A Favor

Xiao He felt he had still underestimated how difficult it was to live with a strange girl, especially when the two of them were so incompatible. Fighting over the toilet every morning, the washing machine at noon, and the water heater at night—it was pure torture.

Xiao He deeply realized that living with a girl he did not like for an extended period could actually be this painful.

This was his third day living with Ye Wanqing. Looking at the bedroom, which resembled a doghouse, he finally snapped.

"Can't you at least tidy up your room?!" Xiao He stood at the master bedroom door with his hands on his hips, scolding her. "It's as messy as a doghouse. I have to tiptoe every time I go in, or I'll step on something! At least make your bed!"

"It's not like I asked you to sleep there." Ye Wanqing replied irritably. "I'm coming back for a nap later. Why should I make the bed?"

"How can you, a girl, be this sloppy?" Xiao He asked with a deeply furrowed brow, unable to believe it. "And you won't even clean up the trash on your desk! In a few days, mushrooms will be growing on it!"

"I'm amazed that you, a guy, can be such a nag!" Ye Wanqing said angrily. "There's no trash can in the apartment, so don't I have to wait until there's enough to throw out together? Throwing it out every day would be such a hassle!"

"Ah, I've had enough!" Xiao He waved his hand impatiently. "I'm moving some clothes into the second bedroom! I never want to set foot in this room again for the rest of my life! You can grow mushrooms in there!"

"I don't care, as long as Sister Man agrees." Ye Wanqing snorted, then slammed the bathroom door shut. Xiao He planned to move all his clothes to the side bedroom, then, once he received his first month's pay, buy some clothes he would not wear to disguise the master bedroom. From then on, he would never enter that terrifying hell again.

Still, when he thought about the department's autumn outing this Saturday and Sunday, and how he would get to properly talk with a girl he liked, none of that seemed like a big deal.

He had attended training yesterday, so he could take it easy today. That was why Xiao He came to class to make himself familiar to everyone.

Yet despite having just transferred into the department and skipped class for two consecutive days, hardly anyone in class noticed him. That made Xiao He a little uncomfortable: College students these days are way too indifferent...

In truth, those students were not listening all that seriously either. Plenty were secretly playing on their phones under their desks or chatting, but no one was interested in him, the new transfer student. Just like before, everyone basically sat in groups based on their dorm rooms.

At that moment, Xiao He noticed that Huang Ling was alone like him, sitting by herself in a corner. That made him curious: he was a transfer student, so it was perfectly normal for him not to know the other students in the department. But why was Huang Ling alone?

So, after the first class ended, he quietly moved to the seat behind Huang Ling and greeted her. "Hi..."

"Oh, you came to class?" Huang Ling asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I finished dealing with it." Xiao He replied. "By the way, you seem to be by yourself."

"Mm-hmm." Huang Ling shrugged. "I moved out during my sophomore year. Over the year, I gradually drifted apart from my roommates, and I don't really interact with the others in the department either..."

"It's pretty rare to move out in your sophomore year." Xiao He said with interest.

"Because..." Huang Ling smoothed a lock of hair by her temple, looking slightly troubled. "My living habits didn't quite match those of the others... I'm someone who likes things clean, but those girls were especially messy."

"Right? I'm the same way. My roommate is so messy... her room looks like a doghouse!" Xiao He said feelingly. "I don't want to take even one step into her room! Sometimes, you can't believe girls can be that messy!"

"Girls?" Huang Ling asked curiously. "You don't live in the school dorms?"

"Oh, I share an apartment with someone off campus..." Xiao He hurriedly explained, nearly letting it slip.

"That makes sense. Your guys' dorms have terrible conditions." Huang Ling looked at him sympathetically. "Not only is there no hot water, there's a filthy ditch behind the dorms. When summer comes, there are tons of mosquitoes and flies..."

Xiao He felt he got along especially well with Huang Ling. This girl was practically Ye Wanqing's complete opposite. Ye Wanqing clashed with him over everything; their five elements, zodiac signs, birth dates, and even daily habits did not match at all. But Huang Ling was the exact opposite: long hair, beautiful legs, pretty, sweet-voiced, clean, and she liked anime such as Tokyo Ghoul just like he did.

It felt as if Heaven had created this girl just for him. If he could live with a girl like her...

What a blissful life that would be, Xiao He sighed inwardly.

He needed to work on developing his relationship with her. Once his partnership with that girl Ye Wanqing was over, he would confess right away. With a solid financial foundation and a certain emotional basis, the odds of success should be quite high.

Xiao He secretly made plans in his heart as the first two morning classes came to an end. But he still had third and fourth period today, and they were major courses like international trade. Even if he had connections, he still needed to put on a show.

On the way to the next classroom, watching college students come and go, Xiao He once again felt the atmosphere of campus after a long time. Ever since his battle with Typhoon, his mood had not fully adjusted. He had thought he would never live an ordinary person's life again, but now he felt like an ordinary college student once more...

Until Ye Wanqing approached with a group of students, and their gazes met instantly.

Compared to Xiao He, who was all alone, Ye Wanqing had quickly found companions for herself. She walked forward with two girls, books in their arms, chatting and laughing. The sight made Xiao He a little unhappy, as though his social skills were terrible—though they really were.

Ye Wanqing rolled her eyes, seemingly reluctant, but she reminded herself that she had to fulfill the contract. After composing herself, she gave him a small smile and raised her hand to wave. At that exact moment, Huang Ling suddenly caught up from behind and greeted him just as Ye Wanqing waved at him. "Hey!"

Thus, the two girls naturally came face-to-face, forming a delicate little battlefield.

"This is..." The two of them looked at each other in confusion at the same time. Xiao He was startled and hurriedly explained to Huang Ling, "This is my roommate, Ye Wanqing! She's a year below me and studies in the judicial department."

"Oh?" Ye Wanqing raised an eyebrow and shot Xiao He a look that mixed contempt with teasing.

Xiao He immediately cried out inwardly that this was bad. That girl definitely had no good intentions. That look was the look of someone who had seen through his little scheme; her expression said she was about to expose his lie.

Yet in the end, Ye Wanqing did not say anything. She merely smiled faintly at Huang Ling and greeted her, "Hello, Senior. Our teaching buildings are a bit far apart, so I'll be going now."

"Mm." Huang Ling smiled and waved to her, watching as she left with her classmates.

"She's a very cute girl, and she has a great figure too. Her chest is so big." Watching Ye Wanqing's departing back, Huang Ling glanced curiously at Xiao He. "Living with a girl like that, you must be happy every day."

"She's the super-sloppy girl I was talking about..." Xiao He rolled his eyes so hard they nearly reached the back of his head.

"You really can't tell..." Huang Ling muttered in surprise as she looked at Ye Wanqing.

"Besides, I prefer slimmer girls. Her type..." Xiao He sighed. "I'm not really interested."

"Is that so? What a waste. You had such an advantage being so close to her." Huang Ling pursed her lips in a smile. "Want to sit together in class later?"

"Sure! I was just worried sitting alone in the corner made me look pathetic!" Xiao He nodded readily.

Huang Ling smiled slightly at him. "That felt like an arrow through the knee."

Xiao He chatted with Huang Ling as they walked forward. Time passed especially quickly when he was with this girl. They talked about Tokyo Ghoul and other film and television works of the same kind, and soon it was noon. After saying goodbye, the two returned to their respective apartments.

When Xiao He returned to the apartment, he was still immersed in that happiness—until he opened the door and found Ye Wanqing already home.

"You owe me a favor, right?" Ye Wanqing asked, arms folded as she looked at him arrogantly.

"I-I suppose..." Xiao He was a little unconvinced, but he had to admit that Ye Wanqing had not exposed him.

"Perfect. It's time for you to repay it." Ye Wanqing smiled with pursed lips, then, as if performing a magic trick, pulled a kitten out from behind her back. More accurately, the cat was nearly grown, around five or six months old. It was a silver shaded cat.

"No way." Xiao He looked somewhat disgusted. "Did you buy it?"

"I found it! Someone abandoned it." Ye Wanqing explained.

"Seriously? A silver shaded cat costs at least five or six thousand yuan. Would anyone abandon a cat like that?" Xiao He asked skeptically.

"Fine, fine." Ye Wanqing pouted in dissatisfaction. "A classmate from my department said the cat had a terrible temper and she couldn't keep it anymore. But I thought it was adorable, so I offered to take it in. Just help me out with this, and I won't expose your lies in front of your little sweetheart. What do you say? I'm not asking you to buy cat food or clean up its litter. I'll handle that myself."

"...Deal." Xiao He readily nodded in agreement. It was a reasonable request.

But at that moment, the cat in Ye Wanqing's hands suddenly let out a hissing cry, broke free from her grasp, and lightly landed on Xiao He's leg. It frowned and glared fiercely at Ye Wanqing.

"Is it really okay for it to be this fierce?" Xiao He asked hesitantly. "Aren't you afraid it'll scratch you?"

"It only looks fierce. It won't really scratch me. Look." Ye Wanqing reached out her hand. Without a word, the silver shaded cat raised its paw and hugged Ye Wanqing's hand. Of course, it did not scratch her—it bit her instead.