25: Chapter 25 All are barren buddies

"He's actually a warm guy—" Jiang Bai covered her mouth and chuckled.

Su Ye didn't hear this. If he had, he definitely would have jumped three feet in the air. The main reason was that Jiang Bai's remark was a bit harsh; nowadays, being called a "warm guy" was ranked even lower than being called a dog.

After washing up, Jiang Bai ate the multigrain porridge Su Ye had made while opening her phone. The first message was a WeChat from Su Ye, saying he had gone to Edir Gym and telling Jiang Bai to make herself at home, just remembering to close the door when she left.

"I felt his physique was pretty good last night. Looks like it's the result of working out—"

Jiang Bai rolled her bright, spirited eyes, feeling more and more interested in Su Ye. She had originally decided to leave after cleaning up once she finished her breakfast—or rather, lunch—but now she wasn't in such a rush.

For people to fall in love, to be realistic, it's because the other person can provide value. Whether it's looks, physique, emotional support, or money and power, they are all just forms of value. In Jiang Bai's eyes, Su Ye was undoubtedly a gold mine of immense value.

A mysterious background, one-in-a-ten-thousand looks, a top-tier physique, and the ability to provide emotional value—honestly, in today's society, if someone possessed even two of these, they would be considered a hot commodity. Su Ye possessed all four.

At 12:30, after finishing his nutritional meal at Edir Gym, Su Ye strolled back home. He paused as soon as he reached the door because it wasn't shut, but left ajar. Opening the door, he found the entire apartment had been tidied up. As a man, although Su Ye was generally clean, his place would inevitably get a bit cluttered; as long as it wasn't unbearable, he would just make do.

"This Jiang Bai is actually quite interesting. She cleaned the place, but didn't close the door."

Su Ye muttered as he changed into his slippers. He wasn't stupid; the current state of his home couldn't possibly be the work of some Thumbelina. The only person who could have cleaned it was Jiang Bai. As for the door being left ajar, it wasn't a big deal. First of all, ordinary people couldn't get into this high-end residential complex, and there was surveillance in the hallway. Even if it hadn't been closed, the building manager would have noticed and come to help close it soon enough.

He casually took off his quick-dry t-shirt and held it in his hand, planning to toss it into the washing machine later. His robust pectoral muscles and eight well-defined abdominal muscles were exposed to the air. After all, he hadn't finished working out long ago, and since the air conditioning wasn't on, it was still quite hot inside.

He casually used the quick-dry shirt to wipe off the sweat he'd worked up on the way back from Edir Gym and walked inside. As soon as he passed the hallway, Su Ye froze in his tracks. Jiang Bai was currently bent over, wiping the dining table. Su Ye hadn't noticed her earlier because she'd been blocked by the wall. Su Ye couldn't help but step back a little. It wasn't for any other reason, but Jiang Bai's current posture was a bit alluring; her rounded, pert buttocks, outlined by her jeans, felt a bit tempting.

"Su Ye, you're back? I stayed in your place and ate your food, so I just tidied up for you on the way. Look—"

Jiang Bai heard the noise behind her and stood up, turning around to look. She saw Su Ye's powerful, wild, and striking upper body, and her mind instantly went blank.

"Uh, I'm going to go take a shower."

Su Ye and Jiang Bai were silent for a few seconds. Su Ye covered his upper body with the quick-dry shirt and then hurried toward his room with his head down.

It was several seconds after Su Ye disappeared that Jiang Bai finally came to her senses. Her mind was still filled with the image of Su Ye's bare upper body, and her fair little face was now as red as a ripe apple.

"He—he has such a good physique?"

Jiang Bai slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down, pouring herself a glass of water. She held the glass in her right hand and pressed it against her burning face.

More than ten minutes passed before she heard the sound of a door opening, and she instinctively stood up in a hurry.

Su Ye's neat, cropped hair was half-dry. This was one of Su Ye's little habits: unless he was going to sleep immediately, he wouldn't use a hairdryer, usually letting his hair air dry instead. As for why he developed this habit, it was mainly because his mom thought hairdryers damaged hair quality.

Actually, Su Ye had finished showering five minutes ago, but he felt a bit awkward about coming out. However, that guy Li Yi had already sent several text messages, so Su Ye had no choice but to put on a slightly loose white T-shirt and a pair of light gray casual shorts before walking out.

"Uh—" "Uh—" Su Ye and Jiang Bai spoke in unison, both taken aback.

"You go first—" "You go first—" Once again, they spoke in unison, and Jiang Bai couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Alright, alright, you go first."

Feeling the awkward atmosphere dissipate, Su Ye said, "It's nothing really. I just have plans to meet up with my Sister-in-law to pick out some clothes later. I was wondering if you're free and if you'd like to join. I'm also planning to treat you to a meal to thank you for helping me clean up today."

After her spirited eyes darted around, Jiang Bai said somewhat playfully, "Su Ye, are you planning to take me on a date?"

Su Ye was taken aback by Jiang Bai's words. Heavens, he swore! Yesterday, Su Ye had already decided not to eat this tender grass right next to his nest. He really, truly just intended to treat Jiang Bai to a meal.

"That's not it at all. We're just buddies, for f***'s sake. It's just a simple meal."

"Just—just buddies?" Watching Su Ye wave his hand dismissively as he said this, Jiang Bai felt that this was the first time in her life she had ever heard someone say that.

'I, Jiang Bai—172cm tall with long legs, 36D, fair-skinned, beautiful, and elegant, three-time consecutive campus beauty—am just a buddy to you, Su Ye? Am I stupid, or are you just dense? I, Jiang Bai, have been so proactive, yet you're still playing dumb. Don't I have any pride?'

Watching Jiang Bai, who had stormed off with her little bag for some unknown reason, Su Ye was left completely bewildered.

"No, is she crazy? Even someone learning face-changing wouldn't be this fast. Besides, I don't plan on eating the grass right next to my nest, so what's wrong with just being buddies? Most importantly—you're still wearing my little pink slippers, hey!"

Li Yi held a Starbucks cup in his hand, watching the indignant Su Ye opposite him, his expression extremely strained as he held back laughter.

Su Ye said helplessly, "If you want to laugh, just laugh."

"Pfft—wahahahaha, ahahahahaha, just buddies, for f***'s sake, wahahahaha, bang! Bang! Bang!"

Su Ye watched the customers around them turning their heads to look, and said helplessly to Li Yi, who was laughing and pounding the table like a madman, "Alright now, the table is innocent. Let it go. ╮(╯▽╰)╭"

Li Yi wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, then shoved the Starbucks cup toward Su Ye, saying breathlessly, "Come... come on, let me interview you... how did you think to say, 'just—hahaha, just buddies, for f***'s sake'? Are you brain-dead or something?"