Chapter 448

“Spring is here~ Animals have entered their mating season once again~”

Getting off the bus from the rear door, Ning Chu held her umbrella and muttered to herself with a teasing, cheerful expression.

Just thinking about how so many people would be “playing succubus” along with her made her inexplicably happier.

“Hm?”

Wen Yang turned back in confusion to look at the little succubus behind him.

“For the next two months, Lily’s dorm is probably going to be hosting lewd parties every single day!”

“That exaggerated?”

“Oh, absolutely! Her whole dorm is full of beast girls! And both the vixen and Xinya go into heat in spring. As for Lily, she’s in heat 24/7.”

Ning Chu clicked her tongue as she imagined the scene. “Terrifying~”

Though, to be fair, she herself had been living it up every night too…

After getting off the bus, the two of them arrived at a vegetable market about an hour’s ride away from campus.

This was a market Lily had told her about. The prices were even cheaper than the supermarket, and the selection was pretty good. Sure, being out in the suburbs, it couldn’t compare to the downtown markets, but for Ning Chu, it was more than enough.

After all, she didn’t know how to cook many dishes anyway.

She and Wen Yang had already eaten lunch; they were here to buy ingredients for dinner.

“Do you still have to go to work later?”

“Yeah. I’ll come back in the evening, and if it doesn’t rain tonight, I’ll go set up my stall again.”

“Why are you always so busy~”

“Starting next week I’ll also be training with the basketball team, three times a week.”

Seeing the little succubus puff out her cheeks slightly, that dissatisfied yet adorable look made Wen Yang reach out and rub Ning Chu’s head. “Aren’t we together every day anyway?”

Not wanting to look like a clingy little girl, Ning Chu turned her head away and slapped the hand off her head.

“What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll look up a tutorial and cook it for you.”

“Whatever you want to eat. I’m not picky.”

The two of them walked into the alley where the market was located. It was already afternoon, and it was raining. Only about thirty percent of the stalls were still open.

The ground was covered in filthy puddles, piles of rotten vegetable leaves sat by the roadside, and there was a faint fishy smell in the air.

The hygiene at this far-out market was pretty bad, but Ning Chu and Wen Yang looked like tourists on a countryside outing—curiously looking around, stopping to peek at anything that caught their eye.

Lily had brought her here yesterday, and back then she’d just wanted to hurry up, buy the groceries, and leave.

This time, with her arm hooked around Wen Yang’s, she tiptoed and quietly pointed things out to her. “That butcher is super shady. I bought a bunch of meat from him yesterday, and when I got home, I realized a lot was missing!”

“And that crab seller is shady too! He said they were full of meat and roe, but when I steamed them and cracked them open, they were basically empty!”

Wen Yang asked, confused, “Crabs? I didn’t eat crab last night, did I?”

“Of course I wouldn’t let you eat empty ones~ I ate them all myself!”

Ning Chu lifted her nose smugly.

Compared to supermarkets, markets like this were cheaper and the produce was fresher, but there were definitely more traps. Most stalls had no clear pricing, everything was negotiated verbally, and there was always the risk of being shorted. It all depended on the vendor’s conscience.

Ning Chu didn’t bother bargaining. Whatever price the vendor named, she paid it cleanly, bought the ingredients, hung the bags onto Wen Yang’s arm, and moved on to the next stall.

“Feels like we bought things too expensive…” she muttered quietly. “Do you think we’re being treated like suckers?”

“As long as it’s cheaper than the supermarket, it’s fine, right?” Wen Yang comforted her from behind. “Besides, the seller was pretty nice. He even helped prep everything for us.”

Not only did they help pick and clean the vegetables, the fish was sliced, and the meat was cut into thin strips just as requested. When Ning Chu got home, all she’d need to do was rinse them, sprinkle some seasoning, marinate them a bit, and they’d be ready to go straight into the pan.

“Yeah… Wen Yang! Do you want a jianxiang pancake?!”

Ning Chu suddenly spotted a jianxiang pancake stall on one side of the market. Her eyes lit up as she craned her neck to look. “It just came off the griddle!”

“If you want it, just buy it.”

“But we just ate…” She hesitated for a moment, then tugged Wen Yang forward to keep walking. “Forget it, forget it. I already had fried chicken and milk tea earlier. If I eat this much, I’ll get fat and die.”

Even though Wen Yang was very satisfied with her figure, she herself still wanted to be a bit slimmer—especially her thighs.

“If you can’t finish it, I’ll eat it for you.”

That one sentence immediately brought Ning Chu to a halt. She excitedly grabbed Wen Yang and dragged her straight to the pancake stall.

“Boss, give us one serving!”

Even though she was from the south, she had an especially deep love for all kinds of wheat-based foods.

She took the pancake from the vendor, happily took a bite, and then her brows instantly knotted together. Without hesitation, she tossed the pancake at Wen Yang.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s really delicious… you eat it.”

Wen Yang could tell at a glance that the pancake tasted absolutely awful.

Ning Chu might be getting a bit spoiled by him lately, but not to the point where she’d buy something, take one bite, and throw it away if it was actually good.

“My hands are full.”

“Then I’ll help you—really, it’s super tasty!”

Ning Chu turned around, skewered a big chunk of pancake with the stick, and stuffed it straight into Wen Yang’s mouth. “Right?”

Wen Yang’s cheeks puffed up like a hamster’s. He chewed hard for a moment before swallowing, then shot Ning Chu a glare. “Are you trying to choke me to death?”

“Is it good?”

“So-so.”

“So-so?! There’s no flavor at all! It’s like a plain flatbread! They’re selling jianxiang pancakes and won’t even brush on enough sauce! It’s unbelievably bad!”

Ning Chu looked indignant. She had never eaten such a terrible jianxiang pancake in her life!

Even the cafeteria did better!

After circling the market twice, Wen Yang was already carrying several bags of ingredients, but Ning Chu still kept poking her head around, wanting to buy more.

“That’s about enough. Otherwise cooking will be a pain for you too.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got nothing to do this afternoon anyway, I’ll make you something good.”

Ning Chu was already planning in her head what she could cook with the ingredients they’d bought.

Shredded pork for stir-fried pork with green peppers, sliced fish for pickled fish soup, stir-fried water spinach with garlic, and a pot of oyster-and-tofu soup…

All of them could be learned from tutorials, it wouldn’t be that hard. She lifted her chin confidently. “Just wait till you get back this evening and eat a proper meal! It’ll definitely be way better than the cafeteria.”

Wen Yang did a quick calculation of how much they’d spent today. “The problem is… cooking seems more expensive than eating at the cafeteria?”

“……”

Ning Chu froze for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. “Home cooking is healthier~ Last week someone even found metal wire in the cafeteria food~”

Come to think of it, it reallywasworse than eating at the cafeteria! Not only did it cost more, it also wasted her entire afternoon!

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like a loss, but then an image suddenly popped into her mind of Wen Yang eating heartily.

Watching Wen Yang finish every last bite of the meal she’d carefully prepared—that sense of accomplishment and happiness filling her chest was something most things in the world couldn’t compare to.

Maybe… it wasn’t such a loss after all.

Link for character illustration:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IxOucqi87ss3bmqfO9zI2gYiM1Gy8Hz2