Whether or not Xu Tingsheng possessed an upright character, Fang Chen’s ‘charge’ against him was already illogical from the onset. For example, it would be impossible for Xu Tingsheng to run out of her room with his pants at his kneecaps like this. Also, if it had really been like this, which man would still have been in the mood to remove his lower garments one by one instead of all at once? Even first taking off his pants?

  Yet, she entertained herself for a whole half hour just like this, performing tragically and pitifully in various manifestations.

  Her arms crossed, Lu Zhixin watched on smilingly as she leaned back against the door, verbally helping to make things difficult for Xu Tingsheng from time to time. Apple was rather more pitiful as she was completely confounded by the situation before her.

  It wasn’t about whether or not she believed Xu Tingsheng. She just couldn’t understand, just couldn’t comprehend the current situation before her at all.

  Xu Tingsheng eventually just lit up a cigarette and watched on for a while, only asking after Fang Chen had finally stopped for a bit, “Boss, you……is there any meaning to this?”


  “But I’m afraid of staying alone! Apple, just take it as if I had a nightmare just now, but I was really frightened. Can I sleep with you tonight?” Fang Chen pressed her chest, asking Apple.

  “Okay,” Apple nodded.

  “No.”


  Xu Tingsheng threw off the blanket and leapt up, pulling up his pants even as he ran over to Apple’s room, pushed her in and plopped down right before her door, “Over my dead body!”


  After yet another half hour had passed, when Fang Chen and Lu Zhixin had both finally retired for the night due to fatigue, Apple sat down beside Xu Tingsheng, leaning against his shoulder as she said, “You’re so cute when you’re jealous. Also, this place is really fun.”


  “You don’t understand. This place is actually very dangerous. You have to protect yourself well,” Xu Tingsheng sighed, telling the still uncomprehending Apple in an exceptionally serious tone.

  “Dangerous? Is it you? But you ran to the wrong room,” Apple smiled before lightly rapping on the door of her room.

  “Me? I’m still okay,” Xu Tingsheng said, “Right, when Lu Zhixin and I were up in the office earlier, what were you and Fang Chen doing?”


  Apple opened her mouth before shaking her head rather embarrassedly, not going on with her words.

  “.……Something really happened then?” Xu Tingsheng asked nervously.

  “No, it’s just……Fang Chen said to compare and see whose are bigger,” Apple said softly.

  “.……So did you?”


  “It’s pretty normal, just some typical playing around between girlfriends.”


  “So you really did do it?”


  Apple nodded.

  Illusory scenes grew vivid……

  Xu Tingsheng knew now why Fang Chen had been unable to sleep for so long, knew why she had gotten up in the middle on the night to cause a ruckus, shamelessly insisting on going to Apple’s room no matter what. This was clearly her having been ‘ignited’, her desires hard to quench as she could only toss and turn about in bed, just unable to easily fall into slumber……

  Apple took Fang Chen as a very good friend of hers. With Apple being in need of friends right now, Xu Tingsheng did not expose her.

  Xu Tingsheng went out to buy breakfast early the next morning. He casually bought a dozen fresh, strong American bullfrogs and released all of them into Fang Chen’s room one by one after having returned. After seeing them leap into shoes and towards the bed, he closed the door and asked Apple to have some breakfast.

  “Don’t eat so much. Just make it such that you’re not moving about on an empty stomach. We’ll go for a run after this; we can eat more after we’ve come back,” Xu Tingsheng told Apple as he gnawed on a breadstick.

  “Running?” Apple asked.

  “Yeah. In the future, we’ll go for a run every morning and a stroll every evening. I’ll go with you.”


  “Okay,” Apple nodded, “How about them then? Don’t you have to wake them up for breakfast?”


  “Let them sleep for a while more. They didn’t sleep well last night. Do you think that everyone’s like you, not needing to sleep?” Xu Tingsheng joked.

  “Right. I do sleep now.”


  After they had eaten, Xu Tingsheng went downstairs and waited for Apple to come down after having changed. She sported a ponytail with sports shoes and sports attire, the sleeves of her shirt extending to her forearms as she appeared incomparably proper.

  “It’s July right now,” Xu Tingsheng said, wondering why she was bundled up so rigorously even despite the scorching summer heat.

  Apple usually wore clothes that were rather more alluring, leaving her long legs bare at the very least. It was really rare to see her with such an appearance.

  “I’ve got to appear like a virtuous wife! A simple but pretty housewife image……I designed it myself, what do you think?”


  Xu Tingsheng stepped back and looked. It was like Yang Yuhuan when she had become a nun, devilishly appearing even more alluring even as she was dressed in plain, simple garb.

  “You look great,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  Startled cries resounded from upstairs.

  The bullfrogs should have leapt onto her face by now.

  “It sounds like Chen Chen’s voice,” Apple said.

  “You’re not allowed to call her Chen Chen,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  “It sounds like Fang Chen’s voice.”


  “She may have had a nightmare again and woke up in fright. It’s fine. It’s about time for her to get up anyway. Let’s go for our run.”


  “Wa……” Cries resounded again from upstairs.

  This should have been her intending to put on her shoes to run away after having been jolted awake, next having stepped on what was inside.

  “It’s……Fang Chen’s voice again,” Apple said.

  “Maybe she fell asleep again, had another nightmare and was frightened awake again,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  As he was afraid that she might get stared at by onlookers, Xu Tingsheng did not dare to take Apple to any of the academy city’s stadiums. Instead, they just ran along the riverbank by the riverside residence. Apple’s body was clearly weak as she began sweating profusely just after a while. She stopped running, gazing pitifully at Xu Tingsheng.

  “You want me to carry you?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  Apple happily nodded repeatedly.

  “We’re here to exercise. It can’t just be me who exercises?”


  “Oh.”


  So, the two of them ended up walking back, chatting along the way.

  Arriving home, Xu Tingsheng discovered that the door to Fang Chen’s room was open, bullfrogs leaping chaotically about the entire living room. There, Fang Chen was sitting on the sofa with a kitchen knife in her hands, appearing totally as though she had just been trampled upon, ruined.

  “Hey, the bullfrogs that I bought in the morning! I’d wanted to cook them for lunch. However did they get out?” Xu Tingsheng feigned a surprised tone.

  Fang Chen uttered not a single word as she tore at her hair before suddenly getting up from the sofa and brandishing the knife ferociously as she lunged over towards him, “Xu Tingsheng, this old dame’s gonna hack you to death!”


  The former number one beauty and emcee of Yanzhou University, the dream lover in the minds of countless boys, totally lost it.

  Apple came before Xu Tingsheng, shielding him.

  Calmly eating breakfast by the side, Lu Zhixin raised her head and said after having finished her porridge, “Xu Tingsheng, get more side dishes tomorrow.”


  “Oh, okay. Do you want carrot strips or pickled mustard?” Xu Tingsheng peeked over and replied from behind Apple.

  “Carrot strips.”


  “Okay.”


  Entering together with Yuqing now, as Fang Yuqing saw what was going on inside, he said, “Woah……how lively. We’ll go upstairs to wait first then.”


  Then, he turned and led Yuqing away, the latter waving, “Come up and play later, Apple! I’ve missed you.”


  “Yeah, alright! I’ve missed you too,” Apple turned and replied even as she continued shielding before Xu Tingsheng.

  “Look, Ma’am……how about we have breakfast first? You can find another chance to hack me later,” Xu Tingsheng asked Fang Chen.

  Fang Chen looked at Xu Tingsheng before flinging the knife away and coming over to grab Apple’s hands, saying, “Come, Apple. Let’s have breakfast.”


  Apple pulled Xu Tingsheng along, saying, “Let’s eat.”
……

  The days passed just like this.

  Xu Tingsheng and Fang Chen warred every day.

  Lu Zhixin observed this calmly as a bystander every day.

  Apple went for a run every morning and went for a stroll every night. She began learning to cook from Xu Tingsheng, growing plants in the small balcony, going out to play with Yuqing and Fang Chen, watching soap operas together with Lu Zhixin……

  Apart from that one time Xu Tingsheng wasn’t there, when she numbly drew her finger across his lighter and ended up burning down the curtains.

  Following that, Xu Tingsheng stayed by her side for two days and two nights, consoling her over the same period.

  Once in a while, Apple would attempt to learn some of the platform’s work. Of course, she indeed rather lacked talent in this aspect.

  She was gradually taking a turn for the better. Firstly, she was steadily regaining her lost weight. Because all her meals were prepared by Xu Tingsheng or cooked together by the two of them, she had regained much of her appetite. Even if she lacked the appetite, she would also work hard to eat a little more.

  “I really envy Zhixin sometimes. She can be of so much help to you,” She said.

  Lu Zhixin seemed like she never needed to go home.

  When Xu Tingsheng asked her about it once, she answered, “My Dad almost never comes home. Even if I go home, I’ll be alone there.”


  Xu Tingsheng no longer went out on his business trips. He left the on-site surveying to his employees, spending most of his time and effort on Apple. He would run, stroll, chat, shop, watch soap operas and grow plants together with her everyday, persisting in cooking every single meal himself as he did his best to keep her happy as much as he could……

  He still conducted two lessons per week at Hucheng Training Institute, teaching a group of ninth grade students that included Little Xiang Ning.