Chapter 336

"This is just a young boy's idea." "No way!" Xia Yan blurted out instinctively. How come he didn't know Hua Xin wore cat ears to work? He hadn't seen them when he picked her up from work last time, nor when he secretly came to the cat cafe to act as a human surveillance camera the time before that... "Heh heh..." Hua Xin sneered, then lifted her shirt and pulled it off from the bottom up, revealing a very fitted gray-black wool sweater underneath. The well-fitting long-sleeved sweater perfectly outlined the girl's curves, but under the cover of the sweater, it was barely noticeable. She casually grabbed a jacket she usually wore to the cat cafe from the hanger Hua Xin put it on with obvious disdain under Xia Yan's satisfied gaze, without saying anything more. Sigh, young boy... all he wants is for others to know he has a girlfriend, that she's his girlfriend, that they're together. Why all the roundabout stuff? It seems it's time to consider letting Xia Yan graduate; I need to have a proper discussion with him someday. Otherwise, the little boy's mentality is truly both cute and childish. 259. The scariest thing than Ultraman fighting monsters is early in the morning. The sunlight that couldn't get through the curtains was precisely blocked by the excellent light-blocking material, giving the whole room only a faint sense of haziness. The dormitory that could originally accommodate four people now only has two. The empty space and beds make the whole dormitory look much tidier, and it doesn't feel crowded. "What time is it?" A muffled, hoarse voice came from under the covers, full of reluctance and laziness. Even if he heard this heartbreaking fact from someone else, he seemed unwilling to truly face this reality. After a while, another equally unhappy, hoarse voice rang out from under the covers on the opposite bed. "I don't know. The alarm hasn't gone off yet, which means it's still early..." The local area network response takes a certain amount of time to reconnect. Mu Feng, in a half-asleep state, took a short break, but still influenced by the previous experience, he threw out another century-old question. "Did you set your alarm?" Given that Xia Yan had repeatedly made him late for class last semester due to early mornings, Mu Feng had vowed at the beginning of this semester to attend every class without fail and never skip a single one again. Last semester, he almost failed two courses, only managing to overcome the hurdle of 59 points thanks to the teachers' leniency and his slightly improved participation grades—a score comparable to a perfect score in junior or senior high school! This time, Mu Feng really didn't want to face the threat of failing again. "..." "It seems not?" Xiang Guan thought briefly, then reluctantly picked up his phone and glanced at the status bar, only to find no familiar alarm clock icon. His answer undoubtedly plunged the air into silence. In this situation, what was truly frightening wasn't the alarm that could ring at any moment, nor the possibility of picking up the phone and seeing the time already past its appointed time, but rather the sudden silence. "It's only 7:40, I can sleep another hour, relax..." "We are steadfast time-checking warriors." After casually placing his phone on his pillow, Xiang Guan scratched his thigh, closed his eyes, and said easily. This also reassured Mu Feng, who was waiting anxiously opposite him. He turned over, ready to continue their tender moment. Thank goodness. Although there was no class today, it would be too incredible if the two of them were late while everyone else was in the classroom listening to the counselor. As for books, they could easily be brought back by Xia Yan or other students from other dormitories... Thinking of this, Mu Feng suddenly fell silent. The hellish scene that had been sealed in his mind seemed to reappear in his mind once again, replaying itself across the river of time. Back then, he slept in late on the weekend and, out of curiosity, decided to go and see what was going on. On the way, a shocking change occurred: the infatuated senior was actually following his good friend Xia Yan. Things were probably going to escalate, and the timeline was about to diverge. On one side, his best friend and his girlfriend, deeply in love, had just started dating after entering campus; on the other, an unstable, infatuated senior was stalking them, ready to explode at any moment and launch a terrifying nuclear attack. If it were anyone else, they might have simply pretended not to see it and let it pass. Mu Feng wiped away the faint tears that had already trickled from the corners of his eyes, then secretly clenched his fist in his hand, as if trying to remember forever what had happened that day. Many things had happened after he chose to self-destruct with Lin Qingyu that day. But thankfully, none of it affected Brother Yan and his girlfriend, who had disappeared that day. That was enough. Although he had always been seen as an idle, good-for-nothing, skinny otaku who only liked playing games and watching anime—just short of gaining another hundred pounds and becoming obese—from childhood to adulthood, he had always sought everything in the world of 2D, escaping reality and anything he didn't want to face. But it seemed that only in that moment, only when all eyes were on him, did Mu Feng feel he finally had his moment of glory, and finally understand that he wasn't entirely useless, but could contribute to his friends and had value. Since that day, things didn't seem to change much. The sun still rose as usual, and after sunrise, some people forgot many things, while others were distracted by new worries and other matters. For most people, confessing their feelings in public and being ruthlessly rejected was incredibly humiliating and unacceptable. Of course, Mu Feng was no exception. He thought his life was probably over like this. Forget about the standard anime plot of a beautiful girl falling in love with him; even his gaming partners, whom he met online, would dump him and treat him like a tool. He understood the meaning of "girlfriend" individually, but not when combined. He had no illusions about this happening to him. His life was probably over like this. The glamorous life of a "normative person" is probably only something someone like Brother Yan can enjoy. It seems like a rat in the sewer should stay in the sewer... But even so, after what happened, he had some different feelings. If he tidied himself up a bit, learned how to dress, and maybe even worked out, could he become a handsome, trustworthy "normative person" like Brother Yan? At the very least, having a body like Xiang Guan next door wouldn't be a bad choice either. When did life start branching into so many strange paths? With these thoughts in mind, Mu Feng gradually drifted off to sleep again...A little over an hour later, Mu Feng and Xiang Guan, each with a cup of coffee, walked listlessly towards the classroom. Since it was the first day of school, many people were walking towards the teaching building, including many new faces—probably freshmen they hadn't had time to get to know from last semester. "What should we eat for lunch?" Mu Feng casually asked, bored.