Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Senior, Let's Stop Talking — I'm Afraid She'll Get the Wrong Idea

【Bright Future Chat Group】

Jingliu: "It's only been a few days and you've already corrupted me into a class-skipping delinquent?"

Messages kept rolling in. In reality, Wangshu's body had gone slightly stiff, but little Jingliu didn't mind at all — she even pressed closer, contentedly warming her palms. And naturally leaning in for warmth was perfectly normal, right?

She nuzzled her little head against him. As for the fact that little Wangshu's body had stiffened... sigh, her future self really was terrible.

Wangshu: "Senior, believe me — the present you is really well-behaved and adorable."

Jingliu: "..."

Asta: "Are you sure you want to say that kind of thing in front of Senior Jingliu?"

Especially when right now he was probably strolling, eating, chatting, maybe even running around with little Jingliu.

When she thought about it, it was actually quite despair-inducing. Asta remembered her own childhood — she'd been such a crybaby. When the puppy got sick, or when the adults ignored her, she'd cry if she was sad.

If that kind of dark history were fully documented by someone else, it'd truly be unspeakable.

Wangshu: "Sorry, got caught up in the moment. I really couldn't help it."

Jingliu: "...I'm getting the feeling that some kind of cognitive gap has formed between the two of us."

She tapped her head. Her past self, while not a bad kid, probably didn't qualify as a well-behaved one either. After all, an orphan who'd survived by being tough inevitably developed a certain lone-wolf edge — prickly, even.

Jingliu: "So how exactly did you convince the past me to take you in?"

Wangshu: "Food's here, Senior. We're about to eat. Talk later."

Jingliu: "..."

"Have I really never hugged you before?"

Jingliu withdrew her hands, straightened up, and sat properly. Her tone inexplicably carried a hint of triumph.

Besides, having finally come out for a proper meal, she wasn't going to hold back on the menu. Food first.

Little Wangshu wasn't going anywhere anyway. Lady Jingliu had all the time in the world.

Wangshu was silent for a beat, then nodded. Wasn't that the truth — not only had she never hugged him, tonight during training, Senior Jingliu would probably use the session for petty revenge. She'd talk about fairness while sneaking in a few extra-hard swings.

"She really is terrible. I definitely won't become like her."

She pledged solemnly, as if making an oath of great importance. Having pulled her hands free, little Jingliu didn't return to the seat across the table. She simply stayed right there, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Wangshu on the same side of the bench, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

In her mind, her future self was already permanently filed under "bad woman." The supercharged, ultra-bad variety.

"Your future self actually had it pretty rough too."

Wangshu looked at her profile — childlike yet resolute — and couldn't help a soft sigh.

Jingliu's fall to mara really had been terribly unfair.

She'd endured Baiheng's death. But then Yinyue had pulled another stunt during a moment of mental fog and despair, forcing Jingliu to kill her dear friend a second time with her own hands.

After falling to mara, she'd unconsciously slaughtered her own comrades... The cruelest part was that Yinyue and Yingxing, despite their grave transgressions, hadn't personally harmed their comrades. Only Jingliu's ice blade was stained with her companions' blood. She wasn't even given the buffer of self-deception.

Thinking about it was genuinely despairing. After Jingliu's prison break, she'd used Yingxing as a training dummy — you'd be hard-pressed to say her resentment wasn't sky-high. In a supernatural horror setting, she'd have become a vengeful spirit by now.

"Little Wangshu..."

Jingliu suddenly set down her chopsticks and turned, crimson eyes fixed on him with gravity.

"Right now, I'm the one on your side. I don't want to hear you making excuses for someone else."

This was really aggravating. When she was standing in his corner, could he please not play the neutral mediator? No — between two people, forget mediating. He should be standing firmly on her side no matter what.

Wangshu hesitated for a moment, then nodded obediently.

"Sorry. I unconsciously treated you as the same person and ignored your feelings."

Jingliu pressed her lips together. She stood on the bench, flat shoes planted right on the seat cushion, and used the height advantage to look down at little Wangshu.

"Fine then. If I'm me and she's her — whose side would you take?"

Wangshu didn't hesitate: "Yours!"

The reason? No reason! Senior Jingliu, I'm sorry, but let's stop talking — I'm afraid little Jingliu will get the wrong idea!

"That sounds so fake."

Jingliu let out an instinctive little "hmph," the corner of her mouth curling upward. Then with a small bounce, she plopped back down onto the soft cushion, her pale calves swinging lightly beneath the table.

"Think about it." She counted off on her fingers, beginning a rational analysis: "You can't go back anyway, and the future me is that terrible — bullying you, not loving you, not keeping you company. So obviously you should choose me."

After growing accustomed to living alone, suddenly sharing a home with someone, Jingliu found it was... actually pretty nice. Even if this little Wangshu was always a bit dopey and clearly easy to trick.

Truly — after getting used to solitude, suddenly gaining a companion who was admittedly naive and gullible but would genuinely stand on your side? Wangshu found it was honestly not bad at all.

Dinner wasn't worth belaboring. The restaurant was fine, but it just didn't hit quite the same as eating at home.

After the meal, Jingliu hopped down from the bench.

"Let's go home! By the way, did you mix the batter yet?"

"Not yet. I spent most of the afternoon watching the Alluring Swarm Lord eat."

Wangshu gave an honest account.

That girl was literally just eating. If nothing had interrupted, Wangshu didn't even want to imagine how long she could've gone.

Oh — given Propagation's nature, she could probably eat until the universe's heat death.

"Let's go!"

Jingliu's eyes lit up. She grabbed Wangshu's hand: "Then let's go home and make the batter together! I've never done anything like that before!"

Her voice brimmed with anticipation. Kneading dough at home with little Wangshu to prep for tomorrow's business sounded infinitely more interesting than being dragged to some haunted abandoned starskiff port by classmates like before!

Home, kitchen

The prep work wasn't actually that demanding, but Jingliu clearly didn't mind getting flour on her hands — or even her cheeks. She enthusiastically mimicked Wangshu's movements, stirring batter with clumsy but earnest effort.

She'd be bathing again anyway. Getting a little dirty was no big deal.

【Bright Future Chat Group】

Asta: "@Wangshu, is this a good time for you?"

Wangshu: "I'm always free."

Asta: "What about... little Jingliu?"

Wangshu: "Don't worry, she went to take a bath. Got too messy."

Asta: "Oh..."

Jingliu: "..."

Wangshu: "Don't get the wrong idea. She was helping me mix batter."

Jingliu: "I'm not getting the wrong idea. The me at that age was short on friends, so I genuinely cared about other people's business."

Asta sent an exclusive red envelope (Wangshu)

Asta: "Everyone, I'll just say it straight."

Asta: "Can this deal be handed over to Herta Space Station? If Wangshu and Senior Jingliu need anything, just name it — technology, resources, whatever. The Herta Space Station will deliver."

Herta had originally been on the fence. After all, a Swarm Lord might not even have what she wanted. But after she'd casually let it slip, a new genius arrived at the space station, and then... the deal became incredibly straightforward.

Waaah, Ms. Herta had absolutely zero concern for her image. She wasn't even this sharp-tongued around Ms. Ruan Mei.