Moving into the Golden Courtyard
Author: Flash
Synopsis:
Living in a big city inevitably came with all kinds of pressure...
You didn't want to be emotionally manipulated by every boss under the sun, only to go home and face family members who couldn't understand you either, did you...
Then what were you waiting for? Move into the Golden Courtyard!
Here, you had the coolest programmer, the most compassionate doctor, the best cooking masked rider, the most considerate nun, the elementary schooler who drew the best pictures, the most chuuni middle schooler, the most dashing maiden, the most eccentric professor, the most surprising magician, the wealthiest artist, the best-connected Neko, the sharpest kendo master, and... the most, most, most, most charming and adorable Pink Elf Lady?~~
Don't hesitate—moving in meant getting your money's worth!
Chapter One: Still Not Moving into the Golden Courtyard?
Living in a big city inevitably came with all kinds of pressure...
You didn't want to be emotionally manipulated by every boss under the sun, only to go home and face family members who couldn't understand you either, did you...
Then what were you waiting for? Move into the Golden Courtyard—BANG!
Xu Qi slapped the poster onto his desk, then thought better of it, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the trash. They're advertising roommate matching now?
With a long sigh, Xu Qi lazily leaned back in his chair, enjoying the rare peace of the holiday during the New Year period.
Twenty-three-year-old Xu Qi had no great ambitions. After graduating with his bachelor's degree, he had found a job at a state-owned enterprise. The verdict was... there was nothing wrong with living a lazy, aimless life, right?
But clearly, his parents didn't think so.
They were probably still in the living room, asking that relative who was a manager at a listed company to help them shove him inside. They hadn't even asked whether he was willing.
Still, Xu Qi was the sort of person who took things as they came.
He had no strong desire to preserve the status quo in the face of changes that had to happen in his life. Take things one step at a time—that could be called his life motto.
Since he was going to a private company, then so be it. As for money... earning a little more wouldn't hurt.
"Xiaoqi! Xiaoqi?"
The door opened. The moment his mother entered, she grabbed Xu Qi and began tugging him along. "Hurry up! Come out and talk to your uncle. Your uncle is the... Human Resources manager at T.X. Corporation! Talk to him a little more. Maybe he'll take a liking to you and get you hired! Hurry, hurry."
So much for his rare peace and quiet... He'd been interrupted.
Xu Qi wasn't actually socially anxious. Though he was, technically speaking, a homebody.
A hardcore otaku who liked buying figurines, too... He had even recently bought an Alahato model. That was practically one sin piled on top of another. He had already been pronounced a complete social waste.
But he wasn't the kind of person who couldn't get a single word out in front of strangers. On the contrary... this guy was actually damn good at talking.
During his freshman year, he joined all sorts of club activities—not anime clubs, but outdoor clubs like the photography club, where spontaneous parties were practically expected.
During his sophomore year, he beat up the student council president.
During his junior year, he began entering all kinds of competitions: speeches, mathematical modeling, innovation projects, and the like... winning award after award.
Then, during his senior year, he entered a state-owned enterprise.
There was a certain beauty to rising up, only to be instantly killed by a single shot.
And now was no different. Though his mother had dragged him out by force, the moment he faced a stranger, his familiar fake smile appeared on Xu Qi's face, and he deliberately adjusted his naturally magnetic voice.
He chatted with his uncle about everything under the sun, as if he could offer a sentence or two on any subject.
Damn it, Xu Qi. That filthy, hypocritical performance was so nauseating even I wanted to throw up.
Then, from a small room, there suddenly came a loud "SMACK!", followed by the sound of parts scattering across the floor and a child's excited, incoherent cries...
At that moment, the living room seemed to freeze. Xu Qi's parents first looked toward him.
As for Xu Qi himself... he was still sitting on the sofa. However, the fake smile that had originally been on his face was slowly peeling away, replaced by something cold and indifferent.
His uncle stood up and pretended to look concerned. "What happened? I'll go take a look. Ah, those two kids of mine are just a little naughty. I'll go teach them a lesson."
"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. Broken things bring peace—breaking a few things is no big deal."
"Eh? That's not quite how the saying goes. Still, someone should say something."
"It really does need correcting."
That last sentence hadn't come from any of the adults, though Xu Qi could more or less be considered an adult himself by now.
His uncle looked at Xu Qi strangely. He seemed to be wondering whether he had misheard, and was also confused about whether the young man before him was the same person he had been speaking with earlier.
Xu Qi ignored their gazes and walked straight toward the small room normally used as a storage room.
The moment he entered, Mami Tomoe's head came rolling to his feet. Of course, it wasn't a real head—it was the head of a figurine. What a hellish joke.
Of all things, they had smashed Mami Tomoe's head? For an instant, Xu Qi felt as if the plot of an anime had begun reflecting reality.
But when he looked farther inside...
The two little brats were each holding one of his Shirou Emiya and Nero figures, gleefully smashing them against each other. At their feet lay a shattered Optimus Prime.
So Optimus Prime had become the damaged edition now.
Xu Qi slowly walked forward, but the two children ignored him and continued playing.
"Children, put those things down. Didn't your parents teach you that touching other people's belongings without permission is rude?"
The two children looked up at Xu Qi, ignored him, and continued playing by themselves.
Very good.
"SMACK!"
When their uncle walked in, he happened to see Xu Qi slap the older of the two little girls across the face.
The girl was stunned by the blow. Her younger brother also froze for a moment before pointing angrily at Xu Qi. "Why did you hit her?"
"SMACK!"
When Xu Qi's parents entered, they happened to see him slap the little boy across the face as well.
The boy collapsed onto the floor, clutching his cheek, tears in his eyes as he wailed, "My dad has never hit me!"
Xu Qi smiled and slapped him again, giving the boy a perfectly symmetrical pair of swollen red cheeks.
"Now he has."
The boy's crying stopped in shock. A few seconds later, he burst into loud sobs again, throwing a tantrum as he cried, "You're not my dad! You're not my dad!"
His uncle finally came to his senses. Furious, he charged forward in a single step and raised his hand, shouting, "You little brat!"
"SMACK!"
In sanda, this move was called striking first by striking last.
Xu Qi casually slapped his uncle aside and shook out his hand. Judging by an adult's weight, it seemed he was the one who had come off worse from that slap.
"An adult as narrow-minded as you really ought to be corrected, too."
"Xu Qi!"
Xu Qi's mother screamed from the doorway, while his father pointed at him and scolded, "What are you doing!? Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and apologize!"
Xu Qi ignored all of them.
He picked up the fallen figurines and put them back in the cabinet.
Beside him were the cries of two children and the furious, helpless panting of an adult.
Xu Qi paid none of it any attention.
After finishing, he looked outside through the only window in the storage room. The poster he had seen earlier suddenly came to mind.
The Golden Courtyard...
He suddenly understood.
Once you had your own thoughts, your own values, and your own way of conducting yourself in the world, you really weren't suited to continuing to live with your parents.
It wasn't about proving that your wings had grown strong enough to fly alone. It was simply that living together was no longer suitable.
Your parents had given birth to you and raised you. They were the people closest to you in the world.
But you were ultimately still yourself.
The person in this world who understood you best could only be you.
There were many things outsiders couldn't understand, and that you couldn't explain either.
Xu Qi wasn't a fledgling eagle that had lived entirely under his parents' protection. At twenty-three, he already had a job and a worldview that, while immature, belonged to him.
Perhaps it really was time to begin living his own life.
In that instant, his longing to see the world outside expanded without limit.
Just as it had during his senior year of college. That was why he had resolutely given up on taking the postgraduate entrance examination—he wanted to work, to leave that ivory tower.
He wanted society to give him a thorough correction.
"Dad, Mom."
Xu Qi called out softly and told them, "I plan to move out. I'll come visit you often from now on."
Chapter Two: The Perfectly Flawless Maiden?~~
In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling over a young man and woman lying on the floor.
In his sleep, Xu Qi frowned. Even after turning over, he still couldn't dispel the sunlight flooding over him, not even with his eyes tightly shut.
So he woke up.
The hard floor left his body slightly uncomfortable, but that was fine. The real question was why he had been sleeping on the floor. His memories before blacking out seemed to be...
Playing a damn game.
Why had he been playing a game?
When he turned around and saw the sleeping maiden beside him, Xu Qi froze.
Long pink hair spread around her. Even in sleep, her radiant beauty was as brilliant as a flower.
She was curled up beside him like a kitten. If both their clothes hadn't been completely intact, Xu Qi really would have been afraid that something had happened the previous night.
The girl was beautiful, but as her roommate of half a year, Xu Qi knew even better that a girl like her wasn't someone one could casually touch.
The maiden named Elysia possessed an innocent beauty worth protecting by anyone.
"But seeing you this defenseless is giving me a bit of a headache, too... If I couldn't remember that we were playing games together last night, I'd have to take responsibility, wouldn't I, Alysia?"
Joking as he spoke, Xu Qi drew the curtains and found a blanket to drape over Elysia.
She hadn't covered herself all night. It was fortunate that it was summer.
It had already been half a year since he had moved out of his family home and into the Golden Courtyard.
When he had been driven out with his suitcase, he had still been wearing heavy winter clothes. Now, it was already warm enough for short sleeves.
Time passed like a white colt glimpsed through a crack, vanishing in the blink of an eye. Back then, Xu Qi could never have imagined that he would become so familiar with more than a dozen roommates while living in a huge villa.
He opened the door as quietly as possible. The range hood was making its usual racket.
The kitchen on the first floor had an open layout, so Xu Qi easily spotted a tall figure from behind. Wearing an apron, the man held a cigarette in one hand and stirred a pan with the other.
"Morning, Chef Qian."
"Hm? Oh..."
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