The Complete Guide to the Use and Care of a Personal a.s.sistant
Translator: Jury
Editor: NomNom
First Published on Chaleuria
Chapter Ninety-three
"You"re right, I don"t have that right." Yan Li"s smile was desolate. "But I hoped it would go better than this. You becoming my a.s.sistant was a temporary measure, and now you have a great opportunity to do more. It won"t incite any ill-intentioned speculation from the paparazzi, either. Why won"t you agree? Are you really content just to be my little a.s.sistant?"
"How do you know I"m not content?" Ji Linxi"s tone warmed and contained a hint of flirtatiousness.
Ling Miao scooted behind Su Yuyang and pulled Su Yuyang to one side, murmuring, "Ji Linxi"s att.i.tude towards Yan Li has changed too drastically, right?"
Yan Li and Ji Linxi had only been away for two weeks, but their relations.h.i.+p had already changed a lot. Maybe not from Yan Li"s perspective, but Ling Miao put the pieces together from the way Ji Linxi looked at her and what he had said. He made a daring conjecture: Ji Linxi"s feelings toward Yan Li had changed!
Su Yuyang looked thoughtfully at the pair of them facing off. His mouth twitched and he guessed, "Maybe, now that they"ve been alone together for a while, Ji Linxi understands the real Yan Li and has fallen for her. In that case, now they don"t have to worry that the paparazzi find out they"re acting."
Ling Miao pulled at Su Yuyang"s arm, indicating for him to lower his head. Su Yuyang complied and Ling Miao whispered into his ear. Su Yuyang"s expression changed from confusion to shock then realization. After hearing Ling Miao"s plan in full, Su Yuyang patted his chest and promised, "Rest a.s.sured, I"ll complete the task you"ve given me!"
"Scram!" Ling Miao laughed and threw a punch at Su Yuyang, who caught Ling Miao"s fist in an open hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. Yan Li and Ji Linxi"s gazes had been drawn by Ling Miao"s shout and now they observed Ling Miao hitting Su Yuyang and Su Yuyang kissing Ling Miao"s fist.
"Hey." Yan Li angled her neck and put her hands on her waist, eyes radiating fierceness. She looked like she was about to beat Su Yuyang up. Su Yuyang looked at her in confusion and she huffed, saying angrily, "You two, do you really want to show such PDA in front of me? Is it a good idea? Is it?"
"What"s not good about it?" Su Yuyang smiled faintly and looked at Ji Linxi. "What do you think, Ji Linxi?"
"I don"t know!" Ji Linxi spat out the words as if he was venting, then he pushed past Su Yuyang and Ling Miao toward the door.
Ling Miao angled his chin toward Yan Li. Su Yuyang, understanding his meaning, signaled "OK" with his fingers. Under Yan Li"s uncomprehending gaze, Ling Miao swiftly ran out as if to chase Ji Linxi down.
Wait!
Yan Li mechanically turned her neck to face Su Yuyang head-on. She saw that Su Yuyang was calmly watching the doorway.
This doesn"t make sense! This makes no sense at all! Su Yuyang is allowing Ling Miao to chase after Ji Linxi! When he and Ling Miao weren"t yet together, he hated seeing Ji Linxi. Now he"s letting Ling Miao go look for Ji Linxi? Did he forget to take his meds before he left the house this morning?
Su Yuyang saw Yan Li looking at him with surprise flas.h.i.+ng in her eyes. He asked uncertainly, "Yan Yan, is there something on my face?"
"Nothing dirty on your face, but what about in your heart?"
"What could there be in my heart?" This time Su Yuyang was thoroughly confused.
Yan Li wasn"t sure what to say, either. She ran a hand through her already messy hair and said in frustration, "If there"s nothing, then there"s nothing. Also, you"re letting Ling Miao go look for Ji Linxi?"
"Ji Linxi won"t kidnap Ling Miao." Su Yuyang sat at Yan Li"s side, perfectly calm. "Unless you"re worried Ling Miao will kidnap Ji Linxi?"
"If he wants to be kidnapped, then he can go get kidnapped. What"s it got to do with me?"¹ Yan Li"s voice got higher and higher. Su Yuyang hurriedly advised, "Don"t get angry, don"t get angry. It won"t be good if we"re overheard."
"Me?"¹ Yan Li didn"t care at all. "Did I say too little? Don"t you say it too? My dad and mom say it too!"
"I… forget it, I won"t quibble with you over this." Su Yuyang knew that this was only lip service and it wouldn"t mean much to keep pursuing it.
After a pause, Su Yuyang said, "Xiao Miao said I should agree to sing the duet with you. He said that since you"re the spokesperson for the game adapted from my novel, I should help you."
"You"re fairly obedient to Ling Miao." Yan Li smiled broadly. "What did your parents say?"
"My mom didn"t give Xiao Miao a hard time and asked him to call her mom immediately. As for my dad… ah, I"d better get past Ling Miao"s parents first." At the mention of Ling Miao"s parents, Su Yuyang"s head started hurting. "Let"s not talk about me. What about that song you want to sing?"
"It"s that advertising song with the same name as the game, Demonic Song Defying Heaven, of course!"
Su Yuyang had never heard that song before!
Under Yan Li"s threats, Su Yuyang was forced to remain in Yan Li"s room and practise the song with her.
When Ling Miao and Ji Linxi returned, Su Yuyang was lying on the ground panting for breath.
"Are you all right?"
"Sing, "I"ll love even if I die," who knows how many times and you"ll know how I feel right now." Under Yan Li"s teaching, Su Yuyang had finally figured out how to sing that part.
Seeing that Ji Linxi had come back, Su Yuyang didn"t think he should stay, either. He found an excuse to leave and took Ling Miao with him.
On the way back to their room, Su Yuyang asked Ling Miao what he"d talked with Ji Linxi about. Ling Miao spread his hands: "Nothing. I just walked around the hotel with him and went to see where we"d be taking lunch tomorrow."
"How is the decor going?"
"It"s done. We"re adjusting the sound."
They talked as they walked and quickly arrived at their room.
Su Yuyang"s room was a single and on the same floor as the other authors". Su Yuyang felt a little bad that Mu Yu had to keep him under wraps like this.
Mu Yu was currently standing outside Su Yuyang"s room smoking a cigarette. When he saw Su Yuyang coming he took another cigarette and handed it to Su Yuyang, who smiled and refused. Ling Miao looked curiously at Su Yuyang: Su Yuyang probably did want to smoke—he"d seen it before!
Mu Yu had come looking for Su Yuyang to get his opinion on how to introduce him tomorrow.
"Yu-ge, you don"t have to make such a big deal out of it. I"m not some big name," Su Yuyang said humbly.
Mu Yu laughed and said, "Mostly it"s because no one knows who you are. Your appearance will make waves."
"Compared to Yan Li, won"t I just be an ant underfoot?" Su Yuyang said aggrievedly.
"You"ll go onstage before her!" Mu Yu explained.
"How about together?" Ling Miao took Su Yuyang"s hint and interrupted. "He and Yan-jie are friends, anyway. We"ll just discuss it with her and it"ll be fine, won"t it?"
"No need to discuss." Ji Linxi appeared like a ghost in Su Yuyang"s room. Actually, Ji Linxi had arrived a long time ago but he had been waiting for Ling Miao"s signal. He glanced at Ling Miao, then turned to Mu Yu and said, "Li has agreed."
Mu Yu and Su Yuyang exchanged a few more words. Probably feeling that his presence here was extraneous, Mu Yu made an excuse and left.
After Mu Yu left, the room went totally silent. Ji Linxi asked, "What the h.e.l.l are you two selling?"
Translation notes:
[1] Yan Li is using a rude/arrogant form of "me".