Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Really Like It

In the night air, the chirping of insects rose and fell, ensuring the night was no longer silent.

Mu Qiuyu’s fingers, tinged with ointment, pressed almost imperceptibly against Lu Ning’s leg. The scent of milk tea was weighed down by the bitter fragrance of the medicine.

Lu Ning froze instantly. She had absolutely not expected that Mu Qiuyu was, in fact, auditing her accounts.

The ten-point deficit was for the ointment she had redeemed earlier for the “Inner World” version of Mu Qiuyu. At the time, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to return often, so she had specifically redeemed three extra tubes for the Mu Qiuyu staying inside.

Lu Ning felt her head throbbing. She raised a hand to scratch her nose, offering a forced explanation: “Maybe… I drank two extra cups of milk tea? And then I had some crawfish, and sweet and sour ribs, hawthorn balls…”

Lu Ning’s movements were clearly those of someone with a guilty conscience; Mu Qiuyu saw through her at a glance. However, she didn’t understand—was eating a little extra worth being this nervous?

—“Of course not~”

Mu Qiuyu gripped the milk tea in her hand. It felt as if a voice had echoed in her mind. That voice was hauntingly familiar, full of playful denial. Mu Qiuyu snapped her head up to look around the room.

But her line of sight was empty, save for Lu Ning, who was becoming even more flustered by the sudden movement. Lu Ning looked at Mu Qiuyu’s expression, feeling bewildered: “W-what is it?”

“Did you hear a sound?” Mu Qiuyu asked coldly.

“No.” Lu Ning shook her head. This girl had been timid since she was a child. Seeing Mu Qiuyu’s guarded gaze, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. “You don’t think this room is… ‘unclean,’ do you?”

Observing Lu Ning’s reaction, the intensity in Mu Qiuyu’s eyes softened slightly. For some reason, she felt a flicker of interest. She lightly raised an eyebrow and teased Lu Ning: “What if I say yes?”

“!”

Lu Ning instantly tensed up. But just as she began to look around—staring at the wardrobe and the doorway where ghosts often appear in horror movies—she felt a light flick on her forehead.

“You’re a system, and you’re actually afraid of ghosts?” Mu Qiuyu’s voice was tinged with helplessness.

The girl’s cool fingers touched Lu Ning’s forehead, bringing a strange sense of clarity. Lu Ning snapped back to reality, realizing that things really should be as Mu Qiuyu said. They were huddled exceptionally close now, the light fracturing within the girl’s pupils.

Within those eyes, Lu Ning saw more than just helplessness; there was a smiling, ambiguous meaning. “I… I thought fear of ghosts was an emotion unique to humans.”

In an instant, the heart Lu Ning had just managed to set down was hoisted up again. She really didn’t want to be Schrödinger’s cat anymore! But even if she didn’t want to, she still had to fix the situation. Lu Ning scratched her face again, putting on an embarrassed front to save face: “Well, even systems can be cowards.”

Therefore, systems can be played by humans, too.

Mu Qiuyu watched Lu Ning with a calm gaze, but a line of text was being hammered out in her heart. However, she had no intention of opening Lu Ning’s “Schrödinger’s box” right now; that would be far too boring.

So, Mu Qiuyu pulled the conversation back to the main point. “If you’re a coward, don’t spend money recklessly. From now on, you must save a quarter of every mission commission as a reserve fund, understand?”

Lu Ning accepted the suggestion seriously: “I understand.”

“Good cat.”

Mu Qiuyu’s praise came suddenly, as if on a whim. As she spoke, the shadow of her palm glided lightly across Lu Ning’s vision, landing on top of her head along with the compliment. The kitten’s ears were still so soft and easily bullied; Mu Qiuyu couldn’t help but pet them a few extra times.

Smooth strands of hair wound around her long fingers. The pitch-black color made her remember once again how Lu Ning had submissively bowed her head in the arms of the other her. For some reason, this “baseless worry” caused an uncontrollable unease in Mu Qiuyu.

“Lu Ling, your points originate from me. You can only belong to me, understand?” Mu Qiuyu reminded her in a faint voice, her neatly trimmed nails brushing almost imperceptibly against the rim of the kitten’s ear.

An electric current surged through Lu Ning’s head, making her shiver. This feeling was so strange; even though she wasn’t currently a cat, she was abnormally accepting of this gesture from Mu Qiuyu.

It had been a long time since anyone had praised her. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be complimented and cared for. She needed this intimacy—especially hearing the other person state the value of her existence over and over again.

Those slender fingers toyed with Lu Ning’s ears, kneading the long hair on her head into her palm. Lu Ning lingered on the sensation of Mu Qiuyu petting her head; she might even say she liked it.

“Really like it.”

“Really like it.”

“Really like it.”

Just as this thought popped into Lu Ning’s head, the prompt box appeared out of nowhere. It cascaded into countless pop-up windows reading “Really like it,” instantly filling Lu Ning’s vision with those three words.

This was the first time Lu Ning had seen her thoughts materialized into text. She was completely unprepared; the suddenness made her face burn up instantly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mu Qiuyu noticed the change in Lu Ning’s expression and looked down.

“N-nothing.” Lu Ning stammered. As Mu Qiuyu looked down, Lu Ning lowered her head even further, terrified that Mu Qiuyu would see her embarrassed face.

“There’s a problem with my system, I’m going to go fix it. A lot of pop-ups appeared. Wait a moment,” Lu Ning said incoherently to Mu Qiuyu while frantically clicking away the prompt boxes in her mind.

But as her voice fell, Mu Qiuyu said: “I won’t wait.”

The crystal-blue light danced in Lu Ning’s vision, making her eyes sting. For some reason, she felt Mu Qiuyu’s words were a bit cruel. Was she disgusted by her?

Just as Lu Ning’s mind began to wander, Mu Qiuyu added: “It’s late, time to sleep.”

Perhaps even Lu Ning didn’t realize that the phrase she once used on Mu Qiuyu—”A relationship is most fragile when it is first established”—now applied to her as well. And isn’t it true that the bystander sees clearly while the participant is mired in confusion?

Lu Ning visibly relaxed. She understood Mu Qiuyu’s meaning and wasn’t sad anymore. Instead, she nodded and said sensibly: “Oh, then you rest. I’ll go to the sofa.”

Saying this, Lu Ning stood up with the milk tea she had mostly finished. But just as she was about to stand, her hand was caught.

“?”

Lu Ning tilted her head back, her soft plush ears springing through the gentle light. She looked bewildered, gazing back innocently at the girl who had grabbed her hand. Under the lamp, those black pupils revealed a layer of crystal blue, like a glacier in the middle of the night. She was so purely clean that it made Mu Qiuyu pause.

But she recovered quickly. Before Lu Ning could notice anything, she stated: “The bed is big enough.”

“Is that… okay?” Lu Ning hesitated. There was only one quilt; how were they supposed to sleep?

The act of grabbing Lu Ning’s wrist had been sudden; Mu Qiuyu wasn’t actually sure why she had done it. However, she didn’t regret or reject the action, nor did she analyze her logic. She narrowed her eyes slightly, shifting the focus to Lu Ning: “Why didn’t you have this concern when you were a cat?”

“Or, do you now have the consciousness of a human?”

What does it feel like to be suspected twice in a single hour? Lu Ning would definitely answer: Trembling with fear, like treading on thin ice. She didn’t dare let Mu Qiuyu open that Schrödinger’s guess. She immediately canceled her move to get off the bed and turned around. “Then I’ll sleep on this side.”

The girl wrapped herself in the quilt, revealing a pair of kitten ears under the light. Lu Ning kept her back to Mu Qiuyu, maintaining a very proper distance. “I’m going to fix the system. Goodnight, Mu Qiuyu.”

The thin quilt dipped between the two figures like a boundary line. Mu Qiuyu looked at Lu Ning’s back with a heavy gaze, then turned off the light.

The darkness made the glowing “Really like it” in Lu Ning’s vision even more obvious. She battled the haywire prompt boxes in her mind, frantically closing the “Really like it” messages.

It was then that a rustling sound came from behind her. Mu Qiuyu seemed to turn over, and the mattress beneath Lu Ning sank slightly. Just as Lu Ning worried if the sound of her cursing the prompt boxes in her head had been heard, a soft whisper reached the kitten’s ears: “Goodnight, Lu Ling.”

Thump. Thump.

In an instant, the prompt boxes in Lu Ning’s vision vanished. All that remained was the sound of her own irregular heartbeat.

Had she gone crazy too?

Lu Ning didn’t sleep very well that night. She dreamed that her prompt box had come to life, fluttering three large characters: “REALLY LIKE IT.” If she were caught, she would be eaten. So Lu Ning spent the night running, waking up physically and mentally exhausted.

She ate a couple of buns hastily and went to the police station with Mu Qiuyu. The teachers from both schools had already received the news and arrived early. As Lu Ning and Mu Qiuyu walked into the station courtyard, they saw the cars of the two principals parked facing each other across the road.

Mu Qiuyu found the scene interesting, completely failing to notice a black car driving in from behind. The car didn’t slow down at all, only honking its horn as it drew near her. Mu Qiuyu couldn’t dodge in time, but just as she reacted, Lu Ning had already pulled her aside.

The morning wind brushed Mu Qiuyu’s cheek with a cold, sharp temperature. Just as she was shielded by Lu Ning, she heard Lu Ning curse indignantly: “Dammit, what the hell?”

There was ruthlessness in the girl’s eyes. As she spoke, she moved forward to demand justice for Mu Qiuyu. But Mu Qiuyu looked at Lu Ning and calmly caught her hand. “That’s the Cen family’s car.”

“So what? Does that mean they can bully people!” Lu Ning’s gaze remained sharp, fixed on the car as it reversed into a parking spot.

As soon as the car stopped, the driver scrambled out. The rear door opened, and a tall, thin woman stepped out. Her hair was styled exquisitely, her head held high in an air of condescension. The high chassis unique to a Rolls-Royce gave the entire vehicle a natural aura of disdain, which suited her perfectly.

“Think you’re amazing just because you’re rich?” Beep—!

Lu Ning had a fire in her heart and was about to roll up her sleeves to back Mu Qiuyu up when a car horn blared nearby. Lu Ning turned to look, and a familiar flash of red crossed her vision.

In front of a Mercedes, the bulk of a Rolls-Royce was nothing. This car was even more aggressive, swerving right past the woman who had just gotten out. The woman’s face changed instantly. Several bodyguards immediately surrounded the red Mercedes.

Just as Lu Ning began to worry, the driver’s side door opened without hesitation. A pair of red high heels, perfectly suited to the car, stepped out into everyone’s view. Mu Jingqin brushed her long hair back and stepped out. “My, Mrs. Cen. Did you do your face yesterday specifically because you knew you’d be picking someone up from the police station today?”

Seeing it was Mu Jingqin, Mrs. Cen’s anger was instantly reigned in. “Miss Mu, long time no see.”

“It has been quite a while. Last time was your fortieth birthday, wasn’t it?” Mu Jingqin mused. She took off her sunglasses and looked at the woman’s face, pointing regrettably at the corner of her own eye. “This part hasn’t been repaired quite right; there are still too many wrinkles.”

Mrs. Cen’s face fell instantly. “Then I wish Miss Mu eternal youth.” With that, she took her bodyguards and left without looking back.

“I’ll take that as a blessing!” Mu Jingqin accepted cheerfully, smiling as she watched Mrs. Cen leave.

How could Lu Ning not broadcast such an interlude to Mu Qiuyu? She suddenly remembered the policewoman who was very familiar with Mu Qiuyu yesterday and, realizing the reason for Mu Jingqin’s arrival, said excitedly: “Mu Qiuyu, that’s great! Someone’s here to back you up!”

But Mu Qiuyu looked at Lu Ning and remained silent without responding. Lu Ning was puzzled. Then Mu Jingqin walked toward her. “Thank you for stepping in to help just now.”

The purely polite words made Lu Ning a bit uncomfortable. She looked blankly at the woman who, a few days ago, had been holding her in her arms and petting her, before realizing her current identity.

The plot cards could only modify future events; they couldn’t change the past. Mu Qiuyu had only cast an illusion—it worked on those who didn’t know the truth, but it wouldn’t work on Mu Jingqin. Mu Jingqin only had an impression of “Lu Ling” when communicating with people. If Lu Ning rashly introduced herself as Lu Ling, Mu Jingqin would definitely find it strange, and things would spiral out of control.

Lu Ning hit the brakes, maintaining her “passerby” status: “It was nothing, just what I should have done.”

Mu Jingqin nodded slightly to Lu Ning, then turned to Mu Qiuyu. “Alright, let’s go.”

But Mu Qiuyu didn’t move. Her gaze remained fixed on Lu Ning. Because of the illusion, she and Lu Ling could stand together. But also because it was an illusion, their tenuous connection could be broken so easily.

Lu Ning felt her acting skills reached their peak at this moment. Her gaze toward Mu Qiuyu was slightly smiling, warm yet distant, exactly like looking at a stranger. “Little girl, whatever you do today, I wish you luck.”

With that, Lu Ning turned and walked away. In the distance was the busy road outside the police station. The shadows of speeding cars were like the traces of time passing, but Lu Ning’s silhouette remained on the highest layer of the image.

She walked on the road, yet she also walked through Mu Qiuyu’s mind. The girl’s memory flickered; she had a dazed feeling that this wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, that she saw Lu Ling off like this.

At the junction of spring and summer, lush willow leaves brushed across Mu Qiuyu’s vision. Perhaps the leaves cut through the wind too sharply, for it made Mu Qiuyu’s eyes feel a bit sore.

Just as Mu Qiuyu felt she was about to “lose” Lu Ning, Lu Ning’s voice appeared in her head. The system’s voice was as lively as ever, telling her excitedly: “Mu Qiuyu, I am with you.”

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