Chapter 328. Triggering the Plot
When Mom left to play Mahjong, Hei Dou’s behavior brought a familiar sense of déjà vu.
So familiar—wasn’t this just me and my brother when we were kids?
Back then, when the two of us found out Mom was going to play Mahjong all night, we were just as eager, lamenting verbally but secretly delighted.
It was just identical!
Even though I completely understood Hei Dou’s actions, my eyelids were twitching and my blood pressure was rising.
I yanked on Hei Dou’s cat ears: “Pretending I don’t exist, huh?”
Feeling the pain at her ear roots, Hei Dou finally looked up at Ning Chu with confusion: “Sister…”
That handsome little face had already gone expressionless, her brows furrowing, and the anger in her eyes instinctively made her feel guilty and scared.
Her excited expression was frozen on her face, and she momentarily couldn’t react.
Ning Chu yanked Hei Dou up from the sofa and kicked her backside: “Go do your homework!”
Hei Dou suddenly realized that Mom really was out playing Mahjong, but there was still “Mom” at home.
In a panic, she turned off the TV, rushed back to her homework, picked up her pen, and with a look of grievance, continued writing while sneakily glancing towards Ning Chu. Seeing Ning Chu standing there with a stern face, she wrote even faster.
How do I have two moms?!
Ning Chu stood with her hands on her hips beside Hei Dou, watching for two minutes, confirming that this cat wasn’t trying to be sneaky, before she finally sat back down on the sofa.
Fortunately, Hei Dou was obedient enough, not like when I was a kid, where even when forced to do homework she would be filled with thoughts of play, taking an hour to write a single page.
Otherwise, she would drive me to the brink tonight.
“What do you want for a midnight snack?” Ning Chu crossed her left leg over her right, reclining on the sofa armrest with one hand propping up her chin, watching Hei Dou intently.
At the mention of a midnight snack, Hei Dou’s droopy ears perked up: “Roast chicken?”
“If you write nicely, I’ll buy you barbecue tonight.”
“Okay!”
Hei Dou immediately slowed her writing speed, taking her time to cautiously transform those unintelligible scribbles into proper letters.
Seeing results, Ning Chu finally lowered her head to play on her phone.
Good thing this cat had a weakness for food; knowing how to leverage that made her relatively easy to manage—definitely not a little troublemaker.
Gradually, the time reached ten o’clock at night.
Hei Dou had finished her homework and was engrossed in watching TV, munching on chicken bones, with a box of roast chicken in front of her, lazily wagging her tail.
Meanwhile, Ning Chu was curled up on the sofa chatting with Wen Yang, learning the precise location and timing of tonight’s gathering.
“I’m heading out for dinner, we’ll talk later.”
Her expression froze for a moment as she replied, “Okay.”
It was about time to head out.
Taking the subway from here would take at least half an hour, which was plenty of time for Wen Yang to get drugged.
Hopefully, before she got there, Wen Yang hadn’t been picked up by some girl along the way.
With a serious look, Ning Chu stood up, having already prepared to go out; her socks and scarf were neatly put on, and she draped a thick fur-collared coat over herself before arriving at the door.
“Sister? Where are you going?”
“I have something to do, might be back around eleven or twelve.”
She couldn’t help but feel worried about Hei Dou and turned to remind her: “Finish the roast chicken and go to bed; you have class tomorrow.”
“Don’t open the door for strangers, just pretend you’re already asleep.”
“If Mom asks tomorrow, just say we went to bed around ten.”
Hei Dou tilted her head, her ears twitching: “Are you going to find Brother-in-law? I want to go too!”
“Go enjoy your roast meat!”
“Oh~”
Ning Chu pushed the door open, bent down to put on her shoes, and walked into the hallway.
“Sister!” Hei Dou hurried to the door.
Sighing, Ning Chu looked back and saw Hei Dou’s face full of reluctance. She smiled gently and ruffled Hei Dou’s head: “Good girl, eat and then go to sleep.”
“Buy me some barbecue too, or I’ll tell Mom tomorrow.”
“……”
With a straight face, she shut the door.
Through the door, she could vaguely hear cheers from inside.
Ning Chu estimated that by the time she returned, the house would likely be a complete mess, with Hei Dou still playing on the tablet and watching TV.
My blood pressure is rising!
The situation was increasingly urgent, so she had to temporarily push Hei Dou to the back of her mind, hailed a rideshare, and headed to Wen Yang’s gathering.
Half an hour later, Ning Chu reached the restaurant’s entrance.
She looked up at the transparent glass door of the restaurant and immediately spotted Wen Yang dining with colleagues.
Luckily, Wen Yang was surrounded by men and there was no sign of any “feminine” situations.
This put her at ease, and she glanced around before sitting down in a nearby tea shop.
Not a big deal—things were stable.
She held the warm cocoa milk tea in her hands to warm up, occasionally glancing down to take a sip, her eyes fixed on the restaurant entrance not far away.
Not much longer,
Wen Yang and his colleagues trickled out of the restaurant.
“Wen Yang, your face is so red, let me take you home?”
“I didn’t even drink, what’s there to send me for?”
In the winter night, Wen Yang didn’t feel any chill; after a meal, he was sweating, and even his breath puffed out clouds of white mist.
The girl rushed forward, eager to persuade him again, but Wen Yang took a step back and firmly said: “I have a girlfriend now, this kind of flirting isn’t appropriate.”
“Wen Yang!”
He paused, turning back to see Ning Chu, dressed in white with a pure and innocent aura: “Look, my girlfriend’s here.”
“Wow! So pretty?”
“Really! How did you hook up?”
After a meal, the relationships between his colleagues visibly improved, and hearing their compliments made Wen Yang feel satisfied, proudly stepping forward to hold Ning Chu’s hand.
“What are you doing here? It’s already so late.”
“I was a bit worried… Who was that girl?” Ning Chu suspiciously looked at the woman who had just been talking to Wen Yang.
She looked average, lacking any tags like “older sister” or “big chest,” definitely not the female lead.
“Are you taking a taxi back?” she withdrew her gaze to ask.
“It’s just a few steps, not far.”
Ning Chu observed Wen Yang’s expression and found that apart from a bit of redness in his cheeks, he didn’t seem to be off.
She wrinkled her nose, catching a faint smell of alcohol and smoke.
“Just had a little to drink, couldn’t really refuse.” Wen Yang smiled wryly, “A bunch of seasoned guys, no match for me.”
“Ugh~”
Ning Chu hated drinking culture but felt powerless—this wasn’t her call.
She tugged at Wen Yang’s arm: “Let’s go.”
“I’m leaving first!” Wen Yang called back to his colleagues.
At eleven o’clock, the city was getting a bit quiet.
This wasn’t a night market; there weren’t any KTVs or bars nearby—the nightlife hustle couldn’t reach this place.
The street was blowing a chilly wind, with Ning Chu linking arms with Wen Yang, the two shadows, one tall and one short, twisting and stretching beneath the streetlight.
“I should take you home; it’s already eleven, it’s unsafe to be out this late.” Surprisingly, Wen Yang started worrying about Ning Chu, but his next statement revealed his true thoughts: “How about you just spend the night at my place?”
“Absolutely not! If I stay out, Mom will lecture me again.”
Ning Chu observed Wen Yang’s expression and anxiously asked, “Do you feel unwell or anything?”
“Not really.”
Looks like the plot wasn’t triggered?
“Just feeling really hot.” Wen Yang tugged at his collar, frowning.
Ning Chu, startled like a scared rabbit, immediately distanced herself from Wen Yang.
Why didn’t you say that earlier!
And here I was strolling around leisurely!
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