Chapter 44: I Refuse
“You and Brother Ye are so close, it should be easy for you to ask about that stuff.”
After saying that, Lin Wenbin nodded to himself confidently, resting his chin on one hand. As far as he was concerned, what he said made perfect sense.
Then he looked at Lin Muqing again with a smug smile on his face. He thought he had this in the bag.
“If you’re not saying anything, I’ll take that as a yes.”
Since Lin Muqing was lowering her head, Lin Wenbin couldn’t see her face or know just how shocked she actually was at that moment.
All he knew was that she wasn’t saying anything, and earlier she seemed really interested in the limited-edition figure, so he figured she must’ve agreed.
But what he didn’t expect was for Lin Muqing to suddenly lift her head, eyes wide, and stare at him—
Her face full of surprise, like she’d just seen a ghost.
“Sorry. I refuse.”
She gave Lin Wenbin one emotionless glance, then turned and walked straight into the classroom.
No hesitation. Didn’t even look back.
“Huh? Did she change personalities or something?”
Completely confused, Lin Wenbin stood at the door, scratching the back of his head. He had no idea what had just happened.
He’d even brought out the limited-edition Eromanga Sensei figure this time, it was a huge offer!
But Lin Muqing still turned him down without a second thought. He really didn’t get it.
After thinking for a while, he could only come to one conclusion. Lin Muqing and Ye Ziming must be super close, and she wasn’t willing to “betray” her friend.
Yeah… that must be it.
As for Lin Muqing, after returning to her seat, she didn’t feel great at all.
She stared at her empty desk and her hands resting on it, dazing off without realizing.
“What’s wrong?”
Ye Ziming noticed something was off right away. He stopped getting ready for class and turned to look at her, asking with concern.
“Ah.”
Snapping out of it at the sound of his voice, Lin Muqing took a deep breath and turned her head toward him.
That’s when she suddenly remembered what her good buddy had said at lunch, that he’d take care of those two problems for her.
She had almost forgotten about that, which was why she’d been worrying about what to do.
“Just now, Lin Wenbin came up to me... and then…”
Her energy returned as she quickly explained everything that had just happened.
Including the part about the limited-edition figure. Honestly, she really wanted it, just thinking about it made her drool a little inside.
“Got it. Leave it to me.”
After listening, Ye Ziming nodded and gave her a reassuring look, patting her on the shoulder.
Then he glanced at Lin Wenbin, who was just walking into the classroom. A flicker of danger flashed in Ye Ziming’s eyes, barely noticeable.
“Mhm.”
After finishing the story, Lin Muqing heard the bell from outside and started getting ready for class.
Sigh… guess I’m just not fated to get that figure, she thought with a small sigh in her heart.
But then she remembered, she’d already managed to snag one figure from Lin Wenbin before, so it wasn’t a total loss. And next week, there’d be another one coming...
From her good buddy.
A figure from him, now that was something to look forward to.
Thinking about it made her smile again, and she began getting ready for class with a much lighter heart.
She didn’t know that when she mentioned the figure collection, Ye Ziming had already noticed the small change in her expression.
“Limited edition figure?” Ye Ziming thought to himself.
Class went on as usual, and Lin Muqing felt like this whole thing was over. After all, her good buddy was helping her.
But what she didn’t expect was that right after the first period ended, her good buddy got called to the office by the discipline director.
“It’s nothing. He can’t do anything to me.” Ye Ziming said this with full confidence, without even blinking.
What’s the worst that could happen?
At most, they’d call his parents. But his mom and dad not only knew about his relationship, they totally supported it. He couldn’t even figure out what the big deal was.
The funny thing was, the school office didn’t even know who Ye Ziming’s girlfriend was. They had no clue it was Lin Muqing, which made things even more awkward.
In the end, Ye Ziming used a little bit of his "connections" and quickly smoothed things over. Not even a splash was made.
“Uh... okay then.” After hearing his story, even though Lin Muqing was still a little worried, she had no choice but to calm down.
She thought, This is why he’s my best bro. That kind of skill? If she really were a girl, she might want to marry him.
Then came the second period.
Even at that point, Lin Muqing still hadn’t realized just how crazy the rumors about Ye Ziming dating a student from their school had spread.
So when class ended and she was suddenly pulled out into the hallway by a group of curious girls, and got bombarded with gossip about who Ye Ziming’s girlfriend might be. She was completely dumbfounded.
“Sisters, I really don’t know anything about it.”
She said helplessly. She’d already repeated this kind of thing several times, but those gossip-loving girls just wouldn’t believe her.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
The worst part was that they actually decided to team up and find out who Ye Ziming’s girlfriend was!
“I… I need to go to the bathroom. Later!”
In the end, she used her "escape move" and barely managed to slip away from their circle, running to the bathroom like she’d seen a ghost.
This is getting out of hand!
If it weren’t for this whole mess, she wouldn’t have known that her best bro was this famous. Apparently, he was known all around school as one of the top school heartthrobs!
P.S.: She had only heard about it before. Lin Muqing wasn’t into gossip. She liked playing games more.
“So… boss,” she mumbled while lying weakly on her desk after the final bell rang, turning her head toward her deskmate and best buddy, “What are you going to do about this?”
The way this whole situation had blown up was way beyond what Lin Muqing had imagined. It was like she had become part of a trending topic.
“Don’t worry. They’ll never guess it’s you.” Seeing how frustrated she looked, Ye Ziming actually felt pretty good, with a faint smile on his face.
As he packed up his things, deciding which books to take home, he casually chatted with her.
“Emmm… okay then.”
Now that she thought about it, yeah, the photo was super blurry. Plus, she currently looked like a cool, handsome guy. No way anyone would recognize her.
After that, she also started packing her things and figuring out what homework needed to be done.
As the bell rang, Ye Ziming decided to wait a little before leaving, just like during lunch break, to avoid the crowds.
When he felt the time was right, he patted Lin Muqing on the shoulder, then left the classroom with her.
After they left, class president Zhang Xiaoling was chatting with her deskmate Wang Wenxin.
“Do you think the person in that photo might be Lin Muqing?”
She looked at the photo on her phone, then glanced at Lin Muqing, who had just walked out of the classroom with Ye Ziming.
She suddenly felt the two looked kind of similar, especially with the same school uniform and body shape.
It was just a feeling, a girl’s instinct.