“Mom!”
“Oh dear~ you’ve only been gone two days, and you’re already talking to me so harshly. When you get married one day, will I even exist in your eyes?”
“......”
After finishing dinner and her writing, Ning Chu had barely dialed her mother’s number before being hit with her mom’s sarcastic retort.
She was at a loss for words, the questions she’d intended to ask stuck in her throat.
“So, what’s got you so worked up?”
Her tone softened a bit, though the grumbling was still there. “Mom~ why didn’t you tell me I’d grow horns? And that it would come with a false pregnancy? You almost scared me to death!”
“You’re pregnant?!”
“False pregnancy! Can you let me finish?”
Her mother sighed with relief. “You gave me a fright there. If you’d given me another grandchild to raise, I’d break Wen Yang’s legs!”
“You’re young, and I get that you like to have fun, but you’ve got to be careful. Imagine if you had ten or more kids—who could afford that?”
“Back in my day, I had my own struggles. If it weren’t for the unexpected arrival of you, life wouldn’t have been so tough...”
“Okay, okay...”
Leaning on the windowsill of her rented apartment, propping her cheek on her hand, Ning Chu cut in, sounding defeated. “Mom, you’re getting off-topic.”
She hadn’t called for a lecture. Besides, after the scare she’d just had, she was determined to be more cautious from now on.
Just thinking about herself with a big belly made her shudder...
“Oh, right~ so, horns, huh?” Her mom hesitated, then asked, “You went to the hospital to check?”
“Yeah, I did. I thought I was really pregnant and freaked out.”
“I never grew horns, so I assumed you wouldn’t either. But, well, you’re still in your growth phase, so I guess it’s possible.”
Succubi normally had a long development period, usually lasting several years, and Ning Chu was only about half a year in. In others’ eyes, she was still an adolescent succubus... just a bit older in actual age.
Her mom sounded a bit troubled. “I never grew horns, so I’ll ask your grandmother about it?”
“Mm, could you ask her if there’s anything I should be careful about... Also, Mom, does Grandma have issues with her horns poking through pillows when she sleeps?”
“Doubt it.”
“Then... do horns make your head heavier? Bad for your neck, maybe?”
“Will they grow like deer antlers and eventually shed?”
“Mom, if I grind the horns into powder, could I sell it to a pharmacy for some extra cash?”
Ning Chu had all sorts of odd questions, but her mother didn’t have answers for most of them.
Getting exasperated, her mom snapped, “I’ll give you your grandma’s number so you can ask her yourself! How should I know? I don’t have horns!”
“Uh... no, could you ask her for me?” Ning Chu immediately backed down, hunching her shoulders with a mutter.
“Goodbye!”
She ended the call, sighing heavily before turning to look at Wen Yang, who was busy at his computer.
Wen Yang had picked up some design skills on his own and often took on small freelance projects in the evenings. It wasn’t much, but it helped cover their food expenses.
“How did it go?”
“Nothing. My mom doesn’t know anything.” Ning Chu plopped down next to him, watching his screen as he worked in Photoshop. “Can you Photoshop some horns on me? I want to see what they’ll look like.”
“They’ll probably be cute.”
“I hope so...”
She instinctively reached up to touch her head. Ever since finding out she’d eventually grow horns, her scalp had felt oddly itchy, as if a pair of little horns might sprout at any moment.
The silver marks and tail hadn’t made her nearly this anxious.
“I’m heading to bed... I’m exhausted...”
Ning Chu didn’t wait for Wen Yang to finish the Photoshop job before getting up and flopping onto the bed face-first.
Her period had come, and skipping her usual late-night snack left her feeling drained. The rollercoaster of emotions had also sapped a lot of her energy.
She usually stayed up until around midnight, but tonight, she was already too tired by ten.
With her first class not until ten in the morning, she could sleep comfortably until nine!
She didn’t even bother turning off the lights, curling up and burying her head under the covers. Her breathing soon grew steady and deep.
Wen Yang glanced at the mound on the bed, then stood to turn off the light when he suddenly heard loud voices coming from the hallway.
“Drink! Let’s keep drinking at my place!”
“We’re not stopping till we’re hammered! Anyone who bails is a dog!”
“Bang!”
The noise grew louder, and the door next to theirs was kicked open, the sudden, thunderous sound making Wen Yang jump.
Ning Chu, who had been drifting into a light sleep, jolted awake, poking her head out of the blankets in a panic.
“What’s going on?”
“The neighbors are drunk.”
The front door next door slammed shut again with a loud “bang,” making Ning Chu flinch as she sat up in bed.
“What a bunch of lunatics! Who makes that much noise this late at night?”
Grumbling, she lay back down, complaining, “I think I’ve seen that neighbor before—pale and polite-looking, but zero manners!”
It was past ten—definitely bedtime for most people!
Even with the neighbors inside, the thin walls couldn’t muffle the sounds of their clamor. It sounded like they were throwing things, the crashing and banging seemingly vibrating the walls, leaving her wondering just what kind of chaos was going on.
How was she supposed to sleep like this?
Tossing and turning in bed, Ning Chu grew increasingly irritable, muttering nonstop, “It’s already ten-thirty! Can’t they let people sleep?”
“Aaargh, I’m dying here...”
She rolled back and forth before finally lying still, hugging her pillow and staring blankly at the wall.
Around half an hour later, the noise from next door only seemed to grow louder, as if they were about to bring the whole building down.
“This is insane...” Ning Chu sighed in despair. “It’s eleven now; isn’t this a bit much?”
“Why isn’t the landlord doing anything?”
“Hey, Wen Yang, where are you going?”
She noticed that Wen Yang had put on his jacket and was heading for the door.
“I’m going to tell them to quiet down.”
Ning Chu hesitated, images of drunken brawls from the news flashing through her mind, and she quickly warned, “They’re drunk; be polite and don’t pick a fight.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Maybe... we should just let it go? I can get up and write instead; we don’t have class until ten tomorrow, so let’s not provoke them...”
Her voice trailed off.
She watched Wen Yang’s back as he left. Even though she couldn’t see his expression, she could sense a restrained tension building around him. His tall figure seemed like a volcano on the verge of eruption or a predator ready to strike. She instinctively held back her words, feeling a hint of fear.
Wen Yang was angry...
It was the first time she’d ever seen him angry, and she hadn’t expected it to be this intimidating.
After Wen Yang went /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ out, Ning Chu quickly got up, hurried to the door, and peeked down the hallway.
“Wen Yang...”
“It’s fine.”
Wen Yang knocked on the neighbor’s door with an expressionless face, and a moment later, the door opened, and a wave of alcohol stench washed over him.
“It’s eleven. Keep it down.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it! What’s your problem?”
Hearing the annoyed voice, Ning Chu quickly pulled her head back and turned to find her phone on the bed.
Time to call the cops!
Panicking, she reached for her phone but paused when she heard Wen Yang’s footsteps returning.
Looking up, she saw that Wen Yang had already returned, his expression soft and warm, with none of the menacing aura he’d shown before. “You’re awake. It’s taken care of.”
“Did you hit them?”
“No, they were quite reasonable.”
“Really...”
