Chapter 39 - Little left to the imagination (Translated by Xing and edited by Souhi)
Tang Xue had actually skipped morning classes for training. When she went back to her dorm, Xia Menghuan was already back from class along with their two other roommates.
"I'm dying from exhaustion." When Tang Xue entered the room, she tossed her bag to the side and slumped onto a chair. Xia Menghuan saw that both the ends of her hair and her shirt were damp with sweat. Thus, she walked behind Tang Xue and started kneading her shoulders. "My king, I'll massage your shoulders."
Tang Xue rolled back her shoulders comfortably. "Concubine Meng, you're the most thoughtful."
Ye Liuying was working on her assignment. When she saw Tang Xue return, once again full of exhaustion, she put her assignment aside and nudged her chair towards Tang Xue's direction. Holding onto the back of the chair, Ye Liuying looked over.
Xia Menghuan picked up a small container from her desk. It held the local specialty that her mother had sent her—deep fried little yellow croakers.
"My king, do you want to snack on some dried fish?" Xia Menghuan asked.
Still holding onto the back of the chair, Ye Liuying laughed. She commented, "Feels like raising a cat."
The little yellow croakers in the container were fried to a golden crisp bound to yield a delightful crunch with every bite. The former was something that Tang Xue could see. As for the latter, it was something she imagined. In any case, she felt her spirit stirring as she smelt that mouth-watering aroma unique to fried food.
Gulp… She could not help swallowing a large mouthful of saliva.
Her resolve was killing her!
She struggled internally for a good period of time, her face displaying a pained expression. Finally, she pushed the container aside silently and declared, "Concubine Meng, have it to supplement your health. After all, you're carrying zhen's[1] dragon blood."
Ye Liuying was about to cringe to death from their roleplay. She remembered that Xia Menghuan was perfectly normal when she first got to know her. After hanging out with Tang Xue for this short period of time, this girl's character was already like this. Given an even longer period of time… She could not bear to imagine how Xia Menghuan would be like! This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.
Zhao Qin was hanging out her clothes on the balcony. She turned her head and asked, "Tang Xue, are you really planning to go back to speed skating?"
"Yup, next time, you guys can call me 'Little Ice Tyrant'."
This nickname was something that Tang Xue came up with herself. She had yet to announce it. After all, her performance so far was only mediocre and could not be considered that of a "Little Ice Tyrant". The most she could be was a "Little Ice Tortoise".
Zhao Qin asked, "Isn't it tough pushing yourself like this every day?"
"Yeah," Ye Liuying nodded in agreement and continued, "And training till your figure is too muscular doesn't look good either…"
"Both of you are worrying for nothing." Xia Menghuan seized Tang Xue's chin and turned her head side to side. "Look, look, with this face of hers, does she even still need a figure?"
Tang Xue was speechless. Could this even be considered a praise…
She brushed Xia Menghuan's hand away and shook her finger at Ye Liuying. "You're all wrong. Actually, all muscles look good. It's only fats that look terrible."
Ye Liuying lowered her head and stared awkwardly at her slightly protruding belly. "Can we mince our words a little, my heart hurts…"
"I said that fats look terrible, not you. As long as you get rid of it, you'll look even better! How about this, do you want to work out with me?"
Ye Liuying immediately swivelled her body and re-engrossed herself with her assignment. As she did so, she mumbled, "I better focus on studying so that I can earn lots and afford the best weight loss pills in the future."
Tang Xue retorted, "Would you still need to lose weight if you're earning so much? Just raise a whole nest of sugar babies."
"What nest!" Ye Liuying was about to fall from her chair at Tang Xue's words. "With this collective noun usage of yours, you must had caused your language teacher much grief…"
"Well, I am majoring in veterinary science." As Tang Xue spoke, she twisted her head to look at Xia Menghuan with a straight face. "We need to respect our major."
Xia Menghuan nodded furiously. "That's right!"
The two of them had apparently forgotten that Tang Xue had just skipped her major's class.
Done with hanging her clothes, Zhao Qin entered the room, sat down and started fiddling with her phone. Phone in hand, she had barely sat down for a moment when she shrieked in alarm, causing the other three roommates to jump from fright.
Tang Xue asked, "Did you sit on a nail?"
"No…" Zhao Qin seemed to have difficulties speaking. She hesitated for a moment before looking at Tang Xue cautiously. "Tang Xue, you, you need to brace yourself."
Tang Xue: "???"
Zhao Qin passed the phone to her.
Utterly confused, Tang Xue took the phone. On the screen was a shameless couple lying on the grass … eh, wait a minute!
Wasn't that Li Yubing?!
Wasn't that her?!
Who took this?!
From this angle, it appeared like Li Yubing was fully pressed against her body while kissing her. This "splendid" point of view had captured an image that could not be more evident or explicit. The photographer was a talented person whom—with time and training—could definitely become an outstanding adult film director.
Tang Xue clicked out of the picture and discovered that this was a long post with several photos attached. Her chase after Li Yubing had also been captured and their faces could be seen clearly.
The highlight was a carefully processed GIF image. In it, Li Yubing was pressing her into the grass, his hips making a slight rolling movement that looked like he was thrusting forward gently. The appeal of GIF images lay in their never-ending loops. This meant that although Li Yubing only nudged his hips forward once, it became a continuous series of movements that replayed again and again and again…
Mm, there was very little left to the imagination.
Tang Xue was stunned. It took some time before she recovered her senses from the shock.
With a darkened expression, she put down the phone. When she raised her head, she found that her three roommates who had previously lowered their heads to watch the screen with her had all straightened up. They were currently staring at her in silence.
"If I say that this is a misunderstanding, would you guys believe it?" Tang Xue pointed to the phone and asked.
The three roommates shook their heads uniformly.
"Is it that no one in the whole school would believe it?" she asked again.
The three roommates nodded uniformly.
Tang Xue tugged her hair before suddenly slamming her fist against the table.
"Bang!"
The three roommates shuddered in fear.
"Li. Yu. Bing." Word by word, Tang Xue gritted out his name from between clenched teeth. After saying his name, she stood up with a "whoosh".
Terrified, all three roommates took a step back.
Tang Xue grabbed her bag and stomped out. Xia Menghuan was a little worried. She chased after her and asked, "Tang Xue, where are you going?"
"I'll slaughter Li Yubing for dinner tonight!"
Xia Menghuan: "……"
Author's Bonus Content
Li Yubing: I heard you want to eat me? *Slowly unbuttons shirt* Come on~
Tang Xue: …………
This is an original work of 酒小七 (Jiu Xiaoqi) translated by Tea Fragrance. If you are not reading this at teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com, this translation has been reposted without the translator's consent. Head there for extra content or to leave feedback and comments on the novel translation.Translator's Notes:
[1] Tang Xue is using 朕 (zhèn) instead of "my", which was how emperors referred to themselves. It's something like the royal "we".
I really want to see that GIF 😀 Also, Xia Menghuan was never normal to begin with.