38: Chapter 38 Can I go too?

The wind seemed to have stopped.

The air on the rooftop seemed to have been drained by some invisible force, becoming thin and stagnant.

Leng Qingxuan's fingers, resting on the railing, stiffened slightly, their tips turning a bloodless white from the exertion.

She turned her head slowly, her neck making an incredibly faint sound, her gaze like a camera refocusing, locking onto Su Muxue beside her.

That sentence from just now, though as soft as a falling leaf, was, in Leng Qingxuan's ears, no different from a tactical nuclear bomb detonating in her mind.

"What… did you say?"

Leng Qingxuan's voice was somewhat dry, like someone who hadn't had water in a long time.

Su Muxue did not avoid her gaze.

The Eldest Miss of the Su Family took a deep breath, hands folded over her abdomen, body leaning slightly forward, striking an impeccable pose of request.

"I said, can I go see that person just like you?"

Su Muxue's voice remained gentle, but there was an added firmness in her tone. "I want to go see what that place, the one that can make you become a 'living person' again, is actually like."

Leng Qingxuan's brain froze for a moment.

This was like playing a single-player RPG, finally discovering a hidden map, and just as you were preparing to enjoy the rare resources and easter eggs inside alone—

—a random NPC suddenly runs over and says to you: "Party up? I want to enter the instance too."

Refuse?

Reason told Leng Qingxuan she had to refuse.

The current situation was already messy enough.

Living at home was her childhood sweetheart, An Ran. Although that girl was a typical "high attack, low defense" paper tiger and came with the "childhood sweetheart always loses" debuff, she didn't pose a substantial threat to her.

One could even say that An Ran's presence actually added some joy to life.

Watching that idiot act tsundere and get frustrated in front of Huang Mao, or the two of them teaming up to beat a game, Leng Qingxuan didn't actually dislike this "threesome" atmosphere.

After all, An Ran's rank was too low.

But Su Muxue was different.

Leng Qingxuan's gaze uncontrollably shifted slightly downward, sweeping over the chest of Su Muxue, tightly wrapped in a haute couture dress.

E. Definitely an E.

That was a letter that made a C-player like Leng Qingxuan, who wasn't flat but could only be considered "well-proportioned," feel despair.

If you ignored personality and only looked at hardware specs, Su Muxue was practically a T0-tier existence in this version.

What was even scarier were her attributes. Gentle, submissive, a refined young lady, non-aggressive…

If Su Muxue were to look at Huang Mao with those wet, puppy-dog eyes, as if she had been abandoned, and pair it with that lethally powerful "Please"...

How was that a teammate? That was clearly an official, air-dropped stat-monster! She was here to smurf!

"I don't think that's very convenient."

Leng Qingxuan quickly adjusted her expression, recovering that aloofness that kept people at a distance. "That is a private residence, not a shelter."

"It doesn't matter."

Su Muxue seemed to have anticipated this answer long ago. She took a step forward, her originally melancholy eyes now flashing with a nearly fanatical light.

"I'm not picky about where I stay. The sofa is fine, the storage room is fine, even sleeping on the floor is fine."

She said eagerly, her speaking speed much faster than usual. "And I won't stay for free."

"I can cook; I know a bit of both Chinese and Western cuisine. Doing laundry, cleaning, tidying up the room… I can do all of these things too."

"As long as I can stay there, as long as I can feel that 'reality,' I'll do anything."

Su Muxue looked at Leng Qingxuan, her tone humble to the point of being in the dust. "Please."

Leng Qingxuan froze.

Wait, if you can do all these things, wouldn't that be even more of a dimensional strike?

No! If that happened, she, whose life skills were the most pathetic, would be finished!

But…

Looking at the Eldest Miss of the Su Family before her, who was willing to set aside all her dignity for a vague, ethereal "possibility," the defense line she had built in her heart cracked.

Damn it.

This was just like seeing her former self.

The version of herself in that cold mansion, staring blankly at the birds outside the window, longing for a great fire to burn everything away.

She longed to no longer be "needed."

But Su Muxue longed to be "needed."

In the Su Family, she was a statue worshipped on a pedestal; no one needed her to do anything. The meaning of her existence was "existence" itself.

This sense of emptiness was more torturous than physical pain.

And Huang Mao…

Leng Qingxuan recalled that man's busy figure in the kitchen, recalled how he would mutter to himself while helping An Ran clean up her messes.

Huang Mao was a good person. Or rather, a pushover.

He wouldn't refuse someone who truly needed help, especially someone like Su Muxue, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown—her "kind."

When that time came, if Su Muxue just threw herself at him and easily achieved a more impressive "battle record" than her and An Ran, and then Huang Mao started putting more of his attention on her…

No, absolutely not.

Leng Qingxuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the slight wavering in her heart caused by their "shared misery."

She took a step back, putting distance between herself and Su Muxue.

This action made the light in Su Muxue's eyes dim slightly. She bit her lip and lowered her head, like a prisoner waiting for sentencing.

"I can't make the decision on this matter."

Leng Qingxuan said coldly.

This was the best way to handle it she could think of—passing the buck.

Let Huang Mao have the headache of this century-old problem. Anyway, it was his house, his territory.

If he refused, that would be perfect; if he agreed… then that was that man's choice.

"That place is his, not mine."

Leng Qingxuan looked at Su Muxue, her tone softening slightly. "Whether to accept a new tenant is a decision only he can make. I am just a… boarder."

When she said the word "boarder," Leng Qingxuan felt inexplicably annoyed.

Although it was the truth, she always felt something was missing.

Hearing this, Su Muxue suddenly looked up.

Her originally dim eyes were instantly reignited, even brighter than before.

She understood the subtext in Leng Qingxuan's words.

As long as it wasn't "absolutely not," that meant there was "a chance."

"Thank you, Classmate Leng!"

Su Muxue bowed deeply to Leng Qingxuan, the movement so large that it even startled Leng Qingxuan.

"Um… no need for that." Leng Qingxuan turned her head away, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "I didn't promise you anything, why are you thanking me?"

Su Muxue straightened up, a long-lost, heartfelt smile appearing on her face.

That smile was beautiful, so beautiful that even Leng Qingxuan, who was also a woman, was momentarily dazed.

If Su Muxue had been a stagnant pool of water before, then now, she was like a stream that had finally found its outlet to the sea, full of surging, forward-moving vitality.

"Since the decision-making power is in his hands, then…"

Su Muxue took out her phone from her small bag, held it with both hands, and presented it to Leng Qingxuan.

On the screen was the "Add Friend" interface of a social media app.

"Could I trouble you… to give me his contact information?"

Su Muxue looked at Leng Qingxuan, her eyes clear and frank, without any concealment. "I want to ask him myself. I want to… try to fight for a chance that belongs to me."

…

The wind started blowing again.

This time, the wind was a bit strong, messing up Leng Qingxuan's long hair.