Chapter 77: The Seventy-Seventh Day of Slacking
Since Wen Ying was the one asking for a favor, it wasn’t the right time to argue.
Besides, judging by Lin Ruge’s expression, it didn’t seem like she could win the argument anyway.
So be it. Wen Ying gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and threw caution to the wind.
Little brother it is! Her reputation was already lower than dirt; what was one ridiculous nickname going to do? Besides, for every move he had, she had a countermove. Worst case, she just wouldn’t call him anything at all.
“Fine,” Wen Ying nodded. “But you’d best change how you address me. How about… you just call me by my name?”
Even if she couldn’t change what she called him, she could at least get him to drop the overly polite address.
Call… call her by her name?
Lin Ruge’s eyes suddenly lit up.
After coming to his senses, Lin Ruge knew that back in Ping’an Town, Miss Wen had surely not been under any manipulation. That meant everything she did had come from her own heart.
Could it be that her feelings for him were also…
Such thoughts would occasionally surface in Lin Ruge’s mind, but he would always quickly dismiss them. How could he possibly be worthy of someone like Miss Wen? How could he entertain such a presumptuous notion!
And yet, now, Miss Wen was asking him to call her by her name.
Perhaps, he could allow himself to fantasize, just a little?
“Wen Ying,” Lin Ruge called out cautiously.
After speaking, he looked both nervous and shy, yet at the same time, it was as if he had just received a precious treasure.
Looking at Lin Ruge’s slightly flushed cheeks and hearing his somewhat hurried breathing—
It looked like his heart condition was acting up again.
So Wen Ying thought.
It was just as Lin Ruge himself had said; almost everything about him in Ping’an Town was real. This likely wasn’t A’kui’s deliberate doing. Lin Ruge’s cultivation was simply too high. The most A’kui could do was induce a slight cognitive dissonance; it was impossible to create the kind of earth-shattering changes seen in others.
However, Lin Ruge was a Xianzun now. His heart condition no longer posed a major threat to him. Perhaps this was the real reason he had been abandoned by his family. It was a stroke of luck that he had stumbled onto the path of cultivation. In that sense, cultivation could also save lives.
“Also… as I was saying, there is one thing I might need to trouble you with,” Wen Ying brought the conversation back on track.
“Please, speak,” Lin Ruge said, looking very happy.
“For certain reasons, I am just an ordinary disciple in the Xun Xian Sect, and I only want to be an ordinary disciple,” Wen Ying requested sincerely. “So, everything you saw in Ping’an Town, including my cultivation level, I must ask you to keep it a secret.”
He knew she hadn’t been controlled by the puppet strings, and he had seen how she could lay down such a complex barrier with a simple tap on the ground that day…
From all this, Lin Ruge naturally knew that Wen Ying was a master among masters, her cultivation so high it was beyond his comprehension.
“Could it be… you have some great undertaking, and you must first hide your identity within the Xun Xian Sect?” Lin Ruge pondered for a moment before offering his theory.
“Uh… something like that,” Wen Ying replied perfunctorily.
Preparing to throw a match… that counted as a great undertaking, right?
“Wen Ying, you do good deeds without seeking recognition, and you endure such hardship and humiliation. You truly have my admiration!” Lin Ruge’s eyes shone with worship, and he nodded without a moment’s hesitation. “It is my honor to be able to help you. I will not fail this mission.”
Wen Ying: “…”
Lin Ruge’s ability to over-interpret things was clearly inherited from Hua Pi. Wen Ying was truly impressed.
After saying this, Wen Ying waved her hand, dispelling the barrier around them.
Turning around, she saw Shen Linfeng and Xiao Hei standing just outside the pavilion.
They probably followed them. After all, just now, Wen Ying had forgotten to give them spirit stones…
Going shopping without money was even more painful than not going shopping at all.
“Meow meow meow meow~” Xiao Hei’s eyes held a cunning glint.
Wen Ying understood his gibberish perfectly.
He was asking: “Master, what were you and this gentleman secretly whispering about? Why didn’t you let us listen~”
Wen Ying shot Xiao Hei a warning look.
He was just a cat; he should stop letting his imagination run wild.
Shen Linfeng didn’t say anything, nor did he hand over a note. He just stood there quietly, watching Wen Ying with an obedient expression.
Shen Linfeng was so well-behaved that it almost made Wen Ying feel guilty for thinking too much. But the more he acted this way, the more suspicious his identity became, didn’t it?
Lin Ruge also stepped out of the pavilion at this moment.
Then, a piece of paper was handed to him.
On it were written two words: “Hello.”
Was this… a greeting?
Following the hand that held the paper, he looked up and saw a handsome young man.
“So it’s you,” Lin Ruge smiled. “I remember you. You’re Wen Ying’s little brother, right?”
“I am not,” Shen Linfeng handed over another note, shaking his head.
Right. The identities in Ping’an Town were mostly fabricated due to A’kui’s manipulation. But from Wen Ying’s behavior just now, she seemed to be very familiar with Shen Linfeng. That day when Shen Linfeng had stopped him, Lin Ruge had already found it strange. The resolute look in his eyes as he refused him for Wen Ying’s sake didn’t seem like a simple case of a brother protecting his sister, not wanting her to get married.
Later, he didn’t know how, but he had muddledly turned around and returned to the mountain stronghold.
Seeing Shen Linfeng again… Lin Ruge felt a strange sense of hostility. But reason told him that being hostile to someone for no reason was wrong.
“Then who are you?” Lin Ruge continued to ask with a smile.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Linfeng handed over another note: “They all say I am Wen Ying’s male concubine.”
Male… male concubine?!
After reading the note, Lin Ruge’s eyes flew wide open.
“You, you are…” Lin Ruge covered his mouth in shock, looking from Shen Linfeng to Wen Ying. “Wen Ying, he, he is…”
“That rumor does exist,” Wen Ying didn’t feel the need to explain any further.
Lin Ruge had indeed noticed that Shen Linfeng wasn’t wearing the Xun Xian Sect’s uniform, but he had never imagined… If he really was a male concubine, not only did she keep him in the sect, but she even took him with her to Ping’an Town. What an incredible level of favor…
Lin Ruge turned back to look at the handsome young man, who blinked his pure eyes, and Lin Ruge felt an inexplicable pang in his heart.
Not only pain, but also a sliver of…
Jealousy.
That’s right, it was jealousy.
Lin Ruge even had an unbelievable thought—
Why, why wasn’t he the favored male concubine!
“Male concubine, you, hello.” Lin Ruge quickly cut off his own deviant thoughts, forcing a smile. “It’s getting late, I still have things to do. Wen Ying, male concubine, I’ll be leaving first.”
Watching Lin Ruge’s retreating back, Wen Ying had a feeling he was fleeing in panic.
How strange.
Even if Shen Linfeng was her male concubine, who addresses someone directly as “male concubine”… As expected of the man with the peculiar mind who insisted she call him “little brother,” his way of addressing others was indeed strange.
“Let’s go, let’s go shopping,” Wen Ying patted Shen Linfeng’s shoulder.
A brilliant smile appeared on Shen Linfeng’s face, and he nodded very happily.
This was the first time Wen Ying had seen someone so happy just to go shopping.
This meant—
Shen Linfeng really did like shopping.
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