The Mighty Mage-Chapter 481: Plans

Bai Qing leaned closer, her voice low and sneaky.

"I think you should do it!" she said quickly.

"If you show him how much you like him, maybe Captain Long will finally open his heart to you!"

Li Mian’s face turned bright red. She covered her cheeks with her hands and giggled. "Oh my gosh... should I really?"

"Of course!" Bai Qing said, nodding hard.

"Tonight, after the theory exchange, find a chance to give him a big surprise! Maybe... even confess your feelings!"

Li Mian’s heart thumped loudly in her chest. She looked like she was about to faint from excitement.

"Alright! I’ll do it!" she said bravely. "Tonight, I will show Captain Long how serious I am!"

Bai Qing gave a big fake smile. Inside, she was laughing coldly.

Go ahead. Make a fool of yourself.

Meanwhile, Gu Jin stood a little apart from everyone, ignoring all the noise.

While the England team had its own plan.

Finn turned toward Leo and whispered,

"How about showing our charm to some Chinese girls?"

Leo’s eyes brightened,

"Great Idea!"

They both had similar ideas.

Sophia Green massaged her head and said,

"Don’t go too far."

Lily from the combat team heard their conversation and joined in,

"If you don’t mind, I would like to join too. Just set me up with him."

She subtly pointed toward Long Yifan.

Emma chuckled and said,

"Then I will go with that red-haired boy. He looks cheerful and outgoing."

She pointed to Xu Zhen.

Finn and Leo looked at each other and grinned.

"Deal!" Finn said.

"We’ll help each other out," Leo added.

Lily smiled brightly. "Yay! This is going to be so much fun!"

Emma just yawned again but gave a lazy thumbs-up. "Whatever... as long as I don’t have to run around too much."

Sophia sighed and shook her head. "Focus on your studies first," she said sharply. "This is not a dating camp."

But nobody really listened to her.

Meanwhile, Ethan stood quietly by the side, looking even colder than before.

He exchanged a look with Amelia, who understood his signal and turned toward the group.

"I want to date, too. Him."

She pointed at Long Yifan.

Lily’s brows scrunched up, and she said,

"Wait! I had seen him first!"

"I heard you liked a bag previously, but due to budget issues, you never bought it...I will buy it." Amelia said.

Lily’s dissatisfaction evaporated instantly, and she found her next target,

"I would like to date him then!"

This time, she was referring to Bai Yu. The shy and nerdy guy.

......

In the afternoon, when everyone was resting, Gu Jin was called by the Instructor.

When she arrived in the office, she saw Long Yifan.

Instructor Luo asked her to sit down and said with a serious expression,

"Since you both are the captain of your respective teams, I will relay this message to you both. Don’t be too near the England team.

They might befriend you to get more information about the team, team members’ weaknesses, and strategy. If possible, ask everyone not to show their differences."

Long Yifan and Gu Jin nodded. They understood the severity of the matter.

Instructor Luo told them a few more things before asking them to leave.

Once they left and reached a certain distance, Long Yifan blocked Gu Jin’s path and said,

"Can we please talk?"

"There is nothing left to talk about." Gu Jin said coldly.

Long Yifan looked a little helpless. He ran a hand through his hair and said,

"You misunderstood everything. I—"

Before he could finish, Gu Jin suddenly said in a sharp voice,

"Oh? I misunderstood? You mean, you were punishing your team members just because they were talking with me? You can justify that, too?"

"No!" Long Yifan shook his head and explained, "Li Mian, she isn’t simple! She is delusional! Not to mention, she dared to say that there was no relationship between us. I was hurt, and hence I punished her!"

Gu Jin’s anger vanished by half, and she raised an eyebrow,

"Then what about the other one?"

"Bai Qing? Trust me, she is a scheming bitch! She was trying to make the point that Li Mian likes me and that you should back out.

But wifey, you don’t even care about me! If you back out any further, I don’t think we can ever get married again."

Gu Jin continued to ask,

"Oh? So why didn’t you try to talk to me publicly?"

Long Yifan relaxed a little when he saw Gu Jin giving him the chance to explain, and said hurriedly,

"That was because you said that I am not your fiancé. I thought you didn’t want to announce our relationship and act like a stranger, so I didn’t dare to say more."

Gu Jin: "..." Well...

She almost couldn’t argue with Long Yifan.

"I even tried to talk with you later, but that Li Mian interrupted again, and knowing you don’t want others to know about our relationship, I didn’t dare to show my affection to you."

Gu Jin bit her lips and asked,

"So...so what! I don’t forgive. And I will not forgive you even if you act nicely with me."

Long Yifan sighed,

"I know."

He knew that even if he felt jealous because of Finn’s earlier words, he couldn’t do anything.

Even though he wanted to kiss the moment he laid eyes on her, he couldn’t even touch her.

"Jin’er." He called out softly,

"Hm." Gu Jin answered, not looking at him.

"Can I hug you?" Long Yifan asked in a softer voice.

Gu Jin’s eyes widened. Her heart started thumping like crazy.

"H-Hug?!" she stammered, stepping back a little.

Long Yifan looked at her with those puppy dog eyes that made it really hard to say no.

"Just one hug," he said quietly, like he was afraid she’d run away.

Gu Jin crossed her arms and turned her head. "No."

But her ears turned red, and Long Yifan saw it.

He smiled a little and took a careful step closer. "Just one. I promise."

Gu Jin huffed. "If you try anything weird, I’ll burn you."

"I won’t!" Long Yifan said quickly, almost too eagerly.

"You are doing it by asking for a hug." Gu Jin corrected him.

"Did I? I just want a bit of compensation. You misunderstood me for no reason. Don’t I deserve even a hug?" Long Yifan tried his best to beg her.

He knew Gu Jin too well. If he dared to show arrogance or even a hint of a domineering air, she would kick him away.

However, if he showed her his vulnerable side, the story would be entirely different!

Apparently, his strategy worked.

Gu Jin sighed heavily, like she was being forced to do something terrible.

"Fine," she muttered, looking everywhere except at him. "One hug."

Before she could regret it, Long Yifan pulled her into his arms.

At first, it was stiff and awkward. Gu Jin’s arms were trapped by her sides, and she felt like a board.

But then, Long Yifan tightened his hold just a little, and his chin lightly brushed the top of her head.

He smelled like soap and something warm, like the sun.

Gu Jin’s face burned hotter than ever.

"You smell nice," Long Yifan said without thinking.

Gu Jin’s head shot up, and she accidentally bumped her forehead into his chin.

"Ow!" Long Yifan yelped.

Gu Jin stepped back, her face bright red. "I told you not to try anything weird!"

"I didn’t! I was just telling the truth!" Long Yifan said, rubbing his chin.

Gu Jin glared at him, but her lips twitched like she was fighting a smile.

Then, out of nowhere, Long Yifan grinned and said,

"If you keep looking that cute, I might really kiss you."

Gu Jin gasped, ready to punch him—

But before she could, Long Yifan grabbed her wrist gently and tugged her closer again.

This time, he bent down and whispered right near her lips,

"I missed you so much, Jin’er."

Gu Jin froze.

For a second, they just stared at each other, breathing the same air.

Then, very carefully, Long Yifan brushed his lips against hers.

It was soft. Barely even there. Like he was asking, Can I?

Gu Jin’s mind went blank.

But her heart answered before she could think.

Without hesitation, she pushed him away and slapped him.

Silence.

"You..." Gu Jin opened her mouth to say something, but Long Yifan took the chance and quickly grabbed her hand before she could hit him again.

"I deserve that," Long Yifan said seriously, holding her wrist gently. "But... I don’t regret kissing you."

Gu Jin’s face was so red it looked like she might explode.

"You—you idiot!" she stammered, trying to pull her hand back.

Long Yifan didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled her a little closer, but this time, he was very careful, like he was handling a scared little rabbit.

"Jin’er," he said softly, "I like you. I like you so much it drives me crazy."

Gu Jin’s eyes flickered.