Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Defending Her Man

Hearing Jiang Youchen’s name, Jiang Qingli froze for a moment.

Her fingers tightened around her terminal without her realizing it.

After several seconds, Jiang Qingli finally spoke, her voice cold. "Why are you asking about him?"

"Well, people are always asking me about him, and I don’t know anything, so I had no choice but to ask you..." Bai Yiyi bit her lip, acting as if she were troubled by the constant pestering and had to steel herself to ask Jiang Qingli.

As she finished speaking, Bai Yiyi heard Jiang Qingli let out a soft, cold laugh.

Fearing Jiang Qingli would see through her motives, Bai Yiyi adopted a joking tone. "It’s all because Brother Youchen is just too popular. It’s such a headache for me..."

After she said that, Bai Yiyi felt Jiang Qingli’s gaze become even sharper.

It made her feel the guilt of being seen through.

Just as she was about to retort, Jiang Qingli had already looked away and turned to leave.

She completely refused to take the bait, leaving Bai Yiyi with a throat full of words she couldn’t say. "..."

’Jiang Qingli seems even more aggressive than usual today,’ she thought.

Her terminal vibrated. A message from Su Jue.

Bai Yiyi lowered her head to reply, not noticing that Jiang Qingli, who had walked a few steps away, had suddenly turned back to stare at her with a probing gaze for several seconds.

Jiang Qingli looked away, now even more certain that something was off about Bai Yiyi.

Back in the Underground City, it was already strange when Bai Yiyi showed up at an auction she shouldn’t have been at, insisting on spending a fortune to buy Su Jue.

And now, Bai Yiyi had suddenly brought up Jiang Youchen, who wasn’t supposed to appear in the plot for a long time, acting as if she was determined to have him.

Jiang Qingli guessed that Bai Yiyi must have found out about parts of the plot she wasn’t supposed to know through some method.

’Like transmigrating into a book, being reborn, or maybe time-traveling...’

’I can’t be sure which one it is yet. I’ll have to find a chance to test her next time.’

-

After replying to Su Jue’s message, Bai Yiyi headed toward the E-Block medical examination building.

As she neared the building, a tall, slender figure came into view.

The young man wore a black and white motorcycle suit, his wild silver hair accented by dozens of cartilage piercings that glinted harshly in the sun.

He was leaning against the outer wall by the main entrance, his casual posture eye-catching enough on its own.

It was Qin Muye.

Bai Yiyi hadn’t expected to run into Qin Muye here. Her eyes lit up, and she straightened her back, tidied her hair, and prepared to stage a ’chance encounter’. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

However, just as she got closer, Qin Muye abruptly stood up straight and strode purposefully in another direction.

The young man passed right in front of Bai Yiyi, only a few meters away, but he paid her no mind, acting as if he hadn’t seen her at all.

Seeing him act like this, Bai Yiyi suddenly had a bad feeling.

She turned her head and saw two figures standing in front of a nearby beverage vending machine.

A white-haired boy with clear, beautiful pink eyes and a sweet smile was leaning down to say something to the girl beside him, his gaze fixed on her eyes.

Bai Yiyi recognized him. It was Gu Nian, a special admission student who had recently enrolled in the academy.

’He’s a rabbit, I think? I forgot what his Superpower is. He’s not very capable. And since he’s not in my year, I never paid him any mind.’

Just as she was about to look away, Gu Nian suddenly glanced in her direction.

Bai Yiyi’s eyes widened instinctively.

’I thought he was nothing special before, but looking closely now, he’s actually quite pure and pretty...’

The thought had barely formed when the System’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind:

[DING! High-quality male detected within ten meters of the host. Now displaying data—]

[Name: Gu Nian

Status: Imperial Royal Academy Special Admission Student

Age: 18

Current Favorability Score with Host: -100]

Hearing the last line, Bai Yiyi froze on the spot.

’What is going on?’

’Why is the favorability score negative again? And it’s negative one hundred?’

The last person with a score of negative one hundred was Yi Nuo.

Yi Nuo was Jiang Qingli’s lackey, so Bai Yiyi could understand why his favorability toward her was negative. But what was the deal with this Gu Nian?

’Did Jiang Qingli say something bad about me to him?’

While she was reeling in shock and suspicion, Qin Muye suddenly squeezed between the two people who were talking.

The silver-haired young man grabbed Jiang Qingli’s hand, forcefully weaving his fingers through hers until their hands were clasped tightly together.

Then, he glared at Gu Nian and said something, his face full of unconcealed hostility.

Gu Nian pressed his lips together, his expression guilty and dejected.

Only after Jiang Qingli whispered a few words to him did he leave, looking back every few steps.

Watching the two "high-quality males" from her system fawning over Jiang Qingli like lapdogs, Bai Yiyi’s brow furrowed tightly.

She was extremely irritated and couldn’t help but ask, [System, can you really not check when Jiang Youchen is coming back? It took me so much effort to get this item!]

After all this time, she had finally raised Su Jue’s favorability score to 90 and obtained the Charming Fruit.

She had originally planned to ask Jiang Qingli about Jiang Youchen’s whereabouts today, only to witness such a disgusting scene.

Bai Yiyi was thoroughly annoyed now; she just wanted to use the Charming Fruit on Jiang Youchen as soon as possible.

System: [...]

After a few seconds of silence, the system sighed helplessly. [Host, I have told you more than once—]

[In the established plot, Jiang Youchen returns to the First District because of Jiang Qingli’s accidental death.]

[Now that Jiang Qingli is alive and kicking right here, Jiang Youchen naturally has no reason to return.]

After a pause, the system added, [However, the Moon Festival is approaching. The other district chiefs will return to the First District to give their mid-year reports to the Emperor. He might come back then.]

Bai Yiyi stared at the couple with their hands intertwined in the distance, a coldness swirling in her eyes.

She sneered, telling the system word by word, [We don’t need to go through all that trouble. Wouldn’t it be easier to just arrange an ’accident’ for Jiang Qingli?]

[After she dies, Jiang Youchen will definitely come for her funeral.]

[Then, I will conquer him and heal the pain of him losing his sister...]

-

When Jiang Qingli and Qin Muye took the elevator to the medical examination floor, Lin Xiyue had already finished her check-up.

Her gaze lingered on their clasped hands, and she smiled teasingly. "I knew it. I was wondering why it took you so long to buy a drink. Turns out you brought someone back with you~"

Having spent a lot of time with Jiang Qingli, Lin Xiyue loved to tease her, and the words just popped out without thinking.

Only after she said it did she remember that Qin Muye was a Prince, and she timidly snuck a glance at him.

But Qin Muye wasn’t angry.

He glanced down at Jiang Qingli beside him, pursed his lips uncomfortably, and the tips of his ears turned red.

Feeling the hand holding hers tighten, Jiang Qingli tossed the drink to her friend. "Don’t talk nonsense, or next time I’ll bring you a fish-wort flavored one."

"Ooh, look at Miss Jiang protecting her man~" Lin Xiyue caught the drink and opened it, deciding to quit while she was ahead. "I’ll shut up now. I’m heading out, don’t want to be a third wheel."

Lin Xiyue’s Beast Husband was waiting for her nearby. She waved goodbye to Jiang Qingli.

Since only females were getting check-ups, it was inconvenient for Qin Muye to stay long. After a few words with Jiang Qingli, he obediently went to the downstairs lounge to wait.

Before leaving, he even pulled the tab on Jiang Qingli’s canned drink for her.

Jiang Qingli took a sip of the orange-flavored sparkling water and turned to walk toward the examination room.

She had only taken a few steps when she suddenly heard someone call out to her, "Jiang."

The hoarse voice startled her.

Glancing toward the source of the sound, she realized there was someone else outside the elevator area.

Yuan Shiyao stood in the shadows, his pair of emerald eyes fixed on her.