Fate, wondrous beyond words

The next day, Wen Ce got up bright and early. He first ran a few laps around the community garden downstairs, but after encountering some enthusiastic aunties, he ended up hurrying home.

The aunties were far too enthusiastic, and there was a whole group of them. He couldn't handle it.

After getting home and showering, he came out to find a few new messages on his phone.

They were from Lin Fan, one of his college roommates whom he got along with fairly well, asking when he was coming back to the dorm.

Wen Ce sighed but still replied, [I'm not staying in the dorm this semester. Didn't I mention it at the end of last semester? A relative of mine moved away, and their place was empty, so I moved in. It's not like we have many classes this semester anyway.]

Wen Ce was still somewhat uncomfortable with social interaction, but he could adapt very well now and knew how to maintain basic relationships. That was already a huge improvement.

Lin Fan quickly sent back a "Huh?" reaction meme.

That made Wen Ce frown slightly, unsure how to respond.

Fortunately, Lin Fan soon sent another message. "I forgot, hahaha. No worries. I'll find a chance to come hang out at your place, then. Am I welcome?"

Not particularly...

Wen Ce sighed and sent back an OK reaction meme.

Honestly, compared to dealing with people, he would much rather face a computer.

That made him much more comfortable.

After replying to Lin Fan, Wen Ce opened the fridge and took a look. Sure enough, there was nothing inside.

He remembered there seemed to be a fairly large supermarket across the street. He hadn't even finished buying his toiletries, so he might as well get everything in one trip.

After finding his glasses and putting them on, he felt much more confident.

He changed, put on his shoes, and headed out.

When he reached the elevator, he happened to see it heading down. He was actually glad he'd come out late; otherwise, he would have had to greet the people inside.

The elevator soon went down and came back up. The morning rush hour had probably just ended, since it was empty this time.

There weren't many people at the supermarket either, and Wen Ce was in the rare mood to browse at leisure. Still, he reflexively avoided relatively crowded spots like the promotional area.

By the time he made his way from the first floor to the second, his shopping cart was already half full.

After all, he had only just moved in, and there were still plenty of things he needed to buy.

When he finally reached the household goods section and picked up his toiletries, he looked up and spotted a slender figure ahead.

It was hard not to notice her from behind. Her legs were very long.

Her long hair fell loose down her back, just reaching her waist and making it look truly slender.

Unfortunately, Wen Ce was a leg man.

And humans were visual creatures. When they encountered something beautiful, they generally couldn't help taking another look.

But Wen Ce looked away after a single glance. Any more would have been a little rude.

Yet he suddenly found something strange and couldn't help taking another look at her back.

That stiff posture seemed somewhat familiar.

His gaze swept across the area where the girl stood. Hmm, neatly arranged in front of her were human-offspring-killing bags and other everyday essentials...

Now the scene looked even more familiar.

It wasn't exactly the same, but it was at least an eighty-percent match.

Wen Ce couldn't help pushing up his nonprescription glasses.

Perhaps sensing the gaze behind her, the stiff figure shifted, then slowly turned to look his way.

Then Wen Ce clearly saw what it meant for someone's pupils to quake...

The girl was still wearing a mask. Her gaze was shocked, and those pretty, large eyes widened slightly as she looked at him.

She reminded Wen Ce of that adorable ragdoll cat in a reaction meme.

Then the girl abruptly squeezed her eyes shut, turned around, and took two steps forward with her arms and legs moving somewhat in sync on the same side.

She stopped, then turned to glance at Wen Ce again, seemingly a little hesitant. In the end, however, she quickly turned and ran off again.

Wen Ce watched this entire sequence of movements without making a sound.

He merely watched her retreating figure disappear into the distance, then pushed his cart over to where she had just been standing.

Looking at the items on the shelf, Wen Ce couldn't quite make sense of it. He could understand the thing from last night.

Everyone had physical needs, after all. But the thing in front of him...

Maybe she has a boyfriend, Wen Ce thought with some regret...

Her boyfriend must be very happy...

Wen Ce shook his head. "Why am I thinking about this?"

Then he pushed his cart away.

Even as he paid, Wen Ce couldn't help thinking, Running into her twice in such a short time-she probably lives nearby too, right?

But at that moment, Wen Ce still didn't know.

Fate was wondrous beyond words.

On his way back with his shopping, he received a call from the delivery driver. "Hello, Mr. Wen. The parcel lockers at your place are full. Can I leave your package on top of section C? Yours is the only one there. You'll see it as soon as you get there."

The caller sounded rushed, and Wen Ce answered, "Sure."

"Thanks for understanding. Please pick it up as soon as you can."

After Wen Ce acknowledged that, the caller quickly hung up.

Carrying his shopping, Wen Ce stopped by to collect his parcel. There was indeed only one package in section C. With his hands full, he picked it up, glanced at the address, and took it upstairs with everything else, not noticing another package a little farther inside.

Once home, Wen Ce organized the ingredients first. Only after putting everything away did he open the parcel.

Judging by the weight, it should have been the clothes he'd bought.

But after opening it, he fell silent as he stared at what he was holding.

This... was indeed clothing.

A very sexy set of... women's underwear?

More precisely, it should have been erotic lingerie...

It even came with a fox tail and ears...

Wen Ce's face flushed a little. As a man, he had naturally watched some educational films...

So the instant he saw it, an image actually formed in his mind. Most importantly, the girl's straight, long legs in that image were very enticing...

In a rare occurrence, Wen Ce muttered a curse under his breath. He really was being a bit of a creep. Somewhat embarrassed, he set the sexy clothing aside, then picked up the mailing bag he'd casually tossed onto the floor.

Written on it was: Building 8, 808B. Recipient: Luoluo Loves Snacks.

Great. It belonged to his neighbor across the hall.

Wen Ce really couldn't understand why they had to use A and B instead of distinguishing the units as 808 and 809. What had the developer been thinking?!

Although he was furiously ranting inside, he still had to return the package he'd taken by mistake.

Wen Ce glanced at the things on the sofa and resigned himself to finding a bag to put them in. He would have liked to put them back into the mailing bag, but he'd already torn it apart...

After finally finding a bag and stuffing the clothes inside, Wen Ce still felt terribly awkward. He didn't want to go out at all, much less suffer social death.

But in the end, he still went out carrying the bag and a bunch of grapes. The grapes were his apology gift.

He had also put a note in the bag, clearly explaining what had happened and apologizing. He had even written that he could offer compensation...

This was mainly because he hoped his neighbor wasn't home, so he could simply hang the bag on the door.

Unfortunately, the moment he knocked, he heard movement inside.

A soft, gentle female voice called out, "Coming~"