Chapter 26: An Unsettling Morning After a Late-Night Message

Huh? Who could it be? I was just about to fall asleep when a message suddenly popped up. I gently picked up my phone from beside the pillow, squinting slightly at the screen. It was that guy, Ge Zi Yun, again. What did he want now?

[Ge Zi Yun: 18, check this out.]

[Ding! Image sent successfully.]

Seriously, why send a flash image? When I tapped it open, I only had about five seconds to view it, so I had to quickly examine what exactly he’d sent. The flash image revealed an anime character with silver hair, someone I’d never seen before. It might have been him, or perhaps he’d commissioned someone to draw it.

[Ge Zi Yun: 18, what do you think? (Smirking emoji)]

It looked pretty good. My fingers danced across the keyboard as I typed out a reply.

[Mu Rong Luo Ye: It’s quite good. So, what’s next?]

[Ge Zi Yun: Hehehe, 18, you must know that the Pineapple Bun’s summer solicitation event is about to start, right? So, I’m getting ready to launch a new book.]

What did his new book have to do with me? After a moment of careful thought, I realized the anime character was likely the female lead from his upcoming novel.

[Mu Rong Luo Ye: So, the character in that picture earlier, is that the female lead?]

[Ge Zi Yun: Of course not! Someone so cute must be a boy! And what’s more, they’re modeled after you, 18, and even share your name!]

Pfft! Was he asking me to kill him?

[Mu Rong Luo Ye: (Vein-popping emoji), do you have a death wish?]

[Ge Zi Yun: Hee hee hee, it’s too late! I’ve already started stockpiling chapters. Plus, 19 drew that picture, and she knows all about it!]

Huh? So, the two of them had conspired against me, plotting this together! I nearly clawed my way through the internet cable to pin that guy to the ground and rub his face in it. But then, his profile picture suddenly went gray.

Damn it! I was just about to transform into a ‘Zaun Pianist,’ and he just logged off! You can’t play like that!

Just as I was preparing to unleash a torrent of angry comments on his page, the door to my room suddenly swung open.

Staring at Huang Beifeng, who stood dumbfounded in the doorway, seemingly on the verge of speaking yet holding back, I felt a faint, unsettling premonition.

“Mu Rong Luo Ye,” she asked, “didn’t you say you were going to sleep? Why are you still on your phone?”

‘Ugh,’ I thought, ‘was I really going to explain to her that I was about to sleep, but then someone suddenly sent me a message, and so…’

“If you’re not sleeping, then go clean up.”

“No way!”

Shaking my head vehemently, I swiftly refused. Seriously, what kind of joke was this? How could she drag me off to clean during my precious remaining sleep time?

“Then don’t let me catch you not resting properly and still playing on your phone.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

In any case, I hadn’t intended to keep playing on my phone, so I obediently put it down. Clutching my small body pillow tightly, I settled down for sleep. Finally, I could get some proper rest.

****

Half an hour later.

The jarring blare of the alarm clock once again shattered the quiet of the small room, startling the silver-haired figure who had been deep in slumber, clutching his pillow. With a decisive ‘snap,’ he silenced the alarm on his bedside table, rubbing his beautiful, light blue eyes with a look of profound sleepiness.

‘Ah, how I long for holidays,’ he mused. ‘Then I could sleep to my heart’s content.’

After tidying the rumpled bed, he picked up his phone, only to find that the skirt he was wearing had no pockets. This was one of the drawbacks of cross-dressing; while the clothes might be comfortable, they were incredibly impractical. Not only did he have to be constantly careful to avoid any embarrassing exposure, but carrying items was also a hassle. No wonder girls always carried small bags.

He glanced at the pale white handbag on his bedside table. It looked like something a young girl would use. ‘Why do I even have this?’ he sighed. ‘Ah, it’s all because of Mu Rong Xin Xue.’

Padding downstairs in his slippers, he happened to see Huang Beifeng sitting on the living room sofa, engrossed in her phone. Her fingers tapped incessantly on the screen, though it was unclear what she was doing. Her finger speed, however, seemed remarkably fast.

Creeping around, he lightly tapped Huang Beifeng’s shoulder. Just as he was about to peek at the phone screen, the tap, to his surprise, completely startled Huang Beifeng.

Huang Beifeng’s hand jerked violently, losing its grip, and the phone clattered directly to the floor.

‘Oh no,’ he thought. ‘My heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, it wasn’t a high drop, so it shouldn’t be too bad. Huang Beifeng’s phone likely had a tempered glass screen protector, so it probably didn’t suffer any damage.’

Casting a reproachful glance at him, Huang Beifeng picked up her phone from the floor. After a thorough inspection confirmed no damage, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Mu Rong Luo Ye,” Huang Beifeng exclaimed, “why did you suddenly tap me? You scared me half to death! If my phone weren’t okay, I wouldn’t let you off the hook!”

Resigned, he could only accept the blame. Who would have thought that a mere light tap would startle her so badly? The incident seemed minor at first, but when Huang Beifeng tried to turn on her phone, she discovered it had completely shut down.

“Mu Rong Luo Ye!”

‘Huh, what now?’ he wondered. ‘The phone just shut off, it’s not broken.’

“My… my document isn’t saved! Half an hour of work, gone! It’s all your fault, all your fault!”

‘Huh?’

‘Alright, fine, I’ll take the blame,’ he conceded. ‘Though I don’t know what kind of document it was, half an hour of work probably meant a lot of content. For it to just vanish like that, she must be feeling terrible. I suppose I can only count myself unlucky.’

“Alright, alright, I’ll make it up to you.”

Before her anger truly flared, it was best to appease her. After all, he knew just how terrifying Huang Beifeng could be when truly enraged.

“Then, for the entire day today, you have to do whatever I say.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Without considering what might happen next, and focused solely on trying to quell her anger, he gritted his teeth and readily agreed.

‘But why do I have such an ominous feeling?’ he wondered. ‘Perhaps I’m just overthinking it.’