“Xiao Lin, are you sure you can do it~”
“Hmph, the word ‘can’t’ doesn’t exist in Tachibana Rin’s dictionary!”
“Wait… be gentler, you’re hurting me!!!”
“Who told you to say I can’t do it~”
In the school dormitory, Tachibana Rin was helping Natsukawa Mirai relax her calf muscles.
You had to hand it to a prestigious academy — it was truly different. The two of them, being international students, had been assigned a two-person dorm, which suited them perfectly.
Just the two of them was best. No strangers to disturb their private world.
Pfft, pfft, pfft — what private world? It should be said that no strangers were around to disturb their scheming.
“Honestly, why don’t we just stop looking for that author? It feels pretty hopeless.”
Tachibana Rin wanted to persuade Natsukawa Mirai to give up searching for the author of “Dragon Clan.”
After all, even the young lady who had connections to Natsukawa Mirai’s family refused to tell them anything — not even a tiny bit of information.
In the mainland, apart from the young lady Luo Xinyu, they had no connections at all. Trying to pinpoint one person among over a billion people was just too difficult.
They couldn’t use the power of media or the internet either, as that would have a terrible impact on the author himself.
The fact that the author hadn’t revealed his true identity most likely meant he didn’t want to be disturbed. If Natsukawa Mirai caused the author to get caught up in a storm of public opinion, she would feel guilty for a very long time.
“No way. If you want to give up, Xiao Lin, then just focus on studying at school. When I go to other provinces to travel and look for him, I won’t bring you along~”
“Other provinces?”
Tachibana Rin pondered for a moment.
“You’ve got new information on that author’s whereabouts again?”
At first, it was Natsukawa Mirai who said the author was in the capital, which was why they went to meet Miss Xinyu. If the author was in another province, they wouldn’t have bothered visiting her at all — they would have just asked for leave from school and headed straight there.
After all, they weren’t close with the young lady, and showing up out of nowhere to visit would be awkward. Fortunately, Luo Xinyu wasn’t the kind of spoiled, unreasonable young miss with a princess complex. She was very kind and easy to get along with.
It was just that some of her little habits didn’t quite seem like a girl’s.
“Mhm~”
Natsukawa Mirai proudly waved her phone.
Yangliu Mozun: “Little Xia Xia, when are you coming to Yu City? I’ve prepared a gift for you~”
Sakura Is the Best: “We’ve booked tomorrow’s flight. We’ll be counting on you, Yiyi.”
Yangliu Mozun: “Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s just the author of ‘Dragon Clan,’ right? I’m super close with him. I just haven’t found an excuse to go see him — your timing is perfect.”
Sakura Is the Best: “Mhm mhm, Yiyi really is the best!”
Looking at the chat history between Natsukawa Mirai and this “Yangliu Mozun,” Tachibana Rin made a strange expression.
“You’ve got someone else on the side?!”
“Get out of here!!!”
Natsukawa Mirai swung her calf, shaking off the other’s hand.
It was only because the other was her best friend. If it were anyone else, Natsukawa Mirai would have ruthlessly stomped her foot on their face.
What did she mean, “someone else on the side”? As if she were some kind of girl who played with people’s feelings and then abandoned them.
“Meh.”
Tachibana Rin didn’t mind being told to get out. Instead, she plopped down on the other’s bed, leaned forward slightly, and looked at the phone together with her.
“By the way, this Yangliu Mozun — isn’t she the one who wrote ‘Your Name’?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Natsukawa Mirai had been in contact with Liu Yiyi for a long time. It was also her who told Natsukawa Mirai that the Dragon Clan author had gone to the capital.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about directly asking the other for the author’s true identity, but the other always deflected with “If you meet me in person, I’ll take you to see him.”
If the other party weren’t also a well-known author, Natsukawa Mirai would really have thought she was just tricking her into an offline meeting to kidnap her.
“How do you know she’s close with that author?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Look at her first famous work, that one called ‘Firefly Forest.’ Even back then, she was already collaborating with Chenxi.”
Speaking of Chenxi, Natsukawa Mirai had actually suspected the man by the young lady’s side — the one named Xia Xi.
Her suspicion wasn’t unfounded.
First, the young lady was very close to him, and they had even developed into an undefined boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. That showed his identity was definitely not simple — very mysterious.
Second, his name really made it hard not to think of that author’s pen name. Summer Chenxi and Xia Xi — the similarity was just too obvious!
But he wasn’t willing to say what kind of work he did, and the two of them had no standing to ask. So they had no choice but to bury their suspicions in their hearts and let it go.
In any case, once they met Liu Yiyi in person and successfully met Summer Chenxi, all the mysteries would be resolved!
“Fine, fine. You’re the little shrine maiden. You’re so smart~ So, what are we having for lunch today?”
Natsukawa Mirai rolled her eyes.
Her good friend just loved to tease her about the shrine maiden identity.
“Let’s try that braised chicken place outside the school. It looked pretty tasty.”
Braised chicken?
Tachibana Rin thought back.
It did look pretty good, actually.
“Alright, then it’s decided — braised chicken!”
With that, she kicked off her slippers, crawled onto Natsukawa Mirai’s bed, and lay down on her back.
“What about dinner? What are we having for dinner?”
Natsukawa Mirai, pinned underneath, felt her chest about to be squeezed sore and breathless. Thank goodness there was a soft pillow underneath, or she definitely would have been in pain.
“Eat, eat, eat — all you think about is eating. Get off me, you’re uncomfortable to lie on.”
“No way, I think it’s pretty comfortable.”
Tachibana Rin said this, but her body still obediently rolled to one side.
She wrapped both arms around Natsukawa Mirai’s waist.
“The little shrine maiden is so soft and sweet. Hugging her feels amazing. I wonder which boy will get lucky in the future~”
“Don’t you have your own bed? Go away!”
Natsukawa Mirai struggled a few times but couldn’t break free, so she gave up and ignored her.
“We’ll have roast duck for dinner. It’s rare for us to come to the capital of the mainland — we’ve definitely got to try authentic Shangjing roast duck.”
“See, you say I only think about eating, but your own head is full of food too.”
“Shut up!”
…
On the other side.
Luo Xinyu looked at the messages on Xia Xi’s phone, her lips curling upward slightly.
Yangliu Mozun: “Xia Xi, Xia Xi, are you back in Yu City yet? I’m coming to visit you tomorrow.”
Summer Chenxi: “I just happen to be home these few days. Come if you want.”
Toward Liu Yiyi — this girl who had initially colluded with her, partnered up in crime, and shared information about having her body occupied — Luo Xinyu actually had a fair bit of goodwill.
Especially since the other had gradually gotten rid of her habit of being sharp-tongued and insulting, and her temperament had become much gentler than before.
Yangliu Mozun: “That’s great! Can I bring two friends?”
Summer Chenxi: “Soybean ok.jpg”
