Chapter 25: The Allure of Sleep and a Sudden Call

The morning classes passed in a haze of struggling between sleep and wakefulness. It was an ordeal, but at last, the final bell rang. I could finally go home and surrender to sleep, free from the nagging worry of anything being delayed.

There was no time for tidying; every second was precious. I simply seized Huang Beifeng’s arm and, before she could even grasp the situation, pulled her swiftly from the classroom.

“Home we go!”

A peculiar feeling settled over me, though; the ‘iceberg senior’ was nowhere to be seen at the bus stop today. I had fully expected her to materialize once the bus arrived, yet even as we boarded and the vehicle pulled away, her familiar figure remained absent.

‘How truly odd,’ I mused. ‘I’m slightly unaccustomed to her absence.’

Still, it was her affair, and I had no right to comment. Perhaps something had come up for her. Moreover, what true bearing did it have on me whether she shared my bus or not?

Indeed, wasn’t encountering someone on the same bus merely a matter of ‘destiny’? If we no longer met, surely that simply signified the end of that particular thread of fate.

With that connection severed, why bother dwelling on it? It was far better to simply live my own life in peace, wasn’t it?

Returning home, my first and most pressing task was, naturally, to collapse onto my wonderfully soft bed.

‘Ah, pure bliss,’ I thought, savoring the moment.

Yet, just as I settled into the luxurious comfort of the mattress, an embarrassing reality struck. My perpetually uncooperative stomach chose that precise moment to emit a loud, protesting growl.

‘Ugh, the karmic backlash for skipping breakfast this morning has arrived,’ I lamented. ‘I’m ravenous.’

‘Despite the hunger, in dreams, one feels no pangs. I’ll simply sleep!’

Before my head could even properly settle against the pillow, Huang Beifeng abruptly burst into my room. Without a single word, she brazenly yanked the pillow from beneath my head.

While resting directly on the mattress without a pillow was still an option, the sensation was undeniably different; a distinct void remained beneath my head.

‘Hey, where’s my pillow? It’s vanished!’

I fumbled beneath my head for a moment, searching for the missing comfort, but instead of fabric, my fingers closed around a pair of small hands. Opening my previously closed eyes, I was met by the sight of Huang Beifeng’s striking orange gaze.

“North Phoenix, return my pillow! I’m trying to sleep!”

To my surprise, she merely tossed the pillow behind her, then pouted, “Mu Rong Luo Ye, go cook! Are you trying to starve me to death?”

“You won’t perish from missing a single meal,” I retorted, though the lack of a pillow was certainly a nuisance. Still, it didn’t mean sleep was impossible. I could make do; it was undoubtedly more comfortable than a school desk, at any rate.

“Man is made of iron, and food is steel; miss a meal, and you’ll be weak with hunger!”

Once more, she tugged at me with surprising strength, attempting to haul me bodily from the bed. But I was not about to let her succeed so easily.

“Without further ado, I shall sleep!”

“Get up and cook, won’t you? Without food, how can I find the energy to clean? And if I don’t clean, I’ll have no choice but to sleep in your room again tonight!”

‘Let her sleep here then,’ I thought, ‘I’m utterly fearless.’

‘Wait, what did you say? Sleeping in my room *again* tonight? No, no, absolutely not! So, you need to eat to gain the strength to clean, do you? Very well, then you wait right here; I’ll go prepare something at once.’

Huang Beifeng was genuinely startled to see me suddenly spring from the bed. She had truly not anticipated that I would leap up on my own accord.

“Alright, it’s settled. I’ll just prepare a simple bowl of noodles. Eat quickly, clean quickly, and once the cleaning is done, I still intend to sleep.”

“Then, I want two eggs added.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll do as you say. Anything is acceptable, as long as you don’t sleep in my room.”

‘Hmph, honestly,’ I sighed inwardly, ‘can she truly not even boil a simple bowl of noodles? She truly is a pampered young lady, having never set foot in a kitchen. Unlike us ordinary folk, who have no choice but to cook for ourselves.’

‘Ah, the evils of capitalism!’

Upon entering the kitchen, I set a pot of water to boil. Once it was bubbling furiously, it was time to add the noodles, and then, four eggs. I couldn’t very well let her enjoy eggs all by herself while I simply stood by and watched.

There were plenty of eggs left, after all; a few extra wouldn’t hurt. At most, I’d simply ask Mu Rong Xin Xue to pick up more groceries, as she had ample free time, and grocery shopping hardly consumed much of it.

Once the noodles were cooked, I carried them to the dining table. As for the chore of washing dishes, that would be left entirely to Huang Beifeng.

Despite my earlier claims of wanting only sleep and my casual dismissal of skipping a meal, it now seemed that a steaming, fragrant bowl of noodles, consumed on an empty stomach, was truly a delightful experience.

I swiftly devoured the noodles in my bowl, then set down my chopsticks. A quick glance at Huang Beifeng beside me revealed that she was still diligently eating.

“You can continue eating, and while you’re at it, please wash the dishes.”

As for myself, I certainly wasn’t off to shirk my duties. I was merely going to gather the necessary tools for cleaning the room.

After all, the sooner I finished cleaning, the sooner I could finally get some sleep. Even if I couldn’t complete everything, at least I could reduce the workload and continue after school in the afternoon.

Donning my mask and preparing myself for the task, it was time to re-enter that particular room once more.

Having opened all the windows last night, I anticipated that the dust, at the very least, wouldn’t be quite so suffocating.

Tying on my apron and gathering my tools, I pondered where to begin. ‘Wait, pay no mind to why a boy like me is sporting a pink apron; it’s entirely Mu Rong Xin Xue’s fault, that pervert!’

‘Never mind, never mind. Why dwell on her? Just clean.’

In truth, the tidying itself wasn’t particularly difficult. After all, it was primarily a matter of excessive dust; the contents of the bed and cabinets had long since been removed, leaving little else to wash—the curtains, of course, being the sole exception.

My first task would be to take down the curtains. There was no time to wash them now; that could wait until evening.

For some inexplicable reason, as I cleaned, a faint thought surfaced: my current attire felt somewhat inappropriate for the task. Surely, a maid outfit would be far more fitting for cleaning…

‘What the hell am I thinking?!’

‘Mu Rong Luo Ye, Mu Rong Luo Ye, what absurd thoughts are filling your head? You’re a boy! How could you possibly wear such an outfit? Remember this: you are forbidden from ever touching one, not in this lifetime!’

With a helpless sigh, I patted my own head and resumed my cleaning duties.

****

Half an hour later.

‘Exhausted. Utterly drained.’

Even with Huang Beifeng’s assistance, the sheer volume of work in this room proved to be far beyond my initial estimation. It was truly a monumental task to clean.

Considering the precious little rest time I had, I decisively opted to set aside my current tasks for a moment.

‘My soft, inviting bed, I’m coming for you!’

After thoroughly washing my hands, I returned to the room and promptly collapsed onto the plush expanse of my bed.

Just as I was about to embrace my pillow and drift off into the realm of dreams, the phone resting on my bedside table suddenly jolted to life with a shrill ring.