Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
In the end—wasn't she just someone with no real relation?
That sentence kept echoing in Miss Qiu Yu's mind, to the point it almost blurred her consciousness.
She suddenly felt a little unsteady on her feet and instinctively took two steps back.
Seeing this, Yi Ning was delighted and quickly took two steps forward, wanting to press the advantage.
“That’s enough.”
Before Yi Ning could move closer, Lu Zheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him, shaking his head.
Lu Zheng looked at the dazed Miss Qiu Yu.
She stood with her head tilted back, unsteady on her feet, looking completely lost.
He sighed helplessly, let go of Yi Ning’s hand, and walked up to Miss Qiu Yu.
“Let’s leave it at that for today. She’s in this state, and I really can’t leave her alone. I’ll take her home first.”
He could understand the reason for Miss Qiu Yu’s earlier anger.
Yi Ning was, after all, a member of an evil organization. As a hero, being too close to her could easily stir up unpleasant rumors. Considering his own past experiences, it was only natural that Miss Qiu Yu would be particularly sensitive to such matters.
She was just worried he might get hurt the same way again.
Lu Zheng’s gaze was somewhat obscure.
“Oh, now you care about her? You didn’t stop me earlier.”
But Yi Ning clearly wasn’t going to let Lu Zheng off so easily. She smiled and stepped in front of him, blocking their path.
“Now that she’s all emotionally scarred, you jump out pretending to be the good guy to score sympathy points.”
“Clicking your way through the motions so smoothly—you’re quite the scumbag~”
Yi Ning seemed to be getting carried away. She even threw herself into a dramatic performance, hugging her shoulders and pretending to shiver.
“So scary~”
Lu Zheng could only sigh helplessly at her antics.
He scratched his head irritably and finally sighed, explaining to Yi Ning.
“We’ve been childhood friends since forever, and we’re colleagues too. If I really had that kind of intention, I’d have succeeded a long time ago.”
For some reason, after Lu Zheng said that, Miss Qiu Yu’s expression became even more dejected.
Unfortunately, Lu Zheng was looking at Yi Ning and didn’t notice. He just kept explaining.
“I only didn’t stop you earlier because I didn’t think what you said was all that wrong. I just didn’t expect it to hurt Qiu Yu so much.”
He even muttered under his breath, barely audible: “She is my boss after all. She nags me all the time—it’s like having another mom. Wanting to see her flustered isn’t so bad, right?”
“Anyway, I’m taking her home first.”
Lu Zheng shielded Miss Qiu Yu, stepped around Yi Ning, waved at her without looking back, and headed toward the Hero Association.
Yi Ning glared at their backs in displeasure.
With her hands on her hips, she shouted at Lu Zheng, “You coward!”
Lu Zheng stopped walking.
“I’m not being a coward.”
After two seconds, he shook his head again.
After all, part of his decision to walk Qiu Yu home was to avoid going to the hotel with Yi Ning.
And he didn’t have the energy to argue with Yi Ning over face.
So he simply replied and kept walking.
“If you say so.”
“……”
Yi Ning looked at Lu Zheng’s back.
“Call me daddy.”
“……”
“Daddy!”
Yi Ning glanced one last time at the two of them walking away, then curled her lips and turned around to head home herself.
But she had barely walked two steps when she suddenly turned back toward their direction.
The two of them were already out of sight.
“Damn it!”
Yi Ning stomped her foot in frustration.
“I forgot to tell them I have the day off tomorrow.”
“Oh well, I’ll just call them tomorrow.”
…
Lu Zheng accompanied Miss Qiu Yu on the way toward the Hero Association.
Since there were still some things he wanted to say, he didn’t use his powers—instead, they just walked.
Once there were no people in sight, Lu Zheng turned his head toward Miss Qiu Yu.
“I really do understand why you were so angry earlier.”
Hearing this, Miss Qiu Yu looked up slightly, her expression complicated. Her mental state seemed to improve as she looked at Lu Zheng’s face. But before she could feel even a shred of happiness, she suddenly lowered her head again, looking even more despondent.
So what if he’d noticed her feelings?
He didn’t like her back!
Sadly, Lu Zheng didn’t quite grasp the reason for her behavior. He tilted his head in confusion and continued explaining.
The streetlight quietly cast its glow through the branches of the trees, falling across Lu Zheng’s face.
“I know what happened with Brother Yang Ping made you extra cautious. You don’t want me getting too close to members of evil organizations, worried that I might get hurt the same way again.”
Hearing that, Miss Qiu Yu felt a trace of helplessness.
So it seemed she’d been overthinking it.
As they walked, the shadows of the branches crossed Lu Zheng’s face, making it hard for her to read his expression.
“But all of that is in the past now.”
Soon, the two of them walked past the particularly leafy tree, and the streetlight illuminated Lu Zheng’s face again.
“This time, it won’t be like before. You don’t need to worry about me getting hurt again.”
“D-City is a peaceful place. Those major organizations can’t reach here—there won’t be any large-scale operations like before.”
“And Yi Ning isn’t some monstrous villain. Her record doesn’t show any harm to innocent civilians. She behaves well in D-City, completely in line with the Hero Association’s amnesty policies!”
“Besides, you’ve seen what she can do. As long as she shows the slightest willingness to join us, headquarters will definitely greenlight it.”
“Sure, Yi Ning’s personality is a bit nasty, but it’s not like the Hero Association doesn’t have even weirder ones.”
“And Yi Ning is really pretty, and a great cook. Outside of her mean streak, she’s sometimes a bit tsundere and kind of cute too…”
In an effort to ease Miss Qiu Yu’s discomfort with his contact with Yi Ning, Lu Zheng tried desperately to list all her good points, hoping it would lift Qiu Yu from her gloom.
But what he didn’t know was—Miss Qiu Yu’s anger had nothing to do with Yi Ning being a member of an evil organization.
All those compliments he was heaping on Yi Ning were having the opposite effect.
They were relentlessly stabbing at Miss Qiu Yu’s already fragile heart, making her more and more out of it, her face increasingly filled with despair.
“So you see, things won’t end up like last time.”
After his long speech, Lu Zheng exhaled deeply, looking at Miss Qiu Yu with hope in his eyes.
He believed that after all that, Miss Qiu Yu would definitely understand his intentions and stop meddling in his interactions with Yi Ning.
Looking at the hopeful Lu Zheng, Miss Qiu Yu lowered her head in despair.
At this point, there was absolutely no way she could tell him that she had only gotten angry because she was jealous that he went into a hotel with Yi Ning.