7.3

The awkward atmosphere was not unexpected.

Lu Shenxing rolled his Adam's apple, "If I told you I didn't know where this stuff came from, would you believe it?"

Yan Shu also rolled his Adam's apple, "..I'd believe it."

Lu Shenxing was waiting for the two words "It's strange." He didn't wait long.

He forgot at that moment, that Yan Shu was ten years older than him and had never eaten pork or heard pigs scream. The men in his company were just like any others, saying this, buying that, it was a wonder how ignorant he'd remained.

But if Yan Shu knew that Lu Shenxing's supplies were going to be used on him, he wouldn't be so calm.

"Carry on."

Yan Shu quickly retracted the foot that he was about to put in his mouth, and turned to leave, walking extremely fast.

Lu Shenxing threw the thing onto the table. It bounced a few times before hanging, trembling on the edge of the table, almost hitting the head of the hopeful Xiao Bai.

"Ding, congratulations to Mr. Lu for starting the prop game." The voice of the system machinery once again refreshed Lu Shenxing's faith in the universe, "Ninety-nine times."

"..."

Lu Shenxing suspected that he had misunderstood the number, "Counting up?"

"Ding, ninety-nine." The system continued, in its usual monotone. "Calculated from the first time Lu Shenxing used it, the game needs to be completed within one month."

Lu Shenxing smiled sardonically, "Why don't you just make it one hundred?"

"Ding, the 100 game system has not yet been developed."

Lu Shenxing yelled, "Are your batteries dead!" It seemed to have missed his point, again.

"Ding, Mr. Lu, please rest assured, the super-battery has unlimited power and the item has its own cleaning function, which is safe and hygienic. It's perfect for at home or abroad."

Did he sound fucking worried?

Lu Shenxing didn't even want to find something to eat to calm down. He wanted to sit in silence.

Outside, Yan Shu, who was waiting for his key to open his door, suddenly felt a chill down his back, and that chill ran across his body, covering him from head to toe.

He turned around, and the young landlord stood facing him.

Like a hungry wolf staring at the sheep. The metaphor hit Yan Shu like a lightning strike.

Lu Shenxing held a bunch of keys and walked towards Yan Shu. Yan Shu stepped back subconsciously, realizing this, his forehead twitched slightly.

What am I afraid of? He's just a kid.

"I don't know which key it is, you can find it yourself."

Lu Shenxing ignored his movement, suppressed his laughter and gave Yan Shu the keys.

Yan Shu bent over slightly and held out the dozen keys to try them one by one. He couldn't see anyone but throughout the process he felt eyes staring at his back.

Too obvious, he felt a little nervous.

Lu Shenxing found the grapes he bought yesterday from the refrigerator and went to the sink to wash them, then came back, leaning against the wall to watch Yan Shu.

"Are these the wrong keys?" Yan Shu straightened up for a moment.

Lu Shenxing spit out grape seeds, "Really? I'll look again."

He returned to his room slowly, and then slowly gave Yan Shu another bunch of keys.

Yan Shu's mood had soured after trying key after key, but he finally found the correct one. He then turned to the small balcony for his room and opened it with the key.

Lu Shenxing, who could no longer admire him for a while, "..."

Damn, he forgot to remove Yan Shu's key.

The room was open. Yan Shu paused when he returned the key, "Landlord, you avoid using that kind of stuff. Some materials sold online aren't safe."

Lu Shenxing twitched his lips, "It's not for my own use."

Yan Shu frowned, it would be bad if he used it for himself. Only gays used those things. He hurriedly closed his door without saying anymore.

Lu Shenxing narrowed his eyes. He wasn't worried about whether Yan Shu had any experience, because as a male side character his body was his main appeal. Of course the best body was reserved for the male lead.

The male side-characters were for the readers, and their experience would be supplemented.

Lu Shenxing also wasn't worried that Yan Shu would run away. He was his only, and their relationship was destined from their first life. He went back to his room to deal with the editor.

Hot Wheels Go Brrr: You actually appeared!

Xiaoximi Eats Fish: Ye.

Hot Wheels Go Brrr: Oh, is your style getting colder?

Xiaoximi Eats Fish: Ye.

Hot Wheels Go Brrr: ...I remember that you used to be a crybaby. Baby, why are you so aggressive so suddenly? Tell ‌me what happened while you were gone? Attacked?

Xiaoximi Eats Fish: Ye.

Hot Wheels Go Brrr: ...

Lu Shenxing felt that the editor had either vomited blood or was about to vomit blood. He tapped on the keyboard and a string of words appeared.

Xiaoximi Eats Fish: I won't write that novel.

Hot Wheels Go Brrr: So resolute?

Xiaoximi eats fish: Ye.

After a dozen more exchanges, Lu Shenxing's phone rang, it was a lively sound.

"Ximi, are you okay, have you had some problems lately? Talk to your sister."

Lu Shenxing grabbed Xiao Bai's tail, "I'm okay, I just don't want to write."

There was a pause on the other side, "Okay, it's your child. You don't want to be cruel, and no one can say that you're ruthless and unreasonable."

Lu Shenxing, "..." What was his child?

"That's it, I'm hanging up."

"Wait!" The voice came again through the phone, "Are you really Ximi?"

Her mind was quick, and it wasn't impossible to detect his abnormality through the computer and over the phone. Lu Shenxing raised his eyebrows, "No, Ximi's a big fish."

He dropped the call.

After about ten minutes, Lu Shenxing received a text message asking him to write a new novel, followed by a bunch of symbols he didn't understand.

Taking Xiao Bai down for a stroll, Lu Shenxing's eyes could barely open against the cold wind. He suddenly had an idea. This idea came out inadvertently and suddenly swelled in his mind.

Lu Shenxing ran with Xiao Bai the whole way back, clicked to publish a new article, and typed in a name " ‌ Smaller and Smaller ".

When the words were down, Lu Shenxing got goosebumps for no reason, feeling a strange feeling.

The protagonist...

Lu Shenxing patted the furball on his lap and typed Xiao Bai. When he finished, his face twitched, he smashed the backspace and typed out his own name.

There was a space for the supporting roles, but Lu Shenxing simply didn't fill it in.

He pressed confirm and began to write the story of West Wolf City, starting with his encounter with Xin Liang.

Writing about his own personal experience, Lu Shenxing's writing speed was very fast. He wrote 3000 words in less than an hour, then turned off the computer.

"Landlord, the internet is down!"

When Lu Shenxing went out, he saw one of the college students who was living in one of the small single rooms separated from the living room squatting by the modem. He was unplugging his own network cable and trying it in a few different ports, looking anxious.

Zhang Ping also ran out and shouted, "Landlord, have you unplugged the network cable?"

Lu Shenxing gestured.

The college student awkwardly plugged Zhang Ping's network cable back in, blushing then spoke to Lu Shenxing, "The landlord, I can't connect to the internet anymore. I'm halfway through writing a paper, and I can't check my research."

"What are you doing, pulling other people's network cables!" Zhang Ping spoke harshly, and hit the wall with a big slap.

Lu Shenxing saw a lot of dust fall from both sides of the frame. This was the first time that he had ever been a landlord, the people living here were annoying and he was physically and mentally exhausted.

"Move aside."

The university student stood aside shyly. Lu Shenxing plugged the network cable into the port and checked it, "The modem is connected and Zhang Ping can connect, and the cable isn't broken."

The implication was it was a problem on his end.

Seeing that the student was still confused, Lu Shenxing stared at him in a daze and said helplessly, "Is the connection to your machine loose?"

The college student broke out of their confusion and went to check after thanking him.

"Landlord, it works, thank you!"

Lu Shenxing didn't look back and just waved randomly.

Yan Shu's connection light never turned on, indicating that he wasn't online, otherwise he might have come out of his room when he was disconnected.

Using the excuse of opening the refrigerator, he stood there watching for movement. Suddenly the door opened and Yan Shu dragged a suitcase out, the two of them were taken aback.

"Moving away?"

"No, business trip."

Lu Shenxing smiled, "Good luck."

Yan Shu hummed, and when he reached the entrance, he looked back. The young landlord was still there, looking directly at him without any shame. He calmly grabbed his bag.

Although, on the contrary, he was a little flustered.

Suppressing the inexplicable thoughts that popped up, Yan Shu walked out.

Lu Shenxing sighed, the fish swam under the hook. The bait he threw wasn't good enough.

Two weeks later, Yan Shu came back.

Xiao Bai had gained weight, and Lu Shenxing had lost weight.

That college student was interesting. He started to take care of his face and called 'Landlord--' even if there was nothing wrong. He started to call for him four or five times a day, and even other residents started to come out.

When he saw Lu Shenxing, he glanced at him ambiguously.

There were six households living here. Aside from the landlord, two of the remaining five were single. Usually, when he washes dishes and leaves them out to dry, he likes to peek at Yan Shu. As a beautiful male side character, he can't help but take a look.

They were both born to human parents, why was the gap so big?

But Yan Shu had a girlfriend, and she looked good enough to scare away other sex.

As the second person in charge of looking good, the Landlord would draw his gaze eventually, and he could help but approach him.

Lu Shenxing didn't think very hard about things, but he had an urge to throw the college student out of the house.

When Yan Shu went out to throw out the trash, he saw Lu Shenxing moving the dining table in the college student's room. The V-neck sweater the student was wearing almost reached his collarbone when he lowered his head.

Lu Shenxing would have a good view from his distance.

Yan Shu felt uncomfortable, there was no reason for it, but he was stuck in place, unable to move or ignore it.

Lu Shenxing had caught a glimpse of Yan Shu a long time ago, and deliberately didn't pay attention to him. He moved the dining table for the college student, and walked away talking and laughing, leaving Yan Shu to dry.

It had been almost two months, he should be about to make his move.

Lu Shenxing was waiting for the fish to bite the hook, and when the time came, he would take good care of him and savour every moment.

Yan Shu was confused at work, and Mou Yun called him on the phone.

"The avatar you drew for me before accidentally got lost, can you draw me another one."

Yan Shu responded absent-mindedly, "Next time, I'm a little busy lately."

Mou Yun hesitated to speak, and in the end she only said, "Goodbye."

Yan Shu massaged his temples, and a colleague teased, "Did you fight with your girlfriend?"

"No." Yan Shu said, "We already broke up."

His single comrades from around the office looked up from their computer screen, their eyes glowing.

He had an excellent face, figure, and talents, the full set was extremely valuable.

The colleague who asked didn't believe him, and teased, "Just tell your big bro everything. Isn't it all written on your face, what happened?"

Yan Shu, "..."

"Really."

He repeated it again, but he didn't explain it anymore. Mou Yun's matter did pass. Although it was easy, he was surprised, as if his persistence for so many years was an illusion.

Yan Shu came back from work and saw the young landlord and his puppy in the corridor. Maybe it was too cold outside and the lights in the corridor were warm. He asked, "Do you like that student?"

"What?" Lu Shenxing was holding a cigarette, smiling but not smiling, "Do you care?"

Yan Shu was speechless, he wanted to say that he didn't care, but when the words came out they betrayed him, "Yes."

He thought that the landlord would go crazy on the spot, and might sneer at him with words like 'Who do you think you are?' He didn't expect to hear the next sentence that made him freeze in place.

"Okay, I'll take your care."