Chapter 28: I Agreed

Luo Qing lay on the bed for a while, seeming somewhat drowsy, and mumbled, “I’m sleepy.” I nodded helplessly, pulled an old blanket from the cabinet, and spread it on the floor without bothering to shake off the dust. Just as Luo Qing said, this room wasn’t big to begin with—if I made a fuss over this ragged blanket, none of us would have a place to sleep.

“Don’t put it so close to the bed!” Luo Qing, unexpectedly energetic again, rolled over to watch me lay out the blanket and spoke up.

“What, do you really think I’d make a move on you in the middle of the night? Let me tell you—even if you looked like a fairy, if you’re not my girlfriend, I wouldn’t touch you!” I replied with a cold face, though in truth, I was warning myself as much as her.

“You’re too close to the bed. If I need to get up at night, you’ll be in the way. Get your mind out of the gutter!” Luo Qing’s indignation seemed to flare up, her voice loud and clear.

My face flushed. Was I the one who misunderstood?

“Alright, alright, my mind’s in the gutter, I was wrong. Calm down, Your Majesty, and get some sleep.” I quickly gave in—if this kept up, neither of us would be at work tomorrow.

“Hmph, such a wimp!” As if her earlier taunt wasn’t enough, Luo Qing added another jab.

I couldn’t be bothered to argue further. I dragged the blanket over to the door, switched off the light, and lay down. Pulling out my phone to check the time, I saw it was already midnight. I thought about setting an alarm, but then figured Luo Qing, pampered as she was, was probably not an early riser anyway, so I let it go.

After lying there for a while, I realized I couldn’t fall asleep. In truth, this was the inevitable result of my long-standing nocturnal habits—my body clock was still a mess. I pulled out my phone again, planning to read the news to lull myself to sleep. But just as I did, a message notification sounded, catching my attention. I hurriedly silenced my phone and opened the message.

“Long time no see.” The message was simple.

Who could this be? Was it some new trend to text strangers in the middle of the night?

“May I ask who this is?” I replied quickly.

“I’m Su Xuefei.” Almost as soon as I sent my message, her answer appeared.

I stared blankly at this name, which had been foreign to me for so long, unsure of what to say next. After a long hesitation, I replied, “What made you think of messaging an old classmate out of the blue?”

“I thought of it, so I did.”

I couldn’t decipher her meaning. She thought of it? She, who had always been the icy goddess back in the day, was now messaging some nobody on a summer night just because she “thought of it”? Who was she trying to fool? I wasn’t some naive kid anymore.

“Is there something you need?” I admit, my first feeling upon seeing her message was excitement, followed by surprise and confusion.

As I waited for Su Xuefei’s reply, Luo Qing’s voice suddenly cut through the darkness: “Yang Chen, stop fiddling with your phone and go to sleep!”

“You mind your own sleep,” I shot back instinctively.

“No way. I can’t sleep with the light from your phone!” Luo Qing’s voice grew louder, as if to emphasize her stance.

“Heroine Luo, may I ask what animal you are in the zodiac? Do you sleep with your eyes open? This tiny bit of light from my phone actually bothers you?” I was already used to Luo Qing’s oddities and retorted without missing a beat.

Luo Qing suddenly fell silent. Realizing this might be the calm before the storm, I kept a wary eye toward the bed.

Unexpectedly, Luo Qing made no move to lash out, simply lying quietly on the bed.

Feeling reassured, I turned back to my phone, which had only just finished vibrating.

“I accept your confession.” A single neat line appeared on the screen.

Damn! My heart leapt wildly. What kind of game was this? Of course I knew the confession she referred to was from back in high school, but it had been over five years. We were practically strangers now—why bring it up?

“Did Qin Xiaomo say something to you?”

There must be something fishy here! I guessed Qin Xiaomo must have contacted Su Xuefei and filled her head with nonsense, tricking her somehow.

As I was lost in thought, my phone was suddenly snatched from my hand!

Luo Qing, clutching my phone, darted onto the bed and dove under the covers.

Stunned for a moment, I immediately sprang up and yanked back the blanket, only to find Luo Qing hiding underneath, reading my messages.

“Give me my phone!”

“No way!” Luo Qing didn’t even look at me, scrolling through the messages as she bickered.

Even though the room was pitch dark, I could feel my face burning—having my privacy invaded like this was mortifying!

“If you don’t give it back, I’ll have to use force!” I threatened in a low voice.

“Go ahead, try me!” she shot back.

I was speechless… What did that even mean? Still, cheeks burning, I threw caution to the wind and lunged onto the bed to wrestle for my phone.

Luo Qing clearly hadn’t expected me to actually go for it, and started struggling fiercely, clinging to the phone with both hands and kicking at me with her feet.

“Yang Chen, you’re not a man!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice ringing in my ears.

“Man or not, give me my phone!” I pressed down on her, trying to pry her fingers loose.

It was almost unbelievable—a grown man like me, and here I was, locked in a desperate struggle with Luo Qing on my tiny single bed, all over a lousy phone!

“Yang Chen, you’re hurting me!” Luo Qing’s voice was smaller now, trembling, and sounded genuinely pained.

Sensing something was wrong, I quickly let go and looked to see if she was alright.

“Gotcha!” Luo Qing grinned, waving my phone in triumph like a victor.

As long as she was fine… I looked at her and gave up on retrieving the phone. “Little pervert, snooping on my private messages!”

Having had her fun, Luo Qing finally set the phone down beside me and asked, “Who’s Su Xuefei?”

“High school classmate,” I replied, too tired to make up a story—why bother lying?

“Your goddess just accepted your confession. Aren’t you even a little excited?” Luo Qing seemed to love gossip.

“Excited about what? That was ages ago—I can barely remember what she looks like.” I sat on the edge of the bed, sighing.

“I want to take a shower!” Luo Qing leapt to a new topic.

“There’s nowhere to shower. This dump isn’t your home, you know!” I shot her a disdainful look.

“You’ve never even been to where I live!” Luo Qing pouted.

Earlier, I’d felt nothing, but after all that fooling around, sleepiness washed over me in waves. Checking my phone again, I saw there were no new messages from Su Xuefei.

This time, Luo Qing lay quietly in bed, clearly exhausted and drifting toward sleep.

I settled back onto my blanket, an inexplicable sense of relaxation filling me. I closed my eyes, and before long, sleep overtook me…