Jiang You had one of her fair feet resting on Shen Lan’s leg. He held her plump, fair toes, his gaze lowered as he carefully painted her toenails.
It was a shimmery pink nail polish that would leave a faint, sparkling pink finish.
Jiang You’s mind drifted. Usually, a few of her lackeys would do this for her, though she sometimes painted them herself.
She hadn’t even finished one hand, but Shen Lan had already finished one of her feet. He cupped her heel in his palm and used a curing lamp on her toenails.
"Have you done this for someone else before?" Jiang You’s toes curled slightly.
"I took an elective on this kind of thing," Shen Lan explained.
Jiang You then recalled that to reduce the number of single male beasts, various academies had started offering numerous courses teaching them how to be perfect beast-husbands.
’It’s actually pretty normal for Shen Lan to know how, then.’
Once Shen Lan finished painting her toenails, Jiang You finally spoke up. "Don’t you have things to do tonight?"
"Don’t you worry, darling. I have nothing else to do. I can stay with you all night long." Shen Lan looked up at her, squeezing her foot. His blue eyes wavered as he stared at her plump, pretty toes, and he couldn’t resist lowering his head to kiss the top of her foot. "Your feet are so beautiful, darling."
Jiang You was about to say something, but the act of him kissing her foot made her mind go blank for a second. She almost couldn’t stop herself from kicking him away.
’Pervert!’
She composed herself and casually put her foot down.
In reality, her thoughts were a chaotic mess.
Seeing Jiang You hide her foot in a fuzzy slipper, a flicker of disappointment crossed Shen Lan’s blue eyes.
"I’m not the only one at the Great Politics Institute. If things couldn’t run without me, they’d really be a bunch of useless old fools." Shen Lan was still crouching by her legs. He looked up at Jiang You. "I came back to take the final exams for my courses."
At his words, Jiang You realized it was true. Some courses from the first half of the semester were indeed ending, and it was time for exams.
New courses would start in the second half of the semester.
The courses for one semester were split into two halves.
Jiang You rarely paid attention in class, so she didn’t know and hadn’t cared much.
’The system wants me to fail my exams anyway.’
’Wait, wait, wait.’
’The mission is what I should be worried about right now, not some exams!’
If Shen Lan was going to be stuck to her all night, was she supposed to bring him along on her mission later? Make him watch as she flirted with another man?
That was a dramatic scene Jiang You definitely did not want to see.
Shen Lan had already found out about Xi Cheng today. If he learned about another one, Jiang You was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Jiang You fiddled with the terminal on her wrist, wondering how to trick him into leaving—at least until she finished her mission.
Her gaze fell on a message in her "Top Ten Elite Families" group chat.
Bai Sisi: [Jewelry Pic]
Bai Sisi: There’s a necklace made from an Aurora Beast’s horn at the Man City auction. It’s so beautiful, I want it so bad.
Xu Mei: I heard it’s the final item up for auction. A lot of people will probably be bidding on it.
...
Jiang You ignored the other messages, her eyes catching only the words "Man City" and "final item up for auction."
’Man City is far away.’
’The final item means the auction will last a long time.’
So she clicked on the picture Bai Sisi had sent, zoomed in, and held it in front of Shen Lan, demanding in a casual tone:
"I want this necklace."
Shen Lan’s gaze slid to the photo.
It was a necklace of sparkling, crystalline gems.
He immediately noticed its material was unusual.
"An Aurora Beast’s horn. That type of mutant beast is rarely seen and very hard to capture. Its horn is extremely hard, making it difficult to cut. Crafting it into gems is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process."
It typically takes two to three years just to soften the outer shell of an Aurora Beast’s horn before the extremely hard, shimmering material inside can be crafted into gems.
This wasn’t what Jiang You cared about; she just wanted to send Shen Lan away. "Hurry up and go win this necklace for me."
Shen Lan raised the terminal on his wrist. "I’ll have someone..."
Jiang You grabbed his hand, interrupting him with a dissatisfied tone. "I want you to go yourself."
Feigning unhappiness, she furrowed her brow. "You’re not even willing to make this little trip for me? You have to call someone else just to bid on something? Can’t you do anything for me personally?"
Shen Lan paused. He reached out and smoothed the space between her brows, his lips curving into a smile. "Alright. I’ll go and win it for you."
Jiang You huffed out a laugh. "That’s more like it."
Shen Lan cupped her face and gave her a few affectionate kisses before leaving.
When she saw him leave, Jiang You finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced at the group chat messages again.
The auction wouldn’t end until 11:00 PM tonight.
Anything after 10:00 PM was considered a late return at school.
’I can complete my mission without Shen Lan finding out.’
’Perfect.’
That evening, snow began to fall.
Jiang You arrived at the school gate an hour early and stood there for half an hour.
The cold wind whipped past, making her small face a little stiff and turning the tip of her nose a faint red.
’I must be crazy,’ she thought. ’Why did I come out here so early just to stand in the freezing wind?’
In the coffee shop next door.
Xu Che delivered a coffee to a customer, then couldn’t help but glance again at the petite figure standing out in the cold wind.
He wondered who could possibly make Miss Jiang wait for so long. It had already been half an hour.
Xu Che went back inside, grabbed a cup of warm coffee, and walked out, slowly approaching Jiang You’s side. "Jiang, this is for you."
A cup of coffee, wisps of steam curling from its surface, was held out in front of her.
Jiang You froze. Her gaze traveled up from the long, well-defined fingers gripping the coffee cup to see a handsome young man with black hair and black eyes.
Those black eyes still held a cold, glass-like sheen, betraying little emotion.
Jiang You took it instinctively. The warmth from the cup instantly seeped into her cold palm, warming her heart along with it. "Th—"
She quickly cut herself off, her words taking a sharp turn. "Thank you? You didn’t actually think I’d say that, did you? This young miss has seen this kind of pickup line a million times. I’m doing you a favor by even taking it."
Xu Che paid no mind to her arrogant words and simply reminded her, "It’s warm in the coffee shop. You can wait inside."
After saying his piece, he turned and walked back without waiting for her reaction.
Jiang You stood there, stunned.
’Ah, right. Why didn’t I just wait inside the shop?’
’Was I crazy, standing out here in the wind for half an hour?’
’I’m freezing to death and my legs are stiff.’
Jiang You hurried into the shop.
And as Xu Che saw her enter the shop, a fleeting, almost imperceptible emotion flickered in his black eyes before vanishing. He went back to work, not sparing her another glance.
Or rather, from Jiang You’s perspective, he was constantly working and never looked at her again. Even when he walked past her, he didn’t look, ignoring her so completely it was as if they were strangers.
But from Xu Che’s perspective, he saw her no matter where he looked; she just never saw him looking.
Inside the warm coffee shop, Jiang You leisurely played with her terminal, waiting for time to pass.