Chương 210: The Shift in Offense and Defense: Close Combat

The moment Ji Ying began to explain to Su Yuqing, Ye Zixuan's mind went completely blank.

She just sat there, staring blankly at the petite figure in the cute pajamas, feeling guilty and incredibly remorseful towards Ji Ying, silently preparing herself for the embarrassing situation that was about to unfold, as the punishment she deserved.

After all, it was her own impulsive competitiveness that forced this gentle girl into such a dilemma.

However, what Jiying said next completely surprised her. It wasn't the truth she had expected to have to reveal, but a carefully crafted, gentle lie, every word filled with protection and understanding.

Ye Zixuan knew very well that the truth was not like that at all.

When they first met, on that bench, it was Xiaoying who gently accepted all his lapses and willfulness when he was at his most vulnerable and in need of support. She was the one who indulged him and comforted him.

And now—in order to protect her ridiculous sense of self-esteem, she actually lied to her partner, with whom she was clearly closer, and blamed everything on herself.

Why?

Ye Zixuan couldn't understand it.

In her mind, it was completely illogical to deceive one's closest partner for the sake of a "stranger" one had just met and who had even had a conflict with one's partner.

But Jiying did exactly that.

She didn't take Su Yuqing's side for granted just because she was a closer friend. Instead, she chose the most troublesome and painstaking way to explain herself to protect Su Yuqing's fragile self-esteem.

This protection is "unreasonable".

This tenderness is "for no reason".

This favoritism was the unconditional acceptance she had longed for but never received from her father, who always scrutinized her with cold eyes, from childhood to adulthood.

Her past experiences have made her firmly believe that only perfection is worthy of love, and only those who make no mistakes will not be abandoned.

But this girl in front of her proved to her time and time again through her actions that no matter what you do, no matter if you are perfect or not, I will choose to stand by your side.

This tenderness, this favoritism, made her unable to suppress her emotions any longer. All she wanted to do was to hold the girl in front of her tightly, who had given her warmth and acceptance she had never experienced before.

It was precisely because of this feeling that Ye Zixuan couldn't help but close her eyes and suddenly lunge at the other person.

She was filled with anticipation to embrace Ji Ying's petite and soft body again and enjoy that incredibly reassuring feeling, completely ignoring that she had just been confronting Su Yuqing, and not even considering what the other party might do in response to her actions.

So when she finally embraced her "target," she immediately sensed that something was amiss.

The body in my arms wasn't as petite and delicate as I had imagined, but rather about the same height and proportionate figure as myself. Although it was still comfortable to hold, the size and feel had changed noticeably.

Furthermore, the scent lingering around her nose wasn't Xiaoying's; it was another equally pleasant scent that she was very familiar with.

Not long ago, when she and Su Yuqing were competing with each other and walking hand in hand from that alley to this place, they smelled this very scent.

Ye Zixuan opened her eyes in surprise, and what came into view was Su Yuqing's pretty face, which looked a little strange and surprised. She immediately realized that the other party had pulled Xiaoying away, and then she was caught because she couldn't dodge in time.

Her fair cheeks flushed crimson in an instant, and her gaze immediately darted away.

In her previous life experiences, as "Ye Zixuan" rather than "Patrolman Xingxian", she devoted almost all her time and energy to studying. She never even held hands with girls her own age while shopping, let alone had such intimate contact that crossed personal safety boundaries.

But now, she is embracing an equally beautiful girl in an intimate manner, and the other party is, in a sense, a rather nasty person.

This unprecedented experience made her naturally feel shy and slightly uncomfortable about the behavior, and she immediately let go of the other person and wanted to back away.

However, on the other side, after her initial shock, Su Yuqing revealed a malicious smile.

Instead of letting Ye Zixuan back down as she wished, she reached out and tightly hugged the other's slender waist, pulling her body even closer to herself, so that the two were pressed tightly together without any gap.

At the same time, she whispered in Ye Zixuan's ear in a teasing tone, "I know I'm very pretty, but Zixuan—is it really appropriate for you to suddenly rush up and hug me like this?"

"This... this was just an accident! Let me go right now!" Ye Zixuan said in a flustered manner.

She tried to struggle, but found that the other person's arms around her waist were as stiff as iron clamps, with an unusually strong force.

"Didn't you just pounce on me so enthusiastically? You really startled me." Su Yuqing blinked innocently, her mischievous smile growing even brighter.

"What, now that you've hugged me, you're thinking of running away irresponsibly? As compensation for emotional distress," letting me hug you for a little while as well isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"What compensation?! I wanted to hug Xiaoying, but you pulled her away, which is why things turned out like this!" Ye Zixuan retorted angrily, her voice rising several decibels with shame and indignation.

"Oh, so you wanted to hug Xiaoying," Su Yuqing deliberately dragged out the last syllable and replied with a grin, "Then I can't let you go even more."

"I already noticed that when you're holding Xiaoying so tightly, it's quite a hassle to pull her out of your arms."

"To prevent you from taking advantage of my Xiaoying any further, I think it's better if I hold you tight for now. You should just stay with me quietly for the time being."

"You call it taking advantage of Xiaoying when I hugged her?!" Ye Zixuan was so angry at these words that she almost choked.

"Then what should we call it when you pinned her down and put your hands on her—!"

"And who wants to stay with you obediently?! Let me go right now!" she continued to struggle.

Unfortunately, their strength levels seemed to be about the same, and Ye Zixuan found it difficult to exert force after being tightly held around the waist in this position.

She couldn't actually hurt her companion, so she could only put her hands on Su Yuqing's shoulders and try to push her away, but unsurprisingly, this action had little effect.

With just a slight exertion, Su Yuqing pulled the two of them close together again. Then, with a mischievous smile, she commented, "Speaking of which, Zixuan, your waist is so slender—it's so comfortable to hug."

Not only that, she brought her face even closer, her warm breath gently brushing against Ye Zixuan's earlobe, causing the other's body to stiffen abruptly. A strange tingling sensation instantly spread from the base of her ear throughout her body, as if even her strength to resist had been drained away.

"You—you—you female hooligan!" Ye Zixuan said through gritted teeth, "You bullied Xiaoying like this before, didn't you?!"

"Same here," Su Yuqing replied with a grin, glancing meaningfully at Ji Ying, who was staring at them blankly from a distance.

"After all, I'm also learning from a certain inspector who hugged someone on our first meeting."

"You—!" Ye Zixuan was speechless for a moment, and could only glare at the little devil in front of her with shame and indignation.

"Hmm~" Looking at Ye Zixuan's face, which was both embarrassed and annoyed, Su Yuqing nodded in satisfaction: "You look much cuter now than when you were so righteous and bragging about Xiaoying to me earlier."

"Who—who's shy?! I was just hugged by you, why should I be shy?" Ye Zixuan retorted stubbornly on her own.

"Mmm, I believe what you say," Su Yuqing said in a coaxing tone, full of teasing.

"But your face is so red and your heart is beating so fast. What's going on?"

Could it be that he/she suddenly got sick?

"This, this is—!" Ye Zixuan was choked and speechless again.

"Besides, if you're not really shy, why are you in such a hurry for me to let you go?" Su Yuqing whispered in Ye Zixuan's ear, her words full of provocation.

The warm breath that suddenly reached her ear again made Ye Zixuan feel even more shy, and her body trembled slightly involuntarily.

However, upon hearing the undisguised provocation in Su Yuqing's words, her deep-seated competitive spirit was finally ignited.

—No, I can lose to anyone but this one in front of me—this awful guy who's against me in every way!

Immediately, Ye Zixuan made a bold move that even Su Yuqing hadn't expected.

Instead of struggling or trying to get away from her, she stretched out her hands, which had been futilely pushing Su Yuqing away from her shoulders, and wrapped them around Su Yuqing's equally slender waist, bringing the two of them even closer.

"Huh?!" This sudden counterattack made Su Yuqing let out a short exclamation.

Ye Zixuan gave a soft snort, raised her head slightly, looked directly into Su Yuqing's slightly surprised black eyes, and said, word by word, "Whether I'm shy or not, you'll know if you look closely."

"Let me tell you, no matter how long you want to hug me, I'll keep you company, even if it's like this all night long."

"But you, don't suddenly tell me later that you don't want this compensation for emotional distress."

.

Then, she even deliberately puffed out her chest slightly, adopting a provocative posture to make Su Yuqing feel more clearly the undeniable "physical" gap between herself and the other party.

Sensing Ye Zixuan's actions, Su Yuqing's smug smile gradually faded, replaced by an expression of barely concealed embarrassment and annoyance.

She subconsciously glanced down at herself, then made a slight comparison, and a strong sense of resentment and frustration instantly welled up in her heart.

—This despicable woman—she actually used this method to retaliate! It's absolutely—utterly despicable!

"Hmph, you shameless bastard!" she muttered angrily.

Ye Zixuan was immediately in a great mood. Although she still felt shy about making such a move, seeing Su Yuqing's embarrassed look made the awkwardness of being teased earlier seem to disappear.

She pressed her advantage, saying with a smile, "What's wrong? Yuqing, you seem to care about this a lot? Could it be that you're jealous of me?"

"Who, who's jealous of you?!" Su Yuqing turned her head to the side and snorted.

"Mmm, I believe what you say," Ye Zixuan teased, mimicking Su Yuqing's earlier manner with an innocent smile.

"However, your face—it seems to have turned quite red too?"

"And I think I can feel your heartbeat too, it's beating so fast."

"What happened? Could it be that you've suddenly gotten sick too?"

"you--!"

This time, it was Su Yuqing's turn to be speechless.

She was "returned" to Ye Zixuan with exactly what she had just said, and for a moment she couldn't find any words to refute it.

Enraged, Su Yuqing decided to take action to get back at him.

"I'm not blushing!" she retorted angrily.

"What's so good about this kind of thing!"

I'm not jealous at all!

As she said this, she suddenly released her arms from Ye Zixuan's waist and, with lightning speed, quickly—rubbed—that proud curve that made her feel particularly uncomfortable.

"ah--!"

The sudden and unprecedented strange sensation made Ye Zixuan's body stiffen, and she almost instinctively let out a short scream.

She subconsciously loosened her grip on Su Yuqing and quickly retreated like a startled deer, her hands tightly protecting her chest. Her beautiful black eyes instantly became misty with shame, anger, and shock.

After making that outrageous move, Su Yuqing felt a pang of regret and guilt.

But when she saw Ye Zixuan's flushed face, both ashamed and angry, her guilt vanished instantly, replaced by an unbridled sense of satisfaction at "getting revenge."

—Hmph, it was the same when I was carrying you and flying before, and it was the same just now. Who told you to always rub against me with that kind of thing?

The two parted ways, both blushing and glaring at each other with extremely unfriendly stares, the air thick with an awkward yet tense atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Luo Bingli, who had been tightly holding "Shadow Xiaoying" and watching from the sidelines, finally couldn't help but burst out laughing at the dramatic scene before her.

The crisp laughter successfully attracted the attention of Su Yuqing and Ye Zixuan, pulling them out of their awkward standoff, and causing them to turn their puzzled gazes toward her.

Facing the gazes of the two girls, Luo Bingli's smile deepened. Looking at the two girls with flushed cheeks and unfriendly expressions, she commented in a slightly mischievous tone, "I feel like the two of you—maybe you two get along surprisingly well."

Upon hearing this assessment, Su Yuqing and Ye Zixuan subconsciously turned to look at each other, only to see the same embarrassment and resentment on each other's blushing faces.

Immediately, they looked away as if they had been electrocuted, their faces showing obvious disgust.

"How could I possibly get along with this guy!"

"How could I possibly get along with her!"

The next moment, the two of them angrily denied it in unison, their voices echoing clearly in the room. After they finished speaking, they glared at each other, then simultaneously snorted and turned their heads in different directions.