Chapter 2: A Cat’s Daily Life
That evening, after washing the dishes, Lu Li sat down at his computer and logged onto the Valve platform.
“Mr. Producer, were you late that day?”
Just as Lu Li thought the turmoil in his life had temporarily subsided and the sweetness of everyday life was about to embrace him, a message from “Zhu Xi” brought him crashing back to reality. His price hadn’t been eliminated yet, it wasn’t time to rest. And he still hadn’t figured out how “Zhu Xi” knew what would happen on June 6th.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Li replied, “Unfortunately, I was still late, but luckily, I didn’t leave with any regrets.”
“Is that so… So what I saw couldn’t be changed after all…” A short line of text conveyed the sadness of the girl on the other side of the screen. “Mr. Producer, are you on holiday?”
Normally, Lu Li would have playfully asked how she knew he was a student. But pretending to be foolish in front of a princess would just make him look truly foolish. So he simply went along with the topic. “Yes. You should be in school too, right?” Zhu Xi seemed to be studying in the capital. Did princesses have to wake up at seven every morning and rush to class before the bell rang? Thinking about it, perhaps being a princess wasn’t such a big deal after all.
When he was young, he used to think that people who didn’t have to go to school were amazing. When he grew up, he thought that people who didn’t have to work were amazing. Now, he felt that only he himself deserved to be called amazing.
“I’ve never been to school.” “Zhu Xi” sent a “joking” message. Lu Li chuckled dryly, assuming she was kidding.
“Mr. Producer, since you’re on holiday, can I visit your production team?” She suddenly asked, startling Lu Li. He had been chatting with “Zhu Xi” online for so long that he had even gotten used to imagining her as a sweet and lovely girl. But the thought of the real Zhu Xi, with her sharp short hair and cold eyes, sent shivers down his spine. People were very different. Some people, you just needed one look to know they were different from ordinary people, as if they had come into this world with some grand mission.
“Can I?” No emojis, just those three pitiful words. Lu Li inexplicably softened.
“Yes…”
Lu Li, oh Lu Li, you can’t be so degenerate. A pretty girl acts cute, and you just nod along? Lu Li told himself. But he had to admit, the fact that the Poison Princess, who ruled over Shenzhou with an iron fist, would actually act cute towards him, filled him with a sense of vanity that couldn’t be faked.
“Yay!” “Zhu Xi” sent a peace sign emoji. “My sister just came back recently, I’ll ask her to take me to see Mr. Producer~ She’ll definitely be able to find you.”
Your sister? Zhu Xi seemed to have many sisters. Wasn’t her relationship with her siblings terrible?
Before he could think further, he suddenly heard the bathroom door open and close behind him. A wave of hot air rushed out, followed by a pair of slender jade legs. Wen Hupo was wearing one of Lu Li’s t-shirts. It was too big for her, revealing half of her shoulder and completely covering her bottom. At first glance, it looked like she wasn’t wearing any pants, her legs dazzlingly white.
She also carried the scent of shower gel.
“Don’t turn around…” she said.
Lu Li didn’t turn around. He just tilted his head, sneakily glancing at Wen Hupo, who had just emerged from the shower. The blonde girl was drying her wet hair with a towel while climbing into bed. After covering her bare legs with the thin blanket, she whispered, “You can turn around now.”
Lu Li bet that An Baili was eavesdropping outside the door right now.
He turned off the computer and took out the hairdryer from the desk drawer. “Let me dry it for you.” The moment his gaze fell on Wen Hupo’s face with her wet hair, Lu Li was momentarily stunned. The platinum blonde hair, darkened by the water, turned into a bright gold. Strands of wet hair clung to her rosy cheeks and fair, graceful neck, resembling a beauty from a classical sculpture. Especially her lips, still glistening with water droplets, were as tempting as cherries in May, bright red and sparkling.
“What are you looking at?” The cherry-like lips moved up and down, and Lu Li finally saw the hint of suspicion on Wen Hupo’s face.
“I’m looking at how beautiful you are.”
“Hmm.” If it were before, she would definitely say, “Save those words for your little girlfriends.” But now, Wen Hupo just hummed noncommittally, seemingly enjoying the compliment.
Since Wen Hupo moved in with him, Lu Li had become the foreign young lady’s sole male servant. Wen Hupo showered punctually every day, and Lu Li would dry her hair with a hairdryer afterwards. For Lu Li, this wasn’t a chore. He stood close to Wen Hupo, clearly smelling the girl’s fresh scent, feeling the warmth radiating from her soft body.
The hairdryer was loud. Miss Lu, disturbed by the noise, leaped out of her cat bed and jumped onto the windowsill to watch the moon. Lu Li thought about sealing the window, just in case Miss Lu fell off someday.
“Hupo…” Lu Li called her name. The hairdryer’s noise was deafening, forcing him to raise his voice. “You said the other day that you liked me a little. Was that true?”
Lu Li saw Wen Hupo’s earlobes suddenly turn red, followed by her cheeks, transforming from pale white to pink in just a few seconds. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you like me.”
“The hairdryer is too loud, I can’t hear…” Wen Hupo replied.
Lu Li smiled. He actually already knew the answer. He only pointed it out to see Wen Hupo blush. It was a rare sight. Humans could land on the moon many times, but Wen Hupo might only blush this once.
Hupo’s hair felt wonderful, making him reluctant to let go. A girl’s hair was actually very special. The more a girl cherished herself, the more she cared about her hair. If a girl willingly let you play with her hair, it usually meant she had feelings for you. Just like a man’s head, there were three types of people who could pat a man’s head: enemies, friends, and lovers.
Lu Li suddenly realized that Wen Hupo had never braided her long hair. On a whim, he said, “Let me braid your hair.” He knew how to braid hair. Besides braiding, he actually knew how to draw eyebrows and a little bit of other strange things. Spending a lot of time with girls, one always learned something.
“You know how to braid hair?” Wen Hupo asked. “Have you braided anyone’s hair before? An Baili?”
“No… You’re the first.” Lu Li added silently in his heart, the first in this life.
As expected, hearing this, Wen Hupo just hummed in agreement, not objecting. “Only my mother used to braid my hair. I never learned how myself. Later… after moving to the Amber family, I never had the mood to take care of my hair anymore.”
“Then I’ll braid it for you from now on.” Lu Li replied casually, gathering her hair.
The blonde girl’s body softened. She whispered, “You’re not my mother…” She swore that when she said this, her inner voice was firm and decisive, like a female warrior from the Siberian highlands, but the words that actually came out were soft and gentle, as if spoken by a different person.
“Someone has to take care of you…”
Hearing this, Wen Hupo’s eyes inexplicably moistened, her nose tingling. The figures of her adoptive parents from her childhood gradually faded away. The lonely Amber seemed to see, at the end of the castle, a young man waving at her. It had been… it had been so many years since anyone had taken care of her… She had always taken good care of herself… always…
I’m doomed. She thought.
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