No sooner had Gu Qiu stepped back into the dormitory than he felt three piercing gazes fixed on him.
The moment he opened the door, his three roommates all turned their heads toward him in unison, their eyes filled with utter disappointment and disdain.
"Oh? Young Master Gu actually has the mood to come back? What? Did you forget your ID card?"
"Don't talk nonsense, he came back to get his charger."
"You're both wrong. He clearly saw the error of his ways and dumped that wicked woman who tried to ruin our brotherly bond, right? Am I right, A-Qiu?"
Chen Men's eyes were completely vacant; clearly, he still couldn't accept the reality that Gu Qiu had been taken away by an older beauty.
*Hello, is this the emergency line? Someone's losing their mind over here.*
Faced with his three roommates' expectant gazes, Gu Qiu hesitated for a moment before giving a vague reply:
"Yeah, right, I'm back."
He and Su Jiuyue hadn't been up to anything in the first place, so what was this nonsense about seeing the error of his ways? Besides, had he come back or not?
Gu Qiu was so honest—how could he possibly tell a lie?
Hearing him say that, the three of them immediately beamed with joy, stood up from their chairs, swarmed around Gu Qiu, and patted him on the shoulder with grins, just like veteran cadres greeting a favored subordinate.
"Good, coming back is good..."
"Seeing the error of his ways... A promising lad indeed."
"That's right, women will only slow down your ranking progress..."
They all chimed in, slapping Gu Qiu's back with loud smacks that left him wincing.
It was clear that today's "romantic encounter" had thoroughly scrambled their brains, to the point that they hadn't even noticed he had changed into a completely different outfit upon returning.
Grimacing, Gu Qiu dodged their slaps, took off the outfit Su Jiuyue had bought him that day, and changed into a more comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He then carefully folded the new clothes and placed them neatly inside his wardrobe.
Those clothes were terribly expensive; he had to cherish them.
"What do you say, A-Qiu, up for a game of PUBG?"
Chen Chanbing adjusted his glasses and asked Gu Qiu, who had just closed the wardrobe door.
"Forget it, forget it... I walked all over the place today, I'm exhausted and can't take another step. You guys play."
Gu Qiu waved a hand. He didn't dare mention that he was tired from walking around with an older beauty, or that his arms were a bit sore from carrying her things. He could only make up a vague excuse about walking too far.
PUBG was a game that drained your energy, and right now he had been completely hollowed out by Su Jiuyue—oh wait, no, he was just a bit exhausted from accompanying her shopping all day, and he simply lacked any enthusiasm to play games.
"Fine, I'll let you off the hook today. Don't come crying to us later when our ranks are higher than yours and we can't queue together."
Chen Chanbing reminded him.
Climbing up onto his bed, Gu Qiu replied with a helpless smile:
"All right, all right..."
Whenever they played this game, he was always carrying three dead weight players, practically dragging them through blood, sweat, and tears to ranks they had no business reaching.
Could their ranks possibly surpass his in a single night? They'd be lucky not to drop in rank.
Without the slightest bit of worry, Gu Qiu comfortably lay down on his bed and pulled out his phone.
He had originally planned to spend some pleasant time scrolling through short videos, but on a whim, he opened WeChat instead, tapped on Su Jiuyue's profile picture, sent a photo of his dorm room, and added a message:
"I've reached the dorm."
At that moment, Su Jiuyue was relaxing comfortably in her bathtub, stretching out her long, snow-white legs while listening to music with her eyes half-closed.
Suddenly hearing the vibration of her phone on the nearby shelf, a flicker of delightful surprise danced in her eyes.
Standing up from the water and reaching for the phone on the shelf beside her, Su Jiuyue revealed her alluring, mature curves in full view.
Sinking back down into the bathtub, she opened WeChat.This WeChat account was a private one, separate from her work profile.
Her friend list contained only one person: Gu Qiu.
She had disabled notifications for all other apps, so the phone would only chime when Gu Qiu sent her a message.
Opening the chat, she saw Gu Qiu’s neat and tidy space, and his message: "I’ve arrived at the dorm."
The little guy had actually taken the initiative to message her?
Su Jiuyue’s lips curled into a slight smile. She lifted her leg from the water, took a candid snapshot with her camera app, and sent it to Gu Qiu along with a message:
"Big sister is already taking a bath in her apartment~"
When Gu Qiu received the reply, he had no idea of the impending crisis. He habitually tapped the WeChat notification, only to be met with a expanse of snowy white.
"Holy sh*t!"
He couldn't help but let out a vulgar outburst.
In the photo she sent, the most striking elements were the snowy, long leg rising above the water and the jade-like foot, painted with black nail polish, resting on the edge of the bathtub.
Then, his gaze uncontrollably drifted toward the shimmering surface of the water.
He had to admit, Su Jiuyue knew exactly how to balance the intensity.
The bubbles floating in the tub, combined with the reflections of the ceiling lights on the water, made it impossible to see anything beneath the surface.
His roommates below were startled by Gu Qiu’s exclamation. They all looked up at his tightly drawn curtains.
"What are you making such a racket for? You scared us! Are you watching something good? Keeping the good stuff to yourself, huh?!"
Lin Fan kicked his chair back, climbed the ladder to Gu Qiu’s bunk, and pulled back the curtain to peek inside.
There was nothing "good" to be seen; Gu Qiu’s pants were still on. Lin Fan saw a horror game livestream on his phone screen. He figured the outburst was just Gu Qiu getting spooked by a jump scare in the game.
"Lin, what’s going on? Is the kid hogging the good stuff?" Chen Men shouted from below.
"It’s nothing, nothing. The kid’s just looking for trouble by watching a horror stream..."
Seeing Lin Fan drop the curtain and return to his seat, Gu Qiu let out a sigh of relief.
It was a good thing he had switched to watching a horror game livestream on Douyin right after sending his message, and that he’d been fast enough with the screen-switching. Otherwise, he surely would have ruined his reputation.
In a dorm full of single gentlemen, keeping the "good stuff" to yourself and getting a girlfriend were equally serious crimes. If he were caught, he’d definitely have to face an "aruba" interrogation.
Once he confirmed he was perfectly safe, Gu Qiu exhaled and returned to the chat, replying helplessly:
"Things like... bathing... are fine to talk about... there’s no need to send pictures..."
While Gu Qiu was certainly happy to appreciate such a photo, the sender was Su Jiuyue—a beautiful, mature woman with unknown intentions—and for some reason, he just didn't feel that rush.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been all over a beauty like Su Jiuyue. But it was just like that one woman surnamed Zhou; despite having a top-tier appearance, she was the opposite of a turn-on.
It was a matter of temperament and intuition.
Regardless, until he figured out her goals and intentions, he really couldn't bring himself to feel that kind of drive.
What a pity...
【Jiuyue】: Why can’t I? Isn’t it nice to be your side dish for the night?
【Jiuyue】: It’s fine, you know. Even if A-Qiu wants to lick the screen, big sister wouldn't mind at all~
Seeing these two messages, Gu Qiu was completely stunned.
Sure enough, an older woman was different from those younger girls...
She really understood exactly what a boy would be thinking...
A fox... she really was a fox...