Fu Hua Decides to Use Force / Morning Exercise, Heartbeats, and an Office Romance with Keqing

Thank goodness nothing really happened.

Ye Ming had felt a little awkward and regretful just now, but now, his heart was filled with nothing but immense relief.

Come to think of it, it was strange. He clearly knew that Ship-Girls like Laffey were extraordinary beings, naturally possessing strength countless times greater than ordinary people, yet because Laffey usually acted like a sleepy little lazy cat, Ye Ming had been influenced by that fixed impression and never noticed the issue.

He would definitely have to be extremely careful from now on.

Ye Ming silently reminded himself, then thought for a moment and asked, "Laffey, are you saying that through two bedroom doors, you can hear people talking, but not breathing?"

"Mm." Laffey raised her head and looked at Ye Ming, unable to understand why he was asking that.

Ye Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Good. With hearing like that, as long as they soundproofed the place properly or moved somewhere with better sound insulation later, they probably would not have to worry about affecting the little girl.

"Sleeping just means two people sleeping in the same bed, like Laffey and the Commander. What's different about that? Your sister Eugen was lying to you."

With a solemn expression and without changing his face, Ye Ming deceived the little girl, though a faint suspicion arose in his heart.

Laffey had been listening to the sounds from the bedroom the whole time. Meanwhile, when he was in the bedroom, his lower back ached and he felt sore all over, but the moment he came out and sat in the living room, he was fine. That was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it?

Could Fu Hua have done it?

The suspicion flashed through his mind, and then Ye Ming shook his head with a laugh.

Although Fu Hua was quite strong, she was still just an ordinary person in the end. When he had asked her, she had clearly answered, "I'm not the Fu Hua from the game." Besides, they had grown up together, so Ye Ming still trusted her.

Sure enough, too much had happened these past two days. He was mentally exhausted.

Still, that was also a kind of luck.

That was what Ye Ming thought.

Girls from games had come knocking, and they all liked him and loved him. Was there anything luckier than that?

When a person's luck turned good, that was how it went. Misfortune turned into fortune, danger was averted, and nothing could stop it.

The Immortal Fu Hua Decides to Use Force

In the master bedroom, Fu Hua lay motionless on the bed, quietly listening to the sounds from the neighboring secondary bedroom. Only after she heard Laffey and Ye Ming fall asleep one after another, their breathing becoming steady and even, did Fu Hua finally let out a breath. She sat up in bed, hugged her knees, and looked through the bedroom window at the night sky outside.

Even now, a lingering heat remained on her cheeks. Fu Hua did not need a mirror to know that her face was surely still flushed.

Even an immortal who had walked alone through long years, even one who had long made up her mind, would still feel nervous, shy, and at a loss late at night, alone in a room with the person she liked, when she was pushed down by that person.

As early as when she called Ye Ming and heard him say, "I'm with my wife," Fu Hua knew things had gone wrong.

Although no normal person would understand how someone could suddenly have a wife after not seeing her for just one day, Fu Hua knew. After only two days together, she had already realized Laffey's origins were extraordinary. She could also tell that Ye Ming and Laffey had never deliberately hidden anything from her.

With terms like "Laffey" and "Commander," Fu Hua only needed to do a simple online search to find the game Azure Lane. After looking into it a little, she understood what kind of game it was—a game where warships were anthropomorphized, where every Ship-Girl was given life by the Commander and regarded the Commander as someone important, and where, if the Commander wished, he could marry all nearly five hundred Ship-Girls in the Port District.

Thinking of Souji, who claimed to come from Chaldea, Fu Hua naturally concluded that Laffey was a Ship-Girl from Azure Lane.

So when Fu Hua heard Ye Ming say over the phone, "I'm with my wife," her heart instantly sank to the bottom.

She knew that another girl had probably come looking for Ye Ming.

That girl had gotten ahead of everyone else, gained Ye Ming's acknowledgment, and claimed first place.

At that moment, Fu Hua regretted it so much she wanted to die.

That position should have been hers. She had arrived earlier than any other girl and spent so much time by Ye Ming's side, yet now someone who had suddenly appeared had beaten her to it.

Sometimes, Fu Hua could not help wondering: if she had not once clung to so-called reality and an immortal's pride, if she had been willing to set aside a little of her principles and felt just a bit more urgency, would things be completely different now?

She would not even need to use Feather of the Passing World to alter memories. Even if she had used a little trick to make things irreversible, given what she knew of Ye Ming's character, he surely would have taken responsibility properly.

Happiness that had been within her grasp had simply slipped past her.

Fu Hua found it almost laughable.

With such a perfect beginning, even Herrscher of Sentience—that child who had a mature body but understood nothing—would surely have done better than her, right?

When it had only been her, Laffey, Yae Sakura, and Souji, Fu Hua had not been too worried. After all, Laffey was still a little girl and not much of a threat, while Yae Sakura and Souji did not have the advantage of being Ye Ming's childhood sweethearts. As an immortal who had once protected Shenzhou for a thousand years, Fu Hua possessed enough composure and leisure that she was never in a hurry. Life was long, and she had plenty of time to carefully build and enjoy a life with the person she loved.

But Keqing's appearance made Fu Hua feel an intense sense of crisis.

Laffey had appeared, Yae Sakura and Souji had appeared, and now Keqing had suddenly appeared too. Would even more girls appear in the future?

With so many outstanding girls around, if Fu Hua continued taking her time, she might truly become nothing more than an ordinary childhood sweetheart and someday wear a bridesmaid's dress to attend Ye Ming's wedding as a friend or relative.

Just thinking about it made her heart ache unbearably.

Fu Hua would never allow that to happen!

She decided to set aside a little of her immortal pride, take the initiative and attack once more, make their relationship official, and then use the emotional advantage of being childhood sweethearts—friendship, family affection, and love intertwining together—to surpass the relationship of ordinary lovers and become the most important person in Ye Ming's heart!

That was what she thought, and that was what she did.

So after Ye Ming came home that night, she cooperatively let Ye Ming and Laffey return to the bedroom, saw off Yae Sakura and Souji, left a crack in her bedroom door, then lay in bed and waited patiently.

She knew that because of Keqing, Ye Ming would definitely come talk to her that night.

Everything went exactly as Fu Hua expected, even more smoothly than she had imagined—Ye Ming had taken the initiative to push her down.

Then, just as certain things that were both embarrassing and nerve-racking were about to happen, Fu Hua suddenly heard a breath from next door quicken slightly.

It was Laffey's breathing.

Her burning, muddled mind instantly cleared. In the very first second after coming to her senses, Fu Hua decisively used Feather of the Passing World and affected Ye Ming's memories once more.

It took several minutes for the astonishing heat coursing through her body to subside. Fu Hua, who had used Feather of the Passing World to affect Ye Ming's memories and body, did not even know how she felt.

She had never expected the usually muddleheaded and sleepy Laffey to eavesdrop at night. Her originally flawless plan had instantly been ruined by that tiny mistake.

To be honest, seeing Ye Ming's awkward attempt to pretend he was calm, watching him walk out of the bedroom, and hearing his sighs in the living room, Fu Hua felt deeply guilty.

According to what she had learned online, men generally cared greatly about their ability in that regard. Ye Ming surely would not be an exception.

His body was clearly fine, yet because Feather of the Passing World had affected his memories, he had misjudged his own condition. Would something like that leave him with psychological trauma?

Fu Hua felt guilty, but she had no choice—she could not pretend not to know that Laffey was eavesdropping next door and let the little girl hear everything, could she?

But...

"Even though the plan failed, being able to work out together every day from now on is still a huge improvement, right?"

Living together, working out together, the ambiguity of being together from morning to night—if she teased him a little, would not everything afterward naturally fall into place?

She only needed to find a way to send Laffey away when the time came.

Fu Hua frowned slightly. The wisdom accumulated over her long life quickly gave her an idea.

"When the time comes, I'll have Yae Sakura and Souji take Laffey out to play, and then I'll take the chance to..."

As she thought that, a smile unconsciously appeared on Fu Hua's lips.

But soon, Fu Hua silently reflected on herself.

Fu Hua, Fu Hua, you've truly fallen so far. Where is even a trace of an immortal's pride and composure now? You're practically becoming an ordinary girl from Canghai City who understands nothing.

Ever since staying by his side, you've really been falling further and further.

But...

For a warrior who had lived through an era, an immortal who had guarded Shenzhou for a thousand years and witnessed dynasties rise and fall, seas turn into fields, and fields into seas, the heart that had grown so detached it had nearly lost all human emotion was beginning to beat again. She could once more feel vivid emotions she had not experienced in a long time—worry, shyness, nervousness, and more. Perhaps that was not so bad.

Fu Hua knew that among countless worlds, Ye Ming was the only person who could affect her and change her.

Because as early as the previous era, when she had still been an ordinary girl, Ye Ming's shadow had already been imprinted in her heart.

Because she liked him, she cared. Because she cared, she could be affected and changed.

It was change, it was worry, and it was happiness.

Fu Hua decided that even if she had to use underhanded means, even if she had to use force, she would make her relationship with Ye Ming official and remain by his side!

Restoring the glory of childhood sweethearts was Fu Hua's duty!

Morning Exercise, Heartbeats, and Keqing's Office Romance

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, when the sky had only begun to brighten, Ye Ming was sleeping soundly when Fu Hua shook him awake.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Fu Hua had already changed into sportswear, tied her long hair into a ponytail, and stood beside the bed with a stern expression.

"Get up. Work out."

That was what Ye Ming read in Fu Hua's eyes.

Although he was not very willing, when he thought that physical health concerned not only a man's dignity but also the future happiness of the girls, Ye Ming still climbed out of bed under Fu Hua's supervision. After changing into sportswear and washing up quickly, he left the house with her.

Although it was only a little past five in the morning, there were already people awake in the residential complex. Aside from sanitation workers and a handful of young people who enjoyed exercising, most were elderly men and women out for their morning workouts. There was a small park not far from the complex, making it very convenient to exercise.

By the time Ye Ming and Fu Hua left the complex and entered the park, quite a few people were already running along its paths. Elderly men and women were also playing chess and practicing tai chi and tai chi swordsmanship in the pavilions and open spaces beside the paths.

After running one lap around the path with Fu Hua, Ye Ming was surprised during the second lap to find that beside a group of elderly men and women practicing tai chi swordsmanship in an open space, a pink-haired girl in a plain white outfit had appeared at some point, practicing sword swings.

The girl's lovely figure stood straight and upright. Holding her sword with both hands before her in a middle guard stance, she raised it, swung forward, drew it back, and repeated the motion over and over.