Lin Cheng glanced back casually and suddenly discovered Xu Wanyue asleep on his bed.
The room’s curtains were drawn, casting a faint dimness over everything. No wonder she had asked earlier if she could turn off the lights—she must have been tired. Her body was curled up slightly, with no blanket covering her. Her skirt hem was a bit disheveled, revealing a glimpse of snow-white thigh skin. The white silk leg socks on her calves had come off at some point, and her pale, tender toes were curled up like flower buds waiting to bloom.
A strange, wondrous feeling suddenly washed over Lin Cheng.
…Ever since he had kicked the original owner of those pink slippers out of his house last time, it had been ages since any unfamiliar woman had appeared in his home.
Lin Cheng knew she was a mole sent by the Alliance. In fact, he even knew her true purpose for joining the Fruit Shop. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if this girl was secretly using a honey trap on him, and the innocent charm he saw was all an illusion. But somehow, none of that seemed to matter much… Even if it was an illusion, believing in it would make it real.
Lin Cheng reached out and knocked on his own forehead.
Spring was the season for romance, after all. Getting a little horny was perfectly normal. If only he had pushed Lu Xiaoxiao away that day—instead of regretting the loneliness that hit him after she left.
He was just starting to get used to it.
His game was still running. Lin Cheng turned back to it and dove in seriously. A proper gunner couldn’t let hormones get in the way.
A soft murmur came from behind him.
Xu Wanyue had woken up. When Lin Cheng turned around, she was stretching lazily. The maid skirt clung to her figure, accentuating her slender waist. The motion put intense pressure on the fabric across her chest. Her calves stretched out, toes spreading slightly apart as she looked at Lin Cheng. “How long was I out?”
“An hour or two, I guess.”
“Oh.” Xu Wanyue flopped back down and picked up her phone to scroll through short videos again. Lin Cheng pulled off his headphones and eyed her profile. “What do you usually do at the Alliance?”
“Pray for them while they work on their alchemy tech stuff. Pretty much the same as what I do for Lemon… But lately, they haven’t needed me much, so I’ve been pretty idle.” Her voice was soft.
“I see.”
“I don’t have any combat abilities, after all.” Xu Wanyue’s eyes stayed glued to her phone screen as she let out a silly giggle.
“Actually, every ability user can learn to circulate their energy and wrap it around their body to boost their physical stats. Your ability rank isn’t low, and your energy reserves are plentiful. With proper training, you could reach about the level of a B-Rank physical-system ability user.”
Xu Wanyue froze for a moment. “Huh? Why has no one from the Alliance ever mentioned that?”
“Because you need someone to teach you how to direct the energy flow. The Alliance probably hasn’t fully figured it out yet—only the higher-ups are using it right now. Those ancient martial families mastered this energy circulation technique ages ago, but they won’t share it with the Alliance.”
“Oh.” Xu Wanyue nodded and went right back to scrolling.
Lin Cheng, who had been patiently explaining all this from the side, suddenly felt incredibly awkward.
Several seconds passed before he asked, “Don’t you want to… learn it?”
Xu Wanyue set her phone down. “Are you going to teach me?”
Lin Cheng went silent for three seconds. He had planned to use this as leverage to trick her into cooking for him for half a month—then kick her out once he got bored. But why did it feel like he was the one on the back foot now?
She had him pinned down.
“It’s not like I can’t teach you… but you’d have to pay a small price…” Lin Cheng felt especially awkward saying it out loud. Xu Wanyue shot him a weird look, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks. Then she pulled the blanket over herself and shook her head. “No way.”
Wait—did she misunderstand something?
“I mean… cooking.” Lin Cheng said awkwardly. Xu Wanyue blinked, staring straight at him. “Why not just say that…?”
“You’ve got a point.” Lin Cheng gave up beating around the bush. “So, you wanna learn or not?”
“I could learn… but how long would I have to cook for you?”
“Half a month. Whenever I’m free during that time, I’ll teach you how to circulate your energy and wrap it around yourself.”
“Mm, deal.” Xu Wanyue nodded in agreement, then glanced at him. “My phone’s dead. Do you have a charger for it?”
“Nope.”
Lin Cheng wasn’t some fancy Fruit user. Xu Wanyue held out her hand toward him. “Then lend me your phone so I can scroll shorts.”
“What’s so great about them anyway?!”
“They kill time. What else am I supposed to do?” Xu Wanyue looked at him innocently. “It’s not like there’s anything else going on.”
Lin Cheng handed over his phone, only for her to download a short-video app onto it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his phone was tainted now.
But honestly, there really wasn’t much to do. Time was meaningless anyway. Lin Cheng went back to his game while Xu Wanyue scrolled on his phone for ages. Glancing back casually, he saw her engrossed in his Pink Comic App.
Wait—no, that was his collection!
Just from the screen, Lin Cheng knew exactly which one she was reading: tags like maid outfits, white silk stockings, loli big-tits, reverse push… No… no!
“What are you looking at?”
His voice startled Xu Wanyue. She held out the phone to him. “A doujinshi.”
Her expression was so innocent as she answered calmly, “I prefer yuri doujins, but this artist’s style is pretty good.”
Seeing how nonchalant she was made it feel like maybe it wasn’t such a social suicide after all.
Lin Cheng’s mouth twitched slightly. “You seem to know your stuff.”
“My little sister used to dream of becoming an artist and drawing yuri doujins. That’s how I got into it. I read them when I’m bored. You really like white silk stockings, huh? I’ve seen so many in your collection…”
“Boiled dumplings,” Xu Wanyue added thoughtfully.
Lin Cheng buried his face in his hands.
He wanted to jump off the Thirteenth Floor.
“Okay, okay, no need to be embarrassed.” Xu Wanyue sat up and handed the phone back. “My sister made the exact same face when I caught her sneaking peeks at yuri doujins.”
She looked so magnanimous as she reached out and ruffled his hair. “But in real life, white silk doesn’t look good on a lot of girls. It just comes off weird.”
“Yours look pretty good, though.” Lin Cheng peeked through his fingers.
Xu Wanyue froze for a second, then hugged her knees and curled up tight. Her voice trembled a little. “S-stay away from me… There aren’t any real-life white-silk maids who get all excited just from having their body pinched… Don’t look, don’t look!”
She yanked the blanket over her snow-white little feet.
…How did her train of thought even work like that?
Lin Cheng was starting to lose it a little.
“I just… look at doujins occasionally. I’m not a perv—don’t react like that, okay?” Lin Cheng was going nuts. Xu Wanyue sneaked a glance at him, looked away, and let out a meaningful “Oh.”
Then she nodded.
“Yeah, sure. I believe you.”
Xu Wanyue picked up the white silk leg socks she had taken off earlier and left on the side. She held them up and inspected them carefully.
Lin Cheng: ?
She let out a sigh of relief. “Mm, I believe you.”
She started putting the socks back on with exaggerated care. Lin Cheng’s gaze was drawn to it instinctively. He stared for two or three seconds—no, he’d look like a perv! He tried to pull his eyes away, but Xu Wanyue’s lips were already curving into a sly smile. It was like she had discovered something delightfully triumphant. She let out a soft hum but said nothing.
“What was that hum for?” Lin Cheng stared out the window, forcing his face to stay blank.
“Nothing…” Xu Wanyue replied innocently—then hummed again, softer this time.
“No, seriously—what are you humming about?” Lin Cheng was getting anxious.
“Just humming.” Once the socks were on, Xu Wanyue scooted to the edge of the bed and swung her white-silk-clad legs gently. Lin Cheng’s eyes were pulled right back. He glanced once, looked up—and caught her watching him sneakily.
“It’s not… why are you staring at me?” Lin Cheng couldn’t take it.
“Mm, whatever.” Xu Wanyue seemed to let it go all of a sudden. She lifted one leg, stretching it out. Her pale toes spread slightly, making the already thin sock tip go almost transparent. She looked at Lin Cheng innocently. “No touching, okay?”
“I wasn’t planning to!!!”
“But your eyes were all weird when you watched me put them on…”
“They weren’t weird! You’re the one misunderstanding!”
“Wanna touch, then?” Xu Wanyue suddenly scooted her leg a bit closer. Lin Cheng froze, and his hand twitched on instinct—but the next instant, she pulled it back. A smug, scheming grin spread across her pale little face.
“Heh heh heh.” Xu Wanyue slipped her white-silk foot into the pink slipper, propped herself up on the bed, and stared straight into Lin Cheng’s eyes.
She had seen right through him.
…He wanted to jump off the building.
Lin Cheng madly ruffled his hair. Why did all those years of research—ways to make girls happy, tease their emotions, all those pickup tricks—feel utterly useless against Xu Wanyue?
No, something was off. It had to be her.
“Okay, okay. I hear every guy has some quirky little fetish. It’s not embarrassing—I have mine too.”
“What’s yours?” Lin Cheng blurted out without thinking.
Xu Wanyue blinked innocently. “Why should I tell you?”
Lin Cheng took a deep breath, feeling like he had swallowed a live fly.
Her smile turned smug. “Fine, fine, I’ll whisper it… I like getting massages.”
“Massages?”
“Yeah. I know this spa where the girls are super pretty and their technique is amazing. If we get the chance, you could treat me sometime. They sweet-talked me into buying a ten-thousand-yuan membership card in a daze that day—it’s gonna take forever to use it all up.”
“Thanks a lot…” Lin Cheng muttered sarcastically.
Xu Wanyue stood up. “Alright, let’s head downstairs and buy some groceries.”
Lin Cheng followed her without thinking. Then, out of nowhere, he said, “Actually, I’m pretty good at massages too.”
…He really was. He had practiced specifically for a certain woman in the past.
“Eh? A guy who’s good at massages? Total perv.” Xu Wanyue quickened her pace.
“Wait—no, hey! That’s not… misunderstanding! No, I mean… I…!” Lin Cheng’s words started tumbling out incoherently.
…Wait, was the problem with her, or with him? He was about to pass out.
