Chapter 106: The Vinegar Jar Spirit

"Believe it, believe it." Wen Ling shook him, smiling and coaxing him.

Zhou Yinhe was easily coaxed; Wen Ling acted cute, left a kiss on his face, and Zhou Yinhe honestly and affectionately held Wen Ling as they went to wash up.

"I want to call my older sister."

Zhou Yinhe sat beside her, pulled her arm, insisting she hold him.

"Call, can't I listen?"

Not exactly; Wen Ling just felt holding him like that was awkward, as if she were a domineering CEO and he her petite wife.

"Then call." Zhou Yinhe lifted his chin, leaned against her, pulled out his phone and started playing a game.

Wen Ling: "..." Fine.

She dialed Gu Qingying; as soon as it connected, the other side unleashed a tirade.

"Do you know what time it is here? Disturbing someone's sweet dream will bring retribution."

Wen Ling burst out laughing, her tone utterly unapologetic: "You didn't tell me where you are, how would I know what time it is there?"

"How would I know you'd call me?"

"Who made you act like you've gone missing? Blame whoever."

The woman snorted coldly, lazily saying: "Speak, what's up?"

"Can't I call you if there's nothing?" Wen Ling adjusted her sitting posture, letting Zhou Yinhe lean more comfortably, and said softly: "I miss you, when are you planning to come to Hua Guo to see me?"

Hearing that, Zhou Yinhe frowned and glanced at her; Wen Ling pinched his chin to turn him back, then casually covered his eyes.

That dissatisfied look was really obvious.

On the other end, Gu Qingying drawled: "You're thinking of me, surely nothing good; speak up, help me jump the queue for those two girls you recommended?"

"Really not, they can just make their own appointments; I genuinely miss you, it's been ages since I've seen you."

"No time, I just took on a job; I won't be free until next month, then maybe I can squeeze in a visit to see you? By the way, introduce me to your boyfriend." Gu Qingying yawned, rolled over, tugged the blanket, preparing to sleep again, and mumbled: "Lu Zhaoye said you ditched him for your boyfriend; I've only seen him in your profile picture, but I really want to see what he looks like in person, to understand why you like him so much."

Gu Qingying understood Wen Ling's tastes, knowing she had no immunity to good-looking people, so her boyfriend would definitely be handsome.

Wen Ling snorted with laughter: "He's petty, besides, the people I like must be the best-looking."

"Fine, hang up, sis is tired."

After saying that, she didn't even heed Wen Ling's protest and directly hung up.

Wen Ling withdrew her hand from covering Zhou Yinhe's eyes; he looked up and saw his game had already been lost, and he'd lost several points for being reported after going AFK.

Wen Ling rested her chin on her hand, watching him exit the game, then he suddenly flipped and pressed her beneath him.

"What do you want her to do?"

Wen Ling raised an eyebrow and countered: "Why can't I think of her?"

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips, unsure what to say, feeling anything he said would seem overly petty; Wen Ling insisted on exposing his little thoughts, reaching out to pinch his earlobe and play with it.

"You know, you can't become a spirit now, right?"

Zhou Yinhe didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

"You're just a vinegar jar that's become a spirit; what else could it mean? You're now like a centuries-old vinegar jar, so sour you've been pickled to the core."

Upon hearing that, Zhou Yinhe's face darkened; he reached out to scratch Wen Ling's ticklish spots, making her break into a sweat while she laughed and cursed him.

"You're annoyed and angry, right, Zhou Yinhe? Let me go, jerk——"

"Exactly, I'm annoyed and angry; what are you going to do about me?" Zhou Yinhe said righteously.

"I, haha, I was wrong, I was wrong, next time I won't expose you." Wen Ling tilted her head back, laughing until her cheekbones ached, tears about to fall.

Only then did Zhou Yinhe release her, stand up, pull Wen Ling to her feet, have her sit properly, then, crouching beside her leg, he suddenly realized: what does "next time I won't expose you" mean?

He widened his eyes at Wen Ling, "You……"

Wen Ling shoved him away hard, stood up, and ran out of the room.

His reaction was too obvious; Wen Ling feared that if she stayed longer, tonight—oh no, tomorrow—she wouldn't even need to get out of bed.

Just as she ran out of the room, she bumped into Aunt Zhou, who was about to hug Hehe to take a bath; Aunt Zhou looked at her rosy little face, noticed her moist eyes, and assumed they'd done something.

"……"

Wen Ling's rosy little face flushed completely; she stammered: "Um, Aunt Zhou, he just scratched my ticklish spot, so I ran out."

Aunt Zhou blinked, giving the expression that said, "You don't need to explain; I'm leaving right away."

She hurriedly pressed down on the headset to look for Wen Ling's Hehe, took a few steps downstairs, leaving Wen Ling misunderstood and unable to convince anyone of her explanation.

As soon as Zhou Yinhe stepped out of the room, he saw Aunt Zhou, dodged back inside at top speed, only after she left did he leisurely come out, and as soon as he stood firm, Wen Ling kicked him.

"Hiss, you're abusive."

Wen Ling rolled her eyes, walked downstairs: "Stop pretending, I didn't even use force."

Zhou Yinhe directly laughed, kept pace with her, arm around her shoulder, and softly coaxed: "Don't be angry, okay?"

Wen Ling glanced at him sideways, too lazy to argue, and said lightly: "Aren't you supposed to nap? Why are you coming down?"

"Afraid you'd get angry and run off."

"This is my home; even if I were truly angry, I'd just kick you out—how could I run away?"

"Then when will you come stay with me at my place for a few days?"

"Nice dream."

Following him, there's no way to escape; going into his den is no different, might as well endure his antics—Wen Ling wasn't that foolish, she shook off the shoulder he had draped over her and snorted: "Stop scheming."

"All right." Zhou Yinhe shrugged, recalling the message Ke Chengyu had sent that morning, and asked for her opinion.

"Ke Chengyu said there's an underground auction at Mei ying tonight; if we're bored we can go for the fun, he asked if we want to go."

Wen Ling readily agreed, then asked: "Who's hosting it? What items are up for auction?"

"It's organized by insiders; I'm not sure about the items either, but before it was quite interesting—all sorts of strange things—just for fun, similar to Nys."

Only by evening did Wen Ling learn what was available.

Snakes, eagles, tigers, wolves— that was fine; she knew many rich young masters liked keeping such beasts, but she hadn't expected there to be women, women who only served ordinary customers, and Wen Ling's face sank as she watched.

She sat on the second floor with her arms crossed, gazing down at the women being pushed up in cages, remained silent.

Zhou Yinhe frowned tightly, pulling Ke Chengyu over and asking, "No, what's going on this time? The ones at the back are still somewhat normal, but what's with all this up front?"

Ke Chengyu saw Wen Ling emanating a cold aura all over, and explained in a low voice, "I'm not sure what's going on either; I'll go ask."