Chapter 139 : Chapter 139
139. Is Saving Face Really That Important?
Yi Ning’s endless teasing had been for this exact moment: to make Lu Zheng lose his cool. Now that she had succeeded, how could she possibly back down?
It was like watching Lu Zheng get caught in a carefully set trap—if she didn’t take the chance to throw out a few lines of trash talk, it would be a complete waste.
Besides, she wasn’t executing some evil plan right now, so she didn’t have to worry about getting Shoryuken’d to the ceiling if she ruined the plan with her taunting. She could tease him however she pleased.
Yesterday’s grudges burned like thorns against her back.
It’s time to settle old scores!
All those humiliating defeats she had suffered on the ceiling—she would pay them all back in full today!
Yi Ning pried Lu Zheng’s hand away, took a deep breath, and yelled in a voice loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear:
“Lu Zheng, you’re just a—”
Do you know what a superhero truly is?
They possess abilities beyond ordinary people, performing heroic feats, protecting citizens, and fighting evil.
But all of that was unimportant.
The most important thing was that most of them could fight.
Especially against someone like Yi Ning, who only looked tough among normal people, superheroes could beat her so thoroughly she wouldn’t know which way was up.
Just like now.
Even if Yi Ning tried to shout in surprise, Lu Zheng could easily clamp her face shut before the most important words left her mouth, using the pressure of his grip to clearly communicate which words were acceptable and which were not.
Of course, as his longtime arch-enemy, Yi Ning knew Lu Zheng was only scaring her.
But as a law-abiding citizen, Yi Ning also felt that spreading false rumors wasn’t exactly admirable, so she wisely chose to shut up.
Seeing her behave for once, Lu Zheng nodded in satisfaction.
Unfortunately, Yi Ning’s yell had indeed been loud enough to draw the attention of nearly everyone in the restaurant.
As the person sitting with her, Lu Zheng could only give them an apologetic look while pressing down on Yi Ning’s head to bow her in apology as well.
“Sorry, my friend got a bit emotional.”
No one seemed too upset; once they saw Lu Zheng apologizing, they turned away, though a few nosy customers yelled out playful comments:
“Hey kid, if your girlfriend’s mad, you gotta coax her. Swallow your pride, it’s no big deal!”
Lu Zheng could only give them a helpless smile, not bothering to respond.
On the other hand, Yi Ning perked up, placing her hands on her hips, swaggering in front of Lu Zheng while repeating “swallow your pride, it’s no big deal” with a mocking tone.
Lu Zheng could only sigh.
“Are you even my girlfriend?”
Yi Ning retorted confidently: “Are we friends?”
Lu Zheng nodded.
“And am I a girl?”
Lu Zheng thought for a moment and nodded again.
“Then girl + friend = girlfriend, isn’t it? ‘Girlfriend’ is such a flexible term! So what’s the big deal if you kneel and kiss my boots to apologize?”
Yi Ning started shamelessly twisting logic.
She had always resented Lu Zheng for using violence to shut her down.
It was one thing when she was defeated while carrying out an evil plan—that was a necessary sacrifice to stay long-term in D-City. But for Lu Zheng to still use force when she wasn’t even carrying out an evil plan was just too much!
She had gone along with losing so many times—couldn’t Lu Zheng for once lose a bit of dignity and become a toy for her to manipulate as she pleased?
She was now a super high-school-level beautiful girl—did Lu Zheng have any idea how many people wished to be toyed with by her but never got the chance?
And here Lu Zheng was, taking it for granted!
Unforgivable!
The thought made Yi Ning tremble with anger, feeling like she needed a fluffy blanket despite the summer heat.
To vent her frustration, she turned her words into blades, stabbing Lu Zheng mercilessly:
“Stupid virgin, ED, tiny, five-second—”
She dumped every humiliating insult she could think of about his lower half into Lu Zheng’s ears.
“Alright, alright, enough bro, I get it, I was wrong, okay?”
Faced with such an onslaught, Lu Zheng could only raise his hands in surrender.
But since Yi Ning was only ranting quietly this time, Lu Zheng didn’t use force, just waved his hand, trying to calm her down.
Unfortunately, Yi Ning was the type who only responded to force.
The gentler Lu Zheng was, the more excited Yi Ning became, escalating her taunts.
It wasn’t until Lu Zheng finally lost patience that he grabbed Yi Ning’s face, pulled her in close, and threatened each word with a low, icy growl:
“That’s enough.”
At such close range, even the heat of his breath was palpable, and a hard-to-describe pressure overwhelmed Yi Ning.
For some reason, Yi Ning suddenly remembered the feeling of Lu Zheng’s hand on her legs earlier.
Her body softened, and she almost nodded instinctively.
What the hell?!
Just as she was about to lower her head, she snapped back to her senses.
Losing during evil plans was one thing, but was she really going to lose during her off-hours too?!
Yi Ning’s expression turned fierce as she gritted her teeth and launched her counterattack:
“ED, tiny, three-second guy... I bet you’re useless!”
She didn’t believe for a second that Lu Zheng would actually break her jaw.
“You—”
As Yi Ning predicted, Lu Zheng’s grip faltered, but he couldn’t actually do anything, so he could only pretend to threaten her.
“You want me to prove to you exactly how not useless I am?”
“Oh yeah? Then do it, you coward! Let’s see you 1v1 me at a hotel, you spineless shrimp!”
Yi Ning doubled down, glaring at Lu Zheng with fiery eyes.
Of course, she didn’t actually want to go to a hotel with Lu Zheng and certainly wasn’t ready to lose her virginity before he did.
But she was determined to win against Lu Zheng today, so she stubbornly held her ground.
She refused to believe Lu Zheng would really dare to do anything!
Lu Zheng’s hand on her face froze, wanting to refuse.
But seeing Yi Ning’s taunting expression, his pride wouldn’t allow him to back down.
“...You said it.”
In the end, he released her, letting her sit back down while internally telling himself that at worst, it would turn into a gaming night at a love hotel.
They both fell into a tense silence.
A few minutes later, Lu Zheng looked at Yi Ning and cautiously asked:
“So... I’ll go pay the bill, we each go home to get our IDs, and then meet at the hotel?”
Like hell we will!
Lu Zheng might have said it out loud, but internally he was already planning to go home, shut off his phone, and disappear.
After all, he had only agreed because he couldn’t stand Yi Ning’s smug face. At worst, he’d be a turtle for one night, and no matter how much Yi Ning mocked him afterward, it wouldn’t matter.
As for tomorrow...
That would be tomorrow’s Lu Zheng’s problem!
“Heh~ No need.”
To Lu Zheng’s shock, Yi Ning just coldly snorted, then pulled a handbag from behind her.
“Ta-da-da-da! Retrieval Bag!”
“As long as you think about what you want, you can pull it out no matter where it is!”
Yi Ning explained the absurd functionality while smirking at Lu Zheng.
Did he really think she didn’t see through him?
Trying to escape?
He’d better obediently come to the hotel, get on his knees, and cry, “I’m trash, I shouldn’t have underestimated Lady Yi Ning, I’m your dog,” while kowtowing!
It wasn’t until they both pulled out their IDs from the bag that Yi Ning snapped out of it.
Wait a minute!
Why did I stop him from escaping?
Wouldn’t it have been better if he had run away?
That way I could have mocked him without having to go to a hotel!
How did my brain freeze like that?!
Yi Ning wanted to cry.
But it was too late to regret it now.
The two of them, faces stiff and bodies rigid, shoulder to shoulder, arrived at their final destination—
A love hotel.
And not far behind them, leisurely munching on a chicken leg, was Miss Qiu Yu, strolling their way with a delighted smile.