Hmm?
What’s that noise?
Song Qiuyu perked up her ears cautiously, trying to catch the sounds coming from the bed next door.
Jiang Xiao was quietly slipping out of bed.
Was he heading to the bathroom?
Song Qiuyu could only assume so.
Otherwise, there was no way he was just suddenly unable to sleep in the middle of the night and decided to do some “hand exercises” in the bathroom to help himself fall asleep, right?
Though honestly, the latter seemed more likely.
But still, Jiang Xiao’s energy was just too boundless…
The thought of what Jiang Xiao might be up to in the bathroom sent her mind spiraling.
If he knew her true identity, what would he do next…
No need for hand exercises at all.
Maybe he’d just climb right onto her bed, pin her down, and then stuff her women’s underwear into his mouth…
“Xi’er, stay with me.”
Outside, the rain continued to pour, thunder roaring, masking those shameful yet ambiguous sounds of intimacy.
Sometimes, the thunder was so loud it made the house and bed frame tremble.
Thinking of this, Song Qiuyu’s mind only twisted further.
The delicate beads of sweat on her fair skin gradually turned into a pinkish, alluring flush.
Feeling increasingly damp, she furrowed her brows in discomfort—she was almost tempted to take another shower.
It was all Jiang Xiao’s fault…
Why get up in the middle of the night and cause her to imagine all sorts of things?
But constant overthinking wasn’t good either.
She was genuinely curious about what Jiang Xiao planned to do by getting up so late.
So, she leaned closer to the bed curtain, stretched out a small hand, and quietly lifted a corner.
That’s when she saw Jiang Xiao holding her underwear as he got out of bed, just as she had expected, heading straight toward the balcony.
Wait…
Ha Ji Xiao, you jerk, if you wanted to do hand exercises in the bathroom, why bring this?
Are you seriously planning to use it as a “side dish”!?
He’s a guy!?
At least in Jiang Xiao’s eyes, he should be a guy, right?
How could he do this?
Could Jiang Xiao be gay?
Wait, no.
Song Qiuyu furrowed her brows, realizing things weren’t that simple.
Could it be that Jiang Xiao knew she was a woman?
The thought made her entire body tense up.
Just how much did Jiang Xiao know?
Could it be that he not only knew she was a woman, but also knew she was Shen Xi?
Maybe he even knew she was still awake…
So he deliberately made noise doing his “exercises” in the bathroom, knowing full well she could hear it.
When she got scared, he’d come back, climb onto her bed, pin her down, and shove that white cloth full of his scent into his mouth…
Then follow the sequence she had just imagined…
Just as Song Qiuyu was wrestling with her twisted thoughts about being gagged with her own underwear in such a perverted way, something unexpected happened:
Jiang Xiao didn’t go to the bathroom after all.
Instead, he walked straight to the sink and grabbed his own basin.
The faint sound of running water echoed between the balcony and the dorm room.
Song Qiuyu froze.
So Jiang Xiao had gotten up to secretly wash underwear!
And it was hers!
She had never considered such a possibility before, and the sudden mental image nearly fried her brain’s CPU.
Song Qiuyu instinctively wanted to stop him.
Embarrassed and nervous, her neck flushed red.
But the scrubbing noises coming from the balcony meant Jiang Xiao had already started washing.
He was doing the same thing she often did—washing carefully and slowly.
Even though it wasn’t her washing today, the shame and fear of being caught were far greater than usual.
If Xie Zhuran or Lin An found out, neither of them would have a good day.
Either her underwear would be exposed… or Jiang Xiao would be branded a pervert hoarding women’s underwear… or maybe both.
And wait, why was Jiang Xiao washing her underwear?
Could it be that earlier on the bed, Jiang Xiao had used this very underwear to comfort Little Jiang Xiao while doing those hand exercises, which was why it was so dirty?
Ha Ji Xiao, you haven’t really become the slave of some pervert, have you?
Probably not…
Jiang Xiao shouldn’t be capable of something like that… right?
Song Qiuyu stared intently in the direction of the balcony, her curiosity piqued by his washing.
What would Jiang Xiao do next…
Under Song Qiuyu’s secret observation, Jiang Xiao quickly finished washing her underwear.
Looking at the now clean white cloth in his hands, his eyes darkened slightly as he inhaled sharply.
Then he went to grab the clothes hanger.
Aiming the hanger at a pair of dark jeans, he easily unhooked them—Song Qiuyu could only see his back blocking the view of what he did next.
A few seconds later, Jiang Xiao hooked the jeans back on.
His hands were empty now; the women’s white lace underwear was nowhere to be seen.
Song Qiuyu blinked, looking at the dark jeans back in their original place, her eyes brightening a little.
She had been caught before hiding the washed underwear inside the pants.
Clearly, Jiang Xiao was mimicking her.
He was planning to quietly return the underwear.
Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Xiao wiped the cold sweat off his face from the nervousness, put away the hanger, tidied the basin, and turned back toward the bed.
At the same time, Song Qiuyu quickly lowered the curtain and clenched her small hand into a fist.
She swallowed hard and waited silently for him to climb back into bed.
When the tight grip on her hand loosened, she finally relaxed a little.
She no longer wanted that two hundred yuan.
Even though it was back now, keeping it felt like a ticking time bomb.
And who knew if Jiang Xiao had actually used it…
What if she got pregnant?
She didn’t want to attend school with a big belly.
No choice—she would sneak down later to take the underwear, pack it away, and throw it out when she left in the morning.
She took a deep breath, patiently waited until the person next door was asleep, then carefully climbed down from bed, quietly took the clothes hanger, and unhooked her dark jeans again.
She cautiously looked around to make sure Jiang Xiao wasn’t behind her and no one else was around, then swiftly took the women’s underwear.
The dark jeans were hooked back in place.
A faint smile of relief appeared on Song Qiuyu’s face.
Then, she tiptoed back to her spot, put the underwear in a thick black plastic bag, grabbed a fresh sanitary pad, and went to the bathroom.
The troubles of her period were endless, but thankfully it would be almost over the next day.
She also successfully got rid of the two hundred yuan.
By dawn, the rain stopped, and she smoothly continued her part-time jobs.
The female clothing gig in the scenic area was winding down, and by nightfall, she had finally received nearly two thousand yuan in wages, temporarily solving her living expenses crisis.
On the last day of the holiday, she didn’t go out, staying in the dorm all day and skipping work on the short videos.
Instead, she spent the day playing games with a few roommates.
She even managed to reach the D+ rank in CS.
The game was good except it wasn’t very welcoming to girls.
Every time she spoke up to call out the plays, her teammates accused her of using a voice changer.
She didn’t bother explaining, just wondered if she should invite Sugar-Dipped Lemon to join their five-player queue.
After getting tired of gaming, they gathered and focused on preparing the next short video.
After about a week of hustle, their third short video was successfully released and also received good feedback.
Their career was progressing smoothly, but two of them noticed the roommate dynamics seemed to have shifted significantly.
“Lao Lin, don’t you think ever since the National Day holiday ended, Lao Jiang and Lao Song have been acting weird around each other?” Xie Zhuran stroked his chin, trying to figure it out online.
“Hearing you say that…”
Lin An looked at their two seemingly normal but subtly tense roommates and smiled faintly.
“Have they not always been like that?”
“No, no, they weren’t like this before! Something’s going on.”
Xie Zhuran shook his head, voice firm.
“Song Qiuyu.”
Just then, Jiang Xiao got up from his seat, phone in hand, and walked over to Song Qiuyu.
At this, the chatter from Xie Zhuran and Lin An on the balcony immediately stopped.
“Hm?”
Song Qiuyu turned her head toward Jiang Xiao.
“Can I plug in for a moment?” Jiang Xiao asked again.
“?”
Three minds filled with question marks.
Plug in…?
Song Qiuyu was momentarily stunned.
Seeing Jiang Xiao standing in front of her, her mind went blank, and she instinctively replied, “Huh? Plug in where?”
“Here.”
Jiang Xiao pointed at the power strip on her desk.
Her phone was already fully charged but still plugged in.
“My side’s outlets are all taken by other devices, so I want to borrow yours for a bit.”
Song Qiuyu said nothing and simply nodded.
“Thanks.”
Jiang Xiao plugged his charger into her outlet, then turned to return to his computer.
“Since there aren’t enough outlets, maybe we should buy a power strip later?” Song Qiuyu glanced at Jiang Xiao’s phone casually.
It was blocked by a panel.
From Jiang Xiao’s side, it was probably hidden.
This was the biggest chance they’d had to see Jiang Xiao’s phone since reuniting!
She wanted to see.
Lately, Jiang Xiao still messaged Shen Xi every day, usually diary entries or little rants about Song Qiuyu.
Song Qiuyu had gotten used to it, but Jiang Xiao was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Because somewhere along the way, every message Jiang Xiao sent to Shen Xi was filled with traces of Song Qiuyu.
Jiang Xiao gave a slight nod in response, thoughts a bit scattered.
He had tried immersing himself fully in studying and short videos, but to little effect.
Whenever he was still, his mind would wander again.
Longing turned into emptiness, loneliness, and coldness.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him.
The only explanation he could come up with was one thing—because his beloved had left.
Jiang Xiao could accept any reason except this.
No matter how lonely, he shouldn’t have these inappropriate feelings toward Song Qiuyu.
If she found out, she would definitely be very disappointed.
Besides, this was a betrayal of Xi…
Watching the two clearly off-kilter roommates, Xie Zhuran’s expression grew serious, folding his arms.
“Lao Lin, what do you think now?”
“This National Day holiday changed more than just Lao Jiang and Qiuyu.”
Lin An adjusted his glasses and sighed.
Xie Zhuran frowned, puzzled.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve changed too. You’re even more ridiculous now.”
Lin An sighed again and stepped inside.
Xie Zhuran paused, then sighed, commenting, “Truth is often in my hands.”
Meanwhile, Song Qiuyu, still busy managing their account backend and debating whether to sneak a peek at Jiang Xiao’s phone, suddenly saw a private message pop up on her computer.
At first, she barely glanced at it, but her expression quickly changed, and she shot up from her seat.
Her sudden movement immediately drew the attention of the other three roommates.
Everyone looked at her, puzzled.
Before they could ask anything, she said excitedly, “I have good news for you all.”
“We might be about to get our first business order!”
Everyone was stunned.
They had just received the Author Creation Incentive yesterday, and now they were about to get a Business Order?
It felt like a miracle from the heavens—almost surreal.
Could it be a scam?
But their three short videos had indeed been well received; momentum was rising.
As long as they maintained quality, becoming a major influencer wasn’t impossible.
Maybe it really was a legitimate Business Order?!
All four of them gathered around the computer screen to see the message.
[“Sulian”]: Hello, Teacher Sugar-Dipped Lemon, we have a business cooperation opportunity here. Could you please leave your contact information?
Since this was their first Business Order, they had to be cautious.
They promptly consulted their Class Counselor, received some professional advice, and then formally contacted the other party.
After some discussion, they roughly confirmed the authenticity and details of the order.
There was good news and bad news.
The good news was—they really had gotten a Business Order.
The bad news was—the order was to promote a new Couple Umbrella, and Song Qiuyu was the designated promoter.
To be honest, Song Qiuyu was not just reluctant but very resistant!
But the offer was generous…
If they could accept this, they could get a high-performance computer dedicated to their work.
None of them were from wealthy families; their computers weren’t high-end.
They could handle gaming, but video editing and other tasks were stressful on their current devices.
It would also open doors to many other possibilities.
And as newcomers, as long as the Business Order wasn’t false advertising or counterfeit, they shouldn’t be picky…
But thinking of her roommates’ excitement earlier, Song Qiuyu fell silent.
Then she changed her mind—making money wasn’t shameful, and it wasn’t impossible either.
Besides, she didn’t watch her own videos, so as long as she wasn’t embarrassed, anyone else could be.
“Promoting this, isn’t it a bit too bold?” Xie Zhuran hesitated.
“It’s okay. Many video creators start with small orders like umbrellas or cups—basically this kind of product.”
Lin An had done some research.
“It’s a small scale, nothing to complain about.”
He looked at Song Qiuyu and added, “Just not sure if you’re willing, since they specifically want you.”
Jiang Xiao was thoughtful.
Seeing his expression, Song Qiuyu frowned, realizing a serious matter.
Whether it was for the Business Order money or Jiang Xiao’s future happiness, she might have to confirm something with him.
“Jiang Xiao, come over here, I want to talk to you.”
After speaking, she asked Lin An and Xie Zhuran to help handle other unread messages in the backend.
Their three short videos were getting more popular, but the downside was a flood of unread messages.
If they didn’t check daily, they’d pile up and become overwhelming, eventually making them want to give up.
So whenever they had time, they made a point to process backend messages.
It also helped them gather content for future “reading comments and fan interactions” videos.
Jiang Xiao looked up at Song Qiuyu, nodded, and silently followed her.
They walked to the balcony.
“Jiang Xiao…”
Song Qiuyu glanced at the two roommates inside the room, took a deep breath, then looked back at Jiang Xiao’s face, her mind racing.