Trying to Mess with Me? I'll Make You Regret It / Go Ahead, Scream All You Want. Let's See You Act So Brazenly Again in a Few Days

Though he was confused, the housing agent obediently crouched down.

If he couldn't win, he knew he had to behave and do as he was told.

"Come on, scratch under my chin."

The housing agent tilted his head slightly, letting Ryuen Shoko scratch under his chin.

He could feel her cool fingers lightly scratching under his chin. It felt a little like she was teasing him.

But he didn't dare read too much into it. Those small hands could gently scratch his chin, but they could also snap his neck without hesitation.

"Do you know who you are?"

"The housing agent?"

"I'll give you one more chance. Think carefully. Who are you, really?"

The air was still. The housing agent watched as Ryuen Shoko stopped scratching under his chin and went back to cracking sunflower seeds.

Remembering what she'd just done and the position he was in now, he had more or less figured out what he was.

"A lowly dog slave?"

"What should a dog slave say?"

"Woof, woof."

Without the slightest shame, he went straight to barking like a dog.

No matter how cool and composed the housing agent had seemed before, now he had no choice but to do his utmost to please his mistress and make her happy.

"Hahaha. You know, Agent, there's something about you I really admire."

"Please, tell me."

The housing agent watched as Ryuen Shoko pinched his chin and tilted it up, making him look up at her.

There was a trace of mockery on her face, but also a hint of admiration.

"You know when to bow to the inevitable, and you can bend without breaking."

Yeah, right. I can not only bend and stretch, but go soft and hard, too.

Of course, he could only think that to himself. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

"Exactly. If you say I can bend and stretch, then I can bend and stretch."

The housing agent was now the very picture of a lowly dog slave.

Did dignity matter? Staying alive was what mattered.

What did it mean to be as cautious around your master as you would around a tiger? This was exactly what it meant. Since he'd made his choice, he had to bear the consequences himself.

"Really? Then show me how well you can bend and stretch. Come on, lick."

As she spoke, Ryuen Shoko crossed her right leg over her left, and her pale little foot happened to be right in front of the housing agent.

So you mean... you want me to lick your foot?

If you looked like the original Ryuen Kakeru, then this would obviously be an insult.

But are you sure that, looking like this, you're not rewarding me?

What did it mean to know when to bow to the inevitable? If you told me to lick, I'd really do it. So what if it's a pretty girl's foot? I'd lick it clean.

"As you wish."

As he replied, he actually leaned toward the little foot.

When he was only an inch away, the foot suddenly kicked him away.

What the hell? That's dirty pool.

The housing agent had been crouching, and that kick sent him rolling across the floor twice. His sorry appearance made Ryuen Shoko burst into laughter.

"I thought it'd be kind of gross to have you lick my foot, but you looked so ridiculous just now! Agent, you've really opened my eyes. You really can bend and stretch, can't you?"

"Uh... You're right. You're absolutely right."

After a little light sarcasm, the housing agent quickly straightened up and crouched beside Ryuen Shoko again.

Well... crouching like this all the time is pretty tiring. Could you hurry up and finish playing with me so I can get some proper rest?

"Enough. Stop crouching. Go buy me a pair of slippers. It's uncomfortable being barefoot."

"Sure. Just slippers?"

"Don't waste time. Get whatever I tell you to get, and go."

"Understood. Please wait a moment. I'll be right back."

The housing agent hurriedly put on his shoes and went to the supermarket to buy Ryuen Shoko a pair of slippers.

"Damn that bitch. That kick really hurt."

Rubbing his nose, the housing agent quietly cursed Ryuen Shoko. That woman really was hard to deal with.

That kick had nearly left him dazed. How could she change her attitude faster than someone in a Peking opera?

One moment, she was telling him to lick her foot, and the next she'd kicked him. Had she just wanted to kick him in the face?

Rubbing his nose, the housing agent felt he'd figured out the truth, then quickly bought Ryuen Shoko a pair of slippers.

Slippers had one advantage: you could wear them even if they were a little too big. They were for wearing around the house, after all. Comfort mattered most, and as long as they weren't too big, it was fine.

You're wondering how he knew Ryuen Shoko's shoe size? Come on. How could he not know after getting kicked?

A quick comparison against his face gave him a rough idea of the size. Then he just had to pick a pair two sizes larger.

What a rotten day. Seriously rotten.

After paying, the housing agent rubbed his face as he headed back to the dorm. He just couldn't figure out what that crazy woman wanted.

What was with all the BDSM? Was she trying to mess with his head?

Sure, he was afraid of her when she was right in front of him. But now that she wasn't there, was he still supposed to be afraid?

The old master had said that to succeed, you had to endure. Just wait. One day, he'd make her kneel and lick his feet.

Standing outside his dorm room, the housing agent took a quiet breath and pushed down all his feelings. Then he put on an ingratiating expression and opened the door.

"Boss, I bought the slippers."

"You took too long."

Ryuen Shoko sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, exuding an indescribable charm. Her raised foot kept bobbing up and down, slapping against the slipper with a soft, rhythmic sound.

Huh? Why did those slippers look so familiar?

"Boss, those slippers..."

"You took too long, so I put yours on. You bought a new pair anyway, so just wear those."

"Uh... Sure."

Luckily, he'd bought slippers two sizes larger than Ryuen's feet. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get his own feet into them.

They were a little tight. He could suddenly understand why foot binding had needed to be abolished. Just wearing slippers two sizes smaller than his feet was uncomfortable enough. He didn't even want to imagine what it was like to have bound feet.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Make me something to eat."

"Sure. I'll go buy you some food. What would you like?"

"I said to make me something."

Ryuen Shoko, still sitting with her legs crossed, repeated herself. She gazed steadily at the housing agent. "I know you have cooking utensils in your kitchen. You can cook, right? Make me something."

"Then what would you like to eat, Boss?"

"Anything. I'm hungry, so make it quick."

"Got it. Please wait a moment."

Hungry? What was he supposed to do?

Cook, obviously.

The housing agent quickly pulled out his phone and messaged Ayanokoji, asking him to buy three boxes of rice from the cafeteria and leave them outside his dorm room. Then he went into the kitchen to start cooking.

Why ask Ayanokoji? Shiina was probably still in the library, and she might not see his message while she was studying so seriously. Kushida and Ichinose were probably still busy getting along with their classmates. Kamuro was likely still running around with Sakayanagi. That left Ayanokoji, who stayed home after school.

The housing agent refused to believe he'd gone somewhere else after class.

"Boss, can you handle spicy food?"

"Sure."

She could handle spicy food, huh?

At Ryuen Shoko's answer, the housing agent's eyes lit up.

Then making some Sichuan food shouldn't be a problem, right? Heh.

As a northerner, the housing agent hadn't been very good with spicy food to begin with. But the problem was that he'd gone to university in Fujian, and one of his roommates had been from Jiangxi.

Well, he'd had no choice but to eat it! In just four years, he'd gone from being unable to handle spicy food to craving it at every meal. He might not have eaten as much spicy food after transmigrating, but that didn't mean he couldn't handle it.

Back in university, he'd secretly bought a small pot to cook for himself and save money. He hadn't learned much else in college, but he'd gotten damn good at cooking. He knew how to make plenty of Sichuan dishes.

First, he made hand-torn cabbage and twice-cooked pork. Hmm, it might not be enough, so he made a serving of mapo tofu too.

Then he made the only non-spicy dish: stir-fried greens.

Great, all four dishes were done.

After carrying the dishes to the table, he received Ayanokoji's reply. The rice had been left outside the door, and he could go get it himself.

The housing agent didn't have a rice cooker in his dorm. He didn't see the point. If he could buy rice at the academy, why cook it himself?

It definitely wasn't because the kitchen was too small for the cooker, and it definitely wasn't because it was hard to buy uncooked rice here.

"Boss, dinner's ready. Come eat."

After setting everything out, the housing agent went to call Ryuen Shoko, who had somehow made her way into his room and was playing on her phone.

Wow, relaxing on his bed looked pretty comfortable, huh?

"Let's see... It smells pretty good."

The color, aroma, and taste of a dish were all important. The fragrance had already filled the room before the food even reached the table.

Looking at the dishes, Ryuen Shoko picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the twice-cooked pork.

Her face visibly flushed.

She hurriedly grabbed a beer, popped the cap, and gulped it down. After letting out a heavy breath, she glared at the housing agent. "Were you trying to murder... me...?"

"Hm?"

Ryuen Shoko saw the housing agent eating the twice-cooked pork with rice, apparently not bothered by the spice at all. Her voice gradually lost its confidence.

She finally understood why the housing agent had asked whether she could handle spicy food.

You little punk. Well played.

Looking at the four dishes on the table, she saw that only the stir-fried greens weren't spicy, and she couldn't help laughing in exasperation.

She wouldn't believe the housing agent hadn't done this on purpose. But what could she do? She had to swallow her own words.

As the boss, she could order the housing agent around however she wanted, but she couldn't go back on her word. She'd said she wanted him to cook, and she'd said she could handle spicy food. So even if it was painful, she had to finish the meal!

The two of them polished off all four dishes and all three boxes of rice.

The housing agent ate nearly three plates' worth, along with two boxes of rice.

Why nearly three plates? At first, Ryuen Shoko refused to give up and tried the three spicy dishes again. The result was that she drank three cans of beer in six gulps. There was no point in trying any more, so she resigned herself to eating the stir-fried greens.

So she was the one who finished the only plate of stir-fried greens.

"Clean up after yourself. I'm going back."

After putting her shoes back on, she opened the door and left without looking back.

But to the housing agent, her departing figure seemed a little disheveled.