The Bag-Carrying Nightmare

Morning sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains. Gu Yue stood before the mirror, combing her long hair. Just as she finished washing up, the doorbell rang right on time. Tang Wulin stood outside with a still-steaming breakfast in hand, his smile as refreshing as the morning.

"Today we have shrimp dumplings and soy milk." He set the breakfast containers on the table and naturally walked over to pull open the curtains. The entire room immediately brightened, and the faint fragrance of soy milk drifted through the air.

After Tang Wulin left, Gu Yue quietly finished her breakfast and began tidying the room. When she put the last book back on the shelf, she habitually bent down and reached beneath the bed—there was a huge plastic storage bin there, specially used to hold all kinds of snacks.

Something about the sensation against her fingertips felt wrong. She lay down and looked inside. The box was completely empty, with only a few scattered wrappers left.

"Ah? I finished them that quickly?" she muttered softly, pulling out her phone.

At the training ground, Tang Wulin was loosening his wrists. Xie Xie had already taken his stance across from him, while Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan stood at the side watching.

"Today, I'm definitely going to show you my new move." Xie Xie grinned, his eyes shining with eagerness.

Tang Wulin was just about to reply when the phone in his pocket vibrated. He took it out for a glance, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curved upward.

"No more fighting." He put away his phone and headed off the field. "Gu Yue has run out of snacks. I need to go shopping with her."

Xie Xie's expression instantly collapsed. "What? We're not fighting now? We've already warmed up!"

Ye Xinglan sheathed the longsword in her hand. "That snack shop is pretty good. I want to see whether they have any newly arrived preserved fruit."

"I heard they recently got a lot of imported chocolate." Xu Xiaoyan's eyes lit up as she quickly followed Tang Wulin. "I'm going too!"

Xie Xie stood where he was, watching the three of them leave. He sighed and resignedly chased after them. "Wait for me! At least let me bring my membership card! It gets us a discount!"

Ten minutes later, the five of them were walking toward the shopping street. Gu Yue walked beside Tang Wulin, calmly listing the snacks she needed. "Two bags of dried mango, original-flavor seaweed crisps, and those preserved plums that aren't too sour..."

Xie Xie followed at the very back with his arms folded, muttering under his breath, "I knew it. Another day of carrying bags."

The snack shop on the shopping street had bright glass display windows filled with an array of goods. The moment they entered, a sweet fragrance washed over them. Gu Yue headed straight for the dried fruit section, Ye Xinglan went to the dried goods section, and Xu Xiaoyan stopped before the chocolate shelves.

Tang Wulin pushed the cart and patiently followed behind Gu Yue. Whenever she stood on tiptoe to reach something on a high shelf, he would always get it down for her first.

"This new freeze-dried strawberry snack looks pretty good." Gu Yue picked up a pink package and carefully read the description.

"Then take two bags." Tang Wulin took them from her and placed them in the cart.

Xie Xie pushed another cart through the aisles as Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan kept tossing their chosen items inside. Before long, the cart had piled up like a small mountain.

"Are you planning to stock up for a whole month?" Xie Xie looked at the overflowing cart, torn between laughter and tears.

"We have to buy them anyway. Buying more saves us from making constant trips." Ye Xinglan spoke with perfect confidence as she added two more boxes of cookies.

At checkout, the cashier scanned the items one by one, and the numbers on the display kept jumping. Xie Xie promptly handed over his membership card and got them a discount.

"Having a membership card really is worth it." Gu Yue looked at the bill with satisfaction.

Six large shopping bags were placed on the ground. Xie Xie resignedly picked up the two heaviest ones, Tang Wulin took two as well, and Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Xiaoyan shared the remaining bags.

By the time Xie Xie returned to the academy, he felt tired as a dog and the sky was already nearly dark. He dragged his heavy legs behind Gu Yue, carrying bags of all sizes filled mostly with snacks and little trinkets they had bought. Gu Yue walked ahead with light steps, seeming not the least bit tired. Xie Xie grumbled inwardly, but did not dare complain out loud.

The two of them made their way to Gu Yue's dormitory door. Gu Yue pulled out her key, opened the door neatly, and went inside. Xie Xie followed her in, set the bags on the small table by the door, and let out a long breath before nearly collapsing into a nearby chair.

"Oh, come on, Gu Yue, you bought way too much today!" Xie Xie could not help complaining as he rubbed his calves. "Shopping with women is seriously deadly."

Gu Yue acted as though she had not heard him and began sorting through the things they had bought. She crouched down and pulled a huge, empty snack box from beneath the bed. Xie Xie's gaze landed on it, and his eyes instantly widened as the words in his mouth caught in his throat.

The box was wide enough to fit several pillows inside. Xie Xie stared blankly at Gu Yue as she deftly opened the snack packages one by one and neatly stacked them in the box. Potato chips, cookies, chocolate, jelly, beef jerky... all kinds of snacks quickly filled every corner. Before long, the entire box was crammed full without even the slightest gap left.

Xie Xie watched in utter disbelief. After a long while, he finally found his voice and stammered, "Gu Yue, you... you, you... are you a total foodie? When are you ever going to finish such a huge box of snacks?"

Gu Yue still ignored him. She merely looked intently at the box she had filled, a faintly satisfied smile appearing on her face. She gently patted its side, fastened the lid, and pushed it smoothly back beneath the bed to its original spot, as if she had repeated the action countless times.

Sitting in the chair, Xie Xie forgot to continue complaining for a moment. His mind was full of that enormous snack box. He could hardly believe that Gu Yue, who usually seemed so cool and aloof, secretly hid an entire box of snacks beneath her bed. Just how much did she love eating?

After putting everything away, Gu Yue slowly stood up and dusted off her hands, though there was no dust on them. She glanced at Xie Xie and said flatly, "I'm sleepy. I'm going to take a nap. Your spar with Wulin isn't over yet, right? Go continue."

With that, she walked straight to the bed, lifted the covers, and lay down. Within seconds, even breathing could be heard from her; she had clearly fallen asleep almost immediately.

Seeing this, Xie Xie could only shake his head helplessly. He quietly slipped out of Gu Yue's dormitory and closed the door.

As he walked alone down the corridor, he happened to run into Tang Wulin coming from the dormitory area. When Tang Wulin saw Xie Xie, he smiled and asked, "What, did you get Gu Yue back safely?"

The moment Xie Xie heard Gu Yue's name, he could not help rolling his eyes. He leaned close to Tang Wulin and muttered in a lowered voice, "Boss, let me tell you, Gu Yue really is... she has a huge snack box hidden under her bed, this big!" He exaggeratedly gestured with his hands. "It's full of snacks! I've never seen anyone who can eat that much. Every day, she's either eating or sleeping, or dragging us out shopping. Boss, you can really put up with that?"

Tang Wulin merely smiled and replied gently, "I think it's pretty nice."

When Xie Xie heard that, the corner of his mouth twitched twice. He looked at Tang Wulin as though he were beyond saving and muttered softly, "Fine, you're always right. In this life, you're probably destined to be Gu Yue's personal 'slave.' There's no escaping it."

Tang Wulin raised a hand and gave the back of Xie Xie's head a light smack, laughing as he scolded, "What nonsense."

The two bickered as they headed toward the training room. Xie Xie continued rambling about Gu Yue's snack box, while Tang Wulin merely listened with a smile, occasionally offering a word or two.

When they reached the entrance to the training room, Xie Xie suddenly paused. He turned to Tang Wulin and asked, "Boss, do you think Gu Yue can really finish that box of snacks?"

Tang Wulin pushed open the door, glanced back at him, and smiled even more deeply. "As long as she enjoys eating them, that's all that matters."

Xie Xie shrugged and followed him inside. The lights in the training room came on. Today's sparring match was not over yet.