wrong? I haven’t eaten all day!”
She turned to Lily. “How about the cafeteria?”
“Sure!”
“Then I’ll call Wen Yang and the others too…”
Even though Ning Chu often criticized the school cafeteria for its pricing—over ten bucks for two meat dishes and a veggie, not to mention the occasional unsanitary finds—after entering the workforce, especially in a big city like Shanghai where a casual meal would cost twenty to thirty, she found herself nostalgically yearning for the cafeteria.
The three of them made their way out of the dorm. With Yan Xinya’s belly growling, her mood drooped a bit, while Lily, a social phobic, wore a stiff expression the moment they stepped outside, regaining her icy goddess demeanor.
“Have any of your classmates noticed your true nature?”
“No.”
“Eh? Isn’t there any succubus trading tips with you?”
With a cold expression, Lily shook her head. “I don’t play with them.”
Well, Ning Chu had also encountered other succubus circles before, and they were a chaotic bunch, each one like a walking female-oriented Little Emperor Wen… It was best for her and Lily, the succubus disgrace, to stay away from that kind of crowd.
As they exited the dorm area, Wen Yang and Wang Jie came strolling toward them.
The moment Ning Chu spotted Wang Jie, she couldn’t help but exclaim and jogged over, “Whoa! You’ve gained so much weight!”
She thought Lily gaining seven pounds in a year was ridiculous, but Wang Jie looked at least twenty pounds heavier, puffed up like a balloon.
Avoiding her gaze, Wang Jie awkwardly looked down at his phone.
“Seriously, what happened this past year?”
Other than gaming together, they rarely talked about their lives.
“I ate and slept, and slept and ate…” Wang Jie explained without looking up.
“That’s just too exaggerated~” Ning Chu instinctively nuzzled up next to Wen Yang, wrapping her arm around his, and asked, “Wen Yang, where’s Shao Qing? Still not back?”
“On a trip; he said he was buying a ticket back yesterday, but something seems to have happened, and he can’t come back.”
“Ohhh…”
As expected, the scenarios predicted before last year’s departure were happening; from now on, they’d have a hard time getting everyone together. Each gathering would likely have someone missing.
With the utterly unlikable slapstick duo gone, Ning Chu found herself lacking a sparring partner, and she felt an odd sense of loss.
“Wen Yang~ You’ve become even more handsome~”
Yan Xinya and Lily then affectionately linked arms, sauntering over.
The Wolf Girl greeted them warmly, while the icy goddess merely nodded at Wen Yang with subtlety.
“So when do you plan to marry Ning Chu? Me and Lily are waiting for an invite to the wedding~”
“Haven’t you asked me that before? I already said there’s no rush.” Ning Chu shot Yan Xinya an annoyed glare but instinctively tightened her hold on Wen Yang’s arm, looking up expectantly.
After all these years, she indeed felt a genuine urge to start a family and have a little home of her own.
Wen Yang noticed the eager glint in the little succubus’s eyes, his smile faltered slightly as he awkwardly replied, “Maybe in a few more years? My career is just getting started.”
“Ugh~”
Ning Chu disappointedly averted her gaze.
“Not worried about someone else stealing Ning Chu away! You know, family and career—family first!”
She nodded vigorously, chiming in, “Exactly!”
