University Roommate Cat's Reaction

At the same time.

In the vegetable market near the apartment.

Some stall owners with few customers had gathered to play a round of poker—specifically, the local favorite "Fight the Landlord."

But at this moment, the three vendors playing the game could hardly focus on their cards.

Their attention was completely captured by the woman in a fiery red dress standing not far away.

It wasn’t that beautiful women never visited the market.

Occasionally, one or two might pass through in a day.

But a stunning woman dressed like this was truly a rare sight!

The two young girls beside her were also quite attractive, but when standing next to the woman in red, they paled in comparison.

"Are they filming a movie? Is she some kind of celebrity?"

"Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody films movies around here. This must be one of those reality shows!"

"Ohhh, I know the kind—like This is Fate! Are there hidden cameras nearby or something?"

"Wipe that drool off your face, man. You don’t want to end up on camera looking like that."

"Damn, who cares if they film me? Look how fair her skin is!"

"Pair of eights. Let’s just play cards, alright? My wife’s coming over!"

"..."

Meanwhile, Du Ruxue held her phone in one hand and a freshly cleaned fish in the other.

Smiling brightly, she spoke into the phone:

"Mengmeng, when you think about it, it’s been over a decade since we last saw each other after graduation."

"It must be fate, right? The world’s so big, yet Maomao just happened to end up at your place."

"I bought some fish—I’d love to taste your braised fish again. Would that be alright?"

"..."

"Heh, yeah, I’m totally pulling a ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’ move here—already bought it!"

"I’m also planning to grab some lotus root. I’ve been craving your fried lotus root patties."

"You have no idea how many years I’ve missed that flavor."

"..."

"Yeah, I know you’d understand. Ever since coming back from abroad, everything’s felt different."

"It’s not that I didn’t want to reach out—I was just scared you might’ve changed too."

"Who’s crying? Mengmeng, I’m not some twenty-year-old girl anymore!"

"..."

As she spoke, Du Ruxue made her way toward the vegetable stalls.

Xia Yiwei and Xia Xiashan followed closely behind, listening to her conversation with Chen Qimeng.

Their minds were practically short-circuiting from the revelations.

Xia Yiwei turned to her sister and whispered in shock:

"Auntie Ruxue and Sister Qimeng were college classmates?"

"What the hell? Is Pingchuan really that small?"

"So now… we’re just grocery shopping for a visit? Not going after Maomao anymore?"

The whiplash between heaven and hell made everything feel surreal to her.

And she wasn’t the only one.

Xia Xiashan was equally dazed.

Though there was one thing she’d caught clearly during the car ride earlier.

Still bewildered, she corrected her sister:

"Technically, they were college roommates."

"Didn’t you hear Auntie Ruxue mention it?"

"She and Sister Qimeng weren’t even in the same major."

Then, after a pause, she added:

"Honestly, this version of Auntie Ruxue is new to me too."

"It’s… really hard to connect her with a place like a vegetable market."

For once, Xia Yiwei actually agreed with her sister.

She nodded vigorously, continuing to eavesdrop on the conversation between Auntie Ruxue and Sister Qimeng.

In all the time the sisters had known Du Ruxue, she’d only ever been seen in high-end venues or corporate settings.

A place like a vegetable market?

It felt completely out of character.

Which was why they were both experiencing a strange sense of cognitive dissonance.

Just as they were trailing behind in a daze, Du Ruxue suddenly turned to Xia Xiashan and said:

"Shanshan, could you find today’s convention video of Little Yu for me?"

"Mengmeng, which platform should we check?"

"Oh, right… Bilibili."

"Shanshan, use your phone—hurry and pull it up."

Xia Xiashan froze for a second.

She hadn’t expected Auntie Ruxue to bring up Lin Yu in the conversation.

Quickly fishing out her phone, she muttered:

"Got it, I’ll search now."

"But how do I look it up? What’s the name of the song Lin Yu sang?"

She glanced helplessly at her younger sister.

When it came to these youth-oriented platforms, she was practically clueless.

Even if she tried searching, she wouldn’t know what keywords to use.

...

Back in the apartment’s kitchen.

"Alright, got it… I won’t spoil the surprise for Maomao and Little Yu yet."

"Yeah, you can reveal it yourself when you get here. Ah, I’m just so happy!"

"Xiaoxue, don’t buy too much—we’ve already got plenty prepared here."

"..."

Hearing that Auntie Qimeng and Auntie Ruxue were wrapping up their call, Lin Yu quietly stepped away from the kitchen, rubbing his temples.

This was bad.

No matter how advanced Maomao’s software was, without knowing about this connection, the simulation would be useless!

Even now that he knew Auntie Ruxue and Auntie Qimeng had been college roommates, he still had no clue about the nature of their relationship or what had transpired between them.

Trying to make last-minute adjustments to the "Virtual Auntie Ruxue" was impossible without that context.

And throughout their conversation, Auntie Qimeng had kept calling her "Xiaoxue."

She also emphasized that no one had called her "Mengmeng" in many years.

It was clear.

The relationship between the two of them had once been exceptionally close.

Perhaps Maomao’s crisis didn’t need any flashy solution at all.

Auntie Chen Qimeng’s connections… could just settle it outright?

Maomao was a meticulous girl.

At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to Xia Yiwei’s call to Auntie Chen Qimeng.

But when she saw Lin Yu near the kitchen, wearing a complicated expression,

Maomao sensed something was wrong.

Without caring whether she should be driving or not, she grabbed her phone and called Xia Xiashan.

Yet, just like with Xia Yiwei, no one answered.

At this moment,

Maomao realized danger was approaching.

She immediately went to Lin Yu’s side and asked, as if seeking confirmation:

"Little Yu, is it… Auntie Du Ruxue?

"Neither Wei nor Shan are answering my calls. I think…

"There must be some special circumstance preventing them from picking up."

Lin Yu looked at Maomao: "…"

Sigh.

Hiding it from her now was pointless.

She’d find out the truth soon enough anyway.

Might as well tell her directly—it’d make Lin Yu seem more straightforward.

Of course,

The "hidden level" Lin Yu had overheard still couldn’t be shared with Maomao.

"That’s right. I just caught a bit of Auntie Chen Qimeng’s phone conversation…

"The call did mention Auntie Du Ruxue, but I couldn’t make out what they were discussing."

Lin Yu had expected Maomao to react strongly—

At the very least, to show signs of fear or unease.

Instead,

The surprise on her face flickered only briefly before she quickly accepted the situation.

Then,

She added:

"I’m sorry Auntie Du Ruxue had to show up at a time like this.

"I’ll try not to disrupt everyone’s gathering. If…

"If this is my last meal with all of you, I might not get the chance to give you your birthday gift in person.

"Little Yu, if I have to leave today, I’ll have to send your gift online instead."

…

(First update for today. Two more chapters coming soon!)