Chapter 32: Misunderstanding

(The author lacks literary skill to capture the poetic quality of Qingyi’s speech; apologies to all readers.)

As the two chatted and grew increasingly harmonious, they unknowingly arrived at the restaurant, found an empty table, and sat down—then, when ordering, Ye Qingfeng and Zhu Yuan once again deferred to each other, until Qingyi, unable to bear it any longer, snatched the menu and completed the ordering herself.

Qingyi set down the overly sweet milk tea, poured herself a cup of tea, and drank it down in one gulp—only then did she feel truly alive again.

She didn’t know why; she was usually so emotionally stable, yet in this short time, she had no idea how many times she’d sunk into sullen anger.

After Zhu Yuan explained everything to Ye Qingfeng along the way, he finally understood that this little girl named Qingyi was a robot—and also Zhu Yuan’s colleague.

Then Zhu Yuan briefly introduced Ye Qingfeng to Qingyi, though aside from his name and trivial details, she had no idea what else to say.

“So this kid is actually a robot?”

Ye Qingfeng, expression stunned, leaned close to Zhu Yuan, who was still talking nonstop, and lowered his voice to confirm again.

“K...kid?”

At that moment, Qingyi suddenly realized her superior hearing wasn’t such a good thing—her already calmed emotions vanished in an instant, her grip tightening uncontrollably until the teacup shattered in her hand.

A loud “bang!” echoed!

【Ding! Qingyi’s affection decreased by 5%. Current affection: -5%.】

Zhu Yuan, distracted by Ye Qingfeng’s sudden closeness and having barely heard what he said, was jolted back to reality by the sudden “bang!”

“Senior Qingyi, what’s wrong?”

Zhu Yuan leapt to her feet, rushed to Qingyi’s side, wiped tea splattered everywhere, and carefully gathered the broken shards of the cup.

While Zhu Yuan bustled about, Ye Qingfeng and Qingyi sat across the table, their gazes locked.

Qingyi was now inexplicably angry—even though she’d been angry ever since meeting Ye Qingfeng.

To Qingyi, Zhu Yuan was more than a sister; she’d never doubted she’d one day have a boyfriend—but this guy right here? Absolutely not!!

Leaving other things aside, this brat was still staring at her! Was he provoking her? She couldn’t take it anymore!!

He must be trying to steal Zhu Yuan away from her—I won’t allow it!

If Ye Qingfeng could hear Qingyi’s thoughts right now, he’d scream his innocence!

Because right now, he was being scolded by the system—and had zero intention of provoking Qingyi.

【Are you trying to kill me? I told you to court the target, and you call her a kid?】

『She clearly looks like a kid! And before, she was calling you “host”! Now you’re dropping the act, huh?』

Ye Qingfeng’s expression now was one of utter helplessness, but to Qingyi across the table, it looked exactly like: “Fine, I won’t argue with a child.”

【It doesn’t matter what you call me—explain what this “problem” even means! Even I couldn’t take it!】

『Alright, alright—I’ll apologize to Qingyi in a moment, okay?』

【Exactly! That’s the point! Why treat me like a child?!】

『? Aren’t you literally a child? And even if Qingyi’s a robot, isn’t she still a child?』

【You... have you ever considered the possibility that my real age could be your grandmother’s? And that the “other child” you think you’re talking about? Her mental age could easily be your grandmother’s too?!】

“What?! You could be my grandmother?! You’ve been faking youth?!”

He felt the system had no reason to lie—thinking of a being old enough to be his grandmother, speaking in that saccharine voice every day, made him feel strangely nauseated, and he blurted out involuntarily.

...Fine.

“Hmph... you little brat—!” Qingyi snorted twice, clenched her teeth, and slowly rose to her feet, a three-section staff suddenly appearing in her hand. “This is too much!”

Qingyi hesitated, then sheathed her weapon, lunged forward, and slammed Ye Qingfeng to the ground, plopping her full weight onto his abdomen, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

“Die!”

Seeing Ye Qingfeng still dazed, Qingyi didn’t hesitate—her fists rained down on him without pause.

“Wait—wait! What’s going on?!”

As pain struck him, Ye Qingfeng instinctively raised his arms to shield his face—he’d been tackled without warning, and he couldn’t understand why Qingyi was beating him. Had he done something so heinous?!

“Let’s talk this out! Stop! Stop!” Ye Qingfeng, seeing Qingyi ignore him and even increase the force of her blows, cried out to Zhu Yuan for help. “Zhu Yuan, save me!”

Zhu Yuan had just finished cleaning up the glass shards and had witnessed the entire scene of Qingyi tackling Ye Qingfeng—until he shouted her name, her mind remained utterly blank.

“Senior Qingyi, stop hitting him!”

She rushed over and tried to stop Qingyi’s violence; when Qingyi showed no sign of stopping, she wrapped her arms around her waist and dragged her backward.

Before leaving, Qingyi delivered two final kicks to Ye Qingfeng’s body—only then did she feel somewhat satisfied.

“Um...”

The server, just stepping into the room with a tray of dishes, froze in place, the scene before her delivering a crushing blow to her young psyche—she couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t enter...

Anyone who’d ever worked in this area knew who those two were: Zhu Yuan, the famed officer of the Public Security Bureau, and her partner, Qingyi.

To the public, they were righteous officers; to the Wraiths, they were evil devils.

Once towering idols in the server’s mind, they were now fighting over a man.

Yes—in her mind, a full-blown soap opera had already unfolded.

The three inside finally noticed the server at the door, pretended nothing had happened, sat down nearby, and all turned to look at her.

Oh no... they’re not going to kill me to cover this up, are they?!

“Um, Miss Server, if you don’t bring the food soon, it’ll get cold!”

Ye Qingfeng noticed the trembling server standing frozen—perhaps afraid of something—but since his stomach was growling loudly, he thoughtfully offered a reminder.

“O-okay... I’ll bring it right away...”

The server took a deep breath, repeated soothing words to herself, then dashed forward, slammed the tray down with lightning speed, and bolted out of the room—slamming the door shut behind her.

“I’m... alive...” The server leaned against the door, thinking about having to bring more food inside soon, immediately pulled out her phone and texted her best friend, dumping every wild suspicion she’d just had.

Soon enough, rumors would spread: Qingyi had discovered she was the third party, her rival was her own partner Zhu Yuan, and in a fit of jealous rage, she’d beaten up the scumbag.