Xiao Feng, You're Bullying Me

"Gulp..."

Only after Shen Mengli swallowed the last bite of corn did she let out a satisfied sigh.

"Pfft..."

Seeing Shen Mengli's adorable expression, Ye Feng couldn't help but laugh. However, he was quickly silenced by her fierce glare.

"Xiao Feng, how can you still laugh! If it weren’t for your lack of chivalry, would I have ended up like this?"

"S-sorry, Mengli. I just thought of something funny."

"Hmph!"

Shen Mengli turned her head away indignantly. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was always the one suffering, while Ye Feng remained unscathed. Feeling unbalanced, she abruptly stood up from her chair.

Ye Feng assumed she was done with lunch and wanted to leave the table. "Mengli, you just finished eating. Why don’t you rest for a bit? I should take this chance to tidy up the house, so I’ll just—"

Before he could finish, he noticed Shen Mengli narrowing her eyes, staring at him with an eerie intensity, as if a sharp blade were grazing his face.

"M-Mengli?"

Ye Feng licked his dry lips, trying to reason with her.

"I don’t know what’s wrong, but could you not look at me like that? It’s kind of scary."

"Scary?"

Shen Mengli raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a sweet yet dangerous smile. Then, right in front of him, she deliberately dropped the chopsticks from her bowl onto the floor. She bit her lip, feigning regret.

"Oops~ Look how clumsy I am, can’t even handle such a simple thing. Hold on, Xiao Feng, let me pick these up before you leave the table."

With that, she bent down. Ye Feng’s eyes widened in realization—but it was too late. The hem of his clothes was already firmly in her grasp.

"Xiao Feng, don’t even think about running away~ If I’m suffering, you’re suffering with me~"

......

"Nom♡"

Su Yuxin took a bite of strawberry cake, carefully licking the cream from the corner of her lips.

After a heated meeting, they finally had a short break. To recharge, Su Yuxin had ordered a strawberry cake for herself.

"So, what do we do now?"

Li Mucheng glanced at Su Yuxin, clearing her throat to remind her to focus.

"Mmm..."

Su Yuxin quickly swallowed the cake, sitting upright on the sofa without even wiping her mouth, waiting for Xie Yuyan’s response.

"I think Ye Feng’s jacket is a decoy—meant to make us believe something happened to him. Otherwise, why would we find it now after searching for so long without a trace? It’s suspicious."

Xie Yuyan furrowed her brows. The prolonged thinking had given her a headache, but every time she recalled the despair in Ye Feng’s eyes, she felt uneasy. Deep down, she was determined to bring him back.

"Besides, the river may be fast-flowing, but there are no large predators or complex terrain. If he had drifted downstream, we should’ve found him by now. So I believe... he’s still alive."

"But... Xie Yuyan, didn’t you say you couldn’t sense Ye Feng’s life signs that day at the cliff?" Su Yuxin timidly asked.

"At first, yes. But after discussing it, I realized Ye Feng’s secrets run deeper than we thought. There might be clues we’re missing. And don’t forget—after being shot, his injuries were fatal. Yet he chose to jump into the river. That seems unnecessary unless..."

Li Mucheng nodded thoughtfully. While suicide was a possibility, his actions were indeed strange. Maybe he faked his death to escape!

"Then... if your theory is right, Ye Feng could still be hiding in these mountains?!"

Li Mucheng seized the key point, looking to Xie Yuyan for confirmation.

"Exactly. Even if he survived, he wouldn’t leave immediately. There are more eyes outside than in the wilderness. He’d wait until the heat dies down."

Xie Yuyan gave Li Mucheng an approving look, though it wasn’t surprising—after all, she was Ye Feng’s student.

"Then I’ll mobilize people to surround the mountains! We’ll keep searching the riverbanks. If we find nothing... we’ll tear the whole mountain apart!"

The moment Ye Feng was mentioned, Li Mucheng lost all rationality. Thankfully, Su Yuxin calmed her down.

"It’s okay, Mucheng. We’ve been through worse. Let’s stick to the plan and not act recklessly."

"Su Yuxin’s right," Xie Yuyan agreed, sitting beside Li Mucheng. "We don’t know if Ye Feng has other escape plans. We can’t risk alerting him."

"I... I understand."

"Let’s end the meeting here. I need to sort through my thoughts. Call me if anything urgent comes up."

With that, Xie Yuyan headed to her room.

Su Yuxin stood up, gently patting Li Mucheng’s shoulder. "I’ll go home and arrange personnel too."

"Alright. I’ll stay here for a while."

After they left, Li Mucheng remained alone on the sofa. The warm sunlight outside couldn’t melt the coldness in her heart.

"Teacher... why? Why did you leave me when I’ve been so obedient? Were all those moments we shared just an illusion? I... I miss you so much."

......

"Cough... cough!"

Ye Feng looked at Shen Mengli, still coughing in his arms, and sighed. "Mengli, was this really necessary? Why provoke me like this? Go get some water to soothe your throat."

"Wuu..."

Shen Mengli had wanted to humble Ye Feng, but her ambush had backfired. After so many defeats, the frustration overwhelmed her, and tears spilled out.

"Xiao Feng, you bully!"