An Ziqin: Then when are we getting married?

There was no doubt about it—Su Ming was famous again.

Although his rise to fame had only happened yesterday, today he was bound to become even more famous.

At the very least, those browsing the Academy Network forums, seeing the photo of Su Ming and An Zijin embracing, all exploded like a powder keg.

This led to today's forum no longer having the frantic discussions of yesterday; instead, people delivered concise verdicts directly.

"If this brat doesn't die, I'll never be able to quell the hatred in my heart."

That was the only thought in everyone's minds.

There was no self-deceptive refusal to believe, no pursuit of the whole story or why it had come to this—everyone just wanted to find Su Ming.

And then tear this beast apart alive!

Thus, people began to march through the academy in droves.

Especially An Zijin's fan club—those senior girls had gone mad, each transforming into demons and monsters as they ran around the academy, grabbing anyone they saw, and their greeting to others had been reduced to a single sentence.

"Have you found Su Ming?"

Every word and phrase reeked of hostility.

"Crazy, crazy, absolutely crazy."

Hiding in some unknown corner of the academy, Su Ming watched the forum on his phone, where new posts refreshed every second, and his hands were trembling.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

An Zijin seemed to have snapped out of the joy of their reunion, now aware of the severity of the situation, her small face full of guilt.

But An Zijin kept tugging at the corner of Su Ming's clothes with her little hand, as if unwilling to let go, not even loosening her grip in this predicament.

Su Ming didn't find it strange.

When they were kids, An Zijin was like this—no matter where Su Ming went, she would hold a doll in one hand and grab his clothes with the other, following him around to play, turning every place they passed into their personal playground.

Now, nearly ten years had passed, and he hadn't expected that this neighbor girl's habit still hadn't changed.

This made it hard for Su Ming to blame her, so he could only force a bitter smile.

"Forget it." Su Ming sighed in frustration. "Anyway, that Xu Qianqian thing yesterday already made me a thorn in many people's sides."

Riling up the crowd again now probably wouldn't make much difference, right?

Yeah, Su Ming could only comfort himself with that.

"I'll go explain to everyone!" An Zijin seemed to still feel terribly sorry, trying hard to do something. "If I explain it properly, everyone will understand!"

That was actually a pretty good idea.

With the adorable An Zijin personally stepping in to explain, even if those lunatics were crazy, they'd at least have to give her some face and calm down, right?

Of course, to be safe, Su Ming still wanted to ask.

"How exactly do you plan to explain?"

Su Ming looked at An Zijin with hopeful eyes.

An Zijin broke into a bright smile and answered without hesitation.

"I'll tell everyone that even though I belong to Brother Su Ming, I'll never forget them!"

The words the girl spoke with her lovely smile were so heartwarming, and also so... cruel!

Su Ming could almost imagine what terrifying forms the people in the academy would take after hearing that.

"Are you sure that's an explanation?" Su Ming said to An Zijin in disbelief. "I feel like you're just trying to get me martyred faster."

"Why?" An Zijin tilted her head in confusion. "Isn't this what I always said when we were kids?"

"Is it?" Su Ming was taken aback.

"Mm-hmm." An Zijin nodded, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "Didn't Brother Su Ming say that if any other boys wanted to play with me, I should just tell them I belong to Brother Su Ming?"

Su Ming: "..."

Did that really happen?

Su Ming thought back carefully and found that it seemed like it probably did indeed happen...

This made Su Ming's mouth twitch, and he was so embarrassed he could almost dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

What the hell was I doing as a kid!?

"That was all when we were kids, right?" Su Ming said, extremely awkward. "We've grown up now—why do you still remember those jokes?"

"They weren't jokes!" An Zijin immediately puffed out her cheeks and frowned. "I've always remembered Brother Su Ming's words. Even after I got to Yinze City, whenever other boys wanted to play with me, I said exactly that!"

Su Ming suddenly felt that maybe he'd better never go to Yinze City.

He had a feeling that over there, he might face a second wave of manhunt.

Su Ming then asked weakly.

"What was their reaction when you said that to them?"

Hearing this, An Zijin cheerfully gave Su Ming an answer.

"Everyone says they want to get to know Brother Su Ming, make good friends with him—they're so happy!"

An Zijin's words didn't bring Su Ming a knowing smile, but a chill down his spine.

And so, Su Ming firmly resolved never to set foot in Yinze City for the rest of his life.

"By the way." Su Ming snapped back to reality and asked, "Why did you come back to Longyao City? What about Uncle An and Aunt An?"

Faced with Su Ming's questions, An Zijin behaved with utmost obedience.

"Mom and Dad are still in Yinze City—the company can't function without them long-term, so they didn't come back." An Zijin explained softly. "I was brought back to Longyao City by the butler. After enrolling, I've been living in the dormitory, but Mom and Dad did contact Uncle Su and Aunt Su for me."

Hearing this, Su Ming felt terrible.

"Those two—Mom and Dad—they didn't even tell me about something this big?"

If he'd known earlier that An Zijin had returned to Longyao City and become his junior, Su Ming would have definitely told her to be careful not to reveal their relationship, to avoid drawing attention.

Now it was too late for everything.

"Brother Su Ming, don't blame Uncle and Aunt." An Zijin quickly said. "I told them I wanted to find you myself and give you a surprise."

Su Ming almost let out a sarcastic laugh.

A surprise?

More like a shock!

No, it had already turned into a horror!

The universally adored school belle junior suddenly turning out to be the neighbor girl he'd played with as a child, throwing herself into his arms in public, getting him hunted by the entire academy—if that wasn't a horror plot, what was?

"And you? Why did you suddenly come back to Longyao City?" Su Ming asked curiously. "Even if you tested positive for a Spiritual Constitution and want to learn to become a Warlock, you could attend the Demon Hunter Academy in Yinze City, right?"

Nowadays, Demon Hunter Academies had become the most important training facilities in every human Base City. Each Base City had at least one, if not multiple, Demon Hunter Academies to cultivate talents capable of fighting Phantom Demons.

Yinze City, with a population nearing a hundred million and ranking first among the four coastal Base Cities, certainly had its own Demon Hunter Academy.

In fact, given Yinze City's conditions, its Demon Hunter Academy was absolutely stronger than Longyao City's.

If An Zijin wanted to attend a Demon Hunter Academy and become a Warlock, there was no need to travel all the way back to Longyao City to enroll, was there?

Under Su Ming's confusion, An Zijin fidgeted with her fingers, looking a bit embarrassed.

"I decided to come back to Longyao City on my own." An Zijin said quietly. "Yinze City and Longyao City have an exchange student agreement. Every year, three students can be sent to each other's academies as exchange students. I signed up after learning about it."

Su Ming knew about the exchange student program.

When he enrolled last year, he'd been told that the academy had an exchange student system. If students were interested, they could apply to study at a Demon Hunter Academy in another Base City.

Su Ming had no interest in it, nor did he want to leave the relatively safe Base City while his strength was lacking to travel far to another one, so he'd never paid attention to it.

Who would have thought that An Zijin would use this system to come back to Longyao City?

"Alright." Su Ming sighed and continued, "I didn't expect Uncle and Aunt to let you come back alone."

"Y-yeah." An Zijin's eyes began to wander, and she stammered, "After all, I've grown up now. They trust me completely."

If Su Ming had known that just a few days ago, An Zijin had received a call from her mother, who was worrying over her, he definitely wouldn't have believed her nonsense.

Naturally, Su Ming also didn't know that An Zijin had signed up behind her parents' backs. It was only after the spot was confirmed that her parents found out.

For that, the An household nearly blew its roof off. Father An and Mother An absolutely refused to let their precious daughter run back to Longyao City alone. In the end, if not for An Zijin's tearful pleas, she would never have appeared in Longyao City.

As for why An Zijin wanted to become an exchange student and come to Longyao City's Demon Hunter Academy, the reason might only be known to her alone.

An Zijin secretly glanced at Su Ming, looking at his familiar yet more mature profile, her heart pounding.

Brother Su Ming seemed to have become much more handsome than before.

Brother Su Ming seemed to have become much more mature than before.

Brother Su Ming.

My Brother Su Ming.

"Hee hee. Hee hee hee."

An Zijin suddenly let out a silly, low laugh.

"What's wrong?"

Su Ming looked at An Zijin, who had suddenly lowered her head, her delicate shoulders trembling slightly, and asked in surprise.

"N-nothing."

An Zijin subconsciously wiped the corner of her mouth and gave Su Ming a perfunctory smile.

Though it was just a perfunctory smile, it had to be said that with An Zijin's cuteness, any kind of smile became devastatingly lethal.

Su Ming was almost killed by the adorableness.

"You've gotten even cuter than when you were little."

Su Ming couldn't help but say that.

"Really?" An Zijin's face lit up with joy. She said happily, "As long as Brother Su Ming doesn't dislike Xiao Jin, that's enough."

"How could I?" Su Ming laughed. "No one could dislike you."

"Really?" An Zijin looked at Su Ming.

"Really." Su Ming was rarely this honest.

Then, the very next second, An Zijin dropped a bombshell.

"So when are we getting married?"