What Does It Have to Do with You? (2)

Ye Lang steadied himself, book in hand, and said leisurely, "I mean it too. No one else can help with this. I'm not Great God Yue Lao—you can only fight for it yourself."

"...Ye Lang, don't tell me you never intended to help me from the start? Your so-called support was only spiritual?"

"That's right! I offer you unlimited spiritual support!!"

"..."

"You, go die!!" Zhen Xiaoyan flew into a rage, grabbed something, and hurled it at him.

"Ah... Zhen Xiaoyan, can you stop throwing things around!!!" Another innocent victim cried out, while Ye Lang wore an expression of complete ignorance.

"You'll pay for this! I'm not making you fish ball thick noodles tomorrow!!"

"Then I want fish ball ho fun!"

"..."

Yet the next day, Zhen Xiaoyan still prepared food for Ye Lang. Whether it was out of habit or because she feared it would be snatched away, the daily scene played out as it always had.

But after that day, a different scene began to unfold as well: Zhen Xiaoyan started preparing food for Young Master Moya too, because she was launching an offensive in love.

Because of this, Young Master Moya and Shalan stopped meeting in the classroom. At first, they met at the entrance to the Alchemy Academy; later, they went straight to the dining hall. After that, they wandered around the campus at random, until in the end, they returned to the dining hall again.

Why did things keep changing like that? What a stupid question—it was all because of Zhen Xiaoyan. No matter where they went, she would appear. No one knew where she got her information. In the end, they had no choice but to admit they could not hide from her, so they returned to the dining hall.

This made everyone understand one thing: love could drive people mad—mad enough to stop thinking about anything, mad enough to break through any obstacle, and mad enough to accomplish the unbelievable.

Zhen Xiaoyan had gone mad. She madly pursued her dream, no longer caring about other people's opinions or gossip, not even the attitude of Young Master Moya, the person involved!

"Ye Lang!! This is all your fault!!!" Recently, Young Master Moya and Shalan had often gritted their teeth and said those words. They hated Zhen Xiaoyan, but they also hated Ye Lang, the one who had stirred up the trouble.

If it had not been for Ye Lang, Zhen Xiaoyan would not have gone mad like this. If it had not been for Ye Lang, how could Zhen Xiaoyan have ignored the attitude of the person involved and crushed them with the words, "Who I like is my business. What does it have to do with you!"

"Don't look at me with those burning eyes. I'm innocent!" Ye Lang waved a hand and casually said to Shalan, who was staring at him.

"Hmph!"

This situation continued for quite a long time. Naturally, everyone had mixed opinions about it: some disdained it, some despised it, some approved, and some strongly supported her...

But everyone unanimously agreed that Zhen Xiaoyan's spirit was admirable. They even felt that if they met someone they liked in the future, perhaps they should learn from her.

As time passed, Shalan's hatred for Zhen Xiaoyan grew deeper and deeper, while Ye Lang seemed to have been ignored by her. After all, apart from talking about it at the beginning, Ye Lang had made no further moves and had not helped Zhen Xiaoyan at all. It truly was only spiritual support!

Perhaps because of this, Shalan did something that pushed Zhen Xiaoyan into a dead end.

"What?! You entered a beauty pageant?" When Ye Lang received the news, he stared at Zhen Xiaoyan with a face full of shock.

"What beauty pageant? It's the 'Royal Academy Talented Woman Unrivaled Competition.'" Zhen Xiaoyan corrected him.

"More or less the same. They call it a talented woman competition, but which contestant isn't a beauty? While they judge your talents, they also judge your appearance and conduct. It's not that different from a beauty pageant," Ye Lang said indifferently.

Every three years, Royal Academy held a beauty pageant—oh, no, the Talented Women Unrivaled Competition. Every time, it attracted countless people to watch. It was no longer merely a grand event within the academy, but a grand event for the entire city. Some people even traveled from far away specifically to watch it.

And why did it attract so many people? Just as Ye Lang had said, it was a beauty pageant. Most of the talented women who appeared there were breathtakingly beautiful, carried extraordinary poise, and were young ladies from prominent families with a talent or two at their fingertips.

Ordinarily, people might not even get the chance to see one such young lady, yet because of the competition, they all appeared together. Naturally, this drew countless eyes and sent people swarming in like a tide.

At the same time, this also meant one thing: if Zhen Xiaoyan participated, she would appear before a huge crowd. With her qualifications, she would certainly cause an enormous sensation—of course, a negative one!

"Why would you enter this? Aren't you just asking for humiliation by going up there?" Ye Lang asked bluntly. Everyone would have thought the same thing, but no one else would have asked it so directly.

"Moya and Shalan said that as long as I join this competition and win, they'll let me be with Moya!" Zhen Xiaoyan said with complicated emotions. Perhaps she herself understood that they were merely toying with her and wanted to humiliate her, but she still accepted.

Perhaps this would be her final struggle, her last madness. After this, she would probably finally give up and stop dreaming of anything.

"So that's how it is. Did she say you only had to beat her, or that you had to win the entire competition?" Ye Lang began to admire Zhen Xiaoyan a little, and his opinion of her rose another level.

"I don't know, but I think it's all the same." Zhen Xiaoyan shook her head.

"Yeah, either way, you're dead meat!"

"..."

Zhen Xiaoyan said somewhat unhappily, "Can't you give me even a little support?"

"Support? Right, I remember people open betting pools for this beauty pageant. I'll go place a bet on you to show my support. But before that, I need to confirm something. Singing, dancing, instruments—which can you do?" Ye Lang asked.

"None. I can't do any of them!" Zhen Xiaoyan shook her head.

"Then do you have any other talents, besides cooking?" Ye Lang asked again.

"No!" Zhen Xiaoyan shook her head.

"I remember your noble etiquette is pretty sloppy too. You've basically never learned it." Ye Lang looked at Zhen Xiaoyan. At this academy, she counted as an oddity. Even the people in the Alchemy Academy were not particularly particular about such things, but at the very least, they had studied and practiced them.

"Yes..." Zhen Xiaoyan replied awkwardly.

"Excellent. I'll immediately go place a bet of one hundred thousand gold coins on you winning. See how much I support you." As he spoke, Ye Lang prepared to run outside.

"One hundred thousand gold coins?" Zhen Xiaoyan froze for a moment. The amount utterly shocked her. Even if he wanted to support her, there was no need for that much.

Though she knew Ye Lang was somewhat of a spendthrift and that this amount was nothing to him, she was not anyone important to him. There was no need for him to support her like this.