Chapter 96: Go Drown Clinging to Your Umbrella of Protection
“…Sorry.”
Faced with Yi Ning’s criticism, Lu Zheng could only keep repeating those two words.
Listening to him endlessly mutter that over the phone, Yi Ning felt a bit baffled.
Why had this guy suddenly gone emo?
She had no idea how she’d pushed Lu Zheng to this state.
Not that she particularly cared. She interrupted him and pulled a remote control from her pocket.
“Stop apologizing—what are you doing, casting Fireball over there?”
After that previous round of back-and-forth, she was feeling much better.
She pressed the button on the remote.
Outside Yi Ning’s base, the door in front of Lu Zheng silently opened.
“I’ve opened the door for you. Don’t forget to close it when you leave.”
Yi Ning put the remote back into her pocket and gave instructions over the phone.
“And another thing—don’t think you can freeload off me. Bring back the clothes I left in the changing room. You’re helping me pick them up after your shift. I don’t feel like going back. Remember to call me.”
Without waiting for a reply, she hung up.
“Now then, let’s get back to what we were talking about. What exactly did your dad want to say?”
She turned her head toward Gu Ke.
“Hmph~”
But Gu Ke, sitting cross-legged in her chair on the other side of the screen, didn’t return to their topic. She waggled her eyebrows at Yi Ning instead.
“I’d heard Xia An and the others mention it before, but I didn’t expect—you actually hooked up with that hero.”
“‘Pick it up after your shift’? Using wording like that… don’t tell me you’re actually living together? How sweet~”
Yi Ning didn’t show any displeasure at the teasing. Instead, she sighed helplessly.
“Why is everyone around here so obsessed with romance?”
Was she the only normal one in this organization?
She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
She’d been male for over twenty years—no matter how she looked at it, her orientation should still lean toward women, right?
So why did everyone in the organization think that just because she had a good relationship with a guy, they were up to something beyond friendship?
Habits, preferences…
These things formed over time.
It wasn’t like they could just change overnight.
Even in her current female body, she still found it hard to imagine having a male partner in the future.
Seeing Yi Ning’s troubled face on the screen, Gu Ke had no intention of comforting her.
“For us youths, isn’t romance the most important thing?”
She propped her left leg on the chair, right leg bent across the seat, body slightly forward as she defended herself with confidence.
Perhaps because she’d only recently become a girl, Gu Ke still had little sense of modesty.
A flash of white peeked out from under her skirt.
Seeing that peek of color from under Gu Ke’s skirt, Yi Ning openly showed her disgust.
It wasn’t clear whether the disdain was aimed at Gu Ke or the glimpse beneath her skirt.
Fortunately, the attendant girl was a real woman.
Noticing the danger in Gu Ke’s posture, she tapped Gu Ke’s shoulder and quietly reminded her.
Gu Ke looked down, then turned to Yi Ning’s disgusted expression with a face of sudden realization.
She didn’t say anything, but the way she looked at Yi Ning made Yi Ning feel extremely uncomfortable.
So you say you like girls.
Then why look disgusted when it’s a cute girl like me?
Yi Ning translated Gu Ke’s expression in her mind.
But since Gu Ke hadn’t said anything, and was technically her superior, Yi Ning took a deep breath and swallowed her annoyance.
“Stop looking at me with that creepy expression!”
Despite her attempt to suppress it, her voice still carried some barbs.
She adjusted her expression slightly.
“So what did your dad want to say? Hurry up and tell me already!”
She had no patience left for small talk.
Unfortunately, Gu Ke didn’t seem willing to let Yi Ning off the hook so easily.
Just like Xia An and Ji Ping, as the designated cleaner-upper of their little crew, Gu Ke too harbored a sliver of ambition—to bring Yi Ning to her knees and enjoy her begging for mercy.
She lowered her legs and looked at Yi Ning with a peculiar expression.
That look sent a chill down Yi Ning’s spine.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
Yi Ning grabbed the remote, pointed it at the screen, and threatened Gu Ke.
“Spit it out, or I’ll end the call right now.”
“You don’t want your dad finding out you didn’t complete your mission, do you?”
Using tried-and-true tactics from past dealings, Yi Ning invoked the most intimidating figure in Gu Ke’s life.
But strangely, Gu Ke didn’t show the usual dread.
She grinned wide and raised a smug hand in a “be my guest” gesture.
Her current appearance actually gave her the power to do that?
Her stern father no longer disciplined her for misbehavior?
Now it was Yi Ning’s turn to look defeated.
“What a rare sight indeed.”
The previously silent and seemingly mute attendant girl finally spoke.
Seeing Yi Ning’s rare sour face, Gu Ke launched into a classic villain’s speech with glee.
“See that? This is the power I gained by giving up my male body—the favor of my dear mother!”
“No matter what mistakes I make, as long as I run to my great mother’s side, I’m untouchable!”
With that, Gu Ke struck a classic villain pose—standing on her chair, one hand on her waist, the other over her mouth as she laughed,
“Ahahahahaha!”
After reveling in her victory, she pointed at Yi Ning.
“All right, I’ve had my laugh. We can get back to it now.”
But Yi Ning felt something was off.
As the saying goes—birds of a feather flock together.
Someone like Gu Ke, who could hang with that crew, clearly wasn’t a good egg either.
And as a bad egg, how could she give up a golden opportunity to mock Yi Ning and obediently deliver her dad’s message?
That wasn’t the Gu Ke she knew.
Realizing the loophole, Yi Ning’s lips curled into a smirk.
Victory was hers!
“Get back to it? Don’t kid me.”
She pulled out the remote and pointed it at the screen.
In the end, whatever Gu Ke’s dad had to say didn’t matter much to Yi Ning. What mattered was the chance to see Gu Ke get scolded.
“Go ahead and drown clinging to your invincible mother!”
Yi Ning pressed the remote’s button.