Chapter 7: Good Morning, Baby~

She tossed and turned for a while before finally closing the chat window.

Then she turned her attention to her comic.

The moment she opened it, she discovered that her notifications had already reached 99+.

She tapped them open.

Every single one was a comment.

“Author, please update soon! It’s so good~”

“Wow, the male lead you drew this time is even more charming~ Hisss~”

“Licking the screen! Licking the screen~”

“Author, please, draw more. We love this stuff.”

…

Tang Shu looked through the comments, amusement dancing in her eyes.

A bunch of hopelessly thirsty girls.

Though honestly…

After looking at the artwork herself, she kind of wanted to lick the screen too.

Of course, she had modified the character’s appearance somewhat.

Otherwise, it would be copyright infringement.

What if someone found out and sued her?

In the drawing, the character was pinned against a wall, looking startled and flustered.

Without realizing it, she automatically replaced the character’s face with Shi Zhiyu’s.

The image made her want to laugh.

And eventually, she really did laugh out loud.

Just as she was completely immersed in thinking about how the story should develop next—

A WeChat notification popped up.

Yu: 【After we meet, I’ll wash it clean and let you eat it.】

Tang Shu stared at the message for a long time.

Unable to recover.

She imagined Shi Zhiyu sitting right in front of her, saying those words with a completely serious expression.

It felt a little doting.

No.

Very doting.

She picked up the tablet beside her bed.

New inspiration had arrived.

Once she started drawing, she completely lost track of time.

By the time she stopped—

It was already midnight.

Rubbing her sore neck, she groaned.

This was going to be the death of her.

She checked her phone.

12:00 AM.

She had pulled another all-nighter.

Picking up her phone again, she noticed a message.

Yu: 【Hm?】

【Fell asleep?】

【Good night.】

Shu Shu You Tang: 【Okay, good night, big brother~】

Shi Zhiyu was eating when his phone vibrated.

Seeing Tang Shu’s message, he frowned.

At this hour, shouldn’t she already be asleep?

Had she woken up again?

Yu: 【Did you have a nightmare?】

【Did it scare you awake?】

Shu Shu You Tang: 【No, I haven’t slept yet.】

Yu: 【Why aren’t you asleep when it’s this late?】

And why hadn’t she replied to his messages?

Tang Shu nearly wanted to die when she read that.

She should’ve just replied earlier.

She could have simply said she’d gotten up for a drink of water.

Shu Shu You Tang: 【…I was watching dramas on my tablet and accidentally lost track of time.】

【Sorry, big brother~ I couldn’t reply in time. My phone automatically turns on Do Not Disturb after 10 PM.】

Yu: 【Mm. Go to bed earlier. No more staying up late.】

【You said staying up late makes you weak.】

Tang Shu lay back down on her bed.

Shu Shu You Tang: 【Okay. What are you doing right now, big brother?】

Yu: 【Eating.】

A photo accompanied the message.

Looking at the light, bland-looking dishes, Tang Shu couldn’t help thinking that Chinese food really was the best.

Shu Shu You Tang: 【Can you get full eating that?】

Yu: 【Yes.】

Shu Shu You Tang: 【Then enjoy your meal. I’m going to sleep now~】

Attached was a cat stretching sticker.

Yu: 【Mm.】

Shi Zhiyu looked at the cat sticker.

She really loved cats.

Almost every sticker she sent him featured a cat.

She was probably just as adorable as one.

The next morning.

Tang Shu dragged herself out of bed with two dark circles under her eyes.

She had an early class today.

The moment Shi Manman saw her, she laughed.

“Well, look at that. Where did this national first-class protected animal come from?”

Tang Shu immediately hung herself onto Shi Manman’s shoulder.

Her voice was soft and sleepy.

“Inspiration hit yesterday… I couldn’t stop drawing.”

Shi Manman let her lean against her.

“You. Try staying up less.”

While chewing on the breakfast Shi Manman had brought, Tang Shu mumbled,

“Mhm, okay~”

When they arrived at the classroom, Tang Shu immediately collapsed onto her desk.

She planned to catch up on sleep.

Then she remembered she still had a task to complete.

Without even opening her eyes, she pulled out her phone.

And sent a voice message.

Shu Shu You Tang: 【Good morning~ Baby~】

Then she locked her screen.

And went right back to sleep.

Shi Manman froze.

Did she hear that correctly?

Baby?

She looked at Tang Shu, who had already closed her eyes again.

Turning toward Yang Xi and Xu Jiayu, she whispered,

“Is Shu Shu dating someone?”

The two girls shook their heads.

No idea.

Shi Manman desperately wanted to drag Tang Shu awake and interrogate her.

But seeing how exhausted she looked, she decided to wait until later.

Meanwhile, in the United States.

At the Krass Apartments.

Shi Zhiyu and Song Yan were playing a game together.

A WeChat notification suddenly popped up.

From Shu Shu You Tang.

Shi Zhiyu immediately switched screens.

The message was a two-second voice recording.

He tapped it.

Then heard:

“Good morning~ Baby~”

Her voice was sleepy.

Soft.

Sweet.

Still carrying traces of someone who hadn’t fully woken up.

Unfortunately—

The audio was playing through the speakers.

Song Yan had been wondering why his jungler had suddenly stopped moving beneath the enemy tower.

Then he heard that soft, cutesy voice.

A second later—

His phone announced:

“You have been slain.”

He had been killed.

Immediately, angry teammates started yelling through voice chat.

“What’s wrong with the jungler and ADC?”

“Why are both of you running into the enemy tower?”

“Are you enemy spies or something?”

“No! My promotion match!!”

Song Yan snapped back to reality.

Looking at Shi Zhiyu, he complained,

“Zhiyu, can you at least finish the match first?”

“We’re getting flamed. Two carries going AFK isn’t exactly great.”

Shi Zhiyu ignored him completely.

Instead, he replayed the voice message again.

And again.

And again.

This time, he turned off speaker mode and listened through the earpiece.

The corners of his eyes curved with happiness.

The smile on his lips never faded.

His Shu Shu…

Had called him baby.

It was also the first time he’d heard her voice.

And just like when she was little—

Soft and adorable.

She must still be just as cute.

He tried imagining what Tang Shu looked like all grown up.

Then he remembered her claim that she weighed two hundred pounds.

A round face.

A soft voice.

The image felt strangely mismatched.

But none of that mattered.

As long as it was her—

He would like her.

In the end, they lost the game.

With a helpless expression, Song Yan tossed his phone onto the sofa.

Looking at Shi Zhiyu’s ridiculously lovestruck smile, he felt there was no saving him.

Honestly, hearing that voice reminded him of videos he’d seen online.

A huge, bearded, two-hundred-pound guy speaking in an exaggeratedly cute voice:

“Good morning, baby~”

“Baby, I miss you~”

The thought alone made Song Yan hug himself.

Terrifying.

After a fierce internal struggle, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

His friend was completely intoxicated by the stench of love.

Nothing he said would make a difference.

He’d just wait for reality to hit someday.

Tang Shu was eventually shaken awake again.

Class had already ended.

Fortunately, she’d studied the material beforehand.

Otherwise, she never would’ve dared sleep so openly through a major class.

Opening her eyes groggily, she found herself staring at a beautiful face.

Shi Manman said,

“Shu Shu, wake up. Class is over. You don’t have any more classes today, so go back to the dorm and sleep.”

Tang Shu stretched.

“Okay.”

Shi Manman leaned close.

“Awake now?”

Tang Shu nodded.

“More or less.”

Crossing her arms, Shi Manman narrowed her eyes.

“Then confess honestly. Are you dating someone?”

Tang Shu’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

“Manman, why would you ask that?”

Normally quiet, Xu Jiayu suddenly spoke up, her eyes shining with gossip.

“Manman heard you call someone ‘baby.'”

Tang Shu looked confused.

Had she called someone baby?

Maybe in a dream?

After all, she had plenty of babies.

The characters in her comics were all her babies.

“Maybe I was calling one of my characters baby?”

Shi Manman shook her head with a teasing smile.

“It was a voice message.”

“‘Good morning, baby~'”

Tang Shu froze.

Slowly, stiffly, she turned her head and pulled out her phone.

There were new messages.

Yu: 【Mm, good morning~】

【Didn’t sleep well last night?】

【Don’t stay up late next time.】

【Your voice sounds very nice. I like it.】

【Are you catching up on sleep?】

【If you didn’t sleep well, you don’t need to wake up just to send a good morning message.】

Seeing that she hadn’t replied for a long time, he had stopped sending messages.

He had probably guessed…

That she had fallen asleep again.