Chapter 53: The Dual Body’s Dilemma: Roommate Gossip and Practical Gear

After escorting the two girls to the dormitory entrance, Ye Xingchen made his way back to his own room.

Pushing open the door, he was immediately struck by a stark tableau of yin and yang: one side of the room featured a meticulously made bed, while the other lay buried under a chaotic mound of clothes and snack wrappers, resembling a parking lot ravaged by a tornado.

Perched cross-legged amidst this disarray, deep in meditation, was none other than his roommate, Liu Yuxuan.

This mage, who similarly languished at the bottom of the academy’s rankings, had become his roommate, whether by sheer coincidence or deliberate design, Ye Xingchen couldn’t say.

“Well, well, if it isn’t ‘Boyfriend Beast’ (TL Note: A playful, slightly mocking nickname implying someone who is very popular with girls, often with a ‘monster’ or ‘beast’ suffix in Chinese slang) Brother Chen, back from his adventures!”

Upon hearing the door open, Liu Yuxuan instantly snapped out of his meditative state and into full gossip mode, his eyes sparkling as if Columbus had just discovered a new continent.

Ye Xingchen rubbed his temples in exasperation. “What ‘Boyfriend Beast’? That’s all a misunderstanding!”

The nickname itself was ridiculous, sounding like some Digimon character, complete with a ‘beast’ suffix.

“Misunderstanding, my foot! Everyone in the academy knows about you and the great campus belle Su now, don’t they? How many pairs of eyes were watching this morning! Brother Chen, spill the secrets! How did you manage to pluck that high mountain flower (TL Note: A Chinese idiom referring to someone beautiful, aloof, and difficult to approach)?”

His gaze was like that of a village pinning all its hopes on one person.

Ye Xingchen sidestepped him, dropping onto his own neatly made bed. “There’s no ‘chasing’ involved; we just met normally.”

“Met normally?” Liu Yuxuan’s eyes widened dramatically.

“Campus Belle Su is famously an ice queen! Forget about merely meeting her; her suitors alone could form a line stretching from the teaching building to the school gate, yet every single male has been rejected without exception—except for you!”

Ye Xingchen’s mouth twitched. If this guy knew that the ‘aloof campus belle’ he spoke of was not only engaged to him but was also, in reality, his other body, he’d probably ascend to the heavens right on the spot.

Ye Xingchen rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“Instead of gossiping about all this nonsense, why don’t you clean up that dog’s nest of yours first? It looks like a parking lot destroyed by a tornado!”

And the exaggerated version, at that, like something from Jackie Chan Adventures.

Liu Yuxuan casually kicked a few articles of clothing under his bed, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

“Brother Chen, that’s not fair. You pretend to be a slacker and an alchemy fanatic on the surface, but secretly you’re charming the most formidable girls, and you won’t even give your brother some inside scoop?”

“I’m charming your sister!” Ye Xingchen retorted, annoyed.

Liu Yuxuan suddenly perked up. “My sister? Brother Chen, you already have Campus Belle Su, and now you’re eyeing my little sister? My girl’s only ten!”

“Damn it!” Ye Xingchen grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him.

“Has your brain been caught in a door, or kicked by a donkey? How about this: I’ll create an opportunity for you someday, and you go try confessing to Mu Wanqing?”

“Mu Wanqing?” Liu Yuxuan instantly deflated. “Campus Belle Su’s best friend, the one dubbed the ‘Ice and Snow Goddess’? Brother Chen, don’t joke around. With my grades, I’d probably just become the academy’s second ice sculpture if I tried…”

Ye Xingchen pulled a change of clothes from his wardrobe, shaking them out impatiently.

“Then what are you babbling about here? Hurry up and wash up and go to sleep; we have practical combat class tomorrow!” With that, he headed towards the bathroom.

“Brother Chen, as your closest roommate and number one little brother, just spill a little inside info, huh?” That obsequious expression made Ye Xingchen’s temples throb.

First, there was Su Liyue’s genius best friend, Mu Wanqing, and now, his male body’s gossipy, troublesome friend, Liu Yuxuan. Ye Xingchen truly felt speechless around these two live wires.

“There’s no ‘inside info’! This morning was a complete accident!” Ye Xingchen pushed him aside. “Have you showered? If not, I’m going first.”

“How could it be such a coincidence?” Liu Yuxuan relentlessly followed him. “When Xiao Qicai came looking for trouble this afternoon, you publicly put your arm around Campus Belle Su—didn’t that just confirm everything?”

Ye Xingchen spun around abruptly, nearly colliding with Liu Yuxuan, who had been following too closely. “Can you please focus on what’s important? Tomorrow is practical combat class; the most important thing now is to rest and recharge!”

“I’m just worried about you!” Liu Yuxuan pouted aggrievedly. “You’ve gone from being unknown to being the public enemy of every guy in school, you know? Just in third year alone, there are over a dozen of Campus Belle Su’s admirers…”

“Shut up!” Ye Xingchen slammed the bathroom door shut, narrowly missing Liu Yuxuan’s nose.

The reason Ye Xingchen rushed into the bathroom was simple: at that very moment, his female body, Su Liyue, was also shedding her clothes, preparing for a bath.

Although dual-body operation had become second nature, simultaneously cleaning two bodies of different genders always filled him with a subtle sense of shame.

Especially having to pay attention to different cleaning methods for various body parts, this experience was truly ineffable, yet if both bodies were cleaned at the same time, it was the most convenient, as there was no need to consider too many desynchronized movements.

“La la la~” The light melody of “Yosuga no Sora” simultaneously echoed from both bathrooms.

Ye Xingchen and Su Liyue hummed the tune together, each expertly lathering soap onto their respective bodies.

As the water cascaded, he suddenly thought of tomorrow’s practical combat class and couldn’t help but feel frustrated by the academy’s mandated battle attire: mages fighting in pig kidney small leather shoes (TL Note: A Chinese slang term for old-fashioned, often uncomfortable, and somewhat ugly formal leather shoes)? What kind of anti-human design was that?

To remedy this, he had specifically drawn upon his Earth memories, using alchemy to craft two pairs of athletic shoes just before the third-year practical combat class.

The women’s pair was a breathable sakura pink, while the men’s was a classic deep space gray. If they proved effective, he could even mass-produce them later.

Thinking of the female cultivators in his past life’s anime who slaughtered enemies while wearing high heels, Ye Xingchen couldn’t help but complain:

‘If they actually encountered an emergency, they’d probably sprain an ankle before the enemy even made a move, wouldn’t they?’

“Safety first…” he murmured softly, applying shower gel to Su Liyue’s delicate feet. These carefully crafted athletic shoes ensured both combat flexibility and wouldn’t feel stuffy like the small leather shoes.

Most importantly, if they ever needed to escape, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about high heels holding them back.

While drying his damp hair, Ye Xingchen discreetly used spatial magic to teleport the pink athletic shoes into Su Liyue’s shoe cabinet.

Water cascaded down her silver-white hair, and Su Liyue looked down at the increasingly fuller curves of her chest, sighing softly.

“Looks like I’ll have to find time to research bras…” she mumbled.

The innerwear in this world was simply too primitive, far inferior to the designs on Earth, which had undergone countless improvements.

She recalled that even female cultivators who had lived for hundreds of years in the cultivation world had praised modern bras, noting their comfort, perfect fit, and ability to stabilize the chest, ensuring that ‘bunnies jumping around’ (TL Note: A euphemism for breasts bouncing during physical activity) wouldn’t affect their performance during combat.

“It needs to consider the breathability of magical materials, and also account for support during combat…” Ye Xingchen was already sketching designs in his mind.

Perhaps he could borrow ideas from sports bras, incorporating elastic magic patterns? And pair it with a thin ice silkworm lining…

At this thought, Su Liyue and Ye Xingchen simultaneously blushed.

This experience of being both the designer and the model was truly quite embarrassing.

However, for the sake of convenience in combat, this small sacrifice was well worth it.