Chapter 691 - 462: Progressing Together

His eyes widened slightly.

’Seriously, Yaoyao, aren’t you being a little too vicious?’

’A little squabble is one thing, but if Jiangg Ning found out about this, can you imagine how bad the fallout would be?’

The key was that she wanted *him* to do it. Chen Yuan unconsciously took a step back, a gut reaction of refusal.

’If I get dragged into this, and Jiangg Ning finds out, it’ll change the nature of the situation entirely.’

Jiangg Ning rarely lost her temper with him, but that didn’t mean Chen Yuan wasn’t afraid of her anger. In fact, it was precisely because Ningning was usually so gentle that she was especially difficult to placate whenever she got upset.

"I’m not doing it," Chen Yuan said firmly, shaking his head so hard it was a blur. "I can agree to anything else, but not this. Things have finally gotten a little better between me and your sister. This is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?"

"If I don’t tell and you don’t tell, how could she possibly know?" Jiangg Yao’s features were exquisite, looking utterly sweet and charming under the soft light of the room.

It was just that, no matter how you looked at it, her smile seemed a little devious.

Like a little devil.

Chen Yuan gazed at her, almost able to see a pair of little devil horns sprouting from her head.

"Absolutely not. I can’t be your tool for getting back at her. You two sisters squabbling is one thing, but me getting involved is something else entirely."

"Don’t be so hasty," Jiangg Yao said, taking Chen Yuan’s hand and guiding him to sit on the edge of her bed. Her voice was laced with temptation. "It’s just a little kiss on the lips. It’s nothing. If you do as I say, there’s a reward, you know..."

Her voice trailed off, growing so soft one had to listen closely to catch the last words.

"I don’t care what the reward is," Chen Yuan refused flatly, turning his head away.

"I’m about to be engaged to the Young Master, after all. With a relationship like ours, maybe we could do some... naughty things? That wouldn’t be going too far, would it?" Jiangg Yao said, placing a finger on the corner of her lips as if in thought.

"Then again," Chen Yuan cleared his throat twice and said nonchalantly, "my lips *are* feeling a bit dry."

With just one sentence, Chen Yuan was hooked.

Jiangg Yao looked at him, instantly satisfied, and reached out to squeeze his cheeks.

Her palm was warm, her fingertips soft.

"A tiny little prank in exchange for the adorable Yaoyao serving her Young Master... isn’t that a great deal?"

"I suppose I could consider it," Chen Yuan said, his gaze shifting away.

’It’s not that I’m weak-willed, caving at the first sign of a beauty’s trap... but a little kiss is harmless, right? I’ve always maintained the image of a perfect gentleman in front of Ningning. How could she ever guess that I’d make a deal with a devil, that we’d be partners in crime?’

’She’d never imagine it, never even guess.’

’So it doesn’t really matter if I do it.’

Chen Yuan scrambled to find excuses for himself, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. He was clearly tempted by Yaoyao’s "reward."

’We’re about to be engaged.’

’Taking the relationship between a couple to the next level... that’s certainly something to look forward to...’

After returning from Tokyo, he could clearly feel that his relationship with Jiangg Yao had progressed to that point. Maybe it was time to take the final step.

But with something like this, it ultimately came down to the girl’s feelings.

Since Jiangg Yao hadn’t brought it up, Chen Yuan had never pushed, content to let things happen naturally.

But now, she had brought it up herself.

"But... you wanting me to go kiss Ningning is a little weird. Are you sure you’re not jealous?" Chen Yuan asked doubtfully.

"What’s there to be jealous of? It’s already like this now. Who knows, maybe in the future we’ll even... Well, when that time comes—"

Before Jiangg Yao could finish, Chen Yuan quickly covered her mouth.

Her words were cut off with a muffled "MMF! MMF!"

"Missy, let’s watch what we say, shall we? You’re a girl, for crying out loud."

...

In the end, the two reached an agreement.

With hesitant steps, Chen Yuan went to the room next door to find Jiangg Ning.

Jiangg Yao didn’t go with him. She trusted that since Chen Yuan had agreed to such a small thing, he wouldn’t lie about it; there was no reason for him to.

In the room next door, Jiangg Ning was tidying her desk, clearing off a clean space.

She was wearing a thin, form-fitting brown turtleneck. Every time she reached up to organize things, a sliver of her pale stomach was revealed.

This seemed to be a popular trend among young women in recent years.

A short, form-fitting top paired with pants that made her legs look especially long, all complemented by her long hair, which cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall.

All one could say was that she was a pleasing sight.

In truth, Jiangg Ning was particularly suited for the long, straight, black-haired look. It gave her an air of cool indifference that was very beautiful, making others feel she was unapproachable, the distance between them insurmountable.

Right now, however, she leaned more toward the "white moonlight" archetype.

"Why didn’t you ask me to come over?" Chen Yuan hurried over to help her pull the desk out a bit more, making room to sit.

Jiangg Ning had been trying to move it all by herself with one hand, and it was clearly a struggle.

"I was afraid of disturbing you two." Jiangg Ning raised her face, glancing at him.

"What’s there to disturb..." Chen Yuan looked awkward and said quietly, "I was just helping Yaoyao set up her game console. I came over as soon as I finished."

His explanation was futile.

Jiangg Ning was noncommittal.

She gestured for him to bring over the thick stacks of books from the suitcase, pull up a chair, and sit down.

The lighting was soft and bright, but the atmosphere wasn’t the least bit romantic.

On the contrary, Ningning’s expression was all business as she took stock of the books and sorted them into categories.

"You didn’t bring any books. Are you planning to study with me tomorrow, or...?" she asked.

"You don’t use your computer when you study, right? I could use it to look at the files from our major’s group chat. That should be fine too."

"I’m not using it right now. Go ahead."

Chen Yuan nodded, pulled the laptop over to his side of the desk, and drew up a chair.

He still had the mission his master, Yaoyao, had given him. He couldn’t return empty-handed, so he had to brace himself and stay. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Jiangg Ning seemed a little cold toward him.

’Oh well, I’ll just wait for my chance,’ he thought, and opened the laptop.

However, the moment he saw the screen, Chen Yuan froze. The desktop background was a photo taken on the trip the three of them had taken together.

He stared blankly for a moment. When he snapped out of it, a wave of guilt washed over him.

’Such a good, gentle Ningning... she treats me and Yaoyao with such unwavering sincerity, and yet here we are, plotting to prank her.’

Guilt flooded his heart, and Chen Yuan didn’t dare to look up.

"It’s 7:32 PM now. How about we study for two and a half hours?"

"Okay."

’That’s a bit long,’ he thought.

But Chen Yuan had seen Jiangg Ning study before. An hour or two was nothing to her. Once she got into the zone, her level of focus was terrifyingly intense.

He had no choice but to agree.

"Alright, let’s start now."

Jiangg Ning took out a pen and lowered her head. Her slender, pale fingers gripped a gel pen, and with a soft SCRITCH-SCRATCH, she began to write out a study plan on a blank sheet of paper. Her eyes were full of concentration, betraying no other emotion.

Lines and boxes began to fill the page, her elegant handwriting organizing everything with perfect clarity.

Chen Yuan stole a glance. She was breaking down her tasks by time slot—two major sections, three subsections—all perfectly organized.

With a few quick flips of the page, Jiangg Ning found the exact spot where she had tucked her bookmark.

The book’s margins were filled with annotations.

Chen Yuan had never considered himself a top student, but the young woman before him undoubtedly was one.

Perhaps because of his recent, rapid promotion and the significant success his company had seen—boosted by his own background—Chen Yuan sometimes felt that he was already among the best of his generation, that he was outstanding enough.

But facing Jiangg Ning, he suddenly felt a sense of inadequacy.

She was the only one who, regardless of having graduated, lived by the creed of constantly learning to enrich herself. She was always striving, seemingly never at rest.

Studying was such a tedious, boring affair, yet she had always stuck with it.

In comparison, Chen Yuan felt too embarrassed to slack off any longer. He logged into his Green Bubble account and started searching the group chat for the course materials the professor had sent out.

...

The night grew deep and quiet. He and Jiangg Ning sat together under the lamplight.

Sitting at the same table, they both actually managed to focus, not another extraneous word passing between them.