Eat Less Fish in the Future - Chapter 8

Soon after, Liang Yu leaned in, his warm breath washing over her ear like a layer of mist.

His voice was hoarse, with a lingering tone–

“We haven’t done anything wrong, why are we hiding?”

His breath also carried a sweet yet crisp scent. As soon as he spoke, Zheng Yimian’s temples began to throb.

Her brain froze. She felt her blood congealing inch by inch, starting from her ears.

…Right, we haven’t done anything wrong, so why hide?

She stood there bewildered, unable to understand what had driven her to pull him behind the door just now.

She regretted it immediately, her face flushed red. She decided to push the door open and go out.

Just as she reached back to push the door, a… difficult to describe sound came from outside.

The people outside… were actually… kissing in this classroom??

Zheng Yimian’s hand was on the door lock. She truly, truly didn’t know what to do.

She couldn’t go out now, as that would interrupt someone’s intimate moment. But if she didn’t go out, she’d have to stand toe-to-toe with Liang Yu in this corner, surrounded by his scent.

Zheng Yimian, you’re really good at digging holes for yourself to fall into.

She desperately withdrew her hand, but the momentum caused it to swing forward slightly, touching Liang Yu’s skin.

It was cool.

She suddenly pulled her hand back, retreating like a startled cat–

Before she could say anything, the door slammed shut behind them with a “bang”.

The couple on the windowsill and the two of them behind the door stared at each other in shock.

…

Who knew the classroom door lock had issues? The door made a sound but didn’t lock. It hit something and bounced back open.

……

Liang Yu, leaning against the wall with a smile, finally reached out to stop the door from hitting Zheng Yimian.

The couple was scared stiff. When the girl came to her senses, she immediately pulled her boyfriend and ran out.

After they dashed out like the wind, a wail came from outside. “Who knew there’d be people even weirder than us, hiding behind the door to do that!”

Zheng Yimian: ?

This was the legendary situation where no amount of explanation would suffice.

She walked forward silently, staring at her shoe tips, and said, “Let’s go.”

Liang Yu looked at her with an amused smile.

A deeper blush appeared on her cheeks, as if someone had applied more rouge. With her head down, the soft flesh on the side of her face puffed out slightly, as if she was sulking.

…He wanted to pinch her cheeks.

Liang Yu coughed lightly and looked up, saying, “Mm, let’s go.”

After getting their forms stamped at the correct office, the two finally arrived at the rehearsal classroom.

Fortunately, the rehearsal hadn’t started long ago.

The senior in charge of the rehearsal pulled them into the line. “You two will be the finale.”

The practice soon began, with each group needing to pass the senior’s inspection.

“Chest out, stomach in, head up, walk slower… more steady… good…”

After two hours of practice, there was time for a break.

Zheng Yimian had a naturally likable personality, and before long, she was chatting with everyone.

Someone pointed at Liang Yu and asked her in a low voice. “Is that Liang Yu?”

Zheng Yimian was used to this by now. “Yes, it seems you all know him.”

“Not really, we’ve just heard about him. They say he clashed with the battalion commander and even scared him off,” someone laughed. “That’s impressive. I was in the same camp last year, and that commander was awful, but none of us dared to resist.”

“He really vented our frustrations for us.”

Soon after, the senior in charge of the rehearsal told everyone to get back in position.

After chatting, everyone was noticeably less tense than before.

At this point, someone finally dared to point at Liang Yu’s back and ask, “Liang Yu, what’s that white patch on your back?”

Zheng Yimian: …………

What was it??

It was from when she pushed him against the wall earlier…

“Yeah, I see it too. Is it wall dust or something?”

“Don’t be silly, where would wall dust come from? It’s not like he was pushed against a wall…”

As the discussion reached this point, it was as if everyone suddenly had an epiphany. They all fell silent at once.

Apart from being pushed against a wall, there didn’t seem to be any other possibility… and it looked like it had just happened…

And the only person who had gone with him to get the form stamped and came in with him was…

Zheng Yimian straightened her back, guiltily averting her eyes. “Don’t look at me! I really didn’t do it!”

Liang Yu smiled, his tone clearly tinged with a hint of intimacy. He wasn’t addressing everyone, but her specifically.

“Right, you didn’t do it.”

If it wasn’t you… who else could it be?

Everyone had a sudden realization, collectively letting out an “Ah–” and nodding knowingly. They said seriously. “We believe you.”

…With those knowing smiles on your faces and those meaningful looks, do you really look like you believe me???

After returning to the dorm, Zheng Yimian used her fragmented free time to sketch comic outlines, still defending herself.

“You all looked like you’d discovered a new continent, your eyes lit up at the gossip, your expressions were practically…”

Li Min: “Practically begging you to push Liang Yu against the wall again.”

“Exactly.” Zheng Yimian nodded before coming to her senses, nearly puffing up like a pufferfish. She tapped the table for emphasis again, “I said, I didn’t push him against the wall. Someone else pushed the door, and I had no choice but to fall against him…”

The third roommate’s eyes burned with gossip fire. “You even fell against him?!”

Zheng Yimian: “…”

“Come here, come here.” Li Min held up her phone. “Good news doesn’t leave home, but gossip travels a thousand miles. Look, someone sent me a message!”

Zheng Yimian asked listlessly. “What does it say?”

“Let me read it to you.” Li Min coughed and read from her phone, “‘Min Min, I heard your roommate Zheng Yimian is so bold, she pinned Liang Yu behind the door of Room 305 and kissed him!'”

Zheng Yimian: ???

After thinking for a moment, Zheng Yimian picked up her pen and started scribbling furiously on her drawing tablet.

Li Min: “What are you suddenly drawing?”

“Snow. I’m using June’s snowfall to demonstrate my protagonist’s wrongful accusation.” Putting down her pen, Zheng Yimian looked at the sketch on the screen and said mournfully, “I’m more wronged than Dou E.”

“Are you drawing a new comic?” Li Min leaned over. “Wow, I like this new style!”

The third roommate suddenly turned her head, looking at Zheng Yimian in surprise. “What? Who’s drawing comics?”

Li Min: “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice her drawing outlines on her tablet every night these past few days?”

The third roommate: “I saw it, but I thought she was just doodling randomly.”

Li Min: “…”

The third roommate: “Mian Mian, where do you publish your comics?”

Zheng Yimian felt embarrassed. “I just draw some short stories on the Xi Qing Comics app. Now I’m starting to draw longer ones, I’m brainstorming…”

Li Min added. “Don’t listen to her downplaying it. She’s a signed and promoted artist. Her pen name is Mian Yi. You might have even read her comics…”

The third roommate’s eyes widened. She held up her phone, scrolling back as if confirming something. After a while, she held the phone up to Zheng Yimian. “You’re Mian Yi? I’ve read your work! Are you responsible for the comic adaptation of ‘Resonance’?!”

Zheng Yimian glanced at it, recognizing her own style. She continued working as she spoke. “‘Resonance’ was already famous. The original artist couldn’t handle the workload and gave up halfway… I was free at the time, so I drew a chapter as a trial. Because my style was similar to the original artist’s, I was chosen to continue.”

She had always enjoyed drawing comics. After the college entrance exam, she was bored during summer vacation and decided to seriously pursue comic drawing. With years of accumulated skills and a popular shoujo manga style, “Xi Qing Comics” signed her.

She started with the famous script “Resonance” by writer Jiang Xiaorun. It was originally a short story, so she finished it quickly. Later, she drew some of her own ideas. Although she hadn’t debuted long ago, the company was intent on promoting her, and her work was of good quality. She already had her own reader base.

The editor had just asked her to try drawing a long series.

The third roommate was shocked. She sat in her chair, swinging left and right. “I can’t believe I’m roommates with a comic artist.”

Zheng Yimian: “You’re flattering me. I’m just a small-time artist.”

“Your future is bright!” Li Min raised her water glass. “When you’re rich and famous, don’t forget us.”

The third roommate: “No wonder you had the courage to push Liang Yu against the wall. Well done, Mian Mian!”

Zheng Yimian: “…Why has the topic come back to this again?”

It was proven that no matter which direction the conversation tried to go, it always ended up back on Liang Yu.

There was no help for it; their lives were so closely intertwined.

The following rehearsal days were much easier than military training. Each day, they only needed to walk through their steps on time, go over their positions, and then they could return to their dorms to rest freely.

In a blink of an eye, it was time for the welcome party.

It was their second time wearing the outfits for the show.

Because the outfits were creative designs made of paper, they were naturally very fragile and couldn’t withstand repeated trials. Moreover, accidents were always hard to avoid, and the senior was afraid of accidentally damaging the clothes, making them unwearable for the welcome party.

Before going on stage, Zheng Yimian wasn’t nervous at all. She leaned against the window, looking at the stars while thinking about the main plot of her comic. This time, she planned to draw a series of stories, stemming from a special shop that would lead to three…

“Ah!”

Before she could finish her thought, she suddenly heard a scream. Along with the scream came the sound of tearing fabric.

Zheng Yimian turned to look and found that the senior had accidentally tripped.

At this moment, the senior was covering the sleeve of her outfit with one hand while complaining. “I told you all to go play elsewhere. You knew I was wearing high heels and still bumped into me…” She loosened her hand and looked at the outfit, “This is terrible! The outfit is torn! What should we do?”

“What? Why are you blaming me? We’re all wearing high heels.”

“Yeah, we didn’t crash into you, just bumped you a little. Why are you so angry?”

Seeing that an argument was about to break out, Zheng Yimian stepped forward to look at the outfit and suggested. “It’s already torn, arguing won’t help. The tear isn’t very big, let’s try to fix it.”

“It’s useless,” the senior said. “We’d either have to sew it or glue it, but that would look ugly. These outfits are meant to be disposable… This is terrible.”

“It’s actually not a big deal. Everyone will be standing far away, they won’t see the tear.”

“I know that, but having such a mishap right before going on stage, with such a big tear, really affects everyone’s morale…”

Indeed, when Zheng Yimian looked up, she felt that everyone had been infected by the senior’s dejected mood. They were all frowning, looking angry but helpless.

She didn’t feel that way.

“It’s not so bad, it’s just a small tear,” Zheng Yimian lowered her head, thought for a moment, and then asked, “Do we have any paint here?”

Everyone was curious about her sudden confident tone, and hope seemed to be ignited by her uplifting voice.

The senior asked with a hint of hope. “What do you want to do?”

Liang Yu, who had been standing next to her the whole time, thought of something and slowly smiled again.