Chapter 36: The Rules of Victory Are Already Set
Yi Ning rolled her eyes, then simply flipped over the sofa and hid behind it, hugging her knees with both arms.
The TV turned on automatically, and Ji Ping and Xia An—those two insufferable pests—appeared again on the screen.
Though Yi Ning was no longer visible in the frame, they both knew she had cut the call too briefly for her to have gone far.
Ji Ping scanned the camera’s field of view and eventually locked his gaze onto the back of the sofa.
In just a few seconds, that was the only place Yi Ning could have gone.
He curled his lips into a smirk and beckoned Xia An over, whispering something in her ear.
You little punk.
After hearing Ji Ping’s idea, Xia An grinned wickedly and tapped him on the chest, then looked toward the sofa back.
Yi Ning might be able to cover her own ears and pretend not to hear, but she couldn’t cover the ears of the other person hiding in her house.
So the two of them simply gave up trying to find Yi Ning and began chatting as if nothing was wrong.
“How rare—Yi Ning actually looked embarrassed.”
“Yeah, yeah, hiding in shame like that. Turns out she’s just a bashful little maiden.”
“Aww~ Her moral compass must be too rigid. To think she finds liking a guy now something too embarrassing to admit.”
“Exactly! She’s all soft and sweet now—it’s totally fine to like a hero.”
Knowing full well Yi Ning could hear them, the two shamelessly performed a loud two-person act.
“(Expletive)!”
Yi Ning cursed under her breath behind the sofa.
These two were even more annoying than the gossiping grannies in town.
A tiny bit of rumor and they’d stir it into some earth-shattering scandal, spouting it like gospel.
And yet she had nothing on hand to shut them up with. The TV wasn’t even hooked to her Transmission Screen, giving them free rein to yammer on.
Hmph!
Let them enjoy their smugness for now.
Tomorrow, when she brought her tools, she’d properly settle the score!
Yi Ning lay on the floor, using the sofa back as cover while crawling toward the edge.
Right now, her top priority was figuring out how to kick Lu Zheng out.
Ji Ping’s speculation wasn’t wrong.
If it were just her alone, she would’ve waited until tomorrow to strike back.
But with Lu Zheng still in the room, she couldn’t let an unpredictable factor like him stay unattended.
What if he got swayed by their nonsense and caused trouble?
Yi Ning reached the side of the sofa and cautiously poked out her little head, first checking the camera’s angle, then mapping the path to Lu Zheng’s hiding spot.
Following her planned route, she carefully crossed through areas she believed might be within the camera’s range.
Although the camera was one she had installed herself, she had never bothered checking its exact field of view. Unbeknownst to her, she was right on the edge of the camera’s visibility.
The two villains on screen, watching her every move, didn't say a word. Instead, they kept up their act while gleefully observing Yi Ning play ninja with shadows and pretend foes.
Only when she was just about to escape the frame did they finally call out.
“No need to hide—we can see you.”
Naturally, Yi Ning wasn’t about to fall for that.
She lowered herself, preparing to dart from cover to the blind spot.
“We saw you behind the chair, Miss Yi Ning~”
Hearing them pinpoint her exact location, Yi Ning sighed in frustration and began to rise, as if ready to admit defeat.
But then it struck her—her current position should be right at the camera’s edge.
If they could see her so clearly now, they would’ve seen her approach earlier, too.
And if they saw all that, why hadn’t they called her out then?
These two degenerates had been silently watching her embarrass herself for their own amusement.
They wouldn’t suddenly grow a conscience now—it made no sense.
This could only mean one thing: they couldn’t actually see her now and were bluffing!
The rules of victory were already set!
Yi Ning grinned, arched her back slightly, and despite the voices from the TV, she dashed straight to the corner where Lu Zheng was hiding.
“I can see you~”
“Stop fooling yourself.”
Those two, seeing Yi Ning vanish from their screen, could only offer weak, formulaic lines to try and bait her back.
But they could no longer pinpoint her position, and Yi Ning wasn’t falling for it.
Defeated, the TV screen finally went black.
Seeing them powerless and frustrated, Yi Ning pumped her fist in front of her chest with a victorious smile.
This was her win!
Beside her, Lu Zheng, watching her smug expression, couldn’t resist poking her shoulder.
The corner was already cramped, and now that Yi Ning had squeezed in, the two were pressed together. It was getting uncomfortable for him.
Not to mention her scent kept invading his nose, making him restless.
“What?”
Sensing the poke, Yi Ning irritably slapped his hand away and even patted the spot he touched, as if scrubbing off filth.
She dumped all the frustration from dealing with Ji Ping and Xia An onto Lu Zheng and responded extra harshly.
The weak lashes out at the weaker (?)
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
Lu Zheng muttered, baffled by her dramatics.
But to his surprise, that remark made Yi Ning even more flustered.
Her expression soured further.
Yi Ning pinched the sleeve of her shirt and began acting even more exaggerated.
“Guess I’ll have to throw this shirt out.”
But despite her words, she didn’t actually plan to take it off.
She only had this one shirt on, after all.
No choice but to endure the "filth" of this T-shirt that had been contaminated by the disgusting Pixel Mask for a little while longer.
Seeing her overacting, Lu Zheng decided not to argue.
“Can I leave now?”
That was all he wanted to know.
He’d been crouched here forever for her sake.
It was incredibly uncomfortable.
“Wait a bit.”
Perhaps remembering his patience, Yi Ning held up her hand to signal him to stay put, then crawled out to confirm if those two pests were really gone.
Once she saw the pitch-black TV screen, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and waved to Lu Zheng.
“You can come out now.”