Xi’er walked up and knocked on the door.
“Jiang Xiao, your laundry basket is still with me. Open the door.”
With a creak, the door opened. Song Qiuyu lifted her eyes, and immediately caught sight of the figure inside the bathroom moving quickly—his shirt buttons already undone, revealing large, solid muscles that barged harshly and mercilessly into her line of sight.
Her eyes narrowed, and she pressed her lips tightly together.
The envy, jealousy, and frustration on her face didn’t escape Jiang Xiao’s notice, but he couldn’t understand it at all.
He only felt awkward under her unabashed gaze.
Though he was fine, Little Jiang Xiao was feeling the pressure, even to the point of slight pain.
“Here, take it.”
Song Qiuyu couldn’t stand it anymore. She resolutely decided that once the financial crisis was over, she would make time to start working out.
“Mm.”
With a creak, Jiang Xiao didn’t dare delay; he quickly closed the door and locked it.
“I want muscles too!”
Song Qiuyu flexed her arm, staring at the nonexistent biceps.
Suddenly, she had an urge to trade the size of her future chest development for the size of the muscles on her body.
If only such a trade were possible in reality.
She sighed, not holding out much hope, and returned to the sink to secretly wash something first—after all, only a fool would leave such an intimate item of a girl out in the open to dry!
She rummaged through the basin.
Nothing?
She searched again five or six times stubbornly, but the result didn’t change.
Then realization dawned; her pupils dilated, shocked and frightened, she abruptly turned her head and stared straight toward the bathroom.
It was over…
Completely over.
Jiang Xiao bent down and placed the laundry basket on the floor, casting a glance around.
A white cloth was soaking in the puddle on the ground.
What was this?
He put down the basket, curious, and reached out to pick it up.
The cloth was as soft as a child’s cheek, likely because it had been soaked. It was somewhat warm to the touch.
Not only that, when he smelled it, a faint scent lingered—a familiar fragrance.
Because Song Qiuyu had just washed, the entire bathroom still carried the scent of her shower gel and shampoo.
Of course, this cloth was stained with the same scent.
Huh? Why was there lace on this cloth…
The whole white piece of fabric spread out in Jiang Xiao’s palm, revealing its true form.
“Uh…” Jiang Xiao stared at it in stunned disbelief, completely frozen.
His mind short-circuited, but his large hand instinctively performed a self-preservation move, snapping it back onto the floor like a hot potato without hesitation.
This wasn’t something he could pick up or touch.
Much less something he was meant to see.
Why on earth would such a thing appear in the boys’ dorm bathroom?
Song Qiuyu knew this made no sense at all.
Her mouth opened, wanting Jiang Xiao to open the door so she could take it back, but her lips trembled several times before only lightly brushing together, producing no sound.
Jiang Xiao was very sharp.
How many six-nutrition walnut drinks would she have to chug to come up with a reasonable excuse and sneakily retrieve her belongings? But her overthinking led to mental blankness.
She clearly felt her brain overheating from the overload, her eyes drooping and turning vacant.
She felt utterly hopeless and turned back.
Forget it.
She didn’t want those two hundred yuan anymore.
She had to be grateful that the item had ended up in Jiang Xiao’s hands.
With his personality, he wouldn’t blurt anything out. If he asked after leaving, she would just flatly deny everything!
No matter what, she would say she hadn’t seen it. If she couldn’t get away with that, she would think of something later.
For now, she needed to finish washing her clothes and then slip out to throw away the plastic bag with the sanitary pads inside.
The sound of running water signaled Jiang Xiao starting his shower.
However, he was distracted, his brow tightly furrowed.
After a while, he couldn’t help but glance again at the quietly lying white cloth on the floor.
In fact, he already knew the answer.
It could only have been carelessly left behind by Song Qiuyu.
Jiang Xiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed; he found it hard to believe.
Even with zero knowledge of women’s intimate items, he wasn’t an idiot.
He could distinguish the differences between men’s and women’s personal belongings.
There was absolutely no way a man’s intimate item would be so fancy and elaborate. If it was, well, just forget he said anything…
So why was Song Qiuyu wearing women’s underwear? Could it be that what he saw that morning was true—that Song Qiuyu really was flat down there, and even had…
At the thought, Jiang Xiao’s head buzzed loudly, and his breathing quickened.
He couldn’t help but smile bitterly. No matter how confused he was, he couldn’t be this clueless.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t possibly be a girl. That underwear was probably part of the Keqing Cosplay Costume, an intimate piece that the costume shop wouldn’t accept back. Since she didn’t bring a spare, she wore it back home.
If so, then all this time Song Qiuyu had been wearing female clothing. She was really going all out just to make a living.
Ah.
Feeling like he’d guessed right, Jiang Xiao squeezed the completely soaked towel in his hand, pressing his lips tightly.
It was as if under a spell, his gaze couldn’t leave it.
At this moment, the world fell silent. It seemed to consist of only himself and Song Qiuyu outside the door.
The sound of Song Qiuyu washing clothes kept leaking into his ears.
Each splash quickened his heartbeat and made his breathing harder—amplified over and over.
Jiang Xiao clenched his hands tightly and quietly turned, squatting down in front of the alluring white cloth.
A cold sweat slid down the handsome man’s face.
He didn’t understand why he had come so close to scrutinize it, or even seemed to want to do something improper—something that would betray Song Qiuyu.
His lips parted, as if gasping for air, struggling to breathe deeply. His hands twisted again.
The usually indifferent and somewhat listless expression on his face was now filled with struggle, pain, and confusion; one corner of his mouth quivered.
“Hu…” Song Qiuyu’s soft voice floated in from outside the door, seemingly tired from washing clothes.
Jiang Xiao looked toward the direction of Song Qiuyu with a complicated expression.
After a long pause, he lowered his head, wrestling with himself for a long time, then finally reached out and picked it up.
After another long moment, the water stopped flowing; Song Qiuyu finished washing her dirty clothes, wrung them out, and hung them to dry.
She tidied the sink and prepared to go throw away the sanitary pad.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened.
Song Qiuyu froze. Such bad luck—could Jiang Xiao not come out a bit slower to let her throw away the sanitary pad first? How annoying.
Her mind was ready to run, but her body froze in place.
Steam hung thick at the boundary between the balcony and the bathroom.
Jiang Xiao stepped out, meeting her gaze, and unconsciously clenched his fists.
He wanted to say something, but Xie Zhuran came rushing over with a change of clothes. “Swap, swap! It’s my turn!”
Jiang Xiao was momentarily stunned.
“Wait a second, I haven’t taken out my laundry yet!”
He quickly turned back, closing the door behind him.
Then he squatted, looked at the white cloth he had put back down, struggled internally, gritted his teeth, picked it up, wrung it dry, and stuffed it into his pocket.
He took out his clothes from the laundry basket, then opened the door again and stepped out.
“All right, you can go in now.”
Watching Jiang Xiao step aside to let Xie Zhuran into the bathroom, Song Qiuyu’s heart raced, but a genuine sense of relief flooded her.
Knowing Jiang Xiao, plus the fact that Xie Zhuran showed no reaction, meant Jiang Xiao had probably taken her forgotten item out with him.
Only two people knew there was a woman’s intimate item in the boys’ dorm bathroom.
Caught looking at her, Song Qiuyu felt too guilty to meet his eyes and turned her face slightly away.
Was he going to ask about it?
Jiang Xiao furrowed his brows and slightly moved his lips.
“By the way, Jiang Xiao, I want to go throw out some trash and buy a few things. Want to come with me?” Song Qiuyu blurted out nervously. Even if she had to talk about that thing, she didn’t want to do it inside the dorm.
Jiang Xiao blinked, “Sure.”
“Then let’s go.”
Thinking that since it was late at night, people wouldn’t be paying much attention to others’ clothes, she didn’t bother changing out of her pajamas.
Entering the room, she gathered some things to throw away, hiding the plastic bag with the sanitary pads inside, then casually led Jiang Xiao out of the dorm.
Jiang Xiao also didn’t change clothes and left wearing his pajamas.
And Song Qiuyu’s item was still in his pocket.
There was a big trash bin right in the dormitory hallway, fairly empty, but of course, Song Qiuyu didn’t throw the bag she was carrying into it. She briskly walked past, pretending not to see.
After all, the bag contained sanitary pads.
Although most people wouldn’t dig through trash, it was better to be cautious.
Throwing it into the outdoor bin ensured complete safety.
Jiang Xiao didn’t pay much attention to this. His full focus was on the cloth in his pocket.
He had to return it to Song Qiuyu as soon as possible.
Only after they had walked a good distance from the dormitory building did Song Qiuyu casually toss the bag into the large trash bin.
“Song Qiuyu…”
Jiang Xiao, who had been distracted all along, finally spoke.
At the same time, his left hand reached into his pocket to pull out the item.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu tensed up again.
Seeing her nervousness, Jiang Xiao’s large hand paused in his pocket, then curled his fingers back and looked up at the sky.
He shifted his tone: “Looks like it’s about to rain. Let’s go quickly and come back quickly.”
…
“Huh?”
Song Qiuyu was momentarily stunned.
…
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Xiao urged and turned ahead.
Song Qiuyu tilted her head in confusion and followed.
Judging by his earlier expression, he had clearly wanted to bring up that matter, but suddenly changed his mind just because of the rain?
She had dragged Jiang Xiao out to throw away the trash precisely because he seemed like he wanted to say something.
She wanted to create a private space for him to ask.
After all, dealing with Jiang Xiao alone was easier than handling three people.
But just when the words were on his lips, he shut up.
The night rain came suddenly and heavily.
They bought some daily necessities, and by the time they returned to the dorm, the downpour had started.
The sound of rain and footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Song Qiuyu pressed her lips tightly, stealing glances at the person beside her, guessing when he might bring up those two issues and how he planned to deal with the item she left in the bathroom.
Jiang Xiao’s silence continued until he climbed into bed.
But the second issue Song Qiuyu cared about was naturally something he couldn’t ignore either.
Hiding behind the curtain, he took it out of his pocket. Although wrung dry, it was still wet, making most of his pocket damp.
But he no longer cared about his pocket.
He stared at the white cloth in his hand, deeply troubled.
Throughout the walk, he noticed Song Qiuyu kept looking at him. This time, he clearly understood what she was thinking and what she would say if he spoke up.
Recalling her reaction when he caught her washing underwear late at night, he knew she would absolutely deny it.
So he hesitated and decided not to ask.
Clenching the cloth tightly, Jiang Xiao sighed slightly. Since it was probably part of the cosplay costume, Song Qiuyu would likely wear it again tomorrow. Otherwise…
Like before, when she secretly hid it in her pants, he could secretly wash it and then hide it in the clothes she hung out to dry.
That way, when Song Qiuyu collected her clothes, she could take it back without noticing.
Jiang Xiao smiled faintly, thinking this might just work.
On the bed next to him, Song Qiuyu didn’t know Jiang Xiao’s plan. She sat on the bed, staring at Jiang Xiao’s QQ chat window on her phone for a long time before switching to his alternate account.
Unread messages: 3.
［Jiang Xiao］: Xi’er, today is the fifth day of the National Day Holiday. First, some good news I want to share with you: the short video script is almost finished. Next, during actual filming, we’ll make adjustments according to the situation.
I also went again with Song Qiuyu and the others to Moon Viewing Cliff today.
On your birthday, I had planned to watch the sunrise and moonset for you, but… something happened halfway, so I couldn’t finish it.
Luckily, today I completed it and took two photos for you as a belated gift.
I hope you like them.
These photos are better than before, thanks to Song Qiuyu’s tips.
He really enjoys helping others. Sometimes, I wish he’d learn to rely on others more and not try to bear everything himself.
[Attached: night scene photo]
[Attached: moon photo]
At the end, Song Qiuyu propped her head up with one hand, truly speechless.
Most of it was within her expectations, except for the last sentence—this guy still thought she was some kind of giving person?
But that was fine. The real focus was the very last few lines.
This was definitely because she had refused his help that he purposely complained about her here. He was so petty!
She bit her lip, glaring fiercely at Jiang Xiao through the bed curtain, then switched the chat window back.
The more she thought about that small underwear issue, the more anxious she became.
She was flustered at the thought of being asked, but even more flustered if Jiang Xiao never brought it up.
She worried Jiang Xiao already suspected she had female underwear because she was a girl disguised as a boy!
Damn him. When would he finally ask…
Time passed quickly until it was already one in the morning.
At this moment, two people were asleep, and two were awake.
Just as Song Qiuyu tossed and turned unable to sleep, the adjacent bed suddenly stirred with movement.