The Clingy Shen Mengli

"Tick... tock..."

Li Mucheng looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, her thoughts already drifting far away. Meanwhile, Xie Yuyan, sitting on the sofa sipping coffee, kept her gaze fixed on the manor's front gate.

"Yuyan... it's been so long. Why hasn’t Yuxin come back yet? Do you think something happened to her and the teacher?"

"I don’t think you need to worry about that, Mengli..."

Xie Yuyan took a calm breath, her cold expression betraying no emotion.

"We lost, so we have to follow the rules. No matter what happens, we can’t disturb Yuxin."

"I know that... but... but it’s so late now! Don’t you think they’re pushing it a little too far?"

Just as Li Mucheng finished speaking, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the room. Both their eyes instantly darted toward the entrance—sure enough, Su Yuxin came bouncing in, hand in hand with Ye Feng.

Just as Su Yuxin was about to say something to Ye Feng, she suddenly noticed the two pairs of eyes glaring at her from the sofa. Flustered, she quickly let go of his hand.

"Y-Yuyan? Mucheng? Why are you two still here?"

"Where else would we be? If we weren’t, someone might not have come back at all tonight."

Li Mucheng replied with a slightly resentful look.

"Ahem..."

Realizing she had gone too far, Su Yuxin walked over to Li Mucheng with an apologetic expression, taking her hands and pouting.

"Sorry, Mucheng, I lost track of time. I’ll come back earlier next time~"

"Teacher, I’m not blaming you or anything... I was just... just worried something might’ve happened to you and Yuxin."

Li Mucheng stepped forward anxiously, her hands fidgeting nervously.

"Mm, I understand."

Ye Feng smiled gently at Li Mucheng, reaching out to pat her head lightly.

"By the way, has Mengli still not come down for dinner?"

At this question, Ye Feng suddenly recalled Shen Mengli running upstairs earlier. He lowered his voice as he asked Li Mucheng.

Li Mucheng had been enjoying the warmth of Ye Feng’s touch, but her expression darkened slightly at his question.

"Mm..."

She glanced back at Xie Yuyan, who remained seated on the sofa, and answered truthfully.

"Mengli hasn’t come down at all. We don’t know what’s going on."

"I see..."

Ye Feng nodded gravely, then turned to Su Yuxin beside him.

"Yuxin, I need to check on Mengli, so the thing I promised you..."

"It’s okay, Brother Ye Feng!"

Su Yuxin gave him an understanding smile before skipping over to Li Mucheng.

"I’ll never forget today~ And I’ll wait patiently for you to come back~"

"Alright."

"Teacher, we’ve kept Mengli’s dinner warm. You can take it up to her later, okay?"

"Thank you, Mucheng."

Just as Ye Feng was about to pick up the dinner prepared for Shen Mengli, his eyes suddenly met Xie Yuyan’s intense gaze, which was locked onto him.

"Ahem..."

Ye Feng clenched a fist lightly and slowly approached Xie Yuyan.

"Sorry, Yuyan, earlier I..."

"Shh~"

Xie Yuyan took a sip of her sweetened coffee, then lightly pressed her lips against his.

"As long as you keep me in your heart, that’s enough. Now go see how Mengli is doing."

"Thank you, Yuyan..."

As Ye Feng left, the three girls in the living room exchanged glances. Li Mucheng immediately linked arms with Su Yuxin and pulled her onto the sofa.

"Yuxin, hurry up and tell me what happened between you and the teacher today!"

"Mm..."

Seeing Li Mucheng’s relentless curiosity, Su Yuxin couldn’t hide it anymore. Besides, now that she and Ye Feng had shared an intimate moment, she couldn’t wait to share her joy with them.

"Brother Ye Feng... he’s so gentle... and..."

"And what?"

Noticing the blush on Su Yuxin’s cheeks, Li Mucheng pressed eagerly.

"And... he’s like he has some kind of magic... I feel so... so..."

Su Yuxin’s voice grew softer, her words becoming incoherent.

"Aww~ Looks like our Yuxin is growing up fast~"

"Ugh, Mucheng! Stop teasing me!"

......

Creak~

The door opened as Ye Feng stepped into his room. But the space was pitch black, the windows covered by drawn curtains.

"Mengli?"

Coming from the lit hallway, his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet. He called out Shen Mengli’s name, but only silence answered.

"Mengli, are you here?"

Frowning in confusion, he tried to feel for the light switch from memory. Just as his fingers brushed against it, a slender hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the bed.

"Mengli? So you’re fine. I was worried for nothing."

"Hehe, I’ve just been waiting for you, Xiao Feng."

Shen Mengli’s sweet voice whispered beside his ear, followed by a pair of crimson eyes glowing in the dark.

"Here, let me take that."

She took the dinner tray from his hands and placed it on the bedside table.

"Mengli, what’s going on? You should eat. It’s been a while."

"I know you’re looking out for me, Xiao Feng, but I’m not really hungry right now."

As she spoke, Shen Mengli buried herself in Ye Feng’s embrace, her small hands clinging tightly to him.

"Right now, I just want to rest in your arms for a while... because... I know after today, it’ll be a long time before I can do this again..."