Xiao Wu tilted her head, her face full of confusion.
"Why not? I'm going to be your shiniang sooner or later anyway."
Tang San was speechless.
Xiao Wu continued, "Besides, can you bear to let your adorable junior sister go without a blanket tonight?"
Tang San answered without hesitation. "I can."
Xiao Wu narrowed her eyes. "Hmm?"
Tang San's bones inexplicably went cold.
He looked at Xiao Wu's harmless face, then at the scorpion braid swaying slightly behind her. Images of her using Waist Bow on him in every way imaginable flashed through his mind.
He changed his answer.
"Forget it." Tang San sighed. "You can have my blanket. It's new; I haven't used it."
Xiao Wu blinked.
Tang San continued, "I'll sleep with my master. That way, there'll be no impropriety between men and women."
He paused, thinking his idea was absolutely flawless.
"After all, the opposite of impropriety between men and women is—"
He raised his head and declared with complete confidence:
"Men and men getting along!"
Su Mo: "???"
The luggage in his hands went "clunk" as it hit the floor.
"Men and men getting along?"
Tang San nodded, his face earnest. "That's right. Men and women can't sleep together, but two men can. So my master and I can sleep together. Problem solved perfectly."
Su Mo fell silent.
Looking at Tang San's earnest face, he suddenly wanted to crack open his skull and see what was inside.
Ignorance really was frightening.
He took a deep breath and raised his hand—
"Whack."
He gave Tang San a hard knock on the head.
Tang San clutched his head, his eyes brimming with tears. "Master, why did you hit me?"
Su Mo's expression remained blank. "Because you deserved it."
Tang San protested, "What did I say wrong?"
Su Mo couldn't be bothered to explain. He merely pointed at his own head. "Read more from now on."
Tang San nodded thoughtfully, but from his expression, he clearly still had no idea what he'd done wrong.
Just then, footsteps sounded at the doorway.
A middle-aged man walked in, carrying a blanket.
"This is Dorm Seven, right?"
Su Mo looked at the newcomer. He was of average height, with a square face, wearing the academy's teacher uniform. His stern expression held a trace of fatigue.
Wang Sheng hurriedly introduced him. "This is Teacher Mo Hen, our homeroom teacher."
Mo Hen nodded. His gaze swept across the dormitory and landed on Tang San.
"You're Tang San?"
Tang San was taken aback. "I am."
Mo Hen shoved the blanket into his arms. "Grandmaster told me to give this to you. He said it was a welcome gift."
Tang San looked down at the blanket in his arms, his expression complicated.
After delivering his message, Mo Hen turned and left, neat and brisk, without the slightest hesitation.
At the doorway, he suddenly stopped and glanced back.
His gaze lingered on Su Mo for a second.
He's the kid who caused a commotion at the gate today? A giant, seven feet tall, who knocked a guard flying with one punch? He looks interesting.
Then he turned his gaze away and strode off.
The dormitory fell silent for a moment.
Xiao Wu leaned over and eyed the blanket, asking curiously, "Who's Grandmaster?"
Tang San thought for a moment. "That guy at the gate...the one who called himself Grandmaster."
Xiao Wu understood. "Oh, the one Master shut up?"
Tang San nodded. "That's him."
Xiao Wu curled her lip. "He's giving you a blanket? That's like a weasel paying a New Year's call to a chicken."
Tang San deeply agreed.
He looked at Su Mo. "Master, this blanket..."
Su Mo considered it for a moment.
By all rights, they'd just humiliated Yu Xiaogang. And now the man had turned around and sent them a blanket?
Could anyone in the world be that shameless?
Su Mo thought of Yu Xiaogang's sour, pedantic face.
Well...he really might be.
But what if?
What if there really was something fishy about the blanket?
Tang San had clearly thought of that too.
He looked at the blanket, then at Xiao Wu, his expression conflicted.
"Though I can't stand this girl, she's still my junior sister." Tang San sighed. "If there's really poison in the blanket and something happens to her, I won't be able to live with myself as her senior brother."
Xiao Wu blinked as she listened. "Are you worried about me?"
Tang San turned his face away. "No. I just don't want Master to lose a disciple."
Xiao Wu smiled, beaming with happiness.
Su Mo nodded. "Then let's leave it aside for now. Though it'd be a shame to throw it away..."
His gaze shifted to the corner.
Big Black Ox was lying there, lazily swishing his tail.
Su Mo's eyes lit up.
"Old Ox, it's yours."
Big Black Ox's tail froze in midair.
"Moo?" (What?)
Su Mo pointed at the blanket. "It's for you. Brand-new and warm."
Big Black Ox looked at the blanket, then at Su Mo. His expression grew increasingly complicated.
"Moo?" (Am I some kind of awful person?)
He got to his feet and walked over to the blanket, lowering his head to sniff it.
Then he raised his head and gave Su Mo a look that said, "Are you messing with me?"
"Moo." (I'm afraid of poison too, you know?)
Su Mo spread his hands. "You have thick skin."
Big Black Ox glared at him.
"Moo!" (Thick your head!)
He backed up two steps and swept the room with a deeply aggrieved gaze.
"Moo." (A little heifer walked into the cowshed—and cracked the whole herd up.)
Xiao Wu watched him and laughed so hard she could barely stand upright.
"This ox is so funny! He even knows proverbs!"
Big Black Ox rolled his eyes at her.
"Moo." (Heh. Humans are idiots.)
In the end, the blanket was tossed into the corner, where no one paid it any mind.
Yu Xiaogang's "kindness" was ignored just like that.
The blanket problem still hadn't been solved.
Xiao Wu kept clinging stubbornly to Su Mo's arm, refusing to let go.
"No, no! I want to sleep with Master!"
Su Mo tried to pull his arm free, but couldn't.
This girl was much stronger than she looked.
"Why would he send us a blanket for no reason? What if it's poisoned?" Xiao Wu argued confidently. "I don't want it! I want to sleep with Master! Master's blanket is safe!"
Tang San tried to persuade her. "My blanket is new too. It isn't poisoned."
Xiao Wu shook her head. "What if you've been bribed?"
Tang San glared. "How could I possibly be bribed?!"
Xiao Wu said, "You never know. You wanted to sleep with Master just a moment ago."
Tang San was speechless.
Su Mo sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Enough, enough."
He looked at Xiao Wu and said seriously, "You can sleep with me, but there are three rules."
Xiao Wu immediately sat up straight, looking perfectly obedient. "Tell me, Master!"
"First, no moving around in your sleep."
Xiao Wu nodded. "Okay!"
"Second, don't kick off the covers."
Xiao Wu nodded again. "Okay!"
"Third, don't cross the line."
Xiao Wu nodded with her eyes closed. "Okay~"
Then she blinked. "Anything else?"
Su Mo said, "We'll add more later. Just remember those for now."
Xiao Wu smiled radiantly. "Okay, Master! I'll remember everything!"
Looking at her smiling face, Su Mo suddenly had a bad feeling.
This girl clearly hadn't listened to a single word.
The blanket problem had been settled, and night was falling.
Wang Sheng suggested, "Boss Su, let's go eat at the cafeteria. It's just the right time."
The other kids chimed in.
But Su Mo shook his head.
"We're not going to the cafeteria."