74: Chapter 74 I've thought enough.

The room was so quiet that only the faint humming of the computer case fan remained.

Even that tiny buzzing of electricity seemed exceptionally piercing at this very moment.

Huang Mao sat in his gaming chair, mouse in hand, his gaze fixed on the screen, but his focus had long since drifted elsewhere.

On the screen was one of those incredibly boring "donkey hoof trimming" ASMR videos, but he watched it as if he were studying national secrets, his brows furrowed as if the secrets of the universe were hidden in that donkey's hoof.

Behind him, the edge of the bed sank slightly.

That was where Leng Qingxuan was sitting.

She hadn't said much since she came in, and this silence was like a water-absorbing sponge, slowly sucking the air out of the room.

Huang Mao felt a chill down his back, as if he were being targeted by some infrared laser.

He glanced at the time in the bottom right corner out of the corner of his eye.

Only three minutes had passed.

These three minutes felt even longer than a professional course he had to endure at school.

Leng Qingxuan sat on the edge of the bed, her two slender calves dangling, the hem of his black T-shirt just covering the tops of her thighs, revealing a long stretch of skin so white it was dazzling.

She was looking at her phone.

The light from the screen illuminated her face, which was excessively exquisite, her eyelashes trembling slightly, yet her expression carried an indescribable detachment.

She lit up the screen, took a look, and turned it off.

A few seconds later, she lit it up again, took another look, and turned it off again.

It was as if she were waiting for some kind of verdict, or perhaps giving herself some kind of countdown psychological cue.

Finally, she placed the phone face down beside her and took a deep breath, the oversized T-shirt rising and falling with her movement.

"Um..."

Her voice wasn't loud, carrying a hint of a nasal tone from having just cried, soft and sweet, unlike the unattainable Iceberg Campus Belle she usually was.

The mouse in Huang Mao's hand clicked.

Here it comes.

This kind of opening usually isn't followed by nonsense like "The moonlight is beautiful tonight," but rather some kind of heavy-duty bombshell.

He quickly adjusted his expression.

"What's up? Ready to start a match?"

"Of course, I mean the game."

As Huang Mao spoke, he picked up the phone lying on the table very naturally, his fingers swiping quickly across the screen.

"I just happened to pull a pretty nice character skin, and I wanted to see how it feels."

"I'm not playing."

Leng Qingxuan didn't pick up her phone, but spoke again just a second before Huang Mao could tap on the team competitive mobile game.

She looked at Huang Mao quietly, then stood up, her bare feet stepping on the floor, and walked to his side step by step.

"Tonight... I don't want to play games."

She shook her head gently, her distinct black and white eyes filled with an unspeakable meaning.

"I... want to talk to you."

Huang Mao's hand holding the phone froze in mid-air.

That rejection was a bit too blunt.

He looked at Leng Qingxuan's face so close to his; there was no hint of joking on it, only a heart-stopping seriousness.

"Alright then."

Huang Mao sighed, threw the phone back onto the table, and casually turned his gaming chair to face her completely.

"Since you don't want to play games, let's switch to 'Late Night Emotional Radio' mode."

"Go ahead, still upset about that nonsense on the forum?"

He tried to make his tone sound relaxed and casual, as if he were coaxing a child who had lost their candy.

Leng Qingxuan didn't reply immediately.

She retreated and sat back down on the edge of the bed.

This time, her posture was even more reserved.

Her legs were pressed tightly together, her hands folded uneasily on her knees, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of that black T-shirt, crumpling the smooth fabric.

"Although... although Su Muxue told me quite a bit before dinner, and I know I shouldn't be so sensitive."

She lowered her head, her voice very soft, as if she were talking to herself while looking at the floor.

"But, when I was alone in the room just now, that feeling came back."

"That feeling... as if I could be abandoned at any moment, as if I could become a burden at any moment, and then be hated by you."

At this point, her shoulders trembled slightly.

That fear wasn't faked; it was a sequela deeply rooted in her oppressive original family.

If she did even the slightest thing wrong, she would be blamed and strictly corrected.

Such psychological trauma could not be completely eradicated in a short time.

"Huang Mao, do you know?"

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes slightly red, her gaze carrying a sense of broken vulnerability.

"To me, this home is absolutely not just a place to sleep."

"In my original home, even if I closed the door, I had to be on constant guard against someone suddenly bursting in to criticize my posture, read my diary, or pick apart my clothes."

Her voice began to tremble, carrying a hint of long-suppressed sobbing.

"But here, with you..."

"This is the first place in my life where I can truly drop all my pretenses and defenses in front of someone else."

Huang Mao listened quietly, the smile on his face gradually fading.

He had originally thought Leng Qingxuan was just simply lacking a sense of security, but the weight of these words obviously exceeded his expectations.

"And..."

Leng Qingxuan paused, her gaze locked tightly on Huang Mao's face.

"The reason this place is special, the reason it makes me feel safe..."

"Is not because how good the house is, nor because how soft the bed here is."

"It is all because... you are here."

As soon as these words came out, the air in the room instantly became thick.

It was as if someone had poured a jar of honey into the air—sweet, heavy, making it hard to breathe.

The fan of the computer case was still humming, but to Huang Mao's ears, it sounded like the echo of a heartbeat.

He looked at Leng Qingxuan in front of him.

She was wearing his clothes, sitting on his bed, in the middle of the night, baring the most hidden corners of her heart to him.

This atmosphere was too dangerous.

Ambiguity and seriousness were intertwined, like a dense net that was slowly tightening.

At this moment, any wisecracks or jokes would seem extremely inappropriate, or even a cruel injury.

Huang Mao chose silence.

He just watched her intently, the usual playfulness gone from his eyes, leaving only a rare gravity.

He keenly sensed that what Leng Qingxuan said next might change something completely.

Leng Qingxuan seemed to sense his seriousness as well.

This silence didn't make her feel awkward; instead, it gave her some inexplicable encouragement.

She took a deep breath, as if she wanted to replace all the air in her chest.

Then, she raised her head.

Her eyes, usually as cold as frost, were now like melting spring water, shimmering and reflecting Huang Mao's figure.

"Huang Mao..."

She called his name, her voice as light as a feather landing on the tip of his heart.

"Everything I've done, everything up until now..."

"Running to find you because of a few simple exchanges and joking promises, staying at your house and refusing to leave,"

"And everything that followed,"

"Even... even those ridiculous things I did last night."

At this point, her cheeks uncontrollably flushed with a layer of red, but her eyes didn't dodge in the slightest.

"Acting so obviously... you should have sensed it long ago, right?"

This was a probe.

It was also a final confirmation.

She was gambling, gambling that Huang Mao wasn't truly a blockhead, gambling that under his "NPC" facade, he had actually seen through everything long ago.

Huang Mao didn't answer immediately.

He looked at Leng Qingxuan's eyes, full of expectation and a hint of fear, and sighed inwardly.

It seemed the act of playing dumb was no longer viable.

He had indeed sensed it long ago.

He wasn't really a fool.

The reason he hadn't made it clear, keeping this delicate balance, was nothing more than because...

It was trouble.

Once this layer of window paper was poked through, all the things that would follow would be truly too troublesome.

He just wanted to be a quiet landlord and live a comfortable little life.

But now, looking at Leng Qingxuan's "if you don't say it, I'll cry for you to see" stance, he knew he couldn't dodge it anymore.

Silence.

A long silence.

In this silence, the light in Leng Qingxuan's eyes didn't fade; instead, it grew brighter and brighter.

Because she understood.

This tacit consent was the best answer.

As long as he didn't deny it, that was an admission.

This instead gave her a kind of courage to burn her bridges.

Since you know, and since you didn't refuse, why should I hide it?

The long-suppressed emotion in her heart was like a volcano about to erupt, and it could no longer be contained.

"Hoo..."

Leng Qingxuan let out a long breath, as if she wanted to exhale all her worries.

She straightened her back, no longer twisting the hem of her clothes, but supported herself on the edge of the bed with both hands, her body leaning slightly forward.

"Huang Mao, I like you."

The moment these words were spoken, it was as if a thunderbolt had struck the room.

There were no flowery words, no winding build-up.

It was just so direct, so fierce, so... earth-shattering.

"It's not the kind of liking between friends, nor is it a tenant's reliance on a landlord."

Although her voice carried a hint of trembling, every word was incredibly clear, nailing into Huang Mao's eardrums like nails.

"I want to be your girlfriend."

"I want to... become the true lady of this house."

A direct pitch.

A super direct pitch.

It was the kind that just swings the bat directly at Huang Mao's face.

Although Huang Mao had been mentally prepared, hearing these words actually come out of Leng Qingxuan's mouth still made his head buzz.

Isn't this progress bar moving a bit too fast?

Still playing with ambiguity yesterday, and today it's fast-forwarded straight to staking a claim?

He looked at the girl in front of him with burning eyes, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Touched? Definitely.

After all, being confessed to by a Campus Belle of this level, any man's vanity would explode.

But more than that, it was a rational worry.

"Leng Qingxuan..."

Huang Mao finally spoke.

His voice was steady, without a hint of panic.

"This is not a small matter."

He looked at her, his eyes gentle but serious, as if he were teaching an impulsive student.

"Matters of the heart cannot rely on a moment of impulse."

"You were triggered today, your emotions are volatile, and combined with this late-night atmosphere, it's very easy to mistake reliance and gratitude for liking."

"I think you should think about it carefully again. When you calm down and your rationality returns, we can talk about this topic again."

This was the safest way to handle it.

Pouring cold water, a delaying tactic.

As long as tonight passed, and her heat of the moment faded, this matter would be easier to handle.

However, he underestimated Leng Qingxuan's determination.

Or rather, he underestimated the energy this girl erupted with when facing love.

"No."

Leng Qingxuan interrupted him almost immediately.

That "No" was said with ironclad certainty, without the slightest hesitation.

"The one who should be thinking carefully is you."

She stared at Huang Mao, her eyes unprecedentedly serious, as if she had become a different person.

"Do you think I only figured this out today?"

"Do you think I ran into your room on a whim?"

She shook her head, the corners of her mouth curling into a self-deprecating yet stubborn arc.

"I figured it out long ago."

"From the moment I decided to run away from home and dragged my suitcase out the door..."

"No, even from earlier."

"After school that day, when I found your doorstep in such a sorry state based on the address you sent me."

"The moment I knocked on the door and saw that it was really you who opened it..."

Her voice became soft, yet carried an unquestionable power.

"I knew I was done for."

"That was love at first sight, that was... what they call love at first sight."

At this point, she stood up abruptly from the edge of the bed.

The oversized black T-shirt swayed with her movement, revealing a pair of straight, slender legs.

She didn't step back; instead, she took a step forward.

This step directly crossed the boundary between the two of them known as "safe distance."

She closed in on Huang Mao, looking down at him as he sat in the chair.

In those beautiful eyes, two flames of burning bridges were blazing.

It was a determination to burn herself out if necessary, just to get a response.

"I have already gone through layer after layer of trials, and I have endured countless times of self-doubt."

"I even have to face the competition from that childhood sweetheart, An Ran, and that all-around monster, Su Muxue."

"I have thought about it enough, so much that my brain feels like it's going to explode."

She lowered her head, her exquisite face less than ten centimeters away from Huang Mao's.

Their breaths intertwined.

Hot air washed over his face.

"Now, I don't want to 'think about it more'."

"Huang Mao, I only want to hear your reply now."