Trash Can Sociology

Xing stood in front of Bai Luoming's door, patiently knocking.

Thump, thump, thump.

Including the previous ones, this was already the umpteenth time she had knocked on the door, but there was still no response from inside. Xing even began to wonder if Bai Luoming was actually in the room.

"Is this guy fast asleep? Why isn't he waking up?" Xing muttered under her breath, rubbing her aching wrists.

Just as she was about to give up and go to the front desk to ask for a room key, there was finally a sound from inside the room.

With a click, the door was pulled open a crack from the inside.

Bai Luoming, with his messy hair and red marks from sleeping on one side of his face, leaned against the door frame, his eyes half-open and half-closed, clearly not fully awake yet.

Xing looked at him speechlessly. "Brother, you're finally awake. I almost thought you'd been carried off by some Abominations of Abundance last night, and I was about to ask the front desk to open the door and collect your corpse."

Bai Luoming yawned, a few tears welling up in the corner of his eye.

He leaned against the doorframe, his whole body slumped against it, his voice still hoarse from just waking up. "What's wrong... so early in the morning?"

"Still so early?" Xing shoved her terminal screen in front of him. "Look at the time. I've been knocking on your and March 7th's doors for ages, and they're both sound asleep."

At this point, the time displayed on Xing's terminal screen was nearly noon.

Upon seeing the time, Bai Luoming was stunned for a moment.

"Did I sleep for that long?"

His mind was a complete blank; he only remembered making the bed and going to sleep last night. He thought he was just going to close his eyes and rest for a while, but he ended up sleeping until now.

Xing rolled her eyes at his sleepy look. "Alright, I'll go call March 7th. You hurry up and get ready."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the room next door, which was for March 7th.

Bai Luoming closed the door, leaned against it, and let out a long sigh. He subconsciously glanced at the large bed, which was dry and tidy. If it weren't for the torn clothes scattered on the floor, you would never have guessed that a fierce battle had taken place the night before.

He secretly gave Herta a thumbs up; the cleaning gadget she gave him was indeed very useful.

Bai Luoming went into the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, and then prepared to go out.

He was just about to leave the room when he suddenly remembered something. He quickly went to the mirror, pulled open his collar, and carefully examined his neck and collarbone.

Fortunately, Evernight didn't leave any extra "evidence" this time.

It seems that although she made a big fuss, she still had a sense of propriety.

When Bai Luoming finished packing and pushed open the door to go out, March 7th also opened his own door in the corridor.

She rubbed her eyes, her pink hair slightly disheveled, clearly having just been dragged out of bed by Xing.

Xing crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, her tone tinged with helplessness. "You two are really something, finally you're both awake. I wasted half the day trying to wake you up."

March 7th still looked a little dazed from just waking up. Hearing Xing's words, she whispered in defense, "I don't know what happened... I went to bed really early last night, but I ended up sleeping until now."

As she spoke, she habitually stretched and relaxed her body.

"And after getting up, my whole body..."

The words spoken on March 7th were cut short halfway through; even the act of stretching froze in mid-air, and the expression on his face became somewhat strange.

Xing looked at March 7th and asked curiously, "What happened to your body? Did you get a stiff neck?"

A faint blush quickly rose to March 7th's cheeks, and her eyes stared straight at Bai Luoming, who was standing to the side.

Bai Luoming felt a jolt of fear when March 7th looked at him, but he still tried to remain calm and didn't reveal any flaws.

But March 7th didn't say much, instead turning around and slamming the door shut with a loud "bang!"

Only Xing and Bai Luoming remained in the corridor, staring at each other in bewilderment.

"What... what's wrong with her?" Xing pointed to the closed door, then looked back at Bai Luoming, her face blank.

Bai Luoming, hands in his pockets, said calmly, "Maybe he didn't sleep well and is just grumpy in the morning."

"Really?" Xing scratched his head, still somewhat doubtful.

"Hey bro, would I lie to you?"

"Hard to say..."

While they were tidying up again on March 7th, the two chatted casually.

"By the way, I studied the trash cans at the Guest House last night." She shared her discovery earnestly, "I found that people in Luofu are very particular about what they throw away. They even fold leftover fruit peels neatly and sort them very well."

Bai Luoming leaned against the other wall, and upon hearing this, he twitched the corner of his mouth and casually remarked, "Your hobby is really something. One day, Luofu will have to issue a law forbidding Nameless from rummaging through the trash cans."

"You don't understand," Xing said dismissively, instead offering a confident explanation, "A civilized garbage can often most truthfully reflects the inner workings of that civilization. That's called 'Trash Can Sociology.'"

Bai Luoming was too lazy to argue with her about this self-created subject that sounded absurd.

And so the two chatted idly for a while before the door to March 7th's room opened again.

She had changed her clothes, her hair was neatly combed, the blush on her face had faded, and her expression had basically returned to normal.

However, when she looked at Bai Luoming, her gaze would always unconsciously shift away, as if she were deliberately avoiding something.

Xing didn't notice this detail, and kept saying, "I'm starving, I'm starving," before pulling the two of them downstairs.

Bai Luoming noticed March 7th's unusual behavior, but he didn't point it out.

He took the lead and said in a deliberately casual tone, "Let's go, let's see what good food the guesthouse in Luofu has."

The three of them went down to the lobby. Bai Luoming looked around but didn't see that familiar figure.

"Where's Old Yang?" he asked.

"Oh, you mean Uncle Yang?" Xing took a pastry from the food cart next to her, took a bite, and said indistinctly, "Uncle Yang woke up very early this morning, called you two several times but didn't respond, so he went to the Seat of Divine Foresight by himself."

"They went to the Seat of Divine Foresight?"

"Hmm." Xing nodded. "He said that although General Jing Yuan arranged for us to stay, his attitude was still a bit ambiguous. He wants to try again to see if he can get more information; he can't just stay here waiting and wasting time."

Bai Luoming nodded in understanding.

It's the older generation that's reliable; they went to the Seat of Divine Foresight all by themselves. If it were him in that situation, he would have dragged everyone along before going. His main point is: I can work, but I can't be the only one doing the work!

Luofu's cuisine is incredibly diverse and exquisitely presented. Xing was quite interested in these novel foods, enjoying almost every single one.

March 7th was also savoring the food attentively, but when picking up food, she would occasionally pause and space out, lost in thought.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was somewhat awkward.

Bai Luoming glanced at her, picked up a lotus-shaped pastry from the plate, and put it into March 7th's bowl.

Try this.

On March 7th, she glanced down at the lotus-shaped pastry in her bowl, her body stiffened, and a hint of red crept onto the tips of her ears.

After a few seconds, she whispered in a voice barely audible, "... Thank you."

Xing, sitting opposite, watched this scene, her chopsticks holding food hovering in mid-air.

She glanced at March 7th, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, then at Bai Luoming, who looked completely at ease, and her eyes gradually became suspicious.

"I feel like..."

Xing slowly spoke, breaking the silence.

"You guys are acting... weird today."

Bai Luoming took a sip of tea without changing his expression and replied, "You're overthinking it."

March 7th seemed to have been stepped on; it suddenly lowered its head, picked up its chopsticks, and began shoveling rice into its mouth without saying a word.