Chapter 323: An Empty Boudoir

The weekend arrived, like the countless weekends before it, yet somehow different.

Zhu Niao slowly opened her eyes. The warm blanket still faithfully guarded her, carrying the lingering heat from her and Gou Yu’s body warmth.

But the blanket was wrapped tightly around her like a spring roll, airtight and impenetrable.

As if afraid that her restless movements might let the cold winter wind sneak in and ravage Zhu Niao’s delicate body.

It made her look like a caterpillar.

The double bed had two pillows as usual.

Besides Zhu Niao’s side, the other pillow still bore the faint imprint of a pressed shape, but sitting atop that imprint was a small orange cat curled up and sleeping.

Like dropping a coffin into a pre-dug pit. Even if it fit perfectly, no one would believe the pit was made by the coffin falling into it.

Zhu Niao’s sleeping position was also particular. She wasn’t on either pillow, but rather in the gap where the two pillows overlapped.

It was from sleeping restlessly, and also from the instinctive urge to press closer to the other person in bed, that her head had ended up in the crevice between the two pillows.

Of course, this soft bed, the fluffy pillows and blanket, and the lavender-scented fragrance permeating the entire room—

This was Zhu Niao’s room.

After that excursion to the campus ruins, Zhu Niao and Gou Yu had slept one night in Gou Yu’s room.

Zhu Niao hadn’t said anything, but Gou Yu felt uncomfortable.

He felt his bed was hard—hard as a stone slab.

And his blanket was stiff too, as if it had been soaked in water.

After a bit of consideration, realizing that he couldn’t escape their shared sleeping arrangement no matter what, Gou Yu chose to return to Zhu Niao’s room.

It was a bit like how it’s hard to go from luxury back to frugality.

After living in Zhu Niao’s room for a considerable time, he found it difficult to tolerate the strange atmosphere in his own room anymore.

He used to think that even if cockroaches crawled out of the corners of his room, he could coexist with them harmoniously.

But after sleeping in Zhu Niao’s fragrant, soft boudoir for so long, he discovered he could no longer tolerate such a messy environment.

His bedroom would no longer be that kind of place. What remained was merely a storage room.

That’s what Gou Yu thought, and that’s what he did.

Zhu Niao’s room was much the same as before—a vanity, a desk, a chair, a pink hairdryer on the desk that looked like Peppa Pig, a wardrobe, and the big dog plushie Bruce leaning against it.

“Mmm…” Zhu Niao glanced at the other pillow.

The small orange cat curled into a ball was sleeping soundly. She suddenly realized she had never given this cat a proper name.

She didn’t even know what to call it until now.

“Uh…” Zhu Niao thought for a moment, then called out, “Cat.”

Between choosing a nickname and a proper name, she opted for calling it by its species name.

Because she hadn’t given it either a nickname or a proper name yet.

In the quiet room, the call seemed to carry enough weight.

Zhu Niao clearly watched the small cat raise its head with drowsy eyes, stretching its tiny body on the spacious pillow.

Finally, it let out a meow and came toward Zhu Niao.

It didn’t step on Zhu Niao’s face, but instead rubbed against her cheek, as if flattering her.

And Zhu Niao, the queen of the household, was quite receptive to such flattery.

Then, the liquid-like cat slipped through the gap between Zhu Niao’s collar and the blanket, curling up in her arms, purring like an engine.

After a moment, the engine went silent—the cat had probably fallen asleep in her embrace.

Now the pillow on the other side was truly empty.

Zhu Niao extended her arm, letting it acclimate to the cold air outside before picking up her phone from the bedside.

A little past 9. By now, Gou Yu, who was out delivering food, had probably already earned a decent amount—after all, he was a gold medal rider.

She unlocked her phone and noticed Gou Yu was online on a short video platform.

[Don’t watch videos while riding.]

She pulled her other hand out from under the blanket and typed that message on her phone.

Because both hands had been pulled out from the blanket, the cat that had just fallen asleep in her arms woke up again.

This time, it simply extended its front paws and pressed rhythmically against Zhu Niao’s chest.

Unlike that detestable Ye Qingchang with her chest, the little orange cat’s kneading against Zhu Niao actually had a noticeable pressure.

And this wasn’t the first time for Zhu Niao, so she was genuinely happy that the cat was willing to be close to her.

[The restaurant is still preparing the food, so I’m killing time watching some videos. If it’s about to be late and the food still isn’t ready, I’ll just grab something that looks expensive and deliver that to the customer.]

Gou Yu’s reply came quickly—probably because he was actively scrolling through his phone.

Zhu Niao thought for a moment, then shared two short videos of Black people dancing.

Gou Yu then sent two “eyes bleeding” emojis.

Zhu Niao was still in bed. The winter sunlight streamed through the gap between the two curtains, forming a thin line that fell on her cheek, occasionally flashing into her eyes when she turned her head.

A ding—Gou Yu sent another message.

[In the kitchen outside, there’s a pot on the stove. I steamed some custard buns before I left. If you want breakfast, check if they’re still warm. If they’re not, remember to light the fire and heat them up before eating.]

It was a reminder.

Zhu Niao stared at that message for a long time, rifling through her emoji collection.

She wanted to reply with something that looked a bit cute, but the cutest one in her collection was the grumpy old man face.

She gave up and simply sent a dragon meme instead, with four big characters printed on it— “THE EMPEROR KNOWS.”

Then, she loosened the spring-rolled blanket slightly, flattening it from the wrapped oval back to its original smooth form.

Finally, she took a deep breath.

There was no way around it—the warm winter blanket could be the hardest escape room in the world.

Without sufficient resolve, no one could escape from under it.

Now Zhu Niao felt she had that resolve.

She sat up slightly. The cold air rushed in through the gap in the lifted blanket, surrounding and stinging her body in her sleepwear.

Alright, next she needed to fully throw off the blanket to expose her legs to the cold air, then change out of her pajamas into regular clothes, all to eat the custard buns sitting in the kitchen—whose temperature was anyone’s guess by now, warm or nearly frozen solid.

She lay back down.