Chapter 30 – Don't Be So Obvious About It

“Wanyu!”

An Zijin called out to Jiang Wanyu with a furrowed brow.

Jiang Wanyu turned her head and looked at An Zijin, only to see her wearing an unusually serious expression.

“You can’t say that about Brother Su Ming!”

An Zijin spoke with exceptional seriousness.

Her earnest demeanor carried an indescribable charm that was undeniably adorable.

“But it’s true!” Jiang Wanyu muttered again before suddenly hugging An Zijin and saying playfully, “But since Zijin says I can’t, I won’t say it anymore!”

As she spoke, Jiang Wanyu kept rubbing her face against An Zijin’s cheek, treating her like a doll.

Even Yao Beibei wrapped her arms around An Zijin’s waist, her gentle face wearing a blissful smile as if she were cuddling a fluffy pet.

“Didn’t we agree not to do this in public?”

An Zijin looked utterly helpless and distressed, sandwiched between Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu, clearly struggling.

But Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu paid no heed, continuing to happily nuzzle and hug An Zijin, making one wonder if they were trying to absorb her into themselves.

Yao Beibei, in particular, with her overwhelmingly ample chest, nearly buried An Zijin’s entire head.

“Gulp…”

An involuntary swallowing sound echoed in the Mission Hall, betraying just how enticing this scene was.

It was then that Su Ming realized the conversations at other tables had fallen silent at some point. Their table had become the center of attention, with everyone quietly watching them.

“Ahem…”

Su Ming coughed twice, breaking the increasingly awkward atmosphere, and forcefully slapped Lei Hao and Ye Bai, who were staring dumbfounded with drool practically dripping from their mouths, snapping them out of their daze.

“Ahem…”

“Ahem…”

Lei Hao and Ye Bai, now awake, also coughed dryly, trying to cover their embarrassment while glaring at the surrounding onlookers.

The crowd reluctantly averted their gazes, and the noise gradually resumed, though it was noticeably quieter than before, indicating they were still keeping a close watch on the situation.

To shift the atmosphere, Su Ming steered the conversation back on track.

“At this point, I can only confirm with you one more time, Little Zijin.” Su Ming looked at An Zijin and asked, “Are you really sure you want to join our team?”

Hearing this, An Zijin struggled free from Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu’s grasp. Her face flushed, whether from shyness or embarrassment, but she still answered Su Ming’s question.

“Of course I want to join your team!”

An Zijin’s reply was exceptionally resolute.

This clingy girl-next-door clearly had no intention of letting Su Ming out of her sight.

Su Ming knew that An Zijin genuinely wanted to be on his team.

Last night, after receiving An Zijin’s call and hearing her earnest plea, Su Ming felt a headache coming on but didn’t outright refuse.

He was well aware that An Zijin’s presence was too striking, and she herself was far too conspicuous. If she joined his team, he would likely have to operate under constant scrutiny from others.

Given Su Ming’s style, facing such a situation, his instinct was to refuse.But when Su Ming thought about the current situation and the potential dangers the Huaming District battle might entail, he felt he couldn’t refuse An Zijin.

Although this childhood friend seemed to have grown a bit… differently, she was still his longtime companion whom he’d grown up with for years. Their families had always maintained good relations, so he really shouldn’t push her away knowing there might be danger.

If something really happened, wouldn’t it be better to have her where he could watch over her?

That’s why Su Ming didn’t refuse An Zijin outright, instead arranging to meet today to properly discuss things and confirm each other’s intentions.

An Zijin seemed genuinely eager to join Su Ming’s team. Seeing him lost in thought, she immediately spoke with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

“Can I join your team, Brother Su Ming?”

Her hopeful expression tugged at many people’s heartstrings.

Before Su Ming could respond, Lei Hao and Ye Bai eagerly jumped in.

“Of course you can join our team, Junior An!” Lei Hao was the first to speak.

“I’d say it’s our honor!” Ye Bai was practically falling over himself to please her.

“Really?” An Zijin’s eyes lit up, her voice tinged with excitement.

Lei Hao and Ye Bai nodded enthusiastically like pounding garlic, looking as if they’d struck gold. An observer might think they’d actually discovered some Treasure Trove.

Only Su Ming glanced at the two roommates standing beside An Zijin.

“What about your roommates? Are they really going to join our team too?” Su Ming said tactfully: “Our team isn’t particularly strong in the Academy – we’re actually quite ordinary. With your qualifications, you should be able to find better teams.”

The implication was clear: these two juniors should look elsewhere.

Seriously, just because he had reasons to look after An Zijin didn’t mean he had to take care of her roommates too.

Even though these two juniors looked quite appealing – one well-endowed, the other long-legged – Su Ming, who believed women would only slow down his growth, had no intention of being swayed by their charms.

But things didn’t go as Su Ming hoped.

“Since Zijin is joining your team, of course we’ll join too!” Jiang Wanyu declared without hesitation.

“Where little Zijin goes, we go.” Yao Beibei stated firmly.

“Huh?” Su Ming was baffled, reflexively asking: “Why?”

This question made Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu look somewhat guarded.

“No particular reason, we just want to stay with little Zijin,” Yao Beibei said in her quiet but direct manner.

Jiang Wanyu was even more blunt.

“How can we let Zijin join a team full of boys alone? What if you seniors bully her?”

“Hey now, junior, you’re making us sound like some kind of scoundrels,” Lei Hao said, taken aback.

“We’d never do such things!” Ye Bai also became agitated, as if unwilling to leave the impression of being bullies in An Zijin’s mind.

Unfortunately, the girls remained unconvinced.”Who knows?” Jiang Wanyu held An Zijin as if protecting her own daughter, saying: “All boys are beasts in human skin! If someone as adorable as our Zijin gets thrown into a den of beasts, something truly terrible will definitely happen!”

“We just want to follow little Zijin,” Yao Beibei chimed in. “If the seniors want Zijin to join, then we’re joining too.”

These words left the three young men speechless on the spot.

They finally understood just how popular and beloved An Zijin was at the Academy.

First, there were the fan clubs organized by senior female students who blocked all male students from approaching An Zijin, and now her two roommates were acting as her bodyguards, vigilantly protecting her from any male approach. Who could they possibly complain to about this?

Su Ming even asked directly:

“You two aren’t members of Little Zijin’s fan club too, are you?”

Su Ming’s question received only one response:

“How did you know?”

Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu looked at Su Ming in surprise, answering in unison with expressions of astonishment as if their long-hidden identities had been exposed today.

“……”

Su Ming didn’t want to speak anymore.

What could he possibly say?

Tell them not to be so obvious about it?

“Wh-what fan club! Please stop doing all these strange things!”

An Zijin, meanwhile, blushed deeply, her watery eyes secretly glancing at Su Ming as if feeling extremely embarrassed.

“Hehe. o(￣︶￣)o”

What could Su Ming do?

He could only laugh.

At this moment, the straightforward Lei Hao spoke up:

“We don’t object to you lovely juniors joining us, but let me make this clear – our team really isn’t anything special. We’ll most likely only be taking on very minor tasks. Even so, you juniors don’t mind?”

Lei Hao’s reminder was quite appropriate.

Although this mission to Huaming District involved some danger, the risks weren’t without their rewards.

Since the Base City needed others to contribute, even requiring a group of students to participate, it would naturally provide generous compensation and rewards.

Therefore, in this campaign, whether for Professionals or students, the Base City would distribute different rewards based on the difficulty of completed tasks and level of contribution.

Specifically, the Base City would open its reserves to participating Professionals and students, allowing them to select desired treasures according to their contributions.

Thus, this campaign featured what was called a “contribution points” system.

The higher the difficulty of completed tasks, the more contribution points the task completer would receive.

The more challenging the battles participated in, and the greater the assistance provided, the more contribution points one would earn.

Then, Professionals and students could spend these contribution points to exchange for corresponding treasures from the Base City.

This system had driven both Professionals and students into a frenzy, with many already eager and prepared to give their all in this campaign.

Under such circumstances, as students who couldn’t operate independently or fight alone, everyone wanted to join a good team with reliable companions to earn as many contribution points as possible.In that case, perhaps it really wasn’t a good choice for An Zijin and the other two to join Su Ming’s team.

“With your qualifications, you could indeed choose a better team,” Ye Bai had to admit, though somewhat reluctantly. “You should think it over carefully, juniors.”

Unfortunately, the seniors’ persuasion didn’t work.

The three juniors’ attitudes were exceptionally firm.

To put it simply…

“I don’t care! I just want to be with Brother Su Ming!”

An Zijin said a lot, but it could all be summarized in that one sentence.

“We don’t care! We just want to be with Zijin (Little Zijin)!”

Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu also said a lot, but it could similarly be summarized in that one sentence.

“…”

Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai fell silent one after another.

What more could they say?

They had to accept it!

(End of Chapter)