Chapter 290: Acting Tough After Satisfaction
A sudden kiss landed on her cheek. Jiang Qingli froze for a moment, then turned her head to meet a pair of golden, serpentine pupils.
Ye Linyuan stared at her, a hint of almost imperceptible probing and seriousness in the depths of his eyes.
"Not right now."
Jiang Qingli thought he was going to continue. Fearing he would do something reckless, she covered his mouth and said in a hushed voice, "Professor Ye, you have to supervise our practice later. Don’t keep thinking about... this stuff. It’ll get in the way of important things."
Then, with a deadpan expression, she patted his shoulder. "This is for your own good."
Ye Linyuan: "..."
He almost laughed in exasperation, a corner of his lip twitching. "Acting all high and mighty now that you’ve had your fun."
’The nerve of him...’
But Jiang Qingli had long since learned how to handle Ye Linyuan’s passive-aggressive sarcasm.
The girl swayed his hand back and forth, her voice softening. "Let’s go, it’s getting late, Professor Ye..."
Whenever she felt guilty, she’d act cute to change the subject, as if completely certain that no one would actually do anything to her.
’Who knows who spoiled her like this.’
With a soft snort, Ye Linyuan tossed something over.
Jiang Qingli caught it and saw it was her terminal.
"Thanks, Professor Ye." Jiang Qingli flashed him a smile.
Ye Linyuan walked past her and headed downstairs.
After a few steps, he suddenly remembered how that White Tiger Beastman had been holding Lin Xiyue’s hand the whole time when they got out of the skycar.
And at home, Jiang Qingli often held hands with her other Beast Husbands.
’What’s so great about holding hands?’
Ye Linyuan truly didn’t understand.
But before the feeling of rejection could even form, he stopped and held his hand out to the girl behind him.
Jiang Qingli paused, pointing to herself. "?"
Ye Linyuan nodded.
Although Jiang Qingli didn’t know why, she didn’t pull away. She simply placed her hand in his.
The very instant their fingers touched, Ye Linyuan’s breath hitched.
It was like a jolt of electricity shot through him, making his palm tingle.
A soft, yielding sensation bloomed in his chest, right where his heart was.
The empty black hole there seemed to be momentarily filled with sweet, soft cotton candy.
Before his rational mind could react, his large hand had already enveloped her fingers, clasping them tightly.
-
The two arrived at the training room hand in hand. Lin Xiyue and Ai Li immediately started blinking frantically, their expressions screaming gossip.
If Ye Linyuan hadn’t been there, Jiang Qingli suspected they would have started by asking why she was holding his hand and ended up asking about what positions they liked, whether he was good in bed, and so on...
Jiang Qingli’s face grew a little hot.
Ye Linyuan, however, showed no change in expression. He had always maintained an attitude of ignoring everyone else.
Once practice began, Ye Linyuan switched into his cold-faced professor mode.
Jiang Qingli’s aim was usually quite good, so the practice wasn’t particularly difficult for her. The other two, however, suffered.
Lin Xiyue and Ai Li had come here hoping to learn some techniques, but who would have thought that Ye Linyuan wouldn’t teach them any methods at all? He just made them practice, practice, and practice some more.
After a whole afternoon, Ai Li couldn’t take it anymore. Mustering her courage, she asked Ye Linyuan, "Pro-Professor Ye, did you also get good by practicing constantly?"
She asked the question, but she didn’t expect Ye Linyuan to answer. She just wanted to stall for a bit of a break.
After all, Ye Linyuan almost never spoke to anyone at the academy. He was like an NPC, which was why the forums were full of complaints about him.
But unexpectedly, upon hearing her, Ye Linyuan didn’t ignore her. Instead, he subconsciously glanced at Jiang Qingli. After she nodded frantically, he deigned to acknowledge another person for once.
"Never practiced," Ye Linyuan said, casually picking up a gun and firing a few shots at the target.
He only glanced at the target, but all ten shots hit, and celebratory text for a perfect score appeared on the screen.
Ai Li’s eyes went wide. "You’re this amazing without any practice," she asked earnestly. "You must have a secret trick, right?"
Ye Linyuan said, "Genes."
Ai Li: "..."
Lin Xiyue: "..."
’That’s showing off, isn’t it? He’s totally showing off!’
’You can’t just rub your talent in people’s faces like that!’
But Ye Linyuan looked completely serious, not like he was lying or trying to trick them at all.
Ai Li had no choice but to shut up and continue practicing.
The sun set in the west, and the supervised practice finally came to an end.
Ai Li had originally planned to take her friends out tonight, but she was so exhausted she could barely lift a finger. With a sigh, she said her goodbyes.
Both of their Beast Husbands were waiting in the garage to pick them up.
Jiang Qingli noticed that when the White Tiger Beastman came to pick up Lin Xiyue, Ye Linyuan kept staring at them.
’That’s strange,’ she thought. ’Since when is Ye Linyuan interested in other people?’
The White Tiger Beastman also found it strange and shot several wary glances at Ye Linyuan.
After seeing her friends off, Ye Linyuan still didn’t let go of Jiang Qingli’s hand.
He seemed to have become addicted to the act of "holding hands." Clasping her fingers tightly, he didn’t let go as they rode the elevator upstairs.
The elevator doors opened. A young man standing outside smiled, his eyes curving into crescents. He lifted the paw of the little cat in his arms and waved it at them in greeting.
Ye Linyuan’s expression turned cold. "What is it?"
"Senior Yuan had a last-minute meeting. Before he left, he asked me to look after Xiao Xue, but I’m so clumsy. I’m worried I won’t be able to take good care of the kitten..." Gu Nian ignored Ye Linyuan, sighing at Jiang Qingli with a troubled expression.
The moment Xiao Xue saw Jiang Qingli, it started meowing.
Jiang Qingli had been busy studying for the past few days, so Yuan Shimo had taken the cat, his reason being that he was afraid she would "lose her will to study by playing with the cat."
’No wonder I didn’t see Gu Nian this afternoon,’ she realized. ’So he went to pick up the kitten.’
Jiang Qingli missed Xiao Xue too. She had just raised her hand to pet the cat’s head when the man beside her spoke coldly.
Ye Linyuan said, "If you don’t know how, then learn. To be this stupid is truly a rare sight."
"Uncle Ye, you always seem to dislike small animals. At home, you’ve never even once touched Xiao Xue." Gu Nian frowned slightly. "That’s not good, is it? After all, Xiao Xue is our child."
This was actually true. Ye Linyuan was a loner and rarely interacted with others. On the rare occasions he ran into Xiao Xue, the cat would turn and flee as if it had seen some terrifying behemoth.
After saying that, Gu Nian looked at Jiang Qingli and added in a low voice, "A kitten can’t be without its mother. And neither can I."
Ye Linyuan sneered. "Addicted to playing house."
"Please watch your words. A little kitten can’t listen to such things." Gu Nian covered Xiao Xue’s ears. "Big Sis, why don’t you have a talk with this old uncle? Today’s mindset is different from the old days..."
Ye Linyuan took a step forward, blocking Gu Nian from Jiang Qingli.
His golden, vertical pupils narrowed, his posture uncompromising.
Gu Nian looked back innocently, not yielding an inch.
Their gazes met mid-air, and silent sparks seemed to CRACKLE between them.
Seeing that a storm was about to break, Jiang Qingli beckoned to Xiao Xue, scooped it up, and planned to sneak away.
She had only taken a few steps when Yi Nuo approached, bringing someone with him.
When he drew near, Jiang Qingli asked in surprise, "Chen Mishu, what are you doing here?"
"Miss Jiang, good afternoon." Chen Mi looked at Jiang Qingli and gave her a smiling nod. "My apologies. The Marshal has had too many meetings these past few days and couldn’t get away, so he asked me to come in his stead."
Jiang Qingli saw he was carrying a briefcase and asked curiously, "What did he have you bring?"
"A formal gown."
The moment he spoke, two Beast Husbands simultaneously looked over, their presence overwhelming.
Enduring the murderous glares from Ye Linyuan and Gu Nian, Chen Mi said, word by word, "Miss Jiang, for the banquet at the Xie Family’s estate on Saturday, the Marshal hopes you will wear the gown he has selected."