Free Web NovelChapter 74: Chapter 74: Shi Lan Despised Them
"What?"
Shi Lan rubbed her ears in confusion, suspecting she had misheard.
’What wife? How come I don’t know anything about this?’
"Oh, come on. Do I really have to spell it out?"
Jiang Xia buried his embarrassed face in a snowdrift, but the fluffy tail behind his round butt wagged back and forth cheerfully.
Sensing Shi Lan arrive at the door of his cell, he said in a muffled voice, "We all accepted the perfume you gave us, which means we agree to your pursuit. So isn’t it just a matter of time before you become our wife?"
"Huh?"
Shi Lan’s mouth fell slightly open in surprise. "Wait, let me get this straight."
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. ’How is it that I recognize every word Jiang Xia said, but I can’t understand them when they’re put together?’
"Are you talking about that box of perfume I gave you last time?"
Noticing something was off about Shi Lan’s tone, all the beast-men perked up their ears and listened intently.
Looking puzzled, Jiang Xia poked his head out. "Yeah, the Jasmine you gave us."
"Jasmine? Is that the name of the perfume?"
Hearing this, the beast-men grew even more confused. ’How could Lanlan not even know the name of the perfume?’
Even Jiang Xia was starting to feel unsure. He hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Shi Lan immediately searched the Star Network. A while later, she logged off, her face beet red, and stammered nervously, "Ah, no, that’s not... what I meant..."
"What? Lanlan, are you trying to back out?"
Seeing her expression, Jiang Xia’s eyes went wide, his glossy, golden pupils staring at her accusingly.
Shi Lan averted her gaze. She glanced back and saw Ye Ming also standing at the door of the protective barrier, looking at her with an unreadable expression. Her eyes flicked to the side.
’Great. Yan Huoshui and He Hanshi are looking at me too.’
Caught in a dilemma, Shi Lan was at a loss. After a long moment, she explained sheepishly, "I’m sorry, everyone. The shop owner recommended that perfume to me. I had no idea it had another meaning."
’If she had known, there was no way she would have gifted them something so dangerous.’
’No wonder Mu Tangfeng’s gaze had softened so much after she gave him the perfume.’
’Oh god, just thinking about this huge blunder made Shi Lan want to find a hole and crawl into it.’
She didn’t dare even think about fainting. She was afraid Xiao Du would get a bright idea and ’help’ her again. Besides, the other medical staff were waiting outside, and they couldn’t get in unless she opened the outer door for them.
If she fainted, she’d just wake up in the prison anyway, which would be even more awkward.
As Shi Lan’s thoughts began to wander, her words struck the other four like a bolt from the blue, endlessly echoing in their minds.
’So, she really did give it to them by mistake?’
Although they were surprised that a female like Shi Lan didn’t understand the perfume’s meaning, they were far more crestfallen that she apparently had no romantic feelings for them at all.
Yan Huoshui gave a self-deprecating laugh. He had perhaps considered this possibility, but had subconsciously chosen the answer he wanted to believe.
The beast-men were stunned for a long time. Jiang Xia’s accusing gaze toward Shi Lan gradually shifted to one of sorrow, shame, and vexation.
’If he had known, he never would have brought it up. Then he could have at least kept deluding himself that Lanlan liked him.’
Humiliated and angry, he buried his face in the snowdrift again. His crestfallen tail drooped limply behind him as the little manul secretly shed a tear.
’His wife was gone.’
’His Lanlan... didn’t like him...’
The more he thought about it, the more heartbroken Jiang Xia became.
Head bowed in embarrassment, Shi Lan didn’t dare look at anyone. While the beast-men were still processing the shocking truth, she quickly changed the subject. "I’m going to go see to the medical staff."
With that, she hastily slipped away.
Once Shi Lan left, the prison became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The silence was punctuated only by the faint sound of Jiang Xia sobbing into the snow.
Yan Huoshui snapped, "Cry, cry, cry, what’s the use of crying? So Lanlan doesn’t like us. Does that mean we can’t pursue her?"
Hearing this, Jiang Xia’s head cleared a little, but then he said, "But we’re trapped in this prison. We can’t go out to protect her, and our spiritual power has collapsed. Who would want males like us?"
"Lanlan must be disgusted with us too."
Jiang Xia would have been better off not saying anything; his words dealt several more blows to the men in the prison.
Yan Huoshui was suddenly at a loss for words. Ye Ming retreated back into the darkness. He looked at the small night-light on the sofa; the light was still there, but the little mushroom was gone.
He Hanshi’s body tensed involuntarily. His blue eyes turned dull and gray, and his tail swished with uncharacteristic irritation.
Outside the detention area, having fled in a panic, Shi Lan finally let out a sigh of relief.
She walked for a bit after leaving and found the medical staff gathered in the Prison Director’s office, probably waiting for her.
Shi Lan’s gaze swept subconsciously into the room. Seeing that no one had touched her things, her mood improved slightly.
She was very territorial and hated when people touched her belongings without permission.
When Doctor Zheng saw her approach, she quickly asked, "How is everything? Has Young Master Mu calmed down?"
Shi Lan nodded. "Yes. His injuries are quite severe, so I sent him to a Treatment Pod first."
"That’s good."
Doctor Zheng’s anxious heart was finally put at ease. They were here to heal people, not harm them before they even started.
Shi Lan looked at everyone and, thinking they must have had a long spaceship ride over, said, "Would you all like to get something to eat first?"
The breakfast period had just ended. Shi Lan had eaten while she was cooking earlier, so she wasn’t hungry, but she figured Doctor Zheng and the others might be.
Hearing this, Doctor Zheng smiled reflexively, the expression instantly softening her serious face. "Alright. Sorry to trouble you."
"It’s no trouble." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Shi Lan returned the smile and led them to the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria, the meat-dispensing robot was a daily staple. When Doctor Zheng and her team arrived, some of the females behind her stared at the meat with undisguised longing. There was delicious *gugu* meat and *gaga* meat.
Bai Rao came from a well-off family, so her expression remained indifferent in the face of so much expensive meat. She was unmoved, instead secretly observing Shi Lan, frowning every time she looked at her face.
’Why does Shi Lan look so much like my grandmother?’
Despite spending several years at the Imperial Capital School together, Bai Rao didn’t know Shi Lan well. Other than her reputation as a "useless female," the girl had left no impression on her at all.
But it wasn’t until graduation that she suddenly realized Shi Lan’s appearance was very familiar.
As the others began to grab trays to get the meat they wanted, Bai Rao moved closer to Shi Lan and asked abruptly, "Shi Lan, we were classmates for years, but I never asked where your family is from."
"Why would a female like you suddenly come to a remote place like Prison Star to be the Prison Director?"
Outwardly, Bai Rao seemed like the gentle, aloof girl-next-door type who wouldn’t compete for anything. But when she questioned Shi Lan like this, her tone was inevitably colored with the condescension of a superior.
Shi Lan didn’t like being too close to people she wasn’t familiar with. She took a step back and looked Bai Rao directly in the eye, her tone flat. "I don’t think I need to tell you."
"Tsk. You’re just a useless female. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using this opportunity to climb the social ladder by getting close to Vice Admiral He and the others?"
A mocking smile touched Bai Rao’s eyes. Shi Lan frowned. "What’s it to you?"
Bai Rao thought about the different ways Mu Tangfeng had treated her and Shi Lan in the prison, and a wave of displeasure washed over her. He was the first male to ever push her away like that.
Her face darkened, and she was about to say more when Doctor Zheng spoke up. "Bai Rao, what are you two talking about? You probably haven’t eaten in a long time. Come get something."
"Okay, Team Leader."
A smile instantly appeared on Bai Rao’s face as she walked over.
Shi Lan watched her change expressions so quickly, thinking to herself, ’You really can’t judge a book by its cover.’
The last time she’d seen this "female lead" in the Empire, she had thought Bai Rao might be easy to get along with. Now, it seemed she wasn’t so simple.
’Could it be that the man in the black trench coat was really sent by her?’
