Chapter 458

“Ning Chu~”

The PE class wasn’t even over yet, but Yan Xinya had already finished playing basketball.

She had her hair tied in a ponytail, came bustling over all noisy and energetic, plopped down right next to Ning Chu, grinning as she tried to snuggle up against her.

“Hey! You’re all sweaty, don’t come any closer!”

Ning Chu pushed the wolf girl’s face away in disgust, gave her a quick once-over, then asked with concern, “You’re not even wearing your jacket. Aren’t you cold?”

“Not cold at all! I just exercised!”

The wolf girl boldly showed off her wheat-colored waist, even puffing out her chest proudly and deliberately sucking in her stomach to make her not-very-defined abs look a bit more obvious.

“What’s there to brag about when it’s that small?”

“I’m bragging about my waist, okay! Do you dare to wear a crop top?”

The succubus’s silver markings were on her lower abdomen. Wearing high-waisted pants or skirts would usually be fine, but she was afraid of accidents.

If her pants slipped down even a little and exposed the silver markings, that would be bad.

After fooling around for a bit, Yan Xinya’s gaze finally landed on Qing Qing, who was sitting not far away.

The smile on her face paused slightly. Then she leaned close to Ning Chu’s ear and whispered, “Who’s that? She’s pretty cute, just a bit flat.”

“Her name’s Qing Qing. She’s even more introverted than Lily, doesn’t like talking much.”

“She looks so easy to bully~ So cute~ I wanna take her home and hug her~”

“You want to take everything home.”

Ning Chu rolled her eyes at the wolf girl and instinctively turned her head to look at Qing Qing, only to see the girl lower her head even more. Her short, ear-length hair hid her eyes, revealing only her straight nose bridge and delicate chin.

Why does she feel so awkward and shy?

Come to think of it, according to the book’s setting, Qing Qing should identify more as a woman, right?

So here’s the problem, should she live in the boys’ dorm or the girls’ dorm?

When she wrote the hentai, she never bothered writing details like this.

Ning Chu muttered to herself internally.

Yan Xinya, sitting beside her, asked again, “Ning Chu, should we go out and play during the May Day holiday?”

“I’d rather stay in the apartment.”

“Go all out battling Wen Yang? It’s a three-day break! Can Wen Yang even handle that!?”

Ning Chu glared at her, embarrassed and annoyed. “How is that possible!”

You should be asking whetherIcan handle it!

“Then come out with us~” Yan Xinya had already planned everything. “How about going to Lily’s place!”

“Again…?”

“Lily’s place has famous hot springs~ Catch the last bit before summer, get rid of dampness~” The wolf girl wrapped her arms around Ning Chu’s arm and shook it like a kid begging for candy, whining coquettishly, “Come on~ come on~”

Hot springs…

Ning Chu had never soaked in a hot spring in her life, though she had a vague idea of them.

They showed up all the time in hentai, whether it was wholesome 1v1 romance or full-on orgies, hot springs fit every scenario perfectly.

She’d even written a short hot-spring scene in her own novel.

“Then what about Wen Yang…”

“Everyone goes! Call Shaoqing and Qian Qian too, makehimpay!”

“With that many people, Lily’s place won’t fit everyone, right?”

“Just sleep together on the floor~ A big shared setup has such a nice vibe~”

Ning Chu pressed her temple with a headache and finally nodded helplessly. “I’ll ask Wen Yang. If he goes, I’ll go.”

“He’ll definitely follow whatever you want~”

That was true.

If she was even a little forceful, Wen Yang had never once gone against her wishes.

But Ning Chu had never been an assertive person to begin with. Even though Wen Yang obeyed her every word, she had never truly forced him to do anything.

“What if he already has plans for May Day?”

She brushed it off casually, glancing to the side—only to realize that Qing Qing had somehow moved to another patch of shade farther away. She wasn’t on her phone, just fiddling with her fingers, no one knew what she was doing.

Yan Xinya followed her gaze and muttered, “Why does she seem so withdrawn?”

“No clue.”

“She looks really insecure.”

Girls who were “factory original” really did tend to be more delicate in their thoughts. Even the usually loud and carefree wolf girl was more perceptive than Ning Chu in this regard. She had sat next to Qing Qing for almost half an hour and never once thought about it from that angle.

But the explanation made sense, especially when combined with the odd trait of being a futa. Insecurity almost felt like the most natural personality outcome.

Wow, so this is my fault again, huh…

Ning Chu let out a helpless, wry smile.

From Wen Yang’s family, to Zhang Shaoqing’s fetish and darkening, to the Qing Qing in front of her—it felt as if every tragedy stemmed from the “character settings” she had casually written back then.

Unlike the first two, she actually felt a strong sense of empathy toward Qing Qing.

After all, she herself had once gone through a half-male, half-female state. She understood that cautiousness, the constant fear of being exposed as a freak.

Not daring to date. Not even knowing whether she should date men or women. Not daring to use public restrooms. Any gaze from others brought crushing psychological pressure, making her overthink and nervously suspect that she’d already been found out.

Thankfully, she had met Wen Yang.

“Xinya.”

“Hm?”

“I’m giving you a mission.” Ning Chu tugged on Yan Xinya’s hand and gestured with her lips toward Qing Qing. “Use your shameless offensive tactics to get Qing Qing’s contact info. Anything works.”

“Hey! How am I shameless?!”

She rephrased it. “Use your enthusiasm and openness to get her contact info!”

“Now that sounds better~” Yan Xinya stood up smugly. “Don’t forget to buy me milk tea~ Achoo!”

“I told you to put your jacket on…”

The wolf girl rubbed her nose indifferently, slipped on her jacket, and ran off enthusiastically to harass Qing Qing.

This girl was a natural extrovert, good-looking too—annoying yet impossible to resist. Judging by the situation, getting Qing Qing contact info seemed like a sure thing~

Back then, Ning Chu herself had become the wolf girl’s best friend under precisely this kind of relentless pestering.

A faint fragrance drifted into her nose. Without lifting her head, she asked, “Where did you run off to just now?”

“Sister Lily took me to look for the evil being! We circled the whole campus and still found no clues~”

Only then did Ning Chu turn to look at Lily, who wore an expressionless face. Lily was holding an octopus-shaped water bottle. Inside it floated weeds, wildflowers, bugs, butterflies… while the cute octopus itself had sunk to the bottom, still listless. Its tentacles barely moved even after a long while—at least four of its eight legs looked like they’d already stepped through the gates of hell.

Isn’t the evil being right there?

Xi Xi stood in front of them with her hands on her hips, complaining, “I think Sister Lily just wants to catch bugs to raise her octopus pet! She wasn’t seriously looking for the evil being at all~”

“Xinya said we’re going to hot springs for May Day?” Ning Chu ignored Xi Xi and asked Lily.

“Mm.”

Though Lily only responded with a single sound and no emotional fluctuation, Ning Chu still heard a sense of utter despair.

“Can I go too?” Xi Xi immediately forgot her complaints and rushed over eagerly, her eyes shining.

“Mm.”

“Then I have to prepare properly! I’ll buy a pretty swimsuit!”

Lily froze, then quickly lowered her head and sent Ning Chu a link to a three-piece bikini, typing enthusiastically:

“This one’s pretty! Really!”

“Not wearing it!”

Link for character illustration:

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