Love, Gun, Cupid

"The school has lost power."

"Ah, that's good. I finally have time to spend with you today."

"Have you finished up your business?"

"We captured one of them, and he's still in the hospital receiving emergency treatment. Jianlan is keeping an eye on things over there, and that's when the long endurance of her lich body really comes into play."

I think once he wakes up, I'll be able to get some information out of him, and then follow the clues to resolve all the troubles.

"Ah."

Jasmine sat in Lin Jiade's lap, her tail peeking out from under her skirt and tightly wrapping around his waist. Lin Jiade was somewhat surprised, as Jasmine hadn't shown her true form for a while.

"You take care of this and that, but you forget to take care of yourself. I won't say 'don't go,' but you don't need to play the hero in front of me."

"Ah."

Lin Jiade rested his chin on Jasmine's head, playing with her horns with one hand and stroking the tail wrapped around his waist with the other, enjoying a rare moment of tranquility.

"Junior..."

Hehuan opened the "door" and saw Lin Jiade holding Jasmine in the living room. The two looked relaxed with their eyes closed. She wisely closed the door and turned around to see Teacher Yang looking jealous and flustered.

Once everything is over, Teacher Yang's memory will be erased. Moreover, the union of an ordinary person and a superhuman will only lead to tragedy. How can the frail body of an ordinary person bear the passion of a superhuman?

And what about herself?

Hehuan's family fortunes plummeted, and amidst her grief, she also had to consider her future. She was in great pain, and in front of Lin Jiade, this pain was portrayed so vividly that she successfully garnered his sympathy.

Just as a holy maiden in a temple can arouse a man's desire, a princess in distress can similarly awaken a man's protective instincts. For the sake of her own future, Hehuan despicably exploited Lin Jiade's sympathy, securing herself a safe and secure place to live.

She still had a little wealth and her own youthful body, and she knew very well that she held a sexual attraction for Lin Jiade. If her family truly fell, then it would be her turn to take on the responsibility, bear children, guide them into the extraordinary world, and seek hope for the revival of her declining family.

She knew very well that this was a responsibility, a transaction, so she wouldn't care who Lin Jiade was with... and what right did she have to care?

However, her heart didn't think that way. She longed to share Lin Jiade with the other women. Besides sex, she also wanted love. She wanted Lin Jiade to carry her in a princess carry, to gently protect her, and to hug her from behind. They didn't do anything, but a sweet feeling spread from their overlapping figures.

Kapok was never an obstacle, but an excuse. In the past, her friendship with Kapok was not a way to avoid suspicion, but a way to maintain her composure... After her family fell into decline, she found an excuse for her desires.

The thought of her family's decline, her own cramped hospital room, and being roommates with another pitiful person filled Hehuan with sorrow. Just then, the phone rang; it was Mumian calling.

Hehuan entered the bathroom, closed the door, answered the phone, and Mumian said, "Hehuan?"

"It's convenient for me here, go ahead and say it."

"I went to your house. Your parents have been released on bail, but their activities are restricted. And I heard from your lawyer that, putting aside the cult issue, your parents may have to make some legal deals with the prosecution, admitting to some less serious crimes in exchange for leniency in their cult case."

"So, even if the cult charges are proven false, the best-case scenario for my family is a dignified exit?"

"Yes, colluding with a cult is equivalent to treason. The pressure of this charge is immense. I believe my aunt and uncle didn't do it, but they have to consider whether to fight it to the end or take advantage of the olive branch offered by the prosecution."

"..."

"I'm at your house. Your parents look quite well. Would you like to say something?"

Hehuan held her breath, her body trembling, then shook her head: "If only I could be a little more useful..."

"Hehuan, no one will blame you."

"If I weren't obsessed with music, and if I could dedicate more time to improving my skills, I could study divination magic and perhaps even have the chance to foresee family crises."

I spent their money but didn't take on the corresponding responsibilities... I'm sorry, I really have no face to talk to them, I'm so sorry.

Hehuan wiped away her tears, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then said, "Please tell them that I am doing well here, and I will take responsibility in my own way."

The voting has ended, and the combined votes from both sides indicate that readers have chosen TES.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Drunken Woman

Before he knew it, Lin Jiade had fallen asleep holding Jasmine. He didn't wake up until the afternoon, a little dazed. The big Jasmine in his arms was gone, replaced by Wei Ying straddling his lap, her face saying "I'm not happy".

"I should be fine for the next few days. I'll play with you and attend your training sessions on time, so don't try any weird ways to torment me!"

"Reed Warbler" shrugged, transformed back into a cuckoo, and turned to the person next to her, saying, "You've trained him to this extent?"

"Don't scare me." Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’ve been busy with the hearings these past few days. When we got home, we found you sprawled on the sofa, so we came to cheer you up.”

Du Juan got off Lin Jiade, sat down to his right, turned on the TV and said, "Your partner has a big appetite; she wants to use this public safety incident to bring the Holy Land under her control."

To this end, she even went so far as to let the situation escalate further, thereby accusing the Holy Land of dereliction of duty and poor cooperation.

She had supporters who wanted to annex the Holy Land, while Henrietta had supporters who wanted to maintain the Holy Land's independence. The two sides argued, but nothing came of it.

“I was almost falling asleep listening to this,” Wei Ying said discontentedly. “If you ask me, we should just have a fight and the winner takes all.”

“Jianlan completely agrees, because the Holy Land Guardians don’t seem to be very strong. Lin Jiade held his own against them in lane,” Du Juan said.

"Why do I feel like you've dragged me into this too?" Lin Jiade said.

"Hey."

"Don't play dumb, Miss Dujuan, your tricks... actually work quite well on me."

As Lin Jiade saw Du Juan's face rapidly approaching, his heart raced and his cheeks burned. He wanted to chase after those lips that had captivated him, but the moment he touched them, Du Juan sealed his lips with a finger.

“You have more important things to do than lust after me, don’t you?” Du Juan said.

"If that's the case, then don't tease me in the first place."

He muttered as he got up, about to leave, when Dujuan stuck out her forked tongue and traced it around his lips.

"So, what does this mean?" Lin Jiade asked.

"Your lips are a little dry, shall I apply some lip balm for you?"

"Then I hope you'll apply it to me three times a day... Ouch."

Lin Jiade clutched his waist and turned around, seeing Wei Ying angrily pulling her leg back. Jasmine came out yawning and asked, "What are you guys up to now?"

"I didn't..." Lin Jiade stood up somewhat guiltily, "I'll go cook, you go call someone."

Jianlan, the only designated cook in Lin Jiade's household, was busy like a spinning top, moving from one place to another. During this period, the meals were either ordered from takeout or cooked by whoever was free, Lin Jiade or Jianlan.

Hehuan, Teacher Xiao Yang, and Bingdong are now three regular diners. If Xuanling and Ditao are present again, Lin Jiade will also call them over, and he will have Xuanling use commands on Ditao to make her eat in human form.

After all, Di Tao had the face of a kapok tree, and Lin Jiade didn't want to humiliate her during the meal, as that would only worsen his mood.

Xuanling seemed to see through his complicated feelings. She dyed her hair, permed it, and wore different makeup to distinguish herself from Kapok.

She could change herself, but she couldn't change the memories in Lin Jiade's heart. So at the dinner table, she still sat in the place where Kapok was... a place reserved for Kapok until Lin Jiade knew the truth of that summer.

Lin Jiade was busy in the kitchen, ignoring the diners who had gathered around. When someone opened the kitchen door and came to his side, he said, "The food will be ready soon, could you please bring me a plate?"

"it is good."

Lin Jiade looked up and stared at Hehuan in surprise, not expecting that the person who came to help was her. Hehuan had changed her previous melancholy appearance; she was dressed flamboyantly today, reminding him of how they first met last year.

"how?"

She spun around a few times, her long, flowing black hair dazzling Lin Jiade's eyes. Lin Jiade nodded: "Not bad, it suits you very well."

"Then the time I spent on this was worth it."

Hehuan's gaze was intense, and Lin Jiade, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, turned his gaze back to the cast iron pot. He said, "Want to change the mood?"

"Yeah, I guess so. After all, you gave me a roommate, which changed things. Junior, this world is really strange. Hearing other people talk about their misfortunes doesn't help my situation, but it makes me feel strangely... better."

"It's only human nature."

Hehuan continued, "So, I feel that sitting idly every day won't help, so I wanted to come and help. You need someone with the ability to predict the future, right?"

Furthermore, someone needs to keep the household running smoothly. I just looked around, and apart from you, very few of the others know how to manage a household.

But you don't have any life skills, senior. Lin Jiade thought.

As if she could read his mind, Hehuan continued, "I can do everything except cook, and I can also make desserts."

"?"

"Thanks to my parents, I have many resources to learn skills that I don't need to use, without worrying about starving. This applies to music and baking. My baking skills are edible, but not as good as the ones sold outside."

Lin Jiade thought for a moment. He would be quite busy recently. Jasmine and Teacher Yang needed someone to look after them, and Wei Ying also needed new toys. The timing for He Huan to enter the scene couldn't be more perfect.

"Then... I'll have to trouble you?"

Lin Jiade said, "I'll ask Teacher Yang for help with Jasmine's studies, but she's not part of our circle. Jasmine and you get along well, so could you look after her? Oh, right."

Hehuan blinked: "As expected, the first person I thought of was Jasmine. Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. It's so great to have someone step up and share my workload right now."

He Huan laughed: "No need to thank me twice, Lin Jiade, we're just friends."

Lin Jiade turned off the stove and served the dishes. As Hehuan took them, her little finger lightly brushed against the back of Lin Jiade's hand. It must have been an unintentional touch. Lin Jiade looked at the back of his hand, the ambiguous feeling lingering on his skin.

With nothing much to do today, in order to liven up the atmosphere, boost morale, and speed up the process of everyone getting to know each other, Lin Jiade served beer and sparkling wine, and also prepared brown sugar ginger water for Bingdong.

Ms. Yang wasn't the one who drank the most, but she was the one who got drunk the fastest. She went on a drunken rampage, insisting on dragging Lin Jiade to the balcony to talk. Lin Jiade gave the others an apologetic look and accompanied the drunk woman to the balcony.

In the afternoon, the weather had already turned gloomy, and now, under the illumination of the streetlights, white snowflakes fell one after another, landing on the ground and soon piling up a thin layer of snow.

"Lin Jiade," Teacher Yang said, her voice slurred with drunkenness, "I miss home so much."

The third update will be released based on the TES result. If the team wins, there will be an extra update; if they don't win, then the third update will be the one I owe.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Drunken Woman 2 (1→0)

Ms. Yang was drunk, but not completely drunk. She kept rambling on and on: "That monster can't hurt me for now, but what if it goes to hurt my parents?"

"You don't need to worry about that. This morning, under the guise of academic exchange, your parents temporarily moved into our university and are protected by superhumans. Our university is one of the safest areas in Fuxing City, and no one dares to cause trouble inside."

Teacher Yang slapped Lin Jiade's arm: "You think it's safe just because you say so? Look at you, you went out to fight and got all bruised. It makes my heart ache."

"Uh, thank you for your concern, teacher?"

“My name is Yang Xuemeng. We’re not teacher and student now, so you can call me Xuemeng or Mengmeng.”

"Teacher Yang..."

"Don't call me teacher! Don't call me teacher!"

Lin Jiade made a gesture of surrender: "Fine, fine, Xue Meng?"

“I heard you, Garde… Garde? I’ve wanted to say this before, your name is so strange.”

Lin Jiade retorted, "As if your name is easy to pronounce!"