73: Chapter 73 A Late-Night Game Invitation

After finishing the leg massage service for An Ran, Huang Mao stretched his wrists and let out a sigh of relief.

Then, looking at the plate of fruit cut like a work of art, he casually speared a piece of apple and popped it into his mouth, crunching loudly.

The sweetness was just right, and it was plenty juicy.

Had Su Muxue actually reached such an impeccable level of skill even in picking fruit? Truly terrifying.

"Alright, the massage is done, and the fruit has been eaten. It's getting late, so everyone go back to your own rooms and find your own beds."

Huang Mao brushed the crumbs off his hands, stood up, and waved to the others on the sofa like a dorm warden doing a bed check.

"It's getting late. We still have classes tomorrow. Just hang in there for one last day; the weekend is the day after tomorrow."

An Ran was the first to jump up. Since she had just had her legs massaged, her movements were incredibly nimble.

"Got it! Great Landlord Huang! After that massage, I feel like I could run ten kilometers on the track tomorrow without even breaking a sweat."

She stretched carelessly, causing her oversized white T-shirt to pull taut, outlining a curve of invincible youth.

"I'm heading upstairs first. I'm definitely going to have a wonderful night's sleep tonight~"

With that, the girl dashed up the stairs, humming an unknown tune, clearly in an incredibly good mood.

Leng Qingxuan also stood up. She wasn't as outgoing as An Ran, so she just silently put the strawberry pillow back in its place.

As she passed by Huang Mao, she paused, her cold, clear eyes darting across his face with a hint of hesitation.

Her eyes held a lingering shyness that hadn't quite faded, which eventually turned into a subtle nod before she trotted upstairs with small, quick steps.

The living room instantly felt half-empty, with only Su Muxue left, gracefully cleaning up the remaining fruit peels and forks.

"Master, please go and rest first. Muxue will tidy this up a bit and then head up. It won't take long, please don't worry."

She always spoke so gently, even with a pleading tone that made it impossible to refuse, making Huang Mao feel like a hands-off boss.

"Alright, but don't stay up too late. You can leave this work for me to do tomorrow; don't really treat yourself like a full-time nanny."

Huang Mao gave her a reminder and then turned to go upstairs.

However, just as he reached the second-floor hallway and before he could even push open his master bedroom door, he heard a sound of light footsteps behind him.

Turning around, he saw that Su Muxue had actually finished cleaning up downstairs and had followed him up.

"Finished already? With your efficiency, it's a loss for the housekeeping world that you don't enter a housekeeping competition and bring home a gold medal."

"Though I don't know if such a competition even exists."

Huang Mao leaned against the doorframe, looking at the young girl standing in the shadows, his tone carrying a habitual tease.

Su Muxue stopped two steps away from him, hands folded in front of her, head slightly bowed, looking exceptionally well-behaved.

"It was just a simple cleanup, it was very quick. Master, um... you've been busy all day, you must be very tired, right?"

She looked up, her eyes flickering with a near-obsessive concern, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing the air in the hallway.

"Muxue was just thinking, if you don't mind, I could provide you with some soothing pre-sleep massage services."

"It's very helpful for deep sleep and can also relieve the pressure on your shoulders, especially since you just massaged Sister An Ran's legs earlier."

Hearing this, Huang Mao's mind involuntarily conjured up the image of the lap pillow service provided by those soft, warm thighs in the classroom before lunch, as well as the head massage provided by those slender little hands.

That feeling was truly beyond words, simply a treasure of human civilization, but he wasn't at the point of exhaustion just yet.

Moreover, Su Muxue had been busy all day, from transferring departments to giving him a lap pillow massage, to buying groceries on the way back, to dealing with Leng Qingxuan after returning, to cleaning up after dinner, cutting fruit, and cleaning up again...

She had been spinning around like a top; she was the one who needed to rest.

"Forget it, forget it. If you keep massaging, I'm afraid I'll just pass out tonight and skip class tomorrow."

Huang Mao smiled gently.

"Besides, you were the one who worked the hardest today, helping me out of a tight spot and guiding Qingxuan."

"The most important thing for you to do now is to go back to your room, take a hot shower, and then crawl into bed and have a wonderful sleep, got it?"

As he spoke, Huang Mao looked at her slightly awkward appearance and inexplicably felt the illusion that he was raising an obedient daughter.

On an impulse, he reached out and, as if patting the gentle big yellow dog next door back home, lightly ruffled Su Muxue's soft, long hair.

"Go on back. Good night, all-capable maid-san, see you tomorrow."

In that instant, Su Muxue seemed to have been hit with a pause button, her body visibly stiffening, unable to move.

Her breathing stopped completely at that moment, and her originally fair neck flushed with an alluring crimson at an alarming speed.

That sensation, warm and solid, carrying an unquestionable indulgence, pierced straight through all her psychological defenses.

Ecstasy and a near-obsessive emotion exploded wildly in the depths of her pupils, like silent fireworks ignited in the deep sea.

She had never been treated like this before. This unequal intimacy, tinged with the flavor of a superior, was simply her supreme reward.

But she quickly snapped out of it, suddenly lowering her head, her long hair falling down to cover her face, which was already burning up.

"Um... Muxue understands. Good night, Master, sweet dreams."

Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's hum, even carrying a hint of imperceptible trembling, and then she fled quickly like a startled rabbit.

The door closed with a "click," the movement so hurried it was as if there were wolves chasing her, leaving Huang Mao alone in the hallway, bewildered.

Huang Mao withdrew his hand, scratching his head in confusion, looking at the tightly closed door, and muttered to himself:

"This reaction... is she shy? Can she actually be shy?"

"Good grief, looks like my random head pat just happened to unlock some hidden CG."

He chuckled and shook his head, not thinking too deeply about it.

Meanwhile, inside Su Muxue's room, the atmosphere was completely different.

She leaned her back against the door panel, her body slowly sliding down until she collapsed onto the thick carpet, gasping for air.

She raised her hand, trembling as she covered the spot where Huang Mao had touched her, where the lingering warmth of his palm seemed to remain.

An extreme sense of happiness overwhelmed her, and a somewhat distorted, yet purely ultimate smile appeared on her face.

"I was patted on the head... Master touched me on his own initiative, not because he needed service, but because he cares about me..."

She whispered, her eyes unfocused, like a believer who had received a divine revelation, the whole person falling into a morbid state of excitement.

"As long as I keep working hard, as long as I become even more indispensable, Master will definitely give me more... right?"

...

On the other side, Huang Mao returned to his master bedroom, locked the door behind him, and let out a long breath, finally back in the safe zone.

"Three women make a play; the ancients did not deceive me. Being this NPC is more tiring than being the protagonist; my CPU is about to smoke."

While grumbling, he walked into the en-suite bathroom, took a quick shower, and washed away his exhaustion and all those messy thoughts.

Changing into a thin and loose gray pajama set, Huang Mao sat down at his computer and skillfully pressed the power button on the main unit.

"An Ran's legs have been massaged, Su Muxue has been handled, and Leng Qingxuan's knot has been untied. Surely it should be quiet tonight now, right?"

Watching the screen light up, he calculated that tonight he would dominate in the game and vent all the little frustrations from the day.

However, just as he was about to log into his account, the phone on the desk suddenly vibrated, and the screen lit up.

A message from a social app popped up, and the sender was none other than: Leng Qingxuan.

Huang Mao raised an eyebrow, his heart skipping a beat. This Iceberg Campus Belle wasn't sleeping in the middle of the night, what kind of trouble was she planning to stir up now?

Opening it, the content was quite simple, but between the lines, there was a sense of bashfulness and reliance that he never saw on ordinary days.

"Huang Mao, are you asleep? I still can't sleep right now, and my mind is a bit of a mess."

"If it's not too much trouble, can I come to your room for a while? We can play games together, or... just chat."

Huang Mao looked at this message, his finger hovering over the screen, falling into a tactical silence for three seconds.

He felt that this woman didn't have good intentions; it wouldn't be as simple as she said.

But on second thought, Leng Qingxuan had indeed suffered quite a bit of stimulation today.

Although she looked quite normal downstairs earlier, now that it was deep in the night, her emotional side must have taken the high ground again.

"Forget it, help someone to the end. If I refuse, she'll probably be there doubting herself until dawn."

Huang Mao sighed and replied: "Alright, I'll unlock the door for you; just come over and open it."

After sending the message, he got up and walked to the door, unlocked the door he had just locked, and then sat back down in front of the computer to wait.

Less than a minute later, extremely light footsteps could be heard outside the door, and then the door was pushed open a crack.

Leng Qingxuan poked half of her little head in, her big eyes scanning the room, and after confirming there was no one else, she slipped inside.

Huang Mao turned his head, just about to say hello, but when his gaze swept over her, he froze in place, almost dropping his mouse.

This girl was wearing that oversized black T-shirt again.

"You... why are you wearing this again?"

Huang Mao helplessly put a hand to his forehead; this familiar "crime outfit" gave him an extremely strong, ominous premonition.

Leng Qingxuan tugged at her hem in a slightly awkward manner, her eyes darting away, muttering softly: "This one is comfortable... it gives me a sense of security."

"You seemed to say the same thing last time."

"So that just proves I wasn't lying."

"Well, that's... but in that case, wasn't your new pajama set a waste of money?"

"I'll wear it later. It won't go bad just sitting there, and my body won't change anymore anyway."

As she spoke, she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed behind Huang Mao, bringing with her a faint, cool breeze mixed with the scent of shampoo that was refreshing.

Huang Mao looked at her and sighed.

He closed the door, but this time, he kept his wits about him and deliberately didn't lock it.

According to the old tropes of those romance anime, as long as he didn't lock the door, if Leng Qingxuan wanted to cause trouble later, someone would surely come knocking to interrupt the spell.

An Ran or Su Muxue, either one would do, and then he would be saved.