Chapter 128
Chapter 128
No one had ever confessed to Qin Lan before.
For that matter, he had never confessed to anyone either.
While his peers stayed home watching angsty teen soap operas, following the leads through endless ambiguity and push-and-pull, back-and-forth, up-and-down, in-and-out drama…
Qin Lan was usually calculating what time he needed to reach the cafeteria to buy discounted leftovers.
Now Su Xiaoyue had suddenly hit him with the most direct confession imaginable, and his head began to spin.
Even the Dean of Students’ mental attack back in Dead Silence Academy hadn’t left him this dizzy.
Qin Lan couldn’t remember how he answered.
What he did remember was how wonderful Su Xiaoyue smelled, and how, viewed from up close, her eyelashes resembled black raven feathers, smooth and gracefully curled.
He also remembered that Su Xiaoyue’s lips were very soft.
Barring an accident, he would probably remember that sensation for a very, very long time.
Qin Lan had read jokes online before, things like, “Eat a strawberry before you kiss someone, and every strawberry they taste afterward will remind them of you.”
The real experience, however, was nothing like he had imagined.
It felt like touching a piece of warm, silken tofu, only with a unique fragrance.
No perfume in the world could reproduce that scent.
It belonged to one person alone, a brand of identity all her own.
Qin Lan felt as though he had been submerged in a wine barrel. Every time he opened his mouth, a rich mouthful of fragrant vintage poured in–delicious and intoxicating, but making it rather difficult to breathe.
When it came to kissing technique, Qin Lan and Su Xiaoyue were both at kindergarten level.
What did kindergarten level mean? It meant they had no technique at all.
Besides the romantic, bashful atmosphere, there was also the inexperienced awkwardness unique to young people.
By the time Qin Lan regained his senses, he belatedly realized he had just tasted the most delicious pastry in the world.
Unfortunately, he’d been so dazed at the time that he barely remembered it.
“They said it would be easy…”
Su Xiaoyue broke free of Qin Lan’s embrace as if fleeing.
She covered her face, breathing rapidly, her lovely cheeks now as red as peaches.
Our dear student Qin Lan wasn’t doing any better.
He sat rigidly on the bench like a statue.
Only after a very long while did Qin Lan finally squeeze out two words.
“Thank you…”
Perhaps even five hundred years from now, no scholar would be able to determine why he had chosen to say “thank you” at that particular moment.
Nor could anyone understand what precisely those words were meant to express.
Su Xiaoyue replied quietly, “…You’re welcome.”
Even a thousand years from now, no one would be able to determine why Su Xiaoyue answered with “you’re welcome.”
Okay. They were equally hopeless.
In a certain sense, these two truly were an extraordinary match.
“That activity just now… will we be doing it again?”
Qin Lan brainstormed for around ten seconds before finally describing that brief, beautiful moment as an “activity.”
It was honestly impressive that he had managed to find such a devastatingly awful word.
His language-processing module was clearly on the verge of complete failure.
“In your dreams.”
Flustered and embarrassed, Su Xiaoyue turned her head away.
She darted several steps away from Qin Lan, her movements light and graceful, like a dancing elf.
Did elves truly exist in this world?
Qin Lan didn’t know, but he thought that if they did, they must have been modeled after Su Xiaoyue.
Once some distance opened between them, the two whose thoughts had been scrambled by nerves finally had a chance to calm down.
Like any other young couple at the school, they took a leisurely walk past Clear Spring Academy’s famous landmarks, chatting about everything that had happened to each of them during their time apart.
Half a step apart, they walked shoulder to shoulder, shadow alongside shadow.
Quite a few students noticed them. After all, either one would have stood out alone.
Qin Lan wasn’t wearing his badge, nor was he exceptionally handsome, yet even his calm, measured stride made it difficult for anyone who looked at him to turn away.
Of course, he wasn’t deliberately restraining his aura.
Ever since learning how popular Su Xiaoyue was at Clear Spring Academy, Qin Lan had acted like a stray dog guarding its food… No, that wasn’t right. Like a lion defending its territory.
Not only did he leave his aura unrestrained, he actively projected it.
Su Xiaoyue was the only one unaffected. Everyone else who saw Qin Lan felt as if each step he took landed in time with their heartbeat, radiating suffocating pressure.
“You really are childish…” Su Xiaoyue naturally saw through him. She found it both funny and secretly thrilling.
Most girls dreamed of a partner who was a hero riding in on a rainbow cloud.
He would stand beside her beneath everyone’s admiring gaze, silently declaring his claim every moment simply by being there.
And Qin Lan clearly had the qualifications to do exactly that.
As word of the earlier incident spread across the campus forum, more and more people heard the news. Naturally, no one dared come looking for trouble.
Even Qian Yang, a member of the Elite Program, had suffered a crushing defeat. Ordinary students like them would only be courting death.
“I never expected you to become this powerful.”
Su Xiaoyue sounded wistful. “A three-star Anomaly Hunter… Back when we were at school, someone like that was beyond anything we dared imagine.”
“Even the Qian Group, which once seemed impossibly far above us, was brought down by you…”
Qin Lan grinned, fishing for praise.
“I’m not just any three-star Anomaly Hunter. I receive the same treatment as a four-star… This badge wasn’t easy to get.”
As he spoke, his smile abruptly stiffened.
“After Director Lu sacrificed himself, I was supposed to take charge of Safe Zone 088…”
The thought of Lu Xingshan’s death weighed heavily on Qin Lan’s heart.
He would rather that disaster had never happened. He would rather he didn’t have this badge at all.
Su Xiaoyue heard the change in his emotions and took his right hand.
“He made that arrangement because he believed in you.”
“He believed you would defeat those things and bring humanity a more peaceful future. He also believed you were the only person he could entrust with that responsibility.”
Su Xiaoyue’s voice was gentle. “I believe in you too. You’ve never let anyone down.”
Her words brought a little warmth back to Qin Lan’s heart.
He had just opened his mouth to respond when a fierce shout rang out in the distance.
“Get! Your filthy hoof! Off her!”
“You dare hold my wife’s hand?!”
“You must be tired of living!”
Wife?
Who?
Qin Lan looked up in shock. Not because of the newcomer’s strength, nor because someone dared pick a fight with him.
It was because the person shouting was a woman.
“Wait…” Qin Lan turned blankly toward the conflicted Su Xiaoyue and asked tentatively, “Is this what I think it is?”
Watching the figure rapidly approach, Su Xiaoyue sighed helplessly. “Yes… Be careful. She’s very strong, and she’s also insane.”
“Holy shit!”
Qin Lan jolted. “My wife’s wife has come to beat me up?!”