Zhang Zhaomu found it incredibly hard to connect Bing Chan, who serialized a harem novel online, with the literary girl.
Even knowing that Duan Chan'er was in the reader group "Have You Complained About Bing Chan Today?", Zhang Zhaomu had only assumed she thought the book was a good read.
In fact, setting aside the harem fantasies that would almost never happen in real life and the descriptions that sent the car speeding wildly, the book was still very good. Otherwise, it wouldn't have performed so well.
But reading a novel like that and writing one were clearly two different things.
Zhang Zhaomu simply couldn't believe that the person sitting behind a screen and writing so many of those veteran-driver scenes everyone loved could be Duan Chan'er.
After all, those weren't things you could write well just by making assumptions. They absolutely required a wealth of knowledge on the subject.
However, once all the impossible possibilities had been eliminated, whatever remained, no matter how unbelievable, was the truth.
Duan Chan'er was Bing Chan.
"Come to think of it, Chan and Chan are homophones, so that connection works too."
Zhang Zhaomu stared at his chat history with Duan Chan'er on his phone screen, his expression a little strange.
If the boys at school who secretly had crushes on the seemingly unattainable literary girl Duan Chan'er found out that she was actually writing risqué web novels on the sly, their worldviews would probably shatter, wouldn't they?
The contrast really was a little too much.
But Zhang Zhaomu had always been open-minded and saw nothing worth criticizing. Whether she wrote the beautiful prose people expected of her or the harem wish-fulfillment stories the public loved, it was Duan Chan'er's choice.
It didn't seem to have much to do with him, either.
Surely he wasn't going to run over to her just because he'd stumbled upon her secret and say, "Duan Chan'er, you wouldn't want everyone to see what you've been writing behind their backs, would you?"
What a textbook doujin plot!
Zhang Zhaomu shook his head, casting out the jumble of fantasies.
The sound of a toilet flushing came from the bathroom, and Zhang Zhaomu hurriedly composed his expression.
It would be better not to let Duan Chan'er realize he knew her secret. He couldn't guess how she would react, but it would probably be very awkward.
The door was gently pushed open, and Duan Chan'er poked her head out of the bathroom. When she saw Zhang Zhaomu sitting on the small sofa playing with his phone, she squeezed out sideways and quickly shut the door behind her.
"I... I'm done."
She stood there awkwardly, clutching the hem of her dress with both hands, yet trying to look natural. "Class monitor, I'm really sorry for knocking so late."
"It's fine." Zhang Zhaomu shook his head. "I wasn't asleep anyway."
Seeing how stiff she looked, he pointed to another chair and said, "Didn't you say the locksmith would take a while to get here? If you don't mind, you can sit here for a bit."
Duan Chan'er hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, no... there's no need. I won't bother you two."
Zhang Zhaomu: "?"
"You... two?"
He pointed at himself and asked in confusion, "What do you mean by 'two'?"
Duan Chan'er glanced at the bedroom door and said quietly, "Chen Zhenzhen is here too, isn't she?"
As soon as she said it, she hurriedly added, "If I'd known beforehand, I definitely wouldn't have knocked and disturbed you two."
Zhang Zhaomu: "...I have no idea what you're talking about."
Duan Chan'er's tone was serious. "Don't worry, class monitor. I definitely won't go telling people."
Zhang Zhaomu took a deep breath. "Never mind whether you tell anyone or not. Why do you think Chen Zhenzhen is at my place?"
Even if he'd shown Chen Zhenzhen off in the classroom at noon, that had been for the GG. At most, someone might mistakenly think the two of them were dating while still in school. How could they possibly leap to the conclusion that he and Chen Zhenzhen were living together?
Zhang Zhaomu even thought that, as expected of someone who wrote risqué web novels, she was liable to take everything in that direction!
"Um... isn't it obvious?" Duan Chan'er studied Zhang Zhaomu's expression and said cautiously, "The clothes she changed out of are right there in the bathroom, aren't they?"
Zhang Zhaomu: "!!!"
Fuck!
He'd forgotten about that!
No wonder she'd thought that. A girl's discarded clothes had turned up in the home of a boy who lived alone, and she had even been wearing them not long ago. It would be hard not to misunderstand, wouldn't it?
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Duan Chan'er hurriedly explained. "They were right on top of the washing machine, so I saw them as soon as I went in. I mainly remembered the outfit because Chen Zhenzhen looked really good in it. If my figure were as good as hers, I'd want to buy the same outfit myself."
Zhang Zhaomu waved a hand weakly. "I see..."
Under other circumstances, he really couldn't be bothered to explain and would have let her think whatever she wanted. But since a girl's reputation was at stake, he still tried to explain:
"It's a little complicated. Actually, it's because Chen Zhen's family doesn't know I gave her a makeover..."
After giving her the gist of the situation, he apparently felt it still wasn't convincing enough, so he got to his feet, strode over, and pulled open the bedroom door.
"Look, there's really no one in there!"
"There's no need, no need!" Duan Chan'er hurriedly said. "I believe you. I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I apologize!"
Her face was slightly flushed.
She had been too quick to let her thoughts go in that direction. Sure enough, when she'd seen that outfit, all that had flashed through her mind were plots from various doujin.
Thinking about it carefully, this was their own country, not the island nation. Although some students did get involved in that sort of thing early, living together in their second year of high school was a bit much.
I really have been gathering material a little too intensely lately. I must be more careful next time and not let those fictional things affect my judgment of real life, Duan Chan'er resolved silently.
"There's no need to apologize." Zhang Zhaomu sounded helpless. "I don't really care about my own image. I was mainly worried you'd misunderstand Chen Zhenzhen. She's a girl, after all."
He pointed to the chair. "Can you sit down now?"
If Duan Chan'er had a choice, she would actually rather go back to squatting in the stairwell than be alone with a male classmate in someone else's home, wearing a nightdress at such a late hour.
But after that awkward misunderstanding, she really couldn't bring herself to refuse. She had already gotten the wrong idea about him, and now, if she acted as though she'd rather squat outside than stay with him, wouldn't that be too hurtful?
So she nodded and shuffled over. Before sitting down, she said earnestly, "Thank you. I'll leave as soon as the locksmith gets here. I'll try not to keep you from resting."
"It's fine." Zhang Zhaomu asked, "Would you like something to drink? But I don't have any drinks prepared, just bottled water..."
"No, no!" Duan Chan'er hurriedly waved her hands. "I'm not thirsty."
She had only gotten locked out because she'd gone out to buy water in the first place!