"Knock, knock, knock~~~"
"Who is it?"
Just as Liu Muye was about to finish writing his thoughts on writing, someone suddenly knocked on his bedroom door.
As expected, it was probably Nangong Ye—after all, no one else lived in this dorm besides him.
"It's me, Nangong Ye."
"Come in, the door's unlocked."
Click~
Nangong Ye pushed open Liu Muye’s bedroom door and stepped inside. Seeing him hunched over his desk writing, he asked softly, "Am I interrupting?"
"It’s fine," Liu Muye shook his head. "I was almost done anyway."
Nangong Ye pulled out a chair and sat down beside Liu Muye. "What are you writing?"
Without looking up, Liu Muye replied, "Just some thoughts on writing."
"You’re a writer?" Nangong Ye asked curiously.
"No!" Liu Muye immediately denied. "I just read a lot, so I wanted to jot down some writing insights from a reader’s perspective."
"From a reader’s perspective… insights?" Nangong Ye scratched his head. "Wouldn’t that be more like reading notes?"
Liu Muye couldn’t be bothered to explain further. "If I say it’s writing insights, then it is. Don’t overthink it."
"Uh… okay."
Nangong Ye glanced at the notebook and asked again, "Are these insights specifically for Han Juyou?"
"Pfft!" Liu Muye scoffed. "Who does Han Juyou think she is? Why would I write this just for her? She’s not worth it."
"Then why—"
Before Nangong Ye could finish, Liu Muye cut in defensively, "I just happened to have nothing to do tonight, and happened to have some thoughts in my head, so I wrote this to pass the time. It’s definitely not for anyone in particular!"
Nangong Ye crossed his arms and smirked. "So, are you also happening to give these insights to Han Juyou later?"
"Of course—" Liu Muye had been about to say, "Of course I am," but caught himself mid-sentence and quickly corrected, "Of course not!"
"Mhm, sure."
Nangong Ye pressed his lips together, suppressing a laugh. His expression made it clear he didn’t believe a word Liu Muye said.
Feeling awkward, Liu Muye quickly changed the subject. "So, what did you come here for?"
Nangong Ye replied, "I’m taking Shangguan Yurou out to lunch tomorrow, but I don’t know where to go. Thought I’d ask if you had any suggestions."
Liu Muye immediately said, "If you’re taking a girl out, you’ve gotta go somewhere nice—something you don’t usually eat, like Western food or something."
"Something we don’t usually eat? Like Western food?" Nangong Ye repeated.
Liu Muye’s implication was that Nangong Ye should take Shangguan Yurou to a high-end steakhouse, maybe with a glass of vintage Bordeaux—after all, as a (future) domineering CEO, a meal costing thousands was the bare minimum to match his status.
But Nangong Ye seemed to have misunderstood.
He ate steak and drank wine every day—those were hardly "unusual" for him. On the other hand, fast-food chains like KFC and McDonald’s were things he’d never tried before.
Suddenly, Nangong Ye’s eyes lit up. "Oh, I get it now!"
Liu Muye raised an eyebrow. "Picked a fancy steakhouse?"
"Yep, decided!" Nangong Ye nodded. "Thanks for the advice, Muye."
"No problem, Ye," Liu Muye said, patting his chest. "We’re bros. Anything else?"
"Nope." Nangong Ye stood up. "Keep writing your totally not for Han Juyou insights. I won’t bother you anymore."
"Yeah, I’ll keep writing my totally not for Han Juyou insights."
Liu Muye nodded, then froze. A few seconds later, he snapped out of it and shouted at Nangong Ye, who was already at the door, "I told you it’s not for her!"
"You just admitted it yourself!"
Nangong Ye grinned and shut the door behind him.
"That guy…" Liu Muye shook his head, half-amused, half-annoyed. "He’s definitely messing with me because I teased him earlier in the living room."
Maybe Liu Muye hadn’t noticed, but in just two or three weeks of living together, Nangong Ye’s personality had already changed quite a bit.
Back in his own room, Nangong Ye pulled out his phone and browsed the menus of both KFC and McDonald’s, agonizing over the choice…
If Shangguan Yurou ever found out that the illustrious Young Master Nangong was stressing over whether to take her to McDonald’s or KFC, who knows what she’d think.
In the end, he settled on McDonald’s for tomorrow’s lunch.
The reason was simple—there was a McDonald’s right on campus, while KFC required a trip to the mall across the street. Obviously, convenience won out.
……
Not long after Nangong Ye left, Liu Muye finished his writing insights—five pages in total, compiling everything he’d learned in his two-and-a-half years of writing. Hopefully, it’d be helpful to Han Juyou.
Closing the notebook and capping his pen, Liu Muye picked up his phone.
Ding~
Coincidentally, Han Juyou had just sent him a message.
Han Juyou: "What are you up to?"
Liu Muye glanced at the notebook on his desk, thought for a few seconds, then replied: "Lying around scrolling on my phone."
Han Juyou: "You’re such a pig."
Liu Muye: "How dare you insult me?"
Han Juyou sent back an "Oh," followed by a cheeky sticker.
Looking at the sticker, Liu Muye’s vision darkened—suddenly, he didn’t feel like giving her the insights he’d worked so hard on.
Liu Muye: "What do you want? If it’s nothing, don’t bother me. I’m going back to watching videos."
Oddly enough, Liu Muye actually wanted to chat with her, but he deliberately replied in a dismissive tone.
Han Juyou: "What’s so great about short videos? Stop watching. Let’s talk about writing instead."
Liu Muye: "No thanks. Fiction’s got nothing on thirst traps."
Han Juyou: "You’re so vulgar!"
Liu Muye: "It’s called ‘being a man.’"
After a pause, Han Juyou replied: "If you talk writing with me, I’ll show you my legs. Deal?"
Liu Muye: "Hah! You think I’m that shallow?"
Liu Muye: "…Okay, yeah, I am."
Han Juyou: "I only wrote a tiny bit tonight—just a few hundred words—and now I’m stuck. It’s so hard."
Liu Muye: "Everyone starts like that. Just keep practicing."
Han Juyou: "Do you have any good…"
……
Liu Muye held his phone, earnestly chatting with Han Juyou for a full hour—definitely not just to see her legs.
Han Juyou: "Alright, thank you. I’m a bit sleepy now, so let’s call it a day."
Liu Muye immediately replied: "Wait, did you forget something?"
Han Juyou: "What?"
Liu Muye: "You promised to show me your legs?"
Han Juyou: "Oh, hold on. I’ll send you a pic."
A moment later, Han Juyou sent a photo: a pig’s trotter!
Liu Muye stared at the image and fumed: "What the heck is this?"
Han Juyou: "I only said I’d show you a leg, not my leg."
Liu Muye: "Oh, you little brat, you’re messing with me!"
Han Juyou: "Well, you fell for it, dummy."
Lying on her bed, Han Juyou happily wiggled her fair little feet, grinning brightly at Liu Muye’s flurry of furious emojis.
"Dummy!"
"Pfft—"
...