Chapter 173: Chapter 133: One of Us Is Definitely Shipping "Defend and Steal
"I’m going home to rest. I’ll play some games for a bit, then head to bed."
Shen Yuan stretched. He really didn’t feel like studying anymore today.
After doing two and a half test papers straight through the afternoon and evening study session,
he felt like his brain was about to stop working. He needed a proper break.
"Aren’t you going to read *Defend and Steal*?" Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan with a grin, seemingly surprised by his decision.
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes and said irritably, "I’ll play games first, then read it after. Just because Peipei said she’d update today, does that mean she will? I don’t believe it, anyway."
"But you look like you’re completely looking forward to it," Li Zhi mercilessly exposed him.
Shen Yuan’s face flushed slightly, but he immediately stiffened his neck and said, "I’m just trying to find out who the author really is!"
Li Zhi let out a dry laugh, clearly not believing his excuse.
"You don’t have to pretend with me. You’re just looking forward to what He Zhiyu wrote this time. To put it bluntly, you’re just looking forward to the sugar!"
Being exposed so directly by Li Zhi didn’t embarrass Shen Yuan in the slightest. Instead, he said defiantly, "So what if I’m into the sugar? Why can’t I be into the sugar?"
"Enjoying the sugar of your own childhood friend in a novel?"
Li Zhi’s eyes went wide as she stared straight at Shen Yuan, her gaze seemingly questioning him.
’If you want sugar so damn bad, why don’t you get your own? Why resort to a novel?’
’Are you an idiot?’
Under Li Zhi’s questioning gaze, Shen Yuan nodded. "Yup!"
Li Zhi shot Shen Yuan a contemptuous look. "You’re a disappointment! I don’t even know what to say to you!"
Shen Yuan snorted. "As if you aren’t into it too. Are you telling me you haven’t read *Defend and Steal*?"
"I have, so what?"
Li Zhi also snorted. "But I’m not reading it for the sugar, oh no. I’m purely admiring Zhiyu’s writing, and while I’m at it, seeing how certain people look when they’re overly idealized in a Sugar Text."
"And how’s that?" Shen Yuan’s lips curled into a smirk.
"Better than the real thing, at least!"
Shen Yuan was not happy to hear that.
He pouted and said sullenly, "You’re being so cold. It’s like I’ve never made you happy before."
Li Zhi’s response was a massive eye-roll.
At that moment, however, Shen Yuan’s voice sounded in her ear again.
"No, this won’t do. Right now, you’re saying you’re not into the sugar, and I’m saying I’m not into the sugar. But my gut tells me one of us is lying."
Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi seriously and said, word by word, "Do you dare to make a bet with me?"
Hearing Shen Yuan bring up betting again, Li Zhi said irritably, "Bet, bet, bet, that’s all you do all day! You bet with Zhou Shaojie before evening study, and now you want to bet again. What are you, the Jiyang gambling fiend?"
Shen Yuan snorted. "Just say it, do you dare or not!"
"Bet on what? I’m not going to bet on some ridiculous nonsense with you!" Li Zhi glared at Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan blurted out, "Let’s bet on which one of us gets hooked on the sugar tonight!"
Li Zhi subconsciously frowned. "How would we even bet on that?"
"We’ll video call," Shen Yuan said seriously. "Tonight, after *Defend and Steal* updates, we’ll get on a video call. We’ll read the Sugar Text together and see who’s the first one to get that ’I’m so hooked’ look on their face."
It sounded pretty stupid, but you had to admit, Shen Yuan’s method had some merit.
After all, when you’re really feeling a Sugar Text, you can’t help but smile and let out all sorts of strange little laughs.
If you did that while walking down the street, you’d definitely attract a lot of attention.
Major social suicide.
So Shen Yuan was betting on who, between him and Li Zhi, would be the first to break into that silly grin.
Li Zhi obviously knew what Shen Yuan was thinking.
"Fine, but I don’t think a video call would be accurate enough."
"What do you mean?" Shen Yuan gulped, a premonition dawning on him.
Sure enough, in the next second, Li Zhi blurted it out.
"If it updates early, I’ll come over to your place! If it’s late, we’ll just have to do a video call."
The moment Shen Yuan heard Li Zhi’s suggestion, his pupils dilated. His neck, still stiff from defiance, hadn’t even had a chance to relax before his Adam’s apple bobbed twice in quick succession.
"Y-You, wait a second—"
Shen Yuan practically jumped as he fumbled for his phone in his pocket, the metal frame nearly slipping from his palm and falling to the ground.
His thumb frantically jabbed the screen three times before it finally unlocked.
The young man hunched over, shoving the screen in front of his face, his bangs brushing against his burning-hot ear.
"Campus confession wall, confession wall..."
He bit his lower lip, repeatedly refreshing the page, the sound of his knuckle tapping the glass screen as dense as a sudden downpour.
"Let me see if it’s updated..."
Beside him, Li Zhi listened to the young man’s muttering, her face covered in imaginary dark lines.
"Are you really this fucking desperate?"
Shen Yuan turned to Li Zhi and nodded repeatedly. "I am now desperate to see that doting fangirl smile on your face when you get hooked on the sugar!"
Li Zhi shook her head helplessly.
’This dumbass kid is a lost cause.’
To Shen Yuan’s disappointment, Zhuo Peipei had not yet updated *Defend and Steal*.
’No, no, no.’
’If I let her drag this out and *Defend and Steal* updates at its usual time, that’s no good.’
Shen Yuan quickly found Zhuo Peipei’s account on QQ and fired off a message.
Shen Yuan: "Zhuo Peipei, greetings. Urgent, urgent, urgent. Please update early. I’ll reward you handsomely tomorrow!"
When Zhuo Peipei saw Shen Yuan’s message, she was still on her way home.
The President looked at her screen suspiciously, muttering to herself, "Hold on. Why is this guy in such a hurry?"
