Chapter 76: Coffee

Mingzhu's big eyes were close to Qin Lou's, and he saw his own panic in her eyes.
Mingzhu's eyes were very beautiful, with curled, long and thick eyelashes that made anyone jealous. When Qin Lou first met her, he saw strange double pupils in those eyes several times; now they were a pool of autumn water, which was captivating.
Qin Lou's body was almost stiff, and Ming Zhu's hand was still holding her waist. This posture had better be withdrawn quickly, because Qin Lou heard footsteps coming.
It was estimated that someone came in to wash their hands. It's no big deal to see two girls hugging each other. This is much more normal than two boys hugging each other. But the place and posture of this hug are not quite right. Qin Lou doesn't want others to cast strange eyes at her.
“明烛！”
"Yes?"
“你，手松开。”
“不。”明烛笑道，“狐妖的体温很低，只有与人靠近了才会暖起来。”
“你现在很冷吗？”秦楼问。
Mingzhu knocked his chin on Qinlou's shoulder, turned his head slightly and smiled, without speaking. There was a faint heat hitting Qinlou's neck and ears. Qinlou's body, which was half stiff, suddenly had a tendency to completely stiffen.
This made Qin Lou somewhat fanciful, but she was very clear that Ming Zhui's intimacy with her was only a kind of dependency, recognition, and sympathy, but there was no feeling that she wanted.
一想到这儿，秦楼就有些脸热心跳，她想要的那种感觉是什么呢其实说不上来，就是一看到明烛就心生欢喜，尤其是刚才那样的“拥抱”够她回味一个星期。
“出去吧！”秦楼拍拍她的背，“看你脸色好多了。”
服务员早把两杯白开水放桌上了，这会儿估计都快凉了，秦楼触了触杯身，果然凉了。
"It's getting cooler. Let's order a cup of coffee!" Qin Lou said.
"But isn't room-temperature water good to drink?" Ming Zhu grinned, knowing that Qin Lou wanted coffee. Ming Zhu went to the front desk and ordered two cups of mocha before returning to her original spot.
```html“Can you... eat human food now?” Qin Lou tilted his head and asked.
“Hmm.” Ming Zhu nodded, “Now that my spiritual power has recovered, I can live like you humans from now on.”```
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"I wanted to have short hair like you."
"I'm too lazy to tie my hair up, sometimes I don't even bother to comb it," said Qin Lou. "I've never had long hair my entire life, but you..."
"Yes?"
"You look pretty with long hair."
"Do you like me with long hair?"
"...Uh!" Qinlou unintentionally curled his lips, "You look so good, I like you with both long and short hair."
窗外天黑了，咖啡店里的人却多起来，角落那张桌子坐了两个短发女孩外加一个大书包。
垣城一中距离四甲不算太远，只要秦楼愿意可以没天回去一次，安全不用等一个月。
她其实没有要回去的意思，放学时想问明烛几句话却苦于学校里到处是人，不方便问，所以才找了这家咖啡店，一坐就是几个小时。
As for why Qin Lou carries a big backpack, it's purely a habit. When she was in middle school at Qi Ming Ninth, she didn't live at school because it was close to her home, so she often carried a big backpack home.
The time was about up, Qinlou paid the bill and the two walked out of the coffee shop.
The night in March was still a bit cold, Qinlou walked shoulder to shoulder with Mingzhu with her hands in her pockets, even with a large backpack on her back, it did not affect her lively and slightly unrestrained footsteps.
"By the way, where do you live?" asked Qin Lou.
Ming Zhu was absent-mindedly looking ahead, where a person was standing under a street lamp less than 100 meters away.
Not hearing Ming Zhu's answer, Qin Lou turned her head to follow Ming Zhu's gaze and saw that the person under the street lamp was none other than Ning Anyao?
宁安尧抱着手靠在路灯下，一群蚊子围着亮堂的路灯飞舞着，时不时撞在灯壁上发出“噗?赅?辍钡南焐?
摆脱了尹姗杨夕二人，他没找到秦楼，记得她是背着书包出教室的，他怀疑秦楼应该是回家了，于是他也回了一趟四甲，没发现人再回来时附近已经有秦楼的气息了。
气息正常，并无任何危险，他索性在路上等她。
至于他为什么这么快，因为山人自有妙计，宁安尧从来不是一个简简单单的学生。
“Ning Anyao!” Qinzhuangshang greeted him and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Just taking a walk. It's such a coincidence that you guys are also taking a walk,” Ning Anyao pretended to be casual, but his eyes darted towards Mingzhu.
Mingzhu's eyes turned away from him, and he smiled, "I just had some drinks, and now I am ready to go back."
"Let's go together." Qin Lou said, "There are so many mosquitoes, why bother to wander around? It's not elegant at all."
Ning Anyao smiled and didn't say anything, nodded and went back with them.
He didn't talk much along the way, his brow furrowed. According to his observation in the past two days, Mingzhu didn't have any ill intentions towards Qinlou. He just didn't understand her intention of getting close to Qinlou.
But regardless of malicious intent, Mingzhu is still a demon, and demons should stay in Qingqiu. It is not very appropriate to come to the human world.
Ning Anyao is a descendant of the Ning family, whose ancestors have been demon hunters for generations, so the conflict between the Ning family and demons is irreconcilable.
“宁同学，你看什么呢？”明烛忽然道。
宁安尧回过神来淡然收回视线，道：“没。”
秦楼一直觉得气氛有点怪怪的，也不知道是怎么想的，以一种贼眉鼠眼的眼神看相宁安尧，道：“你刚才在看她？”
"Ah?" Ning Anyao was a bit confused, what kind of question was this, he couldn't answer and he couldn't not answer, "I looked!"
"Why did you look at her?"
"..." Can't look?
"Ning Anyao, you have a girlfriend, you know!"
Ning Anyao cried and laughed: "Does having a girlfriend mean I can't look at other girls? Who made that rule?"
Of course, no one made that rule. Qin Lou didn't know why, but ever since Mingzhu appeared in her sight again, she had an inexplicable impulse to make her own.
I don't want her to talk too much with other boys, I don't want anyone to have thoughts about her, not even a glance, and I don't want her to ever fall in love with someone else, regardless of whether that person is male or female.
“呵呵，我跟你开玩笑呢！”秦楼答不上来嘿嘿哈哈的敷衍着。
宁安尧又是笑笑不说话，没人注意到，明烛的笑意却是更深了。
After walking for a while, Ning Anyao had to part ways with them.
Ning Anyao doesn't live on campus, and Yin Du community is very close to the school, so he has to go home.
"Be careful on the way, I'm going back first."
"We’re already at school, so there’s no need for you to stay. Go back!"
Before leaving, Ning Anyao gave Mingzhu one last icy look, but only a few could discern the meaning behind it.
Qin Lou saw the look and pouted. After Ning Anyao left, she asked seriously, "Does he like you?"
“不太可能吧！”明烛道。
“我觉得有可能，你看他那眼神，啧！”秦楼一边啧着一边还摇头，一副“现实让我无法接受”的样子。
Mingzhu smiled bitterly in her heart. Ning Anyao didn't really like her. That guy would rather kill her immediately or make her leave the mortal world.
But it wasn't convenient to talk about this with Qinlou. One demon fox had already challenged her understanding, and adding a demon hunter would seriously disrupt Qinlou's life, wouldn't it?
Before meeting Qin Lou again, the most important person to Mingzhu was Qiexue, and her only wish was for Qiexue to always be by her side.
But later, when Qiexue died, Mingzhu felt that her fox life had come to an end. She either followed Qiexue or continued to be the western Qi Empress without any sense of involvement, with no other option.
```htmlAfter encountering Qin Lou, Ming Zhu not only found the third way, but even the fourth and fifth.
She wants to stay in the mortal world, she wants to understand Qin Lou, and she finds that three hundred years in Qingqiu are not as good as three days in the mortal world.```
```html“What are you... smiling at? You couldn't possibly...”
“You don't... like him too, do you?”
"And do you like it?"
“Who?”
“Him!” Qinlou's palm was slightly sweaty. “His name is Ning Anyao.”
“You're overthinking it,” Mingzhu said.```
"Oh!" Qinlou felt inexplicably relieved.
"Hahaha!" Mingzhu suddenly burst out laughing, causing Qinlou's heart to jump again.