Chapter 119 : Chapter 119
Chapter 119: Unnecessary Emotions Began to Bloom
As she answered, Yi Ning raised her brows slightly, looking as though she truly didn’t understand why Lu Zheng would even ask such a question.
Was it really that strange to develop some physical desire toward her?
Yi Ning couldn’t quite figure it out.
She was a super high-school-level beautiful girl. For a healthy teenage male in the prime of adolescence, not having some thoughts about her would be the odd thing, right?
Being stared at for so long with Yi Ning’s “are you an idiot” expression, Lu Zheng inevitably began to feel embarrassed.
He turned his eyes slightly away, too awkward to meet Yi Ning’s gaze directly.
“Generally speaking, girls would feel uncomfortable being looked at in that kind of way, right?”
Yi Ning thought for a moment. “That’s hard to say. After all, I’ve only been a girl for a few days—I’m not very experienced.”
“Even though my current skin is that of a cute girl, inside is still the soul of a man~”
“Wouldn’t that make you even more averse?”
Lu Zheng shifted perspectives. Personally, he couldn’t accept other men having desires toward him.
Sure, he might joke online with things like “Bro, you smell nice” or “Bro, turn around,” but if it came to actually doing anything, he’d refuse. Especially if he ended up on the receiving end—that was a hard no.
Just imagining it made him clench involuntarily.
In response to Lu Zheng’s confusion, Yi Ning simply smiled and replied in a similar tone.
“Even though my soul is male, the body on the outside is a super cute girl~”
As she said it, she pointed at her cheeks with two fingers, putting on an innocent, flawless smile.
Lu Zheng: “?”
He was thrown off by Yi Ning’s flexible gender shifting.
This wasn’t one of those worlds where you could just bonk your head and change genders.
In D-City, unless there were special circumstances, a person could only have one gender for life!
And that was based on biological sex!
“Fufufu~”
Seeing Lu Zheng’s baffled expression, Yi Ning felt the joy of being a riddle-master.
But since she had just insulted riddle-masters’ parents moments ago, out of respect for her own parents, she decided to give up the act and act normal again—for now.
“I totally understand, you hormonally charged teenage male~”
“You want to attract a cute girl’s attention.”
“You want to engage in wild, front-and-back with cute girls.”
“You want to have children with cute girls.”
“I get it all.”
Yi Ning spread her arms in a gesture of embrace, her face filled with benevolence and mercy.
If Lu Zheng didn’t already know her personality, he might’ve thought she was some kind, virginal goddess straight out of a boy’s fantasy.
Thankfully, Yi Ning’s next line shattered the illusion completely.
“After all, I was a man before. So I’ve got plenty of firsthand experience!”
“Ehehe!”
Yi Ning tilted her head, gently tapped her fist against her temple, stuck out her soft pink tongue, and mimicked that classic dumb-girl anime pose.
“As for the male side of things…”
“It might be embarrassing coming from me, but I’m really super cute now, okay!”
“Even with this new female body, I no longer have desires for other random girls, but when I look in the mirror, I still can’t help thinking, ‘Man, if this girl were my wife, that’d be amazing.’”
“As a guy, having desires toward a cute girl is totally normal, right?”
“Can’t be helped~ This lord is the world’s cutest, after all~”
At that, Yi Ning put her hands on her hips and let out an exaggerated, proud laugh—“Wahahahaha!”
After a bit, perhaps realizing that kind of boisterous laugh didn’t suit her identity as the world’s cutest girl, she brought her hand to her mouth and switched to that classic ojou-sama laugh you’d hear in anime.
“Ohohohoho~ This young lady is the cutest in the world, desuwa!”
She even added the classic noble-girl catchphrase at the end.
Thanks to all this absurdity, the awkwardness in Lu Zheng’s heart was wiped clean by her theatrical performance.
Now, he was simply watching Yi Ning’s show in silence.
If he didn’t still have something to say to her, he probably would’ve bolted by now.
Unfortunately, even after a long while, Yi Ning showed no signs of stopping.
Strange—this trick had worked so well before.
No choice.
Lu Zheng raised a hand, tentatively trying to interrupt Yi Ning’s act.
“I—”
Same as before, before he could even finish two syllables, Yi Ning cut him off.
Yi Ning raised her left hand in a “V” sign, then did the same with her right hand, giving him a knowing look.
“I get it. I get it. I step on you to enjoy the thrill of trampling my nemesis underfoot. You, meanwhile, enjoy the sensation of being stepped on by a cute girl.”
As she spoke, she brought the two V-signs together.
“This is a win-win! Win-win—two wins! So don’t sweat the petty stuff.”
You get it? Get what?
Looking at Yi Ning with her “all according to keikaku” expression, Lu Zheng let out a helpless sigh.
Before leaving, he had just wanted to offer Yi Ning a proper apology.
No matter how you looked at it, he had tricked his way into her base, copied her surveillance footage without permission, and completely forgot her request.
Even if he had the justification of capturing a dangerous ability user—and even if he later gave substantial compensation—it still didn’t sit right with him.
He owed Yi Ning an apology.
Not the kind that came up casually during an explanation, or a throwaway “sorry about that,” but a genuine, heartfelt apology.
Lu Zheng sat on the chair, his hands unconsciously gripping his pants.
Admitting fault sincerely was difficult—especially when you had a decent excuse and had paid generous compensation.
But it was still something he had to do.
No amount of compensation could replace a real apology.
“Um… Yi Ning…”
“Hmm?”
Yi Ning tilted her head and pointed at the corner of her mouth.
“Just now, I think I heard someone calling for the world’s super-duper cutest Miss Yi Ning, but I didn’t quite catch that~?”
“Ugh—”
That sudden narcissistic line nearly extinguished all of Lu Zheng’s resolve.
“Alright then, world’s super-duper cutest Miss Yi Ning, do you have a moment to hear me out?”
Yi Ning saw the determination in Lu Zheng’s eyes and instinctively glanced aside.
“Can I say no?”
“…If you really don’t have ti—no, you can’t!”
Lu Zheng stood up, dragged a table between them, and sat back down facing her directly.
Yi Ning blinked at his serious expression and finally let out a sigh.
“Go ahead.”
“Last night, I used deceit to get you to open the door. Then I copied the surveillance footage without your permission. And I completely forgot the favor you asked of me…”
Lu Zheng took a deep breath.
“For all of this, I sincerely apologize.”
“I’m sorry.”
Lu Zheng’s serious tone made Yi Ning feel a bit uncomfortable.
Her gaze wandered as she mumbled, “Come on, you’re really saying this now? Didn’t you already give me a bunch of gifts? Why bring up this weird stuff again?”
“No matter how much I gave, it doesn’t change the fact that what I did was wrong. Material compensation doesn’t erase wrongdoing.”
“So for those mistakes, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness.”
“I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
In that instant, Lu Zheng felt the whole world fall silent.
All the noise vanished, leaving only the sound of his heartbeat and breath.
Until Yi Ning’s voice shattered that silence.
“Alright, alright~ I forgive you, okay~”
She pursed her lips, her expression turning a bit odd.
“I accept your apology.”
“Happy now?”
Yi Ning scratched her head and turned her face to the side—if one looked closely, a faint blush was visible.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Lu Zheng still found it hard to breathe in that moment.
“Thank you.”
Only now did he finally feel at ease.
“Alright, alright, if there’s nothing else, you can go now.”
Yi Ning stood up and waved him off, shooing him away.
“Then… I’ll be off.”
Under those circumstances, Lu Zheng knew better than to linger.
He stood up, and with Yi Ning almost chasing him out, left through the door.
“Bang!”
Yi Ning closed the door behind him and returned to her chair, exhaling deeply.
Jeez.
She smacked her lips.
In the end, she still hadn’t managed to brush the whole thing off.
Even though she’d dodged the topic in so many ways.
“Tch!”
Yi Ning slumped over the table, feeling a bit lost.
She didn’t quite understand why she had ended up doing something so pointless.
Getting Lu Zheng to apologize shouldn’t have been a big deal.
She couldn’t understand it.
Neither her own feelings, nor Lu Zheng’s final apology.
Even though she’d been compensated generously, he had still insisted on making what felt like a performative, dramatic apology.
It made no sense.
And shouldn’t have gained him anything.
She sat up and gently touched her flushed cheek.
But why, when facing Lu Zheng’s apology, did she feel something close to happiness in her heart?
Could it be… she was embarrassed about feeling happy?
“Thunk!”
Yi Ning kicked the leg of the table.
If she had known, she would’ve asked Lu Zheng during the apology whether he’d repeat the same mistake if it happened again!
He definitely wouldn’t have had an answer ready.
“So annoying.”
Yi Ning stood up.
Her current body didn’t seem as flawless as she’d imagined.
Though it no longer gave her those strange urges to show off or attract the attention of unfamiliar women…
It now seemed to be stirring some unnecessary emotions within her.