A Succubus’s Guide to Romance

The brief interlude passed.

To Chen Ran’s surprise, Caihua proved remarkably easy to appease—perhaps it was the strawberry milk he had bought her earlier.

When he told her she would be sleeping alone tonight, the girl obediently nodded, uttering a soft ‘Mm-hm’ before disappearing.

She vanished instantly.

‘Tsk.’

What was it about this female ghost that made her seem cuter the more he looked at her? Chen Ran began to wonder if his own aesthetic judgment was somehow skewed.

Grabbing the pajamas he intended to change into after his shower, Chen Ran soon made his way to Jiang Zilin’s room.

****

Inside.

Jiang Zilin had clearly just finished showering, as she sat on the tatami mat, engrossed in her phone—it appeared she was chatting with someone.

Beside her, Jiang Lengleng was quietly reading a novel, making the two sisters remarkably tranquil.

The only sounds in the room were soft rustles and the gentle sigh of the breeze through the mountain trees.

His arrival was met with a slight eye-roll from Jiang Zilin.

She seemed to be chiding him for taking so long, displaying that particular feminine trait of feigning assertiveness to mask her shyness.

Chen Ran, for his part, casually remarked,

“Who are you chatting with?”

“A friend,” she replied. “The one from last time, who said she was a succubus.”

‘Hmm.’

Chen Ran decided to shower first.

Jiang Zilin had already finished hers, likely having anticipated the awkwardness of him wanting to shower with her while her sister was in the room, which would undoubtedly have made her mortified, so she had gone ahead.

Yet, he truly harbored no such intentions.

Glancing at Jiang Lengleng nearby, Chen Ran felt he wouldn’t be so brazenly lewd.

“Sigh,” Jiang Zilin continued, “she says her relationship hasn’t been going well lately.”

“Your succubus friend?”

“Mm-hm!”

Once inside the bathroom, Chen Ran could hear Jiang Zilin speaking to him from outside.

“She mentioned before,” Jiang Zilin explained, “that due to some family reasons, she doesn’t seem to experience emotions like normal people do in relationships.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“Specifically, when she’s with her boyfriend, her mind is completely consumed with… well, ‘that.’ Beyond that, there’s nothing.”

“Huh?”

Chen Ran found it unbelievable that such a preposterous person could exist, yet, for some reason, the description struck him as oddly familiar.

“She can’t even hold a conversation,” Jiang Zilin added.

“I told her to talk to her boyfriend, or go out, but she says when they’re together, her mind is just fixated on ‘doing it.’ She doesn’t know what to say or what else to do.”

‘…’

“That’s a succubus for you, poor thing.”

‘…’

The steady gush of water from the showerhead gradually muffled Jiang Zilin’s voice.

As Chen Ran bathed, he mused, ‘Since this is already a H-manga world (TL Note: ‘H-manga world’ refers to a setting common in adult-themed Japanese comics, often implying a fantastical or supernatural element where unusual situations are commonplace), then the existence of a succubus or something similar seems perfectly normal, doesn’t it?’

‘Hmm…’

‘No, wait, shouldn’t a succubus be standard equipment in such a world anyway?!’

‘Logical.’

Such were Chen Ran’s thoughts as he continued his shower.

****

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room.

Jiang Zilin, still in the room, held her phone, busily offering advice to the ‘succubus netizen’ she had met online.

[World’s Cutest: Have you two not been talking much lately?]

[First Affectionate in Xijing: Mhm.]

The netizen, who claimed to be a succubus, replied to Jiang Zilin.

Adding an emphasis:

[First Affectionate in Xijing: Mostly, I just don’t know what to say.]

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Zilin offered her solution.

[World’s Cutest: Just text him, “Hubby, what are you doing?” and “I miss you so muchie~”.]

[First Affectionate in Xijing: Really?]

“Of course it’s real!”

Jiang Zilin huffed, thinking, ‘Even though I’m socially anxious and only know Xiao Ran as a guy, I still managed to win him over!’

Giving a little lesson or two was absolutely no problem for her.

Thus, she continued to earnestly educate her ‘succubus netizen’ on matters of the heart, until…

Chen Ran, still in the shower, suddenly heard his phone—left in his clothes just outside the bathroom—vibrate twice, indicating an incoming message.

Drying his hands on a towel,

Chen Ran fished his phone from his pocket.

Upon opening it, he was surprised to find messages from Duanmu Hui.

[Hubby, what are you doing?]

[I miss you so muchie~]

‘…’

For a moment, Chen Ran wondered if he was experiencing some kind of delusion.

[What are you talking about?]

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with Duanmu Hui.

At that very moment, outside the bathroom, Jiang Zilin swiftly received an ‘@’ notification from her ‘succubus netizen’.

[First Affectionate in Xijing: @World’s Cutest, it really worked! Quick, quick, what should I say next?!]

And then,

Chen Ran saw new messages from Duanmu Hui pop up on his screen.

[I just miss you, that’s all.]

[If you’re busy, never mind.

Just find me when you’re free.]

[Mwah mua! (*╯3╰)]

‘…’

‘How embarrassing, this is utterly mortifying.’

Chen Ran couldn’t even begin to imagine Duanmu Hui, with her usual cold demeanor, uttering “mwah mua” to him.

‘Had she taken the wrong medicine, or had his intention to break up with her today somehow provoked this reaction?’

‘Hmm.’

Chen Ran resolved to find a suitable time later to properly clarify things with Duanmu Hui.

Even in a H-manga world (TL Note: ‘H-manga world’ refers to a setting common in adult-themed Japanese comics, often implying a fantastical or supernatural element where unusual situations are commonplace), merely sleeping together without any emotional connection still struck him as rather odd.

With these thoughts, he returned to his shower.

Meanwhile, just outside the bathroom, Jiang Zilin was earnestly advising her ‘succubus netizen’ on the art of knowing when to retreat and how to play hard to get.

[World’s Cutest: Don’t annoy men.

Just act a little pitiful, and he’ll come looking for you himself.]

[First Affectionate in Xijing: Oh, I see… so that’s how it works…]

[World’s Cutest: Exactly, exactly! And also…]

*Blah, blah, blah.*

In high spirits, Jiang Zilin began her comprehensive lesson on how to navigate a romantic relationship.

However…

A short while later.

“What’s my little Lin-jie (TL Note: A respectful and affectionate term for an older sister or close female friend) doing, hmm?”

Suddenly feeling herself enveloped in an embrace from behind, Jiang Zilin nearly dropped her phone in fright.

“Xiao Ran, what are you doing?!”

“Nothing at all,”

Chen Ran replied, explaining that after his shower, he had simply noticed Jiang Zilin preoccupied with her phone on the tatami and had merely come closer.

At that moment,

Cradled in his arms, Jiang Zilin’s already pliant body seemed to grow even softer.

This sensation was compounded when she realized her sister, who had been reading a novel, was now looking directly at them.

The added attention only served to heighten Jiang Zilin’s embarrassment.

The woman, shrinking slightly, quickly typed [Got something to do for now, talk later.] into her chat group, then put her phone down, dedicating her full attention to ‘dealing with’ Chen Ran.

“Xiao Ran, you’ve finished your shower.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well then… shall we go to sleep…?”

‘She had been waiting for so long!’

Jiang Zilin, her face flushed, had called Chen Ran into the room for one obvious reason: to sleep together.

As for why,

Why Xiao Ran had come to her and her sister’s room, instead of her going to Xiao Ran’s…

Jiang Zilin, still blushing, glanced at Jiang Lengleng, who, upon hearing the suggestion of sleep, had very sensibly put down her novel, stood up to switch off the lights, and was now preparing to burrow into her own futon.

What Jiang Zilin was thinking, of course, was…