Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Doll Is Delicate and Incapable of Taking Care of Herself (11)

“Of course I am.”

Tu Jin replied in confusion.

The moment those words left his mouth, Qing Guizhu fell silent. Meanwhile, Ye Jiujiu, who had just realized what was going on, didn’t look any better.

She stared at Tu Jin, who was still holding her in his arms, as though she’d just seen a ghost.

After some serious self-reflection…

Ye Jiujiu silently finished the last bite of her ice cream to calm herself down. Then she wiped her mouth, put down her spoon, and looked at Tu Jin with an utterly sincere expression.

“I admit that I was wrong to covet your abs earlier. I apologize.”

But asking her to become your wife? Wasn’t that a little too malicious?

She’d only been interested in his abs and wanted to take advantage of him. Yet he was even worse! He actually coveted her body? Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Wait a minute. Why did that sound so wrong to Tu Jin?

Was this little doll looking down on him?

He hadn’t looked down on her!

Tu Jin narrowed his eyes, pressed a hand against the back of Ye Jiujiu’s neck, and leaned closer until their foreheads touched.

His phoenix-shaped eyes naturally carried a hint of coldness, and at that moment, the dangerous aura in them was practically overwhelming.

“What was that you just said? I didn’t quite catch it, darling. Hmm?”

Was this a threat?

This was definitely a threat, wasn’t it? Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Wasn’t he threatening her right now?

Ye Jiujiu found the whole situation utterly ridiculous.

“You should think this through. There’s one thing about me: I absolutely never kill my wife.”

Tu Jin’s hand, which was resting against the back of Ye Jiujiu’s neck, slowly rubbed the area a couple of times. Although the gesture was undeniably intimate, it somehow sent chills down one’s spine.

“Hmm?”

Ye Jiujiu: …

If he put it that way…

She tentatively posed a hypothetical question. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“What if… I mean, just what if… What if I agreed to your proposal, and someday in the future, I happened to have a tiny, insignificant little secret that I kept from you, only for you to discover it by accident? You still wouldn’t kill me, right?”

Why did that sound a little strange to him?

Tu Jin suspiciously studied Ye Jiujiu for a while. In the end, however, he couldn’t detect anything unusual from her pitiful, innocent-looking face.

Besides, he’d never been able to figure out what went on inside this little doll’s head. So perhaps, possibly, maybe, there was a fifty-percent chance that this kind of hypothetical question was… normal… right?

After seriously contemplating the matter for exactly one second, Tu Jin decided that handling a mere item doll was well within his capabilities. Under Ye Jiujiu’s expectant gaze, he slowly nodded.

“I won’t.”

He tried to make his voice sound a little gentler.

“Darling, why would you even think that?” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

After all, there was no way she could cause any real trouble for him anyway.

Ye Jiujiu hadn’t anticipated that this seemingly clever and rather tactful Tu Jin could have such an ulterior meaning behind his words. Having received the answer she wanted, she blinked.

She believed him.

As though feeling a little shy, she avoided Tu Jin’s gaze. Her every movement carried an indescribable sense of bashfulness.

“You said it yourself.”

You were the one who insisted on making her your wife. She certainly hadn’t thrown herself at you! And as for that promise, she hadn’t been the one to bring it up either!

“That’s right. I said it.”

Tu Jin answered without hesitation. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

As the two gazed at each other, their expressions gradually became increasingly affectionate.

Tu Jin: I’ve gotten myself a wife for free! What a fantastic deal!

Ye Jiujiu: Where did this foolish young master come from? I’ve genuinely never seen anyone so eager to practically beg me to deceive his feelings. This is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.

Regardless of what they were thinking internally, the two had successfully reached an agreement on the surface.

Qing Guizhu, who suddenly felt as though he’d been walking along perfectly peacefully only to have someone kick him twice for no reason at all: …

He couldn’t laugh anymore.

With a sharp snap, he closed the folding fan he’d been playing with. Then he leaned back in his chair and looked at the two across from him, who were whispering intimately to each other, with an amused yet mocking smile.

Well… Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Could you two pay a little attention to your surroundings? This is a public place.”

There was another person sitting right here, you know?

“It wouldn’t look very good if other people saw you behaving like this.”

Oh, well—

Ye Jiujiu turned toward Tu Jin with a delicate, helpless expression.

But unexpectedly…

“What public place? Even this entire hotel belongs to me. Shouldn’t that make it a private establishment?”

Tu Jin delivered his response with absolute conviction. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

After changing the way he viewed things, Tu Jin felt as though he’d discovered an entirely new perspective.

Take the present situation, for example.

When he looked at Qing Guizhu, who didn’t have a wife, he somehow felt an inexplicable sense of superiority. They were both S-rank, yet there was clearly a difference between them.

Perhaps…

This was the confidence that having a wife brought?

Tu Jin thoughtfully looked at Qing Guizhu, who seemed to have been momentarily choked by his words.

Sigh…

So what if Qing Guizhu was handsome? So what if Ye Jiujiu had been staring at him? In the end, wasn’t the little doll still his? And wasn’t Qing Guizhu still a bachelor? Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Thinking about this, Tu Jin looked at Qing Guizhu with a heartfelt expression.

“Don’t worry, brother. You’ll find yourself a wife someday, too.”

Qing Guizhu, who was practically on the verge of laughing in anger: …

Heh.

His grip on the folding fan tightened until the veins on his hand stood out.

If there was ever a saying about suffering from poor judgment in choosing one’s friends, then he was probably the perfect example.

Watching Tu Jin, who seemed to have no intention of stopping anytime soon, Qing Guizhu let out a cold laugh.

He leisurely opened his folding fan and spoke in an unhurried voice. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Can’t be helped. Unlike certain people, I’ve never needed to resort to threats to find myself a wife.”

Satisfied when Tu Jin’s expression abruptly stiffened, Qing Guizhu casually let his gaze drift toward Ye Jiujiu.

He scanned Ye Jiujiu, intending to sense the strength of this doll-type NPC before continuing. However, unexpectedly…

An item panel was triggered and appeared before him.

Qing Guizhu, who was now finding it increasingly difficult to smile: …

I thought you were an NPC. Turns out you’re actually an item?

And not just any item, but an incredibly useful one at that?

But the most unbelievable thing was that this item had fallen into Tu Jin’s hands, yet he still hadn’t managed to make it acknowledge him as its master?

Almost instinctively, Qing Guizhu looked up the method for registering ownership of Ye Jiujiu. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Qing Guizhu, who had vaguely begun to understand the situation: …

Combining this information with what he’d just witnessed, he began analyzing Tu Jin’s previous behavior.

The way he looked at Tu Jin was suddenly filled with understanding.

So it wasn’t that you didn’t want the little doll to acknowledge you as her master. You simply hadn’t met the requirements! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

People always said that valuable items should go to those capable of wielding them.

And this was such a rare item, one whose abilities could perfectly complement his own…

If Tu Jin had successfully made her acknowledge him as her master, Qing Guizhu could have accepted that he’d simply arrived too late and admitted defeat.

But the problem was that Tu Jin hadn’t succeeded in making the little doll acknowledge him!

Didn’t that mean fate itself had arranged things this way?

Under Tu Jin’s increasingly wary gaze, Qing Guizhu slowly, very slowly, curved his lips into a smile.

Well.

Their so-called friendship had officially fallen apart. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

He didn’t need a friend like this anymore.