Chapter 130 – I’ll Take Care of You

Lin Xi’s phone lay on the table with the speakerphone on.

She had made it perfectly clear that she wanted Shi Yu to claim the manga as hers.

“They’re mine,” Shi Yu replied curtly. “Why? Those are all precious parts of my collection. Don’t throw them away.”

Lin Xi: “…”

Shi Yu really took the fall for me?!

“I didn’t throw them away. But you could’ve warned me before hiding your manga under my bed, you know.”

“I’m hanging up. Bye.”

Under the stunned gazes of the other three, Lin Xi calmly gathered up the manga on the table.

“I told you they weren’t mine, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Why would I ever read something like this?”

In truth, Lin Xi had already finished every last one.

“Thor, cleaning is fine, but don’t move things around without permission.”

“I’m sorry, Master!” Thor cried apologetically. “Only my death can atone for this! Don’t try to stop me-I’m going to slit my wrists with a potato chip!”

After smashing her head against tofu and hanging herself with noodles, Thor had now invented yet another way to “die”-slitting her wrists with a potato chip.

“Sorry, Thor, but you can’t die that way,” Lu Yi said. “I ate all the potato chips in Lin Xi’s house.”

“You could’ve at least left me one bag-” Lin Xi sighed as she dropped onto the couch.

The three of them weren’t eyesores, but they were noisy.

Shi Yu was an eyesore, but at least she was quiet.

Even if Shi Yu stopped being an eyesore… Lin Xi still didn’t think she would ever like her…

…

She spent another night cuddling with Thor, Lu Yi, and Qin Ling.

Her lifespan continued to increase, but none of her skills evolved any further, nor did she gain any new ones.

Lin Xi estimated that the second time she cuddled with all three of them at once, the “effectiveness” had plummeted.

Still, an increased lifespan was ultimately a good thing.

And cuddling with three beautiful girls wasn’t exactly a bad thing either.

The main problem was… all three of them were terrible sleepers!!!

Was every beast-eared girl this restless in her sleep???

Lin Xi began considering whether she should buy a bigger bed.

Thor declared, “It doesn’t matter how big a bed you buy. I’ll always snuggle up beside Master!”

Lin Xi couldn’t understand how Thor could say something so heart-pounding with a perfectly straight face.

Did the Dragon Princess have no sense of shame?

The naturally airheaded Neko’s reasoning was even simpler. “I won’t leave my ‘Sleeping Pill’ and sleep off to the side by myself.”

The fiercely competitive Qin Ling also declared that she had no intention of losing to either of them.

Lin Xi was baffled. When had this turned into a competition?

Were they going to rank first, second, and third next?

Faced with this situation, Lin Xi had no choice but to wonder:

Am I actually really popular?

…

“Am I really popular?” Lin Xi turned around and asked Yang Shanshan in the back seat. “Miss Shanshan, tell me honestly. Don’t flatter me. I want the truth.”

Yang Shanshan was just about to answer when Lin Xi stopped her.

“Don’t answer too quickly. Think it through carefully.”

“Treat this question the way you would a derivative problem.”

“This is the hardest question on the exam, so you absolutely can’t be careless, Miss Shanshan.”

On the way to school with Zhao Xinning, Lin Xi had already asked her the same question.

Zhao Xinning had answered affirmatively without a second’s hesitation.

But considering how close she and Xinning were, her answer couldn’t be taken as representative of the general public.

That was why Lin Xi had decided to ask Yang Shanshan for her opinion.

After giving the matter careful thought, Yang Shanshan answered:

“Miss Lin Xi, you’re unbelievably popular!”

“The fan club is growing larger by the day.”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Don’t bring up the fan club.”

“Most people only joined the group for fun, right?”

“If anyone truly cared about me as their ‘idol,’ how come I haven’t met a single ‘fan’ who enthusiastically greeted me since I started school?”

Yang Shanshan explained, “Our president laid down a rule from the start: anyone who dared disturb your normal life would be kicked out of the fan club.”

“So it was Xinning who protected my peaceful life…” Lin Xi was filled with gratitude.

In truth, Zhao Xinning had used her authority as president to force the fans to follow that rule solely to keep certain “pests” away from Lin Xi.

Leaning back in her seat, Lin Xi gazed melancholically out the window at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

“Am I really that popular…?”

“Miss Shanshan, do you think I could make a fortune selling products on livestream?”

Lin Xi was eager to get ahead-so eager that she wanted to leap straight to the final frontier of the universe: livestream sales.

“No, no, absolutely not!” Yang Shanshan suddenly exclaimed with forceful agitation. “Miss Lin Xi, the moment you start selling products on livestream, you’ll fall from your pedestal as the Sun Goddess!”

“Really? There’s an upside like that?” Lin Xi said. “All right, then I definitely have to do it.”

Yang Shanshan couldn’t stand by and watch her goddess willingly sink into depravity. “Miss Lin Xi, don’t make me get on my knees and beg you!”

Lin Xi was speechless.

“Miss Shanshan, your thinking needs to keep up with the times.”

“This is the age of social media. If you have a huge following and don’t fleece them at least once, it’s practically the greatest insult you could give them.”

“It’s not like the title of Sun Goddess can put food on the table. I should hurry up and cash in through livestream sales before some scandal ruins me, then take the money and run.”

“Nooooo!” Yang Shanshan wailed. “Are you that short on money? It’s fine! I’ll go home today, sell everything I own, and give you all the money!”

“And if that still isn’t enough…” Yang Shanshan was prepared to rob the largest vault in Z City. After all, something like that would be effortless for her.

Lin Xi would never ask a friend for money. “Calm down, Miss Shanshan. Please calm down!”

“I won’t sell things on livestream, okay? Just please don’t sell all those manga and figurines you’ve worked so hard to collect. I was planning to visit your house and admire them again.”

Seeing that Lin Xi had abandoned the idea of destroying her own image, Yang Shanshan calmly sat back down.

“Miss Lin Xi, did something happen to upset you?”

“I only realized today that I seem to be rather popular.”

“Aren’t you a little too slow on the uptake? You’ve been popular for ages.”

“Have I?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. What I just said was only one reason. The other reason is that I really am short on money.”

“Money isn’t a problem. I’ll give you some!”

“No, no. If I held out my hand and demanded money from you, wouldn’t that make me a school bully?”

“I’d be giving it to you willingly!”

Lin Xi would never do anything so contemptible. A virtuous person might love money, but they had to acquire it honorably. She planned to find a part-time job instead.

“Once the school anniversary is over and I don’t have to rehearse with the band every day, I’ll find a part-time job and earn money with my own two hands.”

Yang Shanshan didn’t approve of that either.

“Miss Lin Xi, are you planning to go out of your way to suffer?”

Lin Xi shot back, “You object when I want to sell products on livestream, and you object when I want to earn money through honest work. So, Miss Shanshan, tell me-what am I supposed to do?”

“I…” Yang Shanshan inexplicably began to blush. “I’ll pay for your time!”

“You won’t have to sell anything on livestream, and you definitely won’t have to take some exhausting, backbreaking part-time job.”

“All you have to do is hang out with me.”

“I’ll give you money-as much as you want. Name your price.”

“Miss Lin Xi, I’ll support you!”