Out of Money

"Quick, chat with me!"

This time, Han Juyou replied instantly, afraid that Liu Muye might fall asleep and leave her with no one to talk to.

Truthfully, Liu Muye wasn’t sleepy either, but he deliberately said, "No time. This young master needs his beauty sleep."

Han Juyou: "No way! You glued my notebook so messily, and I haven’t even settled the score with you yet. You’re not allowed to sleep!"

Liu Muye: "Where’s your conscience? After all I’ve done for you, you still want to extort me?"

Han Juyou: "Keep me company for a bit, and I’ll let it go."

Liu Muye: "What do you want to talk about?"

Han Juyou: "No idea…"

The chat window fell silent for a moment because Liu Muye didn’t know how to respond either.

After a while, Han Juyou sent: "Forget it. Go to sleep. I won’t bother you anymore."

"???"

Liu Muye stared at the message, three giant question marks popping up in his head.

One second she’s demanding I chat with her, the next she’s backing off—is she messing with me?

Women really are baffling, unpredictable creatures.

Liu Muye replied: "Fine. Sleeping now."

Then he put down his phone, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

Meanwhile, Han Juyou, still glued to her phone screen, widened her eyes at Liu Muye’s blunt response. She grumbled under her breath, "Ugh, you clueless straight guy! Couldn’t you at least try to keep the conversation going? All you care about is sleep—like you haven’t slept in centuries! Idiot!"

She clenched her tiny fist and lightly tapped Liu Muye’s profile picture on the screen, as if she could punch him through it.

But she accidentally triggered the [Pat] feature and panicked, quickly recalling it like a thief.

Liu Muye had just put his phone down and was starting to feel drowsy when his phone buzzed.

He picked it up—nothing there. He set it back down.

Just as sleepiness crept in again, Han Juyou suddenly sent: "Are you asleep?"

Squinting, Liu Muye replied: "What now?"

Han Juyou: "Today… thank you."

Liu Muye: "No need. I’m seriously going to sleep now. Unless it’s important, stop bothering me!"

Han Juyou had already typed out "Goodnight" and was about to send it, but after seeing Liu Muye’s steel-straight-guy response, she deleted it and resent: "Fine, sleep then! Sleep yourself to death, you pig!"

"Absolutely ridiculous!" Liu Muye muttered to himself, shaking his head before closing his eyes again.

But then…

He couldn’t fall asleep!

He grabbed his phone and reread Han Juyou’s last message. "That wicked supporting female lead," he grumbled, "she’s sabotaging my sleep schedule on purpose! Her schemes are downright malicious!"

Sleepiness doesn’t vanish—it just transfers from Liu Muye to someone else.

After sending that last message, Han Juyou suddenly felt drowsy. She curled up, hugging her blanket tightly, and drifted into sweet dreams…

…

"Son, didn’t sleep well last night? Those dark circles are huge."

At breakfast, Liu Muye’s mother, Zhou Min, noticed his tired expression and asked with concern.

"Last night, I—"

"Staying up late is normal. Back when I was courting your mom, I pulled all-nighters writing love letters," Liu Chenghan cut in before his son could explain.

"Huh?" Liu Muye blinked at his father, baffled by the connection between his late night and love letters. Still, he asked, "Dad, someone like you actually wrote love letters?"

"Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?" Liu Chenghan flicked his hair back confidently. "Listen here, kid, don’t judge me just because I’ve aged and put on some weight. Back in the day, your old man was the most handsome guy in town!"

"Uh… sure!"

Liu Muye gave his dad a once-over and nodded half-heartedly.

"You don’t believe me, do you?" Liu Chenghan slicked back his hair into a pompadour and pointed at Liu Muye. "When I was in college, they called me Triple Threat Liu Dehua—the pinnacle of manhood! And look at you, kid, you turned out looking like a lump of… well, let’s just say you didn’t inherit any of my good looks."

"Excuse me? I’m not handsome?" Liu Muye pointed at his own face, then turned to his mother. "Mom, is Dad joking? Was he ever as good-looking as me?"

Zhou Min smiled. "Your father really was quite the looker back then. Plenty of girls chased after him."

"See that, kid?" Liu Chenghan grinned. "Your old man was a love guru. If you ever need advice on chasing girls, just ask. I’ll teach you everything."

"Pfft—yeah, right." Liu Muye waved a hand dismissively and took a sip of warm milk.

"Don’t believe me? Fine." Liu Chenghan jabbed a finger at him. "But don’t come crying to me later when you need help winning someone over."

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

Liu Muye picked up his utensils and started eating, casually pulling out his phone to scroll through videos.

But the moment he saw his screen, he froze. "Dad, why did you transfer me money again?"

Liu Chenghan smirked. "You’ve started dating, right? Gotta have extra spending money—consider it a relationship fund."

"Wait, what?"

It finally clicked for Liu Muye—his parents had mistaken his late night for romance.

"Mom, Dad, it’s a misunderstanding. I’m not dating anyone," he quickly clarified.

"No?" Liu Chenghan frowned. "Then why were you out so late last night?"

"I’m an adult. Is staying out late a crime now?" Liu Muye didn’t want to drag Han Juyou into this, so he opted for a white lie.

Zhou Min pressed further, "Then why did your dad say you looked… radiant? And you smelled like perfume?"

Liu Muye feigned embarrassment. "Mom, truth is… last night, I couldn’t resist temptation and went to… enjoy some entertainment with friends. Coming out of that kind of place, looking refreshed and smelling nice is pretty normal, right?"

He delivered the lie flawlessly, without a hint of guilt.

"You little—! I thought you were dating, but you were out paying for it? Guess I’ve been giving you too much freedom and cash." Liu Chenghan’s face darkened as he snapped at the butler, "Freeze the young master’s accounts!"

"Wait, Dad—"

"Silence!" Liu Chenghan cut him off, pointing accusingly. "You’re on your own for the next week at school. Not a single penny from me."

With that, he stormed upstairs, leaving Liu Muye stunned.

Turning to his mother, Liu Muye asked, "Mom, why is Dad so triggered by… those places?"

Zhou Min whispered, "Because he’s always regretted something. Back in college, there was a girl—his unattainable white moonlight—he could never win over."

“Huh?” Liu Muye asked, utterly bewildered. “What does that have to do with me visiting a brothel?”

Zhou Min continued explaining, “The girl your dad was infatuated with back then—his so-called ‘white moonlight’—would rather work as a prostitute in a brothel than agree to be with him. It became a stain on his reputation as a romantic, so he’s hated those places ever since. In our family, you can fool around with as many girls as you want, but you must never touch a woman from a brothel. Remember that, son.”

“Damn, that’s insane?!”

After hearing this outrageous explanation, Liu Muye’s jaw practically hit the floor.

He pulled out his phone to check and, sure enough, his card was frozen—the money inside couldn’t be transferred.

The realization made him sick with regret. If he’d known this would happen, he would’ve just admitted upfront that he’d gone to the slums to find Han Juyou.

Well, at least it was just a week without spending money—no big deal. Besides, he still had some cash in his wallet.

Zhou Min patted Liu Muye’s shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t take it too hard, son. Just tough it out for a few days. Your dad will cool off soon enough.”

…