Chapter 76: Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling
Afternoon.
Zhu Zhuqing and the other two returned to Shrek, while Su Yan mounted a fast horse and rushed toward Heaven Dou City.
By now, he already had some practice riding, and not long after setting off, he immediately sent a private message to Dugu Yan.
Private chat messages—
[Su Yan: @Yan Zi is Not Swallow, do you still want to take a shortcut or not?]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: ???]
Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Dugu Yan sat in the classroom, feeling completely confused.
Seriously?
Are you really going to let me take a shortcut?
But…
Dugu Yan still hesitated.
She quickly replied in private:
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: I think I should at least know what you look like before I decide. If you turn out to be some crusty old man in his fifties, I'd rather not have any rewards.]
[Su Yan: Hahahaha!!]
[Su Yan: I'm on my way to Heaven Dou City right now. I should arrive by tomorrow morning. Once we meet, you'll know.]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: Huh?]
Dugu Yan went blank on the spot.
Her mind was buzzing.
Su Yan was actually coming to see her.
Su Yan was actually coming to see her!
Seriously?
Are you really going to meet me offline?
Dugu Yan's heart was racing with excitement, but another worry immediately followed—what if Su Yan really was some old man?
What if he were even older than her grandfather?
Heavens!
The more she thought about it, the more her scalp went numb.
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: Don't come over… ah!???]
[Su Yan: selfie.JPG]
Dugu Yan opened Su Yan's selfie and almost burst out laughing.
Oh my god.
How is this an old man?
This was clearly her dream guy!
Honestly—
She had watched the video Ning Rongrong recorded of him over and over in the dead of night. Sometimes she watched so much that Ye Lingling got curious about why she kept heating up in her sleep.
[Su Yan: Sigh, since you don't welcome me, I'll just turn around and head back now?]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: No, I mean, hurry up and get over here! Come quickly!]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: Are you really coming to see me?]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: So that's why the little princess and the kitty are always fighting—turns out you're Su Yan, and Su Yan is you, hahaha!!]
Dugu Yan was laughing so happily that the whole class turned to stare at her in confusion.
Ye Lingling, sitting beside her, glanced over with those quiet, beautiful eyes, utterly puzzled.
The chat group had been silent. So why was Yan Zi suddenly so excited?
"Hehe."
Dugu Yan didn't care about the attention at all. She patted Ye Lingling's shoulder and said, "Come on, let's go outside. I have something super exciting to tell you."
Ye Lingling nodded, following her out of the classroom.
Once they were walking through the grove inside the academy, Ye Lingling asked, full of curiosity:
"Yan Zi, what happened to make you so happy?"
Dugu Yan grinned from ear to ear.
"It's… someone very important. He's coming to see me tomorrow."
The joy and sweetness on her face practically formed the words "lovestruck fool," and Ye Lingling could clearly see those three characters.
Ye Lingling felt a strange twinge in her heart.
Could it be Su Yan?
After all, other than Su Yan from the chat group, who else could make Yan Zi this happy out of nowhere?
"Who is it?" Ye Lingling asked.
Dugu Yan had just opened her mouth to say it when she suddenly remembered the shock she got the first time she tried to talk to her grandfather about the chat group. She could only reply:
"He's… a very mysterious person. I can't tell you the details. Just come with me to the academy gate tomorrow to pick him up."
Ye Lingling nodded.
And right after that—
Dugu Yan instantly regretted it.
Private chat—
[Su Yan: You have a good best friend called Ye Lingling, right? Make sure you bring her along tomorrow. I want to meet her too.]
Dugu Yan's face is filled with question marks.
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: ???]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: You're coming to see me… you're not just using me to get close to Lingling, are you?]
After sending the message, she glanced at Ye Lingling with mixed feelings.
How could this quiet friend of hers make Su Yan specifically ask to see her?
[Su Yan: Of course not. I'm coming to see you first, and then I'll help you and your grandfather, Dugu Bo.]
[Su Yan: We'll talk about the details after we meet. Tomorrow, I'll go straight to the south gate of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Remember to bring Ye Lingling to pick me up.]
[Yan Zi is Not Swallow: ...…]
Dugu Yan curled her lips. She still felt like something wasn't quite right.
"Lingling."
Ye Lingling looked at her with puzzled eyes.
Dugu Yan asked bluntly:
"Would you steal my man from me?"
"Huh?"
Ye Lingling's mind went blank. "Yan Zi, what are you talking about?"
Dugu Yan pouted, thought for a bit, then grabbed Ye Lingling's hand and warned her:
"The person coming to see me tomorrow is very handsome, but you absolutely cannot fall for him. He seems to already have a girlfriend."
"And he's the kind of guy who likes three wives and four concubines—very flirtatious. With your personality, you definitely won't be able to handle that. You must not let yourself fall too deep."
Ye Lingling: ???
Ye Lingling nodded thoughtfully. She'd already guessed what was going on and immediately sent a private message to Su Yan in her mind.
[Group Member 9: You're coming to Heaven Dou City tomorrow, right?]
[Su Yan: ???]
[Su Yan: You're Ye Lingling?]
Outside Suo Tuo City—
Riding on his horse, Su Yan saw the private message from Number 9 and burst into a grin.
Based on Number 9's previous messages and behavior, she'd clearly been lying low around someone important without being noticed.
Su Yan had long suspected she was Ye Lingling… and sure enough!
Dugu Yan must have said something just now, and Ye Lingling had instantly guessed that he was coming to see Yan.
[Group Member 9: Travel safely. We'll meet you at the gate of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy tomorrow morning.]
Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Ye Lingling looked at Dugu Yan with a faint smile, making Dugu Yan feel increasingly confused, like something was definitely off.
"Lingling?"
"Mm?"
Ye Lingling's lips curved in a small, quiet smile, while Dugu Yan stared at her seriously.
"I just realized something—you've changed over the past few days."
"You've started to smile more."
"Oh."
Ye Lingling nodded lightly and replied with a straight face, "Probably. We're at the age where we should be looking for boyfriends. If I don't change my personality, I won't be able to find one."
"Huh?"
"You, you, you…"
Dugu Yan was horrified. "Ye Lingling, I've decided you're not allowed to come with me to pick him up tomorrow. You're already getting boy-crazy—this is terrible!"
...
Shrek Academy.
Tang San slowly woke up and saw Oscar in the room, bored out of his mind playing with some little trinket.
"You're Oscar?"
"Xiao Wu… where's Xiao Wu?"
Hearing his voice, Oscar turned his head and said:
"Tang San, you're awake."
"Xiao Wu and the others went into Suo Tuo City with Su Yan to look around."
"Huh?"
Tang San jerked upright, anger flashing in his eyes.
'You, Su Yan, the jungler!'
'I, Tang San, fought so hard I passed out, and you took advantage of that moment to take Xiao Wu out shopping?'
'Outrageous.'
'You're courting death!'
So irritating.
Tang San was even starting to suspect that Su Yan, that bastard, deliberately incited him to fight desperately so that he could take the opportunity to be intimate with Xiao Wu.
Damn it.
The more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt.
'You bastard.'
'I fell for your tricks again.'
Oscar immediately produced a sausage and handed it over. "Now that you're awake, eat a few more sausages. It'll help you recover."
"Urgh—"
One look at the big sausages, and Tang San immediately doubled over, retching up bitter bile.
What disgusted him now wasn't Oscar's soul incantation.
It was the deep-throat trauma Su Yan had inflicted on him!
'Su Yan, how am I ever supposed to heal from the psychological damage you've done to me?'
End of Chapter