Chapter 37: Unemployed?
Receiving Yi Ning’s signal, Lu Zheng finally emerged from the corner.
He glanced at the TV in the middle of the living room and stretched his stiff limbs.
“Don’t mind those two. Their brain development is... incomplete.”
Seeing Lu Zheng’s gaze repeatedly sweep toward the screen, Yi Ning walked over, patted his shoulder, and offered comfort.
After all, the guy had just been made the male lead in a fake romance scandal.
As the “father” of the rumor, Yi Ning felt she bore some unavoidable responsibility.
“Don’t worry, I’m not bothered.”
Lu Zheng’s expression was a bit helpless.
He wasn’t the type who couldn’t tell a joke from reality.
“Just let it go. Don’t take fools seriously.”
Yi Ning sighed, walked over to her fridge, grabbed a drink, and tossed it to Lu Zheng.
“Here—Pixel Mask. Consider this emotional damages compensation.”
“Thanks.”
Lu Zheng caught the drink, popped the cap, and took a few gulps.
Truth be told, having a childhood friend who often spread nonsense about his relationships, he had long since grown used to this kind of baseless gossip. It wasn’t enough to affect his mood.
“Relax. I won’t take it seriously.”
Though they said that, both Yi Ning and Lu Zheng—centerpieces of the rumor—couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward.
Especially since they were now alone together.
As silence fell, the atmosphere between them grew tense again.
“I’m off duty now, so just call me by my name. I’m Lu Zheng.”
“Alright, Lu Zheng.”
Lu Zheng tried to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help much. The air between them remained stiff.
“Well, I should get going.”
In the end, Lu Zheng was the first to fold.
He pointed toward the door, chuckled dryly, waved, and stepped back, preparing to leave.
Yi Ning, who also wasn’t keen on continuing the awkward conversation, didn’t try to stop him.
“See you tomorrow.”
She chuckled dryly too, waving back.
“How disappointing…”
Just as they were about to part, Ji Ping’s voice suddenly came from the direction of the TV.
“?!”
Yi Ning and Lu Zheng turned to look at the screen at the same time.
It was still pitch black.
But a second later, the blackness peeled away—Ji Ping and Xia An appeared on screen.
They had never left.
They had merely blocked their camera on purpose and stayed silent, creating the illusion they had shut it off.
This was bad.
Yi Ning’s brows furrowed.
She didn’t understand why Ji Ping would pull this stunt if he truly believed she had hidden a hero in her home.
Unless... was she wrong? Maybe Ji Ping never actually guessed it?
No—that couldn’t be. If he hadn’t figured it out, he wouldn’t have dropped the topic so easily, given his gleeful personality.
But it was too late to ponder now.
On screen, both Ji Ping and Xia An wore regretful expressions.
“I really didn’t think you would do something like this.”
Ji Ping took a deep breath, his face turning serious.
“Yi Ning, as the top villain of our ‘I Love Savory Tofu Pudding’ Association, you actually... actually did something like this.”
His expression turned mournful, and he choked on his words.
Yi Ning’s actions were nothing short of betrayal to a villain organization—he couldn’t bring himself to say it casually.
In the end, it was Xia An who took over.
“As a villain, you got chummy with a hero! You even snuck him into your house!”
Taking the opportunity, Ji Ping composed himself, but his face remained filled with pain.
“I’m sorry, Yi Ning. I must make this painful decision.”
He had to deliver the final verdict.
“Yi Ning—no, Dr. Alien—effective immediately, you are no longer a member of ‘I Love Savory Tofu Pudding.’ You’re fired!”
Ji Ping raised his right hand, pointing directly at her.
Upon hearing the words, Yi Ning’s face darkened.
She had anticipated this the moment Ji Ping spoke, but hearing it still left her breathless.
“Fine… whatever…”
She tried to sound nonchalant, to act as though she didn’t care.
But it took nearly all her strength just to squeeze out those words.
She didn’t know why her chest felt so heavy.
After all, being a villain wasn’t even a good fit for her.
Due to her upbringing, she never harmed innocents or used them to achieve her goals.
During her time at Evil University, she’d scored high in villainous behavior exams by threatening the proctors—not by actual evil acts.
She was, without a doubt, an unqualified villain.
Leaving the organization and using her talents elsewhere—or even joining the Hero Association outright—would clearly be a better path.
Not to mention she had helped the Association before. She could even guilt-trip Lu Zheng into helping her climb the ranks at the D-City Hero Association.
Lu Zheng had even promised to give her half his salary if she ever got fired.
Any way you looked at it, she had brighter prospects.
So why… why did it hurt so much?
“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to revoke your villain license and freeze all your villain accounts as well.”
“Is that so?”
Yi Ning kept her head lowered, standing motionless.
“Heh~”
After a long pause, she finally let out a laugh.
“Villain accounts? I moved the money long ago. And as for the license… I wasn’t planning to stay in this line of work anyway.”
Though she claimed not to care, Lu Zheng—standing beside her—could clearly see the fragile expression on her carefully hidden face.
“Wait a second!”
The two on screen turned their attention toward the speaker.
It was Lu Zheng.