Chapter 21

The next morning, Liang Zhixia received a notification about a delivery.

He was a little surprised.

He had provided the address back in his rural hometown—a very remote spot. No matter where the package came from, it always took forever to arrive.

And it wasn’t even free shipping.

His hometown was tiny; all the neighbors knew each other. No one would take someone else’s package.

So when the courier called, he simply instructed the man to leave it in the little shed to the right of his house.

“What’s inside?” he asked.

The courier replied, “Looks like a doll.”

A doll?

That word had been popping up a lot lately.

But freebie dolls from merchants were always cheap and generic. He instantly lost interest in asking more.

“Where’s it shipped from? This fast?” he pressed.

The courier said, “A City.”

A City?

That shop was in A City?

But hadn’t he seen S City listed before?

Had they moved because they couldn’t stay in S City anymore?

What a weird shop.

His phone buzzed with a new message.

【L】: Does Zhizhi like flowers?

【Zhizhi】: Yeah, I do.

【L】: Got it ^-^

Liang Zhixia blinked in confusion. He was about to type a follow-up question when he caught sight of the time on his screen.

He was about to be late!

He snatched his bag and bolted out of the dorm.

By now, he knew the campus like the back of his hand—no more getting lost.

Panting for breath, he burst into the café right on the dot for his shift.

He let out a sigh of relief. At least he hadn’t been late.

Sundays were slower than Saturdays, so he even got an extra hour for lunch.

The door chime tinkled, and he set down the cup he was drying to greet the customer.

His footsteps faltered.

They were all people he knew.

Lu Quan and his two friends, plus Jiang Ling and Fan Li.

Xu Cheng grinned wide. “Hey, junior.”

“Hi, Senior,” he replied.

He led them to an empty table, menu in hand, and took down everyone’s orders.

“Please give us a moment.”

Then he headed to the nearby table where Jiang Ling and Fan Li sat.

Leaning in low, he whispered, “What are you guys doing here?”

Jiang Ling lazily flipped through the menu, shooting him a knowing wink. “You seem pretty tight with the School Grass.”

Fan Li nodded furiously from across the table.

They’d never heard Xia Xia mention it before.

Liang Zhixia bent at the waist, murmuring so only they could hear, “Senior Lu’s my roommate.”

Jiang Ling arched a brow and pointed to the cappuccino on the menu. “This one.”

Fan Li picked something at random; he wasn’t big on coffee anyway.

During work hours, Liang Zhixia couldn’t chat. He finished taking their orders and moved on to the next table.

Once the coffees were ready, he carried over several cups.

He had just set them down on both tables when Xu Cheng’s voice rang out.

“Oh yeah, Liu’er—your roommate asked me to pass on a thanks.”

Lu Quan looked puzzled.

Liang Zhixia’s back went rigid. Hadn’t Xu Cheng mentioned it last night?

He could feel everyone’s eyes from both tables locking onto him. The sensation made his toes curl in embarrassment; he wanted to bolt.

Just then, the door chime sounded again—a new customer had arrived to save him.

But before he could move, his coworker beat him to it and greeted them.

The coworker even shot him a wink.

No words needed. Gritting his teeth, Liang Zhixia turned to face Lu Quan, whose expression remained cool and detached.

“Come on, Zhizhi! Channel last night’s courage! Lu Quan’s just a high-IQ romantic fool, that’s all!”

He psyched himself up inwardly.

Under the scrutiny of both tables, he leaned forward and murmured, “Thank you, Senior Lu, for acknowledging me.”

Lu Quan’s brow twitched faintly. So that was it.

He shot a sidelong glance at the smirking Xu Cheng, the corner of his mouth curving up. “Come out with me tonight.”

Xu Cheng’s scalp prickled.

Whenever the Young Master wore that look, it meant someone was in for it.

Oh, that someone was him!!!

He’d only done it to help Lu Quan get along better with his junior roommate—what was wrong with that?!

Of course, he didn’t dare voice any of it.

He could only nod meekly and say, “Sure.”

Qu Yizhou smiled gently, saying nothing as he sipped his coffee and listened to them banter.

Suddenly, Liang Zhixia’s phone rang.

The screen showed the delivery service’s number.

He hadn’t ordered anything online lately.

He waved the phone at the group and stepped to the corner of the café to answer.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end was familiar—sounded just like the morning courier.

“Your package is here. Leave it in the shed again?”

“You’re the courier from this morning?”

“That’s right.”

Liang Zhixia frowned. “Where was it shipped from?”

“A City.”

“And what’s inside? Any sender info?”

The courier said, “A gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Sender info’s hidden—just shows an ‘L’.”

His mind flashed back to L’s question that morning. So it was a gift too?

Wouldn’t the merchant lose money like this?

Probably some palm-sized bunch of dried flowers.

“Could you snap a photo for me?” he asked.

They hung up and added each other on WeChat.

Huddled in the corner, Liang Zhixia stared at his phone. The café’s signal was spotty; the photo the courier sent kept buffering without loading.

He was about to wait until he got back to the dorm when the image finally appeared.

It was nothing like he’d imagined—not some tiny dried arrangement, but a massive bouquet of roses in full, vibrant bloom.

They looked expensive, completely out of place against the dusty little shed.

Why would a shop send flowers like this?

They seemed more like something for a lover than a customer.

Had L picked out these roses?

His heart skipped a beat, fluttering unexpectedly, as if tugged by an invisible thread. He instinctively pressed a hand to his chest, trying to quell the strange throb.

His long lashes lowered, brows furrowing. L was just trying to drum up business.

Who would actually fall for a paid chat buddy?

It was all fake anyway.

He took a deep breath and plastered his smile back on.

His main goal right now was to earn money and pay off his debts.

Everything else could wait.

He picked up an empty tray and returned, noticing the rare smile on Lu Quan’s face.

A stuffy ache bloomed in his chest. Feeling bold for a moment, he ventured, “Senior Lu looks happy.”

Xu Cheng drained the last of his coffee and chuckled. “Whoa, even the junior noticed.”

Lowering his voice, he added, “Your Senior Lu sent flowers to his crush, and they accepted.”

He glanced at Lu Quan.

Lu Quan simply said, “Mm.”

Liang Zhixia let out a soft “oh,” forcing a bright smile. “Congrats, Senior Lu.”

Back at the counter, cold water from the faucet flowed over his fingertips. He stared down at the cups in the sink, suddenly feeling a kinship with them.

Clean on the outside, filthy within.

He glanced sideways at Lu Quan chatting with his friends. Whoever Lu Quan liked must be incredible.

Unlike him—timid and weak, too scared to even ask L what the flowers really meant.

That night, he skipped the boxed meal from his boss. After his shift, he grabbed a grilled corn cob from a street vendor at the last minute.

He munched on it while checking his phone messages.

L had asked if he’d received the gift.

He hesitated, typing one-handed.

【Zhizhi】: Got it.

No reply came; L was probably busy.

He was about to close WeChat when he froze mid-bite, corn still in his mouth.

Regardless of what the roses meant, courtesy demanded he add L back as a friend.

He licked his lips, his slender white fingertips trembling slightly in the breeze before pressing the accept button.

A familiar line appeared on the chat interface.

[I have passed your friend verification request. We can start chatting now.]

It took him back a month—to that day after handing out flyers. He’d collapsed on the steps in total disarray, a massive cat-head doll propped beside him, sweat-soaked hair plastered to his scalp, looking utterly wretched.

L had been slow to warm up, but every honest word got a real response.

Back then, he’d thought: Good. At least I’m not alone anymore.

Zhuzi had his own life and friends; he couldn’t revolve around Liang Zhixia forever. But this paid chat buddy would always be there.

Even if it was fake, it was fine.

Staring at that familiar-yet-distant opener, something missing in his heart seemed to fill up—though it still felt stuffy.

He let out a long breath, tilted his head to the sky, and snapped a photo of the pitch-black night. A closer look revealed tiny twinkling stars.

He updated his Moments feed.

【Zhizhi Doesn’t Know: Night sky photo.jpg】

Back at the dorm, the first thing he did was shower.

When he emerged, the room was still empty. His phone, charging on the desk, chimed just then, adding a bit of life to the quiet space.

It was a message from Senior Xu Cheng.

【Lu Quan won’t be back tonight.】

He replied with a cat nodding knowingly emoji.

Xu Cheng didn’t really need to tell him—Lu Quan had no obligation to report his plans.

He flopped onto his bed and rolled around aimlessly. No one was messaging him, not even L.

He’d half-expected it, but disappointment settled in anyway.

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to sleep, but his mind raced with scattered thoughts.

Before he knew it, the clock had ticked over to eleven at night. He opened his eyes, which showed no trace of sleepiness, and let his fingers wander aimlessly across the phone screen until he accidentally tapped the video app.

As the music started playing, he opened his own profile page.

The number of fans hadn’t changed much, but what surprised him was the flood of messages urging him to post updates.

So those fans weren’t just bots after all.

Besides Q, other people had tipped him too, though the amounts were small.

The little assistant app showed a pretty decent number of people prompting for more content.

He pulled back his bed curtain and glanced at the empty bunk across from him. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he might as well find something to do.

Lu Quan wasn’t coming back tonight, after all.

He opened the wardrobe and picked out a piece of clothing he’d never worn before from the pile.

But—

Rips, ties, cutouts…

“…”

Were these even proper clothes?

In the bathroom, he slipped on the long, curly black wig. His long, thick lashes fluttered as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

Pure yet seductive.

The irregular cutouts paired with a hip-hugging miniskirt.

The hem on the right side rode up even higher, and a black tie dangled against his pale thigh. There was a bit of softness to his leg, and the black cords bit into his skin, leaving faint red marks.

The neckline hung low, with a cutout exposing his delicate collarbone and slender neck. A silver chain draped across the middle, while the waist was cinched tight, accentuating his curves.

If he spent more time online, he’d know this kind of skirt was called a stepmom dress.

The black fabric made his skin look even paler. This time, he’d picked up a few new photography tricks—not just full-body shots, but close-ups of key details too.

He’d spent so long kneeling and crawling on the floor that his knees and elbows were rubbed raw, glowing with a faint pink flush.

An hour later, panting for breath, he uploaded the photos.

He’d worked up another sweat.

So he took another shower.

In the mere ten minutes or so after posting, the likes had already surpassed yesterday’s total.

Suggestive content really knew how to grab attention.

For a complete newbie like him, it was the fastest way to rack up views and likes.

It drew the eyes and helped gain followers more easily.

He couldn’t pull off those teasing expressions or dances.

He’d tried learning once, but it came out looking like physical therapy exercises.

So he decided to stick with photos.

Suddenly, a notification popped up in his backend.

Q was online.

Out of respect for his “patron,” he took the initiative and sent a message.

【Muxia: Has the person you like forgiven you yet?】

【Q: Yeah, she added me back.】

【Muxia: Congrats! (kitten clapping.jpg)】

【Q: Thanks for the advice ^-^】

【Muxia: Here’s to a successful confession then! (kitten heart gesture.jpg)】

【Q: If it were you, what kind of confession scene would you like?】

【Muxia: Me?】

【Q: This is my first time liking someone. I’m worried I’ll mess it up. Can you give me some tips?】

【Q: I can pay tuition.】