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「The next day.」

Ye Ling rarely slept in, but he did today, mainly because he’d stayed up far too late the previous night.

For some reason, the little rascal had been full of energy last night. They had agreed to play a round or two and then sleep, but who knew she’d only get more and more hyped with each game? In the end, she couldn’t fall asleep at all.

And since she couldn’t sleep, there was no way Ye Ling was getting any rest either. She had dragged him into an all-night gaming session. When her phone ran out of battery, she even pulled out a power bank.

Around 12:30 in the afternoon, Ye Ling finally opened his eyes. Feeling the soft, warm little body lying in his arms, a helpless smile touched the corners of his lips.

Ning Ruoxi was currently clinging to him like an octopus. In her hand, she still clutched her phone, which was plugged into the power bank.

’This girl... I can’t let her get her way like this next time.’

Ye Ling reached out and gently took the phone from her hand.

"Mmm..."

The movement woke Ning Ruoxi.

"Had enough sleep?"

Ye Ling rolled his eyes as he watched Ning Ruoxi rub her drowsy, sleepy eyes.

It was a good thing neither of them had class this morning, or they would have missed half a day of lessons!

Not that the current courses were of much use to him, but skipping too many classes would affect his grades. Besides, it seemed that getting caught skipping three times meant you had to retake the course.

"I’ve had enough sleep."

Ning Ruoxi was more or less awake now. She slowly propped herself up and wiped the corner of her mouth.

Ye Ling glanced down and suddenly noticed a small wet patch on his chest, prompting another helpless smile.

’She’s a grown woman, and she still drools in her sleep...’

As if sensing his gaze, Ning Ruoxi also glanced down. A flicker of embarrassment crossed her eyes, but in the next moment, she put on a stern expression.

"What? You got a problem with it?"

Ning Ruoxi’s big eyes went wide.

Though it was quite embarrassing, her experience told her that as long as she went on the offensive, she wouldn’t be the one to feel awkward or be in the wrong!

’I’m a genius!’

"Not at all, not at all."

Ye Ling immediately and wisely surrendered.

He really didn’t dare court death by answering yes. After all, he had finally gotten Ning Ruoxi to accept them sleeping in the same room. If the little rascal flew into a rage out of embarrassment and kicked him out, he’d have no tears left to cry.

’All for the sake of climbing into my future wife’s bed... Ptooey, no, that’s not right. It’s to save Ning Ruoxi from embarrassment! Yes, Ye Ling chose to sacrifice himself!’

’Huh?’

’Now that I think about it, why am I so moved by my own selflessness?’

Feeling quite pleased with himself, Ye Ling got out of bed. After washing up, he cooked a bowl of vegetable noodles for both himself and Ning Ruoxi, and they made do with that for a meal.

SLURP, SLURP...

Ning Ruoxi ate the noodles Ye Ling had made, her face a picture of contentment.

Although it was just a simple bowl of vegetable noodles, she wasn’t sure if it was because Ye Ling had made them or because she was starving, but they tasted exceptionally delicious.

"Hehe, yesterday you were telling me off for not eating properly, and here you are eating brunch today," Ning Ruoxi said with a goofy grin, a sudden thought occurring to her as she ate.

"Yes, yes, you’re right."

Ye Ling shot the girl an exasperated look and muttered under his breath:

"I wonder who it was that couldn’t sleep last night and just had to drag someone else into staying up with them."

"What did you say?"

Ning Ruoxi put down her chopsticks. A dangerously sweet smile played on her lips as she looked at Ye Ling and asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Seeing her expression, Ye Ling once again chose to surrender. He flinched, ducking his head to silently focus on his noodles.

’Freaking heck.’

’Where did my sweet, cute, and considerate little darling go?’

Ye Ling stole a glance at the now imperious-looking Ning Ruoxi and couldn’t help but sigh.

’For some reason...’

’...he kind of missed the old Ning Ruoxi.’

"Hmph!"

But Ning Ruoxi just let out a haughty little snort, her expression full of smug satisfaction.

After their meal, Ye Ling drove Ning Ruoxi to the university. Since he had to park the car, he let her start walking toward the academic building on her own.

But just as Ye Ling finished parking and was about to catch up to her, he saw Ning Ruoxi standing a short distance away, with a young man about 1.8 meters tall standing in front of her.

’The hell? Is this guy trying to steal my girl the moment I’m not around?’

Ye Ling’s eyes narrowed. He strode over and pulled Ning Ruoxi behind him.

"Can I help you with something?"

Ye Ling asked, looking at the young man before him without giving Ning Ruoxi a chance to speak.

The young man was a little taller than him, probably around 1.8 meters, and had rather handsome features—though, of course, he was a step down compared to Ye Ling.

"Er... I’m a senior, a fourth-year. I was hoping to get your WeChat..."

The guy was taken aback by Ye Ling’s arrival. He looked at Ning Ruoxi and asked, "Miss, is this...?"

"I’m her boyfriend,"

Ye Ling said bluntly, giving the other guy no opportunity to say more.

"Oh, her boyfriend. Er, my apologies. Sorry to bother you."

The fourth-year student instantly understood. With an embarrassed, apologetic smile, he turned and left.

"Why were you so aggressive?"

Ning Ruoxi shook her head with an amused smile, watching Ye Ling stare after the senior until he was long gone.

"You’ve got some nerve,"

Ye Ling shot a look at the little minx. "The moment I turn my back you’re attracting admirers."

"I wasn’t attracting anyone! I was just about to tell him I have a boyfriend when you showed up."

Ning Ruoxi pouted, her face a mask of indignation.

"Besides, when it comes to attracting admirers, how could I possibly compare to the great Ling God?"

Hearing this, Ye Ling’s expression immediately darkened.

He had only recently heard about the title "Ling God."

After he went viral on the campus forums, many girls from his year—and even some second and third-year upperclassmen—had become his fangirls.

And since he could play basketball, play the guitar, was handsome, and very wealthy, he was undoubtedly like a god in the eyes of these fangirls. Thus, he was dubbed "Ling God."

He had even heard from He Jian and the guys that a number of girls at school had started some kind of fan club for him, which they’d apparently named "Ling God" or something similar.

For Ning Ruoxi to bring it up now was, without a doubt, her way of turning the tables and mocking him.

"I don’t go around..."

Ye Ling started to protest, but then closed his mouth, feeling wronged.

’Fine.’

’When it came to getting hit on, he probably did have her beat.’

It wasn’t that he was that much more attractive than Ning Ruoxi... The main reason was that she usually came to campus with him, and not many people were clueless enough to try hitting on her right in front of her boyfriend.

An opportunistic suitor taking advantage of the short time he was away parking the car, like what happened today, was a rare exception.