The Silly Alchemist

“Oh, that’s simple. She’s going to kick you out of the way and take Moya by force,” said Ye Lang nonchalantly. 

“...”

Everyone was speechless at the whole display, but they had a theory that Ye Lang really wasn’t here to create a fuss, or it wouldn’t have made sense to show this much support and encouragement to Zhen Xiaoyan. 

Ye Lang was generally known as someone who shows no concern to matters that have little to do with himself, though there were rare occurrences of him being hot-blooded, like now. But that really was just a once in a blue moon thing.  

“Don’t stare at me like that. I know what you want to say, and that’s none of my concern. I’m going to return to my reading now. Uh, fatty, I have faith in you, you need to believe in yourself,” under the questioning glances of his classmates, Ye Lang returned to his reading mode, temporarily excusing himself from reality. 

With his support, Zhen Xiaoyan was feeling a lot braver- to the extent of Sha Lan’s fear. She quickly pulled her boyfriend’s arm and left the scene in a flurry. Thank heavens that Xiaoyan was just yelling out her war cries, and did not run after the escaping couple. 

Typically, when one came down from an impulsive rage, they think more, and they have new thoughts. After some time, when the blood of her pounding brain had gradually ceased to its regular state, Xiaoyan felt increasingly embarrassed and angry. 

“Ye Lang!” she slapped her palm hard on his desk, causing him to jump from his seat. 

“W-what do you want? Why do you look like you’re about to eat me? I’m very skinny, and I can’t satisfy your appetite, surely you’d like to find someone else instead…” Ye Lang had a hard time looking into the angry eyes of Zhen Xiaoyan, trying his best to change the subject. 

At this point, Xiaoyan was very much immune to this, his attempts were futile. “Don’t you dare change the topic. Spill it, why did you plant such an embarrassing idea into my head?” 

“... To be very honest, I was just joking, I really wasn’t expecting you to act on it! Perhaps it was just your subconscious,” explained Ye Lang whilst shielding himself with a book from her. 

That was the truth. It had started out as a joke, but took a dramatic turn when Xiaoyan decided to actually follow the advice. No one had seen it coming and Ye Lang had no intention to embarrass her in front of their classmates. It was obvious from the moment when Ye Lang quickly turned his back to the incident to act like he had no intention for it to happen. 

Ye Lang was quite a realistic person, he was fully aware of the entire situation. Though his words earlier had somewhat sounded like a fancy encouraging motivational speech, it was truthfully nothing special, anyone could’ve said it. 

“W-What should I do now?! My reputation is gone!” cried Xiaoyan. 

“It has happened, there’s no turning back now. I guess the only thing to do is to fight till the end,” replied Ye Lang calmly. He had meant his words. To him, it was either to complete it or to not start it in the first place, half-assing it was not an option. 

“But I’m scared…” mumbled Xiaoyan, shifting her gaze onto her shoes. 

“What are you afraid of? You were already embarrassed in front of the whole class, might as well go all out. It won’t make a difference if you become more embarrassing later on, plus your skin is pretty thick, you should be brave,” said Ye Lang with no tact. It’s always easier to talk about other people’s problems. 

“True, I shouldn’t be scared- Wait, hold on, are you implying that I’m shameless?” Xiaoyan had gone along with his reply at first until she noticed his jab. 

“I said thick-skinned, not shameless. Don’t you dare deny that your skin is not thick,” 

“I’m chubby and thick, but not thick-skinned!” 

“It’s still the same!” 

“...”

Xiaoyan decided to rest the case, she didn’t want to argue with Ye Lang about something trivial like that, it was futile. After a brief moment of silence, she muttered, “I won’t chicken out of this, but I’m sure he won’t accept my feelings at all.” 

“You don’t need to worry about that! You’re the one who likes him, you don’t need his permission for something that!” said Ye Lang with no care. 

“?” No one understood what Ye Lang was trying to say with that reply, not even after thinking hard. That was such a peculiar statement, leaving everyone else confused.

“You mean… just like when you were trying to woo Li Yue?” that statement of his had triggered an interesting memory of Xiaoyan involving Ye Lang and Grand Marshal Li’s granddaughter, Li Yue. 

Ye Lang fell silent as everyone started to laugh, remembering the long-forgotten incident.

“Hahaha, I can’t believe we all forgot that happened! Ye Lang was such a mad lad back then. When he was trying to woo Li Yue, she had rejected him multiple times but had always failed to shake him off. She was so pissed! I even remembered that he said something like “I like you and it’s none of your business!”

“Such a personality, hahaha! After that, Li Yue had completely given up and continued to let him disturb her!” 

“...”

“What, you still remember that? That was ages ago,” grumbled Ye Lang. 

The incident took place before he was reunited with his soul. He had feelings for Li Yue out of a sudden and did all he could to woo the girl. The return of his soul had marked the ending of his attempts to gain her interest. 

The whole incident had always garnered people speechless. He had liked Li Yue, but not in a romantic way. It was because of a fortune-telling session on the streets that told him about how he’d meet his soul mate. 

And at this very moment, Li Yue had appeared in sight on the streets and Ye Lang had taken it as a sign that she was his destined soul mate. Following that was the start of a series of unfortunate events for the girl. 

Ye Lanyu and the seventh princess had found it odd as his interest towards Li Yue was way too sudden. After hearing the answer and the reasoning for his actions, they were dumbfounded at the stupidity. 

Albeit so, they did nothing to stop him. Knowing Ye Lang, any attempts to stop him from getting what he sets his mind on was futile. The boy was stubborn, even after he reunited with his soul. 

“Ah, I get it now! I’ll be as stubborn as you, I’ll never give up even if I get rejected!” said Xiaoyan firmly. 

“Cough, cough… Yeah, that’s right. Not giving up is considered a victory!” uttered Ye Lang awkwardly. He wasn’t expecting someone to bring up such an embarrassing history of his. Little did he know that this was just the beginning! 

“So… what do you suggest I do next?” Xiaoyan shifted her gaze onto Ye Lang, her eyes positively gleaming in anticipation of his advice. The glisten in her eyes was captivating, her eyes were gorgeous. 

“Don’t ask me that! That’s for you to decide! It’s none of my concern,” Ye Lang gestured, he wanted no part in it anymore. 

“You’re not going to help me?” Xiaoyan was a little confused at his response. 

“There’s nothing I can help you with. Unless you want me to knock him unconscious and hand him to you for your own enjoyment?” said Ye Lang nonchalantly as he flipped through his book. 

“Stop joking around, I’m serious!” she pushed Ye Lang with slight force, but it was enough to send him to the ground. Fortunately, he didn’t fall.