______________
When they reached the hotel, Zhao Yan Qin immediately went up the stairwell, leaving Xu Liao to wait in the lobby.
Xu Liao walked to a nearby sofa and sat down while waiting for Zhao Yan Qin. After a while , there were still no signs of her. At the same time, he spotted a group exiting the lift. The leader of the group was awfully familiar. It was Gao Wen Hu, the leader of Qu Lei’s cosplaying club! The group cl.u.s.tered together, walking with large strides, giving off a strong presence.
Xu Liao figured that they must had just ended their performance and rented a room temporarily to change their costumes. Xu Liao was slightly disappointed because Qu Lei was not amongst the group, but as usual, he approached the group with a large smile as he called out to them.
Gao Wen Hu wrinkled his eyebrows and gestured to the rest of the group to carry on as he hastily moved towards Xu Liao. He said in a deep, yet low voice: “Qu Lei is not with us. She had already went home. She must had known that you are waiting for her here so she left early. I think you’re being inconsiderate. What are you trying to achieve by pestering her over and over again?”
Xu Liao was stunned. He clearly wasn’t aware that the cosplaying club would be changing their costumes here. Moreover, even though it was a misunderstanding, he could not find the words to explain.
Noticing Xu Liao’s expression, Gao Wen Hu gave an evil smile decided to apply even more pressure on Xu Liao. “Do you think you even deserve Qu Lei? Don’t you know that when both of you walk side by side, Qu Lei will get humiliated by everyone? If you truly want the best for Qu Lei then you should scram, and never ever join our activities anymore.”
Xu Liao bit his lower lip. After hearing the hostile words by Gao Wen Hu the smile on Xu Liao’s face disappeared. Even though Xu Liao was good tempered by nature, he wasn’t someone to be bullied. As much as Xu Liao could not tolerate his harsh words, he chose not to get into any deeper conflicts.
Just as Xu Liao was about to open his mouth to explain himself, Gao Wen Hu continued his torment, in an even darker look and evil voice: “Have you seen how you look in the mirror? Just based on your toad-like honour, you want to be with Qu Lei? I can guarantee that even the ugliest girl in school will not take a liking to you. I shall save you some face today, if… …”
At that moment, when Gao Wen Hu was yapping off words that deeply scarred Xu Liao’s honest heart, and was ready to give the final blow, a gentle and crisp voice interrupted him. “Xu Liao! Xu Liao! Have you waited for too long?”
Zhao Yan Qin bounced up and down like a little lamb, skipping merrily towards Xu Liao, her hair dancing gracefully side to side. She smiled widely and waved towards Xu Liao. She had changed into a lavender silky dress, with a slight difference in her hairstyle. Her usual ponytail was untied, and her hair flowed down her shoulders like a gentle flowing stream. In an instant, her demeanour changed entirely.
Not only she had changed her hairstyle, as if some magic was cast upon her, her face was slimmer, her eyes widened beautifully, her eyebrows were longer and bold, her nose seemed sharper, her lips were rosy and even more seductive. Xu Liao could still recognize her by her face contour. However, when he compared her with her previous appearance in his mind, he was shocked that it didn’t resemble each other at all! Complimented with her elegant dress and faintly letting off a graceful aura, it was as if a fairy had descended upon the world.
“Three points for Charming, three points for Enchanting, three points for s.e.xy, and one point for her aura.”
She was only gone for a moment, and this originally average demon maiden transformed into someone so stunning, and beautiful, which left everyone in awe.
Boom!
Her rating meter shot up to a 120 score from an original 45!
Xu Liao was blown away.
Zhao Yan Qin giggled and winked seductively. She hooked onto Xu Liao’s arm and with a lovely voice, she said softly: ”I can finally show you my true appearance. It was so tiring to hold myself back all the time! Do you think I’m beautiful?”
Xu Liao considered for a moment his choice of words, but chose to answer honestly anyway. “Yes I think you are really beautiful! Why don’t you dress like this for school?”
Zhao Yan Qin swept a glance over at Gao Wen Hu and giggled. “…Because this will attract a lot of toads! Just like the one on your left… … still drooling all over the place.”
Gao Wen Hu was even more shocked than Xu Liao by the beauty of Zhao Yan Qin. His mouth opened wide, totally forgetting to close. Only after being caught by Zhao Yan Qin, he remembered to close and wipe the corners of his mouth. Surprisingly, there was indeed a long line of drool hanging from his mouth, and even swinging could not break it. Gao Wen Hu instantly felt distressed and embarra.s.sed at his unsightly appearance.
As if Gao Wen Hu was non-existent, Zhao Yan Qin cheekily hooked onto Xu Liao’s arm openly and pulled him away leaving a trace of light scented perfume. Gao Wen Hu swayed uncontrollably.
After stepping out of the hotel, Zhao Yan Qin eyes grew slightly dim. “I don’t wish to go to the school that is located in the demons’ district, so the only way would be changing my appearance into someone uglier. This can save me a lot of trouble rejecting all the guys who are going to chase me! I am a demon, I can’t willingly date with any guy, unless the other party decides to marry into my family!”
“Marry into your family?! What’s so difficult about that?”
Xu Liao replied without thinking and soon realized that he said something inappropriate. He shifted his gaze from her in awkwardness.
However, Zhao Yan Qin was not bothered at all and continued to laugh cheekily, her spirit full of energy. She then gently replied: ”Most humans are afraid of demons. If they know my real ident.i.ty, they would definitely find ways to harm me.”
Xu Liao couldn’t hold back his manly pride and said: “If there’s anyone who harm you, let me protect you then!”
Zhao Yan Qin face flushed, with a somewhat shy look on her face she opened her cherry lips slightly and spoke softly: “You don’t even know what kind of a demon am I..”
Without hesitation, Xu Liao questioned: “What’s so important with being the kind of demon you are? Aren’t all demons are still demons?”
She shook her head lightly and pursed her lips, Zhao Yan Qin explained: “Some people can accept any demons that are foxes, snakes, even mammals that evolved into demons without any problems. However, some people have no tolerance or are afraid of demons that are bugs, centipedes, scorpions. Humph! Who knows? Once you know my true ident.i.ty, you might detest me!”
Xu Liao gave it a thought, and joked: “As long as you are not a coriander, then I have no fear!”
(ED: Coriander is a type of Chinese parsley.)
Zhao Yan Qin cupped her hands on her mouth and bursted into laughter. Had she not grabbed onto Xu Liao’s arm, Xu Liao would be worried she might fall for laughing too hard. After a while, Zhao Yan Qin dried her eyes and said: “I have never heard of coriander as a demon so you can be rest a.s.sured okay? I am not a coriander demon!”
“So what demon are you?” Xu Liao couldn’t help but feel curious.
Zhao Yan Qin rolled her eyes at Xu Liao. “Didn’t you said as long as I’m not a coriander demon, you wouldn’t mind? Why do you have to ask a girl this question? This kind of sensitive questions makes me uncomfortable you know!”
Xu Liao sealed his mouth and even though he’s still curious, he stopped asking. He only felt that Zhao Yan Qin was capricious, and it was too difficult to get into the head of this demon maiden. So he might as well not think about it.
Under Zhao Yan Qin’s persistent rejection, Xu Liao forgot that both of them were still linking arms, as if an intimate couple.