After returning home on her old, worn-out bicycle, Su Yao locked it beneath her apartment building and hurried upstairs.
Every person she passed was met with the same routine—she’d avoid eye contact and quickly detour around them.
She hadn’t always been this wary.
But ever since that strange dream, her sensitivity to people had sharpened unnaturally.
As she passed by the apartment below hers, she heard the couple living there arguing again.
She was used to it by now.
Ever since they’d moved in, shouting had become a staple noise.
The man was barely ever home, sometimes gone for days.
Su Yao had even seen the woman sneak other men in before their child was born.
Now that the kid was around, the arguments had only grown more frequent.
But… other people’s messes weren’t her concern. She pretended not to notice, just like always.
The moment she opened her own door, a quiet, empty apartment greeted her.
The place wasn’t large, but even with all the furniture, it somehow still felt devoid of life.
Maybe it was because she barely used any of the space.
Locking the door behind her, Su Yao took off her wig and threw it on the couch.
With both hands, she loosened the tightly bound hair underneath to let her scalp breathe.
Her own hair, plus the heat of the wig, combined with the bike ride home, had left her sweating buckets.
Scratching at her scalp, she caught a whiff of her hand.
“Ugh. Not pleasant.”
Collapsing onto the couch, she let her body go slack, the weight of the day sinking in.
She wasn’t sleepy yet—it was still early—but she had to shower.
A few minutes later, she grabbed some fresh clothes from the wardrobe and stepped into the bathroom.
Stripping off her clothes in quick, practiced motions, she tested the water.
Satisfied with the temperature, she stepped under the spray.
The hot water cascaded down her soft chest, sending a shivering, tingly feeling through her body.
Su Yao shuddered—if she had to describe it, it felt like that involuntary jolt after letting go during a long bathroom break.
Instinctively, she squeezed her legs together and wrapped her arms around her chest—only to find that the motion triggered another layer of unexpected sensation.
“Mmm…”
Steam filled the bathroom, painting everything in misty white.
Su Yao let her arms drop and began shampooing her long, soaked hair with slow, practiced movements.
When she finally opened the bathroom door, a wave of warm fog billowed out into the apartment.
She stepped out, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs—her clean clothes had gotten damp from the steam and were now unwearable.
Feeling a sudden chill creep down her spine, she rushed to her bedroom and quickly threw on her pajamas.
Sitting on the bed, she spaced out for a moment.
These pajamas used to be a little tight, but now they were slightly loose.
Her gaze drifted to the outfit she had worn earlier—a sailor uniform that she had yet to put away.
Su Yao pursed her soft, pink lips, then carefully hung the blouse on a hanger in the wardrobe and folded the pleated skirt, placing it into the drawer below.
Lying on her bed again, she idly picked up her phone, intent on just lurking through some QQ group chats—maybe eavesdrop on Beizhi’s guild drama.
But a pop-up message caught her attention.
“You have received a 100 RMB donation.”
Her eyes lit up.
“One hundred yuan?! Holy crap!”
It might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but for Su Yao, who usually only received a trickle of small donations, this was a windfall.
Someone had liked her story enough to donate this much?
“What a kind soul…”
Riding the high, she immediately opened her writing app and checked the comment section.
Sure enough, there it was.
She bounced up on the bed with glee, arms in the air, silently cheering before falling back onto the mattress with a soft pomf.
That donation wasn’t just money. It was validation.
Still buzzing, Su Yao shakily typed out a private message to the donor.
“Hello! Thank you so much for your generous tip!”
She expected a delayed reply—it was a fresh-looking account, after all—but the response came instantly:
“I really love your story.”
Su Yao bit her lip, her heart fluttering with joy. She couldn’t help but giggle aloud. She kept chatting with this mysterious benefactor, diving into plot points, character arcs, and the subtle yuri tension between her leads. The longer they talked, the more she felt like she’d found a kindred spirit.
“Honestly, your writing’s amazing. Not like me—I can’t write like that at all.”
“Haha, not at all~ It’s just average, really~”
“Would you teach me then, Big Bun-sensei?”
“Ah, I’m not really good at teaching people…”
“You have received a 100 RMB donation!”
“You know what? I think I can try!” 😅
Money may not buy happiness…
But it sure makes convincing someone to teach you a lot easier.
The reality of online donations was cruel—each 100 yuan tip only netted the author about 50 yuan after platform cuts.
But two donations?
That meant Su Yao had just earned a full hundred.
And judging by how casually the other party was tossing around money, this was no ordinary fan.
Money…
It wasn’t like Su Yao was obsessed with it, but she also wasn’t stupid. If something legal and safe could earn her money, why wouldn’t she do it?
Besides, if all they wanted was beginner writing guidance—well, Su Yao had no shortage of failure-earned experience to share from her years of being a nobody in the webnovel scene.
「Mm-hmm, thank you Teacher Mantou! Can we add each other on QQ?」
「Sure!」
Private messaging was fine and all, but it wasn’t convenient—no emoji packs, no interface comfort.
Su Yao wasn’t built for raw-text chats.
She entered the account ID and was greeted by a minimalist, black-and-white profile photo of what looked like… a symbolic twig?
The profile claimed they were 100 years old and born in the Pacific Ocean.
Clearly nonsense.
But the user’s level suggested it wasn’t a burner account.
The nickname was just a string of English letters—nothing identifying.
Request accepted. Within seconds, a message came in.
「Mantou-dada, are you a girl?」
Su Yao’s heart skipped a beat. Her fingers slipped.
「Nto a girl」
(Not a girl… great typo.)
Not seeing a reply, she panicked and immediately sent a follow-up:
「I mean, I’m not a girl. Who would pick a nickname like mine if they were?」
「Haha, true.」
The reply came with a fat seagull emoji staring into your soul.
Somehow… intimidating.
Su Yao’s ears were burning.
She bit her lower lip and started typing a message—only to backspace it all at once.
I don’t need to explain anything. I really am a guy.
「Teacher Mantou, can you teach me how to write?」
「How about you try writing a short scene first?」
It seemed like the other party had no intention of pushing the gender question further.
Su Yao exhaled in relief.
Since they were sincere about wanting to learn, she’d give it her all.
***
In an upscale apartment in H City, Mu Nanqiu sat on the couch with a gentle smile.
As she typed on her phone, her expression remained amused.
She stared at the screen, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.
Ding~
The food delivery had arrived.
Mu Beizhi dashed to the door, tipped the delivery guy to take out the trash, and set the takeout on the table.
She then picked up her phone and sent a message to “I Love White Steamed Buns.”
「Come help me farm dungeons later.」
「Uh… sorry, I’m busy right now…」
Mu Beizhi frowned.
Her plan was to groom Su Yao into her exclusive pocket healer.
A true boss needed a loyal pocket healer!
「Busy with what?」
「Just… busy. Sorry…」
「Fine, later then.」
「Yeah, I’ll message you when I’m free!」
Tch.
So annoying. Didn’t want to play with her?
With a puff of indignation, Mu Beizhi turned to call her sister for dinner—only to find Mu Nanqiu on QQ, smiling at her screen like a lovestruck schoolgirl.
Mu Beizhi shivered.
What was going on today?
Curious, she tiptoed closer, trying to sneak a peek—but Mu Nanqiu casually reached over and covered her eyes with one hand.
“Sis, who’re you chatting with?”
“None of your business.”
Mu Nanqiu’s tone was icy.
She stood, pocketed her phone, and sat down to eat. Mu Beizhi pouted in offense.
She’s totally in love, isn’t she?
Why was everyone around her falling in love lately?
Love couldn’t hold a candle to video games! She’d tried dating guys before—hated it.
Tried dating girls—less disgusting, but still boring.
After a few kisses and some boob-grabbing, it all just felt stale.
Games were better. Always.
Nanqiu’s in love. Wang Jing seemed obsessed with that new junior.
Even Mantou seemed to have a girlfriend now.
And who knew what chaos Flower-sis was cooking up?
“Hey! Sis, why are you eating both portions?!”
As Beizhi sulked, Nanqiu calmly dumped two meals into one container and ate with quiet elegance.
“I assumed you weren’t hungry.”
“…”
So cruel!
After a few bites, Nanqiu casually handed over the leftovers to her sister.
What were sisters for, if not to eat your scraps?
Returning to her room, Nanqiu opened her laptop.
She quickly outlined a rough plot, then began writing in a new document.
Forty minutes later—3,000 words, done.
Then came the hard part: making her normally polished writing worse on purpose.
She had to disguise her identity.
She couldn’t just drop a 90-point masterpiece on Su Yao.
The kid would get suspicious.
Downgrading the prose to a barely-passing level was pure torture for someone with her literary skill—especially someone known as the goddess of the Literature Department.
Half an hour later, she was finally satisfied.
She cleaned up the document and sent it to Su Yao.
Then she opened her phone’s gallery.
Staring at a photo of a delicate, stunning girl, her lips curled into a playful smirk.
“Don’t blame me for this, okay~”
Holy shit. She’s really obsessed with Su Yao…
Thanks for the chapter!