Chapter 32: This child is mine

Hearing this, Jiang Ling’s expression of shame instantly froze, dumbfounded as she stared at Mo Ran.

“You… don’t have it?”

“Nope. That thing wasn’t even ours to begin with—it must have been put on by someone else. The key’s long gone, so once it’s locked, it can’t be opened.”

Mo Ran smiled sweetly as she uttered words that felt like the sky was collapsing on Jiang Ling.

Huh?

Last night, she had tried hard to build up her mental fortitude, thinking that if she just endured one night, she could get out of this bizarre situation.

And now that her pants were off, this is what you’re showing me?

The words felt stuck in her throat as she stared at Mo Ran’s perfect smile, stammering for a long while before finally slumping her shoulders in defeat.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoyu—the one who started this whole mess—remained oblivious, blinking sleepily as if she could fall asleep anytime… which, well, she actually did by collapsing onto Jiang Ling’s shoulder.

“You can fall asleep just standing?!”

Jiang Ling didn’t know where to begin with the complaint and frantically nudged the drowsy Lin Xiaoyu with her arm, her tone unintentionally rising: “We’re tied up right now. Aren’t you going to do something?”

“Hmm… oh right, I think this kind of thing happens in manga…”

Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes glazed over as she stared at Jiang Ling’s face, then leaned forward, aiming straight for her lips like she wanted to steal a kiss.

“I didn’t say for you to kiss me!”

Jiang Ling grit her teeth, blocking her face: “What kind of opportunistic manga have you been reading?!”

Lin Xiaoyu silently continued to lean her weight against her, a satisfied look on her face, before just flopping down like that.

Bai Xue chuckled quietly for a while before stepping forward to check the situation.

She saw that the handcuffs had tightened due to their movements, leaving red marks all over their slender wrists and frowned immediately.

She tried many methods but was powerless, so she finally said, “Let’s go to the fire rescue station; there’s one nearby.”

Better to leave this kind of thing to the professionals—otherwise, it could easily lead to accidents.

Hearing this, a flush of embarrassment instantly spread across Jiang Ling’s face.

If she went to the fire station looking like this, she’d definitely be mistaken for some kind of weirdo…

She couldn’t bring herself to move, and Lin Xiaoyu stayed put, so they just stood there in a stalemate.

“What are you standing around for?”

Fang Wanan, who was about to head out, noticed the two staring at each other and frowned, asking.

“Is there really no other way? Shouldn’t we try harder…?”

“Try what? We still have training and evaluations later, no time to wait for you. Now you’re embarrassed? Where were you earlier?!”

Without another word, Fang Wanan grabbed both of them and started pulling them outside.

“She handcuffed me! Waaah.”

Jiang Ling retorted with tears in her eyes, then lowered her head and whimpered as they walked toward the fire station.

The rescue workers clearly hesitated when they saw their situation, then their gazes almost visibly darkened with ambiguous interest, even clearing their throats: “Cough, try not to play with this stuff too much, it’s not safe.”

“Ugh—”

Jiang Ling knew arguing was useless and braced herself under those burning stares, wishing she could just dig a hole and disappear on the spot.

In the end, the handcuffs were successfully opened with a pin.

“Kids these days, always playing with the fanciest things!”

As they left the rescue station, the words drifting out of the room left Jiang Ling pale as she covered her face with her hands.

“Maybe I should just switch to living on another planet…”

“Sorry, that’s not allowed. I hope you can hold on until your debut. After that, I’ll post an announcement saying you socially died and quit the group.”

Bai Xue laughed, patting her shoulder. Jiang Ling immediately pouted: “So should I thank you for your concern, Captain Sister?”

“Hm, that works too.”

“No way!”

After the farce ended, the day’s practice and evaluation began, with a focus on the evaluation.

Since they were divided into small teams of two or three, today was meant to check their stage presence.

“Let’s go first.”

After Bai Xue adjusted the equipment, she glanced at Mo Ran and Lin Xiaoyu, took her position with practiced ease, and began to dance along with the music.

Jiang Ling, tasked with filming, sat steadily in front of the mirror holding her phone, occasionally letting out impressed sounds.

The three-person stage was near perfect—both in detail and expression management—earning admiration all around.

“Ha… how’s the footage?”

When the music ended, Bai Xue crouched beside Jiang Ling, seriously scrutinizing the screen, while the other two gathered around quietly.

“Hmm, overall not bad, but there were some missteps in positioning. We can tweak those gradually later.”

Bai Xue looked fairly satisfied, then turned to Jiang Ling: “Your turn. Hand me the phone.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Ling stood up and locked eyes with Fang Wanan.

From each other’s gaze, they saw burning determination: this had to be great!

With dynamic music flowing, Jiang Ling kept cheering herself on inside and quickly danced with Fang Wanan.

What had felt difficult just recently—the eye contact—was now a breeze.

Though still a bit shy when their bodies pressed close, the smoothness added a fresh and ambiguous charm to the dance.

At the ending, Jiang Ling, as planned, raised her hand to hook Fang Wanan’s collar, slightly tilted her head, pressed a finger to her lips, and leaned forward.

A perfect use of stage blocking.

The music abruptly stopped. Jiang Ling released her hand and clearly heard their slightly hurried breaths.

Nervous, she looked toward Bai Xue, who was sitting in front reviewing.

She braced herself for criticism and clenched her fingers tightly.

After a moment of silence, Bai Xue’s face broke into a radiant smile: “Very good. You’re ready to perform on stage. I can tell you put your hearts into it—good job.”

The moment those words fell, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but lift the corners of her mouth.

Her eyes glowed with pride and joy as she looked at Fang Wanan.

They did it!

Before she could celebrate, Bai Xue added, “Oh, by the way, we have another roadshow this week. The group dance stays the same, but prepare a personal talent act. Let me know by tomorrow night.”

With that, everyone moved on to the next practice.

Until practice ended and she returned to the room, Jiang Ling kept thinking about what personal talent to perform—but she hadn’t settled on anything.

So the next day, while walking along the campus path, she was still lost in thought.

She had sung a quiet song last time—maybe dancing would be better this time?

But her dance skills… even she found hard to praise. Was it really possible?

Just as she was worrying, two people suddenly appeared in front of her without her noticing—one male and one female—holding out flyers eagerly:

“Hey, want to join our club?”

Jiang Ling’s social anxiety instantly flared. She wanted to refuse but couldn’t find the words, so she just waved her hand.

But in the senior girl’s eyes, that barely counted as a refusal, so she smiled warmly and stepped closer, her voice encouraging:

“Come take a look. Maybe you’ll like it.”

She pressed the flyer into Jiang Ling’s hand.

Jiang Ling was forced to accept, and the half-formed refusal she’d been preparing dissolved.

Just as she didn’t know what to do, she suddenly felt someone wrap an arm around her shoulder.

Jiang Ling looked up in surprise to meet Song Mengqing’s gentle, familiar smile.

Her warm, familiar voice sounded softly by her ear.

“Sorry, this one’s mine.”