A Lap Pillow for Little Ai

"Hahaha, A-Yu, why is there a bite mark on your face? Hahaha!" Aemeath looked at the teeth marks on Xiao Ling's face, which made him look as though a dog had gnawed on him, and burst out laughing without a care for appearances.

Heaven knew how much courage Hajiling had needed to walk into the classroom with Dania's teeth marks on his face, all because this class was with Little Ai.

Who wouldn't want to attend class with a super-genius beautiful girl who was also a virtual idol? Right? Right?

Who knew that after he teased Dania, she would fly into a rage and chase him for two li? What little stamina Xiao Ling had left was exhausted in an instant, and it was only after Peach had pinned him to the ground and bitten him hard twice that she let him go, satisfied.

Still, this was nice. Really nice.

"How about I bite your face a couple of times too? Then we'd be a pair of star-crossed lovers," Xiao Ling said, at a loss for words.

(Take your star-crossed lovers and go eat a big serving of shit.jpg)

"I don't mind~ But are you sure it's okay in front of so many people?" Aemeath narrowed her eyes slightly and rested her cheek on her hand as she looked at Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling's reputation was falling exponentially. At noon, he had been photographed playing with Lupa and Dania on the sports field, and the forum had erupted in another round of criticism.

Some had even wanted to invite Principal Roccia to step in and put a stop to Xiao Ling's bad influence, but she had said that young people's affairs were none of her business.

Xiao Ling rubbed his face hard, finally making the conspicuous teeth marks less obvious. Only then could he attend class in peace.

In Xiao Ling's eyes, there were two things in the world that could never come back.

One was money once it had been spent; the other was his reputation.

But if all it took to get a group of cute, beautiful 2D wives was his money and reputation, Xiao Ling would go all in without hesitation.

But could everyone else in the classroom please stop staring daggers at him? I know Little Ai is really pretty, and I know I might not deserve her, but she likes me and insists on sticking to me. No matter how worked up you get, you can't change the facts.

But that wasn't quite right. Xiao Ling actually had everything he needed to be a rich young master; he was just too lazy to do it. Being an ordinary shut-in college student was pretty nice.

Still, he was really sleepy now.

This wasn't a particularly important class, but the teacher happened to be the meddlesome sort, calling on someone to answer questions after every section.

And he was very particular about whom he picked, singling out students who slept in class.

That led to a ridiculous situation: everyone was sleepy, but nobody dared sleep.

"Haah..."

Xiao Ling was running out of options. He glanced at Little Ai beside him. Well, she was getting sleepy too. Every now and then she would doze off, jolt awake, realize nothing was wrong, and go right back to dozing.

"Didn't nap at noon?" Xiao Ling asked. He certainly hadn't, since Lupa had invited him to watch her train.

"I went to practice. The school's holding a competition soon, right? They saw how good I was at badminton and talked me into signing up for the women's event."

"Couldn't turn them down?"

"By the time I realized what was happening, it was too laaate~" Aemeath said helplessly. "Everyone was so enthusiastic, I couldn't let them down~"

Haha, a moment of silence for Little Ai's opponents.

"Speaking of which, didn't you sign up, A-Yu?" Aemeath tilted her head as she asked Xiao Ling. "I heard they were already selecting suitable students for this competition before we transmigrated here."

"No. I didn't think it sounded interesting. I'd rather go home and play games." Xiao Ling stretched and propped his cheek on his hand, bored.

"Haha~ That's just like you."

Aemeath thought so too. After all, judging by Xiao Ling's unkempt appearance, he probably rarely even went outside before they arrived, much less took part in a major outdoor event like a competition.

"What, do you want to see me compete?"

"Of course I'd love to see you in action on the field, A-Yu, but you don't seem interested in competing~" Aemeath said with some regret.

Xiao Ling rubbed Aemeath's little head, and as usual, she leaned into his palm of her own accord.

Hm? Was that the sound of hearts breaking? Must have been my imagination.

There weren't many sports Xiao Ling was good at, just a few, and he didn't excel at any of them. He could hold his own playing with classmates, but he wouldn't measure up in a competition.

If he had to name a sport he was decent at, it would probably be track and field, just like Lupa.

Back in middle school, he had been so withdrawn that almost no one wanted to be friends with him, and whenever something weighed on his mind, he had no one to confide in.

So he had developed a habit: whenever he was in a bad mood, he would run a few or even ten laps around the sports field, leaving his negative emotions behind him.

But people who didn't understand why he did it all thought he was like Jiahao. Their impression of him grew even worse, and they were even less willing to be his friends.

And so he ran alone throughout his middle school years, faster than anyone else.

A big reason Xiao Ling disliked competitions was that there wouldn't be a girl in the stands cheering for him.

Every boy had thoughts like that, didn't he? The girl he liked watching him shine on the field, cheering him on.

Still, since Aemeath was looking forward to it, he could at least consider entering.

Just as Xiao Ling began reconsidering whether he should compete, he suddenly felt a weight on his right shoulder.

He turned to look. Ah~ It seemed Little Ai really couldn't hold out anymore. She had fallen asleep against his shoulder.

She always looked peaceful in her sleep. Her eyelashes were long and fluttered slightly every now and then, and occasionally the corners of her mouth curled up. He wondered what pleasant thing she was dreaming about.

They were sitting in the back row, so it would be hard for the teacher to notice, but to be safe, he would let her sleep on his lap.

Smack!

Hm? Again? Whose poor heart just shattered this time?

Xiao Ling couldn't be bothered. He supported Aemeath as she leaned against his shoulder and gently settled her on his lap.

Feeling the warm weight on his thigh, Xiao Ling nodded in satisfaction.

"Hm? Where's Aemeath?" As it happened, just after Little Ai fell asleep on Xiao Ling's lap, the teacher at the lectern asked where she was.

"I don't know. Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Xiao Ling lied through his teeth without batting an eye.

Damn it! She's clearly sleeping soundly with her head on your lap!

The other students gritted their teeth, itching to expose the despicable scoundrel's hateful behavior on the spot. But they didn't want to disturb Little Ai's sleep, so they could only stew in silence.

"...Huh?"

Aemeath opened her eyes in a daze and saw the sun slowly sinking toward the west, its golden light gently illuminating a corner of the classroom.

"I fell asleep...?"

"Yeah, sleepyhead, you fell asleep." When Xiao Ling saw Aemeath sit up from his lap, he looked up from his phone and smiled at her.

"Mm~ What time is it...?" Aemeath stretched, then picked up her phone and glanced at the time. "It's almost five?!"

"Yeah. You've been asleep since thirty minutes into class. You really do sleep well." Xiao Ling teased her with a smile.

"Ugh~ I'm never staying up late playing games again..." Aemeath unwittingly revealed the real reason she had been sleepy.

Stayed up late playing games? No wonder.

"Don't dwell on it. It's about time to go home."

"You're right. Let's go back!"

After packing up, Aemeath naturally took Xiao Ling's hand and walked out of the classroom with him. The setting sun was at just the right angle to cast their shadows as they walked forward hand in hand, and their laughter and conversation gradually faded into the evening breeze as they went farther away.

"Oh, right. What do you want for dinner?"

"You know I'm not picky. I love everything you make!"

"Is that so? Then how about I make it all vegetarian?"

"Wow, A-Yu, you're so mean! Not even letting a beautiful girl eat meat is way too cruel..."