Let me reiterate once again, from now on, this is your home.

Chapter 41

"Hello? Zhenzhen, are you not home? I've been knocking on your door for a long time but no one answered."

Pei Susu, wearing denim overalls and clutching a few books, spoke into the phone.

Holding the PHS phone and hearing her words, Gu Ran couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, suddenly regretting his itchy fingers that made him answer the call.

From the sound of it, Ye Zhenzhen clearly hadn't told her about moving. For a moment, he didn't dare to speak, afraid of messing up Ye Zhenzhen's affairs.

Since she chose not to tell, he decided to help her keep it a secret for now.

Gu Ran understood this. After all, her mother had remarried and brought her to live in her stepfather's house. It might sound a bit unpleasant to others.

A sensitive girl would inevitably overthink it if she heard others discussing the matter.

But just as he was about to press the hang-up button, Ye Zhenzhen's voice drifted over from next door.

"Gu Ran, whose call is it? Is it my mom?"

Gu Ran: "..."

Blinking his eyes and looking at the PHS phone that had suddenly gone quiet, he didn't quite know what to say.

"Uh... it seems like it's not..."

On the other end of the line, Pei Susu stood frozen in the hallway, clutching her books.

But immediately after, her almond eyes burst with an excited light, and she loudly asked, "Gu Ran?!"

"Uh... I guess so..."

Hearing Gu Ran's reply through the phone, the raging fire of gossip ignited in her eyes, and she quickly pressed on, "Are you and Zhenzhen together?"

"Uh... maybe, yeah..."

"Then where are you guys right now?"

Hearing her question, Gu Ran walked out of the room and glanced at the young girl who was currently planting virtual vegetables.

"At home..."

Pei Susu: "!!!"

Receiving this answer, Pei Susu was instantly shocked, nearly jumping up right where she stood.

What was going on with these two?

Were they that bold, taking things all the way to the house!

Turning her head to look at the tightly locked door, her expression turned strange. Covering her mouth, she whispered, "So you two are at home... ahem, and that's why you don't dare open the door for me?"

As for the possibility that the two of them had gone to Gu Ran's house, she hardly dared to imagine it.

After all, if she were Ye Zhenzhen, she wouldn't dare mess around at Gu Ran's house even if beaten to death.

What if they got caught by his deputy director father?

That would literally mean dying on the spot!

"Uh..."

Gu Ran didn't quite know how to answer, afraid that if he said the wrong thing, Ye Zhenzhen would silence him for good.

Faced with the aggressive Pei Susu, he was at a loss and could only choose to call for backup.

"Ye Zhenzhen, come answer the phone!"

Immediately after, the young girl busy watering her virtual plants replied from the room, "Who is it? Isn't it my mom?"

"It's your classmate!"

Ye Zhenzhen: "!!!"

Her hand, holding the mouse to clear virtual pests, paused, and her cool eyes filled with shock.

She hurriedly abandoned her well-managed farm, trotted back to her room, and breathlessly took the PHS phone from Gu Ran's hand.

Pei Susu's voice kept coming continuously from the device.

"Hello, hello, where's Zhenzhen? Aren't you guys together?"

"Gu Ran, what is Ye Zhenzhen doing?"

"Are you two not inside? How come I'm standing in the hallway and can't hear anything?"

"..."

Listening to Pei Susu's endless stream of questions, she suddenly became nervous, though she didn't even know what she was nervous about.

Her cool eyes shot Gu Ran a glare. Before she could do anything else, Pei Susu's voice rang out again from the phone.

"Hello, Ye Zhenzhen, are you there?"

"Ah... ah, I'm here..."

Ye Zhenzhen quickly responded, but then didn't know what else to say.

She raised her foot and gave Gu Ran a light kick to shoo him out before she finally replied to Pei Susu.

Watching the door close, Gu Ran curled his lip, muttered a complaint about her being stingy to himself, and walked back to his own room.

Looking at QQ Farm on the computer screen, he started operating it.

First, he added Ye Zhenzhen's newly registered QQ account as a friend, and then used his own account to go to Ye Zhenzhen's farm and steal her vegetables.

He didn't stop until he couldn't steal anymore. Then he patted his behind and left without a trace.

Opening his programming software, he buried his head in his work again.

Having assigned a portion of the workload to his free tool-person Li Sinan, he now continued to flesh out the framework while simultaneously looking for an artist.

However, an artist was indeed hard to find. For one thing, his funds were limited, and for another, it required too much time.

After all, there were no official platforms on the internet right now. Most contacts were made through QQ, where the good and the bad were mixed together. He had to distinguish between those with real skills and scammers on his own.

Moreover, the fees were a major hurdle. Once the final framework was fleshed out and all the bugs fixed, he would only have one task left.

To find the most reliable artists and voice actors at the lowest price.

Although it sounded difficult, he decided to give it a try.

After all, Temple Run had a somewhat chibi style. It didn't require overly advanced techniques; it just needed time to make the craftsmanship detailed and the visuals exquisite.

For this, he could look for art academy students. Finding a couple of juniors or seniors should allow him to get very dedicated work for a very low price.

After all, in this era, students who hadn't graduated yet were adorably naive. If he truly found reliable people, a bunch of broke students would be fighting to draw it for fifty bucks!

This wasn't an exaggeration. In this era, for college students who generally never had enough money to spend, fifty bucks for an original drawing was already considered a very high price.

Because he didn't just need one original drawing!

Frowning, he pinched the bridge of his nose and stopped thinking about these things.

With this time, he might as well think about how to squeeze a bit more money out of Lao Gu.

He didn't dare push the price of the original drawings too low, fearing the quality wouldn't meet the standard, which would just be a waste of time.

Not to mention there were voice acting resources waiting for him, which would be another sizable investment.

He scratched his hair, somewhat tempted to go for a campus loan.

If naked loans were required, he hoped they would label him a macho man in the domestic section!

Nursing a slight headache, he continued typing on his keyboard, only to find his door being opened.

Ye Zhenzhen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly, "I'm going out for a bit."

Hearing this, he turned his head and asked curiously, "What's up?"

"Pei Susu wants to come over to do practice questions with me. I'm planning to go to the milk tea shop with her."

The cool girl's indifferent reply left Gu Ran a bit bewildered.

"She's coming to do questions with you, so why do you need to go to a milk tea shop? Can't you do it at home?"

Ye Zhenzhen puffed her cheeks slightly, hesitating to speak.

Seeing her awkwardness, Gu Ran realized what she was worried about. He immediately chuckled softly and comforted her, "Don't be afraid of being a bother. Like I said before, this is your home! Are you never going to invite your friends over to hang out?"

Hearing his words, Ye Zhenzhen slightly loosened her grip on the doorframe, an uncontrollable trace of warmth flowing through her heart.

"Like this... will you really not find it troublesome?"

"Of course not. Aren't you my older sister?"

Staring at the sincerity in Gu Ran's eyes, waves of warmth quietly rose within her cool gaze...