Who told her to snatch my man?

Academy Residential Complex, Apartment 404, in the largest room.

Su Ming, having successfully claimed this room, first settled his luggage, then collapsed onto the bed.

He had to admit, the living conditions here were excellent. Not to mention the environment, even the furniture was high-end. The exceptionally soft and spacious bed made Su Ming want to roll around in comfort. If he wasn't worried about it being too embarrassing, he might have already let his girlish side explode.

"Were these excellent living conditions prepared recently, or were they always here?"

Su Ming had heard that, for this battle, the Base City had undergone a significant transformation in Huaming District, not only constructing defenses in all directions, but also carrying out massive construction in military and civil affairs.

Such construction might even make the original residents of Huaming District, upon returning, mistakenly believe they had taken the wrong way home.

The conditions in this camp in the Academy Residential Complex were so perfect and complete that one couldn't help but wonder if the Base City had newly built it.

"Although the discovery of the Spirit Fiend Abyss entrance in Huaming District was only three days ago, logically speaking, even with the entire Base City's manpower and resources, it would be difficult to build such a complex in such a short time. But this world has alchemical items and various extraordinary objects, so it can't be judged by common sense."

Su Ming idly pondered such things.

This was also a way to relax.

In this situation, Su Ming's door was suddenly knocked on.

"Who is it?"

Su Ming thought it was Lei Hao and Ye Bai, those two guys, still relentlessly harassing him, so his tone was casual and lazy.

Who would have thought that, from outside the door, instead of the rough voices of those two burly men, a sweet and lovely timid voice came.

"Brother Su Ming, are you resting?"

The owner of the voice was none other than An Zijin.

"Little Jin sister?" Su Ming's scattered spirit finally returned a bit. He sprang up from the bed, looked towards the door, and said, "Come in."

As the words fell, the beauty outside the door hesitated to push it open.

"Brother Su Ming."

An Zijin still seemed a little cautious, pushing open Su Ming's door, looking at Su Ming sitting on the bed, with a timid expression.

Ever since Su Ming had lost his temper on the train, both Xu Qianqian and An Zijin had become strangely cautious.

Especially An Zijin, who seemed to be constantly watching Su Ming's expression, appearing particularly careful.

Su Ming scratched his cheek and said, "If you have something, come in. What are you doing standing at the door?"

Hearing this, An Zijin blinked her cute big eyes, observed Su Ming's expression, and then walked into the room bashfully.

Looking at An Zijin like this, Su Ming suddenly felt a bit dazed.

He remembered some things from his childhood.

He remembered that, back then, whenever he lost his temper, this neighbor girl, only a year younger than him, would be like this, holding a stuffed doll while cautiously observing his expression, as if judging whether he was still angry.

Especially when they had just met, Su Ming was jealous of his parents' favoritism towards An Zijin to the point of flying, and he didn't give An Zijin a good look all day. At that time, An Zijin was like this, carefully observing him by his side, timidly following behind him.

Now, a full ten years had passed.

In ten years, he had changed a lot, and An Zijin had also changed a lot, but some things seemed to have not changed at all.

Even if he had transmigrated, transmigrated to a dangerous parallel world with a different style than before, the bond between him and this neighbor girl seemed to still be there.

Thinking of this, Su Ming began to reflect on whether his actions today had been a bit too much.

Thus, Su Ming's tone unconsciously became much gentler.

"What's wrong?"

Su Ming asked An Zijin this question.

"N-Nothing." An Zijin lowered her head, twisting her fingers, as if she was very nervous. While stealing glances at Su Ming, she timidly said, "Everyone says that on the first day of moving into the new dormitory, we should eat hot pot. What does Brother Su Ming think?"

Hearing An Zijin's words, Su Ming knew that this girl was deliberately trying to start a conversation.

After all, this topic was indeed a bit forced.

However, Su Ming didn't expose her.

"I think it's good." Su Ming seemed to be deliberately echoing An Zijin's topic, saying, "The weather is getting colder now, so eating hot pot is not a bad choice."

"R-Really?" An Zijin's expression became a bit brighter, and she said, "Then let's go to the cafeteria to get ingredients and borrow tools."

"We?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow and said, "What about those guys? What are they doing?"

"They..." An Zijin's eyes began to dart around, and she stammered, "They're still cleaning up their rooms, so they probably don't have time."

The conversation had progressed to this point, and Su Ming roughly understood what was going on.

"So, the idea of eating hot pot was something you came up with on the spur of the moment, and those guys don't even know about it?"

Su Ming couldn't help but laugh.

He knew that An Zijin's topic was very forced, but he didn't expect it to be forced to this extent.

Presumably, this girl had put a lot of thought into talking to him, right?

An Zijin still didn't realize that her flaws were showing, and she opened her mouth in a flustered manner.

"I-It's okay! Beibei and Wanyu will definitely agree with my opinion, Senior Ye Bai seems like he would agree too, as for Senior Lei Hao, it seems like he doesn't care what he eats, he'll be happy as long as there's something to eat..."

An Zijin then started counting her fingers one by one, looking quite serious, which made it hard not to smile.

However, in a way, An Zijin wasn't wrong.

Just think about it, with the way Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu dote on An Zijin, how could they possibly disagree with her suggestion?

Not to mention Ye Bai, a standard simp. If An Zijin said she wanted to eat shit, he'd probably be the first one to run and get it.

Lei Hao is just a boisterous and reckless guy. As long as there's something to eat, he'd be happy with anything.

Thinking about it that way, even though the topic was a bit forced, An Zijin had accurately grasped the personality and style of everyone on the team. This girl is surprisingly not to be underestimated.

Thinking of this, Su Ming smiled inwardly and looked at An Zijin.

He just stared straight at this childhood friend who was as cute as ever, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that?"

An Zijin blushed a little from Su Ming's gaze, and shyly touched her fingers together.

"Nothing." Su Ming said with a sigh, "I just think you're still the same as when you were little."

Su Ming's heartfelt words made An Zijin feel dissatisfied.

"I'm not the same at all." An Zijin protested, "I've grown up, okay?"

It seemed that this girl didn't like Su Ming always treating her like a child.

To that end, An Zijin puffed out her chest, making her uniform look a little more prominent.

"Cough, cough..."

Su Ming choked and coughed twice, looking at An Zijin with annoyance.

"Hehe."

An Zijin seemed happy with Su Ming's reaction, and a cute smile finally returned to her face, like the sun after the rain.

"Su Ming-gege, aren't you angry anymore?"

An Zijin reached out her small hand, tugging at Su Ming's sleeve, saying pitifully.

"I wasn't angry to begin with."

Su Ming still had that annoyed look on his face.

"Really?"

An Zijin stared at Su Ming with her bright eyes.

"Really." Su Ming glanced at An Zijin, as if not wanting her to get too smug, and said, "But there won't be a next time, okay?"

Being treated as a tool for two girls to argue, the feeling of being completely ignored, still stimulated Su Ming's machismo quite a bit.

So, Su Ming still gave a warning.

"Okay! (^o^)/~"

An Zijin replied with a smile, and threw herself into Su Ming's arms, hugging his arm with practiced ease.

She looked just like a spoiled little sister, very cute.

The somewhat cautious atmosphere between the two of them completely disappeared.

An Zijin seemed satisfied.

On the other hand, Su Ming took this opportunity to ask An Zijin a question.

"Seriously, why do you seem to be so fixated on that woman Xu Qianqian?"

Su Ming asked such a question.

The smile on An Zijin's face froze slightly and disappeared instantly.

"...Who told her to try and steal my man?"

An Zijin muttered.

"Steal your man?"

Su Ming's eyes turned strange.

"Yes!" An Zijin simply went all out, saying directly, "I feel like that person has ulterior motives towards Su Ming-gege, so I really don't like her!"

This statement left Su Ming speechless.

Ulterior motives towards me?

What a great thing to hmph, what kind of thing is that?

Isn't it always you, this incompetent little sister, who has ulterior motives towards me?

Besides...

"Would that Xu Qianqian even take a fancy to me?" Su Ming rolled his eyes and said, "I think you've misunderstood."

That female vampire is just after my body (referring to blood), at most.

Unfortunately, An Zijin doesn't seem to think so.

"Clearly, in everyone else's eyes, she's a cold and aloof senior, but only in front of Su Ming does her gaze and expression completely contradict the rumors," An Zijin said with utmost seriousness. "When a woman only shows a different side of herself to a specific man, it only means that person is special to her."

An Zijin spoke with such conviction, as if it were the absolute truth.

Su Ming found it difficult to explain the "love-hate entanglement" between himself and Xu Qianqian, so he could only say to An Zijin, "I don't know how to explain it to you, but you've definitely misunderstood. Don't overreact next time, okay?"

Su Ming spoke with a tone of earnest admonishment.

However, this made An Zijin feel very unhappy.

"I haven't misunderstood at all," An Zijin huffed. "Su Ming is such a big dummy."

Leaving those words behind, An Zijin jumped off the bed and ran out of Su Ming's room.

"Hey, wait, I haven't finished talking yet!"

Su Ming's stunned attempt to stop her failed to hold An Zijin back.

An Zijin stuck her tongue out at Su Ming and muttered under her breath.

"Such a big dummy..."