I'll give my daughter one more second.

I want these monthly votes, so they can no longer blind me. I want these razor blades, so they can no longer bury my heart. I want these readers to understand my meaning. I want those unfinished chapters to vanish like smoke!

(?Д?*)?

Chapter 134 Late Stage of Embarrassment

"Is it good?" Mashiro rarely showed a hint of anticipation, but her tone remained completely unchanged.

"It's quite delicious..." Wu Shen chewed a few times and swallowed, looking at the innocent girl in front of him with a helpless expression. He had already given up on educating Shiina Mashiro about common sense.

No wonder Ye Ge can't do anything; she probably takes after her mother. Wu Shen patted his forehead. After personally meeting Zhen Bai, he finally understood the whole story.

“Very good, now we’re all accomplices.” Mashiro looked at Wu Shen chewing on the cake and nodded in satisfaction. Although she didn’t show much expression, a faint sense of joy was evident.

“I knew no one could resist the delicious temptation of chikuwa cake,” Mashiro said.

What is all this nonsense? Seriously, I think you should really look up the definition of "accomplice" in the dictionary.

"Shiina, you have to take the items to the counter to pay for them before you can eat them." Wu Shen was a little unconvinced and tried to educate her again.

"Check out? What do you mean?" Mashiro stared at the newly picked chikuwa cake in her hand, seemingly deep in thought.

"It's just paying. Did you never have to pay when you bought things before?" Wu Shen asked in surprise. He now seriously doubted how Mashiro, who was so lacking in common sense, had managed to stay so long as seventeen.

“My roommate is with me and will help.” Zhenbai paused, her innocent eyes fixed on Wu Shen. “Wu Shen, will you help?”

As Mashiro spoke, she tried to tear open the packaging again, but this time Wu Shen snatched it away with lightning speed.

"I will definitely help," Wu Shen sighed.

It was, after all, a request from Professor Sengoku, and she was also Yoru's future mother; Wu Shen certainly couldn't ignore it. But letting it go like this wasn't a good idea either.

"Then give it to me." Mashiro stretched out her little hand, seemingly asking for the chikuwa cake that Wu Shen had taken away.

"Let's pay the bill first, then you can eat whatever you want." Wu Shen held the package high with one hand and shook it. Mashiro was attracted by the chikuwa cake in Wu Shen's hand and obediently followed him to the cashier.

Wu Shen was initially worried about how to explain to the cashier that Mashiro had eaten several chikuwa cakes, but when he saw that the person working was the familiar Aoyama Nanami, he relaxed a little.

"You're here to work so early?" Wu Shen asked as he stepped forward.

"Wu Shen? I was planning to work overtime today, so I came early. Why are you here so early too?"

"I asked the administrator for leave; I have something to do today," Wu Shen shrugged.

“I see…” Nanami nodded, and was about to continue chatting for a few more minutes when she suddenly noticed the girl standing behind Wu Shen, who was standing almost inches away from him. So she stopped talking abruptly.

"You...brought a new girl again?" Qi Hai seemed speechless. Although she now knew that those rumors at school were just that—rumors—every time she saw Wu Shen, she would see him with a girl, making it hard not to speculate.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Wu Shen was both amused and exasperated, and hurriedly explained, "This is Professor Sengoku's cousin. She asked the Service Department to help her get to her destination."

“I’m just taking care of her,” Wu Shen said. “If you still don’t believe me, Shiina, tell her what our relationship is.”

"Wu Shen is the man who took my virginity." Mashiro's tone was very calm, but her expression was absolutely serious.

"..." Wu Shen almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

The atmosphere that had just eased froze again because of this sentence. Wu Shen and Qi Hai looked at each other, neither of them saying a word, as time passed by second by second.

"It's so great that Wu Shen took my virginity." Then, Mashiro quickly broke the silence and dropped another bombshell.

At this moment, Nanami's gaze had completely changed, and she said in a trembling voice, "You really are just like the rumors! The Service Club's request was just a fabricated excuse, wasn't it? How cunning! I almost believed you!"

"No, no, I have no reason to make up such an excuse, do I? Aoyama, calm down." Wu Shen pressed down on Aoyama Nanami's shoulder, trying to keep her calm.

Luckily, there was no one else in the supermarket at that time, otherwise it would have been incredibly embarrassing.

"What... what are you going to do!? I will never submit to evil forces!" Qi Hai struggled for a few moments, but when he realized that he was no match for Wu Shen's strength, he gave up resisting. However, his eyes became righteous and awe-inspiring when he looked at Wu Shen, as if he had a spirit of facing death together.

"Wu Shen, were you originally from the Hungry Ghost Society?" Mashiro secretly took the chikuwa cake from Wu Shen's hand, tore open the packaging, ate all the food, licked her lips, and looked curiously at the two people arguing.

"I am neither a villain nor a starving force! Alright! Stop standing idly by! You caused all this, so explain yourself!" Wu Shen felt more wronged than Dou E.

Earth, you cannot distinguish between good and bad, what kind of earth are you? Heaven, you wrongly judge the wise and the foolish, you are unworthy of being called heaven! If this continues, it will start snowing outside!

"When I was abroad, I was surrounded by girls. Wu Shen was my first male friend." It was too late for Zhenbai to finish her sentence.

Wu Shen turned to Zhenbai helplessly, knowing that she did it on purpose. He couldn't even muster the anger to get angry, so he could only raise his hand and gently stroke her creamy yellow hair.

"Don't speak so dramatically," Wu Shen said with a wry smile.

"Okay." Mashiro said absentmindedly, her gaze turning back to the food shelf not far away.

"Chikuwa cakes, shall we buy a few more later?"

"Hmm." Although no expression could be seen on Mashiro's face, she seemed to be in a good mood.

"Is that so?" Nanami looked at the two of them with a skeptical expression.

Nanami protected Mashiro, gradually distancing herself from Wu Shen. She seemed to feel that she had tricked Shiina Mashiro, this seemingly pitiful girl.

"Wu Shen, although I shouldn't meddle, as your colleague I have to give you some advice. Yukinoshita and Kasumigaoka are both good girls, you should be content! It's wrong to have three girls at once!" Nanami stared at Wu Shen with righteous indignation.

Don't be fooled by appearances! She's the culprit behind everything! Wu Shen cried out in his heart.

In the past, Wu Shen could have righteously refuted Nanami. But ever since Ye Ge arrived, Wu Shen began to speculate and doubt the relationship between Yukino and Ayane, and between Haruno and Tsukine, and he knew that he would have to face that step sooner or later.

So, to put it simply, Wu Shen is currently lacking in confidence.

"Aoyama, you've really misunderstood. I was simply escorting Sengoku-sensei's cousin to complete a request. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask Sengoku-sensei himself tomorrow," Wu Shen explained.

"Really?" Nanami looked at Mashiro with suspicion.

"Hmm. It's a drawing commission, but I don't know the way. Wu Shen will take me there; he's a good guy." This time, Mashiro finally didn't let me down.

It's good that things have been clarified, but Wu Shen still feels like he's been given a "friend zone" card by Zhen Bai!

"Well, it seems I was overthinking it again." Qi Hai sighed. "But Wu Shen, you should also be more careful. This kind of behavior is ultimately not a good thing."

“I didn’t want this either…” Wu Shen looked somewhat helpless, then took out the leftover packaging from Zhen Bai’s meal and placed it on the counter. “Please help me settle the bill.”

"Huh?" Nanami initially thought she was seeing things and rubbed her eyes, but upon closer inspection, it still looked like a pile of packaging bags.

"Where are the things inside?" Nanami asked, puzzled.

"Shiina ate them all. She just returned to Japan and doesn't know much about common sense. Don't worry about it too much."

Nanami didn't press further and began scanning the empty packaging bag with the barcode scanner. However, a slight confusion remained in her mind. What kind of supermarket was this? Common sense dictates that you can eat first and pay later. This wasn't an ordinary convenience store.

After paying the bill, Wu Shen bought several chikuwa cakes for Mashiro to eat on the way. Then, holding Mashiro's soft little hand, they embarked on their journey to their destination once again.

Meanwhile, in a coffee shop, Shiyu and a female editor dressed as an office lady were sitting quietly at a table near the corner, waiting.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but Shiyu unconsciously began to tap her heels lightly, her full, beautiful legs, encased in black stockings, trembling slightly. This was a small gesture she often made when she was anxious.

"Has the invited artist not arrived yet?" Shiyu couldn't help but ask.

"Yesterday was just a minor mishap. Today will definitely be fine."

With her neat short hair, she was clearly a powerful career woman. Because of her recent outstanding performance, Machida Sonoko, the female editor specially assigned to Utaha by Shinazugawa Bunko, offered her words of comfort.

"Are there really no more problems today?" Shi Yu still felt very uneasy.

“Actually, the coordination work for illustrators is usually handled by the editors. The authors don’t need to worry about it or meet with them. It’s just that this time, the higher-ups wanted to use a high school novelist and illustrator as a gimmick,” Machida Sonoko patiently explained.

"Rather than asking you, Shizuko, to discuss the illustrations with the illustrator, it's more like I'm arranging an interview for publication. So you don't need to worry."

"Is that so..." Shiyu's pace of tapping her toes gradually slowed down.

"And look, aren't they already here? That girl should be the one we're going to meet this time." Machida smiled and pointed to the entrance of the coffee shop, where a girl with long, creamy-yellow hair was being led in by a boy.

Shi Yu initially focused on observing the girl, but when her gaze shifted to the side, she was immediately stunned: "Wu Shen?"

"Shiyu?" Wu Shengang had just arrived at their destination with Mashiro and was looking for the person they were supposed to meet. But to his surprise, the first person he saw was Kasumigaoka Shiyu, whom he knew well.

What... what's going on?! A coincidence? Or is the person Mashiro is going to meet Shiho? Wu Shen was completely dumbfounded.

Author's Note:

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·

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No pain, no gain.

ヾ(≧O≦)〃

Chapter 135 Officially Appointed Interview

The moment Wu Shen saw Shi Yu, countless fragments of the past flashed through his mind.

Utaha had mentioned she was going to meet with the artist. Mashiro had also said it was about a painting commission. Yesterday, Mashiro got lost, and as a result, the artist from Utaha's side couldn't make it as planned due to other commitments.

When these fragments were pieced together and all the clues were connected, Wu Shen suddenly realized—it turned out that the painter Shi Yu wanted to meet was Shiina Mashiro!

"GG! Why didn't I notice these details sooner?" Wu Shen roared inwardly. The worst part was that he was still holding Mashiro's hand, worried she might get lost again!

“Wu, Shen?” Editor Yuan Zi repeated the pronunciation of the two words Shi Yu uttered, then seemed to remember something. “Is this the guy you mentioned who gave you advice before?”

"Yes, ah!" Shi Yu stared at Wu Shen, her eyes slowly narrowing. Her tone of voice also became a few degrees more forceful.

Editor Yuanzi noticed Shiyu's resentful gaze and realized that Wu Shen had walked in with that girl. She looked back and forth, and this scene seemed to make her understand something.

"I never expected to encounter something so interesting. This is youth." Editor Yuan Zi nodded slightly and couldn't help but sigh softly.

Wu Shen desperately wanted to turn around and leave immediately—he really, really wanted to! But he knew that running away now would only lead to further misunderstandings. There's no going back in this world. So no matter how bad the situation was, Wu Shen had no choice but to grit his teeth and pull Mashiro towards Shiyu.

"Isn't this Shiyu? What a coincidence. Let's talk later, I need to find Shiina's client first." Wu Shenqiang said with a forced smile, cold sweat already seeping from his forehead.

Although he had already analyzed the situation, he still clung to a last glimmer of hope. What if Mashiro and Utaha had no connection whatsoever, and it was just a chance encounter?

"No need to look anymore, this is it." Shi Yu smiled as she looked at Wu Shen. Although Shi Yu's smile remained unchanged, the battle-hardened Wu Shen could clearly feel the boiling, jet-black battle aura emanating from Shi Yu's body, burning quietly.

This...this place should be Earth...not some fantasy world, right?

"You must be Wu Shen? Xia Shizi often mentions you. It's a pleasure to meet you so soon."

"Kasumigaoka Utaha? Who are you?" Wu Shen was slightly taken aback. He had never heard of Kasumigaoka Utaha being addressed as "Kasumigaoka Utaha".

“Oh, Kasumi Shiko is Kasumi no Oka’s pen name. It’s common practice in the industry to address authors by their pen names.” Sonoko paused. “As for me, I’m currently working as Kasumi Shiko’s editor. Machida Sonoko, just call me Sonoko.”

Such skillful use of social etiquette is truly befitting of a seasoned professional editor.

"So you're Shiyu's editor. It's a pleasure to meet you." Wu Shen forced a smile and gave the other person a perfunctory one.