What to Do When You're Too Popular

Jiang Lan swallowed the last bite of grilled squid, wiped his mouth, and straightened up. The hood of his penguin onesie slid back with the movement, revealing his entire chubby little face.

"My name is Jiang Lan. I'm six years old, and I'm from Sea God Island." Jiang Lan patted his round belly, his tone unusually earnest. "This is my martial soul, Doro. It's a little white blob that can turn into an orange. We just won our first match at the Vast Sea Great Soul Arena today and got ten Gold Soul Coins, so we came to eat something tasty to celebrate!"

He delivered that introduction in one breath, clear and organized, but the content was so explosive that the seven girls from Skywater Academy collectively froze for three seconds.

Six years old? Sea God Island? He had just won a soul fighting match?

Shui Yue'er was the first to react. Her ice-blue eyes widened round, and her mouth formed an O. "Wait, wait, wait. You said you just finished a soul fighting match? You? A six-year-old kid? You went to compete at the soul arena?"

"Yeah." Jiang Lan nodded and pulled the small cloth pouch containing the Gold Soul Coins from his pocket. He tossed it lightly in his hand, and the coins inside clinked crisply. "This is my prize money! So today, I'm treating Doro to something tasty!"

The girls of Skywater Academy exchanged looks, then all lowered their heads to look at the tiny little fellow who was not even up to their knees.

The child looked far too serious to be lying, and the money pouch in his hand truly bore the emblem of the Vast Sea Great Soul Arena. It could not have been faked.

"Oh my..." Yu Hairou covered her mouth. "Winning a soul fighting match at six years old? What kind of little monster is this?"

"And did you notice? He said he came from Sea God Island." Xue Wu lowered her voice as she spoke to her companions. "Sea God Island is a legendary place. They say the Sea God Douluo lives there!"

"No wonder he's so confident even while wearing a penguin outfit. He came from Sea God Island..."

Shui Yue'er was not listening to her companions' discussion at all.

She crouched down, propped her chin on both hands, and stared closely at Jiang Lan's chubby little face.

There was still grilled squid sauce on his round cheeks. His large eyes were clear and bright, his lashes long and curled, and his little mouth opened and closed when he spoke. Every now and then, he even let out a soft little "guga."

Shui Yue'er felt as though her heart was melting.

"Why are you so adorable?!" She finally could not hold herself back and gently poked Jiang Lan's cheek.

His cheek was plump and soft. Her finger left a shallow dent when she pressed it, and the moment she released it, it bounced right back with astonishing elasticity.

Shui Yue'er's eyes instantly lit up like stars. Turning to shout at her sisters behind her, she said, "Come touch him! His face is so soft! Even softer than it looks!"

That sentence was like an order, and the girls of Skywater Academy immediately swarmed around him.

"Really? Let me touch him too!"

"Wow, it really is so soft! Like rice cake!"

"Touch this side! This side is even softer! He still has baby fat on his cheeks!"

"Oh my, oh my, he's blushing! He's shy! He's way too adorable!"

Jiang Lan stood there, surrounded by a group of girls dressed in blue-and-white battle skirts.

Seven or eight hands reached over at once to pinch his cheeks, rub his head, and poke his face. He had no idea which way to dodge.

If he moved left, he would run into one sister's arms. If he moved right, another sister would stop him. If he moved back, there was even a sister crouching behind him, waiting to poke the back of his head.

"Guga! Stop pinching me! My face is going to get deformed, guga!" Jiang Lan waved his little arms in an attempt to resist, but his resistance amounted to nothing before seven girls.

A slender hand pinched his left cheek and gently pulled it aside, twisting his mouth into a crooked shape and making him let out a muffled, "Wugu."

Seeing that things were going badly, Doro spread its two little legs and tried to run. But after taking only two steps, it was swiftly scooped up by Shui Yue'er.

Shui Yue'er held Doro in her arms, buried her face in its soft, pure-white belly, and rubbed against it again and again. She let out a satisfied sigh. "Ah—this one feels so nice too! Like a marshmallow! And it smells like oranges!"

"Doro—!" Doro cried out in terror, its little legs flailing desperately in the air.

But Shui Yue'er held it too tightly, and it could not break free at all.

Its purple bead-like eyes turned pleadingly toward Jiang Lan, only to find that Jiang Lan could barely save himself.

"Even his flippers are soft!"

"Look, there's a little penguin tail on the back of his outfit! It wiggles when he moves!"

"Who made this onesie for him? It's so creative—it turned a little kid into a little penguin!"

"Look at his little hands! They're so chubby, and his fingers even have tiny dimples!"

Jiang Lan's face was kneaded into all sorts of shapes. The sauce on his cheeks was gently wiped away with a handkerchief, only for someone to pinch him again afterward.

He felt like a lump of dough being kneaded over and over. There was not a single part of him that had not been pinched.

Yet these sisters were quite gentle. Their pinching did not hurt, but it felt ticklish and tingly, making him want to laugh and flee at the same time.

What was he supposed to do when he was too popular?

"Y-You've had enough, guga!" Jiang Lan finally found an opening and squeezed out from between them.

His hood sat crookedly on his head, his cheeks had been pinched rosy red, and he looked like a stuffed toy that had just been pulled from a washing machine.

Jiang Lan panted heavily, pointing at Shui Yue'er and her companions. His voice trembled slightly. "You people from Skywater Academy... did you train in some kind of face-pinching soul skill?!"

Shui Yue'er hugged Doro and laughed so hard that she bent over, nearly laughing herself to tears.

Shui Yue'er wiped at the corner of her eye, returned Doro to Jiang Lan, then crouched down to meet his gaze. She gently poked the tip of his nose with a finger. "Little friend, you're just too adorable. We couldn't help ourselves. How about this? To make it up to you, we'll take you to eat the best food on this street. What do you say?"

Jiang Lan had still wanted to be angry, but the moment he heard about the best food, his ears perked up and his eyes brightened without him realizing it.

But Jiang Lan immediately remembered what Mama Bo Saixi had said. He put on a wary expression and took a step back while hugging Doro. "Mama Bo Saixi said I can't casually eat things from strangers."

"We aren't strangers. Don't we know each other now?" Shui Yue'er stood up, clasped her hands behind her back, tilted her head, and flashed a brilliant smile. "My name is Shui Yue'er, and they're all my classmates. You're Jiang Lan, a little soul master from Sea God Island. We already know each other's names, so we aren't strangers anymore, right?"

Jiang Lan opened his mouth, feeling that there seemed to be something wrong with that logic, but he could not figure out what exactly was wrong.

He lowered his head to look at Doro in his arms, hoping it could offer some advice.

Doro raised its head, looked at Shui Yue'er's face, which could not have appeared more sincere, then looked at Jiang Lan's rosy cheeks that had been pinched red. It then let out a completely impartial, "Doro~."