“I’m only letting you on my bed for the sake of your health. Is your head filled with nothing but that kind of stuff and romance?”
She stiffened her neck and gave his shin a light kick.
“Isn’t yours too, Xi’er?”
Jiang Xiao didn’t sound like he was questioning her; he spoke with the tone of someone just making small talk.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu was choked up again.
She was on the verge of a breakdown. “Fine, I admit it. If I were in your position, I’d be the same. I might not even have your level of self-control.”
“So you still dare to let me on your—”
Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly.
Before he could finish, Song Qiuyu interrupted, “Anyway, I’m soft all over. Even if you get on my bed, the worst-case scenario is just that. Consider it compensation. So what?”
“Is that so?”
“Don’t laugh! I’m talking to you seriously.”
“I know. Next time, I’ll remember to get on.”
“Why does that sound so ambiguous?”
“Does it?”
“The ambiguity is as big as the entire universe, okay!”
After much back-and-forth, they finally managed to end the topic. They met up with the others, and after eating breakfast in the dining area, everyone sat down to start editing the video.
However, just as Jiang Xiao expected, the editing speed for the promotional video was unusually fast. With the buff of a professional team, they finished the editing in just over half a day.
Once the two clients confirmed it, they uploaded it to Douyin as a collaboration video and waited for it to pass review.
Because it was finished so quickly, the four members of 602 Dormitory didn’t quite feel like the task was completed yet. Instead, they opened up their game and started playing as a team.
Aider joined them as well.
However, now that the holidays had started, all sorts of monsters and ghosts appeared in the game. Sometimes, the opponents they matched with didn’t even seem human.
For example, someone sent messages every single round filled with foul language, clearly targeting them. But once the game ended, this person actually tried to add them as a friend. After the request was accepted, the first thing the person said was:
“My rental apartment really has a lot of cockroaches, but I don’t know many mamas. Mama, mama, mama, carry me! I’ll give you a little flower!”
Yes, they weren’t playing CS today; they were playing Valorant.
The person being called “Mama” was naturally Song Qiuyu, who had been egged on to turn on her microphone.
Song Qiuyu’s evaluation of this was that if someone wanted to add a friend, they should just do it—there was no need for all these theatrics. He truly was a Valorant Junior.
The Go Senior of their five-man group continued his deep undercover mission.
They played while complaining, picking up countless “sons” who had supposedly wandered far from home along the way.
They played until 10:00 PM, when Song Qiuyu was suddenly taken out by a sharp abdominal pain.
“Ugh…”
Song Qiuyu clutched her stomach and went to the men’s toilet, pulling down her trousers.
Sure enough, the sanitary pad she had prepared in advance had blocked the relative’s surprise attack.
She sighed, lamenting how difficult it was to be a girl. After fixing her clothes, she walked out of the stall.
As soon as she exited the men’s toilet, she saw Jiang Xiao standing guard at the door.
“Is it that time?”
Jiang Xiao turned to look at her and spoke.
Song Qiuyu nodded.
“How about you find an excuse to go home early?” Jiang Xiao suggested after a moment of thought.
Song Qiuyu was moved by the suggestion. Going home early might indeed be better; that way, she wouldn’t have to worry about being discovered. But she didn’t want to leave so soon. Once she went back, she would be all alone.
“Should I walk you back to your room to rest first?” Jiang Xiao asked when he saw her hesitating.
Song Qiuyu rubbed the center of her lower abdomen, which was still throbbing with pain, and could only nod again.
After returning to the room, Song Qiuyu looked at the notebook computer on the desk and couldn’t help but sigh.
Dysmenorrhea was such a pain. They were having a good time playing games.
She rubbed the painful spot and glanced at Jiang Xiao, who was turning to leave. For some reason, she suddenly felt a strong urge to make him stay.
—
Jiang Xiao seemed to have sensed her thoughts and looked back with a smile. “I’m just going to prepare some brown sugar water for you. I’ll be back soon.”
Having her thoughts exposed, Song Qiuyu gave a muffled grunt of agreement.
‘Jiang Xiao should know that brown sugar water doesn’t really do anything for menstrual cramps, but he’s always so proactive in preparing it…’
She bit her lip and watched him leave. Then she moved to close the door and sit on the bed to rest for a while.
“Song Qiuyu!”
At that moment, a masculine voice rang out from the hallway.
That voice…
It was Xia Qi!
Thinking about what had happened last night, Song Qiuyu instinctively became alert.
“I have something to give you. Is it convenient for me to come in?”
The door was only slightly ajar, but Xia Qi didn’t enter.
“Come in.”
Song Qiuyu endured the pain and stopped rubbing her stomach, stepping forward to open the door.
With a creak, Xia Qi’s freckled face was the first thing to enter Song Qiuyu’s vision.
Strangely enough, when Xia Qi came in, she thought she heard the sound of a bell.
“Here. I thought this Red String Gold Bell suited you quite well when I saw you the other day, so I ordered one online. It just arrived this morning.”
Xia Qi pulled out a rectangular box from behind her back and opened it with a smile.
“You don’t need to be polite with me. I feel like I’m quite fated to be friends with you and Jiang Xiao. Especially you—you have a vibe that makes me feel very close to you, so I’m giving this to you. It’s not expensive, so don’t feel burdened.”
Looking at the Red String Gold Bell in the box, Song Qiuyu froze. It was the same style with six gold bells. This situation matched the dream from that day perfectly!
“Xia Qi…”
Song Qiuyu clenched her fists.
“Hmm? Are you still too embarrassed to accept it?” Xia Qi asked.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but offer a bitter smile. Even if the Red String Gold Bell matched, that Shoujo Manga couldn’t possibly match as well, right?
She tentatively asked Xia Qi about it.
After hearing the description, Xia Qi clearly froze, and her gaze toward Song Qiuyu turned into one of confusion.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu felt a sense of relief. It seemed that specific Shoujo Manga didn’t exist here.
If both points had matched, she would have had to suspect something else.
Just as she thought this, Xia Qi burst into a boisterous laugh. “So you like reading Shoujo Manga too, Song Qiuyu?”
Song Qiuyu was stunned.
“That’s great! You know, every time Lin An sees me reading Shoujo Manga, he gossips about me. If only he were more like you!”
Xia Qi stood with her hands on her hips.
Song Qiuyu pursed her lips and remained silent, thinking to herself, ‘He can’t be like me. If he were, you might lose a boyfriend and gain a sister. I wonder if you’d be scared then.’
“I haven’t seen the physical version of the shoujo manga you mentioned, but I know several good ones online. And they’re the very spicy, very suggestive kind!”
Xia Qi handed the box to Song Qiuyu, took out her phone, and immediately started sharing them.
Once she finished sharing, she left in a hurry with a smile, closing the door behind her.
Closing the door on the way out was a sign of good manners.
Song Qiuyu sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the manga on her phone screen. She tentatively opened one.
‘Huh?’
‘No, sister, why is the very first chapter such an intense battle in bed? Do you girls always eat this well?’
‘Mmm…’
‘It really is quite suggestive~’
At that moment, the door creaked open. Jiang Xiao made his return, carrying the brown sugar water.
“Xi’er, I’m back!”
“Eek!”
Song Qiuyu’s hand shook in fright, and she threw her phone right out of her hand. She instantly realized her phone had flown away and might break, meaning she would have to buy a new one. That would be a significant expense. She panicked immediately.
She wanted to lung forward, hoping she could still save the phone.
Before she could attempt a rescue, Jiang Xiao was already quick enough to catch her phone with one hand.
At the same time, he protected the brown sugar water in his other hand, preventing it from spilling onto the floor.
“Phew!”
Jiang Xiao wiped away non-existent sweat from his forehead and said with a bright smile, “Don’t worry, Xi’er. Your phone is safe!”
Song Qiuyu was dazed for a moment. After a short while, she stood up abruptly and walked over to take her phone back. “Thanks, Jiang Xiao. It’s a good thing you were here.”
“But Xi’er, what were you looking at just now? Why was your reaction so—”
“Jiang Xiao, don’t look!!”
“?”
Jiang Xiao caught only a single glimpse of her screen. His pupils constricted violently, his ears turned burning hot, and he froze in place.