Chapter 20 – An Zijin: So When Are We Getting Married?

Without a doubt, Su Ming was trending again.

Though his rise to fame had only happened yesterday, today he was bound to become even more notorious.

At the very least, those browsing the Academy Forum and seeing the photo of Su Ming and An Zijin embracing each other were exploding with rage.

This led to today’s forum discussions shifting from yesterday’s frenzied debates to straightforward, concise judgments.

“This scoundrel must die to quell the hatred in my heart.”

That was the sole thought in everyone’s mind.

There was no self-deception or refusal to believe, nor any attempt to uncover the details or reasons behind the incident. Everyone simply wanted to find Su Ming.

And then… tear him apart alive!

Thus, people began marching through the Academy in massive numbers.

Especially An Zijin’s Fan Club—those senior sisters had gone mad, each transforming into demon-like figures darting around the Academy, stopping anyone they saw, with only one question on their lips:

“Have you found Su Ming?”

Their words and demeanor were dripping with malice.

“Crazy, they’ve all gone crazy.”

Hiding in a secluded corner of the Academy, Su Ming watched the latest updates on his phone’s forum refreshing every second, his hands trembling.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”

An Zijin seemed to have sobered up from the joy of their reunion, realizing the severity of the situation, her small face filled with guilt.

Yet, she continued to clutch the corner of Su Ming’s clothes with her tiny hand, unwilling to let go, even in these dire circumstances.

Su Ming wasn’t surprised.

As a child, An Zijin had been just like this—wherever Su Ming went, she would follow, one hand holding her doll, the other gripping his clothes, turning every place they visited into their personal playground.

Now, nearly a decade later, it seemed this childhood habit of the girl next door hadn’t changed.

This made it hard for Su Ming to blame her, leaving him with nothing but a bitter smile.

“Forget it,” Su Ming sighed dejectedly. “After what happened with Xu Qianqian yesterday, I’ve already become a thorn in many people’s sides.”

Adding another wave of public outrage probably wouldn’t make much difference… right?

Well, Su Ming could only console himself this way.

“I’ll go explain to everyone!” An Zijin, still feeling terribly guilty, insisted earnestly, as if desperate to do something. “If I explain properly, everyone will understand!”

That wasn’t a bad idea.

With the adorable An Zijin personally stepping forward to explain, even the craziest fans would at least give her some face and calm down a bit, right?

Of course, to be cautious, Su Ming still wanted to ask.

“How do you plan to explain it?”

Su Ming looked at An Zijin with hopeful anticipation.

An Zijin beamed, answering without hesitation.

“I’ll tell everyone that even if I belong to Brother Su Ming, I’ll never forget them!”

The words spoken by the young girl with her charming smile were so heartwarming, yet so… cruel!

Su Ming could almost imagine the terrifying state the people in the Academy would be in after hearing those words.”Are you sure this counts as an explanation?” Su Ming looked at An Zijin with utter disbelief. “I feel like you’re just telling me to hurry up and meet my doom.”

“Why?” An Zijin tilted her head, confused. “Didn’t you always say that when we were kids?”

“Really?” Su Ming was taken aback.

“Mhm.” An Zijin nodded while smiling with her eyes curved. “Didn’t Brother Su Ming say that if any other boys wanted to play with me, I should just tell them I belong to Brother Su Ming?”

Su Ming: “…”

Did that really happen?

Su Ming thought carefully and realized that… perhaps… probably… it might have actually happened…

This made his lips twitch, and he felt so awkward he could practically dig a three-bedroom apartment out of the ground with his toes.

What was I even doing back then as a kid!?

“Th-that was all from when we were children, right?” Su Ming said extremely awkwardly. “We’ve both grown up now, why are you still remembering those childish words?”

“They weren’t childish words!” An Zijin immediately puffed her cheeks and frowned. “I’ve always remembered Brother Su Ming’s words! Even after moving to Yinze City, whenever other boys wanted to play with me, that’s exactly what I told them!”

Su Ming suddenly felt that it would be better if he never went to Yinze City in this lifetime.

He had a feeling that in Yinze City, he might face a second wave of pursuit.

Su Ming then timidly asked, “How did those people react after you said that?”

Hearing this, An Zijin cheerfully gave Su Ming an answer.

“Everyone said they wanted to meet Brother Su Ming and become good friends with him! They were so happy!”

An Zijin’s words didn’t bring a knowing smile to Su Ming’s face, but rather sent chills down his spine.

Thus, Su Ming firmly resolved to never set foot in Yinze City for the rest of his life.

“By the way,” Su Ming collected himself and asked, “why did you return to Longyao City? What about Uncle An and Auntie An?”

Facing Su Ming’s questions, An Zijin appeared extremely obedient and well-behaved.

“Mom and Dad are still in Yinze City. Their company can’t operate without them for long periods, so they didn’t come back.” An Zijin explained softly. “I was brought back to Longyao City by the butler. After enrolling in school, I’ve been living in the dormitory, but Mom and Dad contacted Uncle Su and Auntie Su for me.”

Hearing this, Su Ming felt his whole world crumbling.

“Those two, my dad and mom, didn’t even mention such a big thing to me?”

If he had known earlier that An Zijin had returned to Longyao City and become his junior at the Academy, Su Ming would have definitely told her to be careful not to expose their relationship to avoid attracting attention.

Now it was too late.

“Brother Su Ming, please don’t blame Uncle and Auntie.” An Zijin quickly said. “I told Uncle and Auntie that I wanted to find you myself and give you a surprise.”

Su Ming almost laughed bitterly.

Surprise?

More like a shock!

No, it had already turned into horror!

The Academy Beauty who everyone adored suddenly turned out to be the childhood neighbor girl who always followed him around, then threw herself into his arms in public, causing the entire Academy to chase after him – if this wasn’t a horror story, then what was?”What about you? Why did you suddenly return to Longyao City?” Su Ming asked curiously. “Even if you’ve been detected with a Spirit Constitution and want to study to become a Sorcerer, couldn’t you have enrolled in the Demon Hunter Academy in Yinze City?”

Nowadays, the Demon Hunter Academy had become the most important training facility in all major Base Cities of humanity. Every major Base City had at least one, if not multiple, Demon Hunter Academies to cultivate talents capable of fighting against Phantom Demons.

As Yinze City, with its population of nearly a hundred million, ranked first among the Four Base Cities along the coast, it was impossible for it not to have a Demon Hunter Academy.

In fact, given Yinze City’s conditions, its Demon Hunter Academy was definitely stronger than the one in Longyao City.

If An Zijin wanted to enroll in a Demon Hunter Academy and become a Sorcerer, there was no need for her to travel all the way back to Longyao City to study here, right?

Under Su Ming’s puzzled gaze, An Zijin somewhat embarrassedly fiddled with her fingers.

“I made the decision to return to Longyao City myself,” An Zijin said softly. “There’s an exchange student program between Yinze City and Longyao City. Every year, three students can be sent to each other’s Academies as exchange students. After I learned about this, I applied.”

Su Ming was also aware of the exchange student program.

When he enrolled last year, he was similarly informed that the Academy had an exchange student system. If students were interested, they could apply to study at Demon Hunter Academies in other Base Cities.

Su Ming wasn’t interested in this and didn’t want to leave the relatively safe Base City when his strength was still insufficient to travel thousands of miles to another Base City, so he never paid attention to the matter.

Who would have thought that An Zijin would use this system to return to Longyao City?

“Alright,” Su Ming sighed and continued asking, “I never thought Uncle and Aunt would feel comfortable letting you come back alone.”

“Y-yeah,” An Zijin’s eyes began to wander as she stammered, “After all, I’ve grown up now. They trust me completely.”

If Su Ming knew that just a few days ago, An Zijin had received a phone call from her mother filled with worry and concern, he would never have believed her nonsense.

Naturally, Su Ming also didn’t know that An Zijin had applied behind her parents’ backs back then. It was only after her spot was confirmed that her parents found out about it.

Because of this, the An family nearly exploded at the time. Father An and Mother An absolutely refused to let their precious daughter return to Longyao City alone. In the end, if they hadn’t been defeated by An Zijin’s tearful assault, she would never have appeared in Longyao City.

As for why An Zijin wanted to become an exchange student and come to Longyao City to study at the Demon Hunter Academy, perhaps only she herself knew the reason.

An Zijin secretly glanced at Su Ming, looking at his familiar yet more mature profile, her heart pounding rapidly.

Brother Su Ming seems to have become much more handsome than before…

Brother Su Ming seems to have become much more mature than before…

Brother Su Ming…

My… Brother Su Ming…

“Hehe… hehehe…”

An Zijin suddenly let out a soft, infatuated chuckle.

“What’s wrong?”Su Ming looked at An Zijin, who had suddenly lowered her head, her delicate shoulders trembling slightly, and asked in surprise.

“N-nothing.”

An Zijin instinctively wiped the corner of her mouth and gave Su Ming a perfunctory smile.

Though it was just a perfunctory smile, it must be said that with An Zijin’s cuteness, any kind of smile would become incredibly captivating.

Su Ming was almost slain by the cuteness.

“You’ve become even more adorable than when you were little.”

Su Ming couldn’t help but say those words.

“Really?” An Zijin couldn’t help but look delighted and said happily, “As long as Brother Su Ming doesn’t dislike little Jin.”

“How could that be?” Su Ming chuckled. “No one would ever dislike you.”

“Really?” An Zijin gazed at Su Ming.

“Really.” Su Ming was uncharacteristically sincere.

Then, the next second, An Zijin dropped a bombshell.

“When are we getting married?”

(End of Chapter)