Chapter 71: Don’t Like It

An absurd notion flashed through her mind.

Ji Yingran shook her head. What was she thinking? Her thoughts had wandered far too wildly. This silly, dumb wolf couldn’t possibly have ideas like that. She was definitely overthinking it.

Ji Yingran quickly dismissed the guess and chalked it up to the wolf being jealous—even of her friends.

It was probably just a wolf who had lived alone on Snow Mountain for so long, with little contact from her own kind or humans. The moment she made a friend, she hadn’t learned to control her possessiveness.

Yes, that had to be it.

Once she had analyzed it and confirmed that the wolf’s possessiveness didn’t mean anything more, Ji Yingran relaxed. She sat back down on the sofa and resumed watching TV.

The wolf was awake now, so there was no need to worry about disturbing her. Ji Yingran turned up the volume.

Watching a silent drama earlier had been downright uncomfortable. Now, with sound, it felt much better.

Mu Ci swaggered over. Her tail, which had emerged during dinner, trailed long behind her.

She plopped down beside Ji Yingran and hugged her tail, licking it with loud slurps.

Ji Yingran glanced at her and sighed inwardly. Inviting her to watch TV together had been a terrible decision. Mu Ci had no interest in the television at all—she was just there to make a racket.

Even when she wasn’t actively causing trouble, she would lick her lips or her tail every so often. The noises were constant; she was never quiet.

Ji Yingran couldn’t scold her at times like this. Doing so would only make her angry, and an angry wolf was far more troublesome.

Ji Yingran did her best to ignore the “disturbances” and cranked up the TV volume a bit more to drown out the licking sounds.

It was pure coincidence. The very moment she maxed out the volume, the workplace drama shifted away from office struggles. It was as if the remote control in her hand doubled as an emotional tuner—the instant the sound hit maximum, the two leads inexplicably locked lips…

The passionate kiss played out in extreme slow motion.

Because of the blaring volume, every smacking sound, gasp for breath, and even the faint wet panting echoed crystal-clear through the living room.

Ji Yingran hurriedly turned the volume down.

It was a perfectly fine workplace drama—why insert a scene like this? And why right when she had turned up the sound? Talk about awkward…

The embarrassment didn’t last long before she sensed a gaze from beside her.

Ji Yingran turned her head.

Mu Ci was staring intently, her eyes burning. For a split second during their eye contact, the air seemed to still.

That earlier ridiculous guess about them being “lovers” bubbled up again out of nowhere.

The wolf’s gaze was strange right now, and so was the atmosphere…

The bizarre mood made Ji Yingran inexplicably tense. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

Mu Ci parted her lips and broke the silence.

“The TV starts kissing and you crank the volume—what’s that supposed to mean? Are you that perverted? Need it louder to hear? You filthy human!”

Ji Yingran froze. Her tension screeched to a halt.

She laughed in exasperation. No wonder the wolf’s eyes had looked so weird—she had been gearing up to mock her.

“No, that’s because you’ve been licking your tail right next to me. It’s too noisy, so I turned it up.”

“You’re the perverted one, and you make excuses about me being noisy? This Wolf is speechless.”

Ji Yingran didn’t know if Mu Ci was truly speechless, but she certainly was.

She couldn’t focus on the TV anymore. Ji Yingran hit the power button on the remote, and the screen went black.

“You got called out on your dirty little mind, and now you’re lashing out in embarrassment,” Mu Ci pressed relentlessly from the side.

“Enough already. Just drop it,” Ji Yingran said. She felt ridiculous for even suspecting the wolf might mean something more.

With Mu Ci acting like this, it was impossible that she saw anyone as a lover. The suspicion had been utterly pointless.

Ding-a-ling!

Her phone buzzed and rang on the coffee table.

Ji Yingran picked it up. The caller was her childhood friend, someone she’d grown up playing with.

She rose from the sofa and headed toward the door while pressing the answer button and holding the phone to her ear.

“Hey, what’s up with the sudden call? Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?”

As Ji Yingran walked out, Mu Ci naturally couldn’t sit still on the sofa. She hopped up and scampered after her right away.

She trailed at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, ears perked as she eavesdropped on the call.

Ji Yingran glanced back at her.

Mu Ci immediately straightened up and tilted her head innocently.

Ji Yingran twitched the corner of her mouth. This wolf—even a simple phone call had to be eavesdropped on. And she did it so blatantly, too.

Ji Yingran ignored it. The call wasn’t anything confidential; it was just casual chit-chat with her friend. If the wolf wanted to listen in, fine.

“You’re scheming this stuff again? I’m not interested—really not. Can you please quit playing matchmaker?”

“How are you not interested? Why not? This time I found you a total hunk—super handsome. I sent you the photos. Take a look; I bet you’ll change your mind.”

Ji Yingran leaned against the doorframe, helpless. “Even if you introduce the handsomest guy in the universe, I’m still not interested. Give me a break, please.”

Her friend paused thoughtfully. “I get it.”

“Good. No more setups from now on. Aren’t you bored?”

“I get it. A guy this handsome doesn’t interest you… Be honest with me: do you like girls?”

Ji Yingran fell silent.

“No answer means yes. If you like girls, just tell me! I can set you up with one. My boss is this cool, aloof beauty—rumor has it she’s into girls too. Want me to play cupid for you two?”

Ji Yingran rubbed her forehead. “Are you really that bored? No interest. Guys, girls—doesn’t matter. I have zero plans to date anyone. Okay? Nothing else? I’m hanging up.”

Right before she ended the call, her friend wouldn’t let go. “You really don’t like anyone at all?”

Ji Yingran stated firmly, “None. Not a single one—guys, girls, old, young. I don’t like anybody.”

“Are you secretly crushing on someone? Tell me who, and I’ll make it happen for you two.”

“Go mess with someone else. I don’t like anyone—I swear. Okay, seriously, goodbye. Hanging up.”

Ji Yingran ended the call and let out a long breath of relief.

Her childhood friend was a great person—warm, generous, and outgoing. But her biggest flaw was her obsession with matchmaking, especially playing cupid for others.

She pulled this routine every few days, endlessly trying to set Ji Yingran up. Every single attempt ended in failure.

Ji Yingran pocketed her phone and looked up—straight into a pair of inquisitive golden pupils.

Mu Ci tilted her head left, then right, as if plunged into profound confusion.

Ji Yingran walked over. “What’s wrong?”

Mu Ci said nothing and kept tilting her head back and forth, staring.

Ji Yingran felt oddly unnerved by the stare, but the wolf wouldn’t respond to her questions. She just kept watching intently.

As she stared, she even pulled her diary out of her pocket—the Head Wolf Revenge Plan—and flipped through it rapidly, as if searching for something.

She flipped while occasionally glancing back at Ji Yingran.

Ji Yingran leaned in curiously and peeked at the diary. One glance revealed nothing but illegible scribbles and big black blotches. She had no idea what any of it said…

Mu Ci flipped through the pages at top speed, the paper rustling noisily. She seemed terribly urgent, though Ji Yingran couldn’t fathom why.

“What’s the matter with you?” Ji Yingran asked, puzzled. “What are you looking for in your diary?”

Ji Yingran had expected no reply this time either, but surprisingly, Mu Ci spoke. “On the phone just now, you said you don’t like anyone. What does that mean?”

Ji Yingran blinked. “Exactly what it sounds like.”

“What does ‘exactly what it sounds like’ mean? How could you not like anyone?”

“Why do I have to like someone?”

Mu Ci’s tail thwacked the floor repeatedly behind her, clearly displeased with the answer.

She kept her head buried in the diary as her tail smacked away furiously.

The diary had it all recorded—evidence! The Two-Legged Beast had said she liked her. Not just once, but many times.

So how could she now claim “I don’t like anyone”? Going back on her word? Breaking promises?

Deceitful Two-Legged Beast!

“You do like someone. It’s all written in my diary!”

“What are you talking about? Whether I like someone or not—does your diary know better than me? I don’t? Hang on, why are you so dead set on this?”

“You’re lying! If you don’t like anyone, then why did you say you wanted kids? I even picked out names.”

“?”

“And you demanded a title! If you don’t like anyone, why demand a title from me?”

“??”

Ji Yingran was still swimming in question marks when Mu Ci, who had been grilling her nonstop, suddenly shifted back into her wolf form. A low growl rumbled from her throat.

She bared her teeth, arched her back, and her fur bristled.

Ji Yingran took a step back. A massive wolf puffed up like that was intimidating—it triggered an instinctive fear.

The Snow Wolf caught that backward step. Her bristled fur suddenly deflated, and her ears flattened against her head.

“You hateful Two-Legged Beast! Going back on your word—I don’t like you anymore!”

“What are you even talking about? Okay, okay, whatever it is, I’m sorry. I apologize. Don’t be mad, alright?”

Mu Ci often said things that were impossible to understand, and Ji Yingran couldn’t probe the meaning behind her words every single time. She could only apologize first and try to soothe her a little.

After all, she couldn’t pick fights with a wolf. If yielding would help, then she yielded; if a bit of coaxing would work, then she coaxed with all her might.

Ji Yingran had thought this time would be the same as before—just a little soothing, and all would be well.

But Mu Ci showed no signs of letting it go. She glared at her resentfully, as if Ji Yingran had committed some utterly outrageous act that offended both gods and men.

After staring daggers at her for a moment, she suddenly leaped out the window.

“Hey? Where are you going?”

Ji Yingran chased after her, but outside, there was no sign of the wolf anywhere.

Sensing that something was truly off with her, Ji Yingran grew worried and headed straight next door to search.

The room was empty, sparsely furnished with hardly any pieces at all, and Mu Ci was nowhere to be seen.

Ji Yingran was utterly perplexed. What on earth was wrong with her? Acting so strangely.

Spouting a bunch of baffling nonsense, then bristling with anger out of nowhere, bolting away in a huff—and now she’d vanished completely.

This wolf… she wasn’t easy to deal with at all.

Ji Yingran was growing anxious, unsure where to even begin looking, when it hit her: Mu Ci had a phone now. She could just call.

Thank goodness she’d thought ahead and gotten her one, or she’d be completely at a loss right now.

Ji Yingran hurriedly pulled out her own phone and dialed.

Out in the courtyard, the ringtone echoed from the lounge chair.

Ji Yingran rushed outside.

The lounge chair sat empty, save for a lone phone vibrating and chiming away.

She’d gotten Mu Ci that phone specifically so they could stay in touch if she ever vanished like this—but of course, she hadn’t bothered to carry it.

What good was preparing a phone if she didn’t even take it with her?

Ji Yingran picked up the phone from the chair and let out a long sigh. Where in the world had this wolf run off to?

A sudden thought struck her. Ji Yingran turned back inside and began rummaging around, searching for something specific.

She scoured the living room first, then checked the bedroom, and even went upstairs for a thorough look.

But no luck. The white fur blanket that had always sat tucked beneath the windowsill—the one Mu Ci treasured most of all—was gone.

Had the blanket simply vanished, or had the wolf taken it with her when she left?

Ji Yingran refused to give up and combed through the house once more, but the blanket was still nowhere to be found.

She recalled the wolf’s bristling, furious demeanor just moments ago, and her brows furrowed slightly. She still didn’t understand why Mu Ci had blown up like that out of nowhere, but given her agitated state—and now with the treasured blanket missing…

It really looked like she’d grabbed the blanket and run away from home…

She wouldn’t have gone straight back to Snow Mountain, would she?