10: Chapter 10 You're living with a woman?

Carrying the chill from a cold shower, Huang Mao threw himself back onto the master bedroom's large bed like a recently released salted fish.

"Phew—"

Exhaling deeply, the visual impact of that pink lace in his mind finally faded a bit.

He'd be completely fine after taking another "flight" later.

He rolled over and sat up, glancing at the minimalist electronic clock on the wall.

22:30.

For contemporary college students, let alone sleeping, nightlife hadn't even finished warming up at this hour.

Although this private university's management style was comparable to high school, fortunately, the teachers weren't so insane as to implement the "hanging by the hair and stabbing the thigh" routine in class.

As long as you didn't disrupt classroom discipline or set up a hotpot on your desk, even if you slept until drool covered the floor, teachers would usually turn a blind eye.

After all, those who could enter this school were either like Leng Qingxuan, who had a gold mine at home and just needed to pad her resume, or like Huang Mao... who was simply there to get a diploma and experience life.

"Since I can't sleep, then..."

Huang Mao's gaze turned toward the massive L-shaped gaming desk by the window.

That was a man's romance, and the place where he, an "ordinary citizen with some family assets," had spent the most money.

His finger gently pressed the power button on the computer case.

"Hum—"

A low hum of the fan sounded, and then, the panoramic "sea-view" computer case was instantly lit up. The blue and white RGB lighting effects were like flowing light in the deep sea, not glaring, yet full of a futuristic feel.

Looking at the breathing light of that dazzling 4090 graphics card, Huang Mao's mood instantly improved a lot.

Women only affect the speed at which I draw my sword, but a graphics card won't; a graphics card only speeds things up.

The moment the monitor lit up, Huang Mao suddenly felt something was off.

"Wait... did I forget something?"

He whipped his head around, looking at the phone he had tossed onto the corner of the bed as a decoration.

Huang Mao swallowed hard, reached out to grab the phone, and unlocked it with his fingerprint.

The moment the screen lit up, the bright red "99+" at the top right of the social media icon was shockingly red, enough to cause a heart attack.

After clicking in, sure enough, most of the messages came from the same account.

[Where are you?]

[Dead?]

[Reply if you're not dead yet.]

[Huang Mao, you bastard!]

[If you don't reply, I'm calling the police to say you were caught for soliciting!]

[Voice call cancelled]

[Voice call cancelled]

...

"Oh no."

Huang Mao felt his scalp go numb.

This is the downside of having a childhood sweetheart.

Too familiar.

So familiar that if she really came over to end you, she'd even know exactly where the best feng shui spot to bury you was.

He didn't dare dawdle, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screen.

[I'm here, I'm here!]

After the message was sent, before the "typing..." status even had a chance to pop up.

Ring ring—!

The piercing ringtone of a voice call suddenly blasted, echoing in the quiet bedroom.

Huang Mao took a deep breath and adjusted his expression. Even though the other party couldn't see him, he subconsciously put on an open, honest smile and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Huang Mao!!!"

The roar coming from the earpiece forced Huang Mao to hold the phone ten centimeters away from his ear.

It was a vibrant girl's voice, crisp and loud, carrying an energy as if she had just downed three cans of Red Bull. Of course, at this moment, it was likely more anger.

"Did you fall into the toilet? Or were you abducted by aliens for human experimentation?"

An Ran's voice bombarded him like a rapid-fire cannon. "You didn't reply to my messages or answer my calls! I thought you'd dropped dead in that big mansion of yours after only living alone for a few days!"

Huang Mao put the phone back to his ear, rubbing his numbed earlobe, and laughed helplessly. "My lady, can't you wish me some luck? I'm strong and healthy; how could I possibly drop dead?"

"Then what were you doing? You were out of contact for three whole hours!"

An Ran's tone carried obvious dissatisfaction and a hint of grievance. "Don't tell me you were studying. If you could open a book for more than three pages, pigs could fly."

"I was delayed by some things," Huang Mao said evasively.

He couldn't exactly say that the campus belle, who had run away from home, was at his place, and he had just been blow-drying her hair and watching an underwear show, right?

"What things could you possibly have?" An Ran clearly wasn't buying it. "Since you've moved out, there's no dorm manager checking rooms, and no power or internet cuts. Shouldn't an internet addict like you have been sitting in front of your computer waiting to play together ages ago?"

"You didn't even look at your phone. Did you go to the gym again?"

When she said "gym," her tone took on a hint of teasing. "With your 'two days fishing, three days drying nets' kind of willpower?"

"Am I really that useless?"

Huang Mao leaned back in his gaming chair, watching the constantly changing wallpaper on the screen, and made up a lie. "I just suddenly felt like it and didn't want takeout, so I cooked dinner myself."

"After eating and drinking my fill, I lounged on the living room sofa for a while. I left my phone in the bedroom to charge, so I didn't hear it."

Silence followed for two seconds on the other end.

"You cooked for yourself?"

An Ran's voice was full of suspicion. "Huang Mao, you've changed. Where's the you who would rather gnaw on dry noodles just to play one more game? You've actually learned to enjoy life now?"

"People grow up, you know," Huang Mao laughed it off. "Besides, this house is so big and the kitchen is so high-end; it'd be a waste not to use it."

"Tch, I think you're just bored out of your mind."

An Ran snorted, but her tone had clearly softened a lot.

She paused. The background noise seemed very quiet, without the usual dorm-specific clamor.

"Why are you so talkative today?" Huang Mao sensed something and took the initiative to change the subject. "Are your weird roommates not around? Usually at this time, shouldn't they be scrolling through Douyin on speaker or talking loudly on the phone?"

The sound of fabric rubbing came from the other end, as if An Ran was rolling over in bed.

"They're not here."

Her voice dropped a bit, sounding somewhat dejected. "They all have dates. Some are out all night, others are at hotels. Tonight, I'm the only one guarding this empty room."

"Oh, that's pretty pathetic," Huang Mao smiled. "Gives off 'lonely elderly' vibes."

"Screw you! Watch your mouth!"

An Ran cursed, then immediately perked up again. "So! With such a great opportunity—no one stealing bandwidth, no one noisy, no one complaining I'm too loud—it's the golden time for ranking up!"

"And yet you actually made me wait so long! Do you know how many precious points I missed out on during these three hours?"

"Yes, yes, my bad."

Huang Mao skillfully smoothed her feathers. "So, log on now?"

"Duh! Hurry up! I'm already online, get on now!"

An Ran urged, "You have to make up for the time you owe me tonight. No sleeping until we go up a full tier!"

"Alright, alright, it's already starting up."

As Huang Mao spoke, he grabbed the mouse and skillfully clicked the familiar icon.

Hearing the game's startup sound through the headset, An Ran finally seemed to settle down for a bit.

After a moment, her voice sounded again, this time becoming a bit hesitant, completely losing her previous momentum.

"Um... Huang Mao."

"Hmm? What's up? Need me to carry some ammo?" Huang Mao asked casually, adjusting some game settings.

"It's not about the game..."

An Ran hesitated. "I mean... your parents haven't moved in yet, right?"

"Nope."

Huang Mao replied casually. "Those two probably never intended to move here. They're living happily in their own world back at the old house."

"This place is far from their workplace, and I'm here. Basically, they just gave me an excuse to get out so I wouldn't bother them."

"Oh... I see."

There seemed to be a hint of irrepressible joy in An Ran's voice.

"Then... since your parents aren't there and you're living in such a big house alone, won't you... be a bit scared?"

"Scared?" Huang Mao sounded as if he'd heard a joke. "What do I have to be afraid of? Ghosts?"

"Oh, that's not what I meant!"

An Ran got a bit anxious. "I mean, it's just... you know... actually, I..."

Her voice got smaller and smaller, the last few words mumbled as if held in her mouth.

Huang Mao raised an eyebrow, his movements stopping.

"Actually you what?" Based on his understanding of her, Huang Mao had already guessed something. A mischievous grin curled on his lips as he asked knowingly, "Want to come over for a meal? Or use the internet?"

"I..."

An Ran was stuck.

What she wanted to say was, "Actually, I could move in and stay with you for a few days," or "Actually, I could come help you tidy up."

But for a tsundere childhood sweetheart who, despite being outspoken, was actually incredibly thin-skinned, saying such things was harder than asking her to wipe out a whole map in a solo-vs-squad match.

Just as An Ran was so conflicted she was about to grind her back teeth to dust.

Knock, knock, knock.

A faint but clear knock on the door abruptly sounded in Huang Mao's room.

"Um... this should be the master bedroom, right?"

A female voice, cool with a hint of laziness and sounding somewhat soft and sweet due to her physical comfort, drifted in without warning.

"Huang Mao, are you asleep? Can I come in and take a look?"

Huang Mao blanked for a second, then subconsciously spoke:

"Not yet, you can come in... Wait! Hold on!!"

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.

The door had already been pushed open.

Wearing that oversized black T-shirt and revealing two dazzlingly white long legs, Leng Qingxuan walked in barefoot, clutching her phone with the screen still on.

She seemed completely unaware of the subtle atmosphere in the room, nor did she notice Huang Mao's phone on the desk with the call interface still active.

She blinked her large, curious eyes, scanning the bedroom filled with a masculine vibe.

"Wow... this master bedroom feels quite a bit larger than the one given to me."

Her gaze fell on the glowing, cool-looking computer case on the gaming desk, and her eyes lit up. "Is this your computer? It looks so cool. Is this one of those... sea-view cases?"

Now he was in for it.

Huang Mao closed his eyes, feeling as if the Song of Guan Yu was echoing in his ears.

And at this very moment, in the earpiece of the phone in his hand.

The breathing sounds that had been hurried due to conflict suddenly vanished.

In its place was a spine-chilling silence.

That dead silence was like a vacuum zone where the air had been sucked out before a storm.

After a few seconds, on the other end of the line, An Ran finally snapped out of her daze of "thinking he was talking to her but not understanding the content."

Was that... a woman's voice?

And the kind of woman's voice that sounded like she'd just finished a shower, was wearing pajamas, and was casually walking into a man's bedroom?

"Huang Mao..."

"Is there... someone else at your house right now?"

"And it's a woman?!"