49: Chapter 49 Midnight Chat Time

In Leng Qingxuan's room, the atmosphere was as heavy as a secret meeting concerning the survival of humanity.

An Ran sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, her brow furrowed deep enough to squash a fly.

Leng Qingxuan leaned against the desk; the novel in her hand had long been closed, its cover wrinkled by her grip.

"The current situation is very bad."

An Ran was the first to break the silence, her tone somber.

"It's more than just bad."

Leng Qingxuan placed the novel on the table, her voice cold.

"It's practically a T0-level disaster after a version update."

The two glanced at each other, both seeing deep wariness in the other's eyes.

"Think about that scene just now."

An Ran gestured, still feeling the lingering fear.

"Those repeated cries of 'Master'... they gave me goosebumps."

"The main thing is that guy Huang Mao; even though he says he doesn't want it, look at his eyes!"

"Men are all scumbags; they simply can't resist such sugar-coated bullets!"

Leng Qingxuan pursed her lips, her heart feeling a bit sour.

Indeed.

Although she and Huang Mao had shared that experience of "meeting in total honesty" and she had even physically handled him...

But when it came to taking care of daily life, she was a complete waste.

Forget making that ridiculously exquisite dessert; she even had to watch the clock just to boil instant noodles.

"We can't just sit here and wait for death."

Leng Qingxuan took a deep breath and made a decision.

"That woman wants to use the 'All-powerful Maid' persona to monopolize Huang Mao's attention."

"We must strike back."

"How?" An Ran looked blank. "I don't know how to make a souffle either."

Leng Qingxuan looked at her with disappointment, wishing she were better.

"Who told you to compete with her in cooking?"

"We need to play to our strengths."

"Strengths?" An Ran looked down at herself, then thought of Su Muxue's rule-breaking figure, and immediately lost heart. "What strengths do we have?"

"Bonds."

Leng Qingxuan uttered those two words.

"We've known Huang Mao longer than she has."

"You're his childhood sweetheart, and I'm... cough, I'm his classmate and comrade-in-arms."

"We need to create more topics that only we understand... to build an emotional barrier."

"Make it so she can't get a word in, make her feel like an outsider, just like when she was preparing the hot milk tonight."

An Ran's eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh.

"That makes sense!"

"And we need to be more proactive!"

"We can't always wait for Huang Mao to come to us; we have to 'harass' him!"

"Like... like making him go for a night run with me? Or making him play games with us during the night too?"

Leng Qingxuan nodded, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.

"Exactly."

"Since we're allies, we need to share resources and exchange intelligence."

"We absolutely cannot let that woman Su Muxue steal Huang Mao away completely."

Although they were two women who originally couldn't stand each other, at this moment, a tragic and firm revolutionary friendship spontaneously arose in the room.

...

However.

While they were still talking strategy on paper and drawing up grand blueprints...

The enemy's main force had already arrived at the front lines of the battlefield again, silently.

The corridor was silent.

Su Muxue was like an elegant black cat, her bare feet stepping on the floor without making a sound.

She stood before Huang Mao's door.

She took a deep breath to calm her heart, which was racing slightly from nervousness and excitement.

The "retreat" from earlier was merely a tactical adjustment to lull the enemy into a false sense of security.

The real offensive was only just beginning.

She raised her hand.

Her fair fingers looked exceptionally dazzling under the dim light.

"Knock, knock."

The knocking was very soft.

As soft as the echo of a heartbeat.

...

Inside the room.

Huang Mao was sitting in front of the computer, watching a long video on the screen, but his mind wasn't on the content at all.

When that familiar knocking sounded again, he pressed the pause button and sighed.

"I knew it."

A man's sixth sense is sometimes ridiculously accurate.

Tonight's play indeed had a second act.

He stood up and stretched, his joints making a crisp cracking sound.

Walking to the door, his hand rested on the handle.

Surprisingly, he wasn't very surprised; instead, there was a sense of finality, as if the other shoe had finally dropped.

He opened the door.

Su Muxue's exquisite little face appeared in his vision once more.

This time, she no longer put on that pitiful act.

"Master."

Her voice was very low, with a hint of husky magnetism.

"I have some things about the past... I'd like to talk to you about."

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

An excuse.

This was definitely an excuse.

Talking about the past in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Wasn't this a typical late-night emotional radio script?

But Huang Mao looked into her eyes.

In those eyes, there seemed to be a hidden fire, yet also a bottomless sea.

The desire to be heard and accepted was so intense it almost overflowed.

The rejection reached his lips but was swallowed back down.

"...Come in."

Huang Mao stepped aside, clearing a path.

A smile instantly blossomed on Su Muxue's face.

That kind of smile was like a lost child finally finding their way home, so pure it made one's heart ache.

She walked in obediently.

After Huang Mao closed the door, he sighed and turned around.

Then, his whole body froze.

It had been a bit dim at the door just now, and he was only focused on her face, so he hadn't noticed much else.

Now, under the bright lights of the room.

The visual impact of the "new equipment" Su Muxue was wearing was truly a bit exaggerated.

Black lace.

Large areas of openwork.

That flickering sense of haziness was ten thousand times more lethal than being completely naked.

Her snow-white skin, contrasted against the black fabric, was so white it almost seemed to glow.

The parts that should be covered were covered just right, while the parts that shouldn't...

Cough.

Huang Mao felt his temples throbbing.

Who could resist this?

Su Muxue clearly noticed Huang Mao's staring gaze.

She didn't dodge or shyly cover up.

Instead, she slightly puffed out her chest, as if displaying a proud masterpiece.

"Master..."

She took a step forward, her voice carrying a hint of testing and expectation.

"Like this... what do you think?"

"Is it... inappropriate?"

Huang Mao took a deep breath, forcing his gaze away from certain towering areas and refocusing on her face.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"It's quite nice."

He spoke the truth.

At a time like this, saying "it doesn't look good" or "it's indecent" would be hypocritical, or the act of a eunuch.

"As long as you don't mind being looked at with the kind of eyes I just had."

These words were already very blunt.

Even a bit rogue-ish.

But after hearing this, Su Muxue didn't get angry; instead, she covered her mouth and chuckled.

Her eyes curved into crescents, as if she had heard the most beautiful compliment.

"Of course not."

"If it's Master... you can look however you like."

"Even..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but that drawn-out trailing note was like a feather tickling the tip of Huang Mao's heart.

Huang Mao cursed inwardly.

This girl is really...

"Alright, don't just stand there."

Huang Mao pointed to his bed, forcing a change of subject.

"Just sit there. There's only one chair, so I won't get another for you."

Su Muxue nodded obediently.

She walked to the bedside but didn't sit down carelessly.

Instead, she first smoothed out her skirt, then pressed her legs together and sat down slowly.

The mattress sank slightly with her movement.

She sat with her hands folded over her knees, her back straight, her posture as formal as if she were at an interview.

But her gaze remained glued to Huang Mao.

"You said earlier... you wanted to talk about the past?"

Huang Mao pulled over his computer chair and sat on it backward, resting his arms on the backrest and his chin on his arms.

He struck a relaxed pose.

He tried to use this casual attitude to dilute the increasingly thick air of ambiguity in the room.

"Yes."

Su Muxue nodded.

Her gaze went slightly blank, as if she were sinking into some memory.

"Master must have noticed by now."

"I... am not as normal as I appear on the surface."

She gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Growing up, I was like a meticulously wrapped gift."

"Or... a specimen preserved in a jar of honey."

"Whether it was what I ate, wore, used, the schools I attended, the friends I made, or even my every word and action..."

"Everything was arranged to be flawless."

"My family treated me well, truly well."

"If I so much as frowned, they would bring the best things in the world to me."

"But I felt... like I was about to suffocate."

Her voice was very soft and calm.

But beneath that calm, there was a suppressed, startling despair.

"I was like a bird locked in a golden cage."

"Even though I had no worries about food or clothing, even though I was greatly pampered."

"I didn't know who I was."

"I couldn't even feel... that I was alive."

Huang Mao listened quietly.

He didn't interrupt, nor did he offer any cheap sympathy.

To ordinary people, these troubles of a wealthy young lady might seem like Versailles-style bragging.

But he could feel that Su Muxue's pain was real.

That emptiness after being overprotected and over-satisfied could indeed drive a person mad.

"Until... I saw Sister Qingxuan."

Su Muxue looked up, her eyes refocusing.

"Actually, I've known her for a long time."

"We often met at various banquets."

"Back then, she was just like me."

"Her eyes were dead, like an exquisite doll."

"Though we hadn't spoken much, I knew we were of the same kind."

"Both drowning in this hypocritical world, unable to find an exit."

Saying this, she leaned forward slightly.

Her gaze became burning.

"But when I met her today at noon."

"I was startled."

"Because she had changed."

"There was light in her eyes, emotions, even... the vividness of a 'human'."

"That change, to me, was nothing short of a miracle."

"I was thinking then, what exactly could make a pool of stagnant water flow again?"

Su Muxue looked at Huang Mao.

Her gaze was as focused as if she were looking at her only faith.

"Later, I found out."

"It was because of you."

"It was because she met you that she came back to life."

Huang Mao felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at like that.

He scratched his head.

"Um... aren't you making me out to be too divine?"

"I actually didn't do anything."

"Ultimately, it was she who wanted to change and took the most crucial step. At most, I just opened the door for her and threw in a few snarky remarks."

This was the truth.

He didn't think he had any savior aura.

Leng Qingxuan being able to come out of it was fundamentally because she still had the sparks of resistance in her heart.

"No."

Su Muxue shook her head, her tone exceptionally firm.

"A book I read said that 'fate' often arrives in an inadvertent moment."

"If things had followed their original trajectory."

"I might have continued to be numb, turning into a complete walking corpse."

"But today at noon, as if possessed, I called Sister Qingxuan back to the rooftop."

"And as if possessed, I made that ridiculous request to you."

"And you... agreed."

She stood up and walked toward Huang Mao step by step.

Then, under Huang Mao's shocked gaze.

She slowly crouched down.

Her hands rested lightly on Huang Mao's knees as she looked up at him.

That posture was humble to the point of being in the dust, yet devout to the extreme.

"For the old me, this kind of change was like a dream I didn't dare hope for."

"But now, I am standing here."

"In this room, on this real night."

"I feel it... my heart is beating."

"Because of fear, because of shame, and also because of... expectation."

The corners of her eyes were a bit moist, but her lips wore a satisfied smile.

"Master."

"You might think this is just a coincidence."

"But in my view."

"You... are my 'fate'."