"Pardon my asking, but why didn’t you approve it?"

Zhuo Peipei pushed up her glasses and said seriously, "The names in this are obviously you two. How could I possibly approve it! Those dogs from the Early Love Prohibition Association are watching us every day. Do you want to get called into the dean’s office?"

Shen Yuan’s mouth twitched.

’Damn, so they really would go snitch?!’

’I have zero respect for tattletales!’

’Still, not publishing it is for the best.’

"So I had her change the male and female leads’ names. At the very least, we can’t let those dogs figure it out!"

"So you’re still going to publish it in the end!"

Shen Yuan’s brow furrowed.

Zhuo Peipei let out a "heh." "Once the names are changed, it won’t be about you two anymore. What, were you actually planning to ’defend and steal’?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Peipei, don’t just go and slander an innocent person!"

"Oh?"

Peipei raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that you and Li Zhi walk to and from school together every day, carry her backpack, buy her milk tea, treat her to late-night snacks, and even pet a cat together, and none of that is you wanting to ’defend and steal’?"

"Fuck! Are you stalking me?"

Shen Yuan was shocked. ’Damn it, the first few things are one thing, but how the hell did she find out about us petting a cat together?’

"Ahem! It’s just that we happen to have members who take the same route as you."

Zhuo Peipei gave a tactical cough. "Besides, I’m not the one who wrote it!"

"Then how did you even find out I have a cat?"

"Well..." Zhuo Peipei trailed off, hesitating.

But Shen Yuan quickly realized one possibility.

Cat fur.

Naonao was a Lion Cat. And while he wasn’t old enough to be in his shedding season, his fur was indeed very long.

Plus, the two little ones loved to lie on his backpack, which meant cat fur often ended up on it.

HISS—

Thinking of this, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

"Damn, if you guys from the Kissing Association decided to become master detectives, what would be left for Conan to do?"

A confident smile appeared on Zhuo Peipei’s face.

When it came to the art of shipping, they were serious.

"One last question for you. Who wrote it?"

Zhuo Peipei immediately struck a defensive pose. "Protecting the privacy of every member of the Kissing Association is my duty as president."

"Does anyone in your Kissing Association actually date anyone?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Shen Yuan’s casual remark completely broke through Peipei’s defenses.

"If you could enjoy your own romance, why would you need to live vicariously through someone else’s?"

Shen Yuan was amused.

His annoyance about the Kissing Association writing about him vanished on the spot.

After quickly finishing his meal, Shen Yuan left early.

But Shen Yuan didn’t go straight back to the classroom. Instead, he turned to the side of the cafeteria and went up to the second floor.

On the second floor of the cafeteria, Shen Yuan’s gaze quickly locked onto a figure with a high ponytail.

He walked over quickly and plopped down next to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi thought someone was trying to hit on her. She turned her head and saw Shen Yuan staring at her with a serious expression.

After a moment of thought, Li Zhi blurted out a question.

"Forget your meal card?"

Shen Yuan shook his head, then pulled out his phone and showed Li Zhi the Sugar Text he had just gotten from Zhuo Peipei.

Confused, Li Zhi put down her chopsticks and opened "Defend and Steal."

["You just want to defend and steal!" Li He said to Shen Qi.]

The next second, as if she had seen something disgusting, Li Zhi shoved Shen Yuan’s phone right back into his hands.

Before Li Zhi could speak, Shen Yuan said, "Finish eating first. We’ll talk after."

"I’m done eating."

Li Zhi had already lost her appetite.

Across from Li Zhi, He Zhiyu looked completely bewildered.

’What are these two freaking out about now?’

"Let’s walk and talk. Just the two of us."

Li Zhi nodded, then said goodbye to He Zhiyu.

The two of them quickly left the cafeteria and went to a less crowded area next to one of the school buildings.

"What’s going on? Where did you get this?" Li Zhi asked seriously.

"I got it from Zhuo Peipei. They even deduced that we have a cat." Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi. "You realize how serious this is, right?"

Li Zhi nodded.

Shen Yuan’s eyes sharpened. "There’s a mole among us."

Li Zhi continued to nod.

"One of them must be very close to us, otherwise it would be impossible for them to notice the similarities in the cat fur on our clothes."

Shen Yuan said seriously, "I nominate Zhou Shaojie."

"Are you insane?" Li Zhi said with a look of disgust.

"The Early Love Prohibition Association is essentially a bunch of goblins hiding in the sewers who can’t stand to see beautiful things. The moment they see something beautiful, they want to destroy it."

Shen Yuan said, "He provides intel to the Kissing Association, then has other members of the Early Love Prohibition Association report it. Ah Jie fits that profile perfectly."

Li Zhi was speechless.

"No, seriously, dude, are you a moron?"

"Is there a problem with my logic? Then you analyze it."

Li Zhi frowned slightly. "The focus isn’t on who’s around you, but who’s around me. What guy would notice cat fur on you?"

’That’s true,’ thought Shen Yuan. ’Guys don’t notice things like cat fur on each other.’

’But they’ll spot a knotted-up earthworm every single time!’

"He Zhiyu?"

Shen Yuan thought of that quiet and gentle girl.

She did seem to be a member of the Kissing Association, and she was very close to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi nodded. "Zhiyu might not have been the one who wrote it, but she was most likely the one who told them about the cat. I mentioned it to her once."

Shen Yuan was dumbfounded. He pointed at Li Zhi. "So after all that, the mole was you?!"

"Huh? Was it?"

Li Zhi tried to avoid Shen Yuan’s questioning by playing dumb.

"Stop pretending."

Li Zhi pouted and sighed in resignation. "Fine, I’m guilty. So what do we do now? They’ve already posted it."

"Oh, Zhuo Peipei said that because the main characters’ names in the story basically pointed directly to the two of us, she sent it back for revisions to avoid detection by the Early Love Prohibition Association."

Shen Yuan shrugged.

Li Zhi froze. "They didn’t post it?"

"They didn’t."

"Then what were you getting all worked up for?! You’re such an ass! I didn’t even finish my dinner! I—I’m gonna strangle you!"

The beautiful girl reached out as if to strangle Shen Yuan.

"Can’t... breathe... sis."

Li Zhi didn’t let go. "I don’t care! You have to treat me to a late-night snack!"

"Okay, okay, okay. I’ll buy you a little bread roll from the supermarket later," Shen Yuan nodded repeatedly.

"That’s more like it." Having received her answer, Li Zhi let go of Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan rubbed his neck. "But this ship fic will probably be posted once the names are changed. What do you think?"

"I’m not going to look at it. Out of sight, out of mind!"

Just thinking of that opening line, "You just want to defend and steal!", made Li Zhi feel like her brain had been somehow contaminated.

Shen Yuan nodded. "Playing the ostrich, are we?"

Li Zhi huffed. "Let them do what they want. Besides, we’re innocent, so we have nothing to fear!"

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "Who’s ’we’? You make it sound like we’re super close."

Li Zhi nodded.

’Yes, that’s the attitude I want to see!’

"I’m heading back. Bring the bread roll over later."

Shen Yuan nodded.

But when the little bread roll appeared on her desk, Li Zhi suddenly realized something was wrong.

’Wait a minute...’

’This... kind of makes us look guilty again, doesn’t it?!’