Ding ding ding~
The familiar alarm sounded,
mingling with the morning sunlight, appearing together in a clean, tidy room faintly scented with a girl’s fragrance.
The moment the noisy alarm went off, a smooth, tender arm like jade-white lotus root decisively pressed it off.
Perhaps because of the emotional upheaval from yesterday’s Charm Demon Incident, Su Qi had fallen into a deep sleep, dozing off in a haze and sleeping soundly until 4 a.m.
After more than ten hours of sleep, Su Qi surprisingly felt quite refreshed this morning.
Although he had only eaten two bites of braised pork all day yesterday… no, more precisely, one and a half bites of braised pork, his lower abdomen was now completely empty, and his stomach let out a loud rumble of hunger.
But Su Qi did not immediately get up to cook. Instead, he opened his bright peach blossom eyes and stared up at the pure white ceiling, sinking into thought.
In fact, since waking up at 4 a.m., Su Qi had been repeating this action.
Why stare at an empty ceiling?
The reason was simple: a plain white surface made it easier to enter a thoughtful state.
After nearly three hours of morning contemplation, Su Qi finally reached a conclusion.
Freedom is precious; love is even more valuable; but when it comes to life, both can be sacrificed.
Although Su Qi adored the incredibly gentle Senior Sister Wen Yin next door,
thinking about his father’s Charm Demon Record, and considering that he was still so young—and might disappear in the future—then imagining how Wen Yin, unable to satisfy her desires, might fall into the same despair and eventually depression recorded in that history, giving up Wen Yin was unbearably painful.
But for Wen Yin’s sake, after a morning of reflection, Su Qi resolved to endure the pain and be the bad guy for the first time in his life by rejecting Wen Yin.
The moment he made this ruthless decision,
Su Qi felt an emptiness inside his heart, as if his small heart had skipped a beat.
Sensing the sadness creeping up within him, his heart began to ache.
He got up from the bed.
He already knew that the White Silk stockings had accidentally fallen off yesterday and remained off this morning.
But this time, Su Qi was far less flustered.
After all, Senior Lin Xue knew about his Su Wife Ability.
And now he needed to draw a clear boundary with Wen Yin.
Though the White Silk might make Wen Yin think he was strange or even a pervert,
as a boy, he needed the courage to make a decisive break.
Since the decision was made, it had to be so.
Silently comforting himself, Su Qi threw off the cool summer quilt covering him.
As the bedding slipped away, his skin, smooth as white jade, was exposed to the air, and the two soft mounds on his chest quivered excitedly and cutely.
Feeling the soft, springy rebound beneath his hands, although his Su Wife Ability had improved a whole level in one day, Su Qi was still unaccustomed to it, and a flush appeared on his pale, delicate face.
Suppressing the urge to play with them, Su Qi forced his gaze upward toward the wall clock.
It had just struck six o’clock, leaving two hours until school.
Looking over the collection of boys’ clothes in his room and the JK Uniform in his schoolbag,
Su Qi pondered briefly before choosing the latter.
Why choose the latter?
The reason was simple.
His Su Wife Ability had just upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2, requiring 10,000 experience points for the next upgrade—ten times more than before.
Having barely eaten all day yesterday, compared to the small experience gained by wearing female clothes,
Su Qi decided to wear the JK Uniform this morning, treat himself to a sumptuous meal, and bring a portion to his good brother and deskmate, Mo Yu.
After all, Mo Yu was always considerate enough to bring him meals.
And since something big had happened yesterday—though Su Qi couldn’t openly discuss the ability-related issues—he figured he could use abstract examples, like TV drama plots, to talk about his and Wen Yin’s unfair fate.
Su Qi believed that Mo Yu, with his personality even gentler than girls, would surely comfort him well.
Another reason was that wearing female clothes and activating his Su Wife Ability would strengthen his resolve.
A well-known opinion from the Adventurer Guild Forum said:
“Crossdressing is either a once-in-a-lifetime thing, or countless times.”
Su Qi gently opened his schoolbag and faced the JK Uniform left by his sister again.
Perhaps because of the recent frequent wearing of female clothes, compared to the usual shyness and embarrassment, Su Qi felt mostly familiarity mixed with a faint excitement.
Shaking his head to dispel the strange thoughts, he slowly took out the underwear.
Hmph~~~
Because Su Lulu was flat-chested, the originally petite A-size underwear now seemed a bit small for Su Qi after his ability upgrade.
Clasping the last hook with effort and feeling the tight squeeze on his chest, Su Qi let out a muffled grunt of discomfort.
Looks like it’s time to buy some new underwear when he had the chance.
After putting on the skirt and blouse, the room was suddenly filled with dazzling radiance.
In the next moment, Su Qi transformed once more—like Asuna—into a slender, beautiful girl with golden hair.
Feeling the lightness of his body and the faint scent of a young girl, Su Qi gently pushed open the bedroom door.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle~
Perhaps sensing Su Qi’s intent to eat, his empty stomach that had barely been fed yesterday growled like a fierce dragon.
Hearing the sound, Su Qi instinctively headed toward the kitchen.
Passing the living room coffee table, he noticed two sticky notes stuck on opposite sides of the table.
The left note was in the handwriting he knew so well—that of Senior Sister Wen Yin.
“Xiao Qi, I’ve already prepared your meal. There’s milk and bread in the fridge. Remember to eat later; don’t starve yourself. Although I don’t understand what’s happening to you, Xiao Qi, whatever happens, I will always be by your side.”
Though just a note with no life, it felt incredibly warm.
Seeing this note, Su Qi felt the resolve he had pondered over for three hours this morning begin to crack.
To steel his heart, he hurriedly tucked the warm note into the drawer and turned to the other.
Unlike Wen Yin’s neat handwriting, the other note’s script was somewhat abstract,
looking like the cute Huakang girls’ font often used in typing.
At a glance, Su Qi thought of Senior Lin Xue.
Reading the content made Su Qi’s delicate brows knit slightly.
“Su Qi Junior Schoolmate, I’ve decided: starting today, I’m going to officially pursue you. Also, about that day’s incident—it was purely an accident, don’t overthink it. Mua~~~”
Faced with this confession-like note so characteristic of Senior Lin Xue,
Su Qi felt complex emotions.
There was no excitement or nervousness typical of a confession.
Instead, recalling the interview content, he couldn’t help but suspect:
Could Senior Lin Xue, the Blood Empress Miss, be after his body?
Shaking his head, Su Qi put both troublesome sticky notes out of sight into the drawer.
He found an apron and started cooking.
As the dishes sizzled in the pan, releasing delicious aromas that filled the room, Su Qi’s mood improved considerably.
Since he planned to bring a meal to Mo Yu later, to disguise it as a Su Ji Bento and keep himself busy, Su Qi cooked four dishes that morning.
Rich tomato scrambled eggs with thick sauce—just a spoonful poured over rice was appetizing.
Crispy, golden fried pork in sweet and sour sauce that was crispy outside and tender inside.
Braised eggplant coated in rich chili oil.
And a fresh, sweet cold salad of romaine lettuce.
After enjoying these four dishes, Su Qi’s flat stomach was finally full again.
He packed the prepared dishes into disposable bento boxes.
Perhaps due to his recent frequent encounters with An Xiaoling, Senior Lin Xue, and Senior Sister Wen Yin, after packing the bento, Su Qi wrapped White Silk around his chest again and changed back into boys’ clothes.
Thinking about going to school later and chatting with his good brother without reservations, he felt a deep sense of relaxation.
Perhaps this was the ease and beauty of brotherhood.
But often, thoughts are beautiful while reality can be different.
When Su Qi eagerly arrived at the familiar Class 18, Year 2, waiting to feed his good brother, he found that familiar figure was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling puzzled, Su Qi opened Tencent and sent Mo Yu a message: “Where are you? I got you a super delicious bento today, you have to try it!” accompanied by a picture of the meal.
Originally, Su Qi was happily waiting for Mo Yu’s praise and reply.
After all, with Mo Yu’s gentle personality, he would surely express his liking happily upon receiving breakfast from Su Qi.
But after sending the message, Mo Yu’s Tencent avatar quickly showed “typing…”
Only one second passed… three seconds… a minute, yet the typing indicator remained.
Seeing this, Su Qi felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Had Mo Yu started typing but forgotten to send the message?
That couldn’t be.
His deskmate was usually very attentive and wouldn’t make such a careless mistake.
While Su Qi was still pondering, a message popped up in the chat box.
Reading it, Su Qi’s brows furrowed deeply, and a trace of worry appeared in his peach blossom eyes.
“Ah Qi, I’m really sorry. Relatives came over yesterday, and I twisted my ankle by accident. I probably can’t make it to school today.”